July 11, 2017: SOAP #2777: Isaiah 8-10; Hebrews 8 

Scripture:  Isaiah (NIV) 8:19 When men tell you to consult mediums and spiritists, who whisper and mutter, should not a people enquire of their God? Why consult the dead on behalf of the living?
20 To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, they have no light of dawn.

Observation:  There seems to always be people wanting someone to tell them what their future will be.   In Isaiah’s day, it was the medium or spiritist; today it is the fortune teller, palm reader, tarot cards, or horoscope.   Rather, we should consult God!

Only God can accurately predict my future.  He holds tomorrow and I trust Him only to provide information to me about my future.

Application:  When God speaks, He always speaks in agreement with His Word, the Bible.  The better I know the scriptures, the better I will be able to recognize when God is speaking to me.  To claim to I desire God to speak to me, then To ignore Bible reading is to show God I am  not really interested in hearing from Him!

Prayer:  Heavenly Father, thank you for the Holy Bible.  You are as faithful to speak to me through the scriptures as I am faithful to read it.  Forgive me for the times I have not read it.  Forgive me for the times I read it, but did not allow changes to come to my life.  Amen

Pastor Leon
Making friends for time and eternity!

July 10, 2017: SOAP #2776: Micah 5-7; Hebrews 7

Scripture:  Micah (NIV) 7:7 But as for me, I watch in hope for the LORD, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me.
8 Do not gloat over me, my enemy! Though I have fallen, I will rise. Though I sit in darkness, the LORD will be my light.
9 Because I have sinned against him, I will bear the LORD’s wrath, until he pleads my case and establishes my right. He will bring me out into the light; I will see his righteousness.

Observation:   Evil has taken over the land.  The godly have been “swept” out of the land.  The rulers, judges, and powerful people conspire together to do evil.  Family members cannot be trusted.

Application:  What am I to do when evil appears to take over my nation?
1. Watch in hope: live with expectation that God will work things out for my good. Though I have fallen I will arise!
2. Wait: be patient and ready to respond to God’s call.  Wait for the light!
3. Think truth: think positive!  The LORD will hear me; the LORD will be my light!  Do not let my mind think that He is not listening.  He will bring me out of these troubles!

Prayer:    Lord, like Micah, help me live with confidence in you.  I watch in hope because I know you hear me.  I wait for you and keep my thoughts set upon you.  Amen

Pastor Leon
Making friends for time and eternity!

July 9, 2017: SOAP #2775: Micah 1-4; Hebrews 6

Scripture:  Hebrews (NIV) 6:13 When God made his promise to Abraham, since there was no-one greater for him to swear by, he swore by himself, 14 saying, “I will surely bless you and give you many descendants.”
15 And so after waiting patiently, Abraham received what was promised.

Observation:  Verse 15 says, “Abraham received what was promised.”  The promise was to Abraham and Sarah his wife.  It was a promise of MANY descendants.  Yet Abraham and Sarah had only one son, Isaac.

I am thinking that Abraham was, and is, as alive as was Elijah and Moses when they visited Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration.   When the book of Hebrews was written, the whole nation of Israel was a testimony that God had kept His promise to Abraham.  It is a promise that God continues keeping, for Abraham continues living!  Abraham has received the promise, and is still receiving the promise!

Application:  If I die before receiving a promise from God, I need not feel that God has forgotten His word.  To be not living in this body clearly does not mean that I am not living.  God does not need me present to make things happen.  If Jesus is ever interceding for us, when I join him in heaven, I am quite certain that I will join His ministry of intercession.  I can continue interceding in heaven as I can intercede while on earth.  And God will continue keeping His promises!

Prayer:  Heavenly Father, I trust you to keep your promises.  You have the character of a promise keeper!  Continue to develop that same character in me.  Amen

Pastor Leon
Making friends for time and eternity!

July 8, 2017: SOAP #2774: Hosea 13-14; Psalm 100, 102; Hebrews 5

Scripture: Hebrews (NIV) 5:11 We have much to say about this, but it is hard to explain because you are slow to learn. 12 In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! 13 Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness.

Observation: The author of Hebrews, probably the Apostle Paul, takes his readers to task because they were not mature. These people did not have copies of the scriptures personally available to them. The Old Testament was available in their synagogue, but it is doubtful if they had a copy at home. They had only heard the New Testament letters read aloud. The book of Revelation had not yet been written. They met together to hear Holy Spirit anointed leaders teach them the Word of God.

