2016 picture of Ray Sparre

Insightful Musings on theScriptures

by

Raymond P. Sparre
Northwest University class of '67



These devotional messages are personalized as messages to Ray's granddaughter, Samara.

08 February 2017

Good day, Samara.

Isn’t it wonderful to have a roof over our heads at a time like this?! It is really raining!—at 39 degrees! Just think how things would be if you didn’t have one over you—along with walls and a little heat—out in the cold and rain with your computer. The point is that it would be impossible to function that way. Thank you, Lord, for houses with roofs and heat!—and floors and beds and food and love and security and… Wow! We are blessed!

We received a good email from friends of ours at (near) Munda in the Western Solomons. It will be hard to pass up NOT visiting there on this trip back to Vanuatu, since we’ll be so close.

Stay warm and dry. Please don’t go out in the rain and cold with your computer to do your schoolwork just to see if you can do it. (Smile) I guarantee it won’t go well.

Have a great day.

Love, Tua.


Proverbs 8
Focus: “To fear the LORD is to hate evil; I hate pride and arrogance, evil behavior and perverse speech.” Proverbs 8:13.

As we give this statement careful thought, I think there is no way to avoid drawing some clear conclusions. I’ll just put forth three:

  1. Loving evil that leads to evil behavior is absolutely incompatible with FEARING THE LORD.
  2. It is absolutely IMPOSSIBLE to engage in known evil behavior and simultaneously FEAR THE LORD.
  3. The ONE AND ONLY way to truly FEAR THE LORD, to truly LOVE GOD, and to truly live pleasing before Him is to truly HATE WHAT HE HATES AND LOVE WHAT HE LOVES—without which the whole relationship is short-circuited—rendered ineffective and unproductive—dead! (Ephesians 2:1-2) How can true Biblical TRUTH be otherwise?!?!

Do you see how upside-down the popular normal world is?—those who love evil when God hates it?—who love pride and arrogance when God hates it?—who love evil behavior and perverse speech when God hates those things? So, what are the chances that anyone is going to accidentally live to please God?—or accidentally fall into heaven? The only answer I can come up with is ZERO!

These foundational concepts are soooo crucial to our success as Bible believers and followers of Christ that I judge that they deserve our repetition and reinforcement—even though we have hammered on the same ideas before.

So my prayer for you, Samara (and everyone else, for that matter), is that you get these basic ideas well nailed down for yourself at heart level NOW—because LATER is coming.

“I love those who love me, and those who seek me find me.”
~ Proverbs 8:17 ~