Insightful Musings on the Scriptures
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.

| Sparre Home Page |  Daily Reading Guide  |  2011 Devotion Archives  |  2010 Devotion Archives  |
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19 Nov 11
            Good morning, dear ones.
            And good news…I’m looking at sunshine through the trees out this window.  I’ll take some of that…thank you.  The creek is moving right along at a bigger and faster clip…following all the rain of the last few days.
            I need to get moving if I’m going to make any kind of dent on my TO DO list. It’s a pretty big one again.
            May your day be blessed.
                        Love, Dad/Ray.
 
19 November 2011
Job 29
Focus: “How I long for the months gone by, for the days when God watched over me…”  Job 29:2.
            I don’t know where you are in your sojourn of life.  But I know you are somewhere on that course.  How is that for a profound statement of insight?!  You probably didn’t know I knew so much about you. For sure, we all have stories to tell.  Our before is not where we are now.  Life is not static.  It’s living and moving and in a state of constant change—and like the proverbial “water under the bridge,” it is absolutely irreclaimable.  This can only mean that we ourselves are also in a constant state of change.  And the two general internal qualities that result from all that change are BITTER or BETTER.  Furthermore, it is essential that we understand the relationship of cause and effect as it relates to those two qualities—that whichever quality is allowed to prevail is largely up to us personally.  Since we cannot control all our circumstances, yet we have been given resources of mind, soul, and spirit with which to control our responses to our circumstances, it all boils down to a matter of personal choice.  So the cause for either of those effects (BITTER or BETTER) is not so much due to external circumstances as much as to internal choices.
            Do you ever find yourself reflecting on “the good old days” of your prime—a period of your life when you were “on a roll”—when you could do things you can’t do now—when you were a key player, but now only seem to be marking time on the bench—when you were revered and respected, but now feel ignored and/or rejected.  Hey!—cheer up!—you’re not alone! That’s exactly where Job is on his personal sojourn.  That’s the theme of this portion of his gut-wrenching multi-chapter final speech in the hearing of his “friends.”
            Let’s rehearse Job’s expressions in verses 2 through 6.  “How I long for the months gone by, for the days when God watched over me, when his lamp shone upon my head and by his light I walked through darkness!  Oh, for the days when I was in my prime, when God's intimate friendship blessed my house, when the Almighty was still with me and my children were around me, when my path was drenched with cream and the rock poured out for me streams of olive oil.”  If you can’t identify in terms of experience, you can by imagination.
            So is it true that God is no longer watching over Job?  Is it true that God has abandoned Job and withdrew His blessing?  Absolutely not!  Just wait and see.  “It ain’t over till it’s over!”
            Hey, Job—and others in similar shape—when your faith and perspective are reduced to the status of a thread-bare moth-eaten bikini, try putting on a garment of TRUST!  If that donning is not richly rewarded over time, I’ll eat my hat!  (I know how to fashion hats out of raisin bread.)
            If Job’s description of his past is valid in the passage between verses 7 and 17, he definitely was quite a guy—a man of incredible renown. He has reason to be proud of that record.  I just wonder if a bit of arrogance was allowed to sneak in.  I don’t really know.  But I do know that Job comes through the wringer as BETTER—a VICTOR not a passive angry VICTIM.
            If the quip is true that ADVERSITY IS GOD’S UNIVERSITY, why do we get so ticked with the curriculum?  May the Master of our course be as free as He needs to be to administer the lessons necessary for graduation—becoming what He purposes.  And let me assure you that what He purposes is GOOD.
            Brian Doerksen captures the heart attitude of a successful sojourner in his song, REFINER’S FIRE.  In closing, let’s listen to it.  Are you able to sing along?



“Affliction, like the silver smith, shapes as it smites.”  -  Christian Nestell Bovee