Pastor Leon’s SOAP:  Scripture, Observation, Application, Prayer
July 16, 2024: SOAP #5339:  Isaiah 25-28; Hebrews 13

SCRIPTURE:  Hebrews (NIV) 13:17 Obey your leaders and submit to their authority. They keep watch over you as men who must give an account. Obey them so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no advantage to you.

OBSERVATION:    As the author comes to the close of his letter, he gives a few short exhortations about things we face in our daily lives.  It is like a parent giving last-minute advice to their child leaving home for the first time.  It would be a list of things to remember, things to do, what to eat and wear…etc. 

And in the list in this last chapter of Hebrews, we find one about our response to authority.  It tells us how to respond to church leadership, but the truth is applicable to all authority in our lives. 

APPLICATION:  I must remember that God holds me responsibility for how I honor and submit to their authority.  God holds them accountable for how they use their authority.  When I learn to submit to God, I can trust Him to work in their lives.  Waiting on God PLUS submission to authority work together to become a powerful force in changing the heart of those in authority. 

When I see things in authority that need to be changed, I have such limited resources available.  Even the wisdom I may have can be ignored or pushed aside.  But when I respond in loving submission and wait upon the Lord, He can bring change.  He can bring wisdom that cannot be ignored. 

…And all the time He is developing His character in me!!!   

PRAYER:  Holy Spirit, first responders (police, firemen, medics) are so important in our lives today.  But You are the greatest first responder.  When I move aside to make way for a fire truck or ambulance, teach me to move aside for You.  Help me push aside my first response and listen to see if you have something I should say.   Amen

Pastor Leon
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Personal note:  Thanks for your prayers.   I passed my physical for bus driving today!  School starts here in a month.   😊 

Pastor Leon’s SOAP:  Scripture, Observation, Application, Prayer
July 15, 2024: SOAP #5338:  Isaiah 22-24; Hebrews 12 (reworked from 2010)

Scripture:  Hebrews 12:1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.

Observation:   What a thought.  We have just read about all the heroes of faith mentioned in chapter 11 and now we discover that they are a part of the “great cloud of witnesses” who surround us.  They are not unaware of our struggles.  They may even be more aware than we are at times.  What are they doing?  I believe they are doing what Jesus is doing, interceding.  I believe they are praying for us.

If in hell the rich man of Luke 16 was aware of his brothers, desiring Lazarus sent to warn them, how much more are those in heaven aware.

The picture in Hebrews 12:1 to me is of a great amphitheater where those in the stands are watching those in the contest on the floor of the arena.  Those in the stands were once on the floor.  They understand the struggle.  They see the danger with an overview of the whole battleground.  They see the contest develop.  They rejoice with each victory and groan with each setback.  Like those on the floor, they are watching the clock and eagerly awaiting the end of the contest.  They are ready to join in the victory celebration.

Application:  It is now our turn. Now, we are on the floor in the struggle.  We are not in this struggle alone!  Those who have gone before us are in the stands cheering us on and interceding for us.  Believing parents, grandparents, our ancestors who were believers, those who led us to Jesus, mentors in our faith, they are all in that number! 

If you ever get the feeling that someone is watching you…you are right!  If you ever get the feeling that you are not alone…you are right!  Let’s not give up.  Let’s persevere.  Let’s win! 

Prayer:  Lord, it is my turn in the arena of life.  May my participation in the conflict contribute to your great victory.  Amen. 

Pastor Leon
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Pastor Leon’s SOAP:  Scripture, Observation, Application, Prayer
July 14, 2024: SOAP #5337:  Isaiah 19-21; Hebrews 11

SCRIPTURE:  Hebrews (NIV) 11:13 All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens 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. 16 Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.

OBSERVATION:    A note from my past is attached to verse 13 above: “What a special thing to say.  May it be engraved on tomb stones. May it be fixed in the minds of people left behind.  “These people were still living by faith when they died.”  It appears at times that someone’s faith died before they died.  What a tragedy!

After years of experience of walking with God, after years of reading God’s Word, after years of prayer, surely my latter years should be filled with faith at a greater level than before.”

