Pastor Leon’s SOAP:  Scripture, Observation, Application, Prayer
February 27, 2024: SOAP #5199: Numbers 21-23; Mark 6-7

SCRIPTURE:  Mark (NIV) 7: Mark (NIV) 8:4 His disciples answered, “But where in this remote place can anyone get enough bread to feed them?” 5 “How many loaves do you have?” Jesus asked. “Seven,” they replied … 7 They had a few small fish as well; he gave thanks for them also and told the disciples to distribute them. 8 The people ate and were satisfied. Afterwards the disciples picked up seven basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. 9 About four thousand men were present.

OBSERVATION: Jesus took what they had (seven loaves) and multiplied it to feed 4000 men!

APPLICATION:  I may be looking for the closest grocery store …  I may be looking for a buried treasure …  I may be looking for a generous benefactor …  but Jesus is looking for what I have.  Jesus starts with what I have.

My part: as I release what is in my hands, He releases what is in His hands! 

PRAYER:    Heavenly Father, you have already demonstrated your willingness to give.  Now you are waiting for me to demonstrate my willingness to give.  I do not have enough to meet the need, but what I have can be the seed you multiply.  I only have what you have so generously given me.  Find me generous too. Amen

Pastor Leon
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Pastor Leon’s SOAP:  Scripture, Observation, Application, Prayer
February 26, 2024: SOAP #5198: Numbers 19-20; Psalm 28; Mark 5

SCRIPTURE:  Mark (NIV) 5:27 When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak,28 because she thought, “If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed.” 29 Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering. 30 At once Jesus realized that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who touched my clothes?”…
34 He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.”

OBSERVATION:  As we read through the Gospels we find many times Jesus touched people to heal them, but this was different, she touched Him.  Jesus did not know who had touched Him, but he recognized that healing had gone out from His body. 

This woman’s faith can be seen in her confession.  She believed that touching Jesus would be the same as Jesus touching her!  But her faith required more than just a confession; she had to do it!   Saying it was not enough.  She had to touch HIM!  

APPLICATION:  Sometimes I can wait for Jesus to see me or make a move in my direction. My faith is expressed in waiting on Him.   But there are times when my situation is too desperate for me to wait for Jesus to touch me.  I must touch Jesus!  

My faith is that He who was passing by this woman is the Omnipresent God who responds to faith today as He did then!   She was healed when she touched Him.  His words verified that it was her faith that already brought the healing!  

PRAYER:  Lord, you are the Same One who was touched by this lady.  You responded to faith then, and you respond to faith now.  My confession is that you are my healer.  I reach out in faith and touch you!   Amen

Pastor Leon
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Pastor Leon’s SOAP:  Scripture, Observation, Application, Prayer
February 25, 2024: SOAP #5197: Numbers 17-18; Psalm 29; Mark 4

SCRIPTURE:  Mark (NIV) 4:1 Again Jesus began to teach by the lake. The crowd that gathered round him was so large that he got into a boat and sat in it out on the lake, while all the people were along the shore at the water’s edge. 2 He taught them many things by parables, and in his teaching said:…

OBSERVATION:  In this chapter, Mark shows us the teaching ministry of Jesus.  Jesus was a teacher.  He helped people understand.  He taught them as they listened.  They asked questions as He listened.  He taught them by example as they watched.  He had them minister as He watched.  Then He sent them out and had them report back.  Then He left, but He did not leave them alone.

Jesus was not depending on the disciples to carry on His ministry.  The ministry was way too important to leave in their hands.  Jesus had taught them how, but they would need power!  He instructed them to wait in Jerusalem until they were filled with the same Holy Spirit that came upon Him when He was baptized in water by John the Baptist!  (Luke 3:21-22; Acts 1:4-8)

APPLICATION:  Having been taught, and still being taught by Jesus and His ministers, prepares me to teach also.  He wants to use me to help others understand.  But more than what I have learned from others or by studying on my own … so much more fruitful is the presence of the Holy Spirit in my life!  He opens the Word to my mind and heart.  He anoints me to prepare these SOAPs.

PRAYER:  Lord, you blessed me to be a blessing.  You have taught me to enable me to teach others.  And you have put The Holy Spirit in my life to give a divine touch to this ministry.  Amen.

