March 30 Devotion - Good Friday - The Cross

The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord. 21 And it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.

22 “Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a Man attested by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs which God did through Him in your midst, as you yourselves also know— 23 Him, being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and put to death;

تتحول الشمس الى ظلمة والقمر الى دم قبل ان يجيء يوم الرب العظيم الشهير.

21 ويكون كل من يدعو باسم الرب يخلص

22 ايها الرجال الاسرائيليون اسمعوا هذه الاقوال. يسوع الناصري رجل قد تبرهن لكم من قبل الله بقوات وعجائب وآيات صنعها الله بيده في وسطكم كما انتم ايضا تعلمون.

23 هذا اخذتموه مسلّما بمشورة الله المحتومة وعلمه السابق وبايدي اثمة صلبتموه وقتلتموه.

Acts 2:20-23

Christ's suffering on the cross was fore-ordained, and was the only payment of our debt that God would accept—this is the great sacrifice on which the eternal life of believers depends. If Christ had not gone to the cross and suffered in our place, the just for the unjust, there would not have been a spark of hope for us. There would have been a mighty chasm between us and God, which no man ever could have crossed.

Please listen and watch: https://youtu.be/MPmGcridHQ8

I invite you to repeat the following prayer for yourself:

Abba Father, thank You Lord thank You for loving me so much that You let Your Son die on the cross to redeem me, a sinner. As Jesus said: “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.” John 15:13 God, I thank You, praise You, glorify You and lift you up on high. Strengthen me Lord through The Holy Spirit, so that that I may walk in such a way that is fully pleasing to You, and is fruitful in every good work. Thank You Jesus for dying in my place and that through The Cross I am redeemed, forgiven, justified, reconciled to God, sanctified, and glorified. In Your Holy Name Jesus, my Lord and Saviour, I pray.  To You be the glory and the power and the dominion forever and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen.

Jesus loves you,

In Him,

Wagdi Henein

March 29 Devotion - Jesus Institutes the Lord’s Supper

When the hour had come, He sat down, and the twelve apostles with Him. ¹⁵ Then He said to them, “With fervent desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; ¹⁶ for I say to you, I will no longer eat of it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.”

¹⁷ Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, “Take this and divide it among yourselves; ¹⁸ for I say to you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.”

¹⁹ And He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.”

²⁰ Likewise He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you.”

Luke 22: 14-20

Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. ⁵⁴ Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day. ⁵⁵ For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. ⁵⁶ Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them. ⁵⁷ Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. ⁵⁸ This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your ancestors ate manna and died, but whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.”

John 6:53-58

The flesh and blood of the Son of man, denote the Redeemer in the nature of man; Christ and Him crucified, and the redemption created by Him, with all the precious benefits of redemption; pardon of sin, acceptance with God, the way to the throne of grace, the promises of the covenant, and eternal life. These are called the flesh and blood of Christ, because they are purchased by the breaking of His body, and the shedding of His blood. Also, because they are food and drink to our souls.

Eating this flesh and drinking this blood means believing in Christ. We partake of Christ and His benefits by faith. The soul that rightly knows its state and wants, finds whatever can calm the conscience, and promote true holiness, in The Redeemer, God manifest in the flesh. Meditating upon the Cross of Christ gives life to our repentance, love, and gratitude. We live by Him, as our bodies live by our food. We live by Him, as the members by the head, the branches by the root: because He lives (resurrected) we shall live also. (Adapted from Mathew Henry’s explanation of the Bible).

I invite you to repeat the following prayer for yourself:

Abba Father, thank You for the riches of Your grace upon my life which allows me to be forgiven through the atoning sacrifice of Jesus on my behalf. Through Your redemption Jesus I also receive the precious benefits of redemption; pardon of sin, acceptance with God, the way to the Throne of Grace, the promises of the covenant, and eternal life. Thank You Jesus for suffering on my behalf, I believe in You and declare You my Lord and Saviour. Thank You Jesus for Your body which is given for us and for the new covenant of grace through Your blood which was shed for us. God I praise You, revere You, worship You, I stand in awe of You, I lift You up on high, and glorify Your Holy Name. Thank You Father for Your unfailing, inseparable, deep and everlasting love for me, and Your abundant blessings in my life. Now to Him who is able to carry out His purpose and do infinitely beyond our greatest prayers, hopes, or dreams, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations forever and ever. Ephesians 3:20-21 (AMP) Amen.

Jesus loves you,

In Him,

Wagdi Henein

March 28 Devotion - God's Unfailing Love

Show us your unfailing love, O LORD, and grant us your salvation.

أَظْهِرْ لَنَا رَحْمَتَكَ يَارَبُّ، وَامْنَحْنَا خَلاَصَكَ.

Éternel! fais-nous voir ta bonté, Et accorde-nous ton salut!

Psalm 85:7 NIV

Everything God does is done with love and kindness toward us. We cannot comprehend His love for us just by knowing about it. The only way we can even begin to understand and feel the unfailing and limitless Love of God, is to accept His love into our hearts and experience it firsthand.

I invite you to repeat the following prayer for yourself:

Abba Father, thank You for Your unfailing, inseparable, deep and everlasting love for me and Your abundant blessings in my life. God, Your faithfulness is great. Even though Your promises do not always unfold the way I imagined, You always keep them in Your timing and in a way that is best for me. Lord I embrace Your grace, mercy, faithfulness, and trustworthiness with renewed assurance; and I rest confidently in that assurance over everything including my salvation. Lord, please cleanse me of any cynicism and judgement that has seeped into my thinking. 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 continue to declare to the world that Christ is my Lord and Saviour. To Him who is able to keep me from stumbling and to present me before His glorious presence without fault and with great joy, to the only God our Saviour be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore. Amen. Jude 1:24-25

Jesus loves you,

In Him,

Wagdi Henein

March 27 Devotion - Your Value with God

Keep me as the apple of Your eye;

احفظني مثل حدقة العين

Psalm 17:8

In the eighth verse of Psalm 17 we find David praying asking God to ‘keep’ him as the apple of God’s eye. Not to establish him but to keep him. In other words he was already established as the apple of God’s eye. The eye is weak and tender, and is hurt by every little thing that annoys it. Nothing is dearer to a human than their eyesight and we are most protective of preserving our eyes from being hurt.

God loves and values each believer and we; who have chosen Jesus as our Lord and Saviour; are God’s number one priority. So as the apple of God’s eye we are most protected by God.

I invite you to repeat the following prayer for yourself:

Abba Father, thank You for the riches of Your grace upon my life. Lord, I thank You that I am Your beloved creation, the apple of Your eye, and You watch over every detail of my life and protect me.  Help me Lord to surrender all aspects and details of my life into Your hands, knowing that You love it when I come to You. Thank You Father God for Your unfailing, inseparable, deep and everlasting love for me and Your abundant blessings in my life. Lord, let me find peace and security in Your love for me. God I pray to You in the name of Your precious Son; my Redeemer and Saviour; the Lord of my life, Jesus Christ. 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