Insightful Musings on the New Testament
by
Ray Sparre, NU class of '67

Ray has a wealth of experience as a Husband, Father, Pastor, Missionary, and student of the Word. He believes and practices his faith where the rubber meets the road. You'll find his writings to be practical, insightful, and grounded in a truly Christ-centered world view.

Below are links to a printable daily Bible reading guide which Ray is following, and an archive of all his daily devotional writings for 2010.

|  Daily Reading Guide  |  2010 Devotion Archives  |
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22 Oct 10
            Good morning, dear people.
            It was a late night…so a late morning…now being 8:48am.  I’ll forget the jog.  Becki is calling me to the breakfast table…so bye-bye for now.
            Blessings.
                        Love, Dad/Ray
 
22 October 2010
Passage: 2 Timothy 2
Focus: “’The Lord knows those who are his’…”  2 Timothy 2:19.
            As a kid, I recall occasionally watching a television game show—I think it was called “TO TELL THE TRUTH.”  It featured a series of people with unique occupations or life experiences.  The host would make an introduction something like this: “Our present guest is Ray Sparre.  He, together with his wife, Becki, have raised their four children while living and working as missionaries over a period of 28 years in four Pacific Island countries—Marshall Islands, Pohnpei, Solomon Islands, and Vanuatu.”  This guest would be sitting with two other people who were both claiming to be Ray Sparre, with the same life story.  Each would stand and introduce himself, “My name is Ray Sparre.”  There was a panel of four main players whose challenge was to do their best to discern which Ray Sparre was the true Ray Sparre.  The four were allowed a certain number of questions to direct to the three that they hoped would help them in discerning and deciding.  At the end of the question time the panel was required to announce their selection, telling why they chose #1, #2, or #3.  Then the host would say, “Will the real Ray Sparre please stand.”  It was most common for the panel to select a deceiver rather than the true one.
            There is a good deal of guessing going on in determining who are the true and genuine people of God and who are con artists or counterfeit.  Sometimes it is quite apparent, and other times it is quite difficult.  Paul made reference to this matter back in 1 Timothy 5:24-25: “The sins of some men are obvious, reaching the place of judgment ahead of them; the sins of others trail behind them.  In the same way, good deeds are obvious, and even those that are not cannot be hidden.” (That is, they cannot be hidden before the omnipresence and omniscience of God.  Hebrews 4:13.)   “Nevertheless, God’s solid foundation stands firm, sealed with this inscription: ‘The  Lord knows those who are his,’ and ‘Everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness’” (2 Timothy 2:19).
            There have been a few times in my sojourn where a unique blend of circumstances put me into a circle where I was misrepresented, misunderstood, and rejected.  In those instances I seemed to have no other foundation than this one—that the Lord knew who I was—and I knew who I was—even though virtually everyone in that circle judged me as a deceiver.  It really is a good foundation to have.  In fact, I would highly recommend it to you—that you accept “God’s solid foundation” as YOUR FOUNDATION.
            To be sure, there is coming a day when the Sovereign Judge will say, “Will the true followers of my Son please stand up—and enter into the joy of your Lord.” And it’s not a game show.
 
            “You don’t really need to know where you are going—provided you know who you are following.”