Pastor Leon
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Through donations and fund raising, the SOAP Team in West Africa recently purchased 85 computers and printers.   Now Bishop Emmanuel is in the process of visiting the countries and installing them.  Below is a report we received today.  Please join me in thanking the Lord for what HE is doing and in praying for Bishop Emmanual’s family while he is moving through the West Africa nations.   😊 

God bless you Pastor Leon, Pastor Andrew and Bishop Sam. I pray that all of you are doing well in Jesus name Amen.

I just want to inform you that presently I am in the country of Togo. Togo is the three countries now that i have arrived since i left in Sierra Leone. 

I have gone to Nigeria and Ghana and now I am in Togo. I have installed five computers and printers in Nigeria and also five computers and printers in Ghana now I’m installing five computers and printers in Togo, Sunday I will be leaving for Senegal.

please continue to pray for me as I have more 11 countries to go in a few days and weeks.

So I need your strong prayer as I go to install the computers and printers in those West Africa country for the SOAP MINISTRY.

Please don’t forget to also pray for my family in Liberia and the ministry.

God bless you all.

Shalom 

Your Faithfully in the Lord. 

Bishop Emmanuel SOAP Ministry.

Pastor Leon’s SOAP:  Scripture, Observation, Application, Prayer
February 24, 2024: SOAP #5196: Numbers 14-16; Mark 3

SCRIPTURE:  Mark (NIV) 3:14 He appointed twelve-designating them apostles- that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach 15 and to have authority to drive out demons.

OBSERVATION:  The pattern is clear.  Those who would do great things for the Lord must first spend time with Him. Their calling was first to “be with him.”  Their calling secondary was “that he might send them out…” 

A business owner who has spent years in building a successful business probably will not take an extended vacation and leave his business in the hands of a novice.  Before turning it over to someone, he would want to make sure they understand his ways and priorities. So, it was with Jesus.  He did not send the disciples out on their own until they had spent time with Him.

APPLICATION:  If I want the Lord to use me to do things for Him I must first spend time with Him.

Spending time in His Word and in His Presence forms my thought patterns to be like Him.  I begin to see things as He would see them.  I look beyond the surface issue and see the heart of the matter.   

The Apostle Paul had time in Tarsus before Barnabas found him and took him to Antioch where his missionary journeys. (Acts 9:30 – ll:25)   Moses had 40 years in the wilderness before God sent him to lead the Israelites out of Egypt.  Joshua had all those wilderness years learning from Moses. 

Ministry preparation time can be hard to understand, but the wisdom of God will soon be seen!   Do not run away or skip out on God’s lessons for you! 

PRAYER:  Lord, if you would have sent me according to my plans, my preparation for this SOAP ministry would have been sorely lacking.  But as you were using me, you were also preparing me.  The times I spent with you in each segment of my life has worked together in preparation for what you are doing now. Amen

Pastor Leon
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Pastor Leon’s SOAP:  Scripture, Observation, Application, Prayer
February 23, 2024: SOAP #5195: Numbers 12-13; Psalm 90; Mark 2

SCRIPTURE:  What the 10 spies led the Israelites to believe about Canaan:  Numbers (NIV) 13:32 And they spread among the Israelites a bad report about the land they had explored. They said, “The land we explored devours those living in it. All the people we saw there are of great size.
33 We saw the Nephilim there (the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim). We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them.”
What the people in Canaan believed about the Israelites:  Joshua (NIV) 2:9  [the lady who hid the spies] and said to them, “I know that the LORD has given this land to you and that a great fear of you has fallen on us, so that all who live in this country are melting in fear because of you. 10 We have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to Sihon and Og, the two kings of the Amorites east of the Jordan, whom you completely destroyed. 11 When we heard of it, our hearts sank and everyone’s courage failed because of you, for the LORD your God is God in heaven above and on the earth below.

OBSERVATION:  It seems that the Canaanites had a greater awareness of Israel’s God than did Israel!   And Israel had just been delivered from Egypt by God’s hand in the 10 Plagues and the crossing of the Red Sea!  But now they doubted that God would give them His Promised Land.  

APPLICATION:  We can never rely on past experiences to keep our faith alive and active.  No matter how powerful our past experiences with God are, they have a common flaw.  They are past.  God wants us to have an up-to-date, current relationship with Him.  More than a great testimony from the past, God wants each of us to have a current experience that we are in the process of living. 

