Foursquare Gospel Church Igbosere (Chapel of Blessing)

OUR DAILY BREAD April 10, 2016 Sunday. SWEET REMINDERS Julie Ackerman Link Exodus 3:7-17 Gracious words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones. Proverbs 16:24 Today we think of honey primarily as a sweetener, but in the ancient world it had many other uses. Honey is one of the only foods known to have all the nutrients needed to sustain life, so it was eaten for nutrition. In addition, honey has medicinal value. It is one of the oldest known wound dressings because it has properties that prevent infection. When God rescued the children of Israel from Egyptian captivity, He promised to lead them to a “land flowing with milk and honey” (Ex. 3:8, 17), a metaphor for abundance. When their journey was prolonged due to sin, God fed them bread (manna) that tasted like honey (16:31). The Israelites grumbled about having to eat the same food for so long, but it’s likely that God was kindly reminding them of what they would enjoy in the Promised Land....

OUR DAILY BREAD April 9, 2016 Saturday TAKE HEART! David Roper 2 Corinthians 4:8-18 In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world. John 16:33 I like to watch birds at play, so years ago I built a small sanctuary in our backyard to attract them. For several months I enjoyed the sight of my feathered friends feeding and flitting about—until a Cooper’s Hawk made my bird refuge his private hunting reserve. Such is life: Just about the time we settle down to take our ease, something or someone comes along to unsettle our nests. Why, we ask, must so much of life be a vale of tears? I’ve heard many answers to that old question, but lately I’m satisfied with just one: “All the discipline of the world is to make [us] children, that God may be revealed to [us]” (George MacDonald, Life Essential). When we become like children, we begin trusting, resting solely in the love of our Father in heaven, seeking to know Him and ...

April 7 That ye be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new man, that after God hath been created in righteousness and holiness of truth. – Eph 4:23-24 My heart leaps up when I behold A rainbow in the sky: So was it when my life began; So is it now I am a man; So be it when I shall grow old, Or let me die! The child is Father of the Man; And I could wish my days to be Bound each to each by natural piety. — William Wordsworth. A self-controlled mind is a free mind, and freedom is power. I call that mind free which jealously guards its intellectual rights and powers. I call that mind free which resists the bondage of habit, which does not live on its old virtues, but forgets what is behind, and rejoices to pour itself forth in fresh and higher exertions. — William Ellery Channing. Prayer Lord God, give me the power to control my mind and heart, that I may not be a slave to habits that may keep me from eternal love and blessedness. May I have...

OUR DAILY BREAD April 7, 2016 HIS PLANS OR OURS? Jennifer Benson Schuldt 1 Chronicles 17:1-20 “Who am I, Lord God . . . that you have brought me this far?” 1 Chronicles 17:16. It’s normal to be disappointed when God’s timing and design for our lives do not match our expectations. When David wanted to build the Lord’s temple, he had the right motives, the leadership ability, and the resources. Yet God said he could not undertake the project because he had killed too many people in battle (1 Chron. 22:8). David could have shaken his fist at the sky in anger. He could have pouted or plowed ahead with his own plans. But he humbly said, “Who am I, Lord God . . . that you have brought me this far?” (17:16). David went on to praise God and affirm his devotion to Him. He valued his relationship with God more than his ambition. What is more important—achieving our hopes and dreams, or our love for God? Dear heavenly Father, I commit all of...

23 THINGS A MAN MUST NEVER DO TO A LADY ! 1. Don’t Break Her Heart 2. Don’t Pretend You Love Her 3. Don’t Tell Her She Is Ugly 4. Don’t Compare Her To Your Ex 5. Don’t Take Her Love For Granted 6. Don’t Shout On Her 7. Don’t Beat Her 8. Never Cheat On Her 9. Don’t Disrespect Her 10. Don’t Waste Her Time If You Will Not Marry Her 11. Don’t Make Her Break Her Decision Of “NO SEX BEFORE MARRIAGE” 12. Don’t Make Her Feel Unloved 13. Don’t Rape Her 14. Never Fail To Say She Is Beautiful 15. Don’t Disgrace Her In The Public 16. Don’t impregnate Her And Deny it 17. Don’t Expose Her Secrets To Your Friends And Family 18. Don’t Lie To Her 19. Don’t Correct Her In The Public 20. Don’t Hate Her Family 21. Don’t Treat Her Like Your Housemaid 22. Don’t Make Promises You Can’t Keep 23. Never Destroy Her Copied from Facebook

"A Prayer For Protection": Dear Lord, thank you for all you have done for me and given me. I ask that you would watch over me and my loved ones. That you would cover us with your protection. Let all who take refuge in you rejoice; let them ever sing for joy, and spread your protection over them, that those who love your name may exult in you. For you bless the righteous, O LORD; you cover him with favor as with a shield. Thank you Lord for hearing my prayer. In Jesus' Holy name, amen.

