Foursquare Gospel Church Igbosere (Chapel of Blessing)

OUR DAILY BREAD DECEMBER 29, SUNDAY WASHED IN LOVE Xochitl Dixon You see that a person is considered righteous by what they do and not by faith alone.  James 2:24 James 2:14–26 Zechariah 9–12; Revelation 20 A small church in Southern California recognized an opportunity to express God’s love in a practical way. Believers in Jesus gathered at a local laundromat to give back to their community by washing clothes for those in financial need. They cleaned and folded clothes together, and sometimes provided a hot meal or bags of groceries for recipients. One volunteer discovered the greatest reward was in the “actual contact with people . . . hearing their stories.” Because of their relationship with Jesus, these volunteers wanted to live out their faith through loving words and actions that helped them nurture genuine relationships with others. The apostle James affirms that every act of a professing believer’s loving service is a re...

OUR DAILY BREAD DECEMBER 28, SATURDAY NEVER FORGOTTEN Lisa M. Samra I will not forget you!  Isaiah 49:15 Isaiah 49:8–16 Zechariah 5–8; Revelation 19 Egged on by my children to prove I’d endured years mastering the basics of piano, I sat down and started playing the C Major scale. Having played very little piano in nearly two decades, I was surprised I remembered! Feeling brave, I proceeded to play seven different scales by heart one right after the other. I was shocked! Years of practicing had imprinted the notes and technique so deeply in my fingers’ “memory” that they instantly knew what to do.   There are some things that can never be forgotten. But God’s love for His children is far more deeply imprinted than any of our fading memories—in fact, God  can’t  forget them. This is what the Israelites needed to hear when the exile left them feeling abandoned by Him (Isaiah 49:14). His response ...

OUR DAILY BREAD DECEMBER 27, FRIDAY LED BY HIS WORD Patricia Raybon Direct my footsteps according to your word; let no sin rule over me.  Psalm 119:133 Psalm 119:1, 133–136 Zechariah 1–4; Revelation 18 At the BBC in London, Paul Arnold’s first broadcasting job was making “walking sounds” in radio dramas. While actors read from scripts during a walking scene, Paul as stage manager made corresponding sounds with his feet—careful to match his pace to the actor’s voice and spoken lines. The key challenge, he explained, was yielding to the actor in the story, “so the two of us were working together.” A divine version of such cooperation was sought by the author of Psalm 119, which emphasizes living by the precepts of God’s Word. As Psalm 119:1 says, “Blessed are those whose ways are blameless, who walk according to the law of the Lord.” Led this way by God and following His instructions, we can remai...

OUR DAILY BREAD DECEMBER 26, THURSDAY THE BIG SHUFFLE Sheridan Voysey It is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God.  Ephesians 2:8 Ephesians 2:4–10 Haggai 1–2; Revelation 17 In  The Call of Service , author Robert Coles, exploring our reasons for serving, tells the moving story of an older woman’s service to others. As a bus driver, she showed great care toward the children she drove to school each day—quizzing them on homework and celebrating their successes. “I want to see these kids make it in life,” she said of her motivation. But there was another reason too. As a youth, the words of an aunt had shaken this woman to the core. “She’d tell us that we had to do something God would notice,” she told Coles, “or else we’d get lost in the big shuffle!” Worried at the prospect of hell after the “big shuffle” of judgment, t...

OUR DAILY BREAD December 25, WEDNESDAY GROWING INTO GIVING James Banks Freely you have received; freely give.  Matthew 10:8 2 Corinthians 8:1–9 Zephaniah 1–3; Revelation 16 “I got you a present!” my two-year-old grandson shouted excitedly as he pressed a box into my hands. “He picked it out all by himself,” my wife smiled. I opened the box to find a Christmas ornament of his favorite cartoon character. “Can I see it?” he asked anxiously. Then he played with “my” present for the rest of the evening, and as I watched him, I smiled. I smiled because I remembered gifts I had given loved ones in the past, like the music album I gave my older brother one Christmas when I was in high school that I really wanted to listen to (and did). And I realized how years later God was still stretching me and teaching me to give more unselfishly. Giving is something we grow into. Paul wrote, “But since you excel in everythi...

OUR DAILY BREAD December 24, TUESDAY A CHRISTMAS VISITOR Amy Boucher Pye Sovereign Lord, . . . you may now dismiss your servant in peace.  Luke 2:29 Luke 2:25–33 Habakkuk 1–3; Revelation 15 On Christmas Eve 1944, a man known as “Old Brinker” lay dying in a prison hospital, waiting for the makeshift Christmas service led by fellow prisoners. “When does the music start?” he asked William McDougall, who was imprisoned with him in Muntok Prison in Sumatra. “Soon,” replied McDougall. “Good,” replied the dying man. “Then I’ll be able to compare them with the angels.”  Although decades earlier Brinker had moved away from his faith in God, in his dying days he confessed his sins and found peace with Him. Instead of greeting others with a sour look, he would smile, which “was quite a transformation,” said McDougall. Brinker died peacefully after the choir of eleven emaciated prisoners s...

OUR DAILY BREAD DECEMBER 23, MONDAY A STRING OF YESES Elisa Morgan Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.  Luke 2:19 Luke 2:15–19 Nahum 1–3; Revelation 14 One Christmas, my grandmother gave me a beautiful pearl necklace. The beautiful beads glowed about my neck until one day the string broke. Balls bounced in all directions off our home’s hardwood flooring. Crawling over the planks, I recovered each tiny orb. On their own, they were small. But oh, when strung together, those pearls made such an impression! Sometimes my yeses to God seem so insignificant—like those individual pearls. I compare myself to Mary, the mother of Jesus who was so fantastically obedient. She said yes when she embraced God’s call for her to carry the Messiah. “‘I am the Lord’s servant,’ Mary answered. ‘May your word to me be fulfilled’” (Luke 1:38). Did she understand all that would be required of her? That an even bigger yes to relinquishing her Son on the cross lo...