Pastor Leon’s SOAP:  Scripture, Observation, Application, Prayer
February 19, 2022: SOAP #4461:  Numbers 5-6; Psalm 22; Acts 26

(reworked from 2016)

SCRIPTURE:  Acts (NIV) 26:24 At this point Festus interrupted Paul’s defense. “You are out of your mind, Paul!” he shouted. “Your great learning is driving you insane.”  25 “I am not insane, most excellent Festus,” Paul replied. “What I am saying is true and reasonable.

OBSERVATION: Festus had invited King Agrippa to listen to Paul and then give advice on what charges to write out when sending Paul to Rome. As Paul is passionately speaking to King Agrippa, Festus loudly interrupts. Two dynamics were at work as Paul was speaking. First, he was speaking truth that could not be denied. It was reasonable. Second, the anointing of the Holy Spirit was upon Paul as he spoke. The Holy Spirit was convicting the hearts of the hearers. The Spirit’s presence can be seen in Festus’ reaction. He had to respond. He interrupted King Agrippa’s hearing.

APPLICATION:  When I am speaking to a large gathering, or to a single individual, it is a team ministry. God depends on me to open my mouth and speak the truth; I depend on the Holy Spirit to do the anointing and convicting. 

The same is true with the SOAPs.  They also are a team ministry.  The Holy Spirit draws my attention to a passage of scripture.  He makes it clear how it applies to my life.  Then I write out the SOAP and send it on its way.  The Holy Spirit applies it to your life.  And for some the team is even larger as another person translates it into your language or someone else prints it on a sheet of paper for you to read. 

But however it arrives to each of us, the SOAPs were started by the Holy Spirit and finally applied by the Holy Spirit to our lives. 

PRAYER:  Holy Spirit, may I always speak word that are true and reasonable. I want to speak words that you can anoint. Amen

Pastor Leon
Making friends for time and eternity!   
On Facebook:  Today’s SOAP from Pastor Leon

Pastor Leon’s SOAP:  Scripture, Observation, Application, Prayer
February 18, 2022: SOAP #4460:  Numbers 3-4; Acts 25

SCRIPTURE:  Numbers (NIV) 3:25 At the Tent of Meeting the Gershonites were responsible for the care of the tabernacle and tent, its coverings, the curtains…—and everything related to their use…. 30-36 … the Kohathite clans … were responsible for … The Merarites were appointed to take care of …
Numbers (NIV) 4:19  … Aaron and his sons are to go into the sanctuary and assign to each man his work and what he is to carry. …47-49  All the men from thirty to fifty years of age who came to do the work of serving and carrying the Tent of Meeting numbered 8,580. At the LORD’s command through Moses, each was assigned his work and told what to carry. Thus they were counted, as the LORD commanded Moses.

OBSERVATION: The task of moving the tabernacle across the wilderness was great.  It was too great for any one person.  So, the Lord broke it down into small pieces.  Each family was responsible for their assignment.  Each man age 30-50 had a responsibility. 

The responsibilities was similar, but each responsibility was different.  In crossing the wilderness, they did not all carry the same thing.  Each had to be faithful. 

For a big plane to fly across the sky, many engineers had to be faithful in designing their assigned responsibility.  One designed the engine, another the wind, another the landing gear, another the tail assembly, etc. The plane flies because all were responsible and faithful.

APPLICATION:  For the church to move across the world today, it takes many people being responsible for their assigned ministry. 

When I am faithful to fulfill my responsibility, God aligns it with others who are faithful to fulfill their responsibility.  Their responsibility is different than mine, but it works together with mine to fill in a part of the bigger picture in which God is glorified.  No part is too small or insignificant. 

And so it is with SOAP.  I carefully listen for what God is saying, type it out and send it over the web.  Others read and forward it to family and friends.  Others translate it and post it on the web.  Others print it out and pass it out by hand. 

PRAYER: Heavenly Father, you have designed your church so that each member, in small or large ways, has opportunity to demonstrate their love and commitment to you.  Amen.

