Happy New Year- God Has Prepared Good Things for You in 2015 -December 31 Devotion

“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

Was 2014 a wilderness for you? Was it dry like a desert? Even if it was so, God is telling us to forget any former things and to behold His new roads in the wilderness and His rivers in the desert.
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 2015 we will be able to repeat what King David said:
You crown the year with Your goodness, and Your paths drip with abundance.

Psalm 65:11

كللت السنة بجودك وآثارك تقطر دسما.

http://youtu.be/mQcvYLYtDZE

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

Abba Father, thank You for Your abundant blessings in 2014 and Your inseparable love. 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 2015. I rejoice in confidence that in 2015 You will bless me, my family and friends and anyone reading this devotion. I declare Jesus as my Lord and Saviour and I pray in His Holy Name. To Him be the power, the glory, the majesty, the blessings, and the dominion forever and ever, Amen.  

         

Jesus loves you,

In Him,

Wagdi Henein

December 29 Devotion - You are the apple of God's eye

For thus says the LORD of hosts:… “For he who touches you touches the apple of His eye.”

فَإِنَّ الرَّبَّ الْقَدِيرَ يَقُولُ ...'لأَنَّ مَنْ يَمَسُّكُمْ يَمَسُّ حَدَقَةَ عَيْنِهِ.'

Zechariah 2:8

God loves us so very much.

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

John 3:16

And now the eyes of the Father are forever focused on us because of Christ’s atoning death on The Cross for us.

“Can a woman forget her nursing child, and not have compassion on the son of her womb? Surely they may forget, Yet I will not forget you. 16 See, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands;

 15 هَلْ تَنْسَى الْمَرْأَةُ رَضِيعَهَا وَلاَ تَرْحَمُ ابْنَ أَحْشَائِهَا؟ حَتَّى هَؤُلاَءِ يَنْسَيْنَ، أَمَّا أَنَا فَلاَ أَنْسَاكُمْ.  16 انْظُرُوا هَا أَنَا قَدْ نَقَشْتُكِ ُ عَلَى كَفِّي.

Isaiah 49:15-16

God will never forget us; the followers of Christ; for He has inscribed our names on the palms of His Hands. Neither will He forget the church, the body of believers.

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

Abba Father, thank You for Your abundant blessings and inseparable love. Lord, forgive me if at times I feel that You have forgotten me. Increase my faith so as to know, believe, and trust that You never forget me. I am privileged and thankful that as a believer and follower of Jesus Christ; Your only begotten Son; that I am so precious to You, that my name is written on the palms of Your hands.

Thank You Lord for loving me so much that You consider that whoever touches me touches the apple of Your eye. I thank You, praise You and glorify You, in the name of Jesus my Lord and Saviour, to whom be honour, glory and power forever and ever . Amen.

Jesus loves you,

In Him,

Wagdi Henein

December 24 Devotion (sent early) - O' Holy Night

http://youtu.be/xULr6Z2VzLQ

(See full screen with volume up)

So it was, when the angels had gone away from them into heaven that the shepherds said to one another, “Let us now go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us.” ¹⁶ And they came with haste and found Maryam and Joseph, and the Babe lying in a manger. ¹⁷ Now when they had seen Him, they made widely known the saying which was told them concerning this Child. ¹⁸ And all those who heard it marveled at those things which were told them by the shepherds.

Luke 2:11-18

It seems to me that the first evangelists were not the disciples but the shepherds. True they did not have the story of salvation through The Cross but they spread the news about the birth of The Saviour.

What can we learn from Maryam’s actions?

But Maryam kept all these things and pondered them in her heart.                         

Luke 2:19

The learning is that we need to be still and ponder things asking God for guidance and clarity.

An Arabic Christmas Carol with English subtitles (Byzantine Hymn of the Nativity)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MvjiVam2HO4

(See full screen with volume up)

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

Abba Father, thank You for Your abundant blessings and Inseparable love. 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 see the star I should follow to fulfill Your call for my life. Help me to communicate about the salvation Jesus offers. Help me to be still in front of You and listen to Your voice and ponder like Maryam, The Mother of God, on Your words and to internalize them totally and fully. In this week of Your birth Jesus let every night be a holy night where You are reborn in our hearts, minds, souls and spirits. I declare Jesus as my Lord and Saviour and I pray in His Holy Name. To Him be the power, the glory, the majesty, the blessings, and the dominion forever and ever, Amen.

