Pastor Leon’s SOAP:  Scripture, Observation, Application, Prayer
November 14, 2023: SOAP #5094: Psalm 149; 1Corinthians 15, 16

(with few revisions from earlier SOAP)

SCRIPTURE:  1Corinthians (NIV) 15:14 And if Christ has not been raised, or preaching is useless and so is your faith …  17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins …  20 But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead …

OBSERVATION:  The death of Jesus on the cross as the payment for our sins is meaningless without His resurrection.  Without the resurrection, there would be no forgiveness of sin, there would be no basis for our faith, and there would be no reason for preaching.

APPLICATION:  Without the resurrection I would still be trying to work off my sins.  I would still be trying to do enough good to outweigh the load of my sin.  I would still be without the presence of the Holy Spirit dwelling within me.  If Jesus could not conquer death, then I would have no hope of conquering it. 

But Jesus did indeed complete the payment for my sins and returned to his physical life!   The payment for my sins is completed!  The Holy Spirit does dwell in me!  I do have hope to conquer death!   My life, as Jesus’ life, will not end in death. 

Death will be my servant, a doorway through which I will pass into a life that will never die!   Life — I am just passing through!  Death — I will be just passing through…to heaven, my permanent home!   !

PRAYER:  Lord, thank you for the reality of forgiven sins!  Thank you for the reality of your Holy Spirit living in me!  And thank you for the reality of death being the doorway into eternal life with you!   Amen

Pastor Leon
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Pastor Leon’s SOAP:  Scripture, Observation, Application, Prayer
November 13, 2023: SOAP #5093: Job 39, 40; 1Corinthians 13, 14

SCRIPTURE:  1Corinthians (NIV) 12:31 But eagerly desire the greater gifts. And now I will show you the most excellent way.
13:1 If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.

OBSERVATION:  When Paul was writing this letter to the church in Corinth, he did not have chapter breaks and the present chapters were not divided into verses.  It was all one letter.  Sometimes we can miss a connecting thought when we stop reading after completing a chapter or when we start reading a new chapter without going back and reading what came before. 

In chapter 12, Paul writes about the gifts of the Holy Spirit and how they are to be used in the church.  He ends those comments with “now I will show you the most excellent way.” 

APPLICATION:  Greater than all the gifts, greater than all the ways that the gifts are used, and greater than all the offices that use the gifts—LOVE is greater than all!  It is the most excellent way!  

Paul obviously knew the words of Jesus.  Jesus gave love as the heart of commandments: 1. love God and 2. love people as you love yourself. Jesus then gave a new command that we love one another as God loves us! Jesus said that it was love that motivated the Father to send the Son. Jesus said the world would take note of how we love one another.

PRAYER:  Lord, you have taken up residence in me.  So I want you to love through me.  May your love flow from me to those around me.  In Your Name I pray, Amen.

Pastor Leon
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Pastor Leon’s SOAP:  Scripture, Observation, Application, Prayer
November 12, 2023: SOAP #5092: Job 37, 38; 1Corinthians 12

SCRIPTURE:  1Corinthians (NIV) 12:27 Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. 28 And in the church, God has appointed first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then workers of miracles, also those having gifts of healing, those able to help others, those with gifts of administration, and those speaking in different kinds of tongues. 29 Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? 30 Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret? 31 But eagerly desire the greater gifts.

OBSERVATION:  In this chapter Paul is teaching us about the body of Christ. Here he used our physical bodies to teach us about HIS body. Our bodies have many members (hands, feet, ears, etc.) but we have only one body. That is the way it is with Christ. Though each part is different, we are joined as only one body.  Just as each member of a physical body is uniquely different from all other members, so in the body of Christ, a person’s uniqueness makes them useful to the whole body.   None of us are the same even though we all share the same life. 

APPLICATION:  The truth Paul presents above is obvious in every church—and especially in the SOAP ministry.  Some have used their resources and contacts to provide computers and printers.  Others have installed them where they can receive the internet. Others program them to receive the SOAPs.  Still others print copies of the SOAPs.  In Freetown two motorcycles are used to distribute them to locations around the city.  Someone takes the copies and distributes them to individual readers.  Others read them and pass them along to their friends and neighbors.  The people printing are doing something very different from those on the motorcycles, or those traveling to various locations to install computers and printers.  But we are all members of one ministry.  The SOAP ministry would be very limited if God only relied on Leon’s resources and abilities.