Pastor Leon
Making friends for time and eternity!   
On Facebook:  Today’s SOAP from Pastor Leon

Pastor Leon’s SOAP:  Scripture, Observation, Application, Prayer
February 17, 2022: SOAP #4459:  Numbers 1-2; Acts 24

SCRIPTURE:  Acts (NIV) 24:16 So I strive always to keep my conscience clear before God and man.

OBSERVATION: Paul is on trial before Felix.  The lawyer representing the Jewish religious leaders has made his case against Paul.  Now Paul in beginning his defense makes the statement contained in the verse above.  His goal is to keep a clear conscience.

Paul said, “strive;” it was a goal worthy of the effort required.  Paul said, “always;” it was a goal worthy of a continued effort. 

APPLICATION:  To keep a clear conscience requires having morals that are more than just words.  It requires a moral code by which I judge my own actions. 

Keeping a clear conscience has often required me to apologize and ask for forgiveness. 

The greatest aid I have in keeping a clear conscience is the presence of the Holy Spirit in my life.  He is active in establishing a moral code in my life.  He is active in measuring my actions by that moral code.  And He is active in helping me get back in line when I fail.  He is active in convicting me, forgiving me, and assuring me that the blood of Jesus on the cross has been accepted as the payment necessary for my sins. The blood Jesus shed on the cross has more value than the combined debt of all my sin! 

PRAYER:  Lord Jesus, the blood you shed on the cross is the only agent for cleansing a guilty conscience.  It is readily available to all who come in faith to acknowledge their sins and receive your forgiveness.  What a wonderful feeling:  a clear conscience and a clean heart.  Thank you, Lord, for both.  Amen.

Pastor Leon
Making friends for time and eternity!   
On Facebook:  Today’s SOAP from Pastor Leon

Pastor Leon’s SOAP:  Scripture, Observation, Application, Prayer
February 16, 2022: SOAP #4458:  Leviticus 26-27; Acts 23

SCRIPTURE:  Acts (NIV) 23:23 Then he called two of his centurions and ordered them, “Get ready a detachment of two hundred soldiers, seventy horsemen and two hundred spearmen to go to Caesarea at nine tonight. 24 Provide mounts for Paul so that he may be taken safely to Governor Felix.”

OBSERVATION: The irony of the situation cannot be missed.  Here the same Roman government that crucified Jesus at the insistence of the Jews, now goes to great ends to protect Paul from those same Jews!

It is interesting to me how God used the Roman government for His glory.  First was the tax that brought Joseph and Mary to Bethlehem.  Then the crucifixion (Acts 4:28). The arrest of Paul by the Romans protecting Paul from the Jews.  The peace of the Rome (Pax Roma) allowed Paul to move freely to spread the gospel.  The later imprisonment of the Romans gave Paul the impetus to write much of the New Testament as letters to churches.

Paul’s life was serving God.  That which limited Paul focused him!  Prison limited his visiting the churches, but it focused his ministry on writing letters.  Prison limited his travel but expanded his ministry.

APPLICATION:  That which seems to stand against my ministry may be used by God to expand my ministry!  Lack of resources may limit Leon’s plans, but it can never limit the gospel!  Like blowing wind and flowing water, when its movement is limited, it will find another way around, or over, or under.  The Holy Spirit is more powerful than blowing wind and flowing water!

If your ministry is limited to your family, focus on what God is doing in their lives.  Pray for them; encourage them.  If your ministry is limited to a small group, focus on them and their growth in loving Jesus. 

PRAYER:  Holy Spirit, may I be a channel through which you can readily flow. Keep reminding me that what limits me does not limit you! Keep reminding me that what seems to be against me, may work out for good! Keep me walking in faith that it will!  Amen

Pastor Leon
Making friends for time and eternity!   
On Facebook:  Today’s SOAP from Pastor Leon

Pastor Leon’s SOAP:  Scripture, Observation, Application, Prayer
February 15, 2022: SOAP #4457:  Leviticus 25; Psalm 25-26; Acts 22

SCRIPTURE:  Psalm (NIV) 25:4 Show me your ways, O LORD, teach me your paths; 5 guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long.

OBSERVATION: Here is a logical prayer of someone who loves the Lord their God with all their heart and with all their soul and with all their mind. (Matthew 22:37)   

If they love God to this extent, they will want to know God’s ways.  They will want to know why God does what He does.  They will want to know what is important to Him. 

