December 28, 2021: SOAP #4408:  Revelation 5-9

SCRIPTURE:  Revelation (NIV) 7:14 I answered, “Sir, you know.” And he said, “These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. 15 Therefore, “they are before the throne of God and serve him day and night in his temple; and he who sits on the throne will spread his tent over them. 16 Never again will they hunger; never again will they thirst. The sun will not beat upon them, nor any scorching heat. 17 For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd; he will lead them to springs of living water. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”

OBSERVATION:  Those who have endured tribulation during their life on earth, will find things very different during their life in heaven.  At times life can seem very unfair.  Some people seem to never get a break.  As they are coming out of one struggle, they find another one waiting.  But a day is coming…

APPLICATION:  …a day is coming when God will set things right.  For those who have had their sins forgiven based on Jesus’ death, they can smile through the troubles of this life.  They can walk in confidence that a better time awaits.  Death may stop the suffering of this life, but it does not stop the promises of God!  

PRAYER:  Heavenly Father, thank you for giving us windows in the scriptures through which we can see into eternity. What a difference!!!  We trust you to reward those who have been mistreated, to honor those who have been ridiculed, and to comfort those who have been heart-broken. Amen.

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

December 27, 2021: SOAP #4407:  Revelation 1-4

SCRIPTURE:  Revelation (NIV) 1:9 I, John, your brother and companion in the suffering and kingdom and patient endurance that are ours in Jesus, was on the island of Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. 10 On the Lord’s Day I was in the Spirit, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet, 11 which said: “Write on a scroll what you see and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea.”

OBSERVATION: That John was “in the Spirit” tells me that his mind was not filled with his circumstances.  He was not planning an escape from this island Roman prison.  He was not thinking about how he missed his family and friends.  He was “in the Spirit.” 

It was an experience specifically on “the Lord’s Day” which says to me that this was beyond John’s normal experience.  The Spirit had captivated John’s attention. 

With his mind focused on God and His presence, John heard a voice!  The resurrected and glorified Jesus was speaking to John!   God had John’s attention.  John was ready to hear. –and oh, the things he saw and heard!

APPLICATION:  When I take time to give God my attention, I find that He is ready to speak.  Of course, He’s ready—He is a speaker!  It is His nature to speak.  God uses His Word to get my attention.  As His word draws my attention away from things of the world, I hear Him speak to me. 

I am God’s child, a member of His family.  His Son, Jesus, paid the price to bring me into His family.  I have committed my life to Him.  I have set my heart to do as He directs.  Of course, He speaks to me.  It would be surprising if He did not speak to me. 

PRAYER:  Heavenly Father, your best speech was when you sent your Son.  How appropriate that He is the Word!  I am so thankful that you are still speaking.  Amen.

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

December 26, 2021: SOAP #4406:  Psalm 117; 119:81-176; 2John; 3John

SCRIPTURE:  Psalm (NIV) 119:105 Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.

OBSERVATION: In this chapter, the Psalmist is expressing praise and gratitude to the Lord for His word, the Bible.  In the above verse we can see two specific reasons to appreciate God’s Word. 

In the Word we find a light to cover our path and its surroundings.  In the light of day, I can look to the left and right.  I can look forward to see what lies ahead on my path.  I can prepare for danger ahead. 

A lamp is used to give light to a specific location or room.  I use a lamp to illumine my immediate location.  In the light of a lamp, I can make good choices as to where I place my feet.  Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, the Word often gives me specific direction and timing for my steps. 

APPLICATION:  Daily reading the Word builds my supply of wisdom to help me understand the world around me.  The light of the Word reveals the evil that is all around me.  The lamp of the Word shows me how to step to stay away from the evil.  The Holy Spirit uses the Word to show me how to respond. 

The Holy Spirit uses the light of the Word to give me confidence that everything will work out for my good and God’s glory.  The Holy Spirit uses the lamp of the Word to burn into my mind and heart things that I need to be doing today, now, immediately. 

In reading the chapters assigned in the Bible reading program I use, I grow in understanding of God and what He is doing in the world around me.  When the Holy Spirit draws my attention to a specific verse, I pause to read it again and meditate on it.  The Spirit makes it “a lamp to my feet.”  In those times, the Spirit gives me the thought for Today‘s SOAP. 

PRAYER:  Heavenly Father, thank you for your Word.  Holy Spirit, thank you for the skillful and gentle way you guide my steps in the Word.  Amen.

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

Merry Christmas to all!  May Jesus and you enjoy each other’s presence today!  Make this day HIS; and make Him happy He is sharing it with you!  😊 

December 25, 2021: SOAP #4405:  1John 1-5

SCRIPTURE:  1John (NIV) 4:19 We love because he first loved us. 20 If anyone says, “I love God,” yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. 21 And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother.
5:13 I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life. 14 This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. 15 And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.