PRAYER:  Holy Spirit, help me have a clear picture of what God is currently doing in my life.  May I rejoice in past victories, but even more, may I rejoice in that you are still working in my life.  There are still things that I can do for you!  Amen

Pastor Leon
Making friends for time and eternity!   
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Pastor Leon’s SOAP:  Scripture, Observation, Application, Prayer
February 23, 2024: SOAP #5195: Numbers 12-13; Psalm 90; Mark 2

SCRIPTURE:  What the 10 spies led the Israelites to believe about Canaan:  Numbers (NIV) 13:32 And they spread among the Israelites a bad report about the land they had explored. They said, “The land we explored devours those living in it. All the people we saw there are of great size.
33 We saw the Nephilim there (the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim). We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them.”
What the people in Canaan believed about the Israelites:  Joshua (NIV) 2:9  [the lady who hid the spies] and said to them, “I know that the LORD has given this land to you and that a great fear of you has fallen on us, so that all who live in this country are melting in fear because of you. 10 We have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to Sihon and Og, the two kings of the Amorites east of the Jordan, whom you completely destroyed. 11 When we heard of it, our hearts sank and everyone’s courage failed because of you, for the LORD your God is God in heaven above and on the earth below.

OBSERVATION:  It seems that the Canaanites had a greater awareness of Israel’s God than did Israel!   And Israel had just been delivered from Egypt by God’s hand in the 10 Plagues and the crossing of the Red Sea!  But now they doubted that God would give them His Promised Land.  

APPLICATION:  We can never rely on past experiences to keep our faith alive and active.  No matter how powerful our past experiences with God are, they have a common flaw.  They are past.  God wants us to have an up-to-date, current relationship with Him.  More than a great testimony from the past, God wants each of us to have a current experience that we are in the process of living. 

PRAYER:  Holy Spirit, help me have a clear picture of what God is currently doing in my life.  May I rejoice in past victories, but even more, may I rejoice in that you are still working in my life.  There are still things that I can do for you!  Amen

Pastor Leon
Making friends for time and eternity!   
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Pastor Leon’s SOAP:  Scripture, Observation, Application, Prayer
February 22, 2024: SOAP #5194: Numbers 10-11; Psalm 27; Mark 1

SCRIPTURE:  Psalm (NIV) 27:4 One thing I ask of the LORD, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to seek him in his temple.

OBSERVATION:  David had a “one thing.”  In this verse he states his priority.  He is going to spend time with the LORD and get to know Him.

Jesus gave us a “one thing” when asked which was the greatest commandment.  He said, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength.”

Surely someone loving Jesus like that will stand out.  They will be noticeable by the things they say and the things they do. 

APPLICATION:  If my friends were asked to put into words the “one thing” of my life, what would they say?   Have they been able to see what I claim to be the “one thing” in my life?

In Matthew 22, Jesus was asked which is the greatest commandment?  Matthew 22:37 Jesus replied: “’Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment.

Why that one?  Because that is the one God loves best!!!   That is the way HE wants to be loved.  That is the way HE deserves to be loved!  

PRAYER:  Lord, may people see that it is my joy, not just my duty to serve You.  It is indeed my privilege to serve you as a husband, father, Navy corpsman, pastor, chaplain, bus driver, etc.    Amen.

Pastor Leon
Making friends for time and eternity!   
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Pastor Leon’s SOAP:  Scripture, Observation, Application, Prayer
February 21, 2024: SOAP #5193: Numbers 8-9; Acts 28

SCRIPTURE:  Acts (NIV) 28:30 For two whole years Paul stayed there in his own rented house and welcomed all who came to see him. 31 Boldly and without hindrance he preached the kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ.

OBSERVATION:  So ends the book of Acts.  Paul is in Rome awaiting his hearing before Caesar.  The book of Acts ends, but the story continues; it is not finished.  There is no closing benediction, no blessing from the author; it just ends. 

APPLICATION:  To me, that clearly shows us that the ministry in the book of Acts has no ending.  The Holy Spirit is moving today as He was then.  The gifts of the Holy Spirit are to be active in the church today as they were then.  We are to go out in the power of the Spirit and continue His ministry.