They will want to know the paths He takes.  They will want to know His character.  Where He likes to go.  What bothers Him. 

Since He is the embodiment of truth, they want their facts to line up with His facts.  They want to know how His truth deals with the facts. 

APPLICATION:  I love the Lord with all my heart, soul, and mind.  Why are these important to me?  Because the Lord is not just a god, the Lord is MY God, MY Savior!   God is more than an occasional thought that crosses my mind, He is the source of my hope all day long!   He is an active part of each conversation! 

PRAYER:  Show me your ways, O LORD.  Teach me your paths.  Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior.  My hope is in you all day long.  Amen.

Pastor Leon
Making friends for time and eternity!   
On Facebook:  Today’s SOAP from Pastor Leon

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                        
Making friends for time and eternity!   
On Facebook:  Today’s SOAP from Pastor Leon

Pastor Leon’s SOAP:  Scripture, Observation, Application, Prayer
February 13, 2022: SOAP #4455:  Leviticus 20-22; Acts 20

SCRIPTURE:  Acts (NIV) 20:32 “Now I commit you to God and to the word of his grace, which can build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified. 33 I have not coveted anyone’s silver or gold or clothing. 34 You yourselves know that these hands of mine have supplied my own needs and the needs of my companions. 35 In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”

OBSERVATION: These are Paul’s final words to the elders of the church in Ephesus.  He began by giving them a report of his own life and ministry.  He gave them a warning and committed them to God and God’s Word.  He ends with words about money.  He gives himself as an example of working to supply his own needs and those who traveled with him.  He gives himself as an example of a “hard worker.”  He gives himself as an example of a giver.  His work had purpose: to supply his own needs and to enable him to help the weak. 

APPLICATION:  It is true: it is more blessed to give than to receive!  As a giver, God has added a joyful purpose to my work.  I am not just serving me; I am serving God; I am serving others. 

When it is hard to get up early and go to work, the Lord provides joy in considering the blessing I will have in giving.  When the children are way too loud, when the weather is way too cold, when the country roads are way too dusty, I have found that the joy of the Lord is my strength!  HE rides my bus!

PRAYER:  Lord, what a privilege that you would use me to work in my community.  You have provided special opportunities to minister.  Those I meet at work every morning know that I am a pastor, but most of all they know that I am a Christian. Shine through me! Amen.

Pastor Leon
Making friends for time and eternity!   
On Facebook:  Today’s SOAP from Pastor Leon

Pastor Leon’s SOAP:  Scripture, Observation, Application, Prayer
February 12, 2022: SOAP #4454:  Leviticus 18-19; Psalm 13; Acts 19

SCRIPTURE:  Acts (NIV) 19:1 While Apollos was at Corinth, Paul took the road through the interior and arrived at Ephesus. There he found some disciples 2 and asked them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” They answered, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.”
3 So Paul asked, “Then what baptism did you receive?” “John’s baptism,” they replied. 4 Paul said, “John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance. He told the people to believe in the one coming after him, that is, in Jesus.” 5 On hearing this, they were baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus. 6 When Paul placed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied. 7 There were about twelve men in all.

OBSERVATION: Paul had the same emphasis as Jesus.  Jesus did not begin His ministry until the Holy Spirit descended on Him when He was baptized in water by John. (Luke 3:21-22)   Jesus told His disciples to go into all the world, but before He ascended into heaven, He told them not go anywhere until they had received the Holy Spirit.  (Acts 1:4-5) 

Paul received the empowering Holy Spirit when Ananias laid his hands on Saul (Paul).  Here Paul is concerned that these new believers in Ephesus also receive the same Holy Spirit.

If I am going to be like Jesus, then I need to be filled with the Holy Spirit and learn to rely on the Holy Spirit.   

APPLICATION:  In Jesus command and again here in the actions of Paul, I see that God is not depending on my strength and wisdom.  He already knows that without Him I can do nothing. (John 15:5)   But he also knows that with Him I can do all things! (Ephesians 4:13)  I need the empowering of the Holy Spirit!  God needs me to be filled with the Holy Spirit!  The world needs Leon to be filled with the Holy Spirit!

