Pastor Leon’s SOAP:  Scripture, Observation, Application, Prayer
March 01, 2026:  SOAP #5932:   Numbers 28-29; Mark 8

SCRIPTURE:  Mark (NIV) 8:1 During those days another large crowd gathered.  Since they had nothing to eat, Jesus called his disciples to him and said, 2 “I have compassion for these people; they have already been with me three days and have nothing to eat. 3 If I send them home hungry, they will collapse on the way, because some of them have come a long distance.” 4 His disciples answered, “But where in this remote place can anyone get enough bread to feed them?” 5 How many loaves do you have? Jesus asked.  “Seven” they replied.     

OBSERVATION:  The crowd was hungry and needed something to eat.  Jesus had compassion—he understood the need.  The miracle of feeding the 4,000 with only seven loaves and few small fish ended with seven basketfuls of leftovers!  It all started with Jesus asking what they had. 

It is good to note that feeding the people was Jesus’ idea.  The disciples were participating in His ministry.  Jesus was not accompanying them to support them and to make sure that their ministry was successful.  They were with HIM.  They were assisting HIM.  They had not gathered the crowd and then realized that they did not have enough.  They were with HIM and doing what HE gave them to do. 

APPLICATION: The hungry people were not the disciple’s problem, but His.  Many times, the need I face is because I have not carefully been following His directions.  Something seemed good to me, and I rushed ahead to do something great for the Lord.  The problems are mine! 

If I am in step with Jesus, not running ahead nor lagging behind, I will discover that He has already made provision.  What He has provided may seem insufficient, but He is the “Great Multiplier!”  

PRAYER:  Jesus, thank you for letting me be a part of what you are doing.  You make what seems to be insufficient to be sufficient—even more than sufficient!   (Note: this SOAP ministry is YOUR ministry!) Amen

Pastor Leon
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Pastor Leon’s SOAP:  Scripture, Observation, Application, Prayer
February 28, 2026:  SOAP #5931:   Numbers 24-27; 1Corinthians 13

NOTE: 02/28/26:  God is still talking to me through this SOAP.  It breaks my heart to think of how much God loves me, and, in comparison, how little I love Him. Lord, fill me with you and express your love through me. Amen

NOTE 11/25:  Today’s SOAP is a repeat from earlier this year.  After doing these SOAPs for 15+ years, I do repeat some, usually taking an old one and prayerfully re-working it.  This is the first time I have ever taken one so recent to repeat, and with so little editing.  I try to listen to the Lord and send out a SOAP that HE is speaking to me.  Maybe this SOAP is only for me, but the Application is breaking my heart.  

SCRIPTURE:  1Corinthians (NIV) 13:2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.

OBSERVATION:   Put prophecy, wisdom and faith in verse 2 and generosity and sacrifice in verse 3 – all on one side of God’s scale.  Then put love as the lone quality on the other side.  It will not be balanced!  What is it about love that makes God give it so much value?  I asked the Lord and He dropped these words in my heart: 

Having prophecy, wisdom, faith, generosity, and sacrifice makes people love me.  Having God’s love makes me love others, even those who do not love me. 

APPLICATION:   The important thing is not how much others love me, but how much I love others!   It is not about being so “nice” that people love me, it is about being so full of God that I love people, especially those hard to love. 

PRAYER:   Heavenly Father, surely, no one has ever loved you the way you have loved us. I am certain that I have never loved you the way you have loved me.  Holy Spirit, help me grow in loving God.  Help me faithfully express my love to God by loving those around me, not only in the big ways, but especially in the little ways, and especially when no one is watching but You.  Amen

Pastor Leon
Making friends for time and eternity!   
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Pastor Leon’s SOAP:  Scripture, Observation, Application, Prayer
February 27, 2026:  SOAP #5930:   Numbers 21-23; Mark 6-7

SCRIPTURE:  Mark (NIV) 6:35  By this time it was late in the day, so his disciples came to him. “This is a remote place,” they said, “and it’s already very late.
36  Send the people away so that they can go to the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat.” 
37  But he answered, “You give them something to eat.”  They said to him, “That would take more than half a year’s wages!  Are we to go and spend that much on bread and give it to them to eat?”

OBSERVATION:  The disciples said, “Send them away.”  Jesus said, “You give them something to eat.”  The disciples saw the problem in terms of money.  Jesus saw the problem in terms of what was available.  After checking they found five loaves and two fish!   The fish and bread were placed in Jesus hands.  He gave thanks and broke them; then he gave the pieces to the disciples.  And the disciples did what he had originally told them to do!  They gave the people (5000 men plus women and children) something to eat!  They all had enough to eat with twelve basketfuls of leftovers! 

