Like Father, Like Son

SOAP {Scripture, Observation, Application, Prayer}:

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SCRIPTURE
1 There was a famine in the land, as bad as the famine during the time of Abraham. And Isaac went down to Abimelech, king of the Philistines, in Gerar.

2-5 God appeared to him and said, "Don't go down to Egypt; stay where I tell you. Stay here in this land and I'll be with you and bless you. I'm giving you and your children all these lands, fulfilling the oath that I swore to your father Abraham. I'll make your descendants as many as the stars in the sky and give them all these lands. All the nations of the Earth will get a blessing for themselves through your descendants. And why? Because Abraham obeyed my summons and kept my charge—my commands, my guidelines, my teachings."

6 So Isaac stayed put in Gerar.

7 The men of the place questioned him about his wife. He said, "She's my sister." He was afraid to say "She's my wife." He was thinking, "These men might kill me to get Rebekah, she's so beautiful."

8-9 One day, after they had been there quite a long time, Abimelech, king of the Philistines, looked out his window and saw Isaac fondling his wife Rebekah. Abimelech sent for Isaac and said, "So, she's your wife. Why did you tell us 'She's my sister'?"

Isaac said, "Because I thought I might get killed by someone who wanted her."

10 Abimelech said, "But think of what you might have done to us! Given a little more time, one of the men might have slept with your wife; you would have been responsible for bringing guilt down on us."

11 Then Abimelech gave orders to his people: "Anyone who so much as lays a hand on this man or his wife dies."

12-15 Isaac planted crops in that land and took in a huge harvest. God blessed him. The man got richer and richer by the day until he was very wealthy. He accumulated flocks and herds and many, many servants, so much so that the Philistines began to envy him. They got back at him by throwing dirt and debris into all the wells that his father's servants had dug back in the days of his father Abraham, clogging up all the wells.

16 Finally, Abimelech told Isaac: "Leave. You've become far too big for us."

GENESIS 26:1-16 [MSG]

OBSERVATION
Are we doomed to repeat the failures of our fathers?

APPLICATION
Twice Abraham deceived others, claiming that his wife Sarah was actually his sister. Both times, he reaped great wealth as a result of his deception and was later cast out of town when discovered. Both times he managed to stay in God's favor.

Abraham's son Isaac returned to the very scene of the crime -- to Abimelech, king of the Philistines -- and committed the same act of deception. When questioned about his wife Rebekah, he told them she was his sister. When caught and confronted by Abimelech, Isaac said he was afraid he would be killed for his wife.

Isaac, like his father, amassed great wealth in Abimelech's kingdom. He was protected from harm by order of the king, and finally one day was asked to leave.

The man who would soon father the nation of Israel saved his own life -- and that of an entire future nation -- by his one simple act of deception. Why? Why did God reward Abraham and Isaac in spite of their sin?

God is merciful. God is forgiving. And God had a plan. Through Abraham and Isaac, God established the land of His people -- Israel. How different would the world be today had God held a grudge against Abraham or Isaac? God uses everything for his purpose -- good and bad. Even our sins can be used by God to achieve His plan.

PRAYER
Father, I know it's not a license to sin. But it is so awesome that You can take my mistakes and shortcomings and achieve great things from them. Use me, Lord, according to Your purpose.

Your comments?

Joe

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Great (Imperfect) Men of God

SOAP {Scripture, Observation, Application, Prayer}:

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SCRIPTURE
1-2 Abraham traveled from there south to the Negev and settled down between Kadesh and Shur. While he was camping in Gerar, Abraham said of his wife Sarah, "She's my sister."

2-3 So Abimelech, king of Gerar, sent for Sarah and took her. But God came to Abimelech in a dream that night and told him, "You're as good as dead—that woman you took, she's a married woman."

4-5 Now Abimelech had not yet slept with her, hadn't so much as touched her. He said, "Master, would you kill an innocent man? Didn't he tell me, 'She's my sister'? And didn't she herself say, 'He's my brother'? I had no idea I was doing anything wrong when I did this."

6-7 God said to him in the dream, "Yes, I know your intentions were pure, that's why I kept you from sinning against me; I was the one who kept you from going to bed with her. So now give the man's wife back to him. He's a prophet and will pray for you—pray for your life. If you don't give her back, know that it's certain death both for you and everyone in your family."

8-9 Abimelech was up first thing in the morning. He called all his house servants together and told them the whole story. They were shocked. Then Abimelech called in Abraham and said, "What have you done to us? What have I ever done to you that you would bring on me and my kingdom this huge offense? What you've done to me ought never to have been done."

