SOAP–Luke 4–Serve God alone

Scripture: Luke 4:8

And Jesus answered him, "It is written, "'You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve.'"

Observation:

Jesus was rebuking the devil as he was being tempted. What stood out to me about this verse was “him only shall you serve.” Not anyone else, just God.

Application:

I was thinking about who or what else I serve. I can tell you right now, I don’t serve only God. I get pulled into traps of idolatry, pleasing others, and I’m sure a host more. Freeing myself from those distractions is so hard! The other thing I’ve been struck with, however, thus far in reading Luke, is the number of times the Holy Spirit is mentioned. What a great reminder; I’m not alone. Because of Jesus, the Spirit is with me all the time and I don’t have to try to figure this out by myself. Halleluiah!

Prayer:

Father God, I desire to serve you only, but I get so distracted. I pray that you would help me listen to your Spirit who lives inside me so that I can focus on serving you more and other things less. Thank you for that Spirit, and what an amazing gift and guide it is in my life. Amen!

~S

Countdown to Christmas–Day 9

Day 9 of our Advent activities was to make a new ornament for our Christmas tree. Again, I pulled from my bag of goodies that I got in the craft swap I did with friends. This time, it was a clothespin angel. We also made handprint reindeer, as long as we were at it :)

They were a bit more fond of this activity. Kahlen wanted to color the whole thing, which was fine by me, because that gave me time to help Nate with his.

(You can tell Kahlen cut out her own, it’s the one on the right)

~S

Countdown to Christmas–Day 8

Day 8 of our Advent activities was to make Christmas cards for friends. This one didn’t go over as well as I was hoping. They both were not in a crafty kind of mood, I guess. I printed “Merry Christmas” on the front of a piece of colored cardstock and then folded them in half. I gave Kahlen the list of names we had come up with and some supplies like markers, dot painters, stickers, and glitter glue, and just let her do as she wanted. She worked on them yesterday and today and still isn’t quite finished. That’s okay, though, we’ll just keep working on them until they’re done. I’m hoping maybe we can finish tomorrow so she can give them out on Sunday. Oh wait, that’s my own goal for *my* Christmas cards too :)

Nate is just not into all that crafty stuff. Yet. Maybe someday. He’d rather take the dot painters out of their holder, then put them back in and close up the box. He’d also rather the stickers were for him, not for the cards. I think I might give up on the ones I was going to have him do. Ah well, I’m sure his “friends” will understand (they’re all under 2 anyway!)

~S

Countdown to Christmas–Day 7

Day 7 of our Advent activities was to make a popcorn garland. I decided to do this one with just Kahlen while Nate was napping :)

She did pretty good! This was the first time I let her use a *real* needle. She’s done embroidery with a dull yarn needle, but nothing that was actually sharp. She only poked herself once or twice. I ended up doing a bunch too, but that was expected, there was a lot of popcorn!

Forgot to get a picture of it after we hung it on the tree…it wraps all the way around the top part, hooray!

~S

SOAP–Luke 3–Exhortation

Scripture: Luke 3:18

And with many other words John exhorted the people and proclaimed the good news to them.

Observation:

John did two things: he exhorted and he proclaimed the good news.

Application:

Both exhorting and proclaiming the good news were important in John’s ministry. Do I exhort my friends and others around me or do I tend to gloss over things that should be addressed? Do I encourage them in the good news of Jesus? It’s easier to just go about my life without being too much into other people’s business, but if I see something, God’s Word tells me that I need to exhort and encourage others.

Prayer:

God, I pray that you would help me to exhort those around me, and not be afraid of what they might think of me or my “intrusion” into their lives. I also pray that you would help me be humble enough to accept exhortation when I need it from those around me, including and especially my husband. Thank you for the Good News that Jesus came to give me the Holy Spirit and cleanse me from my sins. Help me to spread this message. Amen.

~S

SOAP–Luke 2–Great Joy

Scripture: Luke 2:10

And the angel said to them, "Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.

Observation:

This verse is often used to illustrate the good news portion of the message, but what about the great joy? Think about it. Great Joy. For all people. Do you know anyone who lives with great joy? Isn’t it awesome, just to be near them?

Application:

So, how do I live with this great joy? How do I spread it to those around me so that it is “for all the people?” According to this verse, and the surrounding passage, I need to focus on Jesus as my Savior. Good thing it’s advent season! I have tried to build in lots of opportunities to focus on Jesus for my kids, and I’m learning to use those opportunities to refocus my own heart and mind as well.

Prayer:

Christ Jesus, I pray that you will help me focus on You and the reasons we celebrate Your birth and your resurrection. I pray you would help me live with great joy because of Your gospel. Thank you that you humbled yourself and came down to save ME. Thank you that you revealed yourself to us and the great joy that you have for all the people. Help me spread that joy, especially during times when I don’t *feel* like being joyful. Thank you for this reminder from your true and living Word. Amen.

Join me and MomsToolbox in reading through Luke in 26 days.

For this week, we will read:

• Monday: Luke 1: 1-38
• Tuesday: Luke 1:39-80
• Wednesday: Luke 2
• Thursday: Luke 3
• Friday: Luke 4
• Saturday: Luke 5
• Sunday: Luke 6

~S