Foursquare Gospel Church Igbosere (Chapel of Blessing)

OUR DAILY BREAD February 28, Sunday NEW EVERY MORNING Bible in a Year: Numbers 20–22   Mark 7:1–13 [God’s] compassions never fail. They are new every morning. Lamentations 3:22–23 Today's Scripture & Insight: Lamentations 3:19–26 My brother Paul grew up battling severe epilepsy, and when he entered his teenage years it became even worse. Nighttime was excruciating for him and my parents, as he’d experience continuous seizures for often more than six hours at a time. Doctors couldn’t find a treatment that would alleviate the symptoms while also keeping him conscious for at least part of the day. My parents cried out in prayer: “God, oh God, help us!” Although their emotions were battered and their bodies exhausted, Paul and my parents received enough strength from God for each new day. In addition, my parents found comfort in the words of the Bible, including the book of Lamentations. Here Jeremiah voiced his grief over the destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians, remem...

OUR DAILY BREAD February 27, Saturday NO LONGER YOURSELF Bible in a Year: Numbers 17–19   Mark 6:30–56 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. Galatians 2:20 Today's Scripture & Insight: Galatians 2:14–21 In the summer of 1859, Monsieur Charles Blondin became the first person to cross Niagara Falls on a tightrope—something he would go on to do hundreds of times. Once he did it with his manager Harry Colcord on his back. Blondin gave Colcord these instructions: “Look up, Harry . . . you are no longer Colcord, you are Blondin. . . . If I sway, sway with me. Do not attempt to do any balancing yourself. If you do, we will both go to our death.” Paul, in essence, said to the Galatian believers:  You can’t walk the line of living a life that is pleasing to God apart from faith in Christ. But here’s the good news—you don’t have to!...

OUR DAILY BREAD February 26, Friday FACING FEAR Sheridan Voysey When I am afraid, I put my trust in you.  Psalm 56:3 Psalm 56:3–11 Numbers 15–16; Mark 6:1–29 Warren moved to a small town to pastor a church. After his ministry had some initial success, one of the locals turned on him. Concocting a story accusing Warren of horrendous acts, the man took the story to the local newspaper and even printed his accusations on pamphlets to distribute to local residents by mail. Warren and his wife started praying hard. If the lie was believed, their lives would be upended. King David once experienced something similar. He faced an attack of slander by an enemy. “All day long they twist my words,” he said, “all their schemes are for my ruin” (Psalm 56:5). This sustained assault left him fearful and tearful (v. 8). But in the midst of the battle, he prayed this powerful prayer: “When I am afraid, I put my trust in you. . . . What can mere mortals do to me?” (vv. 3–4). David’s prayer...

OUR DAILY BREAD February 25, Thursday TO BE HUMAN Mart DeHaan Jerusalem, Jerusalem . . . how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings.  Matthew 23:37 Matthew 23:37–24:2 Numbers 12–14; Mark 5:21–43 “Mr. Singerman, why are you crying?” asked twelve-year-old Albert as he watched the master craftsman construct a wooden box. “I cry,” he said, “because my father cried, and because my grandfather cried.” The woodworker’s answer to his young apprentice provides a tender moment in an episode of  Little House on the Prairie.  “Tears,” explained Mr. Singerman, “come with the making of a coffin.” “Some men don’t cry because they fear it is a sign of weakness,” he said. “I was taught that a man is a man because he  can  cry.” Emotion must have welled up in the eyes of Jesus as He compared His concern for Jerusalem to the care of a mother hen for her chicks (Matthew 23:37). His disciples were often confused by what they...

OUR DAILY BREAD February 24, Wednesday NEVER ALONE Lisa M. Samra Two are better than one . . . If either of them falls down, one can help the other up.  Ecclesiastes 4:9–10 Ecclesiastes 4:8–12 Numbers 9–11; Mark 5:1–20 “It can be an affliction more harrowing than homelessness, hunger or disease,” wrote Maggie Fergusson in  The Economist’s 1843  magazine. Her subject? Loneliness. Fergusson chronicled the increasing rates of loneliness, irrespective of one’s social or economic status, using heart-wrenching examples of what it feels like to be lonely. The hurt of feeling alone isn’t new to our day. Indeed, the pain of isolation echoes off the pages of the ancient book of Ecclesiastes. Often attributed to King Solomon, the book captures the sorrow of those who seem to lack any meaningful relationships (4:7–8). The speaker lamented that it’s possible to acquire significant wealth and yet experience no value from it because there’s no one to share it with. But the speaker also ...

OUR DAILY BREAD February 23, Tuesday TURN ON THE LIGHT Xochitl Dixon Let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.  Matthew 5:16 Matthew 5:14–16 Numbers 7–8; Mark 4:21–41 As my husband and I prepared for a cross-country move, I wanted to ensure that we kept in touch with our grown sons. I found a unique gift, friendship lamps connected by wireless internet, which can be turned on remotely. When I gave the lamps to my sons, I explained that their lamps will turn on when I touch my lamp—to provide a shining reminder of my love and ongoing prayers. No matter how great the distance between us, a tap on their lamps would trigger a light in our home too. Though we knew nothing could replace our more personal moments of connection, we could be encouraged by knowing we’re loved and prayed for every time we turned on those lights. All God’s children have the privilege of being light-sharers powered by the Holy Spirit. We’re designed...

OUR DAILY BREAD February 22, Tuesday LIKE JESUS Bill Crowder For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son.  Romans 8:29 Romans 8:22–30 Numbers 4–6; Mark 4:1–20 As a boy, theologian Bruce Ware was frustrated that 1 Peter 2:21–23 calls us to be like Jesus. Ware wrote of his youthful exasperation in his book  The Man Christ Jesus.  “Not fair, I determined. Especially when the passage says to follow in the steps of one ‘who did no sin.’ This was totally outlandish . . . . I just couldn’t see how God could really mean for us to take it seriously.” I understand why Ware would find such a biblical challenge so daunting! An old chorus says, “To be like Jesus, to be like Jesus. My desire, to be like Him.” But as Ware rightly noted, we are incapable of doing that. Left to ourselves, we could never become like Jesus. However, we’re  not  left to ourselves. The Holy Spirit has been given to the child of God, in part so that Christ ...