Foursquare Gospel Church Igbosere (Chapel of Blessing)

OUR DAILY BREAD June 24  2018 Sunday A FRIEND’S COMFORT No one said a word to him, because they saw how great his suffering was.  Job 2:13 Job 2:7–13 Bible in a year: Job 1–2; Acts 7:22–43 I read about a mom who was surprised to see her daughter muddy from the waist down when she walked in the door after school. Her daughter explained that a friend had slipped and fallen into a mud puddle. While another classmate ran to get help, the little girl felt sorry for her friend sitting by herself and holding her hurt leg. So, the daughter went over and sat in the mud puddle with her friend until a teacher arrived. When Job experienced the devastating loss of his children and became afflicted with painful sores on his entire body, his suffering was overwhelming. The Bible tells us that three of his friends wanted to comfort him. When they found Job, “they began to weep aloud, and they tore their robes and sprinkled dust on their heads. Then they sat on the ground with him for...

OUR DAILY BREAD June 23, 2018 Saturday BELONGING Tim Gustafson The Lord who made you and helps you says: “Do not be afraid . . . my chosen one.”  Isaiah 44:2  nlt Isaiah 44:1–5 Bible in a year: Esther 9–10; Acts 7:1–21 I’d been out late the night before, just as I was every Saturday night. Just twenty years old, I was running from God as fast as I could. But suddenly, strangely, I felt compelled to attend the church my dad pastored. I put on my faded jeans, well-worn T-shirt, and unlaced high-tops and drove across town. I don’t recall the sermon Dad preached that day, but I can’t forget how delighted he was to see me. With his arm over my shoulder, he introduced me to everyone he saw. “This is my son!” he proudly declared. His joy became a picture of God’s love that has stuck with me all these decades. The imagery of God as loving Father occurs throughout the Bible. In Isaiah 44, the prophet interrupts a series of warnings to proclaim God’s message of famil...

OUR DAILY BREAD June 22, 2018 Friday FELLOWSHIP WITH JESUS Joe Stowell  I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.  Philippians 3:8 Philippians 3:7–14 Bible in a year: Esther 6–8; Acts 6 I’ll never forget the time I had the privilege of sitting next to Billy Graham at a dinner. I was honored but also somewhat nervous about what would be appropriate to say. I thought it would be an interesting conversation starter to ask what he loved most about his years of ministry. Then I awkwardly started to suggest possible answers. Was it knowing presidents, kings, and queens? Or preaching the gospel to millions of people around the world? Before I had finished offering suggestions, Rev. Graham stopped me. Without hesitation he said, “It has been my fellowship with Jesus. To sense His presence, to glean His wisdom, to have Him guide and direct me—that has been my greatest joy.” I was instantly convicted and challenged. Convi...

OUR DAILY BREAD June 21, 2018 Thursday TELLING TIME Bill Crowder [Make] the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.  Ephesians 5:16 Psalm 90:9–17 Bible in a year: Esther 3–5; Acts 5:22–42 “Westerners have watches. Africans have time.” So said Os Guinness, quoting an African proverb in his book  Impossible People.  That caused me to ponder the times I have responded to a request with, “I don’t have time.” I thought about the tyranny of the urgent and how schedules and deadlines dominate my life. Moses prayed in Psalm 90, “Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom” (v. 12). And Paul wrote, “Be very careful, then, how you live . . . making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil” (Ephesians 5:15–16). I suspect that Paul and Moses would agree that our wise use of time isn’t just a matter of clock-watching. The situation may call for us to keep a tight schedule—or it may compel us to give someone an extended gift o...

OUR DAILY BREAD June 20, 2018 Wednesday EVERY MOMENT MATTERS Randy Kilgore For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.  Philippians 1:21 Philippians 1:12–24 Bible in a year: Esther 1–2; Acts 5:1–21 When I met Ada, she had outlived her entire group of friends and family and was living in a nursing home. “It’s the hardest part of getting old,” she told me, “watching everyone else move on and leave you behind.” One day I asked Ada what kept her interest and how she spent her time. She answered me with a Scripture passage from the apostle Paul (Philippians 1:21): “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.” Then she said, “While I’m still around, I have work to do. On my good days, I get to talk to the people here about Jesus; on the hard days, I can still pray.” Significantly, Paul wrote Philippians while in prison. And he acknowledged a reality many Christians understand as they face their mortality: Even though heaven seems so inviting, the time we have left on E...

OUR DAILY BREAD June 19, 2018 Tuesday IMPAIRED JUDGMENT Linda Washington Do not judge, or you too will be judged.  Matthew 7:1 Matthew 7:1–6 Bible in a year: Nehemiah 12–13; Acts 4:23–37 I’ve been quick to judge anyone I saw walking in the street while staring at a phone.  How could they be so oblivious to the cars about to hit them?  I’ve told myself.  Don’t they care about their own safety?  But one day, while crossing the entrance to an alleyway, I was so engrossed in a text message, that I missed seeing a car at my left. Thankfully, the driver saw me and came to an abrupt stop. But I felt ashamed. All of my self-righteous finger-pointing came back to haunt me. I had judged others, only to do the same thing myself. My hypocrisy is the kind of thinking that Jesus addressed in the Sermon on the Mount: “First take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye” (Matthew 7:5). I had a huge “plank”...

OUR DAILY BREAD June 18, 2018 Monday BLESSING IN THE MESS Monica Brands He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.  Philippians 1:6 Genesis 28:10–22 Bible in a year: Nehemiah 10–11; Acts 4:1–22 I got myself into this mess, so I’d better get myself out,  I sometimes find myself thinking.  Although I believe in a God of grace, I’m still prone to act as if His help is available only when I deserve it. God’s first encounter with Jacob is a beautiful illustration of how untrue this is. Jacob had spent a lifetime trying to alter his destiny. He’d been born second at a time when firstborn sons typically received their father’s blessing—believed to guarantee future prosperity. So Jacob decided to do whatever it would take to get his father’s blessing anyway. Eventually, he succeeded—through deceit—obtaining the blessing intended for his brother (Genesis 27:19–29). But the price was a divided family, as Jacob fled from...