Insightful Musings on the Scriptures

by

Raymond P. Sparre
Northwest University class of '67

Hello, dear friends.

It’s quite nice outside right now. Filtered sunlight is shining. In a short while I’ll get out to the mill and prepare for a small job. There was no walk this morning. And we rose late. Becki is off to Woodburn for her Bible Study at an assisted living facility.

I will admit here that we are facing some particularly tough challenges with Thano of late. Without satisfying your curiosity, I simply wish to invite your prayers.

The practical and stabilizing dynamic of Proverbs 3:5 and 6 hit me again this morning with renewed force—even though my mom had me memorize it when I was about 5. Let me quote it again here so that you can ponder each word idea—and see if you agree that this is a priceless nugget of Biblical principle. “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct thy paths.”

On that basis, have a great day.

Love—Ray.

Let’s reaffirm that the highly refined art and craft of the kingdom of Satan is, in fact, deception. In stark contrast, the foundational theme of the Kingdom of God is TRUTH. I believe these simple and basic facts are of huge value in helping me sort out the stuff of life and guide me in a course of action and belief that best conforms to His righteousness. And it only makes sense that my best protection from deception is to stay as close as I can to the TRUTH.

Remember Matthew 24 where the disciples asked Jesus how they would recognize the end of the age? Do you remember Jesus’ first words of response to that question? He said, “Watch out that no one deceives you” (Matthew 24:4). That can only mean that deception will be an elevated threat surrounding end times. I think it is important to bear in mind the general fact that a person who is being deceived does not know he is being deceived. Duh!—any more than the gradual boiling frog knew he was being boiled. And it affirms that I need to be as alert and careful as I can to avoid being duped by any such deception. To do so, I need to employ a filtering standard for determining TRUTH and error that goes beyond personal bias, appearance, feelings, rhetoric, or even the observation of supernatural phenomena. And that is where God’s revealed Word and His Holy Spirit that inspires and illuminates it rise to be of utmost importance.

The second beast in our reading “performed great and miraculous signs, even causing fire to come down from heaven to earth in full view of men” (13:13). In view of all this, it seems like an appropriate response to this kind of sensational supernatural display would be to say, “So what?!”…or “Big deal!” Why would that response be appropriate? Because a miraculous display is not necessarily a guarantee of TRUTH. His Word is TRUTH (John 17:17). Jesus is TRUTH (John 14:6). Is that true?