Pastor Leon’s SOAP:  Scripture, Observation, Application, Prayer
November 11, 2023: SOAP #5091: Psalm 122; 1Corinthians 9-11

SCRIPTURE:  1Corinthians (NIV) 9:9 For it is written in the Law of Moses: “Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain.” Is it about oxen that God is concerned? 10 Surely, he says this for us, doesn’t he? Yes, this was written for us, because when the ploughman ploughs and the thresher threshes, they ought to do so in the hope of sharing in the harvest.
11 If we have sown spiritual seed among you, is it too much if we reap a material harvest from you?

OBSERVATION:  In the Kingdom of God, the value of money is enhanced.   It provides an avenue for us to express our appreciation.  Those receiving spiritual seed sown into their lives should willing and joyfully return a “material harvest” to those sowing.  They should expect to do so.

APPLICATION:  The application of this truth comes very strong to me today.  The message in the SOAPs is free, but the ink and paper, the computers and printers cost money.  God has assigned me to drive a school bus and use much of what I earn for the SOAP ministry.  God has raised up several people who have been supporting monthly.  And God has laid it on some to give larger amounts to a specific need.  I see this ministry as God’s, so it does not surprise me that He provides what is needed…I am not surprised, but I am amazed at how He does it!  

In my heart I hear God saying He wants to use the SOAP ministry to start financial blessings in the heart of Africa and in Asia.  As people learn to give to God, they will find He enjoys giving to them.  It is not the size of the gift in our hands, it is the size of the faith in our hearts that God sees.  God does not want continued dependence on First World Countries for ministry funds.  He wants to grow Africans and Asians to provide the funds, even for ministry beyond the borders of their continents! He starts with the little in our hand; it grows to be more than enough. 

Start small and give to the ones who provide you the SOAP.  They will use it to purchase ink and paper, computers and printers as needed.  Your gift is the harvest for those providing the SOAPs!  Then expect a harvest from your gift! 

PRAYER:  Do it Lord!   Amen

Pastor Leon
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Pastor Leon’s SOAP:  Scripture, Observation, Application, Prayer
November 10, 2023: SOAP #5090: Job 35, 36; 1Corinthians 7, 8 (a repeat)

SCRIPTURE:  1Corinthians (NIV) 7:17 Nevertheless, each one should retain the place in life that the Lord assigned to him and to which God has called him. This is the rule I lay down in all the churches…
20 Each one should remain in the situation which he was in when God called him…
24 Brothers, each man, as responsible to God, should remain in the situation God called him to.

OBSERVATION:  In writing to the church in Corinth, Paul was setting down some general rules of behavior.  He starts off by saying that if you are a Jew, do not try to become an un-Jew, and if you are a Gentile, do not try to become a Jewish.  If you are married, do not seek a divorce.  In the light of eternity, our status or position has no bearing.  Everything will change in eternity, so if you are planning on going to heaven, do not worry about such things.  People who do not know God or understand His plan sometimes have the idea that they must make changes to be comfortable and pleasing for them on earth.

Yet Paul is saying our status is very important!  We should be content with the way God made us.  To apply Paul’s teaching to today, if we were made male, we should not try to be female.  If we were made female, we should not try to be male.  People may try to change their outside, but to my knowledge, no one is able to change their DNA.  Our DNA will always be a witness to how God made us.

APPLICATION:  As opportunity presents itself, it is good to improve my standing, however that should never be done because I am discontent with my present circumstances and how God made me.  (Philippians 4:11-12; Hebrews 13:5)

PRAYER:  Heavenly Father, life here is so short compared to eternity.  Knowing that you are with me — knowing that you have something for me to do — changes my perspective of everything.  Amen.

Pastor Leon
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Pastor Leon’s SOAP:  Scripture, Observation, Application, Prayer
November 09, 2023: SOAP #5089: Job 34; 1Corinthians 4-6

SCRIPTURE:  1Corinthians (NIV) 6:19 Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 20 you were bought at a price. Therefore, honor God with your body.

