Pastor Leon’s SOAP:  Scripture, Observation, Application, Prayer
April 9, 2023: SOAP #4875: 1Samuel 6-7; Psalm 72; 2Corinthians 9

SCRIPTURE:  2Corinthians (NIV) 9:7 Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 8 And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.

OBSERVATION:  In reading through this chapter in which Paul is encouraging the people of Corinth to give my thoughts turned to the First Giver.  Where did these principles of giving originate?  Who first taught about giving? 

Since God created this world and man, He is the one who set the principles of sowing and reaping.  In many ways He sowed into the man He had created.  This past week we celebrated the greatest gift ever given…the life of God’s Son given in death as payment for our sins!   He gave willingly and at great personal cost. 

Each day God reaps the harvest of that Gift sowed into the world.  The Bible tells us that there is great rejoicing in heaven whenever one sinner repents and makes Jesus the Lord of his life! (Luke 15:7) And what a great celebration there will be in heaven when all those redeemed by the blood of Jesus are gathered around the Throne!   God will reap a GREAT harvest!!!

APPLICATION: Giving is the nature of God.  He rejoices when it is developed in my nature.  God wants me not to be just a person who gives when someone touches my emotions or when I have extra money…NO, God wants me to be a giver.  He wants me to give more than what He has placed in my pocket, but what He has placed in my heart! 

PRAYER:   Lord, you have filled my heart with your word. Help me to give it joyfully, generously, and clearly.  May my life be a worthy vessel for such valuable contents.  Amen.

Pastor Leon
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Pastor Leon’s SOAP:  Scripture, Observation, Application, Prayer
April 8, 2023: SOAP #4874: 1Samuel 3-5; Psalm 77; 2Corinthians 8

(…some re-worked thoughts)

SCRIPTURE:  1Samuel (NIV) 3:10 The LORD came and stood there, calling as at the other times, “Samuel! Samuel!” Then Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant is listening.”

OBSERVATION:  God was speaking!  The God of creation was speaking to a young boy.  Samuel did not yet recognize God’s voice and thought the old priest, Eli, was calling him.  After his third trip to check on Eli, Eli realized that God was calling Samuel.  So, he told Samuel how to respond.  And God cared enough that He called out a fourth time!

What Samuel heard was important, but what God heard was even more important! 
First, God heard one of his created beings say, “LORD, I hear you.”  God had been hearing people cry out to Him, but here was a man that could hear God call out to him! 
Second, God heard a man, created in His image say, “What you say is important.  I am listening.”  God had been listening to desperate people call to him with what was important to them.  Here was a young man willing to let God tell him what was important to God.  Samuel was saying, I can sleep later; hearing what you have to say is more important than sleep. 
Third, God heard a young man say, “I am your servant.  I will follow through with your instructions.”  I will honor your word.

APPLICATION: I know God hears me.  It is important that God knows that I hear Him!  It is important for SOAP readers to know that Leon is listening to the Lord.  Only the “Scripture” portion above is the Word of God, but my prayer is that the following three portions of these SOAPs come with an anointing that reveals how the scriptures can be applied to our hearts.

PRAYER:   Holy Spirit, it is so important that SOAP readers see your word and not Leon’s words.  So, like Samuel, I pray, “Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.”  Amen

Pastor Leon
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Pastor Leon’s SOAP:  Scripture, Observation, Application, Prayer
April 7, 2023: SOAP #4873: 1Samuel 1-2; Psalm 66; 2Corinthians 7

SCRIPTURE:  Psalm (NIV) 66:1 Shout with joy to God, all the earth!
2 Sing the glory of his name; make his praise glorious!
3 Say to God, “How awesome are your deeds! So great is your power that your enemies cringe before you.
4 All the earth bows down to you; they sing praise to you; they sing praise to your name.” Selah
5 Come and see what God has done, how awesome his works on man’s behalf!

Revelation (NIV) 5:9 And they sang a new song: “You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation.

OBSERVATION:  We are instructed to “make His praise glorious!”  To me that means I should be praising God truthfully, faithfully, often, loud enough for others to hear, creatively, etc. 

Note: every people group and every language will be present when we make His praise glorious in heaven!!! 

APPLICATION: My praise should be heard by those around me.  My praise should make them take note of this wonderful God I serve.  My praise should tell of the wonderful things He has done for me.  I should talk of God in such a way that those around me will want to know more about Him…and want to know Him too! 

My praise should highlight his “awesome works on man’s behalf!”  It is true that I love Him and I serve Him, but what makes Him glorious is how He loves me and how He serves me!   His love for me is greater than my love for him.  How He served me is greater than how I can serve Him! 

PRAYER:   Heavenly Father, may my praise make you attractive to those nearby who hear my words of appreciation.  Amen.

Pastor Leon
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Pastor Leon’s SOAP:  Scripture, Observation, Application, Prayer
April 6, 2023: SOAP #4872: Ruth 3-4; Psalm 64, 65; 2Corinthians 6

SCRIPTURE:  2Corinthians (NIV) 6:16 What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people.” 17 “Therefore come out from them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you.” 18 “I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.”