OUR DAILY BREAD April 6, 2016 THE HOLLYWOOD HILLS CROSS Dennis Fisher 1 Corinthians 1:18-31 May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Galatians 6:14 One of the most recognizable images in the US is the “HOLLYWOOD” sign in Southern California. People from all over the globe come to “Tinseltown” to gaze at cement footprints of stars and perhaps catch a glimpse of celebrities who might pass by. It’s hard for these visitors to miss the sign anchored in the foothills nearby. Less well known in the Hollywood hills is another easily recognized symbol—one with eternal significance. Known as the Hollywood Pilgrimage Memorial Monument, this 32-foot cross looks out over the city. The cross was placed there in memory of Christine Wetherill Stevenson, a wealthy heiress who in the 1920s established the Pilgrimage Theatre (now the John Anson Ford Theatre). The site served as the venue for The Pilgrimage Play, a drama about Christ. The t...

OUR DAILY BREAD April 5, 2016 Tuesday DON’T WALK AWAY Tim Gustafson Jeremiah 1:4-9 Before you were born I set you apart. Jeremiah 1:5 In 1986, John Piper nearly quit as minister of a large church. At that time he admitted in his journal: “I am so discouraged. I am so blank. I feel like there are opponents on every hand.” But Piper didn’t walk away, and God used him to lead a thriving ministry that would eventually reach far beyond his church. Although success is a word easily misunderstood, we might call John Piper successful. But what if his ministry had never flourished? God gave the prophet Jeremiah a direct call. “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,” God said. “Before you were born I set you apart” (Jer. 1:5). God encouraged him not to fear his enemies, “for I am with you and will rescue you” (v. 8). Jeremiah later lamented his commission with ironic language for a man with a prenatal calling. “Alas, ...

Prayers & Blessings Daily "A Prayer - Saviour Teach me Day by Day": Savior, teach me, day by day, Love's sweet lesson to obey; Sweeter lesson cannot be, Loving Him who first loved me. With a child's glad heart of love, At Thy bidding may I move, Prompt to serve and follow Thee, Loving Him who first loved me. Teach me thus Thy steps to trace, Strong to follow in Thy grace, Learning how to love from Thee, Loving Him who first loved me. Love in loving finds employ, In obedience all her joy; Ever new that joy will be, Loving Him who first loved me. Amen.

THEME OF THE YEAR: UNCOMMON REWARD (GEN. 15:1) THEME OF THE MONTH: ABIDING PRESENCE OF GOD (EXODUS 33:13-18) TOPIC: THE MANIFEST PRESENCE OF GOD (1 TIM. 1:2) God is Omnipresent. But we talk about two dimensions of His presence. Although He is everywhere, He is not always active everywhere. Since He created the earth for man, He rarely steps into human scenes uninvited. Only those whose lives are offered to Him through faith in the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ can experience the two dimensions of His presence as their situation requires. His abiding presence will always be with such people. Whenever the situation calls for it, they will experience His manifest presence that will deliver them from all the evils that the enemy launches against them. We can enjoy both the abiding presence and the manifest presence as we focus on Christ in our daily lives through faith in His redemption. Awareness that we now belong to Him and regular commitment of all that we are to ...

OUR DAILY BREAD April 4, 2016 Monday WISDOM AND GRACE Bill Crowder James 1:1-8 If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask of God, who gives generously to all without finding fault. James 1:5 “Wisdom through the awful grace of God” is a remarkable statement. It means that God’s grace fills us with awe and gives us the opportunity to grow in wisdom during life’s most difficult moments. James wrote, “If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask of God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you” (James 1:5). James says that this wisdom is grown in the soil of hardship (vv. 2-4), for there we not only learn from the wisdom of God, we rest in the grace of God. Father, in the face of life’s sometimes awful circumstances, may we find Your grace to be a source of awe and wonder. Instruct us in our trials, and carry us in Your arms when we are overwhelmed. The darkness of trials only makes God’s grace sh...