PRAYER:  Lord, You are the head of this SOAP ministry.  I started writing them because of your specific direction.  You are the One who assigned others to translate and post or to print and distribute the SOAPs. You are the provider to which we all look.  It is our privilege to honor and serve the name of Jesus.  Amen 

Pastor Leon
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Pastor Leon’s SOAP:  Scripture, Observation, Application, Prayer
November 11, 2023: SOAP #5091: Psalm 122; 1Corinthians 9-11

SCRIPTURE:  1Corinthians (NIV) 9:9 For it is written in the Law of Moses: “Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain.” Is it about oxen that God is concerned? 10 Surely, he says this for us, doesn’t he? Yes, this was written for us, because when the ploughman ploughs and the thresher threshes, they ought to do so in the hope of sharing in the harvest.
11 If we have sown spiritual seed among you, is it too much if we reap a material harvest from you?

OBSERVATION:  In the Kingdom of God, the value of money is enhanced.   It provides an avenue for us to express our appreciation.  Those receiving spiritual seed sown into their lives should willing and joyfully return a “material harvest” to those sowing.  They should expect to do so.

APPLICATION:  The application of this truth comes very strong to me today.  The message in the SOAPs is free, but the ink and paper, the computers and printers cost money.  God has assigned me to drive a school bus and use much of what I earn for the SOAP ministry.  God has raised up several people who have been supporting monthly.  And God has laid it on some to give larger amounts to a specific need.  I see this ministry as God’s, so it does not surprise me that He provides what is needed…I am not surprised, but I am amazed at how He does it!  

In my heart I hear God saying He wants to use the SOAP ministry to start financial blessings in the heart of Africa and in Asia.  As people learn to give to God, they will find He enjoys giving to them.  It is not the size of the gift in our hands, it is the size of the faith in our hearts that God sees.  God does not want continued dependence on First World Countries for ministry funds.  He wants to grow Africans and Asians to provide the funds, even for ministry beyond the borders of their continents! He starts with the little in our hand; it grows to be more than enough. 

Start small and give to the ones who provide you the SOAP.  They will use it to purchase ink and paper, computers and printers as needed.  Your gift is the harvest for those providing the SOAPs!  Then expect a harvest from your gift! 

PRAYER:  Do it Lord!   Amen

Pastor Leon
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Pastor Leon’s SOAP:  Scripture, Observation, Application, Prayer
November 10, 2023: SOAP #5090: Job 35, 36; 1Corinthians 7, 8 (a repeat)

SCRIPTURE:  1Corinthians (NIV) 7:17 Nevertheless, each one should retain the place in life that the Lord assigned to him and to which God has called him. This is the rule I lay down in all the churches…
20 Each one should remain in the situation which he was in when God called him…
24 Brothers, each man, as responsible to God, should remain in the situation God called him to.

OBSERVATION:  In writing to the church in Corinth, Paul was setting down some general rules of behavior.  He starts off by saying that if you are a Jew, do not try to become an un-Jew, and if you are a Gentile, do not try to become a Jewish.  If you are married, do not seek a divorce.  In the light of eternity, our status or position has no bearing.  Everything will change in eternity, so if you are planning on going to heaven, do not worry about such things.  People who do not know God or understand His plan sometimes have the idea that they must make changes to be comfortable and pleasing for them on earth.

Yet Paul is saying our status is very important!  We should be content with the way God made us.  To apply Paul’s teaching to today, if we were made male, we should not try to be female.  If we were made female, we should not try to be male.  People may try to change their outside, but to my knowledge, no one is able to change their DNA.  Our DNA will always be a witness to how God made us.

