Foursquare Gospel Church Igbosere (Chapel of Blessing)

OUR DAILY BREAD April 14, Sunday HOPE RESTORED John Blase When Jesus saw him lying there . . . , he asked him, “Do you want to get well?”  John 5:6 John 5:1–8 1 Samuel 25–26; Luke 12:32–59 Does the sun rise in the east? Is the sky blue? Is the ocean salty? Is the atomic weight of cobalt 58.9? Okay, that last one you might only know if you’re a science geek or tend to dabble in trivia, but the other questions have an obvious answer: Yes. In fact, questions like these are usually mixed with a hint of sarcasm. If we’re not careful, our modern—sometimes jaded—ears can hear a bit of sarcasm in Jesus’s question to an invalid: “Do you want to get well?” (John 5:6). The obvious answer would seem to be, “Are you kidding me?! I’ve been wanting help for thirty-eight years!” But there’s no sarcasm present, that’s the furthest thing from the truth. Jesus’s voice is always filled...

OUR DAILY BREAD April 13, Saturday ARE YOU THERE ? Leslie Koh I will be with you.  Exodus 3:12 Exodus 3:11–14 1 Samuel 22–24; Luke 12:1–31 When his wife contracted a terminal illness, Michael longed for her to experience the peace he had through his relationship with God. He had shared his faith with her, but she wasn’t interested. One day, as he walked through a local bookstore, a title caught his eye:  God, Are You There? Unsure how his wife would respond to the book, he walked in and out of the store several times before finally buying it. To his surprise, she accepted it. The book touched her, and she began to read the Bible too. Two weeks later, Michael’s wife passed away—at peace with God and resting in the assurance that He would never leave or forsake her. When God called Moses to lead His people out of Egypt, He didn’t promise him power. Instead, He promised His presence: “I will be with you” (Exodus 3:12). In Jesus’s last words to His disciples before His ...

OUR DAILY BREAD April 12, Friday BEING CONSUMED Bill Crowder When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long.  Psalm 32:3 Psalm 32 1 Samuel 19–21; Luke 11:29–54 In his book  The Call,  Os Guinness describes a moment when Winston Churchill, on holiday with friends in the south of France, sat by the fireplace to warm himself on a cold night. Gazing at the fire, the former prime minister saw pine logs “crackling, hissing, and spitting as they burned. Suddenly, his familiar voice growled, ‘I know why logs spit. I know what it is to be consumed.’” Difficulties, despair, dangers, distress, and the results of our own wrongdoings can all feel consuming. Circumstances slowly drain our hearts of joy and peace. When David experienced the consuming consequences of his own sinful choices, he wrote, “When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. . . . My strength was sapped as in the heat of summer” (Psalm 32:3–4). In su...

OUR DAILY BREAD April 11, Thursday PEACE-FILLED HEARTS Kirsten Holmberg A heart at peace gives life to the body, but envy rots the bones.  Proverbs 14:30 Proverbs 14:29–35 1 Samuel 17–18; Luke 11:1–28 For forty-five years after his career as a professional athlete ended, Jerry Kramer wasn’t inducted into his sport’s hall of fame (the highest recognition). He enjoyed many other honors and achievements, but this one eluded him. Although he’d been nominated for the honor ten times, it had never been bestowed. Despite having his hopes dashed so many times, Kramer was gracious, saying, “I felt like [the National Football League] had given me 100 presents in my lifetime and to be upset or angry about one I didn’t get was kind of stupid!” Where others might have grown bitter after being denied so many times in favor of other players, Kramer wasn’t. His attitude illustrates the way we can safeguard our hearts against the corrosive nature of envy, which “rots the bones” ...

OUR DAILY BREAD April 10, Wednesday THROUGH THE VALLEY Amy Boucher Pye Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me.  Psalm 23:4 Psalm 23 1 Samuel 15–16; Luke 10:25–42 Hae Woo (not her real name) was imprisoned in a North Korean labor camp for crossing the border into China. The days and nights were torture, she said, with brutal guards, backbreaking work, and little sleep on an ice-cold floor with rats and lice. But God helped her daily, including showing her which prisoners to befriend and share her faith with. After she was released from the camp and living in South Korea, Woo reflected on her time of imprisonment, saying that Psalm 23 summed up her experience. Although she’d been trapped in a dark valley, Jesus was her Shepherd who gave her peace: “Even though it felt as if I was literally in a valley full of the shadow of death, I wasn’t afraid of anything. God comforted me every day.” She experienced God’s goodness and love ...

OUR DAILY BREAD April 9, Tuesday GOOD NEWS TO TELL Estera Pirosca Escobar Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus.  Acts 8:35 Acts 8:26–35 1 Samuel 13–14; Luke 10:1–24 “What’s your name?” asked Arman, an Iranian student. After I told him my name is Estera, his face lit up as he exclaimed, “We have a similar name in Farsi, it’s Setare!” That small connection opened up an amazing conversation. I told him I was named after a Bible character, “Esther,” a Jewish queen in Persia (present-day Iran). Starting with her story, I shared the good news of Jesus. As a result of our conversation, Arman started attending a weekly Bible study to learn more about Christ.  One of Jesus’s followers, Philip, guided by the Holy Spirit, asked a question that ignited a conversation with an Ethiopian official traveling in his chariot: “Do you understand what you are reading?” (Acts 8:30). The Ethiopian man was reading a pass...

OUR DAILY BREAD April 8, Monday UNEXPECTED WINNERS Winn Collier Many who are first will be last.  Matthew 19:30 Matthew 19:17–30 1 Samuel 10–12; Luke 9:37–62 Perhaps the most preposterous, spellbinding moment in the 2018 Winter Olympics was when the Czech Republic’s world champion snowboarder Ester Ledecka won an event in a completely different sport: skiing! And she took the first-place gold medal even though she had the unenviable position of skiing 26th—a feat believed to be basically impossible. Amazingly, Ledecka qualified to race the women’s super-G—an event that combines downhill skiing with a slalom course. After she won by .01 of a second on  borrowed  skis, she was just as shocked as the media and other contestants who had assumed the winner would be one of the top skiers. This is how the world works. We assume the winners will keep winning while all the others will lose. It was a jolt, then, when the disciples heard Jesus say how “hard [it is] for som...