Matthew 7:7-11 (NLT)
Mt 7:7 "Keep on asking, and you will be given what you ask for. Keep on looking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened.
Mt 7:8 For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And the door is opened to everyone who knocks.
Mt 7:9 You parents—if your children ask for a loaf of bread, do you give them a stone instead?
Mt 7:10 Or if they ask for a fish, do you give them a snake? Of course not!
Mt 7:11 If you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask him.
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Saturday, March 1, 2008 SOAP
Psalm 84 (NLT)
Ps 84:1 How lovely is your dwelling place,
O LORD Almighty.
Ps 84:2 I long, yes, I faint with longing
to enter the courts of the LORD.
With my whole being, body and soul,
I will shout joyfully to the living God.
Ps 84:3 Even the sparrow finds a home there,
and the swallow builds her nest
and raises her young—
at a place near your altar,
O LORD Almighty, my King and my God!
Ps 84:4 How happy are those who can live in your house,
always singing your praises.
Interlude
Ps 84:5 Happy are those who are strong in the LORD,
who set their minds on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem.
Ps 84:6 When they walk through the Valley of Weeping,
it will become a place of refreshing springs,
where pools of blessing collect after the rains!
Ps 84:7 They will continue to grow stronger,
and each of them will appear before God in Jerusalem.
Ps 84:8 O LORD God Almighty, hear my prayer.
Listen, O God of Israel.
Interlude
Ps 84:9 O God, look with favor upon the king, our protector!
Have mercy on the one you have anointed.
Ps 84:10 A single day in your courts
is better than a thousand anywhere else!
I would rather be a gatekeeper in the house of my God
than live the good life in the homes of the wicked.
Ps 84:11 For the LORD God is our light and protector.
He gives us grace and glory.
No good thing will the LORD withhold
from those who do what is right.
Ps 84:12 O LORD Almighty,
happy are those who trust in you.
Ps 84:1 How lovely is your dwelling place,
O LORD Almighty.
Ps 84:2 I long, yes, I faint with longing
to enter the courts of the LORD.
With my whole being, body and soul,
I will shout joyfully to the living God.
Ps 84:3 Even the sparrow finds a home there,
and the swallow builds her nest
and raises her young—
at a place near your altar,
O LORD Almighty, my King and my God!
Ps 84:4 How happy are those who can live in your house,
always singing your praises.
Interlude
Ps 84:5 Happy are those who are strong in the LORD,
who set their minds on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem.
Ps 84:6 When they walk through the Valley of Weeping,
it will become a place of refreshing springs,
where pools of blessing collect after the rains!
Ps 84:7 They will continue to grow stronger,
and each of them will appear before God in Jerusalem.
Ps 84:8 O LORD God Almighty, hear my prayer.
Listen, O God of Israel.
Interlude
Ps 84:9 O God, look with favor upon the king, our protector!
Have mercy on the one you have anointed.
Ps 84:10 A single day in your courts
is better than a thousand anywhere else!
I would rather be a gatekeeper in the house of my God
than live the good life in the homes of the wicked.
Ps 84:11 For the LORD God is our light and protector.
He gives us grace and glory.
No good thing will the LORD withhold
from those who do what is right.
Ps 84:12 O LORD Almighty,
happy are those who trust in you.
Friday, February 29, 2008 SOAP
Romans 8:18-25 (NLT)
Ro 8:18 Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will give us later.
Ro 8:19 For all creation is waiting eagerly for that future day when God will reveal who his children really are.
Ro 8:20 Against its will, everything on earth was subjected to God’s curse.
Ro 8:21 All creation anticipates the day when it will join God’s children in glorious freedom from death and decay.
Ro 8:22 For we know that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.
Ro 8:23 And even we Christians, although we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, also groan to be released from pain and suffering. We, too, wait anxiously for that day when God will give us our full rights as his children, including the new bodies he has promised us.
Ro 8:24 Now that we are saved, we eagerly look forward to this freedom. For if you already have something, you don’t need to hope for it.
Ro 8:25 But if we look forward to something we don’t have yet, we must wait patiently and confidently.
Ro 8:18 Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will give us later.
Ro 8:19 For all creation is waiting eagerly for that future day when God will reveal who his children really are.
Ro 8:20 Against its will, everything on earth was subjected to God’s curse.
Ro 8:21 All creation anticipates the day when it will join God’s children in glorious freedom from death and decay.