APPLICATION:  As opportunity presents itself, it is good to improve my standing, however that should never be done because I am discontent with my present circumstances and how God made me.  (Philippians 4:11-12; Hebrews 13:5)

PRAYER:  Heavenly Father, life here is so short compared to eternity.  Knowing that you are with me — knowing that you have something for me to do — changes my perspective of everything.  Amen.

Pastor Leon
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Pastor Leon’s SOAP:  Scripture, Observation, Application, Prayer
November 09, 2023: SOAP #5089: Job 34; 1Corinthians 4-6

SCRIPTURE:  1Corinthians (NIV) 6:19 Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 20 you were bought at a price. Therefore, honor God with your body.

OBSERVATION:  Our bodies have great value to the Lord.  They provide a home for the Holy Spirit in this world. 

They provide the avenue through which we minister to and for the Lord.  Using our hands and feet, and using our voices, we provide windows through which the Holy Spirit, living inside, can express Himself in our world. 

APPLICATION:  I may be praying for God to visit our neighborhood, or town. There are so many people who need Him.   It would make such a difference if Jesus would come to this place!   BUT JUST A MINUTE.  AM I MISSING SOMETHING?   Jesus does not need to pay my city a visit.  He is already here!   The same Holy Spirit who was living in Jesus is now living in me!  The same Holy Spirit who was walking with Jesus in Jerusalem in now walking with me!  

The mortgage on me was paid at Calvary.  This house/body belongs to Jesus!  By His Spirit, He lives in me!       

PRAYER:  Holy Spirit, I want you to enjoy living in me.  Use what my body can do,  my words and actions, to glorify Jesus.   Amen

Pastor Leon
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Pastor Leon’s SOAP:  Scripture, Observation, Application, Prayer
November 08, 2023: SOAP #5088: Job 33, 1Corinthians 1-3

(minor rework from the past) 

SCRIPTURE:  1Corinthians (NIV) 2:11 For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man’s spirit within him? In the same way no-one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. 12 We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us….
16 “For who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ.

OBSERVATION:  No one knows how God thinks, except the Spirit of God.  Just like I must live with my own thoughts, so the Spirit of God lives with the thoughts of God.  No one can truly know how I am thinking except myself.  And no one can truly know how God is thinking except the Spirit of God!

If I wanted you to really know how I was thinking, I would need to give you my mind, my spirit.  And if God really wants me to know how He is thinking, He would need to give me His mind, His Spirit.  And that is what He did!

Jesus died on the cross to forgive my sins, making me clean.  Then the Holy Spirit enters my clean heart to show me how to live. This is the SAME Spirit that came upon Jesus when He was baptized by John, so He really does understand how we are to live in this world.

APPLICATION:  This chapter should be hung on the walls of my mind.  I should read it every day. It is not a promise of what awaits me in heaven.  It is a statement of what I have NOW!

This chapter shows why it is so important that I learn to listen to the Holy Spirit!  He will speak to me as I read the Bible.  He will show me how those scriptures apply to me.  He will help me understand what God thinks about the issues I face in life.  He will empower me to live victoriously!

PRAYER:  Holy Spirit, I set myself to be a vessel that you can easily work through.   Amen.

Pastor Leon
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Pastor Leon’s SOAP:  Scripture, Observation, Application, Prayer
November 07, 2023: SOAP #5087: Job 31, 32; Galatians 5,6

SCRIPTURE:  Galatians (NIV) 6:14 May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. 15 Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything; what counts is a new creation.

OBSERVATION:  Major issues seemed to divide the early church.  Each side had their own interpretation of God’s word.  Paul stepped into the middle and said the issues are unimportant!   What is important is that we are born again with the life of Christ living inside. 

Paul deals with similar issues in Romans 14:5-9.  Neither Saturday or Sunday, neither eating meat or being a vegetarian.  Today we could add neither people who read this version (NIV) or that version (KJV) or other versions; and we could add, neither people who like one style of music or another; and neither people who gather in a beautiful building or people who gather under a tree.  “What counts is a new creation!” 

APPLICATION:  I must be careful not to get side-tracked onto issues that can pull me away from the heart of the gospel!   At the heart of the gospel is the cross (verse 14 above).  There is a cross that I must bear, but it is HIS cross in which I boast!  In celebrating His death I die to myself; in celebrating His resurrected life I become a new creation…a new living being!  He is living in me!     

