Tag Archives: god

Furnished and Ready

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Pastor Leon’s SOAP:  Scripture, Observation, Application, Prayer
January 22, 2026:  SOAP #5894   Exodus 3-5; Luke 22

SCRIPTURE:  Luke (NIV) 22:9 “Where do you want us to prepare for it?” they asked.  10 He replied, “As you enter the city, a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him to the house that he enters, 11 and say to the owner of the house, ‘The Teacher asks: Where is the guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?’ 12 He will show you a large upper room, all furnished. Make preparations there.”

OBSERVATION:  I wonder about the history of this house.  Was it built with a guest room?  Had a son or daughter once lived in the room?  When they moved out, did it become the guest room?  Whatever, it was now a designated guest room.  It was furnished and ready for guests. 

Jesus was not making his permanent residence in this “guest room.”  It was just a short stop on the way to the cross.

APPLICATION:  So it is with my physical body.  This is not my permanent residence.  When I die, I will leave it behind.  At the resurrection, it will be changed to be like his glorious body!  This worldly residence I live in is not my permanent home.  I am just passing through.  I should consider it as a “guest room.” It is to be furnished and ready as a guest room for Jesus to use as He desires. 

PRAYER:  Jesus, this body is yours to use how and when you desire.  You may want to use it as a meeting place for some of your disciples.  You may want to use it to meet with people who have not yet made you their Lord and Savior.   What a special honor that you would use me as your “guest room.” Amen

Pastor Leon
Making friends for time and eternity!   
On Facebook:  Today’s SOAP from Pastor Leon
Also on:  soapsbyleon.wordpress.com

Much Better than my “Best-Guess!”

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Pastor Leon’s SOAP:  Scripture, Observation, Application, Prayer
January 21, 2026:  SOAP #5893   Exodus 1-2; Psalm 88; Luke 21

Much better than my “best-guess!”

SCRIPTURE:  Exodus (NIV) 1:22 Then Pharaoh gave this order to all his people: “Every boy that is born you must throw into the Nile, but let every girl live.”
Exodus (NIV) 2:1 Now a man of the house of Levi married a Levite woman, 2 and she became pregnant and gave birth to a son. When she saw that he was a fine child, she hid him for three months. 3 But when she could hide him no longer, she got a papyrus basket for him and coated it with tar and pitch. Then she placed the child in it and put it among the reeds along the bank of the Nile.

OBSERVATION:  The Jews in Egypt had grown to such a number that Pharoah made a plan to stop their growth:  he would have each baby boy thrown into the Nile river.  Moses’ mother, tried to hide her baby, but it was impossible to hide him from Pharoah’s soldiers.  So, she came up with a plan, she would hide him in the reeds along the Nile river. It was a God-plan! 

God used the very thing that was meant for the death of the baby boys, the river, to became the salvation of Moses!  Pharoah’s daughter found him and brought him to live as her son!  And Moses’s mother became his nurse! 

APPLICATION:  Oh, how we wish God would deliver us from the trouble and turmoil we see around us.  We complain and ask, “Why…what are you doing…why must I stay here?”  We cannot fully understand God’s plans…that is until we have lived it out.  Only then will we really see how the trouble we are experiencing will be used by God to fulfill His promises and bring Him glory. 

That which the devil would use to defeat us can be the very thing God uses to bring victory!  We should never despair!  God used the very household of the one trying to destroy the Israelites to bring their salvation!

PRAYER:  Lord, I am learning to trust you!   You often work through the trouble around me for my good.  You are Trustworthy!  Your ways are higher than my ways.  You see further into the future than I do.  When I start to make decisions by my “best-guess” I will pause to consider what you are saying.  Amen

Pastor Leon
Making friends for time and eternity!   
On Facebook:  Today’s SOAP from Pastor Leon
Also on:  soapsbyleon.wordpress.com

Questions and Answers

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Pastor Leon’s SOAP:  Scripture, Observation, Application, Prayer
January 20, 2026:  SOAP #5892   Genesis 49-50; Psalm 8; Luke 20

SCRIPTURE:  Luke (NIV) 20:21 So the spies questioned him: …
22 Is it right for us to pay taxes to Caesar or not?”…
33 Now then, at the resurrection whose wife will she be, since the seven were married to her?”…
39 Some of the teachers of the law responded, “Well said, teacher!”
40 And no-one dared to ask him any more questions.
41 Then Jesus said to them, “How is it that they say the Christ is the Son of David?

