Soaping Up!
Hey – we’re S.O.A.P.ing this year! God is speaking to us about building “Sacred Enclosures” around our spiritual “root systems”, and about developing a culture of “self-feeding”. Simply put, one of the things this means is being intentional about getting with God each day and asking Him for your daily bread – that is food from His Word for today!
One of the formats that you can use to do this involves a Bible reading plan that we have available for you. If followed you’ll read the Old Testament through once and the New Testament through twice in the course of a year – about 15 minutes a day for the average reader. But it’s not just about reading and checking off boxes. It’s about meeting with God every day, opening our hearts to His voice and His mentoring and teaching us through what we read.
So in that spirit, here’s how it goes. First find a time that works for you and open The Book. The time isn’t the main thing, simply do it if at all possible when you’re “at your best”. Ask God to teach you and speak to you as you read. Then read the days portion, with pen and notebook in hand. As a Scripture stand out to you – write it out. That’s the “S” part - Scripture. Then write out what you are seeing / understanding in that verse. That’s the “O” part - Observation. The next step answers the question “What will I do about what I’ve learned today? Or “How will I be different as a result of what I’ve read today?” That’s the “A” part – Application. Then write out a prayer for that comes from your heart as a result, that’s the “P” part – Prayer.
A couple practical thoughts:
1) Relentlessly Stomp Out Legalism! This is NOT about performance, earning favor, brownie points, or doing your religious duty to get God off your back! This is about hearing His voice and developing a conversational relationship with Him.
2) If you miss a day, don’t sweat it – and DON’T try and go back and read everything you missed. Simply do the reading for that day. The heart is to hear His voice today, not to fill in every box on your bookmark. If you have time in the course of your week, by all means go back and read what you missed, but if not don’t worry about it!
3) Find a time that works for you and stick to it. The 6 weeks or so that it takes to develop a habit will pass in no time, and you’ll have a GOOD habit worked into your life!
4) Write it out. This isn’t a journal in the classical sense, and certainly not a “diary”. It is a record of your daily feeding and what He is teaching you that will benefit you for life… a place you can return to. The King’s of Israel had to write out their own copy of the Torah. It was for a reason! Let’s learn the lessons of Kings and do all we can to remember what God has spoken to us. And finally,
5) Share what you’re learning with others. This is huge, both because it cements it in your own heart, and because it blesses other people as well with what God is showing you.
As we grow in this delightful practice we will ALWAYS be being fed – because Jesus is faithful to feed His sheep when we come to Him!“S.O.A.P.ing” with you,
Pastor Tom
