Foursquare Gospel Church Igbosere (Chapel of Blessing)

March 6 And if I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and if I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profiteth me nothing. – 1 Cor 13:3 Beloved, let us love so well Our work shall still be better for our love, And still our love be sweeter for our work: And both commended for the sake of each By all true workers and true lovers born. — Elizabeth B. Browning. Earth saddens, never shall remove, Affections purely given; And e’en that mortal grief shall prove The immortality of love, And heighten it with heaven. — Elizabeth B. Browning. Prayer Loving Father, I pray that I may not try to change the standard of love by grafting on my own selfishness and infirmities. May I remember that it is mostly for gratification that love is held to the base in life; may I follow it to the summits, where it is divine. Amen.

March 6, 2016 THE POWER OF GOD’S MUSIC David McCasland Colossians 3:12-17 Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly . . . with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit.  Colossians 3:16 The Sound of Music, one of the most successful musical films ever produced, was released as a motion picture in 1965. It won many accolades, including five Academy Awards, as it captured the hearts and voices of people around the world. More than half a century later, people still attend special showings of the film where viewers come dressed as their favorite character and sing along during the performance.  Music is deeply rooted in our souls. And for followers of Jesus, it is a powerful means of encouraging each other along the journey of faith. Paul urged the believers in Colossae, “Let Christ’s teaching live in your hearts, making you rich in the true wisdom. Teach and help one another along the right road with your psalms and hymns and C...

March 5, 2016 FORWARD TO GOD 2 Kings 19:9-20 Give ear, Lord, and hear; open your eyes, Lord, and see. 2 Kings 19:16 In the days before telephones, email, and mobile phones, the telegram was usually the fastest means of communication. But only important news was sent by telegram, and such news was usually bad. Hence the saying, “The telegram boy always brings bad news.” It was wartime in ancient Israel when Hezekiah was king of Judah. Sennacherib, king of Assyria, had invaded and captured the cities of Judah. He then sent a letter to Hezekiah, a bad-news “telegram” urging his surrender. Hezekiah described the moment as “a day of distress and rebuke and disgrace” (2 Kings 19:3). With taunts and scoffs, Sennacherib boasted of his past military campaigns, belittling the God of Israel and threatening mayhem (vv. 11-13). In that dreadful moment, King Hezekiah did an unusual thing with the bad-news letter: “He went up to the temple of the Lord a...

March 4 And David put his hand in his bag, and took thence a stone, and slang it, and smote the Philistine in his forehead; and the stone sank into his forehead, and he fell upon his face to the earth. – 1 Sam 17:49 It is perfectly obvious that men do necessarily absorb, out of the influences in which they grow up, something which gives a complexion to their whole after-character. — Anthony Froude. All common things, each day’s events That with the hour begin and end, Our pleasures and our discontents Are rounds by which we may ascend. — Henry W. Longfellow. Our doubts are traitors, and make us lose the good we oft might win by fearing to attempt. I — Shakespeare. Prayer My Father, I would remember that my life may decline from the neglect of small things; for as thou dost nourish the wheat from flakes of snow, and supply the springs from drops of rain, so thou wilt strengthen my soul from every little blessing. I pray that I may not forget to ...

March 4, 2016 FOR HIS TIME James 1:2-4 My times are in your hands. Psalm 31:15 When South African pastor Andrew Murray was visiting England in 1895, he began to suffer pain from a previous back injury. While he was recuperating, his hostess told him of a woman who was in great trouble and wanted to know if he had any counsel for her. Murray said, “Give her this paper which I have been writing for my own [encouragement]. It may be that she will find it helpful. ” This is what Murray wrote: “In time of trouble say: First—God brought me here. It is by His will I am in this strait place. In that I will rest. Next—He will keep me in His love and give me grace in this trial to behave as His child. Then—He will make the trial a blessing, teaching me lessons He intends me to learn, and working in me the grace He means to bestow. Last—In His good time He can bring me out again—how and when He knows. I am here—by God’s appointme...

March 3 While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal. – 2 Cor 4:18 Pitch thy behaviour low, thy projects high, So shalt thou humble and magnanimous be; Sink not in spirit: who aimeth at the sky, Shoots higher than he that means a tree. — George Herbert. We and God have business with each other; and in opening ourselves to his influence our deepest destiny is fulfilled. — William James. Prayer Almighty God, help me to remember that "the power of character is the highest point of success," and that thou hast put within reach of all the choice ideals of life. May I have the desire to cultivate strong purposes, and strive for high endeavors, that I may not aim for the low. Amen.