Pastor Leon’s SOAP:  Scripture, Observation, Application, Prayer
January 24, 2026:  SOAP #5896   Exodus 9-11; Luke 24

SCRIPTURE:  Luke (NIV) 24:49 I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.” 50 When he had led them out to the vicinity of Bethany, he lifted up his hands and blessed them. 51 While he was blessing them, he left them and was taken up into heaven.

OBSERVATION:  Jesus is here promising that the same Holy Spirit that had come upon Him when baptized by John would clothe them with power. (Luke 3:22)  The Spirit had descended upon Him in the form of a dove but would come upon them with the sound “from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind…and would sit upon them like cloven tongues of fire.”  (Acts 2:1-4) 

The same Holy Spirit would continue the same ministry in the disciples as He had started in Jesus!   

APPLICATION:  If Jesus needed the Holy Spirit before beginning His ministry as the Son of Man, how much more do I need the presence and anointing of the Holy Spirit.  If the early church needed to wait in Jerusalem for the power and anointing of the Holy Spirit before obeying the Great Commission, how much more do I need the anointing of the Holy Spirit today! 

What the world needs today is for the church today to be filled with the Holy Spirit, every day.  The world needs Holy Spirit-filled and Holy Spirit-empowered believers living and working next to them every day of the week.  The world needs to meet people filled with the same Holy Spirit that filled Jesus.  They need to meet them in the marketplace, in the schools, in the offices, in every place.     

PRAYER:  Holy Spirit, help me to be what the world needs, a believer full of Jesus and walking in the anointing of the Holy Spirit.  May I live every moment of every day full of you.  I surrender my life to be use by You for the glory of Jesus. Amen

Pastor Leon
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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!   
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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!   
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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
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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
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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
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