OBSERVATION:  Paul does not say “we were…” or “we will be…”;  he said, “we ARE the temple of the living God!”  There is so much that can be said about being the temple of the living God, but God says there is something more!   He has chosen us to be more than a building in which we enjoy His presence and honor Him.  He is our Father; we are His sons and daughters!   He shares His life with us.  As a child shares the life of their parents, we share God’s life!  

APPLICATION: As children mature they often show characteristics of their parents.  And as I mature in Christ, His characteristics should begin to show in me. 

The Life of God within me grows and expands to influence and control every aspect of my life.  I must learn not to trust my feelings.  I must learn to submit all my thoughts to the Holy Spirit’s supervision.  Thoughts can arise from recalling past experiences; even Satan can introduce thoughts that entice me to meditate on unholy subjects.  Every thought should be analyzed by the Holy Spirit.  (1Corinthians 10:5)

PRAYER:   Heavenly Father, I am your temple, you have made me your dwelling place.  And, I am also your child, growing to be your son.  May others quickly recognize Your presence living within me.  Amen.

Pastor Leon
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Pastor Leon’s SOAP:  Scripture, Observation, Application, Prayer
April 05, 2023: SOAP #4871: Ruth 1-2; Psalm 53, 61; 2Corinthians 5

SCRIPTURE:  Ruth (NIV) 1: 15  “Look,” said Naomi, “your sister-in-law is going back to her people and her gods. Go back with her.” 16 But Ruth replied, “Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. 17 Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the LORD deal with me, be it ever so severely, if anything but death separates you and me.”

OBSERVATION:  The more I read the book of Ruth, the more I am impressed with Naomi.  What a mother-in-law that would bring such a response from a daughter-in-law!  Surely Naomi had endeared herself to Ruth during the time Ruth was married to Naomi’s son.  Surely during the death of Naomi’s husband, and then the death of Ruth’s husband — surely during those days Ruth saw something special in Naomi! -something she wanted in her life.-something that was worth leaving her home to be with this woman who was discouraging her from accompanying her back to Bethlehem.  –surely Naomi had often talked about her homeland in a way that made Ruth also want to be able to call it home. 

APPLICATION: I want to live my life in such a manner that those around me want to have my God as their God.  May those who listen in to my conversations want to know more.  May they want to join me as I continue my journey to my Promised Land (Heaven.)

PRAYER:   Heavenly Father, may my conversation and manner of living demonstrate to the world around me just how pleased I am to have you constantly with me. The more I know you, the more thankful I am to be your child.  Thank you for your forgiveness.  Like Jesus, I too want to be a useful son in your kingdom. It is my privilege to do your will.  It is my joy to represent you to those around me.  Amen

Pastor Leon
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Pastor Leon’s SOAP:  Scripture, Observation, Application, Prayer
April 04, 2023: SOAP #4870: Judges 19-21; 2Corinthians 4

SCRIPTURE:  2Corinthians (NIV) 4:7  But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.

OBSERVATION:  When one sees such wisdom and power coming out of a week vessel it can only mean one thing:  there is something mighty impressive on the inside! 

Only God can get the credit when He does through us what we obviously could not do ourselves.  He is the “Treasure” that should be seen at work in our lives.

Too much of Christianity can be explained in a person working hard to accomplish something for the Lord.  That may be commendable, but that is not what God has designed.  His desire is that His presence in our lives is the only possible explanation for what is accomplished. 

APPLICATION: God often has me in situations that require more than I can do, but never in situations that require more than He can do!  And if I want Him to be seen in me, then I must be willing to be sent into circumstances that require more than I am able to do.

I do not want these daily SOAPs to be seen as something that Leon is doing for the Lord.  I want them to be something God is doing through Leon.  The expansive growth in Asia and across Africa is proof to me that God is speaking and working through the SOAPs. 

PRAYER:   Lord, I belong to you.  Use me for your glory.  Send me to the place where you can best be seen in me.  When people give me credit for what you do through me, may I be faithful and quick to give you the glory.  Amen.

Pastor Leon
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Pastor Leon’s SOAP:  Scripture, Observation, Application, Prayer
April 03, 2023: SOAP #4869: Judges 17-18; Psalm 89; 2Corinthians 3

SCRIPTURE:  2Corinthians (NIV) 3:1 Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we need, like some people, letters of recommendation to you or from you? 2 You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by everybody. 3 You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts. 4 Such confidence as this is ours through Christ before God.

OBSERVATION:  Some people like to have letters of recommendation to introduce themselves and their work to others.  In the above passage, Paul claims that the believers in the city of Corinth are his letters of recommendation.  They are not letters written with ink on paper or on a stone tablet but written by the Spirit of God on their hearts.  The presence of God in their lives made noticeable changes—changes that cannot be missed! 

The emphasis that I get from this chapter is that the Law of Moses could only change our outward actions like what we wear, and where we go to worship, but the Spirit of God changes the person on the inside.  The Spirit changes a sour-spirited person into a sweet-spirited person.  The Spirit within changes a hateful person into a loving person; a pessimist into an optimist; a frowner into a smiler. 