Application: I wonder what he would say to the church today, especially the church in the USA. Almost all Christians have a personal copy of the Bible in their home; most have multiple copies. Many have several translations in their cellular phone. A large percentage even have a Bible dictionary or other reference books. And yet so many seem unaware of their own weakness and lack of spiritual maturity. So many should be teachers, yet are still looking for others to teach them. They are offended if you ask them to teach a Sunday School class or other Bible study!

Prayer: Holy Spirit, anoint and use the believers who have a knowledge of the scriptures. Stir up and convict those who have remained immature and are not faithful in reading the Bibles they have in their homes. Release into the world a mighty army of spiritual warriors who are armed with your Word hidden in their hearts. Amen

Pastor Leon
Making friends for time and eternity!

July 7, 2017: SOAP #2773: Hosea 10-12; Psalm 73; Hebrews 4

Scripture: Hosea (NIV) 10:12 Sow for yourselves righteousness, reap the fruit of unfailing love, and break up your un-ploughed ground; for it is time to seek the LORD, until he comes and showers righteousness on you.

Observation: … it is time … The previous verses are all negative, having to do with their sin and God’s punishment. Little, if any hope has been given. The prophet, with great urgency here states the obvious: it is time to seek the Lord. Truly, they should have been doing this all along. Instead they have followed their neighbors into sin.

It was their responsibility to sow righteousness. They were responsible for their future harvest in which they would reap what they were to be sowing then.

Application: When the prophet spoke, it was the time for Israel. As I read this today, I hear God saying it is the time for our nation to seek the Lord. In the verses that followed, the prophet did not hold out hope that Israel would do so, but this is what they should have done. May better be spoken of us!

Prayer: Heavenly Father, even as judgment was being spoken for Israel, your Father’s heart can be seen in calling your people to change their ways and seek your face. May many hearts in our nation respond to your call. Amen

Pastor Leon
Making friends for time and eternity!

July 6, 2017: SOAP #2772: Hosea 6-9; Hebrews 3

Scripture: Hebrews (NIV) 3:14 We have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly till the end the confidence we had at first. 15 As has just been said: “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion.” 16 Who were they who heard and rebelled? Were they not all those Moses led out of Egypt? 17 And with whom was he angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the desert? 18 And to whom did God swear that they would never enter his rest if not to those who disobeyed? 19 So we see that they were not able to enter, because of their unbelief.

Observation: What a terrible truth these verses present. God kept his promise to Israel, but many individual Israelites did not make it into the promised land! They exited Egypt but did not enter the Promised Land. They had heard what God wanted them to do. They had seen God’s miraculous deliverance and provision. Yet they refused when God directed them to enter. So, God led them in circles for forty years until that generation died in the wilderness.

Application: Through faith in Jesus, many people have been delivered from their sins. They believed His word, confessed their sins, and received His salvation. Their lives were changed by the Life of Christ that took up residence inside. But like the Israelites who found out it was more than just being delivered from Egypt, the Christian life is more than just the start of being saved from sin. Jesus is coming for His Church. I must continue in the same faith in which I started. I must end with the same faith in which I started and continued.

Prayer: Holy Spirit, help me end with the same faith with which I started. And may it be even stronger at the end than at the beginning! Amen

Pastor Leon
Making friends for time and eternity!

July 5, 2017: SOAP #2771: Hosea 2-5; Hebrews 2

Scripture: Hosea (NIV) 5:10 Judah’s leaders are like those who move boundary stones. I will pour out my wrath on them like a flood of water.
Deuteronomy (NIV) 27:17 “Cursed is the man who moves his neighbor’s boundary stone.”

Observation: Boundary stones served to mark the perimeter of property. My property extends to this point and my neighbor’s property begins at the same point. They represented the authority that established the limits.

Similarly, God has set “boundary stones” to show what is holy and what is sinful, what is acceptable and what is not acceptable. In the Bible we find where God has placed those stones and we move them to our hurt. Leaders who move God’s boundary stones can cause many people to walk into sin, thinking that it is OK. No wonder God holds the leaders highly accountable.

Application: When driving at night in a heavy rain storm, I pay close attention to the lines on the side of the road. I do not see them as a hindrance but as a help for me to drive safely, especially when approaching on-coming traffic. And so the word of God sets the boundaries for me to live safely.