Jesus loves you,

In Him,

Wagdi Henein

December 22 Devotion - Gloria in Excelsis Deo

For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. ¹² And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.”
¹³ And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying:
“ Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men”
¹⁵ So it was, when the angels had gone away from them into heaven,  that the shepherds said to one another, “Let us now go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us.” ¹⁶ And they came with haste and found Maryam and Joseph, and the Babe lying in a manger. ¹⁷ Now when they had seen Him, they made widely known the saying which was told them concerning this Child. ¹⁸ And all those who heard it marveled at those things which were told them by the shepherds. ¹⁹ But Maryam kept all these things and pondered them in her heart. ²⁰ Then the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told them.

Luke 2:11-20

“Glory to God in the highest” is only found once in the Bible in Luke 2:14.
That verse is so extraordinary; it’s been given a special name.  It’s called the Gloria in Excelsis Deo.  That’s from the Latin translation for “Glory to God in the highest.”

You might recognize it from the popular Christmas hymn “Angels We Have Heard on High.”  Maybe you didn’t know it, but when you sing that chorus you are singing in Latin, “Gloria, in excelsis Deo” “Glory to God in the highest”.

Listen to it sung by Bocelli @ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNEVOlxEQDk

There are other divine encounters in the Bible, but this is the only time the Bible says the heavenly host ('army' of good angels in Heaven) appeared to men, and this is the one sentence they left for us: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men”

The Bible doesn’t say anything about the heavenly host singing, but what they said was understood by the shepherds, so either it was spoken in their own language, or they were given a supernatural ability to understand the heavenly language.

 

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

Abba Father, thank You for Your abundant blessings and inseparable love. Lord, I join the shepherds in glorifying You. I thank You and praise You for all the blessings You have bestowed upon me. Help me to be like Maryam, mother of our Saviour Jesus, in constantly pondering in my mind Your love, mercy and grace. I rejoice in Your birth Jesus. God let the birth of Jesus this year bring peace on earth and goodwill amongst us. Heavenly Father, I praise You, I glorify You and I rejoice in Your grace. In the Holy Name of Jesus I pray. ‘Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.’ Ephesians 3:20-21

Jesus loves you,

In Him,

Wagdi Henein

فَقَدْ وُلِدَ لَكُمُ الْيَوْمَ فِي مَدِينَةِ دَاوُدَ مُخَلِّصٌ هُوَ الْمَسِيحُ الرَّبُّ.

 ¹² وَهَذِهِ هِيَ الْعَلاَمَةُ لَكُمْ. تَجِدُونَ طِفْلاً مَلْفُوفاً بِقِمَاطٍ وَنَائِماً فِي مِذْوَدٍ».

 ¹³ وَفَجْأَةً ظَهَرَ مَعَ الْمَلاَكِ جُمْهُورٌ مِنَ الْجُنْدِ السَّمَاوِيِّ، يُسَبِّحُونَ اللهَ قَائِلِينَ:

 ¹⁴ «الْمَجْدُ لِلهِ فِي الأَعَالِي، وَعَلَى الأَرْضِ السَّلامُ؛ وَبِالنَّاسِ الْمَسَرَّةُ! »

 ¹⁵ وَلَمَّا انْصَرَفَ الْمَلاَئِكَةُ عَنِ الرُّعَاةِ إِلَى السَّمَاءِ، قَالَ بَعْضُهُمْ لِبَعْضٍ: «لِنَذْهَبْ إِذَنْ إِلَى بَيْتِ لَحْمٍ، وَنَنْظُرْ هَذَا الأَمْرَ الَّذِي حَدَثَ وَقَدْ أَعْلَمَنَا بِهِ الرَّبُّ!»

 ¹⁶ وَجَاءُوا مُسْرِعِينَ، فَوَجَدُوا مَرْيَمَ وَيُوسُفَ، وَالطِّفْلَ نَائِماً فِي الْمِذْوَدِ.

 ¹⁷ فَلَمَّا رَأَوْا ذلِكَ، أَخَذُوا يُخْبِرُونَ بِمَا قِيلَ لَهُمْ بِخُصُوصِ هَذَا الطِّفْلِ.

 ¹⁸ وَجَمِيعُ الَّذِينَ سَمِعُوا بِذلِكَ دُهِشُوا مِمَّا قَالَهُ لَهُمُ الرُّعَاةُ.

 ¹⁹ وَأَمَّا مَرْيَمُ، فَكَانَتْ تَحْفَظُ هَذِهِ الأُمُورَ جَمِيعاً، وَتَتَأَمَّلُهَا فِي قَلْبِهَا.

 ²⁰ ثُمَّ رَجَعَ الرُّعَاةُ يُمَجِّدُونَ اللهَ وَيُسَبِّحُونَهُ عَلَى كُلِّ مَا سَمِعُوهُ وَرَأَوْهُ كَمَا قِيلَ لَهُمْ.