June 01, 2018: SOAP #3102: Proverbs 19-21; Romans 13

Scripture:  Romans (NIV) 13:7 Give everyone what you owe him: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.

Observation and Application:    My debts should be my priority.  If for some reason I am unable to pay as agreed when the debt was incurred, it is my responsibility to inform the one owed.  I should not put it off until they come looking for me. When I go to them, I should tell them four things:  First I should apologize and acknowledge my responsibility for the debt.  Second, I should tell them what I am doing to work on the problem.  Third, I should let them know when I expect to be able to pay what I owe.  Fourth, I should promise to keep them updated on a regular basis.  And then I should keep my word.  They should never have to take the initiative to find me.

In this verse, Paul is dealing with debts that everyone owes.  We are all responsible for taxes, respect and honor.  We may not have considered respect and honor as debts, but when someone has done something for us for which we cannot pay, or the payment made does not suffice for the value of their service, then we owe them appreciation, respect, and honor.  When someone has a position of responsibility or gone beyond the call of duty, we owe them more than money.

Prayer:  Holy Spirit, May I honor my heavenly Father with the finances He has put under my control.   Give me wisdom in dealing with my finances, and in settling every debt I owe.  Amen

Pastor Leon
Making friends for time and eternity!

May 31, 2018: SOAP #3101: Proverbs 16-18; Romans 12

Scripture:  Romans (NIV) 12:16 Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited.

Observation:  There are things in which we are called to unity.  We need to be in unity on the truth and work in unity, having a common goal. But here Paul is not saying live in “unity” but to live in “harmony.”  My life is not a carbon copy of yours.  But it should complement yours.

Sharon and myself used to sing together.  Our voices sounded good together because we sang different parts.  We did not sing in unity but harmonized.  When we painted our house, we chose two colors that in our eye look good together and look good when next to the colors in the brick and the color of the shingles on the roof.  The lighter color we used for the larger areas and the darker for the trim.  In my estimation we made good choices.  Our house is pleasing to the eye.

The lives of church members should do the same.  We should complement each other.  We should make each other look good.

Application:   Pride and conceit will destroy the unity of a church as well as the harmony in which we are to live.  The key to singing in harmony is for my individual voice not to dominate and cover over the other voice(s) but to blend in so that all voices are heard.  If an individual voice cannot be heard, harmony is lost.

Prayer:    Holy Spirit, keep my mindful that living in harmony means that it is important for all the voices to be heard.  Use me to help the quieter voices to be heard and the shyer persons to be seen.  Amen

Pastor Leon
Making friends for time and eternity!

May 30, 2018: SOAP #3100: Proverbs 13-15; Romans 11

Scripture:  Proverbs (NIV) 15:31 He who listens to a life-giving rebuke will be at home among the wise.  32 He who ignores discipline despises himself, but whoever heeds correction gains understanding.

Observation:   It is foolish to make little of discipline or correction.  Pride can block the good a persona can gain from such discipline.  No one is so perfect or so knowledgeable that they cannot benefit from such input.  Being offended when corrected can indicate that one sees himself as too good.  Ignoring discipline only hurts oneself.

Application:  I should receive correction with a, “Thank you!”  The person correcting me hopefully saw potential that I could do better, or they saw a way to prevent future trouble.

Prayer:   Holy Spirit, remind me of this verse when I am disciplined or receive correction.  Help me to receive it in humility, to evaluate it properly, and to adjust my life properly.  Even if it is undeserved, let me grow from it.  Amen

Pastor Leon
Making friends for time and eternity!

May 29, 2018: SOAP #3099: Proverbs 10-12; Romans 10

Scripture:  Romans (NIV) 10:1 Brothers, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is that they may be saved.

Observation:    Paul is writing to those he considers brothers, to the Christians in Rome.  From the list in chapter 16 of those to whom Paul sends greetings, we see that there are many in Rome who are special to Paul.  However, it is not his appreciation for these that brings Paul to call them “brothers,” but their having the same Father!  They are members of the same family, the family of God!

Being born a Jew does not mean that one does not need to be born again.  That all Jews accept salvation through Jesus is Paul’s prayer.  Paul’s desire is the same as it should be for every Christian.  The Germans should pray that all Germans be saved.  The English should pray that all English be saved.  Those of American Indian birth should pray that every member of their nation be saved.