10 Abimelech went on to Abraham, "Whatever were you thinking of when you did this thing?"

11-13 Abraham said, "I just assumed that there was no fear of God in this place and that they'd kill me to get my wife. Besides, the truth is that she is my half sister; she's my father's daughter but not my mother's. When God sent me out as a wanderer from my father's home, I told her, 'Do me a favor; wherever we go, tell people that I'm your brother.'"

14-15 Then Abimelech gave Sarah back to Abraham, and along with her sent sheep and cattle and servants, both male and female. He said, "My land is open to you; live wherever you wish."

16 And to Sarah he said, "I've given your brother a thousand pieces of silver—that clears you of even a shadow of suspicion before the eyes of the world. You're vindicated."

17-18 Then Abraham prayed to God and God healed Abimelech, his wife and his maidservants, and they started having babies again. For God had shut down every womb in Abimelech's household on account of Sarah, Abraham's wife.

GENESIS 20 [MSG]

OBSERVATION
Some people will never learn.

APPLICATION
Have you ever known someone that just seems to make the same mistakes over and over and over? Someone who, no matter what the consequences, seems to choose the same course of action repeatedly, achieving the same results? There are two popular phrases in my business. (1) If you always do what you always did you'll always get what you always got. And (2) The definition of insanity is to always do the same thing even when you don't like the result.

It seems that, by this definition, maybe Abraham was just a little insane. Not literally, of course, but his actions sure seemed a little insane from time to time. Did he learn a lesson earlier when he told Pharoah that Sarah was his sister, not his wife? Apparently not, as he did the same with Abimelech.

Abimelech, however, was protected by God, because God knew that Abimelech had intended no harm. God knew that Abimelech was not aware that Sarah was Abraham's wife. God prevented Abimelech from consummating his marriage to Sarah, and thereby saved Abimelech, giving him the chance to return Sarah to her rightful husband, Abraham.

It seems that we also learn in chapter 19 that Abraham wasn't telling an outright lie, as Sarah was indeed his half-sister. Not lying? Well, I guess that depends on your definition of a lie. I would argue that Abraham's deception, while maybe not an outright lie, was deception by omission. If I were traveling with my wife and introduced her as "my traveling companion" and withheld the fact that she was my wife, I would be deceiving others, as they would surely not infer that we were married by my introduction.

Abraham is rightly considered a great man of God. But I believe these stories prove to us that even great men of God are not perfect. Only one man is perfect -- Jesus Christ, the Son of God. All others pale in comparison.

Also, God has used great men and women in the Bible on many occasions to teach us valuable lessons, such as the perils of deception, which we have learned from Abraham.

PRAYER
Father, thank You for giving us Your Word, and for using great Godly men like Abraham to teach us such basic lessons as this -- lessons that seem to be so easily forgotten in society today. Through Abraham we learn that even the littlest white lies can be harmful.

Help me, Lord, to always be mindful of my thoughts, words, and actions, to present myself as a man of integrity. Let those who meet me and those who know that I'm a follower of Christ also see what being a follower of Christ means. May I never give Your Son a bad name through my interactions with others.

Your comments?

Joe

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SOAP: The Cost of Deception

SOAP {Scripture, Observation, Application, Prayer}:

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SCRIPTURE
10-13 Then a famine came to the land. Abram went down to Egypt to live; it was a hard famine. As he drew near to Egypt, he said to his wife, Sarai, "Look. We both know that you're a beautiful woman. When the Egyptians see you they're going to say, 'Aha! That's his wife!' and kill me. But they'll let you live. Do me a favor: tell them you're my sister. Because of you, they'll welcome me and let me live."

14-15 When Abram arrived in Egypt, the Egyptians took one look and saw that his wife was stunningly beautiful. Pharaoh's princes raved over her to Pharaoh. She was taken to live with Pharaoh.

16-17 Because of her, Abram got along very well: he accumulated sheep and cattle, male and female donkeys, men and women servants, and camels. But God hit Pharaoh hard because of Abram's wife Sarai; everybody in the palace got seriously sick.

18-19 Pharaoh called for Abram, "What's this that you've done to me? Why didn't you tell me that she's your wife? Why did you say, 'She's my sister' so that I'd take her as my wife? Here's your wife back—take her and get out!"

20 Pharaoh ordered his men to get Abram out of the country. They sent him and his wife and everything he owned on their way.
GENESIS 12:10-20 [MSG]

OBSERVATION
Deception may pay short term rewards, but in the end a liar always loses.

