Foursquare Gospel Church Igbosere (Chapel of Blessing)

OUR DAILY BREAD October 25, Sunday STRONG AND COURAGEOUS Cindy Hess Kasper As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you.  Joshua 1:5 Joshua 1:1–9 Jeremiah 6–8; 1 Timothy 5 Each night, as young Caleb closed his eyes, he felt the darkness envelop him. The silence of his room was regularly suspended by the creaking of the wooden house in Costa Rica. Then the bats in the attic became more active. His mother had put a nightlight in his room, but the young boy still feared the dark. One night Caleb’s dad posted a Bible verse on the footboard of his bed. It read: “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; . . . for the  Lord  your God will be with you” (Joshua 1:9). Caleb began to read those words each night—and he left that promise from God on his footboard until he went away to college. In Joshua 1, we read of the transition of leadership to Joshua after Moses died. The command to “be strong and courageous” was repeated several times to ...

OUR DAILY BREAD October 24, Saturday SURVIVING DROUGHT Kirsten Holmberg The one who trusts in the L ord  . . . will be like a tree planted by the water.  Jeremiah 17:7–8 Jeremiah 17:5–8 Jeremiah 3–5; 1 Timothy 4 In April 2019, a suburban neighborhood in Victorville, California, became buried in tumbleweeds. High winds pushed the rolling thistles into the development from the adjacent Mojave Desert where the plant grows. At maturity, the pesky weed can grow to up to six feet in height—a formidable size when it releases itself from its roots to “tumble” with the wind to scatter its seeds. Tumbleweeds are what I picture when I read Jeremiah’s description of a person “whose heart turns away from the  Lord ” (Jeremiah 17:5). He says that those who draw their strength from “mere flesh” will be like “a bush in the wastelands” and be unable to “see prosperity when it comes” (vv. 5–6). In sharp contrast are those who put their trust in God instead of people. Like trees, their stro...

OUR DAILY BREAD October 23, Friday NICE SHOT? Mart DeHaan To him who struck down the firstborn of Egypt  His love endures forever.   Psalm 136:10 Psalm 136:10–26 Jeremiah 1–2; 1 Timothy 3 When Walt Disney’s  Bambi  was re-released, moms and dads relived childhood memories with their sons and daughters. A young mother, whose husband was an avid outdoorsman with an impressive trophy room, was one of those parents. With her little ones at her side, she experienced with them the gasp and groan of the moment when Bambi lost his mother to a hunter. To this day she’s reminded at family gatherings of her embarrassment when, in all innocence, her little boy shouted out in the theater, “Nice shot!” In time, we laugh at the embarrassing things our children say. But what are we to say when the people of Psalm 136 do something similar? Israel, God’s chosen and rescued people, celebrate a love that endures for all creation and for themselves—but not for their enemies. The psalm si...

OUR DAILY BREAD October 22, Thursday LAUNDRY DAY Patricia Raybon Go, then, to all peoples everywhere and make them my disciples.  Matthew 28:19  gnt Matthew 28:16–20 Isaiah 65–66; 1 Timothy 2 Driving through a low-income area near his church, Colorado pastor Chad Graham started praying for his “neighbors.” When he noticed a small laundromat, he stopped to take a look inside and found it filled with customers. One asked Graham for a spare coin to operate the clothes dryer. That small request inspired a weekly “Laundry Day” sponsored by Graham’s church. Members donate coins and soap to the laundromat, pray with customers, and support the owner of the laundry facility. Their neighborhood outreach, which dares to include a laundromat, reflects Jesus’ Great Commission to His disciples. As He said, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Go, then, to all peoples everywhere and make them my disciples: baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy...

OUR DAILY BREAD October 21, Wednesday WHAT’S WRONG WITH THE WORLD? John Blase Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst.  1 Timothy 1:15 1 Timothy 1:12–17 Isaiah 62–64; 1 Timothy 1 There is an oft-heard story that  The London Times  posed a question to readers at the turn of the twentieth century.  What’s wrong with the world? That’s quite the question, isn’t it? Someone might quickly respond, “Well, how much time do you have for me to tell you?” And that would be fair, as there seems to be so much that’s wrong with our world. As the story goes,  The Times  received a number of responses, but one in particular has endured in its brief brilliance. The English writer, poet, and philosopher G. K. Chesterton penned this four-word response, a refreshing surprise to the usual passing-of-the-buck: “Dear Sirs, I am.” Whether the story is factual or not is up for debate. But that response? It’s nothing but true. Long before Chester...

OUR DAILY BREAD October 20, Tuesday GOLDEN SCARS Amy Peterson If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness.  2 Corinthians 11:30 2 Corinthians 12:1–10 Isaiah 59–61; 2 Thessalonians 3 In the Netherlands, a group of fashion designers offer a “Golden Joinery” workshop. Inspired by the Japanese technique Kintsugi, where broken porcelain is visibly repaired with gold, participants collaborate in mending clothes in ways that highlight the mending work rather than trying to mask it. Those who are invited bring “a dear but broken garment and mend it with gold.” As they remake their clothes, the repair becomes ornamental, a “golden scar.” Articles of clothing are transformed in ways that highlight the places where they were torn or frayed. Perhaps this is something like what Paul meant when he said that he would “boast” in the things that showed his weakness. Although he’d experienced “surpassingly great revelations,” he doesn’t brag about them (2 Corinthians 12:6). He ...

OUR DAILY BREAD October 19, Monday STRONGER THAN HATE Arthur Jackson Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.  Luke 23:34 Luke 23:32–34, 44–46 Isaiah 56–58; 2 Thessalonians 2 Within twenty-four hours of his mother Sharonda’s tragic death, Chris found himself uttering these powerful, grace-filled words: “Love is stronger than hate.” His mother, along with eight others, had been killed at a Wednesday night Bible study in Charleston, South Carolina. What was it that had so shaped this teenager’s life that these words could flow from his lips and his heart? Chris is a believer in Jesus whose mother had “loved everybody with all her heart.”   In Luke 23:26–49 we get a front row seat to an execution scene that included two criminals and the innocent Jesus (v. 32). All three were crucified (v. 33). Amid the gasps and sighs and the likely groans from those hanging on the crosses, the following words of Jesus could be heard: “Father, forgive them, for they d...