Foursquare Gospel Church Igbosere (Chapel of Blessing)

OUR DAILY BREAD February 10, 2019 Sunday LIVING WITH THE Lights ON Arthur Jackson Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.  Psalm 119:105 Psalm 119:9–16, 97–105 Leviticus 8–10; Matthew 25:31–46 A work assignment had taken my coworker and me on a 250-mile journey, and it was late when we began our trip home. An aging body with aging eyes makes me a bit uneasy about nighttime driving; nevertheless, I opted to drive first. My hands gripped the steering wheel and my eyes gazed intently at dimly lit roads. While driving I found I could see better when lights from vehicles behind me beamed on the highway ahead. I was much relieved when my friend eventually took the wheel of his vehicle. That’s when he discovered I had been driving with fog lights and not the headlights! Psalm 119 is the masterful composition of one who understood that God’s Word provides us with light for everyday living (v. 105). Yet, how often do we find ourselves in situations similar to my ...

OUR DAILY BREAD February 9, 2019 Saturday DISCOVERING MY TRUE SELF Amy Peterson We know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.  1 John 3:2 1 John 2:28–3:3 Leviticus 6–7; Matthew 25:1–30 Who am I?  That’s the question a faded stuffed animal asks himself in the children’s book  Nothing  by Mick Inkpen. Left in a dusty corner of an attic, the animal hears movers call him “nothing” and thinks that’s his name: Nothing. Encounters with other animals spark memories. Nothing realizes that he used to have a tail, whiskers, and stripes. But it’s not until he meets a tabby cat who helps him find his way home that Nothing remembers who he truly is: a stuffed cat named Toby. His owner lovingly restores him, sewing on new ears, tail, whiskers, and stripes. Whenever I read this book, I think about my own identity.  Who am I?  John, writing to believers, said that God has called us His children (1 John 3:1). We don’t ful...

OUR DAILY BREAD February 8, 2019 Friday LOVE AND PEACE Monica Brands You will not abandon me to the realm of the dead. . . . You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence.  Psalm 16:10–11 Psalm 16 Leviticus 4–5; Matthew 24:29–51 It always amazes me the way peace—powerful, unexplainable peace (Philippians 4:7)—can somehow fill our hearts even in our deepest grief. I experienced this most recently at my father’s memorial service. As a long line of sympathetic acquaintances passed by offering their condolences, I was relieved to see a good high school friend. Without a word, he simply wrapped me in a long bear hug. His quiet understanding flooded me with the first feelings of peace within grief that difficult day, a powerful reminder that I wasn’t as alone as I felt.  As David describes in Psalm 16, the kind of peace and joy God brings into our lives isn’t caused by a choice to stoical...

OUR DAILY BREAD February 7, 2019 Thursday GOOD WORKS PREPARED Leslie Koh For we are . . . created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.  Ephesians 2:10 Ephesians 2:6–10 Leviticus 1–3; Matthew 24:1–28 When a burly stranger approached my wife and me on a street abroad, we shrunk back in fear. Our holiday had been going badly; we had been yelled at, cheated, and extorted from several times. Were we going to be shaken down again? To our surprise, the man just wanted to show us where to get the best view of his city. Then he gave us a chocolate bar, smiled, and left. That little gesture made our day—and saved the whole trip. It made us grateful—both to the man and to God for cheering us up. What had made the man reach out to two strangers? Had he gone around with a chocolate bar the entire day, looking to bless someone with it? It’s amazing how the smallest action can bring the biggest smile—and possibly direct someone to God. The Bible...

OUR DAILY BREAD February 6, 2019 Wednesday LOVE CHANGES US Xochitl Dixon At once he began to preach in the synagogues that Jesus is the Son of God.  Acts 9:20 Acts 9:1–22 Exodus 39–40; Matthew 23:23–39 Before I met Jesus, I’d been wounded so deeply that I avoided close relationships in fear of being hurt more. My mom remained my closest friend, until I married Alan. Seven years later and on the verge of divorce, I toted our kindergartner, Xavier, into a church service. I sat near the exit door, afraid to trust but desperate for help. Thankfully, believers reached out, prayed for our family, and taught me how to nurture a relationship with God through prayer and Bible reading. Over time, the love of Christ and His followers changed me. Two years after that first church service, Alan, Xavier, and I asked to be baptized. Sometime later, during one of our weekly conversations, my mom said, “You’re different. Tell me more about Jesus.” A few months passed and she too accept...

OUR DAILY BREAD February 5, 2019 Tuesday MOVES OF THE HEART Mart DeHaan Whenever the cloud lifted from above the tent, the Israelites set out; wherever the cloud settled, the Israelites encamped.  Numbers 9:17 Numbers 9:15–23 Exodus 36–38; Matthew 23:1–22 According to the US Census Bureau, Americans move from one address to another an average of eleven to twelve times during the course of a lifetime. In a recent year, 28 million people packed up, moved, and unpacked under a new roof. During Israel’s forty years in the wilderness, the cloud of God’s presence led a whole family nation to make one move after another in anticipation of a new homeland. The account is so repetitious, it reads almost like a comedy. Over and over the huge family packed and unpacked not only its own belongings but also the tent and furnishings of the tabernacle, where the God of the cloud met with Moses (see Exodus 25:22). Many years later, Jesus would give fuller meaning to the story of Israel...

OUR DAILY BREAD February 4, 2019 Monday ALL I CAN SEE Anne Cetas He must become greater; I must become less.  John 3:30 John 3:22–35 Exodus 34–35; Matthew 22:23–46 Krista stood in the freezing cold on a winter day, looking at the beautiful snow-encased lighthouse along the lake. As she pulled out her phone to take pictures, her glasses fogged over. She couldn’t see a thing so she decided to point her camera toward the lighthouse and snapped three pictures at different angles. Looking at them later, she realized the camera had been set to take “selfies.” She laughed as she said, “My focus was me, me, and me. All I saw was me.” Krista’s photos got me thinking of a similar mistake: We can become so self-focused we lose sight of the bigger picture of God’s plan. Jesus’s cousin John clearly knew his focus wasn’t himself. Right from the start he recognized that his position or calling was to point others to Jesus, the Son of God. “Look, the Lamb of God!” he said when he saw J...