Scripture:  Hebrews 2: ¹⁷ For this reason he had to be made like them, fully human in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people.
¹⁸ Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.

Observation:    Jesus was God, not human.  Yet in order to be the perfect sacrifice for the sins of man, he had to be “made…fully human in every way.”  He is the perfect helper for man, because as a man he was tempted in every way as we are tempted.

Application:   The more I meditate on what Jesus did for me, the more I am amazed at His love for me and His grace to me.  How unworthy am I of such love!  How can I withhold anything from Him Who withheld nothing for me?

Prayer:   Lord, today is for You and Your glory!   Amen.

Scripture:  Hebrews 1: ¹ In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways,
² but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe.
³ The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.

Observation:   One of he very first things revealed about God in the first chapter of the Bible is hat He speaks.  God is a speaker.  He talks. He has spoken to us in many ways, but the best was His speaking through His Son Jesus.  In chapter 1 of John, Jesus is revealed as the Word that became flesh.  Jesus is God’s finest and clearest message.

Application:   My  desire to know God can be seen in how committed I am to know Jesus.  To the best of my ability, I must become a  “Jesus expert.”  Jesus said, “If you have  seen me, you have seen the Father.”  Jesus claimed to only speak the words the Father gave him to say.  The works he did were the Father’s works.  Jesus is the “exact representation” of the Father.

Prayer:   Lord,  may I come to better know the Father as I come to know you; and may others better come to know you as they come to know me.    Amen.

Scripture:  Philemon ¹⁰ that I appeal to you for my son Onesimus, who became my son while I was in chains. ¹¹ Formerly he was useless to you, but now he has become useful both to you and to me.

Observation:  Onesimus was a run-away servant Paul met in Rome.  When I read this short book, a short poem comes to mind:  Fuzzy-wuzzy was a bear.  Fuzzy-wuzzy had no hair.  Fuzzy-wuzzy wasn’t very fuzzy wuz he?  Onesimus was a great name for a servant because it means “useful.”  But Onesimus had run away and now was not useful to Philemon.  Useful wuzzn’t very useful wuzz he.

Application:   It is a lesson God has emphasized to me so many times.  A faithful servant is a useful servant.  If I am not useful, I am not faithful.  And as long as I am obedient, I am useful.  And as long as I can pray, I can be useful.

Prayer:   Lord, “To be used of you, to sing, to speak to pray.  To be used of you to show someone the way.  I long so much to feel the touch of your consuming fire.  To be used of you is my desire.” (Audrey Meier)   Amen.

Scripture:  Jude ²⁴ To him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy— ²⁵ to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all  ges, now and forevermore! Amen.

Observation:   Jude had planned to write about something else, but in looking at the world around him, felt obligated to write his letter as a warning to his readers.   In the first 19 verses he describes the wickedness in the world that was creeping into the church.  In verses 20 through 23 he notes their responsibility and gives specific  instructions to keep them from evil.  He closes his short letter with the verses above.  As we do our part to  pray, remain in His love, and treat others as instructed, we can be assured that God will do His part to keep us and present us in heaven with great joy!

Application:   What a day that potentially will be, to be presented before the throne of God with great joy, not only great joy on my part as the “presented”, but also great joy
on the part of the Presenter!

Prayer:   Lord, may your heart and my heart both be filled with great joy when I stand before You.   Amen.

Scripture:  Titus 3: ⁴ But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared,
⁵ he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy.  He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit,
⁶ whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior,
⁷ so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.
⁸ This is a trustworthy saying. And I want you to stress these things, so that those who have trusted in God may be careful to devote themselves to doing what is good. These things are excellent and profitable for everyone.

Observation:   Here in verse 8 and again later in verse 14 Paul emphasizes the importance of “doing what is good.”  The motive for “doing good” is  the “kindness and love of God our Savior.”  It is in appreciation of His most generous gift.

Application:  My motive for “doing good” is not that I will look good, or that people will think well of me.  It is not even as an obligation to repay what God has done for me, something I could never do.  It is because I love Him and express my love and appreciation in doing good for others.

Prayer:  Lord, May something I do today cause someone to think well of You.  Amen

Scripture:  Psalm 104: ³³ I will sing to the LORD all my life; I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.
³⁴ May my meditation be pleasing to him, as I rejoice in the LORD.

Observation:  After about thirty verses of God’s creation and how the Lord can in all his works, the writer now comes to God’s crowning creation: man.  If God can get glory from all the other creation, how much more should He get glory from man!

