May 20 Devotion - The inseparable love of God

May 25 Devotion - Never Give Up

 

Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. But as for you, be strong and do not lose courage, for there is reward for your work.”

 

فَلاَ نَفْشَلْ فِي عَمَلِ الْخَيْرِ لأَنَّنَا سَنَحْصُدُ فِي وَقْتِهِ إِنْ كُنَّا لاَ نَكِلُّ. فَتَقَوَّوْا أَنْتُمْ، وَلاَ تَخُرْ عَزِيمَتُكُمْ لأَنَّ لِعَمَلِكُمْ ثَوَاباً

Galatians 6:9, 2 Chronicles 15:7

 

We all have God-given dreams and desires. Sometimes it seems to take longer to accomplish our goals than we originally thought, or things do not work out at all.

It's easy to lose enthusiasm and end up just settling where we are. But God doesn't want us to settle, He wants to take us higher. But many times, we miss out on God's best simply because we give up too soon. Sometimes we do not realize how close we are to victory.

I invite you to repeat the following prayer for yourself:

Abba Father, thank You for Your deep and everlasting love for me, Your abundant blessings, and for the riches of Your grace upon my life. God, help me not to give up just because things seem hard. Help me to stay on course in faith; and see my situation turn around. God, I know You are on my side, and You will help fulfil every desire You have placed on my heart. Help me Lord to continue doing good, and never give up trusting You in all faith that I will reap the harvest You have chosen for me, in Your timing. Help me Lord to always say, feel and be trustful in that “I can do all things through Jesus Christ who strengthens me.” Philippians 4:13 I pray in Jesus' name to You Father God. To Jesus be the power, the glory, and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.

Jesus loves you,

In Him,

Wagdi Henein

May 19 Devotion - The Lord is Good

 

The Lord is good; His mercy is everlasting, and His truth endures to all generations.

 The Lord is good; His mercy is everlasting, and His truth endures to all generations.

 

فَإِنَّ الرَّبَّ صَالِحٌ، إِلَى الأَبَدِ رَحْمَتُهُ وَأَمَانَتُهُ دَائِمَةٌ مِنْ جِيلٍ إِلَى جِيلٍ.

Psalm 100:5

 

Because God is good, He only gives us what is best for us. Sometimes He says no, sometimes He gives us beyond our request and imagination. Sometimes different than what we asked for, sometimes at a different timing but always what is best for us. I realize that God loves us with affection beyond imagination, and He knows us best because He fashioned every intricate fiber of our being.

 

For you created my inmost being, you knit me together in my mother's womb.

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful; I know that full well.

 

لأَنَّكَ أَنْتَ قَدْ كَوَّنْتَ كُلْيَتَيَّ. نَسَجْتَنِي دَاخِلَ بَطْنِ أُمِّي.

 ¹⁴ أَحْمَدُكَ لأَنَّكَ صَنَعْتَنِي بِإِعْجَازِكَ الْمُدْهِشِ. مَا أَعْجَبَ أَعْمَالَكَ وَنَفْسِي تَعْلَمُ ذَلِكَ يَقِيناً.

Psalm 139:13–14

It makes total sense, then, that God knows exactly what each one of us needs and what blessings would benefit us the most. He also knows the best timing for us to receive His blessings.

 

I invite you to repeat the following prayer for yourself:

Abba Father, I thank You because I have been so amazingly and miraculously made. Lord, teach me to surrender totally to You and to realize that You are always looking out after me and doing what is best for me. Thank You Father God that Your deep steadfast love for me endures forever. Thank You for Your abundant blessings in my life, and for the riches of Your grace upon my life. Lord, thank You that Your mercies are everlasting in my life. Father 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 name I pray. To Jesus be the power, the glory, the majesty, and the dominion before all time, now, and forevermore. Amen.  

 

Jesus loves you, 

In Him,

Wagdi Henein

May 12 Devotion - The Lord's Prayer - For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.

