August 17, 2019: SOAP #3544:  Jeremiah 23, 25; John 19

Scripture:  Jeremiah (NIV) 23:29 “Is not my word like fire,” declares the LORD, “and like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces? 30 “Therefore,” declares the LORD, “I am against the prophets who steal from one another words supposedly from me. 31 Yes,” declares the LORD, “I am against the prophets who wag their own tongues and yet declare, ‘The LORD declares.’

Observation:   How important it is for those speaking for the Lord to make sure that the word they bring is from the Lord.  With today’s technology, it is so easy to get a message from someone else’s book of sermons or online from some web site. But as Tozer put it so well: “It is God’s present word to a particular people that the preacher is to bring.”  (Emphasis mine.)

Application:   It is so important to hear what God IS SAYING to me and to those to whom God sends me.  Tuning my heart to the voice His spirit is done by daily and prayerfully reading the Bible.  Many times, what He is currently saying to me is found within those scriptures.  He also speaks to me through what I hear, what I see, and what I read.   Sometimes God places a thought in my mind or guides my thought progression to His conclusion.

Prayer:  Holy Spirit, watch over my SOAPs that I faithfully write what you are saying to ME.  Watch over each one who reads these SOAPs that they faithfully hear what you are saying to THEM.  The SOAP may not contain your word to them for today, but you do have something to say to each one today.  Help them to hear YOUR word.  Amen

Pastor Leon
Making friends for time and eternity!