APPLICATION
It can seem so easy sometimes to get ahead -- a job, a promotion, material things -- by deception. Just a little white lie here and there, and presto! -- things are starting to look up.

Some have generated great wealth or achieved positions of great power through acts of deception. But in the end, they always get their due, just as Abram learned when his deception came out.

Abram lied not to get ahead, but to stay alive. His reward: Pharoah took Abram's wife to be his own and Abram received material wealth. Sort of a give/take situation. In order to safely enter Egypt, he had to share his wife with another man to stay alive and gain possessions. One would think he would rather stay out of Egypt and keep his wife.

The party ended when Pharoah learned of Abram's lies. God punished Pharoah for taking another man's wife as his own -- even though he didn't know they were married at the time. Then Pharoah punished Abram by kicking him out of Egypt.

God continued to bless Abram throughout his life, but one can only imagine the strains on that marriage after Abram and Sarai left Egypt.

PRAYER
There's nothing white about little white lies, Lord. Nothing good about ill-gotten gains. What does a man have if he gains the world and loses his soul? You've been very clear about that, Father: nothing -- an empty life.

Your comments?

Joe

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Unending Grace

Today's Daily Soap {Scripture | Observation | Application | Prayer}
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SCRIPTURE:
8 Cain had words with his brother. They were out in the field; Cain came at Abel his brother and killed him. 


9 God said to Cain, "Where is Abel your brother?" 


He said, "How should I know? Am I his babysitter?" 


10-12 God said, "What have you done! The voice of your brother's blood is calling to me from the ground. From now on you'll get nothing but curses from this ground; you'll be driven from this ground that has opened its arms to receive the blood of your murdered brother. You'll farm this ground, but it will no longer give you its best. You'll be a homeless wanderer on Earth." 


13-14 Cain said to God, "My punishment is too much. I can't take it! You've thrown me off the land and I can never again face you. I'm a homeless wanderer on Earth and whoever finds me will kill me." 


15 God told him, "No. Anyone who kills Cain will pay for it seven times over." God put a mark on Cain to protect him so that no one who met him would kill him. GENESIS 4:8-15 [MSG]



OBSERVATION:
God protects us, even when we cause harm to others.


APPLICATION:
It was the first murder in history. Cain slew his brother Abel over jealousy: jealous that Abel had offered a more pleasing sacrifice to God than he could.


After their parents had ruined paradise for all mankind , Cain and Abel were forced to work the fields and raise livestock. One would think that a lesson had been learned.


But the "blindness" that had been erased when Adam and Eve disobeyed God opened Cain's eyes to jealousy. And Cain responded with evil: murder.


Cain, like his parents, then hid from God. Like the broad side of a barn, Cain hid from God. Yeah, right.


God punished Cain by banishing him forever. He sent him to No-man's land, told him that the earth would no longer yield its best crops to Cain. But benevolent and forgiving as our God is, He protected Cain -- history's first murderer. God marked Cain so that no one would kill him, and promised to punish anyone who did kill him. To punish them severely.


Our God is truly an awesome God. He clothes us. He protects us. And yet, we continue to fail him.


PRAYER:
I want to serve You, Father. I want to praise and worship You all of my days. Though I'm unworthy by own merit, I know that You will always protect and provide for me, just as You always have. Thank You, Father.

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Justice and Mercy

Today's Daily Soap {Scripture | Observation | Application | Prayer}
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SCRIPTURE:

9 God called to the Man: "Where are you?"
10He said, "I heard you in the garden and I was afraid because I was naked. And I hid."
11 God said, "Who told you you were naked? Did you eat from that tree I told you not to eat from?"
12 The Man said, "The Woman you gave me as a companion, she gave me fruit from the tree, and, yes, I ate it."
God said to the Woman, "What is this that you've done?"
13 "The serpent seduced me," she said, "and I ate."
14-15 God told the serpent: "Because you've done this, you're cursed, cursed beyond all cattle and wild animals, Cursed to slink on your belly and eat dirt all your life. I'm declaring war between you and the Woman, between your offspring and hers. He'll wound your head, you'll wound his heel."
16 He told the Woman: "I'll multiply your pains in childbirth; you'll give birth to your babies in pain. You'll want to please your husband, but he'll lord it over you."
17-19 He told the Man: "Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree That I commanded you not to eat from, 'Don't eat from this tree,' The very ground is cursed because of you; getting food from the ground Will be as painful as having babies is for your wife; you'll be working in pain all your life long. The ground will sprout thorns and weeds, you'll get your food the hard way, Planting and tilling and harvesting, sweating in the fields from dawn to dusk, Until you return to that ground yourself, dead and buried; you started out as dirt, you'll end up dirt."
20The Man, known as Adam, named his wife Eve because she was the mother of all the living.
21 God made leather clothing for Adam and his wife and dressed them. GENESIS 3:9-21 [MSG]

OBSERVATION: God provides, even when we forsake what He has already given us.