APPLICATION:  When Jesus gives me to do something, He already knows what I have available and He knows how he can take what I have and multiply it to meet the need.   I have to place my limited resources in the hands of the Great Multiplier!   

It has been 2000 years since Jesus fed the 5,000 and the Holy Spirit quickens my heart that Jesus has had 2000 years of experience multiplying things needed for His people!   (Not that He needed any practice!)  He does not just multiply food; He can multiply gas, paper, money, ink, strength.  When we take our limited resources and place them in HIS HANDS, He supplies, even with left-overs!  We discover that His provision is sufficient!

PRAYER:  Lord, when I place my resources in your hands, there is often more left over than I had at the start!  You are amazing!    Amen

Pastor Leon
Making friends for time and eternity!   
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Pastor Leon’s SOAP:  Scripture, Observation, Application, Prayer
February 26, 2026:  SOAP #5929:   Numbers 19-20; Psalm 28; Mark 5

SCRIPTURE:  Mark (NIV) 5:35 While Jesus was still speaking, some men came from the house of Jairus, the synagogue ruler. “Your daughter is dead,” they said. “Why bother the teacher anymore?” 36 Ignoring what they said, Jesus told the synagogue ruler, “Don’t be afraid; just believe.”

OBSERVATION:  Being a father was more important to Jairus than being a synagogue ruler.  Although the Jewish leaders opposed Jesus, nothing would hinder this father from doing anything that may save his dying daughter.  His urgent mission to bring Jesus to his daughter was interrupted by a woman who touched Jesus garment and was healed. 

Then Jairus received the word that no father wants to hear.  His daughter had died!  But Jesus heard the message too!   The servants advised Jairus to give up on his mission.  Jesus advised differently—then accompanied Jairus all the way to his dead daughter’s room, raised her from the dead, and told the parents to give her something to eat!     

APPLICATION:  I can never allow the world to give me the last word of advice.  No matter how desperate the situation, Jesus has something to say, and He will accompany me through the problem!  

The final word has not been spoken until Jesus has His say. 

PRAYER:  Lord Jesus, your word to believe, and your promise to never leave me.  You not only give me a word of encouragement, you give me your presence!  As the Psalmist said, “I will fear no evil, for thou are with me!” (Psalm 23) Amen

Pastor Leon
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Pastor Leon’s SOAP:  Scripture, Observation, Application, Prayer
February 25, 2026:  SOAP #5928:   Numbers 17-18; Psalm 29; Mark 4

SCRIPTURE:  Mark (NIV) 4:30 Again he said, “What shall we say the kingdom of God is like, or what parable shall we use to describe it? 31 It is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest seed you plant in the ground. 32 Yet when planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants, with such big branches that the birds of the air can perch in its shade.”

OBSERVATION:  Jesus here uses the tiny mustard seed to teach truth about the kingdom of God.  It is such a tiny seed yet grows into such a large plant that the birds can find a place of shade.  Though the seed is tiny, only 1-2 mm in size it can grow to a plant 6-20 feet tall!   Obviously, it is not the size of the seed, but the “size” of the life within the seed. 

APPLICATION:  And so it is with the kingdom of God.  Our place in God’s kingdom does not depend on the level of education, or the strength within the body, or the beauty of one’s voice, or the riches they may possess.  It depends on the life of God within!   …and more than that, it depends on the life of God that we allow to break through the hard shell of the seed. 

We have spent years training our mind to think and our body to respond.  We have been so programed to live within the limitations of our physical bodies and the limits of our own knowledge, that we forget that the Spirit of Almighty God dwells within us!  

PRAYER:  Holy Spirit, as the seed must be broken to allow the life within to grow into its designed destiny, so cause my flesh to break and allow the life within me to grow and develop into what you are working in me.  Amen.

Pastor Leon
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Pastor Leon’s SOAP:  Scripture, Observation, Application, Prayer
February 24, 2026:  SOAP #5927:   Numbers 14-16; Mark 3

SCRIPTURE:  Mark (NIV) 3:13 Jesus went up on a mountainside and called to him those he wanted, and they came to him. 14 He appointed twelve—designating them apostles— that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach 15 and to have authority to drive out demons.

OBSERVATION:  Earlier in this chapter (verse 7) we read of the crowds that followed Jesus from Galilee.  They wanted to be close enough to touch Him, so He asked for a small boat He could use to keep from being pushed into the lake.

