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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17 Nov 10
Greetings, special people.
One of the challenges while doing this is that I have
another special little people here…who requires a lot of attention…and
at age 2.5 years, tends to want to get into about everything. He just
flipped the switch on my plotter/cutter machine…so now I need to
re-configure the graphic job I was doing on it. This is little
Kaden…Thano’s boy.
Happy trails to you…until we meet again.
Love, Dad/Ray
17 November 2010
Passage: John 12:20-50
Focus: “Unless a kernel of wheat fails to the ground and dies, it remains a single seed.” John 12:24.
An example of a cross-cultural challenge I would
occasionally encounter while living in Melanesia is where someone would
come or call because they wanted to use one of my tools or need some
kind of help that only I could offer. I may have even been the one to
answer the door or the telephone, but the people would very often ask
to see our son, Thano. They present their need to Thano, and then
Thano has to come ask me. Since Thano is neither the owner nor manager
of most of our stuff, I was often tempted to exclaim, “Why don’t they
just come direct to me?”
It appears that these Greeks who approach Philip with the
request to see Jesus, had a bit of the same style. Philip tells Andrew
what these people want, and then together, they approach Jesus, Who, at
that very moment, seems to be engaged in addressing a crowd of people.
Maybe these men thought they were of a more executive class who
deserved private time with Jesus than to join the crowds around Him.
In any event, if the Greek guys were so interested in seeing Jesus, why
didn’t they just go see Jesus? He certainly wasn’t hiding.
Notice how Jesus responds to the disciples’ presentation on
behalf of the Greek visitors. He launches into a discourse that, at
first, seems totally unrelated. He talks about His hour finally
coming, about a kernel of wheat dying, about the consequences of a man
loving his own life, and about His heart being troubled. Then, without
warning, there’s a big booming voice from heaven where God Himself
speaks, confirming that He is glorifying His Name through the Son.
(Some were so out of tune with what Jesus was saying that they didn’t
have a clue as to what the voice said. They thought it was thunder.
Selah.) We’re never told what happened to those Greek guys, or whether
or not Jesus ever took special time for them.
I’m coming up with a couple points that seem implied in
Jesus’ words. Perhaps I will try to define those ideas by paraphrasing
what seems to be Jesus’ intent. (1) “I NEED TO BE MULTIPLIED. While I
am here in the flesh there’s no way I can take time to see everyone who
wants to have a private conference with Me. But if I, like a kernel of
wheat, die and am buried, the result will be a tree of life that won’t
quit…infinite reproduction. In only a few weeks the Father will impart
the Holy Spirit in My Name that will be available to everyone
everywhere for all time.” (2) “ANYONE WHO WANTS TO FIND ME CAN EASILY
DO SO. That’s the very reason I’ve come, to meet personally with
anyone who comes to Me. I’m not hiding or hard to find. There’s no
need for religious activity or the mediation of a priest. This is the
glory of the New Testament Gospel. It’s just that people must come on
My terms, not theirs. It only requires abandoning pious
self-righteousness, being serious about dealing with what I want to
deal with, and eager to receive what I have to offer.”
I’m
thinking of Isaiah 55:6-7: “Seek the LORD while he may
be found; call on him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake
his way
and the evil man his thoughts. Let him turn to the LORD, and he
will
have mercy on him, and to our God, for he will freely pardon.”
“The Light of the World knows no power failures.”