APPLICATION:

It was the dawn of time, and man had everything -- complete dominion over the earth and all that inhabit it. A wife. Food. Comfort. And only one restriction: "Don't eat from this tree." How simple is that? To have anything and everything you want in all the world, with only one simple restriction -- not to eat from one tree. It's not like it was the only tree in the world, either. Just one tree. Everything else that man and his wife needed were provided for him by God with no limitations.

But man blew it, didn't he? The woman fell to the temptation of Satan, then man fell to the temptation of his wife, and they ate from the forbidden tree. And their eyes were opened. They could see. They could see their own nakedness, and felt shame. They could see the difference between good and evil (which, up to this time, was very basic -- as the serpent was evil, and everything else was good). They hid from God.

As if! He's all-knowing, all-seeing, all-powerful, and all-present -- as if you can ever hide from God anywhere (though many of us still try it today). But God found them, of course, cowering in clothes they had fashioned together from fig leaves. God found them, heard their case, and passed judgement, punishing all three of them.

Because man couldn't leave well enough alone -- because being blind to evil and having everything good in the world just wasn't good enough -- man has been cursed to toil his entire life to provide for his family (I think of this today as I write this from work on New Years Day, when so many are enjoying a holiday off). But even after passing judgement and punishment upon His greatest creation, God still provided. God, who had every right to be fuming mad over the disobedience of His children, made clothing for them from leather that was more durable and more comfortable than their fig leaves, and clothed them. He punished them, but still provided for them.

Justice and mercy. Grace and discipline. Do I show such love for my own children that I can punish them in one breath and, moments later, move on with life, loving and providing for them? Or do I hold a grudge against them (even for a very short time) for refusing to obey me? Can I be more like my Father in Heaven?

PRAYER:

Lord, help me to follow the example you have modeled so many times throughout eternity -- the example you modeled with Adam and Eve. Help me to be a better father to my children. To love them, provide for them, and correct them. To balance the scales of justice and mercy.

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Joe

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Love Without Tolerance

Today's Daily Soap {Scripture | Observation | Application | Prayer}
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SCRIPTURE:

And so I insist—and God backs me up on this—that there be no going along with the crowd, the empty-headed, mindless crowd. They've refused for so long to deal with God that they've lost touch not only with God but with reality itself. They can't think straight anymore. Feeling no pain, they let themselves go in sexual obsession, addicted to every sort of perversion. Ephesians 4:17-19 [MSG]

OBSERVATION: We do not need to be accepting to be loving.

APPLICATION:

I've been thinking a lot lately about tolerance, as it seems more and more that we're told that we should accept the differences of others. Not racial or ethnic differences, or gender differences, or differences in abilities, but differences in lifestyle choices. I could create an exhaustive list of Biblically inappropriate lifestyle choices that some today say we should be tolerant of. I won't.

The Bible, we're told, teaches that we should love everyone. That's the argument often used by those who would call for tolerance. But can we love a person without accepting his / her lifestyle choices? I do.

Just as God loves each and every one of us, but hates our sins, so can we love a person without being forced to accept his / her choice of lifestyle. The Bible says that we should not go along with the crowd. Don't settle for the sin that we know to be wrong. Love others, but be strong in our support for God and His Word. Tolerance is not the way to achieve harmony or peace. Tolerance will lead only to more tolerance, until we are in fact intolerant of those who are trying to follow Christ's teaching. I can love you without being tolerant of your sins. Christ showed me how.

PRAYER:

Father, help me to show Your love to all, without regard to anything. At the same time, help me to following the crowd and avoid falling in with the calls for tolerance of that which you teach is wrong.

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As Simple As Black and White?

Today's Daily Soap {Scripture | Observation | Application | Prayer}

SCRIPTURE:

See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ. Colossians 2:8 [NIV]

OBSERVATION: We seem to have lost our focus on Christ.

