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

October 10: Nehemiah 3-4; Luke 23

Scripture: Nehemiah (NIV) 4:12 Then the Jews who lived near them came and told us ten times over, “Wherever you turn, they will attack us.”

Observation: People have not changed much since Nehemiah’s day. There are still people today who feel like the more they repeat something the more it will be believed as true. It can be a trap that older people fall into. And when people do not have a very rational position they sometimes rely on repetition. There are politicians who run advertisements that say the same thing over and over. They are hoping that the more people hear it the more they will believe it. I have also noted that many statements that are continually repeated are statements of doubt and fear rather than faith. If I am going to repeat something, I want it to be a statement of faith!

Application: I need be careful not to say the same thing over and over. I need to expand my knowledge and explanation of things I feel are important. I need to grow in my understanding of what God’s word says about those matters.

Also I need to be careful that I place proper importance on things I hear repeated. I should not just ignore them because I have heard them all before. On the other hand I need to remember that just because one person repeats it does not mean that everyone is saying it.

Prayer: Holy Spirit, how I need your help in correctly understanding what happens around me. Amen

Pastor Leon

Making friends for time and eternity!

Repetition

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

October 10: Nehemiah 3-4; Luke 23

Scripture: Nehemiah (NIV) 4:12 Then the Jews who lived near them came and told us ten times over, “Wherever you turn, they will attack us.”

Observation: People have not changed much since Nehemiah’s day. There are still people today who feel like the more they repeat something the more it will be believed as true. It can be a trap that older people fall into. And when people do not have a very rational position they sometimes rely on repetition. There are politicians who run advertisements that say the same thing over and over. They are hoping that the more people hear it the more they will believe it. I have also noted that many statements that are continually repeated are statements of doubt and fear rather than faith. If I am going to repeat something, I want it to be a statement of faith!

Application: I need be careful not to say the same thing over and over. I need to expand my knowledge and explanation of things I feel are important. I need to grow in my understanding of what God’s word says about those matters.

Also I need to be careful that I place proper importance on things I hear repeated. I should not just ignore them because I have heard them all before. On the other hand I need to remember that just because one person repeats it does not mean that everyone is saying it.

Prayer: Holy Spirit, how I need your help in correctly understanding what happens around me. Amen

Pastor Leon

Making friends for time and eternity!

Repetition

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

October 10: Nehemiah 3-4; Luke 23

Scripture: Nehemiah (NIV) 4:12 Then the Jews who lived near them came and told us ten times over, “Wherever you turn, they will attack us.”

Observation: People have not changed much since Nehemiah’s day. There are still people today who feel like the more they repeat something the more it will be believed as true. It can be a trap that older people fall into. And when people do not have a very rational position they sometimes rely on repetition. There are politicians who run advertisements that say the same thing over and over. They are hoping that the more people hear it the more they will believe it. I have also noted that many statements that are continually repeated are statements of doubt and fear rather than faith. If I am going to repeat something, I want it to be a statement of faith!

Application: I need be careful not to say the same thing over and over. I need to expand my knowledge and explanation of things I feel are important. I need to grow in my understanding of what God’s word says about those matters.

Also I need to be careful that I place proper importance on things I hear repeated. I should not just ignore them because I have heard them all before. On the other hand I need to remember that just because one person repeats it does not mean that everyone is saying it.

Prayer: Holy Spirit, how I need your help in correctly understanding what happens around me. Amen

Pastor Leon

Making friends for time and eternity!

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

October 9: Nehemiah 1-2; Psalm 133-134; Luke 22

Scripture: Psalm (NIV) 134:1 Praise the LORD, all you servants of the LORD who minister by night in the house of the LORD.
2 Lift up your hands in the sanctuary and praise the LORD.
3 May the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth, bless you from Zion.

Observation: In my understanding, there was 24 hour worship in the temple. Priests and musicians were assigned their times to minister to the Lord. Those who ministered at night were no less important than those who ministered in the day. God is worthy of praise through the night just as He is through the day.

Application: Whether it was working nights at a gas station after high school graduation in Belleville, Kansas; or night duty on a hospital ward at MCRD in San Diego, California; or a night radio watch on a mountain top in Viet Nam; I have found those to be special times of praise. They were special times of enjoying the presence of the Lord! There were fewer interruptions to break my focus on the Lord. I found Him just as awake and just as active in the night as in the day.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, you are the God who never slumbers or sleeps. You are the God of the dark side as well as the light side of the earth. I am so thankful that you are my God! Amen

Pastor Leon

Making friends for time and eternity!

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

October 8: Ezra 9-10; Psalm 131; Luke 21

Scripture: Luke (NIV) 21:27 “At that time they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. 28 When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”
29 He told them this parable: “Look at the fig tree and all the trees. 30 When they sprout leaves, you can see for yourselves and know that summer is near. 31 “Even so, when you see these things happening, you know that the kingdom of god is near.
32 “I tell you the truth, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened.”

Observation: I have been taught that the fig tree in verse 29 is a symbol of Israel and its budding is symbolic of Israel becoming a nation. I was born in 1948, the same year Israel again joined the family of nations. I have thought that the end times concerning Israel would be completed in my lifetime, or in the lifetime of my generation. Of course, prophecy will not be fulfilled according to my interpretation—only God’s.

Application: Before dawn this morning, the moon was so aligned with the earth that it will appear red like blood—another sign of the end times. Surely the return of Jesus is not too far off. I must be watching! I must be ready! I must tell others!

