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

December 26: Psalm 117; 119:81-176; 2John; 3John

Scripture: 2John 12 I have much to write to you, but I do not want to use paper and ink. Instead, I hope to visit you and talk with you face to face, so that our joy may be complete.

Observation: So much of communication is lacking when limited to paper and ink. John would much rather talk face to face with his readers where he could emphasize the urgency of his message with his tone of voice and emphasize his love with a hug. It would be good to be able to ask and answer questions. However he did not let the limitations keep him from writing a letter. Today we recognize that the Holy Spirit was inspiring him to write, not just for their benefit, but also for ours today. The great benefit of paper and ink is that it lasts; it can be re-read; it can be passed along for others to read.

Application: Today email, Facebook and Twitter have taken the place today of paper and ink. They have the same limitations and also the necessity of brevity. We greatly need the Holy Spirit to aid our communication for our benefit and God’s glory.

Prayer: Holy Spirit, help me use the limited tools of communication available to me today to bless others and bring glory to God. And thank you that communication with you is never limited! Amen

Pastor Leon

Making friends for time and eternity!

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

December 25: 1John 1-5

Scripture: 1John 4:9 This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. (NOTE: God’s present/gift to me!)
10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.
11 Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. (NOTE: I love by being present, not absent.)
12 No-one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us (NOTE: lives now, in this present time.) and his love is made complete in us.

Observation: The English word “present” has several meanings that apply to Christmas. First: the children all want a “present” (gift) for Christmas. Second: the birth of Jesus demonstrated that God was “present” (not absent) among men. Third: Jesus was not coming in history (the past) nor the future, but in the “present.”

Application: I have found that in my “present” (current) life, Jesus is “present” (with me)! And that is the greatest Christmas “present” (gift) of all! He is truly Immanuel – God with us!

Prayer: Lord, thank you for the gift of your presence! My present to you is being present in worship and present in serving others. Lord, here am I; use me. Amen

Pastor Leon

Making friends for time and eternity!

He was there!

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

December 24: John 19-21

Scripture: John 20:13 They asked her, "Woman, why are you crying?" "They have taken my Lord away," she said, "and I don’t know where they have put him."
14 At this, she turned round and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.

Observation: Jesus is standing there unrecognized by Mary who was mourning his loss and thinking that someone has stolen his body. She was so lost in her grief that she did not take a close look at who was standing beside her and talking with her. She recognized him when he spoke her name. (verses 15-16)

Application: There are times I get so lost in my circumstances that I do not expect nor do I look for the presence of Jesus. Yet He is has promised never to leave me nor forsake me! He is with me!

Prayer: Lord, my circumstances may be so dark that I cannot see everything clearly, but I can be assured that you are there with me! Amen

Pastor Leon

Making friends for time and eternity!

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

December 23: John 15-18

Scripture: John 17:1 After Jesus said this, he looked towards heaven and prayed: "Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you.
2 For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him.
3 Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.

Observation: Never far from our thoughts at Christmas is the subject of presents—presents we give and presents we receive. Without exception, the greatest present one can receive in their lifetime is the gift of eternal life given by Jesus. In verse three, we have Jesus’s definition of eternal life.

Application: It is not enough for me to know about Jesus, read about Jesus, or talk about him—I must know him. And as I continue to read the Bible and prepare the daily SOAP devotionals, I want to continue to grow in knowing him—not just knowing more about him. It is not just gaining daily knowledge about him. It is sharing the daily experience of life with him.

Prayer: Lord, as we experience this day together, show me how you respond to the things happening to me and around me. Amen

Pastor Leon

Making friends for time and eternity!

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

December 22: John 12-14

Scripture: John 12:27 "Now my heart is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour.
28 Father, glorify your name!" Then a voice came from heaven, "I have glorified it, and will glorify it again."

Observation: His time was fast approaching. He would soon take on that for which he was sent. It was not something that put an excited anticipation in his heart, but a dreaded anticipation. He was looking ahead to the cross. His heart was troubled. Yet Hebrews 12:2 says that for the joy set before him he endured the suffering.

Application: There is great joy in serving the Lord but that does not mean that there will not be times when my heart is troubled at what lies ahead. In those times I must look even further ahead to see the joy waiting on the other side of the suffering.

Prayer: Lord, it is always worth the time, effort, struggle, and even the suffering to follow you Amen

Pastor Leon

Making friends for time and eternity!

