Joy & Peace: A SOAP Journal Based on Philippians 4

S = Phil. 4:4-7 

^“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

O = This is one of the best-known passages from the epistles. This is an amazingly joyful letter that Paul wrote from a dungeon while facing certain execution to a church that began in persecution (Acts 16). Paul knew that it was in the times of suffering that you really experienced the presence of God. He was an expert in facing difficult circumstances (2 Cor. 11:23-28). So when Paul speaks about what to do in hard times, I want to listen, and this passage readily yields several observations:

• Like Paul, we too should rejoice in the Lord, for he is always the same and a valid reason for joy.
• In our stress, we should not treat others unreasonably or unkindly because the Lord is really near.
• Instead of wasting time worrying, it would be a better use of my time to pray about everything.
• The prayer of faith gives thanks by remembering how God has been faithful in the past. It is also thankful in advance for the answers to our current prayers.
• When I choose to trust Jesus with all my concerns, his peace will guard my inmost thoughts and feelings, no matter how crazy my situation.

A = So when I read this passage, its application seems very clear to me. Take what Paul says seriously and lighten up by focusing on what is true about the Lord. Am I rejoicing in the Lord today? Am I treating others as though Jesus were right with us or would enter the room at any moment? Am I choosing to worry or to pray? Am I filled with gratitude to the Lord today? Do I sense his peace, a peace that makes no sense in my situation, but I am experiencing it nonetheless? Today I choose to direct my gaze upon the Lord more than upon my problems, and I am thankful for the peaceful perspective it brings!

P = O Lord, you are and have always been a faithful God! I delight in your nearness and ask you to help me to treat others as if they were a gift from you. Help me to continue to bring all my concerns to you, for you are the one who can change things, and when things don’t change, you change me into one who can trust you in the dark as well as in the light. Thank you for protecting my soul with your peace! Amen.

Let Us Rise Up and Build: A SOAP Journal Based on Nehemiah 2

S = Nehemiah 2:12-13, 17-19

Then I arose in the night, I and a few men with me. And I told no one what my God had put into my heart to do for Jerusalem. There was no animal with me but the one on which I rode. I went out by night by the Valley Gate to the Dragon Spring and to the Dung Gate, and I inspected the walls of Jerusalem that were broken down and its gates that had been destroyed by fire…

Then I said to them, “You see the trouble we are in, how Jerusalem lies in ruins with its gates burned. Come, let us build the wall of Jerusalem, that we may no longer suffer derision.” And I told them of the hand of my God that had been upon me for good, and also of the words that the king had spoken to me. And they said, “Let us rise up and build.” So they strengthened their hands for the good work. But when Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite servant and Geshem the Arab heard of it, they jeered at us and despised us…”

O = Nehemiah didn’t just feel bad about the condition of Jerusalem; he thought about what to do, then got permission from the king to repair the wall. After traveling from Persia to Jerusalem, he carefully inspected the wall without outside interference and then cast the vision for the rebuilding project. In those days, the wall of a city was very important to the security and liberty of the residents. Without a city wall, even their worship in the rebuilt temple was at the mercy of their hostile neighbors. Also, I observe that they had to “strengthen their hands for the good work.” Good work isn’t usually easy. It involves investigation, planning, vision, community partnership, commitment, skill, vigilance, and endurance. There will often be rubble and rubbish from past failures that need to be cleared away. There will also be seasons of opposition by those who hate the people and purposes of God. Adverse circumstances are no indicator of God’s will. Nehemiah enjoyed both good and bad circumstances in this same project to which he was called.

A = What is it that troubles my heart (in a good way) to want to make a difference? What project is it that the Lord is calling me to do? Where are the Lord’s people being shamed and oppressed? Where are my brothers and sisters feeling insecure, defeated, and discouraged? Perhaps the answer to all these questions is the same. How can I partner with others to better represent the love and truth of God to the world? I need this be a week of investigation and revelation!

P = O Lord, you know what needs to be done to make the world more like it should be. You also know that it is completely outside my strength and ability to even make a dent in the task. I thank you that you do not call us to a life of futility, but give us the power (by the Word and the Holy Spirit) to faithfully do what you have asked. May I trust in your leading and empowering presence this week, and may you be glorified as a result. Help me to clean and build plumb in every area of my life today. Amen.

Conviction, Condemnation, & Casting: A SOAP Journal based on John 21

S = John 21:3-7 

Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.” They said to him, “We will go with you.” They went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.

