Foursquare Gospel Church Igbosere (Chapel of Blessing)

OUR DAILY BREAD January 5 SHINING THE LIGHT Dave Branon You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden.  Matthew 5:14 Matthew 5:14–16 Genesis 13–15; Matthew 5:1–26 Stephen told his parents that he needed to get to school early every day, but for some reason he never explained why it was so important. Yet they made sure he arrived at Northview High School by 7:15 each morning. On a wintry day during his junior year, Stephen was in a car accident that sadly took his life. Later, his mom and dad found out why he’d been going to school so early. Each morning he and some friends had gathered at the school entrance to greet other students with a smile, a wave, and a kind word. It made all students—even those who weren’t popular—feel welcomed and accepted. A believer in Jesus, Stephen wanted to share His joy with those who desperately needed it. His example lives on as a reminder that one of the best ways to sh...

OUR DAILY BREAD January 3, Friday GOD WAITED Winn Collier The Lord longs to be gracious to you.  Isaiah 30:18 Isaiah 30:8–18 Genesis 7–9; Matthew 3 When Denise Levertov was just twelve, long before she became a renowned poet, she had the gumption to mail a package of poetry to the great poet T. S. Eliot. She then waited for a reply. Surprisingly, Eliot sent two pages of handwritten encouragement. In the preface to her collection  The Stream and the Sapphire,  she explained how the poems “trace [her] own movement from agnosticism to Christian faith.” It’s powerful, then, to recognize how one of the later poems (“Annunciation”) narrates Mary’s surrender to God. Noting the Holy Spirit’s refusal to overwhelm Mary and His desire for Mary to freely receive the Christ child, these two words blaze at the poem’s center: “God waited.” In Mary’s story, Levertov recognized her own....

OUR DAILY BREAD JANUARY 4, SATURDAY PERFECTLY PLACED Remi Oyedele Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation?  Job 38:4 Job 38:4–11 Genesis 10–12; Matthew 4 Scientists know our planet is precisely the right distance from the sun to benefit from its heat. A little closer and all the water would evaporate, as on Venus. Only a bit farther and everything would freeze like it does on Mars. Earth is also just the right size to generate the right amount of gravity. Less would make everything weightlessly sterile like our moon, while more gravity would trap poisonous gases that suffocate life as on Jupiter. The intricate physical, chemical, and biological interactions that comprise our world bear the imprint of a sophisticated Designer. We catch a glimpse of this complex craftsmanship when God speaks to Job about things beyond our understanding. “Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation?” God asks. “Who marked off its dim...

OUR DAILY BREAD January 3, Friday GOD WAITED Winn Collier The Lord longs to be gracious to you.  Isaiah 30:18 Isaiah 30:8–18 Genesis 7–9; Matthew 3 When Denise Levertov was just twelve, long before she became a renowned poet, she had the gumption to mail a package of poetry to the great poet T. S. Eliot. She then waited for a reply. Surprisingly, Eliot sent two pages of handwritten encouragement. In the preface to her collection  The Stream and the Sapphire,  she explained how the poems “trace [her] own movement from agnosticism to Christian faith.” It’s powerful, then, to recognize how one of the later poems (“Annunciation”) narrates Mary’s surrender to God. Noting the Holy Spirit’s refusal to overwhelm Mary and His desire for Mary to freely receive the Christ child, these two words blaze at the poem’s center: “God waited.” In Mary’s story, Levertov recognized her own....

OUR DAILY BREAD JANUARY 2, THURSDAY GOOD FOR YOU Kirsten Holmberg Wisdom is like honey for you: If you find it, there is a future hope.  Proverbs 24:14 Proverbs 24:13–14 Genesis 4–6; Matthew 2 People the world over spent an estimated $98.2 billion on chocolate in 2016. The number is staggering, yet at the same time not all that surprising. Chocolate, after all, tastes delicious and we enjoy consuming it. So the world rejoiced collectively when the sweet treat was found to have significant health benefits as well. Chocolate contains flavonoids that help safeguard the body against aging and heart disease. Never has a prescription for health been so well received or heeded (in moderation, of course!). Solomon suggested there’s another “sweet” worthy of our investment: wisdom. He recommended his son eat honey “for it is good” (Proverbs 24:13) and compared its sweetness to wisdom. The person who feeds on God’s wisdom in Scri...

OUR DAILY BREAD January 1 PROMPTED TO PRAY James Banks I constantly remember you in my prayers.  2 Timothy 1:3 1 Timothy 2:1–8 Genesis 1–3; Matthew 1 “Several years ago I was prompted to pray for you often, and I wonder why.” That text message from an old friend came with a photo of a note she’d kept in her Bible: “Pray for James. Cover mind, thoughts, words.” Beside my name she’d recorded three separate years. I looked at the years and caught my breath. I wrote back and asked what month she began to pray. She responded, “Sometime around July.” That was the month I was preparing to leave home for extended study abroad. I would be facing an unfamiliar culture and language and have my faith challenged like never before. As I looked at the note, I realized I’d received the precious gift of generous prayer.     My friend’s kindness reminded me of another “prompting” to ...

OUR DAILY BREAD December 31, Tuesday BEAUTIFUL FRUIT Anne Cetas The seed is the word of God.  Luke 8:11 Luke 8:4–8, 11–15 Malachi 1–4; Revelation 22 “Kids should be able to throw a seed anywhere they want [in the garden] and see what pops up,” suggests Rebecca Lemos-Otero, founder of City Blossoms. While this is not a model for careful gardening, it reflects the reality that each seed has the potential to burst forth with life. Since 2004, City Blossoms has created gardens for schools and neighborhoods in low-income areas. The kids are learning about nutrition and gaining job skills through gardening. Rebecca says, “Having a lively green space in an urban area . . . creates a way for kids to be outside doing something productive and beautiful.” Jesus told a story about the scattering of seed that had the potential of producing “a hundred times more than was sown” (Luke 8:8). That seed was God’s good news planted...

OUR DAILY BREAD DECEMBER 30, MONDAY A DESIGNED DEFICIENCY David H. Roper You did not look to the One who made it, or have regard for the One who planned it long ago.  Isaiah 22:11 Isaiah 22:8–11 Zechariah 13–14; Revelation 21 There’s a natural spring that rises on the east side of the city of Jerusalem. In ancient times it was the city’s only water supply and was located  outside  the walls. Thus it was the point of Jerusalem’s greatest vulnerability. The exposed spring meant that the city, otherwise impenetrable, could be forced to surrender if an attacker were to divert or dam the spring. King Hezekiah addressed this weakness by driving a tunnel through 1,750 feet of solid rock from the spring into the city where it flowed into the “Lower Pool” (see 2 Kings 20:20; 2 Chronicles 32:2–4). But in all of this, Hezekiah “did not look to the One who made it, or have regard for the One who planned it l...