S.O.A.P.

Daily S.O.A.P Blog

Fully Known

  • August 30, 2021

Scripture
Ezekiel 8:6, 11:19
“And he said to me, “Son of man, do you see what they are doing–the utterly detestable things the Israelites are doing here, things that will drive me far from my sanctuary? But you will see things that are even more detestable.”
“I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh.” 
Observation
God knows all, and sees all. He sees those that he loves, and he sees that which is repulsive to him. His patience is immense, but willful, wanton, continual, unrepentant sin will drive his presence from his sanctuary. 
Application
God knows my heart inside and out. There is nothing that I can hide from him. He no longer lives in a temple, but instead his spirit is within me. If my inmost heart is divided and acting in opposition to God, then I cannot expect his presence to remain. I must choose to allow him to strip away the division within me, and anything that would pull me away from him. I must be his, and I must allow him to truly be my God.
Prayer
God, create a clean heart in me! You see straight through me, and there is nothing hidden from you. Thank you for your patience with me! May I never drive your spirit from my heart, but rather submit to your perfect will, as you remake me into your image. 

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Seeing God

  • August 28, 2021

Today’s SOAP journal is brought to you by James Begley.

Scripture
Revelation 1:8
“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.”
Observation
I love it when God reminds us of who He is. It’s so easy for me to just live my life and my own actions have their own consequences and that’s that. There is so much more that is going on all around us and if we don’t have the proper perspective, we will miss it. How wild could my life be if I’m super connected to the One who is, was and who is to come? If I’m bored at this point, it’s because I’m not looking at the right things or plugging into the right source. What am I doing with my life if I’m not making the most of this HUGE advantage? 
Application
Make God a priority. See what He can do with me, where He can take me and how He can use me. 
Prayer
Lord, help me to see You for who you really are in my everyday life. Transform me into someone that can do your will to the fullest of my capabilities! 

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You can also read past devotions on our website, by visiting https://www.newhopelegacy.com/soap/

Thirst

  • August 27, 2021

Scripture
Psalm 143:3-6
“The enemy pursues me, he crushes me to the ground; he makes me dwell in the darkness like those long dead. So my spirit grows faint within me; my heart within me is dismayed. I remember the days of long ago; I meditate on all your works and consider what your hands have done. I spread out my hands to you; I thirst for you like a parched land.” 
Observation
David was in a dark place. He was discouraged, defeated, weak, and overcome. But instead of focusing on his current circumstances, he instead chose to meditate on the things of God. Instead of focusing on his discomfort, he focused on what God had done. He could not see what God was currently doing, so he meditated on what God had already done in the past. Instead of focusing on solving his current problem, he fully surrendered to God and invited God into the middle of the mess. 
Application
Challenges hit, and discouragement happens. Sometimes there is no clear solution for the present circumstance. When I feel overwhelmed and defeated, it’s time to stop struggling to find my own solution and invite God into the mess with me instead. I may not even be able to understand what God is doing-but I can choose to meditate and focus on what God has already done–and trust that the God who did those things back then is the same Father who is willing to step down into the pit of mud with me and make His power known again.
This week, I need to invite God into every situation and every conversation.
Prayer
God, thank you for being present through every season of life. Help me to focus on you, instead of looking for my own solutions. I invite you into every challenge, every battle, and every struggle in my life- and I choose to fully surrender my heart to you. 

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You can also read past devotions on our website, by visiting https://www.newhopelegacy.com/soap/

Imitate

  • August 26, 2021

Scripture
3 John 11
“Dear friend, do not imitate what is evil but what is good. Anyone who does what is good is from God. Anyone who does what is evil has not seen God.” 
Observation
Evil is the natural state of my heart-and without seeing God, I will do what is evil. Seeing God is more than just casually observing him passively from a distance. When I truly glimpse his majesty, his righteousness, his holiness, his truth…it cannot help but impact the state of my heart, and the decisions I make.
I cannot be saved by my actions, but my actions reveal the state of my heart. He is God, and I am not. But when I truly see him, I can choose to imitate him, and allow him to transform me. 
Application
I am sinful and imperfect, but I can choose. I can choose to see God, or I can choose to look everywhere else besides him. I can choose who to imitate. Imitations are never as perfect as the original, but I can choose to imitate God. I can choose to let him daily transform my heart through the decisions I make, as I imperfectly imitate my father. My actions don’t save me, but they do reveal me.
Today, I choose to imitate Christ. I choose to let him be revealed in me.
Prayer
God, thank you for allowing me to see you! Help me not to casually observe you, and remain unaffected by the process. Help me to imitate you in the words that I say and the decisions that I make, and may you be revealed in me each day. 