OBSERVATION:  Our bodies have great value to the Lord.  They provide a home for the Holy Spirit in this world. 

They provide the avenue through which we minister to and for the Lord.  Using our hands and feet, and using our voices, we provide windows through which the Holy Spirit, living inside, can express Himself in our world. 

APPLICATION:  I may be praying for God to visit our neighborhood, or town. There are so many people who need Him.   It would make such a difference if Jesus would come to this place!   BUT JUST A MINUTE.  AM I MISSING SOMETHING?   Jesus does not need to pay my city a visit.  He is already here!   The same Holy Spirit who was living in Jesus is now living in me!  The same Holy Spirit who was walking with Jesus in Jerusalem in now walking with me!  

The mortgage on me was paid at Calvary.  This house/body belongs to Jesus!  By His Spirit, He lives in me!       

PRAYER:  Holy Spirit, I want you to enjoy living in me.  Use what my body can do,  my words and actions, to glorify Jesus.   Amen

Pastor Leon
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Pastor Leon’s SOAP:  Scripture, Observation, Application, Prayer
November 08, 2023: SOAP #5088: Job 33, 1Corinthians 1-3

(minor rework from the past) 

SCRIPTURE:  1Corinthians (NIV) 2:11 For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man’s spirit within him? In the same way no-one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. 12 We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us….
16 “For who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ.

OBSERVATION:  No one knows how God thinks, except the Spirit of God.  Just like I must live with my own thoughts, so the Spirit of God lives with the thoughts of God.  No one can truly know how I am thinking except myself.  And no one can truly know how God is thinking except the Spirit of God!

If I wanted you to really know how I was thinking, I would need to give you my mind, my spirit.  And if God really wants me to know how He is thinking, He would need to give me His mind, His Spirit.  And that is what He did!

Jesus died on the cross to forgive my sins, making me clean.  Then the Holy Spirit enters my clean heart to show me how to live. This is the SAME Spirit that came upon Jesus when He was baptized by John, so He really does understand how we are to live in this world.

APPLICATION:  This chapter should be hung on the walls of my mind.  I should read it every day. It is not a promise of what awaits me in heaven.  It is a statement of what I have NOW!

This chapter shows why it is so important that I learn to listen to the Holy Spirit!  He will speak to me as I read the Bible.  He will show me how those scriptures apply to me.  He will help me understand what God thinks about the issues I face in life.  He will empower me to live victoriously!

PRAYER:  Holy Spirit, I set myself to be a vessel that you can easily work through.   Amen.

Pastor Leon
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Pastor Leon’s SOAP:  Scripture, Observation, Application, Prayer
November 07, 2023: SOAP #5087: Job 31, 32; Galatians 5,6

SCRIPTURE:  Galatians (NIV) 6:14 May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. 15 Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything; what counts is a new creation.

OBSERVATION:  Major issues seemed to divide the early church.  Each side had their own interpretation of God’s word.  Paul stepped into the middle and said the issues are unimportant!   What is important is that we are born again with the life of Christ living inside. 

Paul deals with similar issues in Romans 14:5-9.  Neither Saturday or Sunday, neither eating meat or being a vegetarian.  Today we could add neither people who read this version (NIV) or that version (KJV) or other versions; and we could add, neither people who like one style of music or another; and neither people who gather in a beautiful building or people who gather under a tree.  “What counts is a new creation!” 

APPLICATION:  I must be careful not to get side-tracked onto issues that can pull me away from the heart of the gospel!   At the heart of the gospel is the cross (verse 14 above).  There is a cross that I must bear, but it is HIS cross in which I boast!  In celebrating His death I die to myself; in celebrating His resurrected life I become a new creation…a new living being!  He is living in me!     

