Foursquare Gospel Church Igbosere (Chapel of Blessing)

OUR DAILY BREAD July 12, Sunday UNITED IN SEPARATION Leslie Koh Let’s not have any quarreling between you and me . . . for we are close relatives.  Genesis 13:8 Genesis 13:1–9 Psalms 4–6; Acts 17:16–34 Thrown into a project with his colleague Tim, Alvin faced a major challenge: he and Tim had very different ideas of how to go about it. While they respected each other’s opinions, their approaches were so different that conflict seemed imminent. Before conflict broke out, however, the two men agreed to discuss their differences with their boss, who put them on separate teams. It turned out to be a wise move. That day, Alvin learned this lesson: Being united doesn’t always mean doing things together.  Abraham must have realized this truth when he suggested that he and Lot go their separate ways in Bethel (Genesis 13:5–9). Seeing that there wasn’t enough space for both their flocks, Abraham wisely suggested parting company. But first, he stressed that they were “close relatives” (...

OUR DAILY BREAD July 11, Saturday A PARADE OF COLORS Bill Crowder With your blood you purchased for God persons from every tribe and language and people and nation.  Revelation 5:9 Revelation 5:7–14 Psalms 1–3; Acts 17:1–15 For decades, London has been one of the most cosmopolitan cities in the world. In 1933, journalist Glyn Roberts wrote of England’s great capital, “I still think the parade of peoples and colours and tongues is just about the best thing in London.” That “parade” is still in evidence today with the blended smells, sounds, and sights of a global community. The beauty of diversity is part of the breathtaking appeal of one of the world’s greatest cities. As with any city inhabited by human beings, however, London is not without its problems. Change brings challenges. Cultures sometimes clash. And that is one of the reasons no city built by human hands can compare to the wonder of our eternal home. When the apostle John was transported into the presence of God, divers...

OUR DAILY BREAD July 10, Friday NOT TAKING ADVANTAGE Kirsten Holmberg Don’t harm yourself! We are all here!  Acts 16:28 Acts 16:22–34 Job 41–42; Acts 16:22–40 Several inmates were collecting roadside garbage to reduce their jail time when their supervisor, James, collapsed. They rushed to his aid and realized he was having a medical emergency. One inmate borrowed James’ phone to call for help. The sheriff’s department later thanked the inmates for helping get their supervisor prompt medical attention, especially because they could have instead neglected him—to his great detriment as he was having a stroke—or used the situation to their own advantage to escape.  The kindness of the inmates’ actions is not unlike those of Paul and Silas when they were imprisoned. After they’d been stripped, beaten, and thrown into prison, an earthquake struck so violently that it loosed their chains and shook the prison doors off their hinges (Acts 16:23–26). When the jailer awoke, he naturally ...

OUR DAILY BREAD July 9, Thursday THE FOOLISH WAY OF NEW LIFE Amy Peterson The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.  1 Corinthians 1:18 1 Corinthians 1:20–31 Job 38–40; Acts 16:1–21 Some things just don’t make sense until you experience them. When I was pregnant with my first child, I read multiple books about childbirth and listened to dozens of women tell their stories of labor and delivery. But I still couldn’t really imagine what the experience would be like. What my body was going to do seemed impossible!  Paul writes in 1 Corinthians that birth into God’s kingdom, the salvation that God offers us through Christ, seems equally incomprehensible to those who haven’t experienced it. It sounds like “foolishness” to say that salvation could come through a cross—a death marked by weakness, defeat, and humiliation. Yet this “foolishness” was the salvation that Paul preached!  It wasn’t what anyo...

OUR DAILY BREAD July 8, Wednesday A FRIEND IN FAILURE James Banks Paul did not think it wise to take him, because he had deserted them.  Acts 15:38 Acts 15:36–16:5 Job 36–37; Acts 15:22–41 On November 27, 1939, three treasure hunters accompanied by film crews dug through the asphalt outside of the Hollywood Bowl amphitheater in Southern California. They were looking for the Cahuenga Pass treasure, consisting of gold, diamonds, and pearls rumored to have been buried there seventy-five years earlier. They never found it. After twenty-four days of digging, they struck a boulder and stopped. All they accomplished was a nine-foot-wide, forty-two-foot-deep hole in the ground. They walked away dejected. To err is human—we all fail sometimes. Scripture tells us that young Mark walked away from Paul and Barnabas on a missionary trip “and had not continued with them in the work.” Because of this, “Paul did not think it wise to take him” on his next trip (Acts 15:38), which resulted in a...

OUR DAILY BREAD July 7, Tuesday PRAYER EGGS Elisa Morgan Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay.  Habakkuk 2:3 Habakkuk 2:1–3 Job 34–35; Acts 15:1–21 Just outside my kitchen window, a robin built her nest under the eaves of our patio roof. I loved watching her tuck grasses into a safe spot and then hunker down to incubate the eggs. Each morning I checked her progress; but each morning, there was nothing. Robin eggs take two weeks to hatch. Such impatience isn’t new for me. I’ve always strained against the work of waiting, especially in prayer. My husband and I waited nearly five years to adopt our first child. Decades ago, author Catherine Marshall wrote, “Prayers, like eggs, don’t hatch as soon as we lay them.” The prophet Habakkuk wrestled with waiting in prayer. Frustrated at God’s silence with Babylon’s brutal mistreatment of the Southern Kingdom of Judah, Habakkuk commits to “stand at my watch and station myself on the ramparts,” to “look to s...

OUR DAILY BREAD July 6, MONDAY A FLOURISHING TREE Adam R. Holz Those who trust in their riches will fall, but the righteous will thrive like a green leaf.  Proverbs 11:28 Proverbs 11:24–30 Job 32–33; Acts 14 I’ve always had a collector’s heart. As a kid, I collected stamps. Baseball cards. Comics. Now, as a parent, I see the same impulse in my kids. Sometimes I wonder,  Do you really need another teddy bear?  Of course, it’s not about  need . It’s about the allure of something new. Or sometimes the tantalizing draw of something old, something rare. Whatever captivates our imagination, we’re tempted to believe that if we only had “X,” our lives would be better. We’d be happy. Content.  Except those things never deliver the goods. Why? Because God created us to be filled by Him, not by the things that the world around us often insists will satisfy our longing hearts.    This tension is hardly new. Proverbs contrasts two ways of life: a life spent pursuin...