August 3, 2017: SOAP #2800: Nahum 1-3; John 5

Scripture:  John (NIV) 5:24 “I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life.
25 I tell you the truth, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live.
26 For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son to have life in himself.
27 And he has given him authority to judge because he is the Son of Man.

Observation:   God is so holy that the only one worthy of judging was one who proved He Himself could live it!   He is worthy, not because He is the Son of God, but because he is the Son of Man.  The One worthy to bring judgment is the One who has been tested and tried by the law.  The One worthy is the One who has proved His worthiness by living victorious under the law. He not only kept the law, He fulfilled the laws demands for those who could not keep it.

Application:  To the Father, Jesus is worthy of being the judge over all.  To me, Jesus is worthy of being my Lord.  It is no unreasonable thing to turn over all authority in my life to the One who proved God’s love for me by dying for my sins!

Prayer:   Jesus, You are my Lord!  Holy Spirit, help me live out that confession every moment of my life.  Amen

Pastor Leon
Making friends for time and eternity!

August 2, 2017: SOAP #2799: 2Kings 21; 2Chronicles 33; John 4

Scripture:  2Kings (NIV) 21:9 But the people did not listen. Manasseh led them astray, so that they did more evil than the nations the LORD had destroyed before the Israelites.

Observation:  Israel’s ONLY hope was in the promises God made to Abraham and to his descendants.  If not for those promises, Israel would have gone the way of all the wicked nations surrounding them.  We only read about those nations in history books.

But how different for Israel.  We can read about their continuing history.  We even see them today!  Manasseh was not the end of Israel.  “They did more evil than the nations the LORD had destroyed” yet God did not destroy them.

What was their hope of a continuing history?  It definitely was not their goodness for they were more evil then the others.  Their hope then is the same as their hope today.  Their hope: God’s faithfulness to His Word.  Man may be unfaithful, but God never!   He cannot deny Himself! Because of His promise to Abraham, God punished Israel but did not destroy Israel.  He corrected them to preserve them.

Application:  I have no hope for my own righteousness.  I must rely totally on God and His faithfulness to His Word!   The Living Word came to fulfill the Spoken Word which is revealed in the Written Word.  As Israel’s hope is founded on the words Father God spoke to Abraham, so my hope is founded on the words the same Father God spoke to Jesus, His Son.  John 6:39  “And this is the Father’s will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day.”  What a hope!!!

Prayer:   Heavenly Father, thank you for your Word!  …and thank you for Your faithfulness to your Word! Amen

Pastor Leon
Making friends for time and eternity!

August 1, 2017: SOAP #2798: Isaiah 65-66; Psalm 62; John 3

Scripture:  John (NIV) 3:34 For the one whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God gives the Spirit without limit.
35 The Father loves the Son and has placed everything in his hands.
36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on him.”

Observation:   The center of God’s presence and plan for the earth is Jesus, His Son.  Jesus had emptied himself of His own “God-ness.”  Although He remained God, He walked on earth only as a man.  Not a man like other men—a man like Adam was—a man without sin!  And yet, not like Adam—a man like Adam could have been if he had eaten from the tree of life and not from the tree of knowledge of good and evil.  Jesus walked in the full empowering of the Holy Spirit.  There was no sin in Jesus to limit the working of the Holy Spirit from flowing through Him.

Everything revolves around Jesus.  Eternal life or God’s wrath depends on accepting or rejecting Jesus.  How could God the Father not be angry when people reject what Jesus did for us.  The Father loves the Son, and will hold people responsible for rejecting Him.

Application:  God does not hide the importance of Jesus.  It is clear for all see.  It is also clear that Jesus should be the theme of my life.

Prayer:    Heavenly Father, thank you for Jesus, the center of your plan.  I make Him the center of my life!  Amen

Pastor Leon
Making friends for time and eternity!

July 31, 2017: SOAP #2797: Isaiah 63-64; John 2

Scripture:  John (NIV) 2:23 Now while he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many people saw the miraculous signs he was doing and believed in his name.  24 But Jesus would not entrust himself to them, for he knew all men. 25 He did not need man’s testimony about man, for he knew what was in a man.

