Foursquare Gospel Church Igbosere (Chapel of Blessing)

OUR DAILY BREAD May 19, Sunday THE CROOKED STEEPLE Adam Holz My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.  2 Corinthians 12:9 2 Corinthians 12:1–10 1 Chronicles 7–9; John 6:22–44 Turns out that crooked church steeples make people nervous. When we visited some friends, they shared how, after a fierce windstorm, their church’s proud steeple was crooked, causing some alarm. Of course, the church quickly repaired the flagging spire, but the humorous image got me thinking. Often church is seen as a place where everything is expected to look perfect; it’s not seen as a place where we can show up crooked.  Right? But in a fallen, broken world, all of us are “crooked,” each with our own collection of natural weaknesses. We might be tempted to keep our vulnerabilities under wraps, but Scripture encourages the opposite attitude. In 2 Corinthians 12, for example, Paul suggests that it’s in our weaknesses—for him, an unnamed struggle he calls a “tho...

OUR DAILY BREAD May 18, 2019, Saturday WE NEED EACH OTHER Amy Peterson Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace.  Colossians 3:15 Colossians 3:12–17 1 Chronicles 4–6; John 6:1–21 While on a hike with my kids, we discovered a light, springy green plant growing in small clumps on the trail. According to a signpost, the plant is commonly called deer moss, but it’s not actually a moss at all. It’s a lichen. A lichen is a fungus and an alga growing together in a mutualistic relationship in which both organisms benefit from each other. Neither the fungus nor the alga can survive on its own, but together they form a hardy plant that can live in some alpine areas for up to 4,500 years. Because the plant can withstand drought and low temperatures, it’s one of the only food sources for caribou (reindeer) in deep winter. The relationship between the fungus and the alga reminds me of our human relationships. We rely on each ot...

OUR DAILY BREAD May 17, 2019 Thursday GOD’S AMAZING HANDS Arthur Jackson Into your hands I commit my spirit; deliver me, Lord, my faithful God.  Psalm 31:5 Psalm 31:1–8 1 Chronicles 1–3; John 5:25–47 Twenty minutes into a flight from New York to San Antonio, the flight plan changed as calm gave way to chaos. When one of the plane’s engines failed, debris from the engine smashed through a window causing the cabin to decompress. Sadly, several passengers were injured and one person was killed. Had not a calm, capable pilot been in the cockpit—one trained as a Navy fighter pilot—things could have been tragically worse. The headline in our local paper read, “In Amazing Hands.” In Psalm 31, David revealed that he knew something about the Lord’s amazing, caring hands. That’s why he could confidently say, “Into your hands I commit my spirit” (v. 5). David believed that the Lord could be trusted even when life got bumpy. Because he was targeted by unfriendly forces, life was...

OUR DAILY BREAD May 16, 2019 Thursday BEAR HUG Elisa Morgan God is love.  1 John 4:16 1 John 4:13–19 2 Kings 24–25; John 5:1–24 “Bear” was a gift for my grandchild—a heaping helping of love contained in a giant stuffed animal frame. Baby D’s response? First, wonder. Next, an amazed awe. Then, a curiosity that nudged a daring exploration. He poked his pudgy finger at Bear’s nose, and when the Bear tumbled forward into his arms he responded with joy  joy  JOY! Baby D laid his toddler head down on Bear’s fluffy chest and hugged him tightly. A dimpled smile spread across his cheeks as he burrowed deeply into Bear’s cushiony softness. The child had no idea of Bear’s inability to truly love him. Innocently and naturally, he felt love from Bear and returned it with all his heart. In his first of three letters to early Christians, the apostle John boldly states that God Himself  is  love. “We know and rely on the love God has for us,” he writes. “God is love”...

OUR DAILY BREAD May 15, 2019 WHEN ALL SEEMS LOST Leslie Koh My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?  Psalm 22:1 Psalm 22:1–5 2 Kings 22–23; John 4:31–54 In just six months, Gerald’s life fell apart. An economic crisis destroyed his business and wealth, while a tragic accident took his son’s life. Overcome by shock, his mother had a heart attack and died, his wife went into depression, and his two young daughters remained inconsolable. All he could do was echo the words of the psalmist, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Psalm 22:1). The only thing that kept Gerald going was the hope that God, who raised Jesus to life, would one day deliver him and his family from their pain to an eternal life of joy. It was a hope that God would answer his desperate cries for help. In his despair, like the psalmist David, he determined to trust God in the midst of his suffering. He held on to the hope that God would deliver and save him (vv. 4–5). That hope sustained Gerald. O...

OUR DAILY BREAD May 14, 2019 Tuesday A KIND CRITIQUE Jennifer Benson Schuldt The law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.  John 1:17 John 4:7–15, 28–29 2 Kings 19–21; John 4:1–30 During a landscape painting class, the teacher, a highly experienced professional artist, assessed my first assignment. He stood silently in front of my painting, one hand cupping his chin.  Here we go,  I thought.  He’s going to say it’s terrible. But he didn’t. He said he liked the color scheme and the feeling of openness. Then he mentioned that the trees in the distance could be lightened. A cluster of weeds needed softer edges. He had the authority to criticize my work based on the rules of perspective and color, yet his critique was truthful and kind. Jesus, who was perfectly qualified to condemn people for their sin, didn’t use the Ten Commandments to crush a Samaritan woman He met at an ancient watering hole. He gently critiqued her life with...

OUR DAILY BREAD May 13, 2019 Monday A LONGING IN STONE Tim Gustafson I have let you see it with your eyes, but you will not cross over into it.  Deuteronomy 34:4 Deuteronomy 34:1–5 2 Kings 17–18; John 3:19–36 “Ah, every pier is a longing in stone!” says a line in Fernando Pessoa’s Portuguese poem “Ode Marítima.” Pessoa’s pier represents the emotions we feel as a ship moves slowly away from us. The vessel departs but the pier remains, an enduring monument to hopes and dreams, partings and yearnings. We ache for what’s lost, and for what we can’t quite reach. The Portuguese word translated “longing” ( saudade ) refers to a nostalgic yearning we feel—a deep ache that defies definition. The poet is describing the indescribable. We might say that Mount Nebo was Moses’s “longing in stone.” From Nebo he gazed into the promised land—a land he would never reach. God’s words to Moses—“I have let you see it with your eyes, but you will not cross over into it” (Deuteronomy 34:4)—mig...