January 11, 2017: SOAP #2596:  Genesis 27-28; Psalm 4; Luke 11

Scripture:  Luke (NIV) 11:9 “So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.

Observation:   Sometimes we have but to ask.  With simple faith believing and receiving from God.

At other times, it is for us to seek out the answer.   To search the scriptures, to search our hearts, to keep looking as we wait for God to reveal the answer.

And there are times some action is required, so we knock.  Some personal involvement comes as we invest our time and resources into the matter for which we need His involvement.  Of course, our involvement is only like knocking on the door.  The opening of the door comes from Him.  The answer in the open door expresses His wisdom, power and resources.

Application:   First:  I must not stop asking and believing.  Second:  I must not stop seeking until I find.  Do I desire it enough to seek?  Third:  I must not stop knocking until the door is opened and God is revealed in the situation for which I am praying.  Am I desperate enough to keep on knocking?

Prayer:   Holy Spirit, continue to teach me to pray and how to pray.  May the Heavenly Father enjoy hearing from me in prayer.  Amen

Pastor Leon
Making friends for time and eternity!

January 10, 2017: SOAP #2595:  Genesis 25-26; Psalm 6; Luke 10

Scripture:  Luke (NIV) 10:1 After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go. 2 He told them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.  3 Go! I am sending you out like lambs among wolves…. 9 Heal the sick who are there and tell them, ‘The kingdom of God is near you.’… 17 The seventy-two returned with joy and said, “Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name.”

Observation:   Yesterday, the Lord directed my attention to the 12 apostles participating in ministry.  In the above verses, Jesus increased the number to 72.   They found that what Jesus had imparted to them to be greater than demon power.  They found the ministry to be a source of joy.

Application:   The Holy Spirit has been given to me to equip me for ministry.  I miss out on the joy God has for me when I withhold myself from being used of God.

Prayer:    Holy Spirit, use me in ministering to others in the Mighty Name of Jesus.  I surrender myself to be used of you.  Amen

Pastor Leon
Making friends for time and eternity!

January 9, 2017: SOAP #2594:  Genesis 23-24; Luke 9

Scripture:  Luke (NIV) 9:1 When Jesus had called the Twelve together, he gave them power and authority to drive out all demons and to cure diseases, 2 And he sent them to preach the kingdom of God, and to heal the sick.  … 6 And they departed, and went through the towns, preaching the gospel, and healing everywhere. … 10 And the apostles, when they were returned, told him all that they had done…

Observation:    Not all the ministry in the gospels was done by Jesus.  Jesus sent THEM to preach, THEM to heal the sick, THEY departed, THEY went through the towns, THEY preached, THEY healed, THEY returned, THEY reported back.

Application:   Jesus was preparing the disciples for the time He would no longer be with them.  Later in the book of Acts, the church continued the ministry of Jesus.  As Jesus ministered in the power of the Holy Spirit, so the early church ministered in that same Spirit.

Prayer:   Holy Spirit, find me to be an open channel through which you can continue the ministry of Jesus today.  Flow through me, Holy Spirit, flow through me. Amen

Pastor Leon
Making friends for time and eternity!

January 8, 2017: SOAP #2593:  Genesis 20-22; Luke 8

Scripture:  Luke (NIV) 8:41 Then a man named Jairus, a ruler of the synagogue, came and fell at Jesus’ feet, pleading with him to come to his house 42 because his only daughter, a girl of about twelve, was dying. As Jesus was on his way, the crowds almost crushed him.

Observation:   Yesterday we read of a Centurion coming to Jesus on behalf of a highly-valued servant who was dying.  In the verses above we read of a Father seeking help for a dying daughter.   During an interruption, they received news that the girl had died, which resulted in even a greater miracle—a resurrection!  Yesterday’s Centurion and today’s father were both concerned about people who were special to them.

Application:   Both the Centurion and the father set a good example for me to care for people special to me.  I must be quick to go to Jesus on their behalf.   I may feel helpless in doing anything to help those I love, but as long as I can pray, the situation is not hopeless.

Prayer:   Heavenly Father, I bring my loved ones to you. I am so limited in how I can help, but you are limitless!  They do not have a problem to difficult for you!  Amen

Pastor Leon
Making friends for time and eternity!

January 7, 2017: SOAP #2592:  Genesis 18-19; Psalm 3; Luke 7

Scripture:  Luke (NIV) 7:2 There a centurion’s servant, whom his master valued highly, was sick and about to die.  3 The centurion heard of Jesus and sent some elders of the Jews to him, asking him to come and heal his servant.

Observation:    The servant was highly valued.  Probably, the centurion could have easily replaced him, but there was a personal connection.  This servant was special to the centurion so he was willing to do whatever he could do to see that he would recover and not die.  And from what he had heard, there was nothing better to do than getting in touch with Jesus!

Application:   What about the people that are special to me?  The best thing I can do is to get in touch with Jesus on their behalf.   I know Jesus better than that centurion.  Contacting Him should be my first step in helping them, not my last step.  Contacting Jesus (praying) might lead to other steps, but it should always be the first step.  It just might be the only step needed!

