Foursquare Gospel Church Igbosere (Chapel of Blessing)

OUR DAILY BREAD August 18, Sunday SPIRITUALLY EXHAUSTED? Julie Schwab An angel touched him and said, “Get up and eat.”  1 Kings 19:5 1 Kings 19:1–9 Psalms 100–102; 1 Corinthians 1 “Emotionally, we’ve sometimes worked a full day in one hour,” Zack Eswine writes in his book  The Imperfect Pastor.  Although he was referring specifically to the burdens pastors frequently carry, this is true for any of us. Weighty emotions and responsibilities can leave us physically, mentally, and spiritually exhausted. And all we want to do is sleep. In 1 Kings 19, the prophet Elijah found himself in a situation where he was depleted in every way. We read that Queen Jezebel threatened to put him to death (vv. 1–2) after she discovered he had the prophets of Baal killed (see 18:16–40). Elijah was so afraid he ran away and prayed he would die (19:3–4). In his distress, he lay down. An angel touched him twice and told him to “get up and eat” (vv. 5, 7). After the second time, Elijah ...

OUR DAILY BREAD August 17, Saturday CREATED FOR RELATIONSHIP Amy Peterson The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.”  Genesis 2:18 Genesis 2:15–25 Psalms 97–99; Romans 16 There’s a growing “rent-a-family” industry in many countries to meet the needs of lonely people. Some use the service to maintain appearances, so that at a social event they can appear to have a happy family. Some hire actors to impersonate estranged relatives, so that they can feel, if briefly, a familial connection they long for. This trend reflects a basic truth: Humans are created for relationship. In the creation story found in Genesis, God looks at each thing He has made and sees that it’s “very good” (1:31). But when God considers Adam, He says, “It is not good for the man to be alone” (2:18). The human needed another human. The Bible doesn’t just tell u...

OUR DAILY BREAD August 16, Friday A SAD STORY Winn Collier The thing David had done displeased the Lord.  2 Samuel 11:27 2 Samuel 11:2–15 Psalms 94–96; Romans 15:14–33 Painfully, the evil that has long been swept under the rug—sexual abuse of many women by men who had power over them—has come to light. Enduring headline after headline, my heart sank when I heard proof of abuse by two men I admired. The church has not been immune to these issues. King David faced his own reckoning. Samuel tells us that one afternoon, David “saw a woman bathing” (2 Samuel 11:2). And David wanted her. Though Bathsheba was the wife of one his loyal soldiers (Uriah), David took her anyway. When Bathsheba told David she was pregnant, he panicked. And in a despicable act of treachery, David arranged for Joab to have Uriah die on the battlefield. There is no hiding David’s abuse of power against Bathsheba and Uriah. Here it is in full color, Samuel ensuring we see it. We must deal...

OUR DAILY BREAD August 15, Thursday LINCOLN’S POCKETS Mike Wittmer Each of us should please our neighbors for their good, to build them up.  Romans 15:2 Romans 15:1–6 Psalms 91–93; Romans 15:1–13 The night US president Abraham Lincoln was shot at Ford’s Theater in 1865, his pockets contained the following: two spectacles, a lens polisher, a pocketknife, a watch fob, a handkerchief, a leather wallet containing a five-dollar Confederate bill, and eight newspaper clippings, including several that praised him and his policies. I wonder what the Confederate money was doing in the president’s pocket, but I have little doubt about the glowing news stories. Everyone needs encouragement, even a great leader like Lincoln! Can you see him, in the moments before the fateful play, perhaps reading them to his wife? Who do you know who needs encouragement?  Everyone ! Look around you. There isn’t one person in your line of vision who is as confident as they seem. We’re all one fa...

OUR DAILY BREAD August 14, Wednesday THE ILLUSION OF CONTROL Remi Oyedele You do not even know what will happen tomorrow.  James 4:14 James 4:13–17 Psalms 89–90; Romans 14 Ellen Langer’s 1975 study titled  The Illusion of Control  examined the level of influence we exert over life’s events. She found that we overestimate our degree of control in most situations. The study also demonstrated how reality nearly always shatters our illusion. Langer’s conclusions are supported by experiments carried out by others since the study was published. However, James identified the phenomenon long before she named it. In James 4, he wrote, “Now listen, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.’ Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes” (vv. 13–14). Then James provides a cure for the delusion, pointing to...

OUR DAILY BREAD August 13, Tuesday JESUS IN DISGUISE James Banks Whoever is kind to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will reward them for what they have done.  Proverbs 19:17 Matthew 25:31–40 Psalms 87–88; Romans 13 My son Geoff recently participated in a “homeless simulation.” He spent three days and two nights living on the streets of his city, sleeping outside in below freezing temperatures. Without food, money, or shelter, he relied on the kindness of strangers for his basic needs. On one of those days his only food was a sandwich, bought by a man who heard him asking for stale bread at a fast-food restaurant. Geoff told me later it was one of the hardest things he’d ever done, yet it profoundly impacted his outlook on others. He spent the day after his “simulation” seeking out homeless people who had been kind to him during his time on the street, doing what he could to assist them in simple ways. They were surprised ...

OUR DAILY BREAD August 12, Monday CELEBRATING GOD’S CREATIVITY Xochitl Dixon We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us.  Romans 12:6 Romans 12:3–8 Psalms 84–86; Romans 12 As music filled the church auditorium, color-blind artist Lance Brown stepped onstage. He stood in front of a large white canvas, with his back to the congregation and dipped his brush into black paint. With smooth swipes, he completed a cross. Stroke after stroke with brushes and his hands, this visual storyteller created images of Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection. He covered the large patches of the canvas with black paint and added blue and white to finish a now abstract painting in less than six minutes. He picked up the canvas, turned it upside down, and revealed a hidden image—a compassion-filled face—Jesus. Brown said he’d been reluctant when a friend suggested he speed-paint during a church service. Yet he now travels inter...