Pastor Leon’s SOAP: Scripture, Observation, Application, and Prayer

February 28: Numbers 24-27; 1Corinthians 13

Scripture: 1Corinthians (NIV) 13:4 Love is patient, love is kind. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.

Observation: Love is not kind because someone else is kind. Love is kind because love is kind. It is the nature of love to be kind. Love treats others with respect because they have value. Through actions, kindness is expressed as gentle assistance. Through words, kindness is expressed as encouraging appreciation. The kindness of love is best seen when it is clearly not in response to the kindness of others. Kindness should be a distinguishing characteristic expressed to the children, the aged, and all in-between. It should even govern how we treat our animals. Truth should always be spoken in kindness.

Application: Kindness that flows out of the love God has placed in my heart should be seen by everyone. The older I get, it seems to me that I should be more loving and kind. The longer I walk with Jesus, the more of His character should be visible in my life. (How could a person who has walked with Jesus for 50 years be less kind than when they had only walked with Him for 10 years??? Leon, that is a good question!)

Prayer: Holy Spirit, work Your kindness in my life. I pray that the limitations of aging will not make me unkind and impatient. Amen

Pastor Leon

Making friends for time and eternity!

NOTE: This is a re-working of the devotion from October 30, 2011. It fits my life today. My circumstances are changing, but Jesus remains the same! Jesus was with me in the past. He is in my present! He will be in my future! I must remember what He has done so my faith will be strong in what He will do! How thankful I am for a personal history with Jesus!

A Personal History!

Pastor Leon’s SOAP: Scripture, Observation, Application, and Prayer

February 27: Numbers 21-23; Mark 6-7

Scripture: Mark 6:51 (NIV) Then he climbed into the boat with them, and the wind died down. They were completely amazed,
52 for they had not understood about the loaves; their hearts were hardened.

Observation: With five loaves and two fish, Jesus had just fed 5000 with 12 basketsful of left overs. Then He had sent the disciples across the sea. During the night and in the midst of a storm, Jesus comes walking on the water to them; He gets into the boat and the storm subsides. They were completely amazed because they could not connect the feeding of the 5000 with the walking on water and calming the wind. Their hearts were hardened; they could not connect their past with their present.

Application: It is so important that I connect what God did for me yesterday, last week, or last year with what I am going through today. What He has already done for me is proof that He cares for me and that He will work on my behalf. God’s interaction in my history is proof that He is with me in the present and has victory for me in the future. I need a tender heart so that the Holy Spirit can make the connections from the past to the present.

Prayer: Lord, help me to have a tender heart. I need to be reminded of what you have done for me in the past. I know you are just as faithful now as then. Amen.

Pastor Leon

Making friends for time and eternity!

Pastor Leon’s SOAP: Scripture, Observation, Application, and Prayer

February 26: Numbers 19-20; Psalm 28; Mark 5

Scripture: Mark (NIV) 5:18 As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed begged to go with him. 19 Jesus did not let him, but said, “Go home to your family and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.” 20 So the man went away and began to tell in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him. And all the people were amazed.

Observation: Here Jesus directs the man to go and tell, in contrast to times He directed people not to tell. (Note verse 43 of this chapter.) Jesus would not be in this area very much, so it was good to have someone spreading the message. However in and around Jerusalem, healings drew more and more people. Jesus loved the people, but needed time to spend with His disciples.

This man did not get his feelings hurt because he was not allowed to do as he desired and go with Jesus. Instead he accepted his assignment to return home and be a witness where he lived.

Application: May I be as faithful as this man to spread the news about what God has done for me.

Prayer: Holy Spirit, open my eyes to the opportunities I will have today to tell others what Jesus has done for me. Amen

Pastor Leon

Making friends for time and eternity!

Pastor Leon’s SOAP: Scripture, Observation, Application, and Prayer

February 25: Numbers 17-18; Psalm 29; Mark 4

Scripture: Mark (NIV) 4:37 A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. (KJV – so that it was now full)

Observation: The boat was in the storm; the storm had gotten into the boat. Although the disciples were seasoned boaters, the boat was in danger. Their salvation was in the fact that there was another in the boat with them. Jesus was in the stern sleeping on a cushion. The expert fishermen humbled themselves and woke Jesus who stilled the storm.

