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 has followed, and an archive of all his daily devotional writings for 2010 and 2011.

|  Daily Reading Guide  |  2011 Devotion Archives  |  2010 Devotion Archives  |
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15 Jan 11
            Dear ones.
            It’s amazingly warm for this time of year.  So rain and melting of snow is causing some flooding.  But it has been nice to work out of doors the last few days without a coat…and still sweat.  It sure makes for lousy ski conditions.
            There is another big list of objectives before me.  Even though it’s late, I think I’ll start with a jog.  I’ve missed doing it for a couple days.
            Once again, keep your hand in the Hand of the One who stilled the waters.  He even made the water!
                        Love, Dad/Ray
 
15 January 2011
Proverbs 15
Focus: “The LORD detests the sacrifice of the wicked, but the prayer of the upright pleases him.”  Proverbs 15:8.
            RELIGION is bad stuff.  RELIGION has never really benefitted anyone.  RELIGION has probably caused more hatred and bloodshed than any other single influence in human history.  RELIGION is irritating and repulsive to both man and God.  I keep telling people, “You need RELIGION about like you need a hole in your head.  But you do need a positive RELATIONSHIP with your Manufacturer!”  And that makes for SALVATION!  What a difference!
            These are valid statements ONLY if we agree on the definitions I’m giving to these terms.  They are not definitions you’ll find in a dictionary.  RELIGION as I’m using it here could be defined this way: The efforts of a sinful man to reach a Holy God—at least appear to be so.  RELATIONSHIP or SALVATION, on the other hand is the effort of (provision by) a Holy God to reach a sinful man.  The two don’t mix well—kind of like water and oil.  And one contaminates the other.
            The message that rings loud and clear for me in the first part of verse 8 is that GOD DETESTS RELIGION—the whole idea that one can trick the omniscience of the Almighty by hypocritical “religious” behavior.  However, GOD LOVES A HEART THAT SINCERELY SEEKS HIM.
            For some cross-reference homework, check out Isaiah 1:10-20.  Also have another read of 2 Timothy 3:1-5.  Of course we could make a long list on the topic.  But that helps to underscore the importance of this theme.
 
“Better to be one-sided than two-faced.”