Ro 8:22 For we know that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.
Ro 8:23 And even we Christians, although we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, also groan to be released from pain and suffering. We, too, wait anxiously for that day when God will give us our full rights as his children, including the new bodies he has promised us.
Ro 8:24 Now that we are saved, we eagerly look forward to this freedom. For if you already have something, you don’t need to hope for it.
Ro 8:25 But if we look forward to something we don’t have yet, we must wait patiently and confidently.
Thursday, February 28, 2008 SOAP
John 6:22-40 (NLT)
Jn 6:22 The next morning, back across the lake, crowds began gathering on the shore, waiting to see Jesus. For they knew that he and his disciples had come over together and that the disciples had gone off in their boat, leaving him behind.
Jn 6:23 Several boats from Tiberias landed near the place where the Lord had blessed the bread and the people had eaten.
Jn 6:24 When the crowd saw that Jesus wasn’t there, nor his disciples, they got into the boats and went across to Capernaum to look for him.
Jn 6:25 When they arrived and found him, they asked, "Teacher, how did you get here?"
Jn 6:26 Jesus replied, "The truth is, you want to be with me because I fed you, not because you saw the miraculous sign.
Jn 6:27 But you shouldn’t be so concerned about perishable things like food. Spend your energy seeking the eternal life that I, the Son of Man, can give you. For God the Father has sent me for that very purpose."
Jn 6:28 They replied, "What does God want us to do?"
Jn 6:29 Jesus told them, "This is what God wants you to do: Believe in the one he has sent."
Jn 6:30 They replied, "You must show us a miraculous sign if you want us to believe in you. What will you do for us?
Jn 6:31 After all, our ancestors ate manna while they journeyed through the wilderness! As the Scriptures say, ‘Moses gave them bread from heaven to eat.’"
Jn 6:32 Jesus said, "I assure you, Moses didn’t give them bread from heaven. My Father did. And now he offers you the true bread from heaven.
Jn 6:33 The true bread of God is the one who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world."
Jn 6:34 "Sir," they said, "give us that bread every day of our lives."
Jn 6:35 Jesus replied, "I am the bread of life. No one who comes to me will ever be hungry again. Those who believe in me will never thirst.
Jn 6:36 But you haven’t believed in me even though you have seen me.
Jn 6:37 However, those the Father has given me will come to me, and I will never reject them.
Jn 6:38 For I have come down from heaven to do the will of God who sent me, not to do what I want.
Jn 6:39 And this is the will of God, that I should not lose even one of all those he has given me, but that I should raise them to eternal life at the last day.
Jn 6:40 For it is my Father’s will that all who see his Son and believe in him should have eternal life—that I should raise them at the last day."
Jn 6:22 The next morning, back across the lake, crowds began gathering on the shore, waiting to see Jesus. For they knew that he and his disciples had come over together and that the disciples had gone off in their boat, leaving him behind.
Jn 6:23 Several boats from Tiberias landed near the place where the Lord had blessed the bread and the people had eaten.
Jn 6:24 When the crowd saw that Jesus wasn’t there, nor his disciples, they got into the boats and went across to Capernaum to look for him.
Jn 6:25 When they arrived and found him, they asked, "Teacher, how did you get here?"
Jn 6:26 Jesus replied, "The truth is, you want to be with me because I fed you, not because you saw the miraculous sign.
Jn 6:27 But you shouldn’t be so concerned about perishable things like food. Spend your energy seeking the eternal life that I, the Son of Man, can give you. For God the Father has sent me for that very purpose."
Jn 6:28 They replied, "What does God want us to do?"
Jn 6:29 Jesus told them, "This is what God wants you to do: Believe in the one he has sent."
Jn 6:30 They replied, "You must show us a miraculous sign if you want us to believe in you. What will you do for us?
Jn 6:31 After all, our ancestors ate manna while they journeyed through the wilderness! As the Scriptures say, ‘Moses gave them bread from heaven to eat.’"
Jn 6:32 Jesus said, "I assure you, Moses didn’t give them bread from heaven. My Father did. And now he offers you the true bread from heaven.
Jn 6:33 The true bread of God is the one who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world."
Jn 6:34 "Sir," they said, "give us that bread every day of our lives."
Jn 6:35 Jesus replied, "I am the bread of life. No one who comes to me will ever be hungry again. Those who believe in me will never thirst.
Jn 6:36 But you haven’t believed in me even though you have seen me.