APPLICATION:  “Living by faith when they died.”  What does that mean to Leon?  It means that my focus is not on my aches and pains, but on God’s work.  It means that I am not full of the past because my mind and heart is overflowing with what God is doing today.  It means that I am thankful for what God told me in the past, but I only want to talk about what God told me this morning. 

In visiting with people, I can encourage them with what God has done for me, but my focus is on what God can do for them. 

Surely it means “This world is not my home, I’m just passing through.” 

PRAYER:  Heavenly Father, each year my flesh grows weaker, but my faith grows stronger.  Daily Your word is added that already established in my life.  May I grow in blessing You and blessing others.  In Jesus Name, Amen. 

Pastor Leon
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Pastor Leon’s SOAP:  Scripture, Observation, Application, Prayer
July 13, 2024: SOAP #5336:  Isaiah 15-18; Hebrews 10

SCRIPTURE:  Hebrews (NIV) 10:35 So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. 36 You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. 37 For in just a very little while, “He who is coming will come and will not delay. 38 But my righteous one will live by faith. And if he shrinks back, I will not be pleased with him.” 39 But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who believe and are saved.

OBSERVATION:    The Bible tells us what is real.  It is not a book in which we can retreat from living in the real world.  Living for God is not always easy.  But we must not give up!  Why?  Because we will be richly rewarded!   We need to persevere, to push through the hard times.  Why? Because we will receive what He has promised!   We must keep on waiting!  Why?  Because He is coming soon!!!    

APPLICATION:  Have you read about the rewards awaiting?  Have you read the promises He has made?   We must live like His word is true and His promises are believable.  Even though we have not seen His promises completely fulfilled, we must live like they are already ours!   Because they are!!!

I cannot remember my father ever saying this, but he lived his life as it is worth the struggle to follow the Lord!  

It is not the great things we may be able to do that pleases the Lord.  Living by faith and standing true pleases Him.  Take note that when Jesus was doing the most to please His Father, He appeared a failure to the world, even to His disciples.  But the cross set up the resurrection!  

PRAYER:  Lord, persevering and being faithful in the small things is the best way to prepare to be faithful in the big things.  And I am discovering that all the small things added together are really the big thing!  Help me to be faithful. Amen

Pastor Leon
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Pastor Leon’s SOAP:  Scripture, Observation, Application, Prayer
July 12, 2024: SOAP #5335:  Isaiah 11-14; Hebrews 9

SCRIPTURE:  Hebrews (NIV) 9:27 Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, 28 so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.

OBSERVATION:    The single sacrifice of Jesus on the cross was more than sufficient to pay for all the sins that have ever been or will be committed.  It is for us to put our faith in that one sacrifice.  To say that something more is needed, would be to lessen the value of what Jesus did for us!  On the cross, Jesus completed the payment for sin!  When He said, “It is finished!” it was finished!!!

As He walked on this earth prior to his death and resurrection, He is coming to earth again, not to die again, but to establish His kingdom. 

And even now, He comes into our hearts as we accept his forgiveness.  He does not come in to die for our sins, but to live as our Lord and to establish His kingdom in our heart!   By living in us, He gives us the strength to say “no” to the word and its temptations.  With impressions and thoughts, He speaks to our heart and mind.  We have continual fellowship with Him!!  

APPLICATION:  Now, with Jesus living in me by His Holy Spirit, I am learning what pleases Him.  Through reading His Word and in fellowship with other believers, my spirit is learning to recognize how He speaks to me.  He is helping me to see my part in the big picture around me. 

PRAYER:  Lord, what a great privilege I have, to have a part in what you are doing in the world around me.  Thank you for being patient with me as I learn to follow what you say.  May I be a useful part of your kingdom.  Amen

Pastor Leon
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Pastor Leon’s SOAP:  Scripture, Observation, Application, Prayer
July 11, 2024: SOAP #5334:  Isaiah 8-10; Hebrews 8

SCRIPTURE:  Hebrews (NIV) 8:1 The point of what we are saying is this: We do have such a high priest, who sat down at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, 2 and who serves in the sanctuary, the true tabernacle set up by the Lord, not by man.