Prayer: Holy Spirit, you moved on holy men to write the scriptures. Move on and in my life to help me understand the scriptures and recognize the boundaries you have provided for my benefit. Amen

Pastor Leon
Making friends for time and eternity!

July 4, 2017: SOAP #2770: 2Kings 15-16; Hosea 1; Hebrews 1

Scripture: 2Kings (NIV) 16:11 So Uriah the priest built an altar in accordance with all the plans that King Ahaz had sent from Damascus…
15 King Ahaz then gave these orders to Uriah the priest: “On the large new altar, offer the morning burnt offering and the evening grain offering, the king’s burnt offering and his grain offering, and the burnt offering of all the people of the land, and their grain offering and their drink offering. Sprinkle on the altar all the blood of the burnt offerings and sacrifices. But I will use the bronze altar for seeking guidance.”
16 And Uriah the priest did just as King Ahaz had ordered.

Observation: God gave the priest the responsibility of maintaining the temple and the order of worship. The priest represented the people to God, and God to the people! However, Uriah, the priest let King Ahaz usurp his priestly authority.

Application: The highest authority is God. Neither the state, nor its citizens are supreme. Government leaders and private citizens live best when submitted to God.

God has placed spiritual leaders in each nation. Franklin Graham’s call for prayer at each state capitol prior to the election and the response of many Godly people shows him to be a spiritual leader. We should pray that Franklin Graham and other spiritual leaders have boldness and clarity in speaking to the political leaders of our nation. Spiritual leaders need not wait for an invitation from the political leaders, they go when sent by God!

Prayer: Holy Spirit, give boldness to myself and to the spiritual leaders in this nation to proclaim Your word clearly. Amen

Pastor Leon
Making friends for time and eternity!

July 3, 2017: SOAP #2769: Isaiah 6-7; 2Chronicles 26-27; Philemon

Scripture: 2Chronicles (NIV) 26:16 But after [King] Uzziah became powerful, his pride led to his downfall. He was unfaithful to the LORD his God, and entered the temple of the LORD to burn incense on the altar of incense.
17 Azariah the priest with eighty other courageous priests of the LORD followed him in. 18 They confronted him and said, “It is not right for you, Uzziah, to burn incense to the LORD. That is for the priests, the descendants of Aaron, who have been consecrated to burn incense. Leave the sanctuary, for you have been unfaithful; and you will not be honored by the LORD God.”
19 Uzziah, who had a censer in his hand ready to burn incense, became angry. While he was raging at the priests in their presence before the incense altar in the LORD’s temple, leprosy broke out on his forehead.

Observation: People who were not priests, including kings, were to stand aside while the priests took care of their responsibility.

It took courage for the priests to stand against King Uzziah. Some priests had been killed for taking such a stand. The limitations were of God and God enforced them.

Application: Today there is a need for spiritual leaders to stand before political leaders and proclaim God’s truth. We must proclaim both the fullness of God’s love and the blinding brilliance of God’s holiness. We must recognize and accept the limitations that God has set for our lives and nation.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, you are the most loving being in all the universe, also the most holy. Help me to see your limitations as protective, not restrictive. Your limitations are expressions of Your love. Amen

Pastor Leon
Making friends for time and eternity!

July 2, 2017: SOAP #2768: Isaiah 4-5; Psalm 115-116; Jude

Scripture: Psalm (NIV) 116:1 I love the LORD, for he heard my voice; he heard my cry for mercy.
2 Because he turned his ear to me…
6 …when I was in great need, he saved me.
7 Be at rest…O my soul, for the LORD has been good to you..
8 …delivered my soul from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling…
16 …you have freed me from my chains.

Observation: In the world in which the Psalmist lived, most, if not all, of the nations served idols. Made out of wood or stone, obviously they were powerless to do anything for their worshippers. What a difference from the God the Psalmist served. The Psalmist’s God heard his prayer, understood his need, and saved him! The Psalmist’s God saved him from death, wiped away his tears, kept his feet from stumbling, and freed him from what bound him! The Psalmist’s God served the Psalmist in greater ways than the Psalmist served his God.

Application: I serve the same God the Psalmist served! And along with the Psalmist I can say, “The Lord has been good to me!”

Prayer: Heavenly Father, surely you have been good to me! May all who know me, know that you have been good to me! May they hear me proclaim your many blessings. Amen

Pastor Leon
Making friends for time and eternity!