In the book of Acts, we see Paul continuing the miracle and teaching ministry of Jesus.  Today, we should follow Paul’s example and continue the miracle and teaching ministry of Jesus in the world in which we live.   

PRAYER:  Holy Spirit, do miracles today, signs and wonders that prove your presence and power.  Demonstrate that God is just as interested in people today as He has ever been.  Anoint believers today.  Use us for the glory of God.  Amen

Pastor Leon
Making friends for time and eternity!   
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Pastor Leon’s SOAP:  Scripture, Observation, Application, Prayer
February 20, 2024: SOAP #5192: Numbers 7; Psalm 23; Acts 27

(reworked SOAP)

SCRIPTURE:  Acts (NIV) 27:23 Last night an angel of the God whose I am and whom I serve stood beside me 24 and said, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul. You must stand trial before Caesar; and God has graciously given you the lives of all who sail with you.’ 25 So keep up your courage, men, for I have faith in God that it will happen just as he told me.

OBSERVATION:  Paul is aboard a ship headed for Rome to stand trial before Caesar.  The ship is caught in a terrible storm.  For fourteen days the crew had nothing to eat.  On the third day into the storm, they had thrown the ships tackle overboard.

In the verses above, we have Paul speaking to the crew and fellow passengers on the ship.  They consisted of the crew, Roman soldiers, fellow prisoners, and some traveling companions of Paul, at least the author of the book of Acts.

Listen to Paul as he describes His God.  Paul belonged to God and Paul served God.  Paul’s God was a speaker; He talked to Paul.  He sent a message to Paul “last night!”  Paul’s God made promises to Paul that included the people around him.  They would all survive the present danger.  Paul’s God could be trusted.  It would be “just as he told me!”

APPLICATION:  Paul was not talking about the storm.  He made no comments about the wind and the waves.  He made no comment about being a prisoner.  No, Paul did not talk about the unimportant things; he talked about the Important One!   He had heard from the God of the wind and the waves.  He had a message from God.

In times of trouble my focus will be obvious by listening to my conversation.  Am I talking about the fierce storms or the greatness of my God? 

PRAYER:  Lord, as I move through a world full of turmoil and trouble, I want to keep my focus on you!  Your enemy, and my enemy, wants to get my focus off you and onto what surrounds me.  Help me to speak from heaven’s point of view.  Amen

Pastor Leon
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Pastor Leon’s SOAP:  Scripture, Observation, Application, Prayer
February 19, 2024: SOAP #5191: Numbers 5-6; Psalm 22; Acts 26

SCRIPTURE:  Acts (NIV) 26:31 They left the room, and while talking with one another, they said, “This man is not doing anything that deserves death or imprisonment.” 32 Agrippa said to Festus, “This man could have been set free if he had not appealed to Caesar.”

OBSERVATION:  King Agrippa, while visiting Festus, the new Judean governor,  had shown an interest in Paul’s situation.  In the verses above, Paul had just made his defense before King Agrippa. In Agrippa’s mind, it was a miscarriage of justice. Paul was clearly innocent. Paul should have been set free.

But God saw things differently. Paul would testify as to the Risen Savior in Rome, and Rome was going to provide the transportation and the security for the journey! Also, Paul would need some settled, quiet time to write letters which would later become part of our Bible. He would have that in prison. 

APPLICATION:  More than once have things that appeared so wrong to me proved to be so right.  Instead of letting things get me unsettled in my spirit, I must remember just Who lives inside me; How powerful He is, He loves me immensely; He can turn what is against me to be for me. God enjoys working thing out for my good and for His glory!

Getting upset about things happening to me is proof that I am looking at them from the viewpoint of my limitations.  I ask myself questions like, “What am I supposed to do now?”  “Who do they think I am?” 

But really, what they think is unimportant.  What I think is critical.  Am I really working for the Lord?  Did He send me?  Did He promise to take care of me?   

I am a child of the Most High God!   The Holy Spirit has made me His dwelling place!  Paul was not alone in the prison cells!  He had his most far-reaching ministry while in prison.  I, too, am not alone!  God is working in and through me.  I should see things from the viewpoint of heaven.

PRAYER:  Holy Spirit, keep me focused on the big picture.  Help me focus beyond my current circumstances and catch a view of eternity.  Amen

Pastor Leon
Making friends for time and eternity!   
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