Just as day was breaking, Jesus stood on the shore; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to them, “Children, do you have any fish?” They answered him, “No.” He said to them, “Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some.” So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in, because of the quantity of fish. That disciple whom Jesus loved therefore said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment, for he was stripped for work, and threw himself into the sea.

O = Despite his protests (Matthew 26:33-35), Peter had denied Jesus three times on the night Jesus was arrested. This betrayal was sealed with the eye contact of Luke 22:60-62. Peter went outside and wept bitterly. But now that Jesus was risen, how would Peter respond in light of his great failure—in conviction or condemnation?

Would he give in to the temptation to flee from his Lord and his calling like Jonah had done centuries earlier, or would he draw near and share breakfast with the risen Jesus? Jonah had given up on God, but God hadn't given up on him...and restored him to his office of prophet. Peter may have given up on Christ, but Christ Jesus had not given up on Peter. Our sin does not disqualify us from coming to Jesus. We have all sinned and need Jesus, but the devil tries to use our past to keep us from the future that Jesus has for us.

• Conviction comes from the Holy Spirit and drives us to Jesus in confession and repentance.
• Condemnation comes from the devil and drives us away from Jesus in hopelessness and cynicism.

To which voice are we listening? To what experience are we yielding? The answer is revealed by the direction we are moving...towards Jesus, or away from Jesus.

Here on a fishing trip, Jesus met Peter and restored him to his original calling (fisher of men) with a miracle amazingly similar to the first (Luke 5:1-11). But something had changed with Peter. He no longer tried to withdraw from Jesus (Luke 5:8) but cast himself (ironically) into the water—like he would have cast a net—in an effort to get to Jesus more quickly.

A = Do I think that Jesus needs to hang back from me because of my weakness, failures, and even the intentional sins of my past, or do I hear his voice of love calling me to come and share breakfast with him? My job is not to clean myself, but having been cleaned and fed by Jesus, I am—like Peter—to feed Jesus sheep. I am saved by grace and restored by the love of God poured out in my heart by the Holy Spirit (Rom. 5:5). This week, I need to do all I can to spend time with my risen Lord!

P = O Lord, may I learn to follow your plan for my life without debating what I will and will not do. You know me better than I know myself, and yet you love me still—I am humbled by the magnitude of your love. I pray that the light of your love and acceptance dawn in my life each morning. May I be strengthened to face the future as a faithful servant…even unto death should that be the valley through which we will pass, for in your resurrection I can see that there is life on the other side as long as I am with you! May your resurrection power remake my life each day as I follow you! Amen.        

Hung Up Over Bitterness: A SOAP Journal Based on Esther 5

S = Esther 5:9-11, 13-14 

And Haman went out that day joyful and glad of heart. But when Haman saw Mordecai in the king's gate, that he neither rose nor trembled before him, he was filled with wrath against Mordecai. Nevertheless, Haman restrained himself and went home, and he sent and brought his friends and his wife Zeresh. And Haman recounted to them the splendor of his riches, the number of his sons, all the promotions with which the king had honored him … Yet all this is worth nothing to me, so long as I see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the king's gate.” Then his wife Zeresh and all his friends said to him, “Let a gallows fifty cubits high be made…to have Mordecai hanged upon it. Then go joyfully with the king to the feast.” This idea pleased Haman, and he had the gallows made. 

O = Haman had all the wealth, power, and honor one could ever hope to receive in Persia, but he allowed bitterness towards Mordecai to get the better of him. His statement in v.13 seems ludicrous, but it was true. If he couldn’t force Mordecai to fear him and honor him, then life was not worth living. It was such a powerful personal bitterness that Haman could not enjoy all of his many blessings. It was the audacity of Mordecai’s failure to treat Haman like a god that perhaps opened the door of Haman’s memory to a deeper, centuries-old bitterness that of the Amalekites and the Israelites (1 Samuel 15). Haman was descended from an Amalekite king, and Mordecai was related to King Saul. Because of Saul’s failure, Haman was now, 400-500 years later, in a position to wipe out the whole Jewish race. However, by God’s providence and Mordecai and Esther’s humility and courage, Haman was hanged from his own gallows—truly hung up on bitterness.

A = Are there certain areas of frustration that prevent me from enjoying my friends, family, possessions, and reputation in the community with which God has blessed me? Or do I somehow think I am owed something more? Something that I can’t let go of and must deal with my own way—badda-bing, badda-boom! Are there times when I am too quick to listen to bad advice from others or from my own ambition? This week, I choose to forgive rather than fester, to confess rather than complain, and give honor rather than seek it.

