Foursquare Gospel Church Igbosere (Chapel of Blessing)

OUR DAILY BREAD May 27, 2018 Sunday GOD WITH SKIN ON Amy Peterson Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.  Romans 12:13 Romans 12:9–18 Bible in a year: 2 Chronicles 1–3; John 10:1–23 My husband left for a month-long trip, and almost immediately I was overwhelmed by the needs of my job, our house, and our children. A writing deadline loomed. The lawn mower broke. My children were on school break and bored. How would I take care of all of these things on my own?  I soon realized I wasn’t on my own. Friends from church showed up to help. Josh came over to fix my lawn mower. John brought me lunch. Cassidy helped with the laundry. Abi invited my kids over to play with hers so I could get my work done. God worked through each of these friends to provide for me. They were a living picture of the kind of community Paul describes in Romans 12. They loved sincerely (v. 9), considered the needs of others rather than just their own (v. 10), shared with...

OUR DAILY BREAD May 26, 2018 Saturday NOBODY LIKES ME Kirsten Holmberg No one is concerned for me. I have no refuge; no one cares for my life.  Psalm 142:4 Psalm 142 Bible in a year: 1 Chronicles 28–29; John 9:24–41 As a child, when I felt lonely, rejected, or sorry for myself, my mother would sometimes attempt to cheer me up by singing a popular ditty: “Nobody likes me, everybody hates me. I think I’ll go eat worms.” After a smile came from my downcast face, she’d help me see the many special relationships and reasons for gratitude I truly did have. When I read that David felt no one cared for him, that ditty rings in my ears. Yet David’s pain wasn’t at all exaggerated. Where I had feelings of loneliness typical for my age, David actually had good reason to feel abandoned. He wrote these words in the dark depths of a cave where he hid from Saul, who pursued him with murderous plans (1 Samuel 22:1; 24:3–10). David had been anointed as Israel’s future king (16:13), had spen...

OUR DAILY BREAD May 25, 2018 Friday ACCIDENTAL WISDOM Randy Kilgore Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable . . . think about such things.  Philippians 4:8 Philippians 4:4–9 Bible in a year: 1 Chronicles 25–27; John 9:1–23 A few years ago, a woman shared with me a story about finding her preteen son watching news coverage of a violent event. Instinctively, she reached for the remote and changed the channel. “You don’t need to be watching that stuff,” she told him rather abruptly. An argument followed, and eventually she shared that he needed to fill his mind with “whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely . . .” (Philippians 4:8). After dinner, she and her husband were watching the news when suddenly their five-year-old daughter burst in and turned off the television. “You don’t need to be watching that stuff,” she declared in her best “mom” voice. “Now, think about those Bible things!...

OUR DAILY BREAD May 24, 2018 Thursday TOSSING AND TURNING Poh Fang Chia In peace I will lie down and sleep, for you alone, Lord, make me dwell in safety.  Psalm 4:8 Psalm 4 Bible in a year: 1 Chronicles 22–24; John 8:28–59 What keeps you awake at night? Lately I’ve been losing sleep, tossing and turning on my bed, trying to work out a solution to an issue. Eventually I begin fretting about not getting enough rest to handle the challenges of the next day! Sound familiar? Troubled relationships, an uncertain future, whatever it is—we all give in to worry at one point or another. King David was clearly in distress when he penned Psalm 4. People were ruining his reputation with groundless accusations (v. 2). And some were questioning his competency to rule (v. 6). David probably felt angry for being treated so unfairly. Surely he could have spent nights stewing about it. Yet we read these remarkable words: “In peace I will lie down and sleep” (v. 8). Charles Spurg...

OUR DAILY BREAD May 23, THE BABUSHKA LADY Bill Crowder Let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.  Acts 2:36 Acts 2:22–36 1 Chronicles 19–21; John 8:1–27 The “Babushka Lady” is one of the mysteries surrounding the 1963 assassination of US President John F. Kennedy. Captured on film recording the events with a movie camera, she has proven to be elusive. This mystery woman, wearing an overcoat and scarf (resembling a Russian  babushka ), has never been identified and her film has never been seen. For decades, historians and scholars have speculated that fear has prevented the “Babushka Lady” from telling her story of that dark November day.   No speculation is needed to understand why Jesus’s disciples hid. They cowered in fear because of the authorities who had killed their Master (John 20:19)—reluctant to come forward and declare their experience. But then Jesus rose from the grave. The Holy Spirit s...

OUR DAILY BREAD May 22, 2018 Tuesday UP A TREE Elisa Morgan In my distress I called to the Lord, and he answered me.  Jonah 2:2 Jonah 2:1–10 Bible in a year: 1 Chronicles 16–18; John 7:28–53 My mother discovered my kitten Velvet atop the kitchen counter, devouring homemade bread. With a huff of frustration, she scooted her out the door. Hours later, we searched our yard for the missing cat without success. A faint meow whistled on the wind, and I looked up to the peak of a poplar tree where a black smudge tilted a branch. In her haste to flee my mother’s frustration over her behavior, Velvet chose a more precarious predicament. Is it possible that we sometimes do something similar—running from our errors and putting ourselves in danger? And even then God comes to our rescue. The prophet Jonah fled in disobedience from God’s call to preach to Nineveh, and was swallowed up by a great fish. “From inside the fish Jonah prayed to the Lord his God. He said: ‘In m...

OUR DAILY BREAD May 21, 2018 Monday A PRAYER OF FORGIVENESS David C. McCasland Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.  Luke 6:27–28 Luke 6:27–36 Bible in a year: 1 Chronicles 13–15; John 7:1–27 In 1960, six-year-old Ruby Bridges was the first African-American child to integrate an all-white public elementary school in the American South. Every day for months, federal marshals escorted Ruby past a mob of angry parents shouting curses, threats, and insults at her. Safely inside, she sat in a classroom alone with Barbara Henry, the only teacher willing to instruct her while parents kept their children from attending school with Ruby. Noted child psychologist Robert Coles met with Ruby for several months to help her cope with the fear and stress she experienced. He was amazed by the prayer Ruby said every day as she walked to school and back home. “Please, God, forgive them because they don’t know what they...

SIS MORENIKEJI OYALEKE. Theme of the Year:  Our Year of New Heights (Lev. 26:13 & Phil. 3:13, 14) Theme of the Month:  Strong Family:  Key to New Heights. Topic: Healthy Marriage is Built on Determination God designed marriage to be a relationship built on understanding, respect, honor and self-sacrifice. A good marriage is not an accident—it is the result of walking in the light of God’s Word. You cannot understand all about your spouse in one day. Not even in one year of your marriage. Marriage is a relationship of life time and so it requires taking time to adjust, tolerate, forgive, accept and making your best to be the best companion to your spouse. Love is the highest form of maturity. It often requires a sacrificial gift. If love doesn't require some sort of sacrifice on your part, you probably don't love your spouse at all. If there is no sacrifice in your actions, you are most likely reacting to something nice your spouse did for you,...