OBSERVATION:  They were asking Jesus questions to trap him with his own words.  But Jesus answered their questions with such wisdom that “no one dared to ask him any more questions.”   But that was not the end of the questions.  Now it was His turn to ask the questions.    

APPLICATION:  In countries where many people have been raised in the Muslim faith, we often hear questions:  Is Jesus really God?  Did Jesus really die on the cross? …and others.  God’s answers are clearly presented in the Bible.  On several recent occasions when people attended a Bible Fellowship meeting in Sierra Leon for the purpose of asking questions and starting trouble…the Holy Spirit used answers from the Bible to convince them that Jesus is God; and they accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior!   Praise the Lord!   

In other places people are asking, “God, why did you let this happen?  Where were you?” 

But a day is coming when God will be asking the questions:  “Why didn’t you believe me? Why didn’t you trust me? Why didn’t you let me be a part of your life?” 

PRAYER:  Lord, help me live in such a way that it will be easy for me to answer your questions.  Amen

Pastor Leon
Making friends for time and eternity!   
On Facebook:  Today’s SOAP from Pastor Leon
Also on:  soapsbyleon.wordpress.com

I will SURELY bring you back…

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Pastor Leon’s SOAP:  Scripture, Observation, Application, Prayer
January 18, 2026:  SOAP #5890   Genesis 44-46; Luke 18

SCRIPTURE:  Genesis (NIV) 46:2 And God spoke to Israel in a vision at night and said, “Jacob! Jacob!” “Here I am,” he replied.
3 “I am God, the God of your father,” he said. “Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will make you into a great nation there. 
4 I will go down to Egypt with you, and I will surely bring you back again. And Joseph’s own hand will close your eyes.”

OBSERVATION:  Jacob has just recently learned that the son he had long considered dead was alive and in charge of all Egypt, second only to Pharaoh!   Now he had stopped for a night on his way to see Joseph.  God appeared to Him in a vision.  “Do not be afraid to go to where you are headed.  I am going to make you a great nation there.  I’ll take care of the rest of my plan.  I will go with you and I will SURELY bring you back!”

APPLICATION:  In my youth, God led me out of Kansas and went with me.  Each place He led me He was with me.  In 1989 He brought me back to Kansas.  After 20 years of pastoring Andover Assembly of God, I resigned as the senior pastor.  It was then that God assigned me to write and post daily SOAPs (Scripture, Observation, Application, Prayer). 

God has taken the simple SOAPs I write and accomplished more than I ever dreamed.  Being faithful in little things makes them available for His use.  And when He uses something that He planned, it moves in His power and with His anointing.  It has the potential of heaven.  He is working out His plan!

PRAYER:  Heavenly Father, you are the God who is with me.  You are the promise-keeping God.  You are the God who cares for me and is working out your plans.   Your plans include using me for your glory.  Your plans for me include being your dwelling place for a short time here on earth, then joining you in your dwelling place for all eternity!  Wow!!!  Amen

Pastor Leon
Making friends for time and eternity!   
On Facebook:  Today’s SOAP from Pastor Leon
Also on:  soapsbyleon.wordpress.com

Instructions for me!

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Pastor Leon’s SOAP:  Scripture, Observation, Application, Prayer
January 17, 2026:  SOAP #5889   Genesis 42-43; Psalm 5; Luke 17

SCRIPTURE:  Luke (NIV) 17:3  So watch yourselves. “If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him. 4 If he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times comes back to you and says, ‘I repent,’ forgive him.”

OBSERVATION:  The above passage was not written to the one doing the offense, but to those suffering the offence.  Notice that it does not say “watch him,” but “watch yourselves.”  It does not say, “if you sin,” but “if your brother sins.” 

This is what I am to do.  This is what The Great Forgiver is telling me to do!   I am not to wait until my memory has forgotten the offence, I am to forgive while it is still fresh in my memory.  Forgiveness is a choice; forgetting is a process. 

