Foursquare Gospel Church Igbosere (Chapel of Blessing)

OUR DAILY BREAD March 11, Sunday UNASHAMED LOYALTY Dave Branon Glorify the Lord with me; let us exalt his name together.  Psalm 34:3 Psalm 34:1–4 Bible in a year: Deuteronomy 14–16; Mark 12:28–44 Sports fans love to sing their teams’ praises. By wearing logos, posting notes on Facebook about their beloved teams, or talking about them with friends, fans leave no doubt where their loyalty stands. My own Detroit Tigers caps, shirts, and conversations indicate that I am right there with those who do this. Our sports loyalties can remind us that our truest and greatest loyalty must be to our Lord. I think of such unashamed loyalty when I read Psalm 34, where David draws our attention to Someone vastly more vital than anything else on earth. David says, “I will extol the Lord at all times” (v. 1), and we are left to wonder about the gaps in our lives when we live as if God is not our source of truth, light, and salvation. H...

OUR DAILY BREAD March 10 Saturday LEAD ME TO THE ROCK Linda Washington I call as my heart grows faint; lead me to the rock that is higher than I.  Psalm 61:2 Psalm 61 Bible in a year: Deuteronomy 11–13; Mark 12:1–27 While shopping for a humidifier, I noticed an older woman walking back and forth down the aisle. Wondering if she was shopping for humidifiers also, I moved aside to allow her to draw near. Soon we chatted about a flu virus in our area, one that left her with a lingering cough and headache. A few minutes later, she launched into a bitter tirade, expressing her theory about the origin of the virus. I listened, unsure what to do. She soon left the store, still angry and frustrated. Though she had expressed her frustration, I couldn’t do anything to take away that pain. David, Israel’s second king, wrote psalms to express his anger and frustration to God. But David knew that God not only listened, He could also do something about his pain. ...

OUR DAILY BREAD March 9 Friday DIRECT INSTRUCTIONS Kirsten Holmberg “I have been told by the word of the Lord.”  1 Kings 13:17 1 Kings 13:11–22 Bible in a year: Deuteronomy 8–10; Mark 11:19–33 My second child was eager to sleep in a “big-girl bed” in her sister’s room. Each night I tucked Britta under the covers, issuing strict instructions to stay in bed, warning her I’d return her to the crib if she didn’t. Night after night, I found her in the hallway and had to escort my discouraged darling back to her crib. Years later I learned her customarily-sweet older sister wasn’t excited about having a roommate and repeatedly told Britta that she’d heard me calling for her. Britta heeded her sister’s words, went to look for me, and thus landed herself back in the crib. Listening to the wrong voice can have consequences for us all. When God sent a man to Bethel to speak on His behalf, He gave explicit instructions for him to not eat or drink while there, nor return home by t...

OUR DAILY BREAD March 8, Thursday AGE-OLD WISDOM Is not wisdom found among the aged? Does not long life bring understanding?  Job 12:12 1 Kings 12:1–7, 12–17 Bible in a year: Deuteronomy 5–7; Mark 11:1–18 In 2010, a newspaper in Singapore published a special report that contained life lessons gleaned from eight senior citizens. It opened with these words: “While aging brings challenges to mind and body, it can also lead to an expansion in other realms. There is an abundance of emotional and social knowledge; qualities which scientists are beginning to define as wisdom . . . the wisdom of elders.” Indeed, wise older people have much to teach us about life. But in the Bible, we meet a newly crowned king who failed to recognize this. King Solomon had just died, and in 1 Kings 12:3, we read that “the whole assembly of Israel went to Rehoboam” with a petition. They asked the new king to lighten the harsh labor and heavy taxes his father Solomon had demanded of them. In return, ...

OUR DAILY BREAD March 7, Wednesday GOODBYE FOR NOW Cindy Hess Kasper You do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope.  1 Thessalonians 4:13 1 Thessalonians 4:13–18 Bible in a year: Deuteronomy 3–4; Mark 10:32–52 My granddaughter Allyssa and I have a regular routine we go through when we say goodbye. We wrap our arms around each other and begin to loudly wail with dramatic sobs for about twenty seconds. Then we step back and casually say, “See ya,” and turn away. Despite our silly practice, we always expect that we will see each other again— soon . But sometimes the pain of separation from those we care about can be difficult. When the apostle Paul said farewell to the elders from Ephesus, “They all wept as they embraced him . . . . What grieved them most was [Paul’s] statement that they would never see his face again” (Acts 20:37–38). The deepest sorrow, however, comes when we are parted by death and say goodbye for the last time in this life. That separa...

OUR DAILY BREAD March 6,Tuesday LIKE A LITTLE CHILD Alyson Kieda Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them.  Mark 10:14 Mark 10:13–16 Bible in a year: Deuteronomy 1–2; Mark 10:1–31 The little girl moved joyfully and gracefully to the music of praise. She was the only one in the aisle but that didn’t keep her from spinning and waving her arms and lifting her feet to the music. Her mother, a smile on her lips, didn’t try to stop her. My heart lifted as I watched, and I longed to join her—but didn’t. I’d long ago lost the unselfconscious expression of joy and wonder of my childhood. Even though we are meant to grow and mature and put  childish  ways behind us, we were never meant to lose the joy and wonder, especially in our relationship with God. When Jesus lived on Earth, He welcomed little children to Him and often referred to them in His teaching (Matthew 11:25; 18:3; 21:16). On one occasion, He rebuked His disciples for attempting to keep pare...

OUR DAILY BREAD  March 5, Monday  GRASS OR GRACE Lot chose for himself the whole plain of the Jordan.  Genesis 13:11 Genesis 13:1–18 Bible in a year:  Numbers 34–36; Mark 9:30–50 My friend Archie came home from vacation to find his neighbor had erected a wooden fence five feet inside his property line. Several weeks went by during which Archie tried to work with his neighbor to remove the fence. He offered to help and to split the cost of the work, but to no avail. Archie could have appealed to civil authorities, but he chose to forgo that right in this instance and allow the fence to stand—to show his neighbor something of the grace of God. “Archie is a wimp!” you say. No, he was man of towering strength, but he chose grace over a patch of grass. I think of Abraham and Lot, who fell into conflict because their flocks and herds overwhelmed the land. “Quarreling arose between Abram’s herders and Lot’s. The Canaanites and the Perizzites [the unbelieving co...