Pastor Leon’s SOAP: Scripture, Observation, Application, and Prayer

August 8: Jeremiah 1-2; John 10

Scripture: John (NIV) 10:20 Many of them said [about Jesus], “He is controlled by a demon. He has gone crazy! Why should we listen to him?” 21 But others said, “A person controlled by a demon does not say thing like this. Can a demon open the eyes of someone who is blind?” …
37 [Jesus said,] “Don’t believe me unless I do what my Father does.” 38 But what if I do it? Even if you don’t believe me, believe the miracles.

Observation: Those against Jesus questioned what he said, but they could not doubt his actions. His actions proved his words. Jesus even told the doubters to pay attention to his works. What if Christians today would say to those around them, “If my life does not show that I am a Christian, then do not believe what I say.”

Application: Whether I like it or not, the same is true about me as about Jesus. If people cannot believe how I live and what I do, they will not believe what I say.

Prayer: Holy Spirit, help me to let Jesus live His life through me. When I say I am a Christian may people not be surprised. Amen

Pastor Leon

Making friends for time and eternity!

Pastor Leon’s SOAP: Scripture, Observation, Application, and Prayer

August 7: Zephaniah 1-3; John 9

Scripture: John (NIV) 9:39 Jesus said, “I have come into this world to judge it. I have come so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind.”

Observation: Here is a purpose statement made by Jesus. He had come to bring judgment to the religious leaders who claimed to speak for God. But He came to bring sight to those who would admit they were blind. Judgment comes on those who claim to see while sight comes to those willing to admit their blindness!

Application: I want to be quick to admit my blindness, my weaknesses because then I will be quick to find God’s grace. When I claim to be strong and full of ability and I accomplish what I set out to do—then the glory goes to me. When I claim to be weak and dependent on God, God gets the glory. When I start out on my own, God often lets me go ahead in my own strength and soon I am at the end of my strength and back confessing my weakness and need for His strength.

Prayer: Lord, I need you desperately. I am dependent on your mercy, your wisdom, and your strength. Amen

Pastor Leon

Making friends for time and eternity!

Pastor Leon’s SOAP: Scripture, Observation, Application, and Prayer

August 6: Habakkuk 1-3; John 8

Scripture: Habakkuk (NIV) 3:2 LORD, I know how famous you are. I have great respect for you because of your mighty acts. Do them again for us. Make them known in our time. When you are angry, please show us your tender love.

Observation: This book starts with the prophet, Habakkuk, asking why God allowed all the sin he saw around him. God tells the prophet that he will punish His people by sending the Babylonians to attack them. Then the prophet has an even greater concern: why would God use the less godly to attack those who were more godly? God had a future plan for the nation of Israel. The Babylonians would be God’s instrument to punish and correct Israel which would serve to preserve Israel. God was going to send the Messiah through Israel. But the judgment coming to the Babylonian empire would not correct that nation but destroy it.

Application: The United States of America was planted and preserved by God to have a major part in spreading the gospel throughout the world. In many ways we have been a police force in the world. But our usefulness to God as a nation is winding down. We are pulling back from places we should be standing for righteousness. That should come as no surprise for we do not even stand for righteousness within our own borders. An unarmed army is invading us from the south. Although I do not see a future for our nation, I do see a future for the church! When Jesus descends to rapture His church, may there a mighty army which ascends from our borders to meet Him in the air! May there be hundreds of thousands who have recently crossed our southern border joining with us to meet our Lord!

Prayer: Lord, as judgment comes to the USA, please show us your tender love! Amen

Pastor Leon

Making friends for time and eternity!

Pastor Leon’s SOAP: Scripture, Observation, Application, and Prayer

August 5: 2Kings 23; 2Chronicles 35; John 7

Scripture: John (NIV) [Jesus speaking] 7:38 “Does anyone believe in me, Then, just as Scripture says, streams of living water will flow from inside him.”
39 When he said this he meant the Holy Spirit. Those who believed in Jesus would receive the Spirit later. Up to that time, the Spirit had not been given. This was because Jesus had not yet received glory.