APPLICATION:

We live in a world now where deception has become the norm. We have even found a way to make it okay, by measuring it in degrees. We speak of "little white lies," even at the early stages of childhood. Problem is, those "little white lies" keep getting whiter and whiter, and soon the "little" white lies are no longer lies at all. Next, the "little white lies" become slightly bigger. It's a repetitive cycle of rationalizing away things that were once considered wrong, until they are no longer wrong at all.

This is not the philosophy we have been taught by Jesus Christ, the Son of God. This is not His way. Certainly the Son of Man never intended for us to do many of the things that we as a society (or, at least, those we have elected as legislators) have deemed acceptable. Abortion? Divorce? Pre-marital cohabitation? Just to name a few.

At what point do we draw the line? Right and wrong is no longer as clear as black and white. The black continually moves through gray becoming whiter and whiter until we perceive nothing wrong there. How white do we allow the black to become before we say enough is enough?

What examples can you share of the black turning white? Of the wrong becoming right? Of the unacceptable becoming commonplace? Please share your thoughts.

PRAYER:

Father, keep my vision clear and my mind focused on You. Help me to always know wrong from right and to not accept shades of gray as okay.

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Joe

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Extremes and Degrees

Today's Daily Soap {Scripture | Observation | Application | Prayer}
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• S: "You're familiar with the command to the ancients, 'Do not murder.' I'm telling you that anyone who is so much as angry with a brother or sister is guilty of murder. Carelessly call a brother 'idiot!' and you just might find yourself hauled into court. Thoughtlessly yell 'stupid!' at a sister and you are on the brink of hellfire. The simple moral fact is that words kill. [vv 21-22a] "You know the next commandment pretty well, too: 'Don't go to bed with another's spouse.' But don't think you've preserved your virtue simply by staying out of bed. Your heart can be corrupted by lust even quicker than your body. Those leering looks you think nobody notices—they also corrupt. [vv 27-28] If you want to live a morally pure life, here's what you have to do: You have to blind your right eye the moment you catch it in a lustful leer. [vs 29b] And you have to chop off your right hand the moment you notice it raised threateningly. [vs 30a]
  
• O: Sin begins with the mere thought of committing the act. How we react to the temptation to sin is of paramount importance.
  
• A: The city is full of temptation. You literally cannot go anywhere without encountering a pawn of the devil meant to tempt you into sin. I have frequently heard people say, "It's okay to look as long as you don't touch." Really? Or is looking just the preamble to touching? By looking, don't we just build in ourselves a stronger desire to touch? Even fantasize about the touch? Christ has clearly told us that there are no degrees of sin. Looking at a person with lust is the equivalent of committing the adulterous act in our fantasies. Hating a person, in the eyes of God, is as great a sin as actually committing the murder of that person. The distance between the extremes is zero. Though the devil's pawns will try to tell us "it's just a little white lie," the lie is as bad as stealing. There are no degrees of sin. To lie or steal, to hate or murder, to lust or commit adultery -- they all are sins for which we need God's forgiveness. Does Christ really mean we should blind our right eye or cut off our hand? Likely not. It is our reaction to the temptations of the world that allows us to resist them and avoid sin. When that woman (or man) in the revealing clothes flaunts her way past you, you "blind your right eye" by averting your attention. Look away at the first discovery of the approaching temptress. Don't give her -- or the devil -- the satisfaction of even a momentary glance. Because at the first lustful look, you have made yourself guilty of the act. Looking is not okay. Looking is as bad as actually touching. By standing firm on our principles, we resist temptation, we avoid sin, we please the Lord, we thwart the devil, we can hold our heads high, and we display to the world our commitment and devotion to our spouse.
  
• P: Father, make me strong in resisting temptation, and use the strength as a testimony to You for all who see.
  

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Tolerance and Acceptance

Today's Daily Soap {Scripture | Observation | Application | Prayer}
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• S: "Be alert. If you see your friend going wrong, correct him. If he responds, forgive him. Even if it's personal against you and repeated seven times through the day, and seven times he says, 'I'm sorry, I won't do it again,' forgive him." Luke 17:3-4 [MSG]
  
• O: God has commanded us to look out for each other and to offer correction to those who stray.
  
• A: In a world where the buzz words are tolerance and acceptance, it can be easy to get caught up in the buzz and be confused by those who say that it isn't Christ-like to be intolerant. But Christ never taught tolerance. Christ taught us to keep watch over each other, to offer correction to those who stray, and to forgive them if they repent. Granted, He told us that we should forgive them as often as they repent -- just as He does for us -- but He never told us to become tolerant of their sinful ways or to accept those sinful ways as okay. Tolerance and acceptance are the devil's way of convincing us that sin is okay. Tolerance and acceptance have no place in the Kingdom of God. With love and forgiveness there is no need for tolerance and acceptance.
  
