Pastor Leon’s SOAP:  Scripture, Observation, Application, Prayer
February 14, 2022: SOAP #4456:  Leviticus 23-24; Psalm 24; Acts 21

SCRIPTURE:  Acts (NIV) Christians in Jerusalem advising Paul on a way to prove he still practiced the Jewish law—Acts 21:24 Take these men, join in their purification rites and pay their expenses, so that they can have their heads shaved. Then everybody will know there is no truth in these reports about you, but that you yourself are living in obedience to the law…
Jews in Jerusalem starting a riot over Paul—Acts 21:29 (They had previously seen Trophimus the Ephesian in the city with Paul and assumed that Paul had brought him into the temple area.)…
Roman commander arresting Paul—Acts 21:38 “Aren’t you the Egyptian who started a revolt and led four thousand terrorists out into the desert some time ago?”

OBSERVATION: The elders of the church in Jerusalem assumed that Paul’s paying the temple tax for himself and four other men who had taken a similar vow would be proof that Paul was following the law. 

Some Jews in Jerusalem were zealous to protect the temple and Jewish religion.  In seeing Paul in the temple area, they assumed that he had brought his non-Jewish friends there also. 

Upon hearing the rioting happening in the city and seeing Paul at the center, the Roman commander assumed that Paul was an Egyptian who had started riots in the past. 

APPLICATION:  The above assumptions changed the course of Paul’s life.  As tragic as they were, God used them as the first steps to get Paul to Rome.  God used Paul to minister to many along the way to Rome.  While in prison, God used Paul to write letters that are now part of our scriptures.  I feel certain that Satan now knows the great mistake he made in having Paul locked in prison! 

At times my life can be affected by the assumptions of others.  But I can rest in God.  God’s will for my life is greater than any man’s assumptions about me!  What the devil meant for evil, God turns for good.  A diamond dropped in the mud is not changed by its circumstances, neither can my circumstances change me. 

PRAYER:  Lord, your power on the inside is greater than any power on the outside!  Wrong assumptions by others cannot determine my eternal destination nor my usefulness in God’s kingdom!  Amen.

Pastor Leon                        
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