March 11, 2017: SOAP #2655:  Deuteronomy 16-18; Psalm 38; Galatians 2

Scripture:  Deuteronomy (NIV) 16:18 Appoint judges and officials for each of your tribes in every town the LORD your God is giving you, and they shall judge the people fairly.  19 Do not pervert justice or show partiality. Do not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and twists the words of the righteous.  20 Follow justice and justice alone, so that you may live and possess the land the LORD your God is giving you.

Observation:  Through Moses, God is giving instructions for establishing the government when they settle in the Promised Land.  Justice is priority.  “Follow justice and justice alone…”    Justice is more important than preferences.  It is more important than sympathy.  Mercy is also important, but it must be based on justice.  God can give us mercy because justice was satisfied at the cross.

Application:   A government cannot last that always gives mercy without satisfying the demand of justice.  It is like a bank who mercifully loans money to every need presented but does not demand the loans to be justly settled.  When wronged, I can give mercy because I can satisfy justice’s demand by forgiving and bearing the wrong myself.

Prayer:   Heavenly Father, Your holiness demands justice. In love, You provided a way for me to have mercy.  Jesus willingly bore my wrong!  Thank You!  Thank You!  Thank You!  Amen

Pastor Leon
Making friends for time and eternity!

March 10, 2017: SOAP #2654:  Deuteronomy 13-15; Galatians 1

Scripture:  Galatians (NIV) 1:16 … I did not consult any man, 17 nor did I go up to Jerusalem to see those who were apostles before I was, but I went immediately into Arabia and later returned to Damascus. 
18 Then after three years, I went up to Jerusalem to get acquainted with Peter and stayed with him fifteen days. 
19 I saw none of the other apostles—only James, the Lord’s brother.

 Observation:     After his time in seclusion, Paul goes to Jerusalem.  He saw James, the head of the church, but the emphasis is on the meeting with Peter.  I know I am reading between the lines, but I wonder if it was not because Peter had denied the Lord yet was restored to ministry by the Lord.   I wonder if Paul was not working through his feelings of having persecuted the Lord’s body so fervently.  I wonder if he identified with Peter and was interested in knowing how Peter had worked through his failings.  Perhaps Paul was wondering if he could be accepted in the church.  I wonder if Peter’s failings did not provide encouragement for Paul.   (It is interesting to note that Paul did not force his ministry on the church.  His ministry did not start until Barnabas came looking for him.) 

Application:   Everyone has a past.  Not everything in our past is something we enjoy remembering.  What a great joy to know that God forgives and forgets our past.   I have found that God takes the sins of my past and moves them from my active memory and makes them like something I read about in a book.  Then at times He uses the lessons learned to help others.
     

Prayer:   Lord, You are Lord of my present and my past.  If something in my past is useful to encourage others, it is Yours.  Amen

Pastor Leon

Making friends for time and eternity! 

March 9, 2017: SOAP #2653:  Deuteronomy 10-12; Mark 16

Scripture:  Deuteronomy (NIV) 10:18 He [the LORD your God] defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the alien, giving him food and clothing.  19 And you are to love those who are aliens, for you yourselves were aliens in Egypt.

Observation:  Along with caring for the child who has lost its father, and the wife who has lost her husband, God cares for the alien/immigrant.  He cares for the stranger who is new to the country and the one who has no citizenship rights.

Application:  If I consider myself God’s child…  If I claim that the Holy Spirit dwells inside of me…  If I claim to love God and want to please Him with my life…  …then I must love the immigrants living around me.  Their standing with our government is a temporal.   Their standing with God is eternal.

Prayer:   Holy Spirit, draw my attention to immigrants living around me.  Use my words and actions to encourage them and point them to you.    Amen

Pastor Leon
Making friends for time and eternity!

March 8, 2017: SOAP #2652:  Deuteronomy 7-9; Mark 15

Scripture:  Deuteronomy (NIV) 7:7 The LORD did not set his affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples. 8 But it was because the LORD loved you and kept the oath he swore to your forefathers that he brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the land of slavery, from the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt. 9 Know therefore that the LORD your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commands. 10 But those who hate him he will repay to their face by destruction; he will not be slow to repay to their face those who hate him.

Observation:  This chapter contains insight into God’s character.  He loves because He chooses to love.  His love is uninfluenced.  He is faithful.  He keeps His word.  He is eternal and does not change.  He remains true to His love and word.  He is omnipotent.  There is no power on earth that can withstand Him.   It is foolish to stand against Him

Application:   This is the God Who loves me!  This is the God I serve.  He is not hard to know.  He is not a mystery character.  The better I know Him, the stronger my faith.  My confidence grows that He can and will act according to His character.

Prayer:   Heavenly Father, You are amazing!  You are perfect in all Your ways!  Amen

Pastor Leon
Making friends for time and eternity!

March 7, 2017: SOAP #2651:  Deuteronomy 5-6; Psalm 43; Mark 14

Scripture:  Deuteronomy (NIV) 6:22 Before our eyes the LORD sent miraculous signs and wonders— great and terrible—upon Egypt and Pharaoh and his whole household.  23 But he BROUGHT US OUT from there to BRING US IN and give us the land that he promised on oath to our forefathers.

Observation:   God did such great miracles in delivering Israel from Egypt.  If God accomplished such great feats in BRINGING THEM OUT of Egypt, they could expect Him to do just as great feats in BRINGING THEM IN the Promised Land.

Application:   Again I see the emphasis on God looking beyond the past to what He is planned for the future.  God has spoken to me, has protected me in battle, has given me specific direction, has healed me, has taught me, has provided for me…  Certainly, I can expect Him to accomplish His will for my future.