P = O Lord, you know my every failure and yet in your love, you forgive me. Help me this week to forgive others in your name. Do not give me up to the fires of bitterness, but enable me to humbly bless even those who love me not. I cannot do it on my own, my love is too small—but yours is not. May you be glorified in how I think of and treat others this week. Amen.

"I Am Too Ashamed": A SOAP Journal Based on Ezra 9

S = Ezra 9:5-9 

“Then, at the evening sacrifice, I rose from my self–abasement, with my tunic and cloak torn, and fell on my knees with my hands spread out to the Lord my God and prayed:

“O my God, I am too ashamed and disgraced to lift up my face to you, my God, because our sins are higher than our heads and our guilt has reached to the heavens. From the days of our forefathers until now, our guilt has been great. Because of our sins, we and our kings and our priests have been subjected to the sword and captivity, to pillage and humiliation at the hand of foreign kings, as it is today. “But now, for a brief moment, the Lord our God has been gracious in leaving us a remnant and giving us a firm place in his sanctuary, and so our God gives light to our eyes and a little relief in our bondage. Though we are slaves, our God has not deserted us in our bondage.”

O = This book is set mainly in Jerusalem after the Jews had returned from their exile in Babylon and Persia. It takes up the history of Israel where 2 Chronicles leaves off. The Jews had originally been sent into exile for their stubborn idolatry and the resulting social injustices. After 70 years had passed, Cyrus issued an edict for the Jews to return to Israel and rebuild the temple. There were three major waves of returning exiles. Ezra led the 2^nd group to return. However, the returnees soon began to fall into the same idolatrous affections and behaviors that caused their previous removal. Ezra is appalled (v.3), and verses 6-15 are his prayer of confession to God…and of correction of the people. This issue of intermarriage was not primarily a racial issue but a religious one. What did the Israelites love more—the abominations of the neighboring nations or the Lord?

A = The same issue is in play today. There are so many things competing for my affections, so many voices urging compromise with the coercive forces of our culture and our economy. Certainly, marriage, intended as our most intimate relationship on earth, if not based on a shared love for the Lord Jesus, will certainly move us away from a wholehearted devotion to God. Our jobs can also step up into being the primary source of value and identity in our lives instead of finding them in Christ. The questions I must ask myself this week include: “Are my affections leading me to the full freedom found in Christ or subtly shackling me in sin? And, “As I engage the world around me, do I love God more or less?”

P = O Lord, help us to see that sin is not just tied to our individual actions and attitudes, but it is collective as well. We have become a society that has a divided heart at best. May we renounce the false loves that over-promise and under-deliver so that we might be free to pursue the greatest Love of all. May your love change us from being takers and users to being selfless givers and “blessers”, fully living for the glory of the name of Jesus Christ! May we be set free from fear, even the enslaving fear of death (Heb. 2:14-15) that we might not make an idol of even our own lives (Rev. 12:10-11). Lord, you conquered the accuser by your own blood. Please shape us into overcomers through your Spirit and your Word. We want to give you free rein in our lives! Amen.

From Death to Life: A SOAP Journal based on Ezekiel 36-37

S = Ezekiel 36: 26-28 

And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. You shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers, and you shall be my people, and I will be your God.

And, 

      Ezekiel 37:1-6, 11-14 

The hand of the Lord was upon me, and he brought me out in the Spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of the valley; it was full of bones. And he led me around among them, and behold, there were very many on the surface of the valley, and behold, they were very dry. And he said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” And I answered, “O Lord God, you know.” Then he said to me, “Prophesy over these bones, and say to them, O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord God to these bones: Behold, I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. And I will lay sinews upon you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live, and you shall know that I am the Lord.”

… Then he said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Behold, they say, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are indeed cut off.’ Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will open your graves and raise you from your graves, O my people. And I will bring you into the land of Israel. And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves, and raise you from your graves, O my people. And I will put my Spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I am the Lord; I have spoken, and I will do it, declares the Lord.”

O = Israel’s issue, as recorded in the Old Testament, was a stiff neck and a heart of stone. It repeatedly required God to bring covenant discipline upon them…ultimately, it led to their exile from the land. They were taken as captives to Babylon and scattered among the nations as well. After their hope of being God’s people had died in idolatry and dried in the blazing heat of their captivity, God sent this message of new, prophetic, Spirit-filled life. But could they believe it? The imagery of this valley of dried bones is a picture of the hopelessness of man’s efforts and the power of the life-giving Holy Spirit of God. Once God has changed our hearts, we too can become people who prophetically speak God’s life to others.