Application: Sometimes I am in the storm, and sometimes the storm is in me. Either way, I have the Great Storm Calmer living in me! I am not depending on my abilities, but on Him!

Prayer: Jesus, if you said “Let’s go over to the other side,” no storm can stop us, even if it gets into the boat. I am counting on you! Amen

Pastor Leon

Making friends for time and eternity!

Pastor Leon’s SOAP: Scripture, Observation, Application, and Prayer

February 24: Numbers 14-16; Mark 3

Scripture: Numbers (NIV) 16:46 Then Moses said to Aaron, “Take your censer and put incense in it, along with fire from the altar, and hurry to the assembly to make atonement for them.

Observation: When the tabernacle of Moses was made according to the Lord’s instructions, censers were made for the priest to carry the fire behind the veil and others places where appropriate. The censer was a small portable altar. The fire in the censer could only come from the fire over which the sacrifices were offered. The coals were soaked in the blood of the sacrifice. That fire was never to be allowed to go out. It was to be tended every morning and evening.

Application: Jesus made the ultimate offering for sin on the cross of Calvary. My life is a portable censer to carry the fire from that altar into the Presence of God and into the world around me. The honor of my life is to carry the passion of Jesus into the Father’s Presence. His passion was, “Not my will but thine be done!” The purpose of my life is to carry the passion of the Father into the world around me with the message that God so loved the world…

Prayer: Holy Spirit, continue to reveal the honor and purpose of carrying the good news of Jesus death and resurrection. May passion continually burn within. Amen

Pastor Leon

Making friends for time and eternity!

Pastor Leon’s SOAP: Scripture, Observation, Application, and Prayer

February 23: Numbers 12-13; Psalm 90; Mark 2

Scripture: Numbers (NIV) 13:31 But the men who had gone up with him said, “We can’t attack those people; they are stronger than we are.” 32 And they spread among the Israelites a bad report about the land they had explored. They said, “The land we explored devours those living in it. All the people we saw there are of great size.”

Observation: Twelve spies had been sent to check out the Promised Land. Ten brought back a bad report. Because of their report the Israelites refused to go into the Promised Land. The spies had their eyes on the giants and not on their God. The people in the land were “stronger” than the Israelites, but not stronger than the Israelite’s God! The people in the land were of “great size,” but quite puny in comparison to Israel’s God. Forty years later there was a generation willing to trust God and enter the land that God had promised. They found their God to be both stronger and bigger! They found that when God fights for you, your strength and size makes no difference!

Application: There will be temptations to think that my circumstances are too big for me; most of the time that will be true. I must keep my eyes on God because my circumstances will never be greater than my God! What a mistake to evaluate my circumstances without considering the presence, power, and promises of God!

Prayer: Holy Spirit, help me live twenty-four hours every in the reality of God’s presence. Amen

Pastor Leon

Making friends for time and eternity!

Pastor Leon’s SOAP: Scripture, Observation, Application, and Prayer

February 22: Numbers 10-11; Psalm 27; Mark 1

Scripture: Mark (NIV) 1:12 At once the Spirit sent him [Jesus] out into the desert, 13 and he was in the desert forty days, being tempted by Satan. He was with the wild animals, and angels attended him.

Observation: John the Baptist had announced that Jesus would soon be coming. When Jesus came to John, He was introduced as “the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.” When John baptized Jesus in the river, the Holy Spirit descended on him like a dove and a voice from heaven said, “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.” One would think that a great ministry was about to burst on the scene. But the next thing we see is that the Spirit sent him into the desert to be tempted by satan! The same Holy Spirit who anointed Jesus and worked the miracles by His word and hand, was the same Holy Spirit that sent Him into the wilderness.