Prayer:   Heavenly Father, some people are too special to me not to pray.  Holy Spirit, remind me to pause for prayer before running off to do something for others.  Amen

Pastor Leon
Making friends for time and eternity!

January 6, 2017: SOAP #2591:  Genesis 15-17; Luke 6

Scripture:  Luke (NIV) 6:37 “Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.  38 Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”

Observation:    My attention was drawn to “with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”    This is the same principle as in Galatians 6:7 “Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.”

Application:   Obviously, the largeness or smallness of my giving affects how I receive.  I give with a small cup and I reap a small cup, but it is more because it is “pressed down, shaken together, and running over.”  Then I have a little more to add to my large cup of giving.  From which I reap a large cup that is “pressed down, shaken together, and running over.”  Then I have more to add to my pail of giving from which I reap a pail…  And so it goes and grows!

My tithe is just returning to God what is His.  If I do not tithe, the Bible says I am robbing God!  So, my giving comes from my 90%.  It can start small, but faithfulness and time will grow it into a great ministry.  A special part of the return on giving is joy.

Prayer:    Heavenly Father, thank you for including the principles of giving in your Holy Word.  I am blest to see them working in my life.  Amen

Pastor Leon
Making friends for time and eternity!

January 5, 2017: SOAP #2590:  Genesis 12-14; Luke 5

Scripture:  Luke (NIV) 5:30 But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law who belonged to their sect complained to his disciples, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and ‘sinners’?” 31 Jesus answered them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.  32 I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”

Observation:   Jesus was recognized as a religious man.  He was a teacher who taught the ways of God.  He knew the scriptures.  So why did He eat with people who were obviously sinners?   The religious people of His day could not figure Him out.    But Jesus knew His purpose.  He was on a mission.  He had come to heal the physically and spiritually sick.  He had come to call sinners to repentance and into a relationship with God.  Interacting with sinners was a primary purpose of His ministry.

Application:   As a Christian it is easy to get focused on ministry to other Christians.  But if Leon wants to be like Jesus, being around sinners and interacting with unbelievers must be a priority.

Prayer:   Holy Spirit, continue to remind me of my Heavenly Father’s priorities He has set in my life.  Help me recognize and seize every opportunity to interact with the unbelievers around me.  Amen

Pastor Leon
Making friends for time and eternity!

January 4, 2017: SOAP #2589:  Genesis 9-11; Luke 4

Scripture:  Luke (NIV) 4:17 The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written: 18 “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, 19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” 20 Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him, 21 and he began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”

Observation:   With this verse from Isaiah, Jesus proclaims the basis for his ministry.  Jesus was not ministering from His own standing as God the Son, but from the presence, leading, and power for the Holy Spirit working through Him as the Son of Man.  Luke continues this priority as he writes of the ministry of the church in the book of Acts.  The miracles recorded in the book of Acts can be understood as the church continued in the anointing of the Holy Spirit.

Application:   Jesus set the example of relying on the Holy Spirit.  The early church followed His example.  Now it is for me to follow His example in relying on the Holy Spirit in my life.

Prayer:   Heavenly Father, let Isaiah’s prophecy be fulfilled in the church today—in my life!  Amen

Pastor Leon
Making friends for time and eternity!

January 3, 2017: SOAP #2588:  Genesis 6-8; Luke 3

Scripture:  Genesis (NIV) 7:24 The waters flooded the earth for a hundred and fifty days.  Genesis 8:1 But God remembered Noah and all the wild animals and the livestock that were with him in the ark, and he sent a wind over the earth, and the waters receded.

Observation:  Every day being locked into the Ark with all the animals, Noah might have wondered if God had forgotten them.  Noah would have been watching the amount of food and water being consumed each day and wondering how long it would last, hoping there would be enough.  But the One who designed and planned it all, knew exactly how much food would be needed, exactly how much water, exactly how long it would need to last.  They were not forgotten.  God was remembering!  They were safe in God’s memory!

Application:   The One who designed the ark, is the same One who designed this earth.  Surely, He did not miscalculate how much land area would be needed to grow food and support the animals man would need.  Greed and mismanagement have hindered production of food needed today.  But as this world marches toward Armageddon, God has not forgotten us!

Prayer:   Heavenly Father, my faith is in your memory!  I am safe in your memory!  You have not forgotten me.   Amen

Pastor Leon
Making friends for time and eternity!

January 2, 2017: SOAP #2587:  Genesis 3-5; Luke 2

Scripture:  Genesis (NIV) 3:1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”

Observation:   In the first chapter of Genesis we find a major characteristic of God is that He speaks. And now in chapter three we find Satan also speaking and sowing doubt about what God said. We often think that the first sin was the eating of the forbidden fruit, but it really started by doubting God’s word.

Application:  God’s word is as faithful and true as God’s character.  (The same can be said about any person.)   It is important for me to know that God is completely trustworthy.  And it is important for me to know what God has said.   Satan will use whatever voice is available to him to try to get me to doubt God’s Word.

Prayer:    Heavenly Father, what a blessing to know that you, my God, are totally trustworthy.  Your word is true and a good foundation for my life. Holy Spirit, help me quickly recognize whose voice I am hearing.   Amen

Pastor Leon
Making friends for time and eternity!