The people wanted to be near Him.  They wanted what He was able to do for them.  But when going up on a mountainside, Jesus called the ones HE WANTED.  These were HIS choice. 

APPLICATION:  Jesus offers things that everyone wants and needs.  Everyone should want to be close to Jesus.  Everyone should want to be close enough to Jesus to touch Him.  I know I do. It is a blessing to get close enough to Jesus to touch Him. 

If you are reading the SOAPs you must have some desire to be close or to hear what He is saying,  But what an honor to know that HE WANTS me to be close to Him…to know that HE has chosen me to be close to Him.  He has an assignment for me.  There is something special He has for me.  He invites me to come up to a higher place with Him where He will strengthen and instruct me on doing His assignment.  I know that His invitation is open to everyone, but not everyone is willing to invest the effort to climb with Jesus.  How sad for them; how sad for Him. 

PRAYER:  Jesus, I want to again be the little boy in the 3^rd grade always raising my hand wanting the teacher to choose me.  Choose me, Lord.  What an honor it is to enjoy the intimacy of a climb with you through the scriptures.  The joy of fresh revelation sweeps over my soul.  May I always be one you want to be with you.    Amen

Pastor Leon
Making friends for time and eternity!   
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Pastor Leon’s SOAP:  Scripture, Observation, Application, Prayer
February 22, 2026:  SOAP #5925:   Numbers 10-11; Psalm 27; Mark 1

SCRIPTURE:  Mark (NIV) 1:7 And this was his [John the Baptist] message: “After me will come one more powerful than I, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. 8 I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”
9 At that time Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptised by John in the Jordan. 10 As Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove.

OBSERVATION:  In the above scriptures I see two very interesting things:  One: Jesus’s baptism in water was the beginning of a new relationship He would have with the Holy Spirit.  Jesus came to earth as a man; he had laid aside his deity to walk on earth as a man.  As a man, he relied on the presence of the Holy Spirit to guide him and work through Him. 

Two:  the second thing I find interesting is in John’s words about Jesus.  Jesus would baptize us with the Holy Spirit.  Jesus wants his disciples to have a relationship with the Holy Spirit just as he did!  

APPLICATION:  My relationship with the Holy Spirit is a very important part of my life as a Christian.  I must learn to hear his voice.  I will learn how to be a victorious, overcoming believer as I follow his directions.  He will help me understand God’s word, even when I do not have a Bible available. 

PRAYER:  Holy Spirit, what a priceless and precious relationship I have with you.  You help me to properly honor Jesus in my life.  Since you know Jesus and the Father so much better than I do, I depend on you to put your ideas in my heart and mind that will enable me to serve them in a way that they will enjoy.  Use me to bring them joy!  Amen

Pastor Leon
Making friends for time and eternity!   
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Pastor Leon’s SOAP:  Scripture, Observation, Application, Prayer
February 21, 2026:  SOAP #5924:   Numbers 8-9; Acts 28

SCRIPTURE:  Romans (NIV) 28:16 When we got to Rome, Paul [as a prisoner] was allowed to live by himself, with a soldier to guard him.

23 They [the Jews in Rome] arranged to meet Paul on a certain day, and came in even larger numbers to the place where he was staying. From morning till evening he explained and declared to them the kingdom of God and tried to convince them about Jesus from the Law of Moses and from the Prophets. 24 Some were convinced by what he said, but others would not believe.

30 For two whole years Paul stayed there in his own rented house and welcomed all who came to see him. 31 Boldly and without hindrance he preached the kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ.

OBSERVATION:  When Paul started ministry, with Barnabas, he went on journeys, traveling to spread the gospel.  But here the people came to him!  The presence of the Roman guard probably discouraged any troublemakers from bothering, so he was able to minister without opposition.  Instead of traveling to various places, he welcomed people into his rented house. 

APPLICATION:  When our work keeps us in the same location, or when our health keeps us at home or in the hospital, or when young children keep us at home, we need to treat every person who comes our way as a special assignment from the Lord. 

We can welcome them in the Lord and when they leave, may they take His presence with them.  They can leave encouraged.  May they leave with a new perspective and appreciation for the Lord who blesses us!   May they leave wanting to know the God about whom we so highly talk!  

PRAYER:  Lord, in areas where I feel like I am in a prison of my circumstances, help me to see the “special assignments” you bring my day.  May no one feel like a burden or disruption, but as someone brought to me by God.   Amen 

Pastor Leon
Making friends for time and eternity!   
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