So, the writer is going to sing; he is going to praise; and his desire is that even the thoughts in his mind be enjoyable to God.

Application:   Usually I want to think about what I enjoy, about what I have done, or would like to be doing.  But I should think about things that He enjoys.  After all, He shares my life and knows my every thought.

Prayer:    Lord, may you enjoy mixing your thoughts with mine today.   Amen.

S.O.A.P.

June 29: Amos 4-6; Psalm 86,87; Titus 1

Scripture: Psalm 86:3 (The Message) You’re my God; have mercy on me. I count on you from morning to night.
4 Give your servant a happy life; I put myself in your hands!
5 You’re well-known as good and forgiving, bighearted to all who ask for help.
6 Pay attention, GOD, to my prayer; bend down and listen to my cry for help.

Observation: David’s did not have a religion; he had a relationship. God was not someone he visited at the tabernacle once a week, or someone he checked in with once a day. David walked as though God was with him “from morning to night.” David talked to God as though God could hear him all day long, and hear him wherever he was.

Application: God is with me all day long. Often when I walk into our house Sharon will say, “I’m so glad to see you.” I want to make the Lord feel like I feel when she says that to me.

Prayer: Lord, I am so glad You are with me! May I always treat You as Sharon treats me—in ways that make You know You are most welcome in my life! Amen. (P.S. And Lord, thank you for the verses that assure me that you are with me through the night. Psalm 42:8 J)

Pastor Leon

Making friends for time and eternity!

S.O.A.P.

2Kings 13,14; 2Chronicles 25; 2Timothy 3

Scripture: 2Timothy 3:1 But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days.
2 People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy,…
7 always learning but never able to acknowledge the truth.

Observation: Among the more than twenty characteristics give in these verses of people in the last days, we read “always learning, but never able to acknowledge the truth.” Here is an amazing thing: learning should bring people closer to the truth of reality, but people have their minds set against God so will not acknowledge His obvious part in creation or in anything else.

Man has learned much about the designed sexual union of a man and a woman, yet will pass laws that homosexuality is acceptable, even normal! Man now has wonderful knowledge about that little life in the womb and how it develops, yet thinks it is OK to abort it! There are medical colleges who teach abortion! How can that be?! They are “always learning” but not able to acknowledge the obvious truth because they leave God out of the picture.

Man can so easily become proud of knowing so many things and miss knowing the One who is the Ultimate Truth!

Application: I need to be careful in learning statistics and facts and even scripture verses about God that I miss the specific truth that is working to reveal to my heart today. I can have pre-conceived ideas that camouflage the truth. If I am not careful I can have bits and pieces of the world’s thinking hidden in my life.

Prayer: Lord, may my learning always bring me to You, the source of all truth. You perfectly understand reality. I can trust You. Amen.

Pastor Leon

Making friends for time and eternity!

S.O.A.P.

Jonah 1-4; 2Timothy 2

Scripture: Jonah 2:4 I said, ‘I have been banished from your sight; yet I will look again towards your holy temple.’

Observation: The prophet did not want to take on the assignment given to Him by God so he was running away. He took a ship going the opposite direction and in a storm had been thrown into the sea where God had provided a great fish to swallow him. (Although Exploration Place, in Wichita, teaches godless evolution, they recently had a display of the jaws of a fish that would be more than large enough to swallow a man. I should thank them for their part in validating the book of Jonah.)

Now the prophet had no where else to look. To whom else could the prophet turn? Only God could hear him and only God could help him.

Application: God is honored when I choose Him above others. But if I do not choose Him out from among many possibilities He is well able to limit my choice, like Jonah, to just one! It is good that God cares enough for me to put me in situation where I have no choice but Him.

Prayer: Lord, I remember singing, “I’ll go where you want me to go, Dear Lord; o’re mountain or plain or sea. I’ll say what you want me to say dear Lord. I’ll be what you want me to be.” Lord, it is still true. Amen.

Pastor Leon

Making friends for time and eternity!

Welcome to WordPress.com. After you read this, you should delete and write your own post, with a new title above. Or hit Add New on the left (of the admin dashboard) to start a fresh post.

Here are some suggestions for your first post.

1. You can find new ideas for what to blog about by reading the Daily Post.
2. Add PressThis to your browser. It creates a new blog post for you about any interesting  page you read on the web.
3. Make some changes to this page, and then hit preview on the right. You can alway preview any post or edit you before you share it to the world.