Scripture: Psalm (NIV) 55:22 Cast your cares on the LORD and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous be shaken. 23 …but as for me, I trust in you.

Observation: I remember a story about a sailor who was just released from active duty following World War II. He was on the last portion of the trip home. He lived out in the country and was walking with his sea bag on his shoulder. A gentleman driving by stopped an offered him a ride in the rumble seat. A short time later when the driver looked back, he saw the sailor holding his sea bag on his lap. “Set the bag on the seat beside you,” he suggested. The sailor replied, “Oh it is enough that you give me a ride. You do not need to carry my sea bag also.”

Application: Only God knows how many times I have treated God the same way. He who carried my sins is able to carry my cares. He who carried my iniquities is able to carry my diseases. He who carries my life is able to carry my worries and weaknesses. The sailor had a ride to his front door, my LORD will carry me through heaven’s gates!

Prayer: Heavenly Father, I can trust you. You care for me! Amen

Scripture: 2Samuel (NIV) 18:1 David mustered the men who were with him and appointed over them commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds. 2 David sent out his troops, a third under the command of Joab, a third under Joab’s brother Abishai son of Zeruiah, and a third under Ittai, the Gittite.

Observation: David was running from his son, Absalom who was trying to take over the kingdom of Israel. In these verses we read the simple organizational structure David used to prepare his men for war. I have met people who felt any organization was not spiritual; however in the Gospels we read of Jesus organizing people. In Mark, chapter six, He had the 5000 people sit down in groups of 50’s and 100’s before feeding them. In the same chapter we read He sent out His disciples two by two.

Application: Organization is a tool God has given us to use in accomplishing His assignments. Even everyday tasks like doing the wash, requires separating the whites from the colors. Cooking often requires some items to be mixed together before adding in other ingredients. In the church some are teachers and others serve on the worship team. If I do not organize my day, my daily devotional time can be easily pushed aside.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, in those areas where I have authority, I need the Holy Spirit to help me organize my resources to accomplish your will. Amen

May 9, 2015: SOAP #1983: 2Samuel 17; Psalm 71; Matthew 26

Completing the cycle…

Scripture: Psalm (NIV) 71:18 Even when I am old and gray, do not forsake me, my God, till I declare your power to the next generation, your mighty acts to all who are to come.

Observation: Here is a prayer everyone can pray. If we are not old and gray, we hope to become old and gray. The only thing that can stop us from growing old and gray is to die young.

Even in his old age, David had a purpose in life. It was to make sure that the following generation knew that God was both capable and willing to do mighty acts on the behalf of men. What God had done for David, God would do for the following generation.

Application: Two things I take from this passage. First, I need to be sure to pass along to the next generation the things God has done for me. Second, I need to encourage others in my generation to be faithful to pass along a testimony of what God has done for them.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, the cycle of your work in my life is not complete until I have told the next generation. Holy Spirit, show me the opportunities I have to tell others what you have done for me. Amen

Scripture: Psalm (NIV) 32:7 You are my hiding place; you will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance.

Observation: What a beautiful thought. My life is hidden with Christ in God! (Colossians 3:3) I can depend on Him for my protection. He surrounds me with songs of deliverance which build my faith. If God is my protector, of whom should I be afraid!

Application: I like that God surrounds me with songs of deliverance. Is He doing the singing, or is He singing though others? I am not sure. Sometimes I have a song playing in my mind and often I hear my wife singing as she works around our home. One after another she will sing the worship choruses we sang 20-25 years ago. They are songs of worship and songs of confession of the power, love, and wisdom of our God.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, it is good to have my life hidden with Christ in you! You are my protector and you fill my life with songs of deliverance! Amen

May 7: 2Samuel 13, 14; Matthew 24

Not Expected

Scripture: Matthew (NIV) 24:42 Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. 43 But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. 44 So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.

Observation: In the 1970s Sharon and I taught Sunday School classes in the chapel at Kaneohe Marine Corps Air Station in Hawaii. One day I asked the young people in my class what would be the latest date we should expect Jesus to return. They said 1985, 1990, etc. with the latest being 2000. When I asked them why they chose that year, their response was: I want to graduate from college; I want to have my own family; etc. Each one had figured the coming of Jesus according to their own time line.

Application: Jesus is not coming when I expect Him, or when it is convenient for me, or when I have accomplished everything I want to do. I must be ready. I must live ready. From looking at Matthew 24, this is the right season for His return; it may just be today!

Prayer: Jesus, I believe you are about to return to this earth. Even so come, Lord Jesus! (Revelation 22:20) Amen

Scripture: 2Samuel (NIV) 11:27 After the time of mourning was over, David had her (Bathsheba) brought to his house, and she became his wife and bore him a son. But the thing David had done displeased the LORD.