Jn 6:37 However, those the Father has given me will come to me, and I will never reject them.
Jn 6:38 For I have come down from heaven to do the will of God who sent me, not to do what I want.
Jn 6:39 And this is the will of God, that I should not lose even one of all those he has given me, but that I should raise them to eternal life at the last day.
Jn 6:40 For it is my Father’s will that all who see his Son and believe in him should have eternal life—that I should raise them at the last day."
Wednesday, February 27, 2008 SOAP
John 7:37-44 (NLT)
Jn 7:37 On the last day, the climax of the festival, Jesus stood and shouted to the crowds, "If you are thirsty, come to me!
Jn 7:38 If you believe in me, come and drink! For the Scriptures declare that rivers of living water will flow out from within."
Jn 7:39 (When he said "living water," he was speaking of the Spirit, who would be given to everyone believing in him. But the Spirit had not yet been given, because Jesus had not yet entered into his glory.)
Jn 7:40 When the crowds heard him say this, some of them declared, "This man surely is the Prophet."
Jn 7:41 Others said, "He is the Messiah." Still others said, "But he can’t be! Will the Messiah come from Galilee?
Jn 7:42 For the Scriptures clearly state that the Messiah will be born of the royal line of David, in Bethlehem, the village where King David was born."
Jn 7:43 So the crowd was divided in their opinion about him.
Jn 7:44 And some wanted him arrested, but no one touched him.
Jn 7:37 On the last day, the climax of the festival, Jesus stood and shouted to the crowds, "If you are thirsty, come to me!
Jn 7:38 If you believe in me, come and drink! For the Scriptures declare that rivers of living water will flow out from within."
Jn 7:39 (When he said "living water," he was speaking of the Spirit, who would be given to everyone believing in him. But the Spirit had not yet been given, because Jesus had not yet entered into his glory.)
Jn 7:40 When the crowds heard him say this, some of them declared, "This man surely is the Prophet."
Jn 7:41 Others said, "He is the Messiah." Still others said, "But he can’t be! Will the Messiah come from Galilee?
Jn 7:42 For the Scriptures clearly state that the Messiah will be born of the royal line of David, in Bethlehem, the village where King David was born."
Jn 7:43 So the crowd was divided in their opinion about him.
Jn 7:44 And some wanted him arrested, but no one touched him.
Tuesday, February 26, 2008 SOAP
Isaiah 55 (NLT)
Isa 55:1 Invitation to the Lord’s Salvation
"Is anyone thirsty? Come and drink—even if you have no money! Come, take your choice of wine or milk—it’s all free!
Isa 55:2 Why spend your money on food that does not give you strength? Why pay for food that does you no good? Listen, and I will tell you where to get food that is good for the soul!
Isa 55:3 "Come to me with your ears wide open. Listen, for the life of your soul is at stake. I am ready to make an everlasting covenant with you. I will give you all the mercies and unfailing love that I promised to David.
Isa 55:4 He displayed my power by being my witness and a leader among the nations.
Isa 55:5 You also will command the nations, and they will come running to obey, because I, the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, have made you glorious."
Isa 55:6 Seek the LORD while you can find him. Call on him now while he is near.
Isa 55:7 Let the people turn from their wicked deeds. Let them banish from their minds the very thought of doing wrong! Let them turn to the LORD that he may have mercy on them. Yes, turn to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
Isa 55:8 "My thoughts are completely different from yours," says the LORD. "And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine.
Isa 55:9 For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.
Isa 55:10 "The rain and snow come down from the heavens and stay on the ground to water the earth. They cause the grain to grow, producing seed for the farmer and bread for the hungry.
Isa 55:11 It is the same with my word. I send it out, and it always produces fruit. It will accomplish all I want it to, and it will prosper everywhere I send it.
Isa 55:12 You will live in joy and peace. The mountains and hills will burst into song, and the trees of the field will clap their hands!
Isa 55:13 Where once there were thorns, cypress trees will grow. Where briers grew, myrtles will sprout up. This miracle will bring great honor to the Lord’s name; it will be an everlasting sign of his power and love.
Isa 55:1 Invitation to the Lord’s Salvation
"Is anyone thirsty? Come and drink—even if you have no money! Come, take your choice of wine or milk—it’s all free!
Isa 55:2 Why spend your money on food that does not give you strength? Why pay for food that does you no good? Listen, and I will tell you where to get food that is good for the soul!