• P: Father, the confusion that the devil has created with tolerance and acceptance has infected society so deeply that many have promoted it in Your name. Help Your people, Lord, to see through the confusion and to resist the devil's attempts to infect us with his talk of tolerance and acceptance. Help us to show love and forgiveness to all in Your name and to help others to find their way out of sin and into Your arms.
  

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Prodigal Son

Today's Daily Soap {Scripture | Observation | Application | Prayer}
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• S: Then he said, "There was once a man who had two sons. The younger said to his father, 'Father, I want right now what's coming to me.' "So the father divided the property between them. It wasn't long before the younger son packed his bags and left for a distant country. There, undisciplined and dissipated, he wasted everything he had. After he had gone through all his money, there was a bad famine all through that country and he began to hurt. He signed on with a citizen there who assigned him to his fields to slop the pigs. He was so hungry he would have eaten the corncobs in the pig slop, but no one would give him any. "That brought him to his senses. He said, 'All those farmhands working for my father sit down to three meals a day, and here I am starving to death. I'm going back to my father. I'll say to him, Father, I've sinned against God, I've sinned before you; I don't deserve to be called your son. Take me on as a hired hand.' He got right up and went home to his father. "When he was still a long way off, his father saw him. His heart pounding, he ran out, embraced him, and kissed him. The son started his speech: 'Father, I've sinned against God, I've sinned before you; I don't deserve to be called your son ever again.' But the father wasn't listening. He was calling to the servants, 'Quick. Bring a clean set of clothes and dress him. Put the family ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Then get a grain-fed heifer and roast it. We're going to feast! We're going to have a wonderful time! My son is here—given up for dead and now alive! Given up for lost and now found!' And they began to have a wonderful time. "All this time his older son was out in the field. When the day's work was done he came in. As he approached the house, he heard the music and dancing. Calling over one of the houseboys, he asked what was going on. He told him, 'Your brother came home. Your father has ordered a feast—barbecued beef!—because he has him home safe and sound.' "The older brother stalked off in an angry sulk and refused to join in. His father came out and tried to talk to him, but he wouldn't listen. The son said, 'Look how many years I've stayed here serving you, never giving you one moment of grief, but have you ever thrown a party for me and my friends? Then this son of yours who has thrown away your money on whores shows up and you go all out with a feast!' "His father said, 'Son, you don't understand. You're with me all the time, and everything that is mine is yours—but this is a wonderful time, and we had to celebrate. This brother of yours was dead, and he's alive! He was lost, and he's found!'" Luke 15:11-32 [MSG]
  
• O: No matter how we wander or where we roam, the Father always welcomes us home with open arms.
  
• A: I was saved at the age of twelve. Just a young boy who felt the Spirit move in me during a youth retreat with the Baptist Church my family attended at the time. I had grown up going to church, and it was just a matter of time before I would accept Christ as my Savior, be Baptized, and start my walk with Christ. But as so often happens, I soon found myself headed down a path that surely Christ wasn't leading me down. I experimented in some things that no one should be messing with at that age, especially not someone so new in his faith. Minor things by today's standards, but things I would be embarrassed to have my children learn about. Things I surely don't want them experimenting in. I became very selfish, thinking always of me and my own desires, and rarely of what God wanted from me. As always, my selfish pursuits paid the rewards I was due -- embarrassment, inconvenience, struggle. Well into adulthood, I lived selfishly, pursuing my own desires, wondering why life was so unfair. Until one day, when airplanes struck down America's symbols of success, and I felt the call to return to my roots and visit a church. That was the start of my return to the fold. The Father greeted me warmly, held me, comforted me. He welcomed me home. I'm far from perfect, but have learned to put my God and my family before myself, and life has never been better.
  
• P: Thank You, Father, for welcoming me home and showing me what really matters most. Thank You for family.
  

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One Way

Today's Daily Soap {Scripture | Observation | Application | Prayer}
FOR TODAY'S FULL READING, CLICK THE TITLE LINK ABOVE.

