Foursquare Gospel Church Igbosere (Chapel of Blessing)

OUR DAILY BREAD May 13, 2018 Sunday TREASURE IN HEAVEN Cindy Hess Kasper For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.  Matthew 6:21 Matthew 6:19–21 Bible in a year: 2 Kings 17–18; John 3:19–36 When I was growing up, my two sisters and I liked to sit side-by-side on top of my mother’s large cedar-lined chest. My mom kept our wool sweaters in it and handiwork that was embroidered or crocheted by my grandmother. She valued the contents of the chest and relied on the pungent odor of the cedar wood to discourage moths from destroying what was inside. Most earthly possessions can easily be destroyed by insects or rust, or can even be stolen. Matthew 6 encourages us to place a special focus—not on things that have a limited lifespan but on those that have  eternal value. When my mom died at fifty-seven, she had not accumulated a lot of earthly possessions, but I like to think about the treasure she stored up in heaven (vv. 19–20). I recall how much she loved G...

OUR DAILY BREAD  May 12, 2018 Saturday  TAKE THE TIME Anne Cetas Come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.  Luke 19:5 Luke 19:1–10 Bible in a year: 2 Kings 15–16; John 3:1–18 Rima, a Syrian woman who had recently moved to the United States, tried to explain to her tutor with hand motions and limited English why she was upset. Tears trickled down her cheeks as she held up a beautifully arranged platter of  fatayer  (meat, cheese, and spinach pies) that she had made. Then she said, “One man,” and made a swishing sound as she pointed from the door to the living room and then back to the door. The tutor pieced together that several people from a nearby church were supposed to visit Rima and her family and bring some gifts. But only one man had shown up. He had hurried in, dropped off a box of items, and rushed out. He was busy taking care of a responsibility, while she and her family were lonely and longed for community and to share th...

OUR DAILY BREAD May 11, 2018 Friday PERSEVERING WITH PEACE Xochitl Dixon I lie down and sleep; I wake again, because the Lord sustains me.  Psalm 3:5 Psalm 3 Bible in a year: 2 Kings 13–14; John 2 As I continue trusting God through my struggles with chronic pain, even the simplest setback can feel like a fierce enemy attacker. Problem One jabs me from the right. Problem Two shoves me from behind. Problem Three punches me square in the nose. During these times, when my strength wanes and immediate relief evades me, running and hiding can seem like a good idea. But since I can’t escape my pain, change my circumstances, or ignore my emotions, I’m learning slowly to rely on God to carry me through. When I need encouragement, comfort, and courage, I prayerfully read through the songs of the psalmists, who honestly bring their situations to God. In one of my favorite psalms, King David flees from Absalom, his son who wanted to kill him and take his kingdom. Though Davi...

OUR DAILY BREAD May 10, 2018 Thursday THE LAND OF FAR DISTANCES David C. McCasland Your eyes will see the king in his beauty and view a land that stretches afar.  Isaiah 33:17 Isaiah 33:17–22 Bible in a year: 2 Kings 10–12; John 1:29–51 Amy Carmichael (1867–1951) is known for her work of rescuing orphaned girls in India and giving them a new life. In the midst of this exhausting work there were times she called “moments of vision.” In her book  Gold by Moonlight,  she wrote, “In the midst of a crowded day we are given almost a glimpse of ‘the land of far distances,’ and we stand still, arrested on the road.”  The prophet Isaiah spoke of a time when God’s rebellious people would turn back to Him. “Your eyes will see the king in his beauty and view a land that stretches afar” (Isaiah 33:17). To view this “land of far distances” is to be lifted above the circumstances of the immediate present and to gain an eternal perspective. During difficult times, the Lord ...

OUR DAILY BREAD May 9, 2018 Wednesday THE POINT OF NO RETURN Bill Crowder The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body.  James 3:6 James 3:1–12 Bible in a year: 2 Kings 7–9; John 1:1–28 It wasn’t as simple as just crossing another river. By law, no Roman general could lead armed troops into Rome. So when Julius Caesar led his Thirteenth Legion across the Rubicon River and into Italy in 49 bc, it was an act of treason. The impact of Caesar’s decision was irreversible, generating years of civil war before Rome’s great general became absolute ruler. Still today, the phrase “crossing the Rubicon” is a metaphor for “passing the point of no return.” Sometimes we can cross a relational Rubicon with the words we say to others. Once spoken, words can’t be taken back. They can either offer help and comfort or do damage that feels just as irreversible as Caesar’s march on Rome. James gave us another word picture about wo...

OUR DAILY BREAD May 8, 2018 Tuesday RESPONDING TO GOD’S LEADING Julie Schwab At once they left their nets and followed him.  Matthew 4:20 Exodus 3:7–14 Bible in a year: 2 Kings 4–6; Luke 24:36–53 In August 2015, when I was preparing to attend a university a couple of hours from home, I realized I probably wouldn’t move back home after graduation. My mind raced.  How can I leave home? My family? My church? What if God later calls me to another state or country? Like Moses, when God told him to go “to Pharaoh to bring [His] people the Israelites out of Egypt” (Exodus 3:10), I was afraid. I didn’t want to leave my comfort zone. Yes, Moses obeyed and followed God, but not before questioning Him and requesting that someone else go instead (vv. 11–13; 4:13). In Moses’s example, we can see what we shouldn’t do when we sense a clear calling. We can instead strive to be more like the disciples. When Jesus called them, they left everything and followed Him (Matthew 4:20–22; Lu...

OUR DAILY BREAD May 7, 2018 Monday THE FINGERPRINT OF GOD Dennis Fisher For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.  Ephesians 2:10 Ephesians 2:1–10 Bible in a year: 2 Kings 1–3; Luke 24:1–35 Lygon Stevens loved to climb mountains with her brother Nick. They were experienced climbers and both had summitted Mt. McKinley (Denali), the highest point in North America. Then, in January 2008, they were swept off a Colorado mountain by an avalanche, injuring Nick and killing twenty-year-old Lygon. When Nick later discovered his sister’s journal in one of her satchels, he was deeply comforted by its contents. It was filled with reflections, prayers, and praise to God as seen in this entry: “I am a work of art, signed by God. But He’s not done; in fact, He has just begun. . . . I have on me the fingerprint of God. Never will there ever be another person like me. . . . I have a job to do in this life that no other ...