Prayer:    Holy Spirit, You are just as wise and as powerful as You have ever been at any time in my life!   I can trust You!  I do trust You!  Accomplish Your will in my life.  Amen

Pastor Leon
Making friends for time and eternity!

March 6, 2017: SOAP #2650:  Deuteronomy 3-4; Psalm 36; Mark 13

Scripture:  Deuteronomy (NIV) 4:20 But as for you, the LORD took you and brought you out of the iron-smelting furnace, out of Egypt, to be the people of his inheritance, as you now are.

Observation:   Israel was preparing to enter the Promised Land and Moses was giving his farewell address.   Moses emphasizes that God had more interest in Israel than just getting them out of Egypt.  He had a plan to establish them in the Promised Land and prepare them to become the birth place for the Messiah!

Application:  Getting me out of my present trouble may be the priority for me, but God always has a plan for the future.  He is looking beyond my deliverance, beyond my healing, beyond my freedom to how I can be useful and bring Him glory.

Prayer:   Heavenly Father, thank you for Your deliverance; thank you for your healing; thank you for your freedom.  May my appreciation be seen in serving you and bringing you glory.  Amen

Pastor Leon
Making friends for time and eternity!

March 5, 2017: SOAP #2649:  Deuteronomy 1-2; Mark 12

Scripture:  Deuteronomy (NIV) 1:6 The LORD our God said to us at Horeb, “You have stayed long enough at this mountain.

Observation:   The Israelites had been through some high emotionally stressing times.  Increased work responsibilities, the time of the 10 plagues on Egypt, being trapped at the Red Sea then crossing on dry land.  Then God brought them to Sinai, in the Horeb range of mountains.  It was a time of God giving them the Law and directions for the Tabernacle.  It was a time of rest and productivity.  But God did not bring them out of Egypt to leave them at Sinai/Horeb.  The goal was the Promised Land!

Application:   There are times when God has told me that it was time to move on.  I had been in that location long enough.  Sometimes it was a physical location, but most of the time, it has been a change in ministry.   Sometimes, it was time to get busy doing what He has given me to do.  Someday the Lord will say, “You have stayed long enough on this planet.”  He will call us, individually or corporately, to move on from this earth to our heavenly “promised land!”   “What a day that will be!”

Prayer:   Holy Spirit, keep me ready to move on at your direction.  Amen

Pastor Leon
Making friends for time and eternity!

March 4, 2017: SOAP #2648:  Numbers 34-36; Mark 11

Scripture:  Mark (NIV) 11:1 As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage and Bethany at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of his disciples, 2 saying to them, “Go to the village ahead of you, and just as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no-one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here.  3 If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ tell him, ‘The Lord needs it and will send it back here shortly.’”  4 They went and found a colt outside in the street, tied at a doorway. As they untied it, 5 some people standing there asked, “What are you doing, untying that colt?”  6 They answered as Jesus had told them to, and the people let them go.

Observation:   It would seem unnatural for someone not to ask why they were taking colt.  Perhaps it was the owner who asked why they were untying the colt?  That Jesus simple answer satisfied them might indicate that they were familiar with the Lord.  Jesus had been in this area previously in His ministry.  Perhaps someone in their family had been healed.

Application:  I want to know the Lord well enough to quickly respond to any request He makes of me.  If the Lord needs something in my possession, it is His, for me to do with as He desires.

Prayer:   Lord, how can I call you Lord if I do not take this attitude. My life is Yours.  My possessions are Yours.  My time is Yours. My talents are Yours.  Use me as You desire.  Amen

Pastor Leon
Making friends for time and eternity!

March 3, 2017: SOAP #2647:  Numbers 32-33; Mark 10

Scripture:  Mark (NIV) 10:46 Then they came to Jericho. As Jesus and his disciples, together with a large crowd, were leaving the city, a blind man, Bartimaeus (that is, the Son of Timaeus), was sitting by the roadside begging.  47 When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”  48 Many rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”  49 Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.” So, they called to the blind man, “Cheer up! On your feet! He’s calling you.”  50 Throwing his cloak aside, he jumped to his feet and came to Jesus.  51 “What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus asked him. The blind man said, “Rabbi, I want to see.”  52 “Go,” said Jesus, “your faith has healed you.” Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road.

Observation:    This man became part of the triumphal entry into Jerusalem. Perhaps his testimony caused others to join in the rejoicing. After all, how does one react upon receiving their sight? Along the road would be others who had often seen the blind beggar.  Word would have spread about this miracle.  Obviously Bartimaeus caused quite a stir.

Application:  Does my response to what Jesus has done for me make others want to follow Him too?  Hmmm …

Prayer:   Heavenly Father, how can I not rejoice when I consider all You and Your Son, Jesus, have done for me!  May my joy be contagious!  Amen

Pastor Leon
Making friends for time and eternity!

March 2, 2017: SOAP #2646:  Numbers 30-31; Mark 9

Scripture:  Mark (NIV) 9:30 They left that place and passed through Galilee. Jesus did not want anyone to know where they were, 31 because he was teaching his disciples. He said to them, “The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of men. They will kill him, and after three days he will rise.

Observation:   Jesus cared enough to prepare His disciples for the hard times ahead.  He was going to be killed.  But He did not stop with “they will kill him,” He continued on to “after three days he will rise!”

Application:  If I am faithful to read God’s Word, I will find many warnings about hard times ahead.  In this world, I will have tribulation.  I cannot escape it.  But if I am faithful to read God’s Word, I will also find that there is glory on the other side of the trouble.   In fact, “our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.  (Romans 8:18)

Prayer:   Holy Spirit, help me to look through the trouble to the glories ahead.  May my troubles never block my view of the glories ahead.   Amen

Pastor Leon
Making friends for time and eternity!