Scripture:  Psalm 104: ³³ I will sing to the LORD all my life; I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.
³⁴ May my meditation be pleasing to him, as I rejoice in the LORD.

Observation:  After about thirty verses of God’s creation and how the Lord can in all his works, the writer now comes to God’s crowning creation: man.  If God can get glory from all the other creation, how much more should He get glory from man!

So, the writer is going to sing; he is going to praise; and his desire is that even the thoughts in his mind be enjoyable to God.

Application:   Usually I want to think about what I enjoy, about what I have done, or would like to be doing.  But I should think about things that He enjoys.  After all, He shares my life and knows my every thought.

Prayer:    Lord, may you enjoy mixing your thoughts with mine today.   Amen.

S.O.A.P.

June 29: Amos 4-6; Psalm 86,87; Titus 1

Scripture: Psalm 86:3 (The Message) You’re my God; have mercy on me. I count on you from morning to night.
4 Give your servant a happy life; I put myself in your hands!
5 You’re well-known as good and forgiving, bighearted to all who ask for help.
6 Pay attention, GOD, to my prayer; bend down and listen to my cry for help.

Observation: David’s did not have a religion; he had a relationship. God was not someone he visited at the tabernacle once a week, or someone he checked in with once a day. David walked as though God was with him “from morning to night.” David talked to God as though God could hear him all day long, and hear him wherever he was.

Application: God is with me all day long. Often when I walk into our house Sharon will say, “I’m so glad to see you.” I want to make the Lord feel like I feel when she says that to me.

Prayer: Lord, I am so glad You are with me! May I always treat You as Sharon treats me—in ways that make You know You are most welcome in my life! Amen. (P.S. And Lord, thank you for the verses that assure me that you are with me through the night. Psalm 42:8 J)

Pastor Leon

Making friends for time and eternity!

S.O.A.P.

2Kings 13,14; 2Chronicles 25; 2Timothy 3

Scripture: 2Timothy 3:1 But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days.
2 People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy,…
7 always learning but never able to acknowledge the truth.

Observation: Among the more than twenty characteristics give in these verses of people in the last days, we read “always learning, but never able to acknowledge the truth.” Here is an amazing thing: learning should bring people closer to the truth of reality, but people have their minds set against God so will not acknowledge His obvious part in creation or in anything else.

Man has learned much about the designed sexual union of a man and a woman, yet will pass laws that homosexuality is acceptable, even normal! Man now has wonderful knowledge about that little life in the womb and how it develops, yet thinks it is OK to abort it! There are medical colleges who teach abortion! How can that be?! They are “always learning” but not able to acknowledge the obvious truth because they leave God out of the picture.

Man can so easily become proud of knowing so many things and miss knowing the One who is the Ultimate Truth!

Application: I need to be careful in learning statistics and facts and even scripture verses about God that I miss the specific truth that is working to reveal to my heart today. I can have pre-conceived ideas that camouflage the truth. If I am not careful I can have bits and pieces of the world’s thinking hidden in my life.

Prayer: Lord, may my learning always bring me to You, the source of all truth. You perfectly understand reality. I can trust You. Amen.

Pastor Leon

Making friends for time and eternity!

S.O.A.P.

Jonah 1-4; 2Timothy 2

Scripture: Jonah 2:4 I said, ‘I have been banished from your sight; yet I will look again towards your holy temple.’

Observation: The prophet did not want to take on the assignment given to Him by God so he was running away. He took a ship going the opposite direction and in a storm had been thrown into the sea where God had provided a great fish to swallow him. (Although Exploration Place, in Wichita, teaches godless evolution, they recently had a display of the jaws of a fish that would be more than large enough to swallow a man. I should thank them for their part in validating the book of Jonah.)

Now the prophet had no where else to look. To whom else could the prophet turn? Only God could hear him and only God could help him.

Application: God is honored when I choose Him above others. But if I do not choose Him out from among many possibilities He is well able to limit my choice, like Jonah, to just one! It is good that God cares enough for me to put me in situation where I have no choice but Him.

Prayer: Lord, I remember singing, “I’ll go where you want me to go, Dear Lord; o’re mountain or plain or sea. I’ll say what you want me to say dear Lord. I’ll be what you want me to be.” Lord, it is still true. Amen.

Pastor Leon

Making friends for time and eternity!

Welcome to WordPress.com. After you read this, you should delete and write your own post, with a new title above. Or hit Add New on the left (of the admin dashboard) to start a fresh post.

Here are some suggestions for your first post.

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S.O.A.P.

Joel 1-3; 2Timothy 1

Scripture: 2Timothy 1:2 To Timothy, my dear son: Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.

Observation: Paul was passing along to Timothy what he had personally received: grace, mercy, and peace. He had been blest with these three special gifts from God and desired that Timothy be blest also. Grace: receiving what we do not deserve: Paul had received from God far beyond anything he could ever deserve. Mercy: not getting what we deserve: Paul was not held responsible for the way he had persecuted believers in Jesus. Peace: the absence of hostility: God had forgiven Paul and treated him with no animosity.

Application: I too have received grace, mercy, and peace! Today I am to extend grace by doing something for someone who has done nothing to deserve it. (I can let another driver cut in front of me.) Today I am to extend mercy by not paying back a wrong done to me. (I can let another driver cut in front of me even though he previously narrowly cut me off.) Today I can live in peace by forgiving and giving people room to make mistakes. (Like not driving on the bumper of the car in front of me and allowing room for other cars on the road.)

Prayer: Lord, I know that your grace, mercy and peace have not had their full effect in my life until they can flow through me to others. By your Holy Spirit, help me to be graceful, merciful and live in peace. Amen.

Pastor Leon

Making friends for time and eternity!