Application:  I should pray the same for my people group, my nation, and especially my family members.

Prayer:    Holy Spirit, anoint me to pray for the salvation of others.  Burden my heart to see those close to me brought into God’s Kingdom.  Amen

Pastor Leon
Making friends for time and eternity!

May 28, 2018: SOAP #3098: Proverbs 7-9; Romans 9

Scripture:  Proverbs (NIV) 8:10 Receive my instruction, and not silver; and knowledge rather than choice gold.
11 For wisdom is better than rubies; and all the things that may be desired are not to be compared to it….
17 I [wisdom] love them that love me; and those that seek me early shall find me.

Observation:  Wisdom in one of the main topics in the book of Proverbs.  In the first two verses above, we find that wisdom is more valuable than wealth.  It is more valuable than anything on earth that people find desirable.

Verse 17 shows us that we are not destined to remain with our current level of wisdom.  We can grow in wisdom.  We can search for wisdom.  Wisdom is findable!

Application:   Obtaining wisdom should be as important to me as obtaining wealth.  As I expend my time and energy for a paycheck, I should be willing to expend my time and energy to obtain wisdom.  If I spend 8-10 hours a day at a job for financial gain, and I am not willing to spend even 30 minutes or an hour in prayer and Bible reading, something is wrong with my priorities!   Encouraging my family to join me can result in all gaining wisdom for their lives.

Prayer:    Heavenly Father, you are the source of all wisdom.   Spending time with you increases my wisdom.  (Colossians 2:3; James 1:5) Amen

Pastor Leon
Making friends for time and eternity!

May 27, 2018: SOAP #3097: Proverbs 4-6; Romans 8

Scripture:  Romans (NIV) 8:3 For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so, he condemned sin in sinful man, 4 in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit.

Observation:   Praise God that the Law of Moses was not God’s final answer for sin! That the law could not bring righteousness into the lives of those following it is clearly seen by the fact that sacrifices for breaking the law were given at the very same time the law was given.  God did not give the law and then wait for 200 – 300 years to see how well man was doing in keeping it.  He did not have to have a trial period to see if man could keep it.  He knew from the beginning that man could not keep the law, and so He gave the offerings/sacrifices to cover the sin.

The animal sacrifices of the law were as weak as the law.  The blood of bulls and goats could never cover sin.

But there was an offering coming so powerful that it could pay for sin AND purify the heart!  There was an offering coming that was so powerful that it would only have to be given ONCE for all time!   God was willing to accept the sacrifices of animals because He knew the power of that ONE offering!

Application:   By the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross, I am free from the bondage of sin.  I am free from the bondage of living according to the sinful nature.   The law’s requirements were met on the cross!  Now with the help of the indwelling Holy Spirit, I can live a life pleasing to God!

Prayer:    Heavenly Father, thank you for perfectly understanding my situation.  Thank you for providing the perfect sacrifice for my sin.  Thank you for sending your Holy Spirit to live in me!    Amen

Pastor Leon
Making friends for time and eternity!

May 26, 2018: SOAP #3096: Proverbs 1-3; Romans 7

Scripture:  Romans (NIV) 7:22 For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; 23 but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members.  24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?  25 Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.

Observation:   Paul, in his letter to the Romans, has progressed to the place of Adam and Eve in Genesis 2:9.  There were two trees with fruit.  One was forbidden, one was allowed: “the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.”   There were no limitations put on the “tree of life,” but they were forbidden to eat from “the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.”

At the end of Romans, chapter 7, Paul was experiencing the “knowledge of good” by “delighting in God’s law” in his mind.  He was also experiencing the “knowledge of evil” by the “law of sin at work in his members.”

The reality is that law can only show us what is wrong and how we should live, but law can never be the answer.  Law cannot enable and empower me to live pleasing to God.

Application:   The answer to the dilemma is found in Romans 8:2 where we find the other tree in the Garden (Genesis 2:9), the tree of life.  In Romans 8:2 it is called the “law of the Spirit of life (KJV), or the law of the Spirit who gives life (NIV).” This law sets me free from the law of sin and death!  Living life in the Spirit lifts me above the level of life that is so affected by evil temptation.  Laws come to us as words written down; but the Spirit is life!