Observation: Jesus has lived and died. Jesus has risen from the dead. Jesus has been raised to heaven and has received the glory. And on the day of Pentecost, the Spirit was given. The scripture says that believers “would receive the Spirit later.” Good news! “Later” arrived a long time ago! “Later” is here! Praise the Lord!

Application: I am so glad for the presence and ministry of the Holy Spirit. He personalizes the work of God in and through me. He empowers me to live and to reach out to others. He is the Comforter that Jesus promised to send.

Prayer: Holy Spirit, thank you for being that well of water that springs up in my life. Thank you for being that stream of living water that flows from me. Help me keep clean the channel through which you flow. Amen

Pastor Leon

Making friends for time and eternity!

Pastor Leon’s SOAP: Scripture, Observation, Application, and Prayer

August 4: 2Kings 22; 2Chronicles 34; John 6

Scripture: John (NIV) 6:66 From this time on, many of his disciples turned back. They no longer followed him. 67 “You don’t want to leave also, do you?” Jesus asked the twelve. 68 Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, who can we go to? You have the words of eternal life. 69 We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.”

Observation: In this verse we find that many turned back. The bible calls those who turned back "his disciples." What a sad day for Jesus. It always hurts when people leave, for whatever reason. What a sad day for the remaining "disciples." Surely there were friends among those who left. Probably there were friends they had introduced to Jesus. What a sad, sad day for those who left. They did not know it at the time, but it would soon become evident. What a mistake they made that day! They left the Teacher. They left the Healer. They left Jesus!

Application: I know of many people who have been badly hurt by rejection. There have been times when I have felt rejection. The deeper the love the greater is the pain of rejection. How the Lord’s heart must hurt when people that He loved so much to die for them—when those people turn their back on Him. His great love for them causes the pain of rejection to go deep.

Prayer: Lord, may I never cause you such pain, rather may my life be a comfort to you and a cause for rejoicing. Amen

Pastor Leon

Making friends for time and eternity!

Pastor Leon’s SOAP: Scripture, Observation, Application, and Prayer

August 3: Nahum 1-3; John 5

Scripture: John (NIV) Jesus is at the pool called Bethesda 5:3 Here a great number of disabled people used to lie down.… 5 One person who was there had been disabled for 38 years. 6 Jesus saw him lying there. He knew that the man had been in that condition for a long time. So he asked him, “Do you want to get well?” 7 “Sir,” the disabled man replied, “I have no one to help me into the pool when an angel stirs the water up. I try to get in, but someone else always goes down ahead of me.” 8 Then Jesus said to him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.” 9 At once the man was healed. He picked up his mat and walked.

Observation: I cannot help but think of this waiting area at the pool of Bethesda as the waiting room in a doctor’s office. People come with hope of getting better. They sit in the waiting room until their name is called. This man was at the pool in hope of getting better. The belief was that the first one in the pool after an angel stirred the waters would be healed—but this man did not have anyone to help him so he was always too slow. And then one day someone asked him a strange question, “Do you want to get well?” Then Jesus said something else…

Application: …when God gives me a command, like “Get up, pick up your mat and walk,” God will also enable me to do what he commands. Like this man, I should not question Him or explain why I cannot do it. I probably know more about Jesus than this man did, so I should obey even more quickly. If He says to do it, I should do it!

Prayer: Lord, you never give me a command that you are not willing to help me fulfill. I have no excuse for disobedience. When you command me to forgive; you will help me. Amen

Pastor Leon

Making friends for time and eternity!

Pastor Leon’s SOAP: Scripture, Observation, Application, and Prayer

August 2: 2Kings 21; 2Chronicles 33; John 4

Scripture: John (NIV) 4:30 The people came out of the town and made their way toward Jesus. 31 His disciples were saying to him, “Rabbi, eat something!” 32 But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you know nothing about.” 33 Then his disciples asked each other, “Did someone bring him food?” 34 Jesus said, “My food is to do what my Father sent me to do. My food is to finish his work.”

