August 31 Devotion - You raise me up

He gives power to the weak, And to those who have no might He increases strength. The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; Of whom shall I be afraid? Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him, On those who hope in His mercy. Be strong and of good courage, do not fear nor be afraid of them; for the Lord your God, He is the One who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you.”

Isaiah 40:29, Psalm 27:1, Psalm 33:18, Deuteronomy 31:6

When I am down and, oh my soul, so weary
When troubles come and my heart burdened be
Then I am still and wait here in the silence
Until you come and sit awhile with me

You raise me up so I can stand on mountains
You raise me up to walk on stormy seas
I am strong when I am on your shoulders
You raise me up to more than I can be

(Please listen to and watch the following video after you read today’s prayer)

https://youtu.be/HqtwZWvXux8

I invite you to repeat the following prayer for yourself:

Abba Father, thank You for Your abundant blessings and inseparable love. LORD, I pray that You strengthen me with power through Your Spirit, so that I keep my focus on the person, power, and presence of Jesus Christ in my life instead of the circumstances of my life. I come to You Jesus as per Your call “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” Matthew 11:28-29 Thank You Jesus for raising me up and carrying me on Your shoulders through the stormy seas. In Your Holy name Jesus, I pray.  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

August 30 Devotion - Trust and Wait

Commit your way to the Lord [roll and repose each care of your load on Him]; trust (lean on, rely on, and be confident) also in Him and He will bring it to pass.

Psalm 37:5 Amplified Bible (AMP)

سَلِّمْ لِلرَّبِّ طَرِيقَكَ وَاتَّكِلْ عَلَيْهِ وَهُوَ يُجْرِي

God always chooses the best time to respond to our prayers and responds to our prayers in His way which may not be what we envisioned, however is always best for us. During our waiting period trust is our foundational asset. Without our trust in Him fear and panic can set in.

When the Disciples were in the boat in the Sea of Galilee facing a terrible storm they expected the worst, however Jesus commanded the wind and waves to be still. He taught the Disciples how to trust Him even in the most tempestuous of circumstances, and He is teaching us to wait and expect for His outstretched arm.

I invite you to repeat the following prayer for yourself:

Abba Father, I pray that out of Your  glorious riches You strengthen me with power through Your Spirit in my inner being, so that I can trust You with an unconditional trust that allows me to have the patience to wait for Your deliverance. Jesus teach me to roll and repose all my cares and my load onto Your shoulders. Thank You Father God for Your deep and everlasting love, Your abundant blessings in my life, and for the riches of Your grace upon my life. God I praise You, revere You, worship You, I stand in awe of You, and glorify Your Holy Name. I declare to the world that Christ is my Lord and Saviour and in His Holy Name I pray to You Father. To Jesus be the power, the glory, the majesty and the dominion before all time, now, and forever. Amen.  

Jesus loves you,

In Him,

Wagdi Henein

August 29 Devotion - New Vessels

“No one pours new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. No, he pours new wine into new wineskins."

وَلاَ أَحَدَ يَضَعُ خَمْراً جَدِيدَةً فِي قِرَبٍ عَتِيقَةٍ، حَتَّى لاَ تُفَجِّرَ الْخَمْرُ الْجَدِيدَةُ الْقِرَبَ، فَتُرَاقَ الْخَمْرُ وَتَتْلَفَ الْقِرَبُ. إِنَّمَا الْخَمْرُ الْجَدِيدَةُ تُوْضَعُ فِي قِرَبٍ جَدِيدَةٍ».

Mark 2:22 

There are many interpretations of this parable which Jesus told. I understand it to mean that we cannot conform to the teachings of Jesus unless we:

·     Renew our thinking and unlearn what the secular world has taught us; and continues to teach us;

·     Allow Jesus to heal the past and

·     Adopt Jesus’ way of thinking.

In order that Jesus can pour His teachings into our minds, we must first empty our saturated minds of the secular teachings. The same way that you cannot pour any new tea into a cup that is already full, the new tea will just end up in the saucer. However if you empty the cup you can fill it with the new tea, or the good news, the Gospel, God’s amazing grace.

I invite you to repeat the following prayer for yourself:

Abba Father, please help me today to become a new vessel. Help me through the Holy Spirit to release old thinking, old habits, old pains, secular beliefs, and anything that would keep me from being the best You created me to be. Strengthen me by Your Spirit O’ Lord and guide me so that I can live my life in a way that pleases You. Make me into a new vessel and pour Your Spirit into me Lord. Jesus You are the vine and I am the branch and I am nothing without You. Help me to abide in You. Thank You Lord that Your deep steadfast love for me endures forever. Abba Father, thank You for Your abundant blessings in my life, and for the riches of Your grace upon my life. God I pray to You in the name of Your precious Son; The King of kings and Lord of lords, my Redeemer, Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory, the power, the dominion, the majesty and the blessings forever and ever and unto ages of all ages.

Jesus loves you,

In Him,

Wagdi Henein

August 28 Devotion - Involve God in every situation

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

⁶ لاَ تَقْلَقُوا مِنْ جِهَةِ أَيِّ شَيْءٍ، بَلْ فِي كُلِّ أَمْرٍ لِتَكُنْ طَلِبَاتُكُمْ مَعْرُوفَةً لَدَى اللهِ، بِالصَّلاَةِ وَالدُّعَاءِ، مَعَ الشُّكْرِ.

Philippians 4:6

Do you think we should pray about every single detail in our lives? God did not exclude anything. What would a child pray about? Jesus said in Mark10:15 “Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” In Psalm 37:23(NLT): The LORD directs the steps of the godly. He delights in every detail of their lives.

There are some commandments and guidelines that God has given us, so we will not for instance ask God in prayer should I love my neighbour? but we can pray to God to help us love them. Outside of God’s commandments we can pray about every detail in our life and I believe we should pray about every detail. We seem to keep prayers only for big demands or crisis. Praying for and about everything keeps us in constant communication and connection with God and that pleases His heart, and is very useful for us.  

I invite you to repeat the following prayer for yourself:

Abba Father, thank You that You love me so much that You want to fellowship with me all day and You desire that I involve You in all my thoughts and actions. I appreciate that You are omnipresent(available everywhere) omniscient (all knowing), and You are interested in every detail in my life. Help me Lord to develop the habit to pray to You about every detail of my life. Thank You God for Your unfailing, inseparable, deep and everlasting love for me and Your abundant blessings in my life. In the Holy Name of Jesus I pray. 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