Isa 55:3 "Come to me with your ears wide open. Listen, for the life of your soul is at stake. I am ready to make an everlasting covenant with you. I will give you all the mercies and unfailing love that I promised to David.
Isa 55:4 He displayed my power by being my witness and a leader among the nations.
Isa 55:5 You also will command the nations, and they will come running to obey, because I, the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, have made you glorious."
Isa 55:6 Seek the LORD while you can find him. Call on him now while he is near.
Isa 55:7 Let the people turn from their wicked deeds. Let them banish from their minds the very thought of doing wrong! Let them turn to the LORD that he may have mercy on them. Yes, turn to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
Isa 55:8 "My thoughts are completely different from yours," says the LORD. "And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine.
Isa 55:9 For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.
Isa 55:10 "The rain and snow come down from the heavens and stay on the ground to water the earth. They cause the grain to grow, producing seed for the farmer and bread for the hungry.
Isa 55:11 It is the same with my word. I send it out, and it always produces fruit. It will accomplish all I want it to, and it will prosper everywhere I send it.
Isa 55:12 You will live in joy and peace. The mountains and hills will burst into song, and the trees of the field will clap their hands!
Isa 55:13 Where once there were thorns, cypress trees will grow. Where briers grew, myrtles will sprout up. This miracle will bring great honor to the Lord’s name; it will be an everlasting sign of his power and love.
Monday, February 25, 2008 SOAP
Psalm 63:1-8 (NLT)
Ps 63:1 O God, you are my God;
I earnestly search for you.
My soul thirsts for you;
my whole body longs for you
in this parched and weary land
where there is no water.
Ps 63:2 I have seen you in your sanctuary
and gazed upon your power and glory.
Ps 63:3 Your unfailing love is better to me than life itself;
how I praise you!
Ps 63:4 I will honor you as long as I live,
lifting up my hands to you in prayer.
Ps 63:5 You satisfy me more than the richest of foods.
I will praise you with songs of joy.
Ps 63:6 I lie awake thinking of you,
meditating on you through the night.
Ps 63:7 I think how much you have helped me;
I sing for joy in the shadow of your protecting wings.
Ps 63:8 I follow close behind you;
your strong right hand holds me securely.
Ps 63:1 O God, you are my God;
I earnestly search for you.
My soul thirsts for you;
my whole body longs for you
in this parched and weary land
where there is no water.
Ps 63:2 I have seen you in your sanctuary
and gazed upon your power and glory.
Ps 63:3 Your unfailing love is better to me than life itself;
how I praise you!
Ps 63:4 I will honor you as long as I live,
lifting up my hands to you in prayer.
Ps 63:5 You satisfy me more than the richest of foods.
I will praise you with songs of joy.
Ps 63:6 I lie awake thinking of you,
meditating on you through the night.
Ps 63:7 I think how much you have helped me;
I sing for joy in the shadow of your protecting wings.
Ps 63:8 I follow close behind you;
your strong right hand holds me securely.
SOAP: Our Plan for Listening to God
S for Scripture: Open your bible to the day’s reading. Take time reading and allow God to speak to you. When you are done, look for a verse that particularly spoke to you that day and write it in your journal.
O for Observation: What do you think God is saying to you in this scripture passage? Ask the Holy Spirit to teach you and reveal Jesus to you. Paraphrase and write down the scripture passage in your own words.
A for Application: Personalize what you have read by asking yourself how it applies to your life right now. Perhaps it is instruction, encouragement, a promise, or correction for a particular area of your life. Write how this scripture passage can apply to you today.
P for Prayer: This can be as simple as asking God to help you use this scripture passage or it may be a greater insight on what He may be revealing to you. Remember, prayer is a two way conversation, so be sure to listen to what God has to say. Now, write it out.
O for Observation: What do you think God is saying to you in this scripture passage? Ask the Holy Spirit to teach you and reveal Jesus to you. Paraphrase and write down the scripture passage in your own words.
A for Application: Personalize what you have read by asking yourself how it applies to your life right now. Perhaps it is instruction, encouragement, a promise, or correction for a particular area of your life. Write how this scripture passage can apply to you today.
P for Prayer: This can be as simple as asking God to help you use this scripture passage or it may be a greater insight on what He may be revealing to you. Remember, prayer is a two way conversation, so be sure to listen to what God has to say. Now, write it out.
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