Observation: Jesus got physical satisfaction out of “finishing” the Father’s work. It was such a pleasure to be engaged in the Father’s work that Jesus forgot his physical body was hungry. He was doing what he had been sent to do! He was telling these people about His Father! (Note earlier in this chapter.) What the Father had begun in creation, Jesus was in the process of completing. Man had been created for fellowship with God. God enjoyed the walks with Adam and Eve in the garden. Now God, the Son, was enjoying interacting with these Samaritans.

Application: I too have the privilege of doing my Father’s work. People around me were created to have fellowship with the Father. Jesus came to make that possible by dying to remove the sin barrier. Now I can help finish His work in their lives by telling them about my Father and what His Son has done for them. I too can experience the joy of spiritual satisfaction that overrides physical hunger.

Prayer: Lord, to bring joy to your heart—to do your will—that is my priority. Knowing that you are pleased with me brings joy to my heart, at times so much that I do not notice my physical hunger. Amen

Pastor Leon

Making friends for time and eternity!

August 1: Isaiah 65-66; Psalm 62; John 3

Scripture: Isaiah (NIV) 66:2 …[God speaking], ”The person I value is not proud. He is sorry for the wrong things he has done. He has great respect for what I say.
3 But others are not like that…They have chosen to go their own way. They take delight in the things I hate.
4 So I have also made a choice. I will make them suffer greatly. I will bring on them what they are afraid of. When I called out to them, no one answered me. When I spoke to them, no one listened. They did what is evil in my sight. They chose to do what displeases me.”

Observation: Here we see God’s choice based on our choice. “They have chosen…So I have also made a choice.” So much about us can be seen in our choices: our faith, our morality, our beliefs, our priorities.

Application: Rather than doing what pleases me and taking joy in the things God hates (like much of what is on television) I must choose to be quick to repent and to love His Word.

Prayer: Lord, I choose to be sorry for the things I have done wrong. What you say is very important to me! I want to read the Bible every day and to listen for what you say to me. Holy Spirit, thank you for helping me! Amen

Pastor Leon

Making friends for time and eternity!

Pastor Leon’s SOAP: Scripture, Observation, Application, and Prayer

July 31: Isaiah 63-64; John 2

Scripture: John (NIV) 2:5 His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”
7 Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water;” so they filled them to the brim.
8 Then he told them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet.”

Observation: The wedding was out of wine. Jesus mother told the servants to do whatever Jesus told them to do. Jesus gave them two commands; #1, fil the jars with water and #2, draw some out and take it to the master of ceremonies. Jesus did not ask them to do what they could not do, but only what they could do. It probably did not make much sense to the servants, but they obeyed, and so they became a part of Jesus first miracle. The miracle happened as they obeyed.

Application: I have found that Jesus does the same for me. He only asks me to do what I can do. Sometimes He requires more than I want to do, but He never requires more than I can do. As the servants filled the jars to the brim, I want to do His bidding with the same diligence. When I obey and do what I can do, He does what only He can do!

Prayer: Lord, thank you for letting me be a partner in what you are doing. Thank you for giving me the privilege of working with You! Amen

Pastor Leon

Making friends for time and eternity!

Pastor Leon’s SOAP: Scripture, Observation, Application, and Prayer

July 30: Isaiah 60-62; John 1

Scripture: John (NIV) 1:10 He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. 11 He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. 12 Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.

Observation: Jesus created the world, yet when he came as a little baby, born of a virgin, announced by angels, in the town prophesied by the prophet Micah, the world did not recognize Him. Even the Jewish people who had been given all the prophecies about Jesus did not recognize Him. The religious leaders who probably best knew the Old Testament scriptures did not receive him, but led the mob in having Jesus put to death.

Application: As I read the above verses, it came to me that there have been times my eyes were so fastened on my circumstances that I did not recognize the presence of Jesus. He had come to me; and I claim to be his own, but I did not recognize His presence! I missed the opportunity to exercise my faith. I want to be quick to recognize Jesus and “receive” Him as the Lord of my circumstances.

Prayer: Lord, May I always keep myself keenly aware of your presence. May your presence be the first thought in my mind when I face trouble. Amen

Pastor Leon

Making friends for time and eternity!