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

December 21: John 9-11

Scripture: John 10:25 Jesus answered, "I did tell you, but you do not believe. The miracles I do in my Father’s name speak for me,
John 10:32 but Jesus said to them, "I have shown you many great miracles from the Father. For which of these do you stone me?"
John 10:37 Do not believe me unless I do what my Father does.
38 But if I do it, even though you do not believe me, believe the miracles, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me, and I in the Father."

Observation: Three times in this chapter, and more in the following chapters, Jesus points to his works as proof of his words. The people did not want to accept his words, so Jesus pointed them to his works. His works demonstrated who he was.

Application: I am not saved by my works, but by my faith in His work. However if that faith is not strong enough to produce works, then it is not strong enough to save me. People should not have any trouble believing that I am a child of God. My life, what I say and do, should make that easy to believe.

Prayer: Lord, I pray that the things I do today will be evidence of your presence in my life. Amen

Pastor Leon

Making friends for time and eternity!

Listening

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

December 20: John 7-8

Scripture: John 7:45 Finally the temple guards went back to the chief priests and Pharisees, who asked them, "Why didn’t you bring him in?"
46 "No-one ever spoke the way this man does," the guards declared.

Observation: The temple guards were not the decision makers, but were servants of the priests and rulers. They had been given an assignment. They had been sent to arrest Jesus. But they returned empty handed. By listening to Jesus, they became convinced that Jesus was not someone to be arrested. He was Someone to be heard!

Application: I want my words to carry the message that Jesus has something to say to us today. He has something to say to people who live where I live and work where I work. It is not difficult to hear Him speak and it is worth while taking the time to listen.

Prayer: Lord, as I listen to you, give me words that will make others want to listen to you also. Amen

Pastor Leon

Making friends for time and eternity!

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

December 19: John 5-6

Scripture: John 6:5 When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming towards him, he said to Philip, "Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?"
6 He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do.

Observation: From Genesis 3:8, through the final chapters in the book of Job, through John 6:5 (above), and to this very day, there is a common characteristic in the questions God asks people. When God asks a question, it is not for his benefit, but for ours. He already knows the answer.

Application: When God puts a question in my mind, it is to teach me, or to focus my attention on what he is about to do near me or with my involvement. In the above verse it was to draw attention to a need Jesus was going to use the disciples to help meet. They would be the waiters in the restaurant bringing food to our table. They would be the delivery boy carrying the pizza to our front door.

Prayer: Lord, Thank you for using questions to teach me and involve me in your many ministries. Amen

Pastor Leon

Making friends for time and eternity!

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

December 18: John 2-4

Scripture: John 3:16 "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
John 3:35 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: In verse 16 we read that God the Father loved the world so much that he gave his Son to die as a blood sacrifice to pay for man’s sins. Then in verse 35 we read of His great love for His Son. After what the Son did in coming to earth and suffering the death on a cross—noting that he did it for the Father—no wonder that the Father loves the Son and is angry with everyone who rejects Him! Any parent would feel the same!

Application: I enjoy singing: Thanks for the blood, the blood of Calvary. Thanks for the blood, the blood that set me free. Thanks for the blood; thanks for your love. Thank you Father for Jesus. Thank you Jesus for bleeding. Thank you Spirit for leading me, to the blood.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, The more I understand about your love and the more I understand about Jesus’ sacrifice in payment for my sin, the more I love you and want to bring joy to your heart. Amen

Pastor Leon

Making friends for time and eternity!

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

December 17: 2Peter 1-3; John 1

Scripture: 2Peter 3:1 Dear friends, this is now my second letter to you. I have written both of them as reminders to stimulate you to wholesome thinking.
2 I want you to recall…
3 …you must understand…
5 But they deliberately forget…
8 But do not forget…

Observation: Billions of dollars are spend every year by students in school to fill their minds with facts and to train their minds how to process those facts. The mind is such an important part of our life. Our thoughts set our parameters. Peter was concerned about what his readers were thinking. To spend so much time, money and effort on preparing our minds for our temporary life, and then to ignore the issues that deal with our eternal life is foolish. Peter was right to be concerned.

Application: I am the gatekeeper for my thoughts. I too must be concerned about where my thoughts are focused.

Prayer: Holy Spirit, you who share my life, check my thoughts and guide me to focus them on what is beneficial to my eternal life. Amen

Pastor Leon

Making friends for time and eternity!