APPLICATION:  Without forgiveness things can never be truly settled.  It is impossible for the offender to go back and undo what has been done. 

It will take acknowledgment and repentance to settle the issue in the heart of the one doing the offence, but the issue can only be settled in the heart of the offended by forgiveness.  Forgiveness is not looking into the future waiting for the offender to come with repentance.  In fact, when the offender does come, if he does, may he find that he has been long forgiven! 

PRAYER:  Lord, I can forgive because You have already forgiven me.  Lord, I must forgive because you have commanded me to forgive.  In the Lord’s prayer, you taught me to pray for you to forgive me as I forgive others.  And Lord, as The Great Forgiver living inside me, you help me forgive!   I know forgiveness is important to you, and I make it important also to me.  Amen

Pastor Leon Ma
king friends for time and eternity!   
On Facebook:  Today’s SOAP from Pastor Leon
Also on:  soapsbyleon.wordpress.com

Who is waiting for me?

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Pastor Leon’s SOAP:  Scripture, Observation, Application, Prayer
January 16, 2026:  SOAP #5888   Genesis 39-41; Luke 16

SCRIPTURE:  Luke (NIV) 16:9 I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.

OBSERVATION:  Priorities for me when I get to heaven: 
First; Nothing will be more important in heaven than seeing Jesus, the One who died for my sins! 
Second: Seeing my family. 
Third: Seeing some of the Old Testament and New Testament heroes of the faith whose stories in the Bible inspired me.    
Fourth: Those who had a part in bringing me to Jesus and helping me grow.  I will have opportunity to thank some very special people. 

But the emphasis in the verse above is not seeing those who were instrumental in bringing me to the Jesus, but in being greeted by those for whom I had a part in bringing to Jesus!   They arrived before I did and were waiting for me.  I invested finances and resources in a way that resulted in their hearing the gospel.   

APPLICATION:   Financial counselors will advise me on how to make sure I have enough money to take care of my final years on earth and leave some for those who continue living on earth once I am gone.  In the above verse, I am told to use my money to ensure there will be people to greet me when I enter heaven.   

PRAYER:  Heavenly Father, thank you for the finances you have entrusted to my care.  Keep reminding me that they all belong to you.  It is not how much of your money I give, but how much I keep for myself.   Amen

Pastor Leon
Making friends for time and eternity!   
On Facebook:  Today’s SOAP from Pastor Leon
Also on:  soapsbyleon.wordpress.com

So Thankful!

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Pastor Leon’s SOAP:  Scripture, Observation, Application, Prayer
January 15, 2026:  SOAP #5887   Genesis 37-38; Psalm 7; Luke 15

SCRIPTURE:  Luke 15: 4  “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Does he not leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it?…
8  “Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Does she not light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it?…
20  So he got up and went to his father. “But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.

OBSERVATION:  In Luke 15 we read three stories about lost things.  Take note of a common thread.  The sheep owner searches “until he finds it.”  The woman searches for the coin “until she finds it.” And the Father was still looking for his boy when he returned; he spotted his son coming while “he was still a long way off.”    

Although the sheep owner had 99 others, each one was important.  Although the woman had 9 other coins, this one was important.  And although the Father had another son, this one was important!  They were important enough to not give up searching.   

APPLICATION:  Each one is important to the Heavenly Father.  You are important. He is not willing that any should perish. (2Peter 3:9) He is not willing that you perish.  When it comes to dealing with His children, God is persistent!  

PRAYER:  Pray with me:  Thank you, Lord, for not giving up on me.  Thank you for calling until…  Thank you for loving me until…  Thank you for loving me through the times I ran from you.  Thank you for …!  Amen. 

Pastor Leon
Making friends for time and eternity!   
On Facebook:  Today’s SOAP from Pastor Leon
Also on:  soapsbyleon.wordpress.com

Being watched & Being a watcher

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Pastor Leon’s SOAP:  Scripture, Observation, Application, Prayer
January 14, 2026:  SOAP #5886   Genesis 34-36; Luke 14

SCRIPTURE:  Luke (NIV) 14:1  One Sabbath, when Jesus went to eat in the house of a prominent Pharisee, he was being carefully watched…
7  When he noticed how the guests picked the places of honor at the table, he told them this parable: …

OBSERVATION:  In the first verse we see that people “carefully watched” Jesus, but a little later in verse 7 we see that Jesus was watching people too!  Then he told them a parable that fit the occasion.   