• S: The remaining men and women who weren't killed by these weapons went on their merry way—didn't change their way of life, didn't quit worshiping demons, didn't quit centering their lives around lumps of gold and silver and brass, hunks of stone and wood that couldn't see or hear or move. There wasn't a sign of a change of heart. They plunged right on in their murderous, occult, promiscuous, and thieving ways. Revelation 9:20-21 [MSG]
  
• O: Despite all of the signs and warnings from God, the human race continues full throttle on a course of sin and death.
  
• A: We are nearing the end of times. Every day just one day closer to the Glorious Appearing of Jesus Christ, returning to collect His faithful. And every day the world continues on the path of sin that started with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. We bury ourselves deeper and deeper into promiscuity, idolatry, adultery, murder, thievery, lies, and blasphemy. We blindly and deafly disregard the warnings and prophecies of what such behavior will bring for us and continue on our paths of self-destruction. Though it is prophesied and will come a day when those left behind reap the full wrath of God for their sinful ways (and failure to turn to Him), it's not too late to be on the right side. Just as God has warned us of the wages of sin, He has also promised us a chance at eternal life. This is how much God loved the world: He gave His Son, His one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in Him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life. God didn't go to all the trouble of sending His Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help, to put the world right again. Anyone who trusts in Him is acquitted; anyone who refuses to trust Him has long since been under the death sentence without knowing it. And why? Because of that person's failure to believe in the one-of-a-kind Son of God when introduced to Him. John 3:16-18 [MSG] There is only One Way to spend eternity with a loving God and avoid the wrath of an angry God. The choice is ours to make.
  
• P: Father, as I see the prophecies of the end times played out in my own lifetime, I rejoice in the Salvation You gave me through Your Son Jesus Christ. Though I know that many will be left behind for a time of Great Tribulation, use me as You will to reduce that number and grow the Kingdom.
  

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Salvation of Lincoln

Today's Daily Soap {Scripture | Observation | Application | Prayer}

• S: Luke 24:13-27
• O: On the day that Christ arose, He presented Himself to many people, including two men walking along the road, discussing the tragic crucifixion and how down they felt that their hopes of the Messiah seemed to be dashed. Christ replied, "How foolish you are, and how slow of heart...." The continued to tell them all of the stories of him as prophesied in the Bible, beginning with Moses and all of the prophets.
  
• A: It sometimes takes great trial and hardship to bring one to salvation in Christ. On this Presidents' Day, we're reminded that Abraham Lincoln was not a Christian when he was elected President; he was not a Christian when he buried his son. Lincoln later told his hometown of Springfield, Illinois, "...when I saw the graves of thousands of our soldiers, I then and there consecrated myself to Christ. I do love Jesus." It took the senseless massacre of thousands in the Civil War for Abraham Lincoln to turn to the salvation of Jesus Christ. I was saved at the age of twelve, raised in a family that when to church Sunday mornings and evenings and Wednesday evenings -- a Baptist church. Several years ago, after the loss of thousands of lives in the attacks of 9/11, my wife and I began attending church again. The tragedy is that, for some, rather than being saved by the tragedy, they are lost in it. What about you? Will you be saved, or lost? Why wait to find out. Why not choose salvation now?
  
• P: Thank You, Lord, for salvation. For paying the ultimate price for my sins (and those of my family) so that we may live forever with You.
  

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Obedience

Today's Daily Soap {Scripture | Observation | Application | Prayer}

• S: Psalm 119:65-80
• O: Sometimes God uses trial and hardship to bring us closer to Him.
  
• A: Not that it's a form of punishment, so much. Though the Bible is full of situations in which God punished people for sin, we have been given the ultimate forgiveness for sin. Whether you choose to accept that forgiveness is up to you, but God has eliminated the need to punish us for failing Him. Instead, I think, God sometimes withholds His blessings from those of us who may have strayed in one way or another. And the withholding of those blessings can be sufficient that our own sinful acts send us into a state of turmoil. It doesn't seem to take long to start reaping what you sow. If what you sow is evil and wrong, then quite quickly you might find that bad things start coming your way. Isn't it funny how we then forget about the sin we may have committed? But if what you sow is love, goodwill, and obedience to God, He will shower you with blessings. The best thing of all: is isn't too late to change.
  
• P: Lord, help me to be more obedient to Your will. Help me to reject the sinful ways of the world that can be so easy for people to fall victim to, and to live my life according to Your plan.
  

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Grace

Today's Daily Soap {Scripture | Observation | Application | Prayer}

• S: Psalm 51:8-13
• O: God forgives sin.
  