PRAYER:  Heavenly Father, what a great plan you put into action through the cross.  It was a sacrifice that covers sin and the resurrected life that makes me a new creation!  Holy Spirit, may Jesus be glorified in my life and may the Father be pleased.  In The Wonderful Name of Jesus,  Amen

Pastor Leon
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Pastor Leon’s SOAP:  Scripture, Observation, Application, Prayer
November 06, 2023: SOAP #5086: Job 30; Psalm 120; Galatians 3,4

SCRIPTURE:  Galatians (NIV) 3:24 So the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith. 25 Now that faith has come, we are no longer under the supervision of the law. 26 You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus,

OBSERVATION:  The law did not bring sin.  It only defined the sin that was present in the world.  The law showed us there was only one remedy for sin — death. The law also helped us identify the Savior — the only one who was born without sin and perfectly kept the law.  He needed no sacrifice to atone for His sin; He became the perfect, lawful sacrifice to atone for our sin!

The law was not given with the thought that man would ever be able to keep the law.  At the same time the law was given, sacrifices were established.  The law contained no rewards for perfectly keeping the law, only sacrifices for breaking the law.

APPLICATION:  People like to make “laws” for their followers.  Laws like what food not to eat, how to worship, what songs to sing, what days are for worship, what clothes to wear, etc.  Following those laws make it easy for them to identify their faithful followers.  The Law works from the outside to force us into someone’s acceptable image.  The Holy Spirit, received by faith, works from the inside.  It is not the keeping of the law, but the presence of the Holy Spirit that makes it easy for God to identify His followers. 

True followers of Jesus are those in whom His Spirit lives.  In my heart, the Spirit speaks to me.  He becomes my conscience and I have an inner compass of right and wrong.  In my mind, I become aware of something that needs to be done.  As I do it, the love of God flows out of me.  People see Jesus living in me!  

PRAYER:  Holy Spirit, what a joy to know that you are living in me and molding my life to be like Jesus.  May I know that I please you by the witness of your presence in my life and the working of your gifts through me.  We work together for the glory of Jesus; in His Wonderful Name I pray,  Amen! 

Pastor Leon
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Pastor Leon’s SOAP:  Scripture, Observation, Application, Prayer
November 06, 2023: SOAP #5086: Job 30; Psalm 120; Galatians 3,4

SCRIPTURE:  Galatians (NIV) 3:24 So the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith. 25 Now that faith has come, we are no longer under the supervision of the law. 26 You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus,

OBSERVATION:  The law did not bring sin.  It only defined the sin that was present in the world.  The law showed us there was only one remedy for sin — death. The law also helped us identify the Savior — the only one who was born without sin and perfectly kept the law.  He needed no sacrifice to atone for His sin; He became the perfect, lawful sacrifice to atone for our sin!

The law was not given with the thought that man would ever be able to keep the law.  At the same time the law was given, sacrifices were established.  The law contained no rewards for perfectly keeping the law, only sacrifices for breaking the law.

APPLICATION:  People like to make “laws” for their followers.  Laws like what food not to eat, how to worship, what songs to sing, what days are for worship, what clothes to wear, etc.  Following those laws make it easy for them to identify their faithful followers.  The Law works from the outside to force us into someone’s acceptable image.  The Holy Spirit, received by faith, works from the inside.  It is not the keeping of the law, but the presence of the Holy Spirit that makes it easy for God to identify His followers. 

True followers of Jesus are those in whom His Spirit lives.  In my heart, the Spirit speaks to me.  He becomes my conscience and I have an inner compass of right and wrong.  In my mind, I become aware of something that needs to be done.  As I do it, the love of God flows out of me.  People see Jesus living in me!  

PRAYER:  Holy Spirit, what a joy to know that you are living in me and molding my life to be like Jesus.  May I know that I please you by the witness of your presence in my life and the working of your gifts through me.  We work together for the glory of Jesus; in His Wonderful Name I pray,  Amen! 

Pastor Leon
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