Observation:   The more I think on these verses, the more they amaze me.  They give a window through which I can see the plan of God.  Of course, Jesus knew what was in a man.  He was their creator.  He knew how he had made them.  He knew Satan’s work. He knew Adam and Eve in the garden.  He knew what it would take to restore righteousness to the heart of man.  They believed in Him now, but soon they would be part of a crowd crying, “Crucify Him!”  Oh, yes, Jesus knew what was in a man, for that is why he was there!

Application:  Jesus knows what is in me!  He knows the weakness of my flesh.  He also knows the power of His blood to forgive my sins.  He also knows the power of the Holy Spirit that He sent to dwell inside me.  His hope for me is secure in the presence of the Holy Spirit!

Prayer:   Heavenly Father, the more I understand your amazing plan in revealing your great love through your Son, Jesus, the more I stand in awe of you.  Amen

Pastor Leon
Making friends for time and eternity!

July 30, 2017: SOAP #2796: Isaiah 60-62; John 1

Scripture:  John (NIV) 1:17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

Observation:  Grace and truth—what a powerful combination.  It is not grace without truth.  And it is not truth without grace.  Grace is God’s love reaching out to man.  Grace extends forgiveness and cleansing from sin to enable man to draw close to a holy God.  Truth is reality.  God is really holy and sin really destroys.

Grace must be grounded in truth.  Grace not accompanied by truth is worthless.  And truth must be accompanied by grace.  If not, we are all hopelessly doomed for God really is holy and the wages of sin really is death.

Application:  I believe the truth and receive Jesus as my Lord and Savior.

Prayer:   Heavenly Father, thank you for the grace and truth that you offered to me through your Son, Jesus Christ.  I agree with you that I have sinned.  I believe the truth that Jesus died for my sin.  Forgive my sins and cleanse me from all unrighteousness.  In Jesus Name, Amen

Pastor Leon
Making friends for time and eternity!

July 29, 2017: SOAP #2795: Isaiah 57-59; Psalm 103; 2Peter 3

Scripture:  Psalm (NIV) 103:6 The LORD works righteousness and justice for all the oppressed.
7 He made known his ways to Moses, his deeds to the people of Israel:
8 The LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love.
9 He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever;
10 he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities.

Observation:  To the nation of Israel, and to many surrounding them, God made known His deeds.  He was a powerful God.  He was more powerful than all the gods of the Egyptians.  His deeds were amazing!  The ten plagues destroying the gods of the Egyptians.  The opening of the Red Sea allowed them to escape the Egyptian army.  The provision of water; the provision of food; the cloud as a pillar to lead them in the day becoming a pillar of fire at night.  Indeed, the Israelites saw the great deeds of God.

But with Moses it was different.  Moses got to know God’s ways.  He became familiar with why God did what He did!  To Moses was revealed God’s character.  (Exodus 34) Moses was shown God grace, mercy, compassion, justice, and holiness.

Application:  May I never experience God working on my behalf without learning a little more about the God who works on my behalf.  In every encounter, I should gain new insight into this God I love and serve.

Prayer:  Holy Spirit, help me look through what God does for me to see the God who does them for me.  Ask me what I learned about God’s character from what I just experienced.  Amen

Pastor Leon
Making friends for time and eternity!

July 28, 2017: SOAP #2794: Isaiah 53-56; 2Peter 2

Scripture:  Isaiah (NIV) 53:11 After the suffering of his soul, he will see the light of life and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities.

Observation:   One is satisfied when the actual results are the same as the expected results.  Jesus is satisfied because His time on earth is considered a success.  The rejection, the suffering, the pain, the piercings, the agony—He was pierced, crushed, punished and wounded.  He was oppressed and afflicted, assigned a grave with the wicked, and the rich.  He was crushed and suffered by the will of His Father!  And when He looked back, He was satisfied.  He had accomplished what He had set out to do!  The results were worth the suffering!

