Foursquare Gospel Church Igbosere (Chapel of Blessing)

OUR DAILY BREAD February 2, Sunday A TIME FOR BEAUTY Jennifer Benson Schuldt A crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning.  Isaiah 61:3 Isaiah 61:1–7 Exodus 29–30; Matthew 21:23–46 One January morning I woke expecting to see the same dreary midwinter landscape that had greeted me for several weeks: beige grass poking through patches of snow, gray skies, and skeletal trees. Something unusual had happened overnight, though. A frost had coated everything with ice crystals. The lifeless and depressing landscape had become a beautiful scene that glistened in the sun and dazzled me. Sometimes we view problems without the imagination it takes to have faith. We expect pain, fear, and despair to greet us every morning, but overlook the possibility of something different ever happening. We don’t expect recovery, growth, or victory through God’s power. Yet the Bible says God is the one who helps us through difficult times....

OUR DAILY BREAD February 1, SATURDAY FULL ATTENTION Adam R. Holz Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances.  1 Thessalonians 5:16–18 1 Thessalonians 5:12–28 Exodus 27–28; Matthew 21:1–22 Technology today seems to demand our constant attention. The modern “miracle” of the internet gives us the amazing capacity to access humanity’s collective learning in the palm of our hand. But for many, such constant access can come at a cost. Writer Linda Stone has coined the phrase “continual partial attention” to describe the modern impulse to always need to know what’s happening “out there,” to make sure we’re not missing anything. If that sounds like it could produce chronic anxiety, you’re right! Although the apostle Paul struggled with different reasons for anxiety, he knew our souls are wired to find peace in God. Which is why, in a letter to new believers who’d en...

OUR DAILY BREAD January 31, Friday GOING , GOING, GONE Mike Wittmer Cast but a glance at riches, and they are gone.  Proverbs 23:5 Proverbs 23:1–5 Exodus 25–26; Matthew 20:17–34 The mischievous artist Banksy pulled off another practical joke. His painting  Girl with Balloon  sold for one million pounds at Sotheby’s auction house in London. Moments after the auctioneer yelled “Sold,” an alarm sounded and the painting slipped halfway through a shredder mounted inside the bottom of the frame. Banksy tweeted a picture of bidders gasping at his ruined masterpiece, with the caption, “Going, going, gone.” Banksy relished pulling one over on the wealthy, but he need not have bothered. Wealth itself has plenty of pranks up its sleeve. God says, “Do not wear yourself out to get rich . . . . Cast but a glance at riches, and they are gone, for they will surely sprout wings and fly off to the sky like an eagle” (Pro...

OUR DAILY BREAD January 30, Thursday STRENGTHENING WEAK KNEES Linda Washington Strengthen the feeble hands, steady the knees that give way.  Isaiah 35:3 Isaiah 35:1–4 Exodus 23–24; Matthew 20:1–16 When I was a kid, I thought the song title “He Looked Beyond My Fault and Saw My Need,” written by Dottie Rambo in 1967, was “He Looked Beyond My Faults and Saw My Knees.” Employing the logic of a child, I wondered why God would look at knees. Was it because they were weak? I knew that  weak-kneed  meant “afraid.” I later discovered that Dottie had written the song about God’s unconditional love in response to her brother Eddie’s belief that he was unlovable because of the wrong things he’d done. Dottie assured him that God saw his weakness but loved him anyway. God’s unconditional love is apparent throughout the many  weak-kneed  moments of the people of Israel and Judah. He ...

OUR DAILY BREAD January 29, Wednesday LIFE TO THE FULL John Blase The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.  John 10:10 John 10:7–15 Exodus 21–22; Matthew 19 The year was 1918, near the end of World War I, and photographer Eric Enstrom was putting together a portfolio of his work. He wanted to include one that communicated a sense of fullness in a time that felt quite empty to so many people. In his now much-loved photo, a bearded old man sits at a table with his head bowed and his hands clasped in prayer. On the surface before him there is only a book, spectacles, a bowl of gruel, a loaf of bread, and a knife. Nothing more, but also nothing less. Some might say the photograph reveals scarcity. But Enstrom’s point was quite the opposite: Here is a full life, one lived in gratitude, one you and I can experience as well regardless of our circumstances. Jesus announces the good news in...

OUR DAILY BREAD January 28, Tuesday AN OLD CLAY POT David H. Roper We have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.  2 Corinthians 4:7 2 Corinthians 4:7–12 Exodus 19–20; Matthew 18:21–35 I’ve acquired a number of old clay pots over the years. My favorite was excavated from a site dated during Abraham’s time. It’s at least one item in our home that is older than I! It’s not much to look at: stained, cracked, chipped, and in need of a good scrubbing. I keep it to remind me that I’m just a man made out of mud. Though fragile and weak, I carry an immeasurably precious treasure—Jesus. “We have this treasure [Jesus] in jars of clay” (2 Corinthians 4:7). Paul continues: “We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed” (vv. 8–9).  Hard pressed, perplexed, persecuted, struck down.  These are the pressures the pot must...

OUR DAILY BREAD January 27, FRIENDSHIP BENCH Patricia Raybon The Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as one speaks to a friend.  Exodus 33:11 Exodus 33:9–11 Exodus 16–18; Matthew 18:1–20 In the African country of Zimbabwe, war trauma and high unemployment can leave people in despair—until they find hope on a “friendship bench.” Hopeless people can go there to talk with trained “grandmothers”—elderly women taught to listen to people struggling with depression, known in that nation’s Shona language as  kufungisisa , or “thinking too much.” The Friendship Bench Project is being launched in other places, including Zanzibar, London, and New York City. “We were thrilled to bits with the results,” said one London researcher. A New York counselor agreed. “Before you know it, you’re not on a bench, you’re just inside a warm conversation with someone who cares....

Theme of the Year: A.D. 2020 Our Year of Divine All-Round Sufficiency. (2 Corinthians 3:5; 9:8) Them of the Month: Divine All-Round Sufficiency Topic: New Mind for Divine All-Round Sufficiency Mind is the human consciousness that originates in the brain and is manifested especially in thought, perception, emotion, will, memory, and imagination. The mind is the starting point of everything a man does and becomes in life. It plays a very important role in in the whole being of a man. Keeping the mind in right condition for effective and productive reasoning is sole responsibility of man. The Bible teaches in the book of Romans 12:2 thus: “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God”. The word of God renews the mind when it is studied regularly, believed and adopted as standard for living. The mind is a battlefield for the Spirit of God and the devil as ...