Foursquare Gospel Church Igbosere (Chapel of Blessing)

OUR DAILY BREAD February 14, Sunday SENDING OUT AN SOS Alyson Kieda I sought the  Lord,  and he answered me.  Psalm 34:4 Psalm 34:1–10 Leviticus 15–16; Matthew 27:1–26 When the hut of a settler in a mountainous region of Alaska caught fire, the settler was left without adequate shelter and with few provisions in the coldest state in the US—in the middle of a frigid winter. Three weeks later, the man was finally rescued when an aircraft flew over and spied the large SOS he had stamped out in the snow and darkened with soot. The psalmist David was certainly in dire straits. He was being pursued by jealous King Saul who sought to kill him. And so he fled to the city of Gath, where he pretended to be insane in order to preserve his life (see 1 Samuel 21). Out of those events emerged Psalm 34, where David cried out in prayer to God and found peace (vv. 4, 6). God heard his pleas and delivered him.  Are you in a desperate situation and crying out for help? Be assured that ...

OUR DAILY BREAD February 13, Saturday SOMETHING NEW Jennifer Benson Schuldt See, I am doing a new thing! . . . I am making . . . streams in the wasteland.  Isaiah 43:19 Isaiah 43:14–21 Leviticus 14; Matthew 26:51–75 Farming is difficult in areas that lack fresh water. To help solve this problem, the Seawater Greenhouse company has created something new: “cooling houses” in Somaliland, Africa, and other countries with similar climates. Cooling houses use solar pumps to drizzle saltwater over walls made of corrugated cardboard. As the water moves down each panel, it leaves its salt behind. Much of the remaining fresh water evaporates inside the structure, which becomes a humid place where fruit and vegetable crops can flourish. Through the prophet Isaiah, God promised to do a “new thing” as He provided “streams in the wasteland” for ancient Israel (Isaiah 43:19). This new thing contrasted with the old thing He had done to rescue His people from the Egyptian army. Remember the Red Sea...

OUR DAILY BREAD February 12, Friday A JOYFUL CELEBRATION Anne Cetas The wedding of the Lamb has come.  Revelation 19:7 Revelation 19:1–9 Leviticus 13; Matthew 26:26–50 My friend Sharon passed away one year prior to the death of my friend Dave’s teenage daughter Melissa. They both had been tragically killed in car accidents. One night both Sharon and Melissa were in my dream. They giggled and talked as they hung streamers in a large banquet hall and ignored me when I stepped into the room. A long table with white tablecloths had been set with golden plates and goblets. I asked if I could help decorate, but they didn’t seem to hear me and kept working.  But then Sharon said, “This party is Melissa’s wedding reception.”  “Who’s the groom?” I asked.  Neither responded but smiled and looked at each other knowingly. Finally, it dawned on me—it’s Jesus!  “Jesus is the groom,” I whispered as I woke up.  My dream brings to mind the joyful celebration believers in Je...

OUR DAILY BREAD February 11, Thursday THE TICKING WATCH Leslie Koh Be still before the  Lord  and wait patiently for him.  Psalm 37:7 Psalm 37:1–7 Leviticus 11–12; Matthew 26:1–25 A group of workers were cutting ice out of a frozen lake and storing it in an icehouse when one of them realized he’d lost his watch in the windowless building. He and his friends searched for it in vain.  After they gave up, a young boy who’d seen them exit went into the building. Soon, he emerged with the watch. Asked how he’d found it, he replied: “I just sat down and kept quiet, and soon I could hear it ticking.”  The Bible talks much about the value of being still. And no wonder, for God sometimes speaks in a whisper (1 Kings 19:12). In the busyness of life, it can be hard to hear Him. But if we stop rushing about and spend some quiet time with Him and the Scriptures, we may hear His gentle voice in our thoughts.  Psalm 37:1–7 assures us that we can trust God to rescue us fro...

OUR DAILY BREAD February 10, , Wednesday WAITING IN HOPE Marvin Williams Simeon . . . was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was on him.  Luke 2:25 Luke 2:25–35 Leviticus 8–10; Matthew 25:31–46 In the movie  Hachi :  A Dog’s Tale,  a college professor befriended a stray Akita puppy named Hachi. The dog expressed his loyalty by waiting at the train station each day for the professor to return from work. One day, the professor suffered a fatal stroke. Hachi waited hours at the train station, and for the next ten years he returned each day—awaiting His loving master. Luke tells the story of a man named Simeon who patiently waited for the coming of his Master (Luke 2:25). The Holy Spirit revealed to Simeon that he would not see death until he saw the Messiah (v. 26). As a result, Simeon kept waiting for the One who would provide “salvation” for God’s people (v. 30). When Mary and Joseph entered the temple with Jes...

OUR DAILY BREAD February 9, Tuesday LOOKING UP Kirsten Holmberg Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.  Colossians 3:2 Colossians 3:1–4 Leviticus 6–7; Matthew 25:1–30 The cockeyed squid lives in the ocean’s “twilight zone” where sunlight barely filters through the deep waters. The squid’s nickname is a reference to its two extremely different eyes: the left eye develops over time to become considerably larger than the right—almost twice as big. Scientists studying the mollusk have deduced that the squid uses its right eye, the smaller one, to look down into the darker depths. The larger, left eye, gazes upward, toward the sunlight.  The squid is an unlikely depiction of what it means to live in our present world and also in the future certainty we await as people who “have been raised with Christ” (Colossians 3:1). In Paul’s letter to the Colossians, he insists we ought to “set [our] minds on things above” because our lives are “hidden with Christ in God” (vv. ...

OUR DAILY BREAD February 8, Monday TRUST the LIGHT John Blase Believe in the light . . . so that you may become children of light.  John 12:36 John 12:25–33, 35–36 Leviticus 4–5; Matthew 24:29–51 The weather forecast said  bomb cyclone . That’s what happens when a winter storm rapidly intensifies as the atmospheric pressure drops. By the time night fell, the blizzard conditions made the highway to the Denver airport almost impossible to see. Almost. But when it’s your daughter who’s flying home to visit, you do what you have to do. You pack extra clothes and water (just in case you get stranded on the highway), drive very slowly, pray without ceasing, and last but not least, trust your headlights. And sometimes you can achieve the almost impossible.  Jesus foretold of a storm on the horizon, one that would involve His death (John 12:31–33), and one that would challenge His followers to stay faithful and serve (v. 26). It was going to get dark and be almost impossible...