Application:  Two ways in which God can be satisfied in my life.  First, He knows what I have been saved from.  He knows the sin and the hell that was awaiting me.  He can be satisfied in that He saved me from sin and judgment.  Second, He can be satisfied in what He wants to accomplish through me.  He can be satisfied as I fulfill His purpose for my life.

Prayer:   Lord Jesus, I want you to be satisfied with what You have accomplished and will accomplish in my life.  Holy Spirit, empower me to live a life worthy and pleasing to my Lord.  May Jesus be satisfied with my life.  Amen

Pastor Leon
Making friends for time and eternity!

July 27, 2017: SOAP #2793: Isaiah 50-52; 2Peter 1

Scripture:  Isaiah (NIV) 52:11 Depart, depart, go out from there! Touch no unclean thing! Come out from it and be pure, you who carry the vessels of the LORD.
12 But you will not leave in haste or go in flight; for the LORD will go before you, the God of Israel will be your rear guard.

Observation:   In reading this passage, God verified three things he spoke to me not too long ago—three things about His guidance.  First, God speaks.  I can trust His leading.  He knows the big picture.  Second, God is my rear guard.  He will be with me.  He will be watching over every step I take.  He will be protecting me from unknown danger.  And third, God goes before me.  He will arrive before I do.  He will be there when I arrive!  He will have things ready for my arrival.

Application:  There is no way to over emphasize the importance of waiting on a clear word from God before starting out into the unknown.  When trouble comes, as it surely will, I need to know I am where God sent me.  When I am certain that He has told me to go, then I can be certain that He is going with me.  And I can be certain that He will already be there when I arrive!

Prayer:  Heavenly Father, help me be patient until I hear you speak.  Then help me obey in faith.  I am excited to see how you are going to provide.  Mine is the joy of accomplishment; yours is the glory!  Amen

Pastor Leon
Making friends for time and eternity!

July 26, 2017: SOAP #2792: Isaiah 46-49; 1Peter 5

Scripture: 1Peter (NIV) 5:10 And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.

Observation: Justice is getting what I deserve. Mercy is not getting what I deserve. Grace is getting what I do not deserve.

There is no power on earth that can force God to be gracious. There is no intelligence on earth that could devise an argument so convincing that it would convince God to be gracious. God is gracious because that is His nature. His grace is limited only by His holiness. Holiness demands justice, but God’s love found a way, at great cost to Himself, to settle holiness’s demand for justice and extend grace to His creation He so greatly loves. Grace is an expression of God’s love. It is as amazing as is His love!

Application: The more I understand God’s holiness and love, the more I am humbled to know that the God of all creation—that He Himself settled my issues with being holy by sending His Son to die in my place on a cross. In mercy, He offered me forgiveness; in grace, He accepted me as His child. How can I not live as His humble servant in obedience to His will!!!

Prayer: Gracious Heavenly Father, you are amazing! I am in awe of your grace extended to me. I have not just read about it; I have experienced it! My heart overflows with praise and worship. Amen

Pastor Leon
Making friends for time and eternity!

July 25, 2017: SOAP #2791: Isaiah 43-45; 1Peter 4

Scripture:  Isaiah (NIV) 43:1 But now, this is what the LORD says—he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine.
2 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze….
5 Do not be afraid, for I am with you; I will bring your children from the east and gather you from the west.

Observation:  His promise that the waters will not sweep over us is almost a promise that we will have to walk through some floods.  Why would He promise us not to be burned if there were no fires for us to pass through?  Living for God does not come with a promise of no troubles, or struggles, or difficulties.  But it comes with His promises to never leave us!  His promise is His presence!  His presence is the one constant in our lives.

Application:  In coaching small children in soccer, it was important to the players that their parents were present and watching.  The presence of the parent meant so much to the young athlete.  How much more does the Presence of Almighty God, my Heavenly Father mean to me.  He is interested in me.  He is watching me.  He is encouraging me.  He is not just on the sidelines cheering me on, He is on the field with me!  He coaches from within!

Prayer:   Heavenly Father, Your Presence is my greatest possession.  Your presence is the greatest blessing in our home.  Your presence in my life increases my value at work. Amen

Pastor Leon
Making friends for time and eternity!