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Seek First

  • August 25, 2021
Scripture
Jeremiah 38:16-17
“But King Zedekiah swore this oath secretly to Jeremiah: “As surely as the Lord lives, who has given us breath, I will neither kill you nor hand you over to those who want to kill you.” Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “This is what the Lord God Almighty, the God of Israel says: “If you surrender to the officers of the King of Babylon, your life will be spared and this city will not be burned down; you and your family will live.” 
Observation
Why was Zedekiah’s oath to Jeremiah a secret? It reveals something in the heart of the king, that he was concealing this conversation with the prophet from his own officials and people. The kingdom was under attack by the Babylonians, but the king was more concerned about the reaction and opinions of the people around him.
Jeremiah told him that his life could be saved, but it would require a shift in his thinking. Instead of making decisions based on fear of what the people would think, he needed to get a lot more concerned about the impending judgement of God in his life. 
Application
It’s easy to let my thinking and my motives get twisted around. It’s easy to slip into the trap of making decisions based on fear of what people think. This passage challenges me to take a hard look at my motives and choices. If I am making decisions based on anything other than God’s guidance, destruction will be the result. Even when I have incurred God’s judgement in my life–there is still mercy, if I submit to his discipline and align my heart with him. I must always fear God’s displeasure more than the criticism of man, and seek first his approval rather than the approval of others.
Prayer
God, help me to align my heart with yours, and surrender to your authority in my life rather than being ruled by fear of others. Even when I experience your discipline, help me to run to you instead of running away. Thank you for your mercy, your love, and your truth. 
 
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You can also read past devotions on our website, by visiting https://www.newhopelegacy.com/soap/

Honest Conversations

  • August 24, 2021

Scripture
Psalm 74:1,23
“O God, why have you rejected us forever? Why does your anger smolder against the sheep of your pasture?”
“Do not ignore the clamor of your adversaries, the uproar of your enemies, which rises continually.” 
Observation
Asaph was in a dark place for sure, when he penned these words. There’s no “happily ever after”, no riding off into the sunset. Just the anguished cry of a man who feels abandoned, forgotten, discouraged, and defeated. Asaph’s words are an expression of how he felt in the moment, not a statement of fact-because we know that God did not reject Israel forever. God doesn’t react with anger or shock at the impertinence of Asaph’s words. Instead God saw fit to preserve his words for all time, so that we can read them today.
Application
God is not shocked or angered by what I say when I bare my heart to him. He is not stumped by my hardest questions, not exasperated by my emotional state. Even when I don’t have all the facts right and I’m just reacting in the emotion of the moment, God welcomes my outpouring of frustration to him. Because even in the darkest of these moments–if I keep the conversation with God going, it shows that my trust and my hope is still in him. It is through that conversation between my heart and his, that he is able to continue the transformation he has begun in my heart.
This week, I need to continue the conversation with God.
Through anger
Through discouragement
Through grief
Through depression
Through frustration
Through confusion
Through struggle
Prayer
God, thank you that you welcome my hardest questions, and you love me in my darkest moments. Through the challenges of each day, help me to continually turn to you. May you be glorified in my life, through the hard seasons and not just the easy ones.
 
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Know Your Enemy

  • August 23, 2021

Scripture
Jeremiah 32:2
“The army of the king of Babylon was then besieging Jerusalem, and Jeremiah the prophet was confined in the courtyard of the guard in the royal palace of Judah.”
Observation
Zedekiah, King of Judah had a real problem. The city was under siege, his kingdom was under attack, and the enemy was at the gates. It was time to take action! Something had to be done!
The king took swift and decisive action…and locked up the prophet of God in the courtyard.  Unfortunately for the king, Jeremiah was not the enemy. In truth, neither were the armies of the Babylonians. The prophet and the invading armies were simply messengers sent by God to turn the hearts of the people back to him.
The king could not be victorious in battle, because he didn’t know who his enemy was. 
Application
There are days that I feel under attack.
The enemy is coming against me, and I need to take decisive action. Unfortunately, like the king of Judah, I don’t always see clearly who the enemy is! I end up fighting my wife, or my neighbor, or a random stranger that I don’t know on Facebook…
Nearly always though, I eventually come to realize that the true enemy was me. The enemy is the condition of my heart, and my distance from the Father. The enemy is the pride within me. The enemy is my own lack of self-control.
I cannot live a victorious life, while fighting the wrong enemy! I have to start by getting my own heart right with God, and let Him reveal the things in my heart, which are holding me back from full surrender to him.
This week, I need to be intentional to know my enemy before I go to battle.
Prayer
God, thank you for drawing me back to you over and over again. Thank you for revealing the things in my own heart which are holding me back from you. Help me this week, to not waste time fighting the wrong enemy! Help me to instead fully surrender to you, and let you fight my battles.
 