Observation: Again and again we read that The LORD gave David victory. First over a lion and a bear, then over the giant Goliath, then in his battles—The LORD made David victorious. Now we read "But the thing David had done displeased the LORD." What a terrible thing: to displease the One responsible for our victory! David remained the king, but his sin cost him dearly!

Application: My goal is to make God smile—to bring Him joy. When I do things that displease Him, I must be quick to repent, to admit my sin, to beg forgiveness, and to abandon the sinful action. He is quick to forgive, but sometimes, like King David, I still have to deal with the consequences of my actions.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, your holiness demands that I too be holy. Your love provided a way for me to be made holy, not on the basis of my actions, but on the basis of what Jesus did by dying in my place! Then your Holy Spirit living within me helps me live my life pleasing to you! You thought of everything! Amen

Scripture: Matthew (NIV) 22:15 Then the Pharisees went out and laid plans to trap him in his words. 16 They send their disciples to him along with the Herodians. “Teacher,” they said, “we know that you are a man of integrity and that you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. You aren’t swayed by others, because you pay no attention to who they are. 17 Tell us then, what is your opinion? Is it right to pay the imperial tax to Caesar or not?”

Observation: What an excellent witness they gave of the character of Jesus—of his integrity, his truthfulness, and his refusal to be bent by the public! But they were just "buttering Him up." Someday they will have to answer for those words. If they believed their own words, then why did they not listen to Him and do what He said?

Application: When I praise God and speak of His wisdom and truthfulness, do I then ignore what He says and trust my own wisdom? Do I call him LORD then live like his word does not matter? I need to listen to the words of some of the worship songs I sing to the Lord. Am I willing to live out the words I sing?

Prayer: Holy Spirit, remind me of the words I have spoken in praise and the songs I have sung in worship. Remind me especially when I am tempted to live like they are not true. Amen

Scripture: 1Chronicles (NIV) 19:10 Joab saw that there were battle lines in front of him and behind him; so he selected some of the best troops in Israel and deployed them against the Arameans. 11 He put the rest of the men under the command of Abishai his brother, and they were deployed against the Ammonites. 12 Joab said, “If the Arameans are too strong for me, they you are to rescue me; but if the Ammonites are too strong for you, then I will rescue you. 13 Be strong, and let us fight bravely for our people and the cities of our God. The LORD will do what is good in his sight.”

Observation: The Arameans hired the Ammonites to help them fight against Israel. When Joab, Israel’s leader, realized that he was surrounded, he divided his army into two fighting units. Then he gave them a simple plan to support one another and told them to fight bravely. Finally he acknowledged that the outcome of the battle would depend on the LORD! Reading on we find that the Arameans fled before Israel, and when the Ammonites saw the Arameans fleeing, they too ran.

Application: What a simple outline for me to follow when the outcome of my efforts is in question. I need to divide my time and apply myself as best I can. Then I need to walk in faith that God will bring about the best results.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, I can move with courage because I can trust you. You will work everything out for my good and for your glory! Amen

Scripture: 1Chronicles (NIV) 17:16 Then King David went in and sat before the LORD and he said: “Who am I, LORD God, and what is my family, that you have brought me this far?”

Observation: David had it in his heart to build a house/temple for the LORD. Up to this time, the Ark was sitting inside a tent that David had pitched for it. God had just spoken to David, that instead of David building the LORD a house, the LORD was going to build David a house! David’s son, Solomon would be the one to build the LORD’s house. David was thinking of the next few years; God was thinking of the next generation. David was astonished that God would so favor him and his family. He had to just go and sit before the LORD. He sat down just to think. He sat down to let his mind grasp God’s word.

Application: I remember studying the character of God, His love and holiness. I remember just sitting and trying to wrap my thoughts around these two moral characteristic of an Eternal, Omniscient, and Omnipotent God. I remember just sitting in a little office at Bayview Chapel in Hawaii for hours and just doing nothing but thinking! God amazes me! He far surpasses my limited ability to know Him intellectually. To expand my mental understanding of His greatness he mixes experiences I have with what I read in His Word. He teaches me and He shows me. The incomprehensible becomes more understandable as I experience His working in my life.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, sometimes all I can do is sit! You are the revealer and the teacher. Grow my understanding of you and your workings. Amen

May 2: 1Chronicles 16; Psalm 106; Matthew 19

Touching Through Me!

Scripture: Matthew (NIV) 19:13 Then people brought little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them and pray for them. But the disciples rebuked them. 14 Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” 15 When he had placed his hands on them, he went on from there.

Observation: The disciples overlooked children because they were small and their contribution did not have value in their eyes. The children would interrupt the important ministry of Jesus. But to Jesus, the children were not an interruption. Ministry to adults could be interrupted for ministry to children. They were at the heart of why He came. People who minister to children are extensions of His heart!

Application: Jesus still places his hands on little children. He considered my hands as His own and He touches them through me.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, my hands belong to my hands belong to you; let my touch minister Your Presence and favor. Amen