APPLICATION:  Being a follower of Jesus, I should not be surprised when people seem to “carefully watch” my life.  God places me where I can be seen.  He wants people to learn from watching my life.  If I am a new believer, there will be changes that other people will see, maybe changes in some habits, or places I go, or things I do.  Especially if God has healed me of a easily identifiable infirmity or disability.  People will be watching me.  It will give me opportunities for me to give glory to God for what He has done!  

AND as I am in a place where my life can be watched, I find it is also a place where I can watch those around me.  Like Jesus, I should be a people watcher.  Then the message I have should be appropriate to what is happening around me.  The Holy Spirit will draw my attention to people needing a word of encouragement or a witness of God’s mighty power.      
PRAYER:  Holy Spirit, guide my eyes to see what is taking place around me; then guide my words to speak appropriately.    Amen

Pastor Leon
Making friends for time and eternity!   
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Expecting Jesus to do what only He can do!

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Pastor Leon’s SOAP:  Scripture, Observation, Application, Prayer
January 13, 2026:  SOAP #5885   Genesis 31-33; Luke 13

SCRIPTURE:  Luke (NIV) 13:10  On a Sabbath Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues, 11 and a woman was there who had been crippled by a spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not straighten up at all. 12 When Jesus saw her, he called her forward and said to her, “Woman, you are set free from your infirmity.” 13 Then he put his hands on her, and immediately she straightened up and praised God.

OBSERVATION:  When Jesus was teaching, it was not unusual for something special to happen.  In the verses above, Jesus noticed a woman present who needed healing.  Without reading on, we all know that something special happened.

Jesus is still working in the same way.  I have received two testimonies from Sierra Leon this week of people being healed in the Home Bible Fellowship meetings being held Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for the new believers.  

The first was of a younger brother of a man who came regularly to the meetings.  His brother could not talk but after they prayed he began shouting, “I can talk, I can talk!” 

The second was of a young person who led his blind father to the meeting.  They prayed for him and then they led him back home.  Early the next morning there was a commotion in the father’s room as he was shouting, “I can see!”  He had been blind for 16 years, so everyone in his area knew him and knew he was blind.  They followed him back to the Bible study and committed their lives to Jesus!  

APPLICATION:  When I gather with others to hear the Word and the Holy Spirit makes me aware of the presence of Jesus, I should expect something special, something unique, something only God can do.  I should never settle for anything less. 

PRAYER:  Holy Spirit, build in me an expectation to see manifestations of your presence.   Amen

Pastor Leon
Making friends for time and eternity!   
On Facebook:  Today’s SOAP from Pastor Leon
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Do not worry!

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Pastor Leon’s SOAP:  Scripture, Observation, Application, Prayer
January 12, 2026:  SOAP #5884   Genesis 29-30; Luke 12

SCRIPTURE:  Luke (NIV) 12:22  Then Jesus said to his disciples: “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear…
29 And do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink; do not worry about it. 30 For the pagan world runs after all such things, and your Father knows that you need them. 31 But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.

OBSERVATION:  For our physical lives, there is nothing more basic than food and clothing.  Of course, God knows this because He created us!   He perfectly understands our physical bodies. 

In these verses, Jesus is speaking to His disciples.  He is speaking as their Creator. (John 1:3)   And He is speaking as their LORD.  They were His disciples. 

APPLICATION: In claiming these scriptures for my life, I need to live acknowledging God as my creator and that He is my LORD.  I need to put my trust in HIM and look to HIM for my daily provision.  He may use someone else to be a part of His answer, but it is always best when they are responding to Him and not to me. 

PRAYER:  Heavenly Father, I am blest to know that you already know by needs.  I want to honor you by depending on you to keep your word.  I want to honor you by taking the job you provide and by being a careful, happy worker.  May you be glorified in my life.  In Jesus Name, Amen

Pastor Leon
Making friends for time and eternity!   
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