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To Be Continued

  • August 21, 2021

Scripture
1 John 2:28
“And now, dear children, continue in Him so that when he appears we may be confident and unashamed before him at his coming” 
Observation
Continue. A short word, but it requires long-term commitment. It’s easy to start things, but not always easy to continue.
“When he appears”…Our father is going to appear. Not if, but when. I need to continue in him, so when this happens I can be confident and not ashamed. 
Application
We’ve all seen it. A parent walks into the room, and suddenly their child reacts. The candy gets swallowed, the forbidden toy is hastily hidden behind their back, and they jump to their feet with the guilty expression that we all recognize. They knew what they were supposed to do, but they didn’t continue. When the parent appeared, they were ashamed…and very much not confident.
I don’t want to live for God like that. I want to continue in him through each season and struggle, confident that he will return, and confident that I am ready, and eagerly waiting for his appearing. I must decide in the daily, mundane, everyday process, to simply continue.
Continue walking.
Continue obeying.
Continue submitting.
Continue loving.
Continue serving.
Prayer
God, thank you for the privilege of walking in you, and the assurance that you will return. Help me to continue in you each day, and in every situation so that I can eagerly anticipate your coming with confidence, and not shame.
 
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Confession and Cleansing

  • August 20, 2021

Scripture
1 John 1:8-10
“If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us.” 
Observation
It’s a bit of a paradox. God commands us to walk in light, and not in darkness. He instructs us to keep his ways, and refrain from sin. Sin by it’s very nature are the things that are not ‘of God’.
And yet if we claim to be without sin, we not only lie in ourselves, but make God himself out to be a liar! The only way to walk closer to God, is to recognize my distance from him. The only way to become more like him, is to confess how far I fall short. 
Application
I truly fall so far short of God’s perfection. The miracle is that he knows me inside and out, and still loves me regardless! On the days that I look in the mirror and don’t like who I see looking back at me…he still loves the person I see in the mirror. I cannot hide before him. All I can do is say “here I am, God! Real, raw, and ugly. I admit my imperfection, and surrender myself again today to you.”
The truly amazing thing is that when I confess my sins, he doesn’t just forgive me–He also cleanses me from all unrighteousness!
Prayer
God, thank you for your love, your justice, your grace, your holiness, and your forgiveness! Cleanse me again today, as I confess my sin to you. Make me more like you, and help me to walk daily in your ways!
 
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Following Christ

  • August 19, 2021

Scripture
John 21:21-22
“When Peter saw him, he asked “Lord, what about him?” Jesus answered, “If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? You must follow me.” 
Observation
Jesus had just opened a conversation with Peter, reinstating his ministry after he had denied Jesus. Peter immediately became distracted by John, and started to change the subject. Jesus brought the conversation back on track, and told Peter that the only thing that truly mattered was whether Peter was following Christ–no matter what happened to those around him. 
Application
It’s easy for me to get distracted. It’s easy to get wrapped up in all the things happening around me. It’s easy to get so outwardly focused that I take my eyes off of the only thing that matters for the eternal future of my soul–am I following Christ? If I get distracted from that one critical thing, then nothing else matters until I get that thing right-because that is the foundation on which all else must build.
 
Are those around me struggling? Perhaps…but am I following Christ?
Are those around me walking in blessing? That’s great! But am I following Christ?
Are those around me following other things, and walking away from God? That’s sad. But am I following Christ?
Are those around me living in victory and growing in God? That’s awesome! But am I following Christ?
Prayer
God, thank you for this reminder of the “main thing”. Help me to hear you clearly, and follow you daily through every situation and every distraction. 


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You can also read past devotions on our website, by visiting https://www.newhopelegacy.com/soap/

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