PRAYER:  Heavenly Father, what a great plan you put into action through the cross.  It was a sacrifice that covers sin and the resurrected life that makes me a new creation!  Holy Spirit, may Jesus be glorified in my life and may the Father be pleased.  In The Wonderful Name of Jesus,  Amen

Pastor Leon
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Pastor Leon’s SOAP:  Scripture, Observation, Application, Prayer
November 06, 2023: SOAP #5086: Job 30; Psalm 120; Galatians 3,4

SCRIPTURE:  Galatians (NIV) 3:24 So the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith. 25 Now that faith has come, we are no longer under the supervision of the law. 26 You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus,

OBSERVATION:  The law did not bring sin.  It only defined the sin that was present in the world.  The law showed us there was only one remedy for sin — death. The law also helped us identify the Savior — the only one who was born without sin and perfectly kept the law.  He needed no sacrifice to atone for His sin; He became the perfect, lawful sacrifice to atone for our sin!

The law was not given with the thought that man would ever be able to keep the law.  At the same time the law was given, sacrifices were established.  The law contained no rewards for perfectly keeping the law, only sacrifices for breaking the law.

APPLICATION:  People like to make “laws” for their followers.  Laws like what food not to eat, how to worship, what songs to sing, what days are for worship, what clothes to wear, etc.  Following those laws make it easy for them to identify their faithful followers.  The Law works from the outside to force us into someone’s acceptable image.  The Holy Spirit, received by faith, works from the inside.  It is not the keeping of the law, but the presence of the Holy Spirit that makes it easy for God to identify His followers. 

True followers of Jesus are those in whom His Spirit lives.  In my heart, the Spirit speaks to me.  He becomes my conscience and I have an inner compass of right and wrong.  In my mind, I become aware of something that needs to be done.  As I do it, the love of God flows out of me.  People see Jesus living in me!  

PRAYER:  Holy Spirit, what a joy to know that you are living in me and molding my life to be like Jesus.  May I know that I please you by the witness of your presence in my life and the working of your gifts through me.  We work together for the glory of Jesus; in His Wonderful Name I pray,  Amen! 

Pastor Leon
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Pastor Leon’s SOAP:  Scripture, Observation, Application, Prayer
November 06, 2023: SOAP #5086: Job 30; Psalm 120; Galatians 3,4

SCRIPTURE:  Galatians (NIV) 3:24 So the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith. 25 Now that faith has come, we are no longer under the supervision of the law. 26 You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus,

OBSERVATION:  The law did not bring sin.  It only defined the sin that was present in the world.  The law showed us there was only one remedy for sin — death. The law also helped us identify the Savior — the only one who was born without sin and perfectly kept the law.  He needed no sacrifice to atone for His sin; He became the perfect, lawful sacrifice to atone for our sin!

The law was not given with the thought that man would ever be able to keep the law.  At the same time the law was given, sacrifices were established.  The law contained no rewards for perfectly keeping the law, only sacrifices for breaking the law.

APPLICATION:  People like to make “laws” for their followers.  Laws like what food not to eat, how to worship, what songs to sing, what days are for worship, what clothes to wear, etc.  Following those laws make it easy for them to identify their faithful followers.  The Law works from the outside to force us into someone’s acceptable image.  The Holy Spirit, received by faith, works from the inside.  It is not the keeping of the law, but the presence of the Holy Spirit that makes it easy for God to identify His followers. 

True followers of Jesus are those in whom His Spirit lives.  In my heart, the Spirit speaks to me.  He becomes my conscience and I have an inner compass of right and wrong.  In my mind, I become aware of something that needs to be done.  As I do it, the love of God flows out of me.  People see Jesus living in me!  

PRAYER:  Holy Spirit, what a joy to know that you are living in me and molding my life to be like Jesus.  May I know that I please you by the witness of your presence in my life and the working of your gifts through me.  We work together for the glory of Jesus; in His Wonderful Name I pray,  Amen! 

