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

July 14: Isaiah 19-21; Hebrews 11

Scripture: Hebrews (NIV) 11:13 …they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth.
14 People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own.
15 If they had been thinking of the country they had left they would have had opportunity to return.

Observation: One needs only to listen to a conversation to tell what is on the mind and heart of a speaker. Their speech gives them away. Matthew 12:34-35 tells us that the mouth reveals the contents of the heart. The mouth speaks out of the abundance of the heart.

Application: It is hard for me to control my speech by trying to watch what I say. My speech is a heart matter. The best way to make sure my speech is about good things is to fill my heart with good things.

Prayer: Lord, may the people who hear my speech easily see that my heart if full of you! Amen

Pastor Leon

Making friends for time and eternity!

Cleansed from a Guilty Conscience!

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

July 13: Isaiah 15-18; Hebrews 10

Scripture: Hebrews (NIV) 10:22 Let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and have our bodies washed with pure water.
23 Le us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised if faithful.

Observation: We can come to God in sincerity and in full assurance that the sacrifice made for our sins is more than sufficient to cover our offense against God. The sacrifice is so sufficient that it even removes our guilty conscience!

Application: First, the sacrifice made for me was sufficient to meet all the requirements of The Holy God! Second, the sacrifice for me was made by the only One who had no sins of his own for which to pay. In love, He agreed to pay for mine!! Third, it was a sacrifice that ended in a resurrection!!! Fourth, the One who died for me, now lives for me, and lives in me!!!! That is why I can draw near to God with joy and not fear!

Prayer: Were the whole realm of nature mine, That were a present far too small; Love so amazing, so divine, Demands my soul, my life, my all. (Isaac Watts) Amen

Pastor Leon

Making friends for time and eternity!

Life in this Stump

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

July 12: Isaiah 11-14; Hebrews 9

Scripture: Isaiah (NIV) 11:1 A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse, from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.

Observation: At the end of Isaiah 6 we see that when the trees are cut down, stumps will remain in the land. In this verse we read about a shoot that will spring out of one of those stumps. The glory of the tree will be removed. It was no longer beautiful. It could no longer provide any shade. But the life remained in the stump! The seed promised to Adam and Eve was making its way through Jesse. This is a prophetic reference to Jesus coming as a descendent of Jesse, the father of King David.

Application: As I grow older, it seems like the tree of my life is being trimmed back. I am not able to do all that I once could do. But I am thankful that life remains in this stump! I am not just a stump—I am a stump with life! Fruitful shoots can still grow out of this stump!

Prayer: Lord, what a joy and blessing to have your life in me as I grow older. Even in the senior years there can be expressions of fruitful ministry! Amen

Pastor Leon

Making friends for time and eternity!

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

July 11: Isaiah 8-10; Hebrews 8

Scripture: Isaiah (NIV) 10:1 Woe to those who make unjust laws, to those who issue oppressive decrees,…
3 What will you do on the day of reckoning, when disaster comes from afar? To whom will you run for help? Where will you leave your riches?

Observation: God is the ultimate law giver. Those making laws today should see themselves as God’s agents to establish justice and righteousness on earth. When those making the laws remove themselves from having to obey the laws, are they not unjust? When those creating the taxes remove themselves from paying the taxes does that not make others pay more? When those making the laws are required to receive the same consequences for breaking the laws as everyone else, then they will make laws more thoughtfully. The more I know God, the more I understand that His laws are an expression of His character. I believe the same is true of man’s laws. Hmmmm…

Application: As a lawmaker in any place of authority, especially in my home I must first align my life with God’s laws. Only then will I have the moral authority to make and enforce my laws. The privilege of making laws is not to be used for selfish gain; it is a tool entrusted to me for serving others. I will answer to the Great Lawmaker for the laws/rules I make.

Prayer: Lord, the fact that people may answer to me is not near as important as the fact that I will answer to you! Like you, I want to be just, righteous and merciful. Amen

Pastor Leon

Making friends for time and eternity!

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

July 10: Micah 5-7; Hebrews 7

Scripture: Hebrews (NIV) 7:19 (for the law made nothing perfect), and a better hope is introduced, by which we draw near to God.
7:25 Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.

Observation: What a difference!!! The law could tell what was done wrong and give a token penalty offering, but it could never change the heart. It is the heart from which our actions proceed. But Jesus can save COMPLETELY. He makes an acceptable sacrifice to more than cover the penalty for sin, AND by His Spirit He lives inside, working to change the heart! Wow!

Application: The sacrifice of the dying Jesus is more than sufficient to pay for all my sin! The presence of the living Jesus is more than sufficient to establish victory in my daily life.

Prayer: Lord, thank you for understanding my weaknesses and knowing how to be what I need. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Amen

Pastor Leon

Making friends for time and eternity!

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

July 9: Micah 1-4; Hebrews 6

Scripture: Hebrews (NIV) 6:19 We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure.

