Foursquare Gospel Church Igbosere (Chapel of Blessing)

OUR DAILY BREAD October 4, Sunday STRANGE COMFORT Tim Gustafson Open his eyes,  Lord,  so that he may see.  2 Kings 6:17 2 Kings 6:15–17 Isaiah 20–22; Ephesians 6 The verse on the card Lisa received didn’t seem to match her situation: “Then the  Lord  opened the servant’s eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha” (2 Kings 6:17).  I have cancer!  she thought in confusion.  I’ve just lost a baby! A verse about angel soldiers doesn’t apply. Then the “angels” began to show up. Cancer survivors gave her their time and a listening ear. Her husband got released early from an overseas military assignment. Friends prayed with her. But the moment she most felt God’s love was when her friend Patty walked in with two boxes of tissues. Placing them on the table, she started crying. Patty  knew . She’d endured miscarriages too. “That meant more than anything,” Lisa says. “The card made sense now. My ‘angel...

OUR DAILY BREAD October 3, Saturday REMOVING THE INTRUDER Elisa Morgan Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.  Ephesians 5:25 Ephesians 5:25–33 Isaiah 17–19; Ephesians 5:17–33 It wasn’t quite dawn when my husband rose from bed and went into the kitchen. I saw the light flip on and off and wondered at his action. Then I recalled that the previous morning I’d yelped at the sight of an “intruder” on our kitchen counter. Translated: an undesirable creature of the six-legged variety. My husband knew my paranoia and immediately arrived to remove it. This morning he’d risen early to ensure our kitchen was bug-free so I could enter without concern. What a guy! My husband awoke with me on his mind, putting my need before his own. To me, his action illustrates the love Paul describes in Ephesians 5:25, “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.” Paul goes on, “Husbands ought to love their wives as ...

OUR DAILY BREAD October 2, Friday HE WON’T LET US GO Marvin Williams I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand.  John 10:28 John 10:22–30 Isaiah 14–16; Ephesians 5:1–16 Julio was biking across the George Washington Bridge—a busy, double-decked thoroughfare connecting New York City and New Jersey—when he encountered a life-or-death situation. A man was standing on a ledge over the Hudson River preparing to jump. Knowing that the police wouldn’t arrive in time, Julio acted quickly. He recalls getting off his bike and spreading out his arms, saying something like: “Don’t do it. We love you.” Then, like a shepherd with a crook, he grabbed the distraught man, and with the help of another passerby, brought him to safety. According to reports, Julio wouldn’t let go of the man, even after he was safe.   Two millennia earlier, in a life-or-death situation, Jesus, the Good Shepherd, said He would lay down His life to save and neve...

OUR DAILY BREAD October 1,  HOW TO REFLECT CHRIST Amy Boucher Pye God has chosen to make known . . . the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.  Colossians 1:27 Colossians 1:25–27 Isaiah 11–13; Ephesians 4 Thérèse of Lisieux was a joyful and carefree child—until her mother died when she was just four years old. She became timid and easily agitated. But many years later on Christmas Eve, all of that changed. After celebrating the birth of Jesus with her church community, she experienced God releasing her from her fear and giving her joy. She attributed the change to the power of God leaving heaven and becoming a man, Jesus, and through His dwelling in her. What does it mean for Christ to dwell within us? It’s a mystery, said Paul to the Colossian church. It’s one that God “kept hidden for ages and generations” (Colossians 1:26), but which He disclosed to God’s people. To them God revealed “the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ...

OUR DAILY BREAD September 30, Wednesday ROOTED IN LOVE Amy Peterson I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power . . . to grasp . . . the love of Christ.  Ephesians 3:17–18 Ephesians 3:14–21 Isaiah 9–10; Ephesians 3 “That’s all it takes!” Megan said. She had clipped a stem from her geranium plant, dipped the cut end into honey, and stuck it into a pot filled with compost. Megan was teaching me how to propagate geraniums: how to turn one healthy plant into many plants, so I would have flowers to share with others. The honey, she said, was to help the young plant establish roots. Watching her work, I wondered what kinds of things help us establish spiritual roots. What helps us mature into strong, flourishing people of faith? What keeps us from withering up or failing to grow? Paul, writing to the Ephesians, says that we are “rooted and established in love” (Ephesians 3:17). This love comes from God, who strengthens us by giving us the Holy Spirit. Chris...

OUR DAILY BREAD September 29, Tuesday EYES TO SEE Sheridan Voysey Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in your law.  Psalm 119:18 Psalm 119:97–104 Isaiah 7–8; Ephesians 2 I recently discovered the wonder of anamorphic art. Appearing at first as an assortment of random parts, an anamorphic sculpture only makes sense when viewed from the correct angle. In one piece, a series of vertical poles align to reveal a famous leader’s face. In another, a mass of cable becomes the outline of an elephant. Another artwork, made of hundreds of black dots suspended by wire, becomes a woman’s eye when seen correctly. The key to anamorphic art is viewing it from different angles until its meaning is revealed. With thousands of verses of history, poetry, and more, the Bible can sometimes be hard to understand. But Scripture itself tells us how to unlock its meaning. Treat it like an anamorphic sculpture: view it from different angles and meditate on it deeply. Christ’s parables work this way....

OUR DAILY BREAD September 28, Monday NEVER ENOUGH Mike Wittmer The eye never has enough of seeing.  Ecclesiastes 1:8 Ecclesiastes 1:1–11 Isaiah 5–6; Ephesians 1  MY Frank Borman commanded the first space mission that circled the moon. He wasn’t impressed. The trip took two days both ways. Frank got motion sickness and threw up. He said being weightless was cool—for thirty seconds. Then he got used to it. Up close he found the moon drab and pockmarked with craters. His crew took pictures of the gray wasteland, then became bored. Frank went where no one had gone before. It wasn’t enough. If he quickly tired of an experience that was out of this world, perhaps we should lower our expectations for what lies in this one. The teacher of Ecclesiastes observed that no earthly experience delivers ultimate joy. “The eye never has enough of seeing, nor the ear its fill of hearing” (1:8). We may feel moments of ecstasy, but our elation soon wears off and we seek the next thrill. Frank had...