APPLICATION: What do people read in the letter known as Leon?  Does God get a good recommendation?  Will they want the Spirit of God living in their life?  Will they want the righteousness, peace, and joy the Spirit brings? (Romans 14:17)

PRAYER:   Holy Spirit, live in me in a way that is noticeable to others.  You and I working together, let’s make God look good!  Amen.

Pastor Leon
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Pastor Leon’s SOAP:  Scripture, Observation, Application, Prayer
April 02, 2023: SOAP #4868: Judges 13-16; 2Corinthians 2

SCRIPTURE:  Judges (NIV) 13:19 Then Manoah took a young goat, together with the grain offering, and sacrificed it on a rock to the LORD. And the LORD did an amazing thing while Manoah and his wife watched: 20 As the flame blazed up from the altar towards heaven, the angel of the LORD ascended in the flame. Seeing this, Manoah and his wife fell with their faces to the ground. 21 When the angel of the LORD did not show himself again to Manoah and his wife, Manoah realized that it was the angel of the LORD. 22 “We are doomed to die!” he said to his wife. “We have seen God!” 23 But his wife answered, “If the LORD had meant to kill us, he would not have accepted a burnt offering and grain offering from our hands, nor shown us all these things or now told us this?”

OBSERVATION:  Perhaps Manoah had recently been to the synagogue and heard one of the Levites reading from Exodus 33:20 where God said to Moses:  “you cannot see my face, for no-one may see me and live.”  When Manoah realized that this man who had just received their meal by sending it up in smoke and then rising in the smoke out of their sight was the LORD!   He knew they were going to die.   But Manoah’s wife had some common sense, “If He was going to kill us, why did He tell us what we are supposed to do?”   Good question, Lady!   

APPLICATION: I need that simple common sense today!   If God assigns me a ministry, then surely, He knows what it will take to develop and maintain that ministry!   If He assigns me to build a building, He already know how He will provide.   When God brings me a child to care for, He already knows how much it will cost to feed, cloth, and educate that child.  Does God expect me to convince others to pick up the vision He has given me?   If God gave me the vision and He is going to provide through others, I believe He will give them the vision also.  If He wants them to be a part, when they hear me tell the vision, God will speak to their hearts!  They will be responding to HIM, not to me.  I do not beg or put pressure on them.  I put my pressure on God.     

PRAYER:   Lord, help me to trust you all the way.  These are the principles you have given me for the SOAP ministry.  Three things I ask, be glorified, increase my faith and make this an example for others.  Amen.

Pastor Leon
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Pastor Leon’s SOAP:  Scripture, Observation, Application, Prayer
April 01, 2023: SOAP #4867: Judges 11-12; Psalm 50; 2Corinthians 1

SCRIPTURE:  2Corinthians (NIV) 1:8 We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about the hardships we suffered in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life.

OBSERVATION:  Paul wanted others to be informed about his difficulties.  FIRST:  In the verses preceding, he wrote how his life was an example for others.  And SECOND: in the verses following (verse 11), Paul thanks them for praying for him. 

APPLICATION: FIRST: one way for God to receive the glory from my life is for others to see Him at work in me.  Seeing how God brings me through difficulties that are obviously too hard for me, builds faith that God will do the same for them. 

SECOND: for those who love us enough to pray for us, it should be expected that we keep them informed of how we are doing.  God is answering their prayers as we move ahead.  They will glorify God as they hear of the prayers He has answered. 

PRAYER:   Lord, for you to receive glory, you will lead me through difficulties to victory.  You will lead me from one victory and through difficulties to another victory!  Give me victory over temptation.  Amen.

Pastor Leon
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Pastor Leon’s SOAP:  Scripture, Observation, Application, Prayer
March 31, 2023: SOAP #4866: Judges 9-10; Psalm 49; 1Corinthians 16

SCRIPTURE:  1Corinthians (NIV) 16:1 Now about the collection for God’s people: Do what I told the Galatian churches to do. 2 On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with his income, saving it up, so that when I come no collections will have to be made. 3 Then, when I arrive, I will give letters of introduction to the men you approve and send them with your gift to Jerusalem. 4 If it seems advisable for me to go also, they will accompany me.

OBSERVATION:  The churches had been asked to help the people living in Jerusalem.  Paul was encouraging the church in Corinth to receive a weekly collection, on the first day of every week.  Each person doing what they are able, doing it faithfully on the first day of every week, the amount will grow to help meet the need in Jerusalem.  

APPLICATION: Several times I have been asked to send money to buy Bibles.  I do not have enough money to meet those needs, so I prayed.  I know that the Lord is very concerned that His people have access to His word.  The Lord showed me that the church should take a special offering every week for the purpose of buying Bibles.  When enough money is gathered, purchase one Bible and present it to a deserving individual or family.  Then start a weekly offering for a second Bible.  There could not be a more worthy reason for an offering.  Once all the needed Bibles have been purchased, offering can be taken for neighboring churches needing Bibles.   God will bless the efforts made to obtain Bibles and He will add His increase.  

PRAYER:   Lord, there are people that need your word.  May their desire be so strong that they are willing to sacrifice to provide Bibles for their friends, and then for themselves.  Add your blessing to their efforts.  Amen.

Pastor Leon
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