January 6 Devotion - Joy and Grace

This is the day the LORD has made.
         We will rejoice and be glad in it.

 

 

Psalm 118:24

 

Today is a gift. That is why they call it the ‘present’. Let us rejoice in it.

The Greek word in the Bible for ‘joy’ is ‘chara’ and the verb is ‘charein’ which is often translated to ‘rejoice’. Closely related is the word ‘charis’ which is translated to be ‘grace’.

I believe it is ‘Charis’ that produces ‘Chara’ or in English, it is ‘Grace’ that produces ‘Joy’. Understanding the word of God increases our appreciation of His Grace, and our feeling of Joy.

 

The Apostle Paul was feeling joy while being held prisoner in a dungy Roman prison jail and from there, he told us to:

 

Rejoice in the Lord always. Again, I will say, rejoice!

 

افْرَحُوا فِي الرَّبِّ دَائِماً، وَأَقُولُ أَيْضاً: افْرَحُوا.

Philippians 4:4

My belief is that The Apostle Paul probably felt God’s grace so powerfully that it overshadowed all the negative feelings of being chained in a Roman prison to the point that he actually felt joy.

Jesus said:

“These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full.”

كلمتكم بهذا لكي يثبت فرحي فيكم ويكمل فرحكم

John 15:11

All through the Bible we see evidence of God wanting us to be joyful, irrespective of the situation. Let’s concentrate on God’s grace and the magnitude of His love for us expressed through His grace. That on its own is reason enough for quantum joy.

I invite you to repeat the following prayer for yourself:

Abba Father, thank You that You gave me today as a present for me to rejoice in. Fill me God totally and envelop me with Your Grace, so that I can feel an inner joy independent of circumstances. Jesus I long for and pray that Your Joy remains in me and that my joy be full. Thank You Father for loving me with a deep, unfailing, inseparable, and everlasting love. Thank You Lord for Your abundant blessings in my life, and for the riches of Your grace upon my life. Lord, I praise You, revere You, worship You, I lift You up on high, and glorify Your holy name. In the holy name of Jesus my Lord and Saviour I pray to You Father. To Jesus be the glory, the authority, the blessing, and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.

In Him,

Wagdi Henein

 

January 2 Devotion - Depend on and follow God's will

 

Since no one knows the future, who can tell someone else what is to come?

Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” 14 Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. 15 Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.” Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring.

 لا سَبِيلَ لِلإنْسانِ إلَى مَعرِفَةِ المُسْتَقبَلِ، لِأنَّهُ ما مِنْ أحَدٍ يَقدِرُ أنْ يُخبِرَهُ بِما سَيَحْدُثُ.

وَأَنْتُمْ، يَا مَنْ تُخَطِّطُونَ قَائِلِينَ: «الْيَوْمَ أَوْ غَداً، نَذْهَبُ إِلَى مَدِينَةِ كَذَا، وَنَقْضِي هُنَاكَ سَنَةً، فَنُتَاجِرُ وَنَرْبَحُ». 14 مَهْلاً! فَأَنْتُمْ لَا تَعْرِفُونَ مَاذَا يَحْدُثُ غَداً! وَمَا هِيَ حَيَاتُكُمْ؟ إِنَّهَا بُخَارٌ، يَظْهَرُ فَتْرَةً قَصِيرَةً ثُمَّ يَتَلاشَى! 15 بَدَلاً مِنْ ذَلِكَ، كَانَ يَجِبُ أَنْ تَقُولُوا: «إِنْ شَاءَ الرَّبُّ، نَعِيشُ وَنَعْمَلُ هَذَا الأَمْرَ أَوْ ذَاك لا تَتَفاخَرْ بِالغَدِ، لِأنَّكَ لا تَعلَمُ ما الَّذِي يَأتِي بِهِ الغَد.

 

Ecclesiastes 8:7, James 4:13-15, Proverbs 27:1

No one knows the future, yet we sometimes take what we have for granted and plan as if we are guaranteed tomorrow. While we should plan, we need to ask God’s guidance first and then follow His plan. We often do the opposite; we plan then ask God to follow our plan by asking Him to bless it and make it successful. God is very clear in this area, He says you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.” He compares our entire life to a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. While some may see this as demotivating it is quite the contrary because God loves us and knows what is best for us, he doesn’t want us to miss out on His best by doing it our way. He also encourages us by telling us to:                                          Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go

 

تَقَوَّ وَتَشَجَّعْ، لَا تَرْهَبْ ولا تَجْزَعْ لأَنَّ الرَّبَّ إِلَهَكَ مَعَكَ حَيْثُمَا تَتَوَجَّهُ

 

Joshua 1:9

 

I invite you to repeat the following prayer for yourself:

