My First S.O.A.P Journal

Friends,

My Brother Tony has introduced me to a new form of Bible study called SOAP journaling. Below is a brief description along with my first journal. Hope you enjoy…Chris



How Do I Use SOAP?

S for Scripture
Open your Bible to the reading found under today's date of your Bible bookmark (see below). 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 the Scriptures? Ask the Holy Spirit to teach you and reveal Jesus to you. In your journal, paraphrase and write the verse(s) down 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, revelation of a new promise, or corrections for a particular area of your life. Write how the verse(s) can apply to you today.

P for Prayer
This can be as simple as asking God to help you use what you have learned. Remember, prayer is a two way conversation, so be sure to listen to what God has to say! Now, write it out.

Following the Holy Spirit Acts 16:6-10 ESV

(S) Acts 16:6-10 ESV 6 And they went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia. 7 And when they had come up to Mysia, they attempted to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them. 8 So, passing by Mysia, they went down to Troas. 9 And a vision appeared to Paul in the night: a man of Macedonia was standing there, urging him and saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” 10 And when Paul had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go on into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.

(O) What’s my observation? Well the first thing I noticed is the that verse 6 tells us the Holy Spirit forbade them from speaking the word in Asia, then in the next verse it says the Spirit of Jesus wouldn’t let them go into Bithynia. I find it interesting that in most of the translations there is a difference in the naming of the two Spirits. The other observation I made was how the Holy Spirit lead them to where they needed to go. Although they wanted to go (or felt led to go) to Asia they were turned away by the Spirit.(after reading the notes in the ESV it says that Spirit of Jesus would be the same as the Holy Spirit which makes sense)

(A) The application for me would be to do listen to the Holy Spirit instead of trying to suppress it all the time and actually praying for our Father to open my heart and let me receive the Spirit and lead me to do the His will.

(P) Father God, Thank you for all of the awesome things you have done in my life and in the lives of my loved ones. You have blessed me more than I could ever have imagined. Thank you for sending your Son to die on the cross for our transgressions. Father forgive me for my sins and for not following the example of the One who has paid it all. Father I ask you to open my heart and help me welcome the Holy Spirit in my life and trust Him to lead me and guide me to do you will. Father I ask all of these things in Jesus name Amen!

Leaving a “Spiritual Inheritance”

Friends,


While preparing for my men’s book study “The man God Uses” I came up with a question for next week’s lesson. The question is “What does it mean to have a Spiritual responsibility to your children and grandchildren?” Now the book we are reading had some great examples but I also came across an article on the internet that talked about leaving a “Spiritual Inheritance”. I have never really given it much thought but I do know after Heidi and I were married my grandfather gave us a bible with a personal note and some scriptures that would help us in the future. I think that’s what their talking about. I can remember another time when my brother and I were talking about books and what to do with the ones we’ve read. How about leaving them for our kids? How cool would that be to see what your parents were reading and to look at things they highlighted or notes they may have jotted down? You know we are always worried about leaving our kids money but how awesome would it be to leave a “Spiritual Inheritance”? I would love to have more personal things like this from my parents and grandparents. So my challenge to you all is to start preparing your Spiritual Inheritance for your kids and grandchildren. Below is an article I pulled from the internet that has some great ideals. You might even want to save your blogs for your children as well.

http://www.spiritualdisciplines.org/inheritance.html


LEAVE A SPIRITUAL INHERITANCE

"A good man," says Proverbs 13:22, "leaves an inheritance to his children's children." Leaving a material and financial inheritance in a wise manner is good stewardship and can be a great blessing to your heirs. But have you considered ways to leave an inheritance to your family that will have a more direct spiritual impact on them?

These spiritual lives we're trying to simplify aren't lived for ourselves only. We also bear responsibility to influence others spiritually, especially the members of our own family. To that end, here are a few items to leave as spiritual time capsules with the belief that they will bless many generations of your descendants.

Prayers. The beloved old Bible commentator, Matthew Henry said somewhere that wise parents are more concerned about leaving a treasury of prayers for their children than a treasury of silver and gold. God can answer long after we are dead the prayers for our children and future generations we bring to His throne today. King Hezekiah's wicked son, Manasseh, repented and turned to the Lord many decades after Hezekiah died (see 2 Chronicles 33:12-19), but no doubt the father left behind a rich inheritance of prayers to God for his wayward boy. You may want to preserve some of your prayers for your descendants in letters or journals.

Journals. One hundred years from now, quite possibly all that will be known of you will be from photographs or videos, and from what you write. Despite your decades of life and labor, few, if any, of even your direct descendants a century from today will know anything about your spirituality. (What do you know about the inner life of your ancestors who, just 1200 months ago, were as alive as you are now?) Leave your heirs a clear, written testimony of how you came to know God through Jesus Christ. Provide them with a record of answers to prayer, remarkable providences, significant spiritual events, and other works of God in your part of their family history. Write letters to your descendants, urging them to trust Christ, to maintain a Christian heritage in the family, and to meet you in Heaven. Make a list of books that have influenced you.

Books. Leave a library—especially of Christian books—for your children and their children. The Lord may use the books to bring them to Christ and to give solid guidance to their spiritual lives long after you are gone. Collect good books for your children or grandchildren even before they are born. I've always bought books (both Christian and general reading) for my daughter, Laurelen, years before she could enjoy them. In fact, I started buying books for her future children when she was just six years old. So if I find a bargain on boys' books, I'll buy them—even though Laurelen will probably never read them—in anticipation of having grandsons some day. Who knows whether some of the great old used books I find for them today will still be available or affordable by then?

Daily planners. If you have the space, archive your daily planners. These reflect how you've spent your time and, combined with your journals, provide a fairly complete biography of your adult life.

Of course, your most immediate spiritual legacy is the life you live before the watching eyes of your children and grandchildren. However, some (all?) of your grandchildren or great-grandchildren may never know you personally. But if you leave them a rich spiritual inheritance, they may say of you, "He being dead still speaks" (Hebrews 11:4).