Observation: How sad it is to hear of someone being hopeless. Everything looks gloomy. They feel that nothing will work out for good. What a difference to those whose hope is in Christ. Hope in God is an anchor that holds the soul steady in the midst of the storm. The circumstances may be gloomy, but there is sunshine in the heart. There is a confidence that all things will work together for good because they love the Lord and are called according to His purpose! (Romans 8:28)

Application: My hope is confidence that God is in control. My hope is confidence that He is able to use even the bad to bring about good things. What people may do for evil, He uses for good! With Him, I cannot loose! My hope is confidence that He loves me and wants me to live a life that pleases Him. My hope is the certainty that His plan for me is to spend eternity with Him!

Prayer: Lord, there is no area of my life that is not affected by my hope! Thank you for hope! Amen

Pastor Leon

Making friends for time and eternity!

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

July 8: Hosea 13-14; Psalm 100, 102; Hebrews 5

Scripture: Hosea (NIV) 14:1 Return, Israel to the LORD your God. Your sins have been your downfall!
2 Take words with you and return to the LORD. Say to him: “Forgive all our sins and receive us graciously, that we may offer the fruit of our lips.
3 Assyria cannot save us; we will not mount warhorses. We will never again say ‘Our gods’ to what our own hands have made, for in you the fatherless find compassion.”

Observation: There is a place where the fatherless can find compassion. There is One whose heart is big enough to hold the orphan. In taking care of all the big problems of the world, He still has time for the fatherless. The homeless one who has been rejected and pushed away—the one who has been chased away for every door in town—yes that one can find compassion in God.

Application: The United States has rejected and aborted 50 million babies. Now the Lord is bringing into our nation thousands of children. Before we reject them, we need to remember the words of the Lord…”in as much as you have done it unto the least of these, you have done it unto me!” (Matthew 25:40 & 45) And “Whoever welcomes this little child in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me.” (Luke 9:48) America, how we treat children—God takes it personally! How they arrived in our country is not nearly important to God as how we receive them!

Prayer: Lord, I am not wise enough to know how to pray for the decision needed to be made by our nation’s leaders, but I pray that the unaccompanied alien children coming across our southern border will find your compassion! Provide loving people to care for them who will be your hands extended. Amen

TAKE NOTE: The communities who welcome these children will reap unexplained blessings while the communities who reject these children will reap unexplained economic and nature troubles.

Pastor Leon

Making friends for time and eternity!

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

July 7: Hosea 10-12; Psalm 73; Hebrews 4

Scripture: Psalm (NIV) 73:28 But for me it is good to be near God; I have made the Lord GOD my refuge, that I may tell of all your works.

Observation: Much advertising today has someone telling how a particular product solved their problem or improved their life. In this verse I read that the Psalmist had discovered personal benefits from walking in a close relationship with the Lord. It was not just good for the nation; it was not just the right thing to do; the psalmist says it is good “for me.”

Application: In looking back over the 66 years of my life, I can join the psalmist in saying, “It is good for me too.” In considering the blessings that have come my way, in considering the troubles that I have not had to experience, I come to the obvious conclusion: It has been good for me.

Prayer: Lord, You have been good for me! I pray that in some way I have been good for you. Amen

Pastor Leon

Making friends for time and eternity!

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

July 6: Hosea 6-9; Hebrews 3

Scripture: Hosea (NIV) 6:6 For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.

Observation: In the midst of God listing Israel’s sins and what He is going to do about them we have this revelation of the heart of God. Verses like this are important to people who want to be God-pleasers.

Application: It is not with my actions, but with my heart and my mind that I please God. God is happy when my heart is full of faithful love and my mind is searching to better know and understand this God I love.

Prayer: Lord, to know you and then to show my love for you by making you known. I want to increase in both. Amen

Pastor Leon

Making friends for time and eternity!

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

July 5: Hosea 2-5; Hebrews 2

Scripture: Hebrews (NIV) 2:18 For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.

Observation: Love demanded that He help us; holiness demanded that the help come from one who had personal experience in overcoming temptation. God is so HOLY that love cannot be allowed a short cut to help the one loved. But God is so LOVING that he was willing to do what holiness required. It is amazing!

Because Jesus suffered through times of temptation when he was living as a man here on earth, he is able to help those who are being tempted now. Jesus understands our trials not because someone told him about them, not because he read about them, not because he overheard someone talking about them, but because he experienced them! He has been here; He has done that; and He gives more than a tee-shirt!

Application: Jesus can help me because He has experience dealing with the devil; he knows how to defeat Satan. Jesus can help me because He has experience dealing with the weaknesses and limitations of being human; he knows we cannot rely on the flesh so he gives us His Holy Spirit. Jesus can help me because He is finished dealing with his own trials; Satan cannot distract Him from helping me. Praise the Lord!

Prayer: Lord, You willingly paid the price holiness demanded when your love required that you help me. Thank you! You are all I need! Amen

Pastor Leon

Making friends for time and eternity!