Staying Near the Chariot: A SOAP Journal Based on Acts 8

Today was the Daytona 500 stockcar race where the cars drive very fast and very close to each other... and sometimes crashing. This racetrack drafting, in a strange way, reminded me of Phillip, at the Spirit's command, running to stay near the Ethiopian's chariot. The following SOAP journal was originally posted on a blog where pastors were journaling along with their sermon series. I wrote it a long time ago, but today as I re-read it, it ministered to me again and I hope it might also minister to you where you are today!

If you are not familiar with the term, we used the SOAP acronym as a simple devotional guide... standing for:

• Scripture—what verse or short section caught my attention today? 
  
• Observation—what can I briefly notice that the passage specifically says?
• Application—what will I do differently as a result of having read this today?
• Prayer—what will I ask the Triune God to do for, in, and through me today?

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S = Acts 8:26-31 

Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Go south to the road—the desert road—that
goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.”

So he started out, and on his way he met an Ethiopian eunuch, an important official in charge of all the treasury of the Kandake (which means “queen of the Ethiopians”). This man had gone to Jerusalem to worship, and on his way home was sitting in his chariot reading the Book of Isaiah the prophet.

The Spirit told Philip, “Go to that chariot and stay near it.”

Then Philip ran up to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. “Do you understand what you are reading?” Philip asked.

“How can I,” he said, “unless someone explains it to me?” So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. 

O = This man Phillip was one of the seven men chosen to “wait tables” so that the Hellenist (Greek-speaking Jews) widows got their fair share of the distribution of bread (6:1-7). Is it any surprise that we see this Spirit-filled man sharing the “bread” of the gospel of Jesus Christ with people of other cultures, even at great risk to himself (his co-worker Stephen had just been killed)? Here are four other simple observations I made.

• Saul’s persecution had scattered the Christians from Jerusalem and Philip went out boldly preaching the gospel (lit., good news) not complaining about persecution (the bad news) and people paid attention (8:4-8). It seems to me that we rarely hear what the Spirit is saying when we are busy complaining. 
• The Spirit-led witnessing of Phillip happened as he responded in trusting obedience to simple (but incomplete) instructions. 
• Finally, God cared enough about a disabled Ethiopian accountant to send a special messenger, Phillip, to him. This assignment was not a stretch for a man who had ministered to both the overlooked (6:1-7) and the overwhelmed (8:4-8) to now overtake the perplexed official and open the Word of God to him. 

Jesus is for everyone, but Jesus is also the only way. Transformational!

brett-jordan on Unsplash

A = When the Spirit says “Go” why do I so often over-think and under-obey? If I want to be Spirit-led I must not only be quick to hear and obey what he says to all Christians through the Bible, but also willing to trust those small fragmentary promptings he speaks to my heart. By fragmentary I mean that rarely do we see the second and third steps until we take the first. How long do I need to run alongside this person’s chariot? The Spirit didn’t tell Phillip, so I guess that means as long as it takes. When can I share what I know? When I am asked to do so…until then I need to keep running beside the chariot! So, in my multi-cultural, multi-ethnic context, how willing am I to stay near another’s cultural “chariot”? Will I take the time to learn about them and to enter into authentic conversations concerning their questions about Christ? I hope so.

P = O Lord, may I be quicker to obey your voice and patient to wait for the right moment to give an answer. May my interest and care for others make them thirsty enough to ask for a drink and may my words be true to yours so that a cup of kindness grows into the baptism of a transformed life. Start the process in me today so that I have something truly good to share with others. Amen.

Spring Cleaning (A SOAP Journal from 2 Chronicles 29)

In addition to regular articles, I regularly post some simple SOAP journals that were produced during a regular small group gathering to read, journal, pray, and encourage one another. These are not exhaustively studied as they are generally the work of 20 minutes of reading, 20 minutes of writing, and 20 minutes of sharing with each other what we have written. Whether we are Christian leaders or new believers, this collective approach to Bible journaling is encouraging.

If you are not familiar with the term, we used the SOAP acronym as a simple devotional guide... standing for:

• Scripture—what verse or short section caught my attention today? 
  
• Observation—what can I briefly notice that the passage specifically says?
• Application—what will I do differently as a result of having read this today?
• Prayer—what will I ask the Triune God to do for, in, and through me today?

___________________________________________________________________________

S = 2 Chronicles 29:1-3, 17-18 

Photo by Denny Müller on Unsplash

 “Hezekiah began to reign when he was twenty-five years old… And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, according to all that David his father had done. In the first year of his reign, in the first month, he opened the doors of the house of the Lord and repaired them…

“They began to consecrate on the first day of the first month, and on the eighth day of the month they came to the vestibule of the Lord. Then for eight days they consecrated the house of the Lord, and on the sixteenth day of the first month they finished. Then they went in to Hezekiah the king and said, “We have cleansed all the house of the Lord, the altar of burnt offering and all its utensils, and the table for the showbread and all its utensils.”

O = Hezekiah was fairly young when he became king—how many 25-year-olds could be trusted to make wise and godly decisions? Yet Hezekiah did…and he started by removing the obstacles to wholehearted worship of the One True God. He did not need the first 100 days of his administration to decide what reforms to propose. On the first day of the first month, he did what was in his power. In our culture, many cannot wait until they are 16 so that they can drive, 18 to vote, 21 to drink, and 25 to finally rent a car. Hezekiah became king and right away challenged the priests and Levites to stand up and clean out the filth and false gods that were literally clogging the temple courts (v.11).

Now it is in my heart to make a covenant with the Lord, the God of Israel, in order that his fierce anger may turn away from us. My sons, do not now be negligent, for the Lord has chosen you to stand in his presence, to minister to him and to be his ministers and make offerings to him.”

It took eight days for the large group of workers just to reach the front porch of the temple (v.17) and another eight days to clean out the temple itself. It had become an unholy hoarder’s house of idolatry rather than a place of true worship. After 16 days they finished the work and began to repent and covenant with the Lord with a massive sin offering. It seems that they recognized that it was not just the sins of their fathers that were the problem, but their own sins as well. They had to first consecrate themselves, then the house of the Lord, and finally the people.

Photo by Lucia Sorrentino
on Unsplash

A = How often do we think about our complicity in “the sins of the fathers?” Our Western philosophy is individualistic in the extreme and does not fit with a biblical worldview that tends to see us all as connected. What can we do about the sins of the past? We can confess and stop doing them, consecrate ourselves, and together start the dirty work of clearing out the filth—from our hearts, from our families, from our churches, from our society. Is there some way in which we have devalued the worship of the Lord? Does our heart and life look like a hoarder’s house—unable to repent of and renounce the socially acceptable yet clogging sins of laziness, gluttony, self-indulgence, love of money, dishonesty, etc.? What could we clean out this week as the Holy Spirit leads and empowers?

P = O Lord, I confess my sin and the sins of my fathers even in this land of plenty. We have not followed you with an undivided heart. We have not treated all people justly; we have not been as thankful for your care as we should have been. O Lord, forgive us!   May we never allow our hearts to grow cold and our relationship with you our Savior to fall into disuse (like the temple in Ahaz’s day). May we be as available and committed to you and as privileged to be a part of the sudden change you want to bring into our midst, as Hezekiah was. O Lord, please empower us with your Holy Spirit even today! Amen.