Foursquare Gospel Church Igbosere (Chapel of Blessing)

OUR DAILY BREAD January 3, Sunday MOVING AT THE SPEED OF JESUS Adam R. Holz “Lord,” Martha said to Jesus, “if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”  John 11:21 John 11:14–27 Genesis 7–9; Matthew 3 Recently, my car needed work. The mechanic’s shop was close, a mile from my home. So I decided to just walk home. But as I shuffled along next to a bustling thoroughfare, I noticed something: Everyone else was moving  so  fast.  This isn’t rocket science. Cars go faster than pedestrians. Zip, zip, zip! As I ambled home, I had a realization: We’re so used to moving fast. All the time. Then, another realization: I often expect God to move just as quickly. I want His plans to fit my speedy timetable.  When Jesus lived on earth, His seemingly slow pace sometimes disappointed His friends. In John 11, Mary and Martha sent word that their brother, Lazarus, was sick. They knew Jesus could help (vv. 1–3). But He arrived some four days later (v. 17), after Lazarus ...

OUR DAILY BREAD January 2, Saturday WHEN THE FLOODS COME John Blase The one who hears my words and does not put them into practice is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation.  Luke 6:49 Luke 6:46–49 Genesis 4–6; Matthew 2 I live in Colorado, a state in the western US known for the Rocky Mountains and our annual snowfall. Yet the worst natural disaster in my state had nothing to do with snow, but rain. The Big Thompson flood occurred on July 31, 1976, around the resort town of Estes Park. When the water finally receded, the death toll was 144 lives, not including livestock. In the wake of that disaster significant studies were done in the area, especially in regard to the foundation of roads and highways. The walls of the roads that withstood the storm were those filled with concrete. In other words, they had a sure and strong foundation.  In our lives the question is not  if  the floods will come, but  when . Sometimes we have advanc...

OUR DAILY BREAD January 1, Friday UNCHARTED WATERS Sheridan Voysey When you pass through the waters, I will be with you.   Isaiah 43:2 Isaiah 43:1–7 Genesis 1–3; Matthew 1 The ball drops in New York’s Times Square. The crowd counts down to Big Ben chiming. Sydney Harbor erupts in fireworks. However your city marks it, there’s something exciting about welcoming in a new year and the fresh start it brings. On New Year’s Day we push out into new waters. What friendships and opportunities might we find? For all its excitement, though, a new year can be unsettling. None of us knows the future or what storms it may hold. Many New Year’s traditions reflect this: Fireworks were invented in China to supposedly ward off evil spirits and make a new season prosperous. And New Year’s resolutions date back to the Babylonians who made vows to appease their gods. Such acts were an attempt to make an unknown future secure. When they weren’t making vows, the Babylonians were busy conquering peo...

OUR DAILY BREAD December 31, Thursday FIREWORKS OF LIFE Patricia Raybon He himself is our peace.  Ephesians 2:14 Ephesians 2:12–18 Malachi 1–4; Revelation 22 On New Year’s Eve, when high-powered fireworks detonate across cities and towns worldwide, the noise is loud on purpose. By their nature, say manufacturers, flashy fireworks are meant to split the atmosphere, literally. “Repeater” blasts can sound the loudest, especially when exploded near the ground. Troubles, too, can boom through our hearts, minds, and homes. The “fireworks” of life—family struggles, relationship problems, work challenges, financial strain, even church division—can feel like explosions, rattling our emotional atmosphere. Yet we know the One who lifts us over this uproar. Christ Himself “is our peace,” Paul wrote in Ephesians 2:14. When we abide in His presence, His peace is greater than any disruption, quieting the noise of any worry, hurt, or disunity. This would have been powerful assurance to Jews and ge...

OUR DAILY BREAD December 30, Wednesday TRUE SUCCESS Sheridan Voysey The  Lord , the  Lord , the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness.  Exodus 34:6 Exodus 34:1–7 Zechariah 13–14; Revelation 21 My interview guest politely answered my questions. I had a feeling, though, that something lurked beneath our interaction. A passing comment brought it out. “You’re inspiring thousands of people,” I said. “Not thousands,” he muttered.  “Millions. ” And as if pitying my ignorance, my guest reminded me of his credentials—the titles he held, the things he’d achieved, the magazine he’d graced. It was an awkward moment. Ever since that experience, I’ve been struck by how God revealed Himself to Moses on Mount Sinai (Exodus 34:5–7). Here was the Creator of the cosmos and Judge of humanity, but God didn’t use His titles. Here was the Maker of 100 billion galaxies, but such feats weren’t mentioned either. Instead, God introduced Himself as “t...

OUR DAILY BREAD December 29, Tuesday UNSEEN REALITIES Amy Peterson Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but . . . against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.   Ephesians 6:12 Ephesians 6:10–20 Zechariah 9–12; Revelation 20 In 1876, men drilling for coal in central Indiana thought they had found the gates of hell. Historian John Barlow Martin reports that at six hundred feet, “foul fumes issued forth amid awesome noises.” Afraid they had “bitten into the roof of the devil’s cave,” the miners plugged the well and scurried back to their homes. The miners, of course, were mistaken—and some years later, they would drill again and be rich in natural gas. Even though they were mistaken, I find myself a little jealous of them. These miners lived with an awareness of the spiritual world that is often missing from my own life. It’s easy for me to live as if the supernatural and the natural rarely intersect and to forget that “our struggle is not against flesh an...

OUR DAILY BREAD December 28, Monday REBUILDING THE RUINS Amy Boucher Pye Then this city will bring me renown, joy, praise and honor.  Jeremiah 33:9 Jeremiah 33:6–11 Zechariah 5–8; Revelation 19 At seventeen, Dowayne had to leave his family’s home in Manenberg, a part of Cape Town, South Africa, because of his stealing and addiction to heroin. He didn’t go far, building a shack of corrugated metal in his mother’s backyard, which soon became known as the Casino, a place to use drugs. When he was nineteen, however, Dowayne came to saving faith in Jesus. His journey off drugs was long and exhausting, but he got clean with God’s help and with the support of friends who are believers in Jesus. And ten years after Dowayne built the Casino, he and others turned the hut into a house church. What was once a dark and foreboding place now is a place of worship and prayer. The leaders of this church look to Jeremiah 33 for how God can bring healing and restoration to people and places, as He’s ...