Pastor Leon’s SOAP:  Scripture, Observation, Application, Prayer
January 22, 2023: SOAP #4798: Exodus 3-5; Luke 22

SCRIPTURE:  Exodus (NIV) 4:2 Then the LORD said to him, “What is that in your hand?” “A staff,” he replied. 3 The LORD said, “Throw it on the ground.” Moses threw it on the ground, and it became a snake, and he ran from it. 4 Then the LORD said to him, “Reach out your hand and take it by the tail.” So, Moses reached out and took hold of the snake and it turned back into a staff in his hand….
17 But take this staff in your hand so that you can perform miraculous signs with it.”
20 So Moses took his wife and sons, put them on a donkey and started back to Egypt. And he took the staff of God in his hand.

OBSERVATION:  In verse two, it was just a staff.  It was a walking stick.  It was something Moses probably found laying on the ground.  He picked it up to help him on a rocky path.  Then he found it useful to move something just out of reach.  Before long, others would recognize it a Moses’s rod. 

But when God used it, it became the “staff of God.”  It was used to do miracles before Pharoah.  It was used when God rolled back the waters of the Red Sea, and then when they closed over Pharoah’s army. 

APPLICATION:  I wonder what I have in my hand that might become special when used at God’s direction and under the anointing of the Holy Spirit.  It probably is not a stick, but it might be a savings account, or a automobile, or a boat, or extra time every Monday or Tuesday, or a talent that I am too busy to use. 

Ordinary things used at God’s direction are often accompanied by the Spirit’s anointing. 

PRAYER:   Lord, like Moses had to throw his rod on the ground, so I must be willing to drop my possessions in order for them to be used and transformed by you.  Amen.

Pastor Leon
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Pastor Leon’s SOAP:  Scripture, Observation, Application, Prayer
January 21, 2023: SOAP #4797: Exodus 1-2; Psalm 88; Luke 21

SCRIPTURE:  Luke (NIV) 21:14 But make up your mind not to worry beforehand how you will defend yourselves. 15 For I will give you words and wisdom that none of your adversaries will be able to resist or contradict.

OBSERVATION:  Jesus was talking to the disciples about the end times.  There will be trouble, so He gives instructions and a promise. 

The instructions are not very easy.  We are to determine beforehand not to allow negative thoughts into our thought process.  As surely as we would work to keep germs out of an open wound, we need to work on keeping worries out of our mind.  It is a tough assignment as our minds tend to focus on the bad things around us.  If it can go wrong

But we are promised help.  God is working inside.  The Holy Spirit has taken up residence in the believer.  Jesus promised to give us “words and wisdom.” 

APPLICATION: I have discovered that I cannot keep thoughts of doubt out of my mind by trying not to think about them.  When I think about not letting them in my mind, I am actually thinking about them!  To overcome worry, I must fill my thoughts with thoughts of praise.  I must fill my mind with the promises of God. 

When things are going good, I can set a pattern of praise in my heart.  Every day, I can set my mind on God’s Word.  Doing that faithfully every day keeps those thoughts at the front of my mind. 

PRAYER:   Lord, you are worthy of all my praise. There is nothing I will face today that you cannot give me the wisdom I will need. Holy Spirit, your presence gives me the courage to face the unknown.  Amen.

Pastor Leon
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