A = So many promises seem to go unfulfilled in the world today. We have pushed God away in our pride, and our passion for lesser goods made them into gods. Separation from our Creator has left many like branches pruned from the vine, drying in the sun, and awaiting the fire (John 15:6). Is it hopeless for us? Did we believe something better for our marriages, our children, our friends, our careers, our lives? Do our dreams of living and serving the Lord together seem like so many dried and scattered bones where even our memories are now dishonored? Just as God prophetically began to resurrect the nations of Israel and Judah in the years of the exile and then suddenly restored them to life and land, we can trust him to restore our hope, to give us a new heart, to bring life out of death. It is not what we deserve…it is simply what he does. He is a loving, miracle-working, Redeemer! So, to whom will the Lord have us speak “Life” this week?

P = O Lord, you know the personal and collective dreams and hopes that have died in our lives. Yet, just as you remained faithful to your people in the past, I ask that you would show yourself powerful to save and restore your people today. May your Spirit breathe life into the dry bones of our efforts, and muscle and connecting sinews to relationships long severed by our individualism, and cover us in your garments of righteousness and bring glory to your name in our lives and in the world today. As you rose from the grave to give us eternal life, give us eyes of faith to see you at work today! You are the Lord who has spoken and will do it. Lord, increase our faith! Amen.

The Statue & The Stone: A SOAP Journal based on Daniel 2

S = Daniel 2:20-22, 31-35, 44-45 Daniel answered and said:

“Blessed be the name of God forever and ever,

to whom belong wisdom and might.

He changes times and seasons;

he removes kings and sets up kings;

he gives wisdom to the wise

and knowledge to those who have understanding;

he reveals deep and hidden things;

he knows what is in the darkness,

and the light dwells with him…

v. 31-35 

“You saw, O king, and behold, a great image. This image, mighty and of exceeding brightness, stood before you, and its appearance was frightening. The head of this image was of fine gold, its chest and arms of silver, its middle and thighs of bronze, its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay.

As you looked, a stone was cut out by no human hand, and it struck the image on its feet of iron and clay, and broke them in pieces. Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold, all together were broken in pieces, and became like the chaff of the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away, so that not a trace of them could be found. But the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth."

v. 44-45 

"And in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed, nor shall the kingdom be left to another people. It shall break in pieces all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, and it shall stand forever, just as you saw that a stone was cut from a mountain by no human hand, and that it broke in pieces the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold. A great God has made known to the king what shall be after this. The dream is certain, and its interpretation sure.”

O = In these passages, we see that God was still answering the prayers of his people in exile. So much attention over the years has been put on the statue in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream and what it refers to in the past and what it might refer to in the future. Some scholars see a picture of four world empires (Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome), while others see references to four kings within the Babylonian empire. Some spend inordinate time talking about the significance of the toes of the statue. But the most important point is that God is sovereign over any kingdom, empire, or human government (v. 21). God is also the revealer of hidden things (v. 22). It is God’s kingdom that brings all human kingdoms to naught. In a remarkably short time, the followers of Christ turned the powers of the world upside down…not through violence but through love. God’s kingdom is not so much a place as it is a people who will live forever in the presence of their God. His kingdom is not brought about by a violent revolution (e.g., by human hands [v. 34 & 45]) but by the mysterious work of God Himself. This happened through the incarnation, culminating at the cross and resurrection of Jesus.

A = Do I see worldly politics, economics, and military power as ends in themselves, or as something “too big to fail”? Am I able to see what is going on “behind the curtain” in the spiritual realm? Like Daniel, in times of plenty and in times of turmoil and crisis, I need to be a person of earnest prayer, uncompromising convictions, and a desperate trust in God as the One who is in control not just of my life but is the Lord of history. Do I really believe that God removes kings and sets up others? I need to be seeking direction, revelation, and deliverance for myself and others from the Eternal LORD, not some temporary human government. Political instability will not cause me to fear, for I know the One who brings the kingdoms of the world to nothing. May this kingdom of God take root in my heart and guide my words and direct my hands this week. This means I need to continually fall in surrender upon the stone that has been rejected (Luke 20:17-18; James 4:6-10). It also means that God’s kingdom is not established by anger and violence (James 1:20). Am I comfortable with my role in God’s humble kingdom that works from the bottom up, or am I going to try to give myself an upgrade?

P = O Lord, you are the Ancient of Days, the Sovereign Lord of all. May I never fear man more than I reverence you. May you make me faithful like Daniel, gifted to humbly speak your truth to those who ask. May I never seek to promote myself or advance my own kingdom but only to be a part of what it is that you are doing in the world. May you be glorified through me today! Amen.