OBSERVATION:   After years of high priests wearing ceremonial garments and offering token sacrifices for sin, and then dying in office.  After years of offering animal sacrifices that could never properly cover the sins of the people for which they were killed.  After years of going through ceremonies and rituals full of meaning but that could never change any heart.  Wouldn’t it be good to have a real high priest who would not die in office and need to be replaced?  Wouldn’t it be good to have a high priest make a sacrifice that could really pay for sin? 

The point of what the writer of Hebrews is saying is that in Jesus we really do have such a High Priest!!!   We have a High Priest who was sinless and sacrificed His own blood to be the covering for sin!  We have a High Priest who rose from the death of His own sacrifice and will never die again!  He is eternal! 

APPLICATION:  His one sacrifice covers the sins of our grandparents, our parents, us, our children and our grandchildren—generations before and generations after! 

What a day that will be when family generations will join to worship this Great High Priest!   He is worthy of the praise of all generations!

PRAYER:  Lord, you are the Great High Priest who fulfilled all the prophecies we find in the tabernacle built by the Israelites in the wilderness.  You are the Great High Priest who made the one sacrifice that will forever be accepted as the payment for sin.  Every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess that you are LORD!   Amen. 

Pastor Leon
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Pastor Leon’s SOAP:  Scripture, Observation, Application, Prayer
July 09, 2024: SOAP #5332:  Micah 1-4; Hebrews 6

SCRIPTURE:  Hebrews (NIV) 6:17 Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of his purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised, he confirmed it with an oath. 18 God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope offered to us may be greatly encouraged. 19 We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, 20 where Jesus, who went before us, has entered on our behalf.

OBSERVATION:    God’s character is that He will never lie.  Yet about His promises for the future, He takes an oath that it will be as He said.  He wants us to be doubly sure!  He is not playing games with us; we can trust Him.  He wants us to trust Him.

His truthfulness is an anchor of our soul.  When the winds of the world in which we live try to push us off track, we have an anchor that holds us steady.  It is His truthfulness and the hope we have for the future.  Our hope and faith are held secure by the anchor of His word. 

“Inner sanctuary” and “behind the curtain” are references to the Tabernacle of Moses when the blood of a sacrificed lamb had to be taken behind the veil into the Holiest of Holies to be placed on the mercy seat.  It was proof to God of a sacrifice.  The blood of Jesus was taken into the real Holiest of Holies in heaven where His sinless blood was placed before Father as the payment for my sins!  

APPLICATION:  Oh, yes.  I can rest assured that an acceptable sacrifice has been made for me!  My future hope is secured. Jesus has already died.  Jesus has already entered heaven with blood, the proof of a sinless sacrifice.  He went before me and entered on my behalf!   I can now face death rejoicing!    

PRAYER:  Father, you see the sinless blood of your Son, Jesus, placed there on my behalf…there is no way that I could ever be worthy of such a sacrifice.  Use me for your glory.  May my life honor you.  Amen

Pastor Leon
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Pastor Leon’s SOAP:  Scripture, Observation, Application, Prayer
July 10, 2024: SOAP #5333:  Micah 5-7; Hebrews 7

SCRIPTURE:  Hebrews (NIV) 7:24 …because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. 25 Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them. 26 Such a high priest meets our need—one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens. 27 Unlike the other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself.

OBSERVATION:    Here is the heart of Christianity.  The One who created it all, demonstrated His great capacity to love by inserting Himself into the flow of humanity to become the sinless sacrifice for our sins!!!  “He offered Himself!!!”  He offered His “holy, blameless, pure,” sinless blood to be the payment for our sins!!!

APPLICATION:  The life God put in Adam, the life which Adam and Eve passed on to every person who has ever lived is never-ending life.  Of course, the physical life dies, but the soul/spirit of man lives on—either in heaven or hell. 

On earth, Jesus lived with the purpose of dying for our sins.  Now in heaven He lives to “intercede”/pray for those who have been completely saved by coming to God through His sacrificial death!  He is what I needed!  

