Insightful Musings on the Scripturesby
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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2 Feb 11
Good beautiful cold morning, dear ones.
I’ve set up Kash with some mundane work and am needing to get this off…and on with other stuff. It’s another big list of objectives. But it sure is a beautiful day in which to be overwhelmed!
Blessings on your day.
Love, Dad/Ray
2 February 2011
Proverbs 2
Focus: “Wisdom will save you from the ways of wicked men…” Proverbs 2:12.
I realize this is, and will continue to be, a recurring theme through this book of Proverbs (as well as the entire Bible, for that matter). I trust you will not get tired of it. I don’t believe the theme can be over-emphasized. It is simply TOO IMPORTANT to neglect or ignore. So what exactly is this theme? Perhaps I’ll make it personal and state it in the form of three axioms: (1) MY SIN NATURE ENSLAVES ME TO SIN, FOOLISHNESS, AND FAILURE. (2) SEEKING GOD AND HIS WORD IS MY ONLY HOPE FOR RESCUE, CHANGE, AND SUCCESS. (3) ASSIMILATING THESE TWO PRINCIPLES INTO THE FABRIC OF MY LIVING TRANSLATES INTO WISDOM.
You have heard of the principle contained in the quip that says, GARBAGE IN—GARBAGE OUT. The positive parallel to that could be WISDOM IN—WISDOM OUT. The point is that you don’t normally get something out of a container that is different from what you put in. Besides being like a container, the human heart is typically like a sponge that soaks up whatever it is immersed in. The GOOD NEWS of the Gospel is that God has a plan and provision for you to empty your container of corruption—or wring out your sponge of foolishness—allowing you to be filled and soaked up with His transformational Word—made alive and effective by the accompanying work of the Holy Spirit. It’s certainly not very wise to neglect this opportunity.
Verse 2 exhorts us to “store up my commands within you.” Doesn’t that indicate our being like a container? Intentionally filling your container with His Word will render the benefit of verse 6: “For the LORD gives wisdom, and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.” By comparison, His Word is far more powerful in behalf A HEART AFTER GOD than the influential words of those opposed to God. Listen to the whole of our Focus verse: “Wisdom will save you from the ways of wicked men, from men whose WORDS are perverse.”
“You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world” (1 John 4:4).
Please make sure He and His Word are in you.
“In what way, or by what manner of working, God changes a soul from evil to good—how He impregnates the barren rock with priceless gems and gold—
is, to the human mind, an impenetrable mystery.” - Samuel Taylor Coleridge