Abba Father, I pray that You strengthen me with power through Your Spirit, so that I always seek Your wisdom and Your plan for my life. Help me to always say if it is the Lord’s will, then I will do it. Thank You Father God that You love me and want the best for me, and You are the only One who knows what the future holds and what is best for me. Help me to realize that however long I live on earth my life is a mist in comparison to my eternal life with You in heaven. Help me to be of good courage and to keep my focus on the person, power, and presence of Jesus Christ in my life, instead of the circumstances of my life. Thank You Father God for being the strength of my life and for loving me with a deep and everlasting love, thank You for Your abundant blessings in my life, and for the riches of Your grace upon my life. Thank You God my Lord that You are the One who goes with me, and You will never leave me nor forsake me. Father God, I pray to You in the name of Your precious Son; my Redeemer and Saviour; the Lord of my life, Jesus Christ. To Jesus be the power, the glory, the majesty, the blessings, and the dominion before all time, now, and forevermore. Amen.

In Him,

Wagdi Henein

January 1 Devotion - God Has Prepared Good Things for You in 2026 - Happy New Year

 

“Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.” 
            

وَفْقاً لِمَا كُتِبَ: «إِنَّ مَا لَمْ تَرَهُ عَيْنٌ، وَلَمْ تَسْمَعْ بِهِ أُذُنٌ، وَلَمْ يَخْطُرْ عَلَى بَالِ بَشَرٍ قَدْ أَعَدَّهُ اللهُ لِمُحِبِّيهِ!»

1 Corinthians 2:9

“Thus says the LORD, who makes a way in the sea and a path through the mighty waters, “ Do not remember the former things, Nor consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing, now it shall spring forth; Shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.”

 

هكذا يقول الرب الجاعل في البحر طريقا وفي المياه القوية مسلكا 18 لا تذكروا الاوليات. والقديمات لا تتأملوا بها. 19 هانذا صانع أمرا جديدا. الآن ينبت. ألا تعرفونه. اجعل في البرية طريقا في القفر انهارا.

                                                                                                       Isaiah 43:16, 18-19

I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.

 

أَمَّا أَنَا فَقَدْ أَتَيْتُ لِتَكُونَ لَهُمْ حَيَاةٌ، بَلْ مِلْءُ الْحَيَاةِ!

 

John 10:10

 

Rest in the LORD and wait patiently for Him.                                                         اسْكُنْ أَمَامَ الرَّبِّ وَانْتَظِرْهُ بِصَبْر

37:7 Psalm

 

For many of us 2025 may have been a wilderness. Was it dry like a desert for you? Even if it was so, God is telling you to forget any former things and to behold His new roads in the wilderness and His rivers in the desert, His mercy and His grace, His healing, and His comfort through His Holy Spirit.

Let us rejoice, at all times rejoice, for God is preparing beautiful things for us. He tells us that they are beyond our imagination, and we have not seen anything like them before.

Let us expect God’s blessings and trust His promises and believe that in 2026 we will be able to repeat what King David said:

You crown the year with Your goodness, and Your paths drip with abundance.

كللت السنة بجودك وآثارك تقطر دسما.

God came into this world in human form Jesus The Christ, to give His soul and body, as an offering for the life of those persons, who would accept and declare Jesus as their Lord and Saviour so that they may live in abundance spiritually in this world, and eternally hereafter.

 

I invite you to repeat the following prayer for yourself and to meditate on it:

Abba Father, God of my yesterdays, today, and my tomorrows; God of new beginnings and wonderful surprises, thank You for the gift of this New Year, 2026. I know, when love came to the manger in Bethlehem, He came for me, so that I would be saved and have a more abundant life. Lord, I praise You and glorify You for Your unequaled greatness. Thank You God for crowning 2026 with Your goodness. Lord please make 2026 to be a year of grace and blessings for me. LORD, I pray that out of Your glorious riches You strengthen me with power through Your Spirit in my inner being, so that I can grow in faith and love in 2026 and renew my commitment to following Your Son, Jesus. God, please teach me to rest in You Lord and wait patiently for Your goodness and abundance. Lord, please walk with me every day and every hour of this New Year; make me hear Your voice directing my path that the light of Christ would shine through me, despite my weaknesses and failings. I leave the past in Your hands and step out into 2026 depending on Your guidance to help me walk in Your paths that are dripping with abundance. I rejoice in Your gift of a new year and rejoice in what's ahead, depending on Your Holy Spirit to guide me and help me to do exactly what You want. Lord, please help me to bring all my thoughts into captivity to the obedience of Christ and to continue my journey to become Christ-like. Thank You Father God for loving me with a deep, unfailing, steadfast and everlasting love, thank You for Your abundant blessings in my life, and for the riches of Your grace upon my life. I thank You for what I have and for what I do not have. I thank You for Your Mercy and for Your Grace. I put my future in Your hands, and I declare that I love You. I know that You always keep Your promises, and that You have prepared wonderful things for me and that they shall spring forth in 2026. I declare Jesus as my Lord and Saviour, and I pray in His holy name. To Jesus be the power, the glory, the majesty, the blessings, and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.