Prayer:    Holy Spirit, I cannot live as God designed me to live without your empowering presence in my life!  I surrender to your indwelling and leading.  Have your perfect way in my life.  Amen

Pastor Leon
Making friends for time and eternity!

May 25, 2018: SOAP #3095: 1Kings 10, 11; 2Chronicles 9; Romans 6

Scripture:  Romans (NIV) 6:5 If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection.
6 For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin—
7 because anyone who has died has been freed from sin.
8 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.

Observation:   What a freeing thing is death!  It is like the flight of an airplane that uses even the laws of gravity to rise above the laws of gravity.  It is gravity that holds the atmosphere tightly to the earth.  It is the interaction with that atmosphere that enables the plane to soar above the limits of that same gravity!  The moment its wheels are lifted off the runway; it is free!

Note this verse does not say “anyone for whom Christ died” but “anyone who has died.”  Christ death for me freed me from the results of my past actions.  He took the penalty for my sins.  But it is my death, the death of the “old man,” that frees me from the nature of sin.  What an important distinction!

Application:  Through the conviction of the Holy Spirit, through seeing the grossness of my sins, through sorrowing that I have sinned, through confessing my sins, through asking his forgiveness, I died to my sins.  Through thanking Him for His forgiveness and making Him Lord of my life, I receive His life to enable me to live above the temptation to sin.  I am free!  I am free from sin and its manipulating power!

Prayer:   Heavenly Father, what freedom you have provided for me!  Through the death of your son in my place, through dying to myself and coming alive to the life of Jesus in me, I have died to my old way of living and started living for your pleasure.  What joy you have placed in my heart!  Amen

Pastor Leon
Making friends for time and eternity!

May 24, 2018: SOAP #3094: 1Kings 9; 2Chronicles 8; Psalm 136; Romans 5

Scripture:  Romans (NIV) 5:16 Again, the gift of God is not like the result of the one man’s sin: The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification.

Observation:    What a difference between the gift and the trespass!  In this verse we find the third of six differences listed by the author of Romans. (verses 15-19).  It is the results.  The trespass resulted in judgment and condemnation.  The gift, which came after the trespass, resulted in justification! The result of the trespass, even the result of many trespasses, could not stop the result of the gift! PTL!

Application:  The only life my parents could give me was a life subject to temptation, tainted by sin, and headed for judgment.  Adam’s sin made me a sinner, although I have a history of more than enough sins to make myself a sinner—it only takes one.

I needed new life.  I had to be born again to receive the justification that comes with the gift of eternal life.

My many sins cannot stop the results of the one gift of Jesus death on the cross to bring me justification, to make me just-as-if-I’d never sinned!

Prayer:     Heavenly Father, thank you for your amazing grace that is available to me when, by faith, I receive Jesus’ sacrifice as the payment for my sins and the Lordship of His resurrected life living in and through me!  Amen

Pastor Leon
Making friends for time and eternity!

May 23, 2018: SOAP #3093: 2Chronicles 6, 7; Psalm 135; Romans 4

Scripture:  Romans (NIV) 4:3 What does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.” 4 Now when a man works, his wages are not credited to him as a gift, but as an obligation. 5 However, to the man who does not work but trusts God who justifies the wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness.

Observation:    How was Abraham able to be the “friend of God?”  How did Abraham become the father of the nation, he who had no children of his own? It was simply by faith.  Abraham believed.  He believed what God said.  It is important to God to be believed and trusted!

Abraham did not work to earn his standing before God; he simply received it and held on to it with the “hands” of faith.  This was not something earned but given.  It is not a reward for services rendered, but a gift to one loved.  God was not obligated to Abraham.  God was gracious to Abraham!

God is very interested in our works.  He rewards our works.  However, works can never be the basis of our expectation as though God must pay us what we have earned.  Works do not precede our faith, they come as a response to our faith.  Works are what we do out of appreciation for the grace we have already received by faith.

Application:   When my faith is God and His work for my salvation, I receive the blessings of God’s righteousness credited to my account.  In God’s eyes, I become righteous.  My sins are forgiven, my life is cleansed.  I am justified!  I am made “just as if I’d” never sinned!  Amazing! Through faith I possess what I could never earn or gain on my own.

Prayer:    Heavenly Father, with my mouth and with my actions may I declare that I believe and trust you!  With all I am and all I have, I trust you!  Amen

Pastor Leon
Making friends for time and eternity!