Application: I believe God is bringing a time of revival to the USA, but I believe the Lord has shown me it will come as we go through a “wilderness” time. In considering some of the actions our leaders have taken, it seems obvious that their eyes are blinded and their hearts hardened. They seem restrained by some unseen force from acknowledging what is so obvious. What we are about to reap from their actions will be judgment on our nation. There is a spiritual war going on in our nation. The solution needed is a spiritual solution. The warriors needed are prayer warriors.

Prayer: Holy Spirit, You were with Jesus as you sent Him into the wilderness. I know that you are and will be with your people today as times of trouble come. Amen

Pastor Leon

Making friends for time and eternity!

Pastor Leon’s SOAP: Scripture, Observation, Application, and Prayer

February 21: Numbers 8-9; Acts 28

Scripture: Acts (NIV) 28:3 Paul gathered a pile of brushwood and, as he put it on the fire, a viper driven out by the heat, fastened itself on his hand. 4 When the islanders saw the snake hanging from his hand, they said to each other, “This man must be a murderer; for though he escaped from the sea, justice has not allowed him to live.” 5 But Paul shook the snake off into the fire and suffered no ill effects. 6 The people expected him to swell up or suddenly fall dead, but after waiting a long time and seeing nothing unusual happen to him, they changed their minds and said he was a god.

Observation: Paul did not see himself as being too good to do the most menial of tasks. He was a servant, and as a servant he gathered wood for a fire. In the act of serving, he was bitten by the snake. God did not protect him from being bitten, but protected him from the effects of the bite. In the minds of the people living on the island, Paul went from being a villain to a god.

Application: God has many ways of making Himself known in my life. Sometimes He gives me victory by keeping me from trouble; sometimes He works the victory as He takes me through the trouble.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, I trust you to work in my life for my good and for your glory. Amen

Pastor Leon

Making friends for time and eternity!

Pastor Leon’s SOAP: Scripture, Observation, Application, and Prayer

February 20: Numbers 7; Psalm 23; Acts 27

Scripture: Psalm (NIV) 23:1 The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. 2 He [My Shepherd] makes me lie down in green pastures, He [My Shepherd] leads me beside quiet waters, 3 He [My Shepherd] restores my soul.

Observation: As I read this chapter, my attention was drawn back to the first verse. David could have written, “I am the LORD’s sheep,” instead he wrote, “The LORD is my shepherd.” It came to me that the emphasis is not on what the LORD possesses, but on what David possessed. The emphasis is not on what belongs to the LORD, but on what belonged to David.

Application: Do I even have a small understanding of what I possess? I want the LORD take joy in the fact that I am His sheep as I take joy in the fact that He is my Shepherd.

Prayer: Holy Spirit, keep revealing to me the riches of what I possess in Christ Jesus—the great value of what I possess now and what awaits me in eternity. Amen

Pastor Leon

Making friends for time and eternity!

Pastor Leon’s SOAP: Scripture, Observation, Application, and Prayer

February 19: Numbers 5-6; Psalm 22; Acts 26

Scripture: Numbers (NIV) 6:23 Tell Aaron and His sons, “this is how you are to bless the Israelites. Say to them:
24 “The LORD bless you and keep you
25 The LORD make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you;
26 The LORD turn his face toward you and give you peace.”
27 So they will put my name on the Israelites, and I will bless them.”

Observation: The Israelites developed traditions to respect God’s name as Holy. In fear of "taking it in vain" they refused to even speak it. When reading the scriptures they would respectfully pause when coming to that name. Here I see that God did not desire His name to be withheld, but spread. The leaders were to place His name on His people! They were to know that name. They were to experience blessings in that Name. They were to look forward to hearing that name and being blessed in that Name.

Application: How special to know my Heavenly Father through His Son Jesus! How special to be blest in the name of Jesus! What a privilege to be allowed to pray in that Name!

Prayer: Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, there’s just something about Your Name! Master, Savior, Jesus, like the fragrance after the rain.
Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, let all heaven and earth proclaim
“Kings and kingdoms will all pass away, but there’s something about Your Name!” Amen

Pastor Leon

Making friends for time and eternity!