Prayer: Even so, Lord Jesus, come quickly. Amen

Pastor Leon

Making friends for time and eternity!

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

October 7: Ezra 7-8; Luke 20

Scripture: Ezra (NIV) 7:27 Praise be to the LORD, the God of our fathers, who has put it into the king’s heart to bring honor to the house of the LORD in Jerusalem in this way 28 and who has extended his good favor to me before the king and his advisers and all the king’s powerful officials. Because the hand of the LORD my God was on me, I took courage and gathered leading men from Israel to go up with me.

Observation: Ezra did not take courage because King Artaxerxes was sending him back to Jerusalem to restore the temple. He did not take courage because the King had generously provided finances from the royal treasury. He did not take courage because the King had provided letters to the neighboring countries to help Ezra in his mission. He did not take courage because of those who would accompany him back to Jerusalem. Ezra took courage to move ahead because the hand of the LORD God was on him! Using the phrase “the hand of the LORD my God was on me” Ezra was saying that he had a conscience awareness of God’s presence and God’s nudging him in the way he should go.

Application: Recently I have found myself looking for other sources of strength. I look for a break in a full schedule. I look for a way to off load some responsibilities. I look for something to distract me for a while. But the times I have had the most strength is when I have a conscience awareness of God’s presence.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, I know you are always with me; however I greatly appreciate the times you make me especially aware of your presence. During those times you impart your peace and strength. Amen

Pastor Leon

Making friends for time and eternity!

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

October 6: Esther 9-10; Luke 19

Scripture: Luke (NIV) 19:5 When Jesus reached the spot [where Zacchaeus, a rich tax collector, had climbed into a tree to see Jesus], he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.” 6 So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly.
7 All the people saw this and began to mutter, “He has gone to be the guest of a sinner.” 8 But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.”

Observation: Not only was it good for Zacchaeus that Jesus would come to his house, it was good for others. The poor would receive a benefit from his generosity. People who had been cheated would be refunded. When Jesus comes into someone’s life, not only do they get forgiveness, peace and joy in their lives, those living around them will benefit from their new attitudes.

Application: Jesus works within me by removing the heavy load of guilt and he also gives me peace and joy. But not only is His presence good for me, it is good for those around me. They benefit from the Christ-like attitudes that begin growing in my life.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, may it be easy for those around me to see Jesus living in my life. May they be blest as I accept and forgive them, just as I have been accepted and forgiven. Amen

Pastor Leon

Making friends for time and eternity!

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

October 5: Esther 3-8; Luke 18

Scripture: Luke (NIV) 18:9 He told his next story to some who were complacently pleased with themselves over their moral performance and looked down their noses at the common people: 10 “Two men went up to the Temple to pray… 11 The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers, or even like this tax man. 12 I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’
13 But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’”
14 “I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

Observation: A person in prayer should have some concept of to whom he is praying. The God of the universe deserves thoughtful and respectful prayers. What a sham for a man to stand before God pretending to be something important because of his own accomplishments.

Application: Humility should be a major part of my life. But if there is any place where I should be humble more than any other place, it would be in prayer to God, the Creator of the heavens and earth.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, before you, I am only what I am. I cannot pretend to be important other than that you love me and gave your Son to die for my sins. Whatever value I have comes from the fact that you created me, your purpose for me, and your love for me. Amen

Pastor Leon

Making friends for time and eternity!

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

October 4: Esther 1-2; Psalm 150; Luke 17

Scripture: Psalm (NIV) 150:1 Praise the LORD. Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heavens. 2 Praise him for his acts of power; praise him for his surpassing greatness. 3 Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet, praise him with harp and lyre…
6 Let everything that has breath praise the LORD. Praise ye the LORD.

Observation: Verse 1 gives the places to praise the LORD. Verses 3-5 give a list of things to use in praising the LORD. Verse 6 tells us to whom this command to praise the LORD was given—to everything that has breath. Verse 2 gives two reasons we should praise the LORD. We should praise him for his acts of power and his magnificent and surpassing greatness. He is without equal! His powerful acts are always under the control of his holiness and love.

Application: If there ever was a being to admire, it is God! If there ever was someone deserving our love and commitment, it is God! His acts of power are never done selfishly. They are worthy of all praise!

Prayer: Heavenly Father, you are amazing! Your acts demonstrate your surpassing greatness. Your power is seen in your gentleness. Amen

Pastor Leon

Making friends for time and eternity!

Are His Eyes on Me?

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

October 3: Ezra 5-6; Psalm 138; Luke 16

Scripture: Psalm (NIV) 138:6 Though the LORD is on high, he looks upon the lowly: but the proud he knows from afar.

Observation: The Lord is highly exalted above all creation yet his eyes are drawn to the humble. He knows the value of humility. He is not looking for those who can put on a good show; he looks for those willing to work behind the scenes. He is looking for those who serve faithfully even when no one is looking. He who never sleeps and whose eyes are never closed sees what no one else sees. He sees what people do when they think no one else is watching.
He knows what the proud are doing, but he likes to give his attention to the humble.

Application: It is important for little children to know that their mom or dad is watching. If I want to have God’s attention and enjoy His presence “up close” I must learn to walk in humility. I must be willing to serve those who cannot repay me. I must serve with equal passion when people are watching and when no one is watching. Like a little child, my Heavenly Father is watching.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, I pray that you enjoy watching me. Give me an opportunity to serve people in a way that no one will know but you. Amen

Pastor Leon

Making friends for time and eternity!