Pastor Leon
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Pastor Leon’s SOAP:  Scripture, Observation, Application, Prayer
November 05, 2023: SOAP #5085: Job 28-29; Galatians 1-2

SCRIPTURE:  Galatians (NIV) 2:1 Fourteen years later I went up again to Jerusalem, this time with Barnabas. I took Titus along also.  2 I went in response to a revelation and set before them the gospel that I preach among the Gentiles. But I did this privately to those who seemed to be leaders, for fear that I was running or had run my race in vain.

OBSERVATION:  I believe it is a sign of a true believer who can submit to the body of Christ believing that the Holy Spirit can speak through others in regards to their life and ministry. The flesh wants to believe that God will only reveal to me that which pertains to me.  But God often uses others to bring light to ourselves, even to the most spiritual among us.

APPLICATION:  :  Pride keeps me from listening to others.  I must realize that I am only one part of the body of Christ and not the whole body.  My connection to others is important in my connection to Christ.   If I cannot hear God speak to me through others, I probably cannot hear God speak to me one-on-one.  After all, the hand is connected to the head through the arm and shoulder.  Hmmm. 

It was fourteen years ago that Pastor Dayton (formerly our youth pastor who had been chosen to be the senior pastor) asked me to write some SOAPs as an example for others.  My first reaction:  I did not want to.  It would require changing my personal devotions.  In prayer, God spoke to me, “When Dayton was the youth pastor, he had to do what I said.  Now that he is the senior pastor, I should do what he says!”  Now myself, and everyone who has been blest by the SOAPs can thank God that I was able to hear God speak to me through someone else, Pastor Dayton. 

PRAYER:  Lord, to know that you speak to me adds value to my life.  Knowing that you speak to me through others, keeps me humble and listening to those around me.  Amen

Pastor Leon
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Pastor Leon’s SOAP:  Scripture, Observation, Application, Prayer
November 04, 2023: SOAP #5084: Job 26-27; Mark 15-16

(reworked from 2010) 

SCRIPTURE:  Mark (NIV) 16:1 When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus’ body. 2 Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb 3 and they asked each other, “Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?” 4 But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away.

OBSERVATION:  The women were headed to serve the One they loved.  They did not have all the answers, but they did not let their unanswered questions stop them from going to the tomb. 

APPLICATION:  If I let fear or unanswered questions stop me, I will never experience the empty tomb.

If I must wait until I have all my questions answered, I will never start.  I must step out in faith that God will take care of the “stones” that are too difficult for me to move.  If I want to experience some “empty tombs” I must be willing to start my journey before I know all the answers.

PRAYER:  Lord, I trust you to know how to take care of the difficulties that lie ahead.     Amen.

Pastor Leon
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Pastor Leon’s SOAP:  Scripture, Observation, Application, Prayer
November 03, 2023: SOAP #5083: Job 25; Mark 13-14

(repeat with changes)

SCRIPTURE:  Mark (NIV) 13:11 Whenever you are arrested and brought to trial, do not worry beforehand about what to say. Just say whatever is given you at the time, for it is not you speaking but the Holy Spirit. 12 “Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child. Children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death. 13 All men will hate you because of me, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.

OBSERVATION:  I see two measurements for faith.  First, we can measure faith by what it accomplishes.  We would say that it takes great faith to move mountains.  

Second, and maybe more importantly, faith can be measured by how long it lasts.  Will it outlast the problem or the trial?  It is bad when our faith is not strong enough, but it is worse when our faith is not long enough.

APPLICATION:  When the trial is over, will I still have my faith?   Hebrews 11:13 speaks of people who were “still living by faith when they died.”  I do not want my faith to die before I do!

Faith is designed by God to carry us through, through trials, through troubles, through sickness and pain, and even through death!   

PRAYER:  Lord, use your Word that I read every day to feed my faith, making it strong enough to face every problem and long enough to outlast every trial.  Amen

Pastor Leon
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