Jesus loves you,

In Him,

Wagdi Henein

December 31 Devotion - Our God of Restoration

Some of us, or all of us, have had some or many disappointments in 2025 and cannot wait for this year to end. Some of us may be dreading that the coming year or a portion of it will be a continuation of the troubles of 2025. We may be dwelling on the past and living in anger, grief, fear, and defeat. We can choose in this coming New Year 2026 to focus on God’s promises to us, because God wants to restore everything that's broken in our lives for He said:

I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten

واعوض لكم عن السنين التي اكلها الجراد

 

Joel 2:25

He wants to restore our connection with Him, our joy, our peace, our health, our relationships and our finances. There is however a key to receiving God’s blessings, each one of us has to believe (visualize with clarity receiving the blessings) for God said:

I am telling you, whatever things you ask for in prayer [in accordance with God’s will], believe [with confident trust] that you have received them, and they will be given to you.

لِذلِكَ أَقُولُ لَكُمْ: كُلُّ مَا تَطْلُبُونَهُ حِينَمَا تُصَلُّونَ، فَآمِنُوا أَنْ تَنَالُوهُ، فَيَكُونَ لَكُمْ

Mark 11:24

And each one of us must:

be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

بل تغيّروا عن شكلكم بتجديد اذهانكم لتختبروا ما هي ارادة الله الصالحة المرضية الكاملة.

 Romans 12:1-2

Today, let us choose to release past hurts, let us believe in confident trust that we have received God’s answer to our prayers, let us be transformed by the renewing of our minds. Let us proclaim that we are children of a loving God, a God of restoration.

 

I invite you to repeat the following prayer for yourself:

Abba Father, thank You for choosing to restore my life. Thank You for Your good, pleasing and perfect will for my life. Thank You for the promises and truth of Your Word that set me free. Lord please strengthen me with power through Your Spirit in my inner being, so that I can renew my mind today and visualize with clarity receiving all the blessings I desire which are in accordance with Your will for my life. Father, all I need You have already provided for, please let me experience Your blessings and restore all the lost years which the locusts have eaten. Thank You God for loving me with a deep, unfailing and everlasting love, thank You for Your abundant blessings in my life, and for the riches of Your grace upon my life. Father God I praise You, glorify You, revere You, worship You, I stand in awe of You, and I lift You up on high. Father I pray to You in the name of Your only begotten Son, my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To Jesus be the majesty, authority, power, glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.

 

In Him,

Wagdi Henein

 

December 30 Devotion - God's plans for us

Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not yet done…, For I know the thoughts and plans that I have for you, says the Lord, thoughts and plans for welfare and peace and not for evil, to give you hope in your final outcome.

 

مخبر منذ البدء بالاخير ومنذ القديم بما لم يفعل

لاني عرفت الافكار التي انا مفتكر بها عنكم يقول الرب افكار سلام لا شر لاعطيكم آخرة ورجاء.

Isaiah 46:10

Jeremiah 29:11

 

Everyone has challenges of one sort or another. As we are about to start the New Year 2026, let us not worry about the future and wish we could see it. God sees the end from the beginning, and He already knows the outcome, God never ends in defeat.

Whatever is happening in our lives now, let us remember that God’s promises never fade and…

 ‘We know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.’

 

ونحن نعلم ان كل الاشياء تعمل معا للخير للذين يحبون الله الذين هم مدعوون حسب قصده.

 

 

Let us respond to Jesus’ invitation to ‘come’ to Him and depend totally on Him and receive our rest in Him:

Come to me, all you who are weary and heavy burdened, and I will give you rest.

تَعَالَوْا إِلَيَّ يَا جَمِيعَ الْمُتْعَبِينَ وَالثَّقِيلِي الأَحْمَالِ، وَأَنَا أُرِيحُكُمْ

 

Matthew 11:28

 

I invite you to repeat the following prayer for yourself:

Abba Father, You declare the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not yet done. Thank You Lord that the thoughts and plans You have for me in 2026 and beyond are thoughts and plans for welfare and peace to give me hope in Your final outcome. Thank You Lord that You have called me according to Your purpose for my life. Father God, please strengthen my faith to know beyond a doubt that all things will work for good for me in 2026 because I love You Lord. Lord I am holding You to Your promises. Jesus, please teach me to ‘come’ to You and leave all my troubles at the foot of Your Cross and receive Your rest. Teach me to wait upon You LORD because You said that ‘they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint. Isaiah 40:31 Thank You Jesus that You have asked The Father and He has sent me The Comforter to live in my heart. My Heavenly Father, In the multitude of my anxieties within me, Your comforts delight my soul. Psalm 94:19 In Jesus’ name I pray to You Father. To Jesus be the power, the glory, the majesty, and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.

In Him,

Wagdi Henein