OBSERVATION: In reading through the five chapters of 1John, two words stood out to me.  First is the word “love.”  When the One who loved the world so much that He sent His only begotten Son—when HE takes up residence in me there will be an increase in the love I experience and show to others. 

The second word is “know.”  How could it be that God would live inside me and I would not know?  The Presence of God in my life makes a difference. 

APPLICATION:  Life after death, heaven, and hell, these are issues that I do not want to leave to chance.  I want to know the truth about the future, and I want to know where I am headed. 

The Presence of God’s love working in my life raises my hope to the faith level and then to the “know” level.  The more I experience God’s love, the more confidence I have in what He has in store for me. 

PRAYER:  Heavenly Father, I know you love me, and I know you are working in my life for my good and your glory.  I know I can trust you with my future.  Have your way in me.  Amen.

Pastor Leon
Making friends for time and eternity! 

December 24, 2021: SOAP #4404:  John 19-21

SCRIPTURE:  John (NIV) 20:1 Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. 2 So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!”

OBSERVATION: No, Mary, your first impression was wrong!   What you saw as the worst possible situation, in reality was the greatest possible situation.  In truth, it was far better than you could have imagined! 

Circumstances said the dead body of Jesus had been stolen; reality was that Jesus had just defeated the grave!!! 

APPLICATION:  I wish I could say I have never jumped to a wrong first impression, or that I will never do it again.  But …   I am doing better.  I am learning to wait and trust the Lord.  I am learning to remember what He has said to me.  He is worth waiting for!!! 

There are times when I evaluate the circumstances according to my own limited understanding.  Then I set a course of action depending on my own limited resources.  Often in taking such action, I miss letting God use His unlimited resources to meet my need.  I miss first best and settle for second best.  People see what I can do rather than what God can do. 

PRAYER:  Holy Spirit, remind me.  Slow me down.  Help me not be in such a hurry that I do not wait for your answer.   Amen.

Pastor Leon
Making friends for time and eternity! 

December 23, 2021: SOAP #4403:  John 15-18

SCRIPTURE:  John (NIV) 18:1 When he had finished praying, Jesus left with his disciples and crossed the Kidron Valley. On the other side there was an olive grove, and he and his disciples went into it. 2 Now Judas, who betrayed him, knew the place, because Jesus had often met there with his disciples.

OBSERVATION: Having a routine is important.  They can become a religious exercise we simply repeat over and over.  A routine can also become a testimony of God’s faithfulness. For the past 12 years, every day (except the day I had surgery on my heart) I have taken time to write a daily SOAP.  At first they were mainly for me.  Then as I posted them on Fb, others started reading them and making encouraging comments.  Then an email list started.  Then Arputharaj, a friend in India, offered to translate them into Tamil. Then Jents Talukder started translating them into Bangla.  Then Mekala Sekhar into Telugu. Then Shafiq Masish into Urdu in Pakistan where Evangelist Shariff Masish has distributed them in crusades.  Then Mekala Sekhar into Telugu.  Then Papiya Talukder into Hindi.  This year they started spreading in Africa.  Pastor Andrew has a vision to see them spread in African countries.  He prints 6,000+ copies each month and distributes them to all the churches around Freetown.  He introduced them to Ghana and Liberia.  Bishop Emmanuel in Liberia has a ministry to pastors in West African countries and this past week started taking laptops to 7 West African countries where printers are ready to begin printing SOAPs.  A conference was held this last week in Kenya (C Owino) to teach people how the SOAPs can be used. 

APPLICATION:  It all started by being faithful to do what my pastor (Dayton Poe) asked me to do.  God has blessed my small, daily faithfulness, with His GREAT ETERNAL FAITHFULNESS!  It is amazing! 

PRAYER:  I ask the SOAP readers to pray for me.  Pray that I will quickly and correctly hear what God speaks to me.  Pray that I will use words easy to understand and phrases easy to translate.  …for the glory of God! Thank you.

Pastor Leon
Making friends for time and eternity! 

December 22, 2021: SOAP #4402:  John 12-14

SCRIPTURE:  John (NIV) 12:49 For I did not speak of my own accord, but the Father who sent me, commanded me what to say and how to say it.  50 I know that his command leads to eternal life. So, whatever I say is just what the Father has told me to say.”

OBSERVATION: God’s message had been spoken by the Old Testament prophets.  It had been communicated by dramatized sermons.  It was uniquely communicated with ceremonies and sacrifices through the law by the Tabernacle of Moses.  But never was God’s message to the world more clearly communicated than by the life and ministry of Jesus! 

Jesus put God’s message into flesh.  He communicated it in words and actions.  The Father “commanded [Jesus] what to say and how to say it.”