In the previous devotions I covered the following portion of The Lord’s Prayer:

 

“‘Our Father in heaven,                                                                                                                                                                              
hallowed be your name,
¹⁰ your kingdom come,
your will be done,
    on earth as it is in heaven.
¹¹ Give us today our daily bread.                                                                                                                                                     ¹² And forgive us our debts,
    as we also have forgiven our debtors.

And lead us not into temptation,
    but deliver us from evil,

 

Today we cover the last phrase in sequence:

 For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.

We should always pray for God to be glorified because God is worthy to be glorified and honoured and praised. We should also glorify God in everything we think and/or do.

I am the Lord, that is My name; And My glory I will not give to another,

                              لَنْ أُعطِيَ مَجدِيَ لآخَرَ   « وَهَذا هُوَ اسْمِي. أنا يهوه

Isaiah 42:8

We should never take credit for anything that God has done because we rob God of His due glory and equally, we should be careful not to give the glory to a “Saint”. God is not happy when we do not give Him the glory.  Nothing can happen without His involvement.

you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, I am the Lord, that is My name.
And My glory I will not give to another

 لَا تَسْجُدْ لَهُنَّ وَلاَ تَعْبُدْهُنَّ، لأَنِّي أَنَا الرَّبَّ إِلَهَكَ، إِلَهٌ غَيُورٌ

 

Exodus 20: 5

 

^{Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.}

كُلُّ عَطِيَّةٍ صالِحَةٍ وَكُلُّ مَوهِبَةٍ كامِلَةٍ، تَأْتِي مِنْ فَوقُ، أيْ مِنْ عِندِ الآبِ الَّذِي خَلَقَ أنوارَ السَّماءِ. وَعَلَى خِلافِ تِلكَ الأنوارِ، هُوَ لا يَتَغَيَّرُ كَظِلالِها المُتَقَلِّبَةِ.

 

 

James 1:17

 

 

We can glorify God by becoming disciples of Jesus Christ, submitting to Him, repenting of our sins, confessing them to God, and trusting in Jesus Christ.  If we do, then we also can pray to our Father.

 

I invite you to repeat the following prayer for yourself:

Abba Father, thank You for Your abundant blessings and Your unfailing, deep, inseparable, and everlasting love. Lord, I realize that every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from You, Father of lights.  

Father God, I praise You, revere You, worship You, I stand in awe of You, and glorify Your holy name.  For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever. Amen. I declare to the world that Christ is my Lord and Saviour. In the name of the King of kings and Lord of lords, in the mighty precious name of Your only begotten Son Jesus, I pray. To Jesus be the power, the glory, the majesty, and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.

 

In Him,

Wagdi Henein

 

May 7 Devotion - The Lord's Prayer - Forgive us our debts,

 

In the previous devotions I covered the following portion of The Lord’s Prayer:

 

“‘Our Father in heaven,                                                                                                                                                                              
hallowed be your name,
¹⁰ your kingdom come,
your will be done,
    on earth as it is in heaven.
¹¹ Give us today our daily bread.

Today we cover the next phrase in sequence:  

 

¹² And forgive us our debts,
    as we also have forgiven our debtors.

Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. ³² Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.

 Ephesians 4:31-32, Colossians 3:12

In the Jewish writings it is common to call sins "debts"; and the phrase, of forgiving, is used both of God and men. While we are to forgive the monetary debts of the poor who cannot pay, we are to forgive those have done us wrong and to pray to God to forgive them also.

I have always preferred to understand this phrase of The Lord’s prayer as follows: Lord, please teach me, help me, and strengthen me to forgive others in the same way You have forgiven me.

I invite you to repeat the following prayer for yourself:

Abba Father, thank You for Your abundant blessings and Your unfailing, deep, inseparable, and everlasting 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 forgive my debtors as You have forgiven me and to pray for them. Help me God to get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Strengthen me so that I can clothe myself with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. 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. In the name of the King of kings and Lord of lords, in the mighty name of Your only begotten Son Jesus, I pray. To Jesus be the power, the glory, the majesty, and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.

 

In Him,

Wagdi Henein

April 30 Devotion - The Lord's