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.
| Sparre Home Page | Daily Reading Guide | 2011 Devotion Archives | 2010 Devotion Archives |
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6 Nov 11
Good Sunday evening, dear ones.
Here we had an extra hour last night with the time change, but my head right now is feeling like it’s about midnight. Not sure what to do. Hey…I know…I think I’ll go to bed. What an idea! But the fact is that I have some stuff I need to give attention to before bed.
I just heard about a guy who visited a psychiatrist who said, “Well, doctor, one morning, I wake up feeling like a pup tent. The next morning I feel like a canopy. Then the next morning when I get out of bed I’m back to feeling like a pup tent, the next day a canopy, and so on it goes.” The doctor responds, “I recommend that you take a 2-month vacation—you’re simply two tents.” You don’t have to laugh if you don’t want to.
Have a good night.
Love, Dad/Ray.
6 November 2011
Job 16
Focus: “Even now my witness is in heaven; my advocate is on high.” Job 16:19.
Wouldn’t it be nice if problem solving could be free of problems?—if conflict resolution could be free of conflict?—if it could be easy to replace imperfect understanding with perfect understanding? It would seem that God has not given us many quick and easy fixes to stuff that is damaged or broken. Arriving at and embracing essential TRUTH is never a snap, and not even possible, apart from the internal illuminating and convicting influence of the Holy Spirit. The most compelling evidence I can present to support this thesis is to point to Jesus Christ—The Way, The TRUTH, and The Life—that no human is capable of establishing right relationship with God except via His mediation—yet, how easily do men come to embrace that vital TRUTH?
Friendly discussion is now out the window between Job and his would-be comforters. I wonder if anyone has attempted to make a movie that applies video drama to this conflict? If I were to oversee such a production, I would have Job’s face redden in this scene, his eyes would be flashing, and his arms would be active in broad gestures to punctuate his intense disgust. “Miserable comforters are you all! Will your long-winded speeches never end? What ails you that you keep on arguing?” (vv. 2-3). Well—you and I know what ails them. It’s rigid ideology. It’s the result of forming solid dogma from non-solid information. It’s an insistence that they know stuff that they really can’t know. That ailment is still quite alive and well today.
Job carries on with his condemnation of his “friend’s” condemnation, saying in so many words, “If you were in my shoes, and I were in your shoes, knowing what I know now, I would not be so cruel as to torture you as you are doing to me. Instead I would offer words of encouragement—words of real comfort.”
In spite of your own unavoidable measure of conflict, may I encourage you to simply keep seeking Jesus—The Way, The TRUTH, and The Life. Listen again to Paul’s presentation of a premium Gospel benefit—“There is therefore now no condemnation (I take that to mean real or legitimate condemnation) to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit” (Romans 8:1, KJV). I’m also reminded of Paul’s encouraging advice when he says, “See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ. For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority” (Colossians 2:8-11, NIV).
I’m quite OK with giving Job plenty of slack for being a yoyo—up and down and in and out with his physical, emotional, and spiritual struggles. I think that’s all part of being human. Near the end of this chapter he comes forth with another high point of amazing faith and hope. “Even now my witness is in heaven;
my advocate is on high. My intercessor is my friend as my eyes pour out tears to God; on behalf of a man he pleads with God as a man pleads for his friend” (Job 16:19-21).
Job’s Old Testament expression is certainly compatible with New Testament revelation. Let me cite more of Paul’s inspiration from Romans 8—“Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died — more than that, who was raised to life — is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us” (Romans 8:33-35). Then listen to Paul’s announcement to Timothy—“For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all men — the testimony given in its proper time” (1 Timothy 2:5-6).
Job doesn’t know it yet, but he is actually being groomed—prepared for a very important and effective future ministry—one of hope and inspiration for other suffering pilgrims—a ministry he would not be as qualified for if it were not for his own bout with suffering. In this regard Paul declares, “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God” (2 Corinthians 1:3-4).
“The only person whose troubles are all behind him is a school bus driver.”