APPLICATION:  Today, God communicates His message through the church.  He has placed the Holy Spirit in every believer to influence us to live like Jesus—not only with our words and actions, but also with our attitudes.  He tells us “what to say and how to say it.” 

My words are to communicate His truth and my attitudes are to communicate His love!

PRAYER:  Holy Spirit, work your truth and attitudes into my heart that I not only speak truth from my mouth, but it flows from a heart filled with your love.  Amen.

Pastor Leon
Making friends for time and eternity! 

December 21, 2021: SOAP #4401:  John 9-11

SCRIPTURE:  John (NIV) 11:21 “Lord,” Martha said to Jesus, “if you had been here, my brother would not have died. …
32 When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” …
37 But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?”

OBSERVATION: When Jesus finally arrived, Lazarus had been dead for four days.  Jesus could have healed Lazarus, but now there was no hope—Lazarus had died.  Their faith had reached a barrier over which it could not lift them.  Even with Jesus present, their faith was dead.  They had faith until death but not beyond! 

Jesus called Lazarus back.  He called him to return.  He came back to life, but he needed the grave clothes to be unwrapped.  He returned to a life that would end in death.  Lazarus bounced back from death into the continuation of a life that would end in death. 

What a difference—the resurrection of Jesus.  No one was needed to remove any grave clothes from Jesus.  Jesus did not return to a life that was subject to death.  Jesus did not bounce back; He went all the way through to resurrected, never ending life!   And that is where He takes me!!! 

APPLICATION:  I stand at the coffin of my loved one hoping they will bounce back.  I would love to have them back and share this life with me.  But my faith looks beyond the grave.  They have passed through death to a never-ending life!  I see them enjoying the presence of Jesus.  They are now more alive than they ever were here in this life.  As the baby emerges from its mother’s womb into a bright world full of new experiences, so the believer bursts out of this life through death into a life even more full, and more purposeful, and more exciting than could ever be experienced here!    

Missing them makes me mourn; seeing them by faith causes me to rejoice! 

PRAYER:  Lord, thank you for faith that reaches beyond death! Amen

Pastor Leon                        
Making friends for time and eternity! 

December 20, 2021: SOAP #4400:  John 7-8

SCRIPTURE:  John (NIV) 8:26 … But he who sent me is reliable, and what I have heard from him I tell the world.” 27 They did not understand that he was telling them about his Father. 28 So Jesus said, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am the one I claim to be and that I do nothing on my own but speak just what the Father has taught me. 29 The one who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, for I always do what pleases him.”

OBSERVATION: The emphasis of John in his gospel is to present Jesus as God the Son.  Jesus died for our sins and desires a current and active relationship with us. 

In the book of John, one of the most important subjects—if not the most important subject—of Jesus’ teachings is “the Father.”  He gives all the credit for His purpose in being present, for His miracles, and for His teaching to the Father.  It is important to Jesus that we come to know His Father. 

APPLICATION:  It blesses the Father when I honor Jesus His Son!  It blesses the Father when I receive the salvation provided by Jesus.  It blesses the Father when I am born again and become a part of the family of God.  It brings the Father great joy. 

It blesses Jesus, the Son, when I honor the Father.  It blesses Jesus when I grow in my knowledge of the Father.  It blesses Jesus when I pray to the Father in the name of Jesus!  It blesses Jesus when I act and talk like a child of the Most High God, when I behave like I am His son! 

PRAYER:  Holy Spirit, make me a blessing to the Father by helping me live a life that honors Jesus.  Make me a blessing to Jesus by helping me live a life that honors the Father.  Amen.

Pastor Leon
Making friends for time and eternity! 

December 19, 2021: SOAP #4399:  John 5-6

SCRIPTURE:  John (NIV) 5:30 By myself I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just, for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me

John (NIV) 6:38 For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. 39 And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given me but raise them up at the last day. 40 For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.”

OBSERVATION:  Jesus was sent to the earth with an assignment.  He had a purpose.  He was present on earth for the will of another.  His purpose was all wrapped up in pleasing the One Jesus considered more important than Himself—His Father. 

Jesus’ prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane (“not my will but thine be done,” Luke 22:42) shows that Jesus did have His own will, but it was totally subservient to the will of the Father. 

APPLICATION:  As Jesus perfectly lived His life to please His Father, now to Him belongs the pleasure of having the members of His body, the church, live their lives to please Him! 

Songs like “Make me more like, you, Jesus…”  and “To be like Jesus…”  are more than just words from my mouth.  They are commitments from my heart.  Calling Him “Lord” is more than something said without thought.    

PRAYER:  It is my pleasure to serve you, Lord.  There is no greater purpose in life than to please you.  May I bring joy to your heart and a smile to your face today.  Amen.

Pastor Leon
Making friends for time and eternity!