Foursquare Gospel Church Igbosere (Chapel of Blessing)

OUR DAILY BREAD February 18, Sunday COURAGE TO BE FAITHFUL Keila Ochoa Do not be frightened.  1 Peter 3:14 1 Peter 3:13–18 Bible in a year,:  Leviticus 23–24; Mark 1:1–22 Fear is Hadassah’s constant companion. Hadassah, a young Jewish girl living in the first century, is a fictional character in Francine Rivers’ book  A Voice in the Wind.  After Hadassah becomes a slave in a Roman household, she fears persecution for her faith in Christ. She knows that Christians are despised, and many are sent to their execution or thrown to the lions in the arena. Will she have the courage to stand for the truth when she is tested? When her worst fear becomes reality, her mistress and other Roman officials who hate Christianity confront her. She has two choices: recant her faith in Christ or be taken to the arena. Then, as she proclaims Jesus as the Christ, her fear falls away and she becomes bold even in the face of death. The Bible reminds u...

OUR DAILY BREAD February 17 FLEEING TO STRENGTH James Banks You were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.  1 Corinthians 6:20 1 Corinthians 6:12–20 Bible in a year: Leviticus 21–22; Matthew 28 “Parry four!” When I began fencing in high school, my coach would shout the correct defensive position (“parry”) against the move he was making. When he extended his weapon and lunged, to repel the attack I had to listen and respond immediately. That active listening brings to mind the prompt obedience Scripture calls for in the area of sexual temptation. In 1 Corinthians 6:18 Paul writes to believers tempted to solicit pagan temple prostitutes, telling them to “flee from sexual immorality.” Sometimes we are to “stand firm” in challenging circumstances (Galatians 5:1; Ephesians 6:11), but here the Bible practically shouts our best defense:  “Run away!” Immediate action guards against com...

OUR DAILY BREAD February 16,Friday  LOVING ALL Leslie Koh The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself.  Leviticus 19:34 Leviticus 19:33–34 Bible in a year:  Leviticus 19–20; Matthew 27:51–66 worship in a church located in a large, open field—a rare commodity on the island of Singapore (we’re just twenty-five miles long and fifteen miles wide). Some time back, people from abroad who work in my country started gathering on the church property for a picnic every Sunday. This evoked a range of responses from fellow churchgoers. Some fretted about the mess the visitors would leave behind. But others saw this as a divine opportunity to extend hospitality to a wonderful group of strangers—without even leaving the church grounds! The Israelites must have faced similar issues in their time. After they settled in their new land, they had to grapple with how to relate to other peoples. ...

OUR DAILY BREAD February 15, Thursday FOLLOWING WHERE HE LEADS Alyson Kieda Then [Elisha] set out to follow Elijah and became his servant.  1 Kings 19:21 1 Kings 19:19–21 Bible in a year: Leviticus 17–18; Matthew 27:27–50 As a child, I looked forward to our church’s Sunday evening services. They were exciting. Sunday night often meant we got to hear from missionaries and other guest speakers. Their messages inspired me because of their willingness to leave family and friends—and at times, homes, possessions, and careers—to go off to strange, unfamiliar, and sometimes dangerous places to serve God. Like those missionaries, Elisha left many things behind to follow God (1 Kings 19:19–21). Before God called him into service through Elijah, we don’t know much about Elisha—except that he was a farmer. When the prophet Elijah met him in the field where he was plowing, he threw his cloak over Elisha’s shoulders (the symbol...

OUR DAILY BREAD February 14, Wednesday THE ADVANCE TEAM Kirsten Holmberg My Father’s house has many rooms; . . . I am going there to prepare a place for you.  John 14:2 John 14:1–14 Bible in a year:c Leviticus 15–16; Matthew 27:1–26 A friend recently prepared to relocate to a city more than 1,000 miles from her current hometown. She and her husband divided the labor of moving to accommodate a short timeline. He secured new living arrangements, while she packed their belongings. I was astounded by her ability to move without previewing the area or participating in the house hunt, and asked how she could do so. She acknowledged the challenge but said she knew she could trust her husband because of his attention to her preferences and needs over their years together. In the upper room, Jesus spoke with His disciples of His coming betrayal and death. The darkest hours of Jesus’s earthly life, and that of the disciples as well, lay ahead. He comforted them with the assuranc...

OUR DAILY BREAD February 13, Tuesday A BLESSING BOWL Elisa Morgan I thank my God every time I remember you.  Philippians 1:3 Romans 1:1–10 Bible in a year: Leviticus 14; Matthew 26:51–75 The familiar bing of an arriving email caught my attention while I wrote at my computer. Usually I try to resist the temptation to check every email but the subject line was too enticing: “You are a blessing.” Eagerly, I opened it to discover a faraway friend telling me she was praying for my family. Each week, she displays one Christmas card photo in her kitchen table “Blessing Bowl” and prays for that family. She wrote, “I thank my God every time I remember you” (Philippians 1:3) and then highlighted our efforts to share God’s love with others—our “partnership” in the gospel. Through my friend’s intentional gesture, the apostle Paul’s words to the Philippians came trickling into my inbox, creating the sam...

OUR DAILY BREAD February 12, Monday TRUST ME Do not worry about tomorrow.  Matthew 6:34 1 Kings 17:7–16 Bible in a year: Leviticus 13; Matthew 26:26–50 After graduation from college, I had a low-paying job. Money was tight, and sometimes I didn’t even have enough for my next meal. I learned to trust God for my  daily  provision. It reminded me of the prophet Elijah’s experience. During his prophetic ministry, he learned to trust God to meet his daily needs. Shortly after Elijah pronounced God’s judgment of a drought in Israel, God sent him to a deserted place, Kerith Ravine, where He used the ravens to bring Elijah his daily meals and refresh him with water from the brook (1 Kings 17:1–4). But a drought occurred. The brook shrank to a tiny stream, and slowly became a mere trickle. It was only when the brook had dried up that God said: “Go at once to Zarephath . . . . I have directed a widow there to supply you with fo...