He is what you need!  Pray with me…

PRAYER:  Jesus, I accept the sacrifice you offered for me.  Forgive my sins.  Cleanse my heart from all wickedness and evil.  Live in my heart, by your Holy Spirit, as the LORD of my life.  Thank you for taking my place and dying for me.  Now help me to take your place in living this life you have given me.  In your Holy Name, Amen

Pastor Leon
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Pastor Leon’s SOAP:  Scripture, Observation, Application, Prayer
July 09, 2024: SOAP #5332:  Micah 1-4; Hebrews 6

SCRIPTURE:  Hebrews (NIV) 6:17 Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of his purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised, he confirmed it with an oath. 18 God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope offered to us may be greatly encouraged. 19 We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, 20 where Jesus, who went before us, has entered on our behalf.

OBSERVATION:    God’s character is that He will never lie.  Yet about His promises for the future, He takes an oath that it will be as He said.  He wants us to be doubly sure!  He is not playing games with us; we can trust Him.  He wants us to trust Him.

His truthfulness is an anchor of our soul.  When the winds of the world in which we live try to push us off track, we have an anchor that holds us steady.  It is His truthfulness and the hope we have for the future.  Our hope and faith are held secure by the anchor of His word. 

“Inner sanctuary” and “behind the curtain” are references to the Tabernacle of Moses when the blood of a sacrificed lamb had to be taken behind the veil into the Holiest of Holies to be placed on the mercy seat.  It was proof to God of a sacrifice.  The blood of Jesus was taken into the real Holiest of Holies in heaven where His sinless blood was placed before Father as the payment for my sins!  

APPLICATION:  Oh, yes.  I can rest assured that an acceptable sacrifice has been made for me!  My future hope is secured. Jesus has already died.  Jesus has already entered heaven with blood, the proof of a sinless sacrifice.  He went before me and entered on my behalf!   I can now face death rejoicing!    

PRAYER:  Father, you see the sinless blood of your Son, Jesus, placed there on my behalf…there is no way that I could ever be worthy of such a sacrifice.  Use me for your glory.  May my life honor you.  Amen

Pastor Leon
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Pastor Leon’s SOAP:  Scripture, Observation, Application, Prayer
July 08, 2024: SOAP #5331:  Hosea 13-14; Psalm 100, 102; Hebrews 5

SCRIPTURE:  Psalm (NIV) 100:4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. 5 For the LORD is good and his love endures for ever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.

OBSERVATION:   God’s faithfulness is as eternal as God.  It will continue “through all generations.”  When He blesses, He is being faithful.  And when He punishes,

People in heaven will sing of God’s faithfulness.  They will rejoice in His faithfulness to apply the death of His Son, Jesus to cover all the sins for which they have repented!   They will rejoice in His faithfulness!  

People in hell will also have a fresh appreciation for God’s faithfulness.  God was truthful when He said the wages of sin is death.  God was faithful when He warned them of the torment of hell.  They will have a new appreciation for God’s faithfulness when they look around and cannot find some of their partners in sin.  Their partners had repented, asked and received God’s forgiveness.  God was faithful to “forgive their sins and cleanse them from all unrighteousness!” (1John 1:9) They will appreciate God’s faithfulness when they see people who claimed to have repented but did not make Jesus LORD of their lives and continued to live as though sin did not matter.    

APPLICATION:  God is faithful to Himself.  He is a truth=speaker!   He is faithful to His Word.  My faith comes as I hear what God is saying to me.  (Romans 10:17)

It is so important that I learn to hear HIS voice.  He does not promise to do everything I think He should do.  He loves me and wants our relationship to grow, so I must listen to what He says to Leon.  I can count on His faithfulness to His word!   Ministry activity should not be determined by a brain-storming time to consider what we can do for the Lord, but a time of hearing God tell us what He wants to do and how we can be a part of what He is doing! 

PRAYER:  Heavenly Father, I counted on your faithfulness when I made Jesus the Lord of my life, and I count on your faithfulness every day. 

Pastor Leon
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