• A: The Bible says that we all sin. Everyone. You. Me. The President. Your Pastor. Even the Pope. No one is immune to sin. Just as we all have sinned against God, we likely have all wronged someone that we love or care about in some way. We've all made mistakes. It's, frankly, easier to make a mistake than not. And if you have children, well, how much of your time do you spend correcting your children for undesirable behavior? The good news: God forgives our sins. Just for the asking. And not only does he forgive, but he forgets them. It's as if that sin that we have confessed and asked to be forgiven was never committed. Can you imagine?! How is that for grace?! But how graceful are we as a society? With our mandatory sentencing, and statutes of limitations -- all things that are needed, unfortunately, to maintain an orderly society. But when was the last time you showed grace to someone you loved? When was the last time you said, "Don't worry about it, it's no big deal. Stuff happens." When was the last time you showed such grace to your own children, as God shows to his children every time we ask? My 4-year old son has been staying with his grandparents since Sunday. It was originally planned to be a two-night stay over, but the snow and ice that fell in Indianapolis on Monday night and Tuesday changed our plans. Due to road conditions, we've had to leave him there for another night. And it's still snowing outside. I have to work today, and my wife is supposed to go pick him up. I miss him. I called him yesterday and spoke briefly on the phone with him, but that doesn't make up for playing Scooby Doo with him on TV, or hide-and-seek, or being awakened when he crawls into bed with us in the middle of the night. It doesn't make up for having him here. And I've thought over these past few days of just how much time I spend correcting him for undesired behavior. Sure, even the Bible says we need to discipline our children. But to what extent? Can I try to be more understanding and more patient with my son? I think so. I think I must. I think I must show my children the kind of grace that God shows me on a daily basis.
  
• P: God, I miss my son. I know he's coming back to us soon, but that doesn't change the fact that I feel his temporary absence. And worse, this time of separation makes me realize that maybe I waste some of the time that he's with us by rebuking him for misbehaving. And I realize today that, instead of rebuking, maybe I should find a way to do more with him. Help me to do that, Lord. Help me to show the grace that You show me. And more importantly, help me to sustain that, not to just slip back into the old practice of correcting him constantly after he's been back home for a couple of days. Remind me, somehow, to show grace.
  

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The Envy Beast

Today's Daily Soap {Scripture | Observation | Application | Prayer}

• S: 2 Samuel 12:1-13
• O: David, the King, wants everything. In fact, he has everything. But wants more. He wants it all to himself, while at the same time wanting to appear generous and kind. Though David had land, and servants, and wives, he wanted more. And he had grown accustomed to taking what he wanted. He killed a man to take his wife. And David was fine with it all, and felt that he himself could do no wrong. In fact, when David's friend Nathan came to him with the story of a man who had stolen a poor man's sheep to feed a rich friend, rather than feeding the rich friend from his own flock, David was furious. Rather than recognize that the story was about him, David insisted that the thief be hunted down and lynched -- that he pay four times the price as punishment for his stinginess (of not feeding the guest his own lamb). Only after Nathan pointed out that the man in the story was he, did David realize his sins. This realization led him immediately to repentance, to ask God for forgiveness. As a man of God, Nathan spoke the obvious, that God would forgive David's sin. God, speaking through Nathan, told David that he would still pay a price for the blasphemy of his behavior.
  
• A: Envy. It's so easy to see something and what it for myself. A house, a car, a new electronic gadget. I'm not an overly worldly man. I've never been plagued much with envy. I don't often see something someone else -- or see something in the store -- and just have to have one for my own. But I'm a gadget geek. And I love to read. And frequently I'll see a new book out, or the latest tech toy, or some similar item, and the desire for that new gadget or that new book can be almost overwhelming. While I would never kill or steal to satisfy the envy, it can be quite tempting at times to take money from one line in the budget and put it toward my latest gadget desire. And isn't that a form of stealing? Stealing from myself, sure, or from the needs of my family. Maybe waiting one payday longer to pay a bill so I can have a shiny new this or that? And in the end, who suffers? I'm happy with my new book or tech toy, and all is well in my world, right? But that bill might be earning interest or late fees, or my family might be doing without something that they need or want. And when my family suffers, who really loses? All of us.
  
• P: Lord, help me to realize that the things of the world are just that, the things of the world. Help me to turn my desires toward You, and inward toward my family. Help me to overcome the Envy beast, and to know when that new book or that tech toy will fit into the budget without sacrificing elsewhere -- and when it won't fit into the budget at all. Help me to recognize the importance of being a good steward of all that you've given me and my family, and to manage our belongings in a way that would please and serve you.
  

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