Foursquare Gospel Church Igbosere (Chapel of Blessing)

OUR DAILY BREAD June 28, Sunday REDEMPTION’S HOPE James Banks Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. Acts 2:21 Acts 9:1–4, 10–18 Job 11–13; Acts 9:1–21 The man seemed beyond redemption. His crimes included eight shootings (killing six) and starting nearly 1,500 fires that terrorized New York City in the 1970s. He left letters at his crime scenes taunting the police, and he was eventually apprehended and given consecutive sentences of twenty-five years to life for each murder. Yet God reached down to this man. Today he is a believer in Christ who spends time daily in the Scriptures, has expressed deep regret to his victims’ families, and continues to pray for them. Although imprisoned for more than four decades, this man who seemed beyond redemption finds hope in God and claims, “My freedom is found in one word: Jesus.” Scripture tells of another unlikely conversion. Before he met the risen Christ on the road to Damascus, Saul (who later became the apostle Paul) was “...

OUR DAILY BREAD June 27, Saturday LOVE PASSED DOWN Amy Peterson I am reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and . . . now lives in you.  2 Timothy 1:5 2 Timothy 1:1–8, 13–14 Job 8–10; Acts 8:26–40 My daughter has become fascinated with Nancy Drew. In the last three weeks, she’s read at least a dozen of the novels featuring the girl sleuth. She comes by her love of detective stories honestly: I loved Nancy Drew too, and the blue-bound copies that my mom read in the 1960s still line a shelf in her house. Seeing this affection passed down makes me wonder what else I’m passing down. In his second letter to Timothy, Paul wrote that when he thought of Timothy, he was reminded of the “sincere faith” that lived in Timothy’s grandmother and mother. I hope that along with her love of mysteries, my daughter is also inheriting faith—that she will “serve” as her grandparents have, that she will pray, and that she will hold ...

OUR DAILY BREAD June 26, Friday BEAT AGAIN Sheridan VOYSEY March on, my soul; be strong!  Judges 5:21 Judges 5:19–21 Job 5–7; Acts 8:1–25 In 2012, Phillips, Craig and Dean released their song “Tell Your Heart to Beat Again.” It was inspired by the true story of a heart surgeon. After removing a patient’s heart to repair it, the surgeon returned it to the chest and began gently massaging it back to life. But the heart wouldn’t restart. More intense measures followed, but the heart still wouldn’t beat. Finally, the surgeon knelt next to the unconscious patient and spoke to her: “Miss Johnson,” he said, “this is your surgeon. The operation went perfectly. Your heart has been repaired. Now tell your heart to beat again.” Her heart began to beat. The idea that we could tell our physical heart to do something might seem strange, but it has spiritual parallels. “Why, my soul, are you downcast?” the psalmist says to himself. “Put your hope in God” (Psalm 42:5). “Return to your rest, my sou...

OUR DAILY BREAD June 25, Thursday DEEP-ROOTED FAITH Xochitl Dixon The seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it.  Matthew 13:23 Matthew 13:18–23 Job 3–4; Acts 7:44–60 The Holy Oak stood next to Basking Ridge Presbyterian Church in New Jersey for more than six hundred years until it had to be removed. At its prime, the twisting branches spanned high and wide. Cool breezes rustled its green leaves and acorns. The sun peeked through wind-blown gaps, creating dancing glimmers of light in the shade below its canopy. But beneath the ground’s surface lay its true magnificence—its root system. An oak’s main root grows vertically, securing a reliable supply of nourishment. From that taproot, a mass of roots spreads horizontally to supply the tree with a lifetime of moisture and nutrients. This intricate root system often grows more massive than the tree it supports and serves as a lifeline and an anchor for stabilizing the trunk. Like the mighty ...

OUR DAILY BREAD June 24, Wednesday DEBT ERASER Arthur Jackson [Jesus Christ] loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood.  Revelation 1:5 Revelation 1:4–7 Job 1–2; Acts 7:22–43 Stunned  is just one word that describes the response of the crowd at the 2019 graduation ceremony at Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia. The commencement speaker announced that he and his family would be donating millions of dollars to erase the student debt of the entire graduating class. One student—with $100,000 in loans—was among the overwhelmed graduates who expressed their joys with tears and shouts. Most of us have experienced indebtedness in some form—having to pay for homes, vehicles, education, medical expenses, or other things. But we’ve also known the amazing relief of a bill being stamped “PAID”! After declaring Jesus as “the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth,” John worshipfully acknowledged His debt-erasing work: “To hi...

OUR DAILY BREAD June 23 UNDERESTIMATING OURSELVES Glenn Packiam Samuel said, “Although you were once small in your own eyes, did you not become the head of the tribes of Israel? The  Lord  anointed you king over Israel.”  1 Samuel 15:17 1 Samuel 15:10–18 Esther 9–10; Acts 7:1–21 The young man became his team’s captain. The professional sports squad was now led by a mild-mannered kid who barely needed to shave. His first press conference was underwhelming. He kept deferring to the coach and to his teammates, and mumbled clichés about just trying to do his job. The team performed poorly that season, and by the end of it the young captain had been traded. He didn’t grasp that he’d been entrusted with the authority to lead, or maybe he never believed he could. Due to his failures, Saul was “small in [his] own eyes” (1 Samuel 15:17)—which is a funny thing to say about a guy who’s described as being tall. He was literally head and shoulders above the rest (9:2). And yet that wa...

OIR DAILY BREAD June 22, MONDAY ETERNAL EYES Estera Pirosca Escobar We fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen.  2 Corinthians 4:18 2 Corinthians 4:7–18 Esther 6–8; Acts 6 Eternal  eyes, that’s what my friend Madeline prays her children and grandchildren would have. Her family has gone through a tumultuous season that ended with the death of her daughter. As the family grieves from this horrific loss, Madeline longs for them to be less and less nearsighted—consumed by the pain of this world. And to be more and more farsighted—filled with hope in our loving God. The apostle Paul and his co-workers experienced great suffering at the hands of persecutors and even from believers who tried to discredit them. Yet, they had their eyes fixed on eternity. Paul boldly acknowledged that “we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal” (2 Corinthians 4:18). Although they were doing God’s work, they...