PRAYER:  Heavenly Father, you knew what I would need to be like Jesus.  You are not depending on me to accomplish your will.  You are depending on me to be filled with the Holy Spirit and submit myself to his guidance. Holy Spirit, I surrender to you and receive what you have for me.  Amen.

Pastor Leon
Making friends for time and eternity!   
On Facebook:  Today’s SOAP from Pastor Leon

Pastor Leon’s SOAP:  Scripture, Observation, Application, Prayer
February 11, 2022: SOAP #4453:  Leviticus 15-17; Acts 18

SCRIPTURE:  Acts (NIV) 18:9 One night the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision: “Do not be afraid; keep on speaking, do not be silent. 10 For I am with you, and no-one is going to attack and harm you, because I have many people in this city.” 11 So Paul stayed for a year and a half [in the city of Corinth], teaching them the word of God.

OBSERVATION:  As Paul was moving from city to city, preaching the good news about Jesus, God would give him specific direction.  It is interesting to me that God gave Paul general directions in sending him out on these journeys, but the specific instructions came as Paul was moving in obedience to the general call.  Stay here; Go there; Do not go there. 

Two reasons for Paul to continue preaching in Corinth.  The first: God was with Paul!   The second:  God already had people in the city. 

APPLICATION:  I can easily see God’s similar plan working in my life.  As I am faithful to continue writing out the daily SOAPs, God fills in the specifics as we move ahead.  God has Pastor Andrew, in Sierra Leone, who has a vision for spreading the SOAPs around Africa.  He has arranged for thousands of copies to be printed each month and distributed in Freetown.  In reaching out to Liberia, God has a man who conducts conferences for pastors in the West Africa countries.  Bishop Emmanuel has taken laptops to seven countries where they have internet and printers to print out SOAPs and distribute them in their country.  Tomorrow he leaves with seven laptops for the remaining seven West African countries where God has pastors to print and distribute the SOAPs.  And in the heart of it all, God has a businessman, Joshua, who has provided laptops at a good price. 

God had “many people” in Corinth.  God has many people helping with the SOAPs, people in America, Asia, and Africa. 

PRAYER:  Lord in so many ways you have blest me in preparing and sending out the SOAPs.  I ask that you bless each one who reads them, forwards them, prays for them, invests their time and money in them, prints them, distributes them.  First, speak to their hearts, then through them to others. Amen.

Pastor Leon
Making friends for time and eternity!   
On Facebook:  Today’s SOAP from Pastor Leon

Pastor Leon’s SOAP:  Scripture, Observation, Application, Prayer
February 10, 2022: SOAP #4452:  Leviticus 13-14; Acts 17

(Reworked SOAP from 2012)

SCRIPTURE:  Acts (NIV) 17:11 Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true. 12 Many of the Jews believed, as did also a number of prominent Greek women and many Greek men.

OBSERVATION: Some people in Thessalonica had become so angry at Paul’s teaching that they incited a riot in the city.  In the cover of night Paul was safely escorted out of the city and sent on to the city of Berea.  The Bereans listened and “examined the Scriptures every day.”

[The mention of the “prominent Greek women” stirs my curiosity.  The synagogue would have a scroll of the Torah and some of the writings, but most households probably did not.  Could it be that the prominent Greek women were able to have some portions of the scriptures in their homes and could check on Paul’s teachings. ???]  

Hearing the preaching of Paul brought conviction, but the study of the Scriptures—they had confidence in the scriptures.  Paul was new in town, but the scriptures had been with them since the prophets.  Their study led many Jews and Greeks to become believers. 

APPLICATION:  The Bible is my standard for checking what I hear and see.  When I hear something different, I should check it out with the Scriptures — with the Bible.  The better I know the Bible, the better I can make good judgments.  Like the Bereans, it is good for me to examine the Scriptures every day!

PRAYER:  Heavenly Father, you knew what I would need to live a victorious life in today’s world.  So, you provided the scriptures.  How foolish I would be not to take advantage of what you have provided.  Amen.

Pastor Leon
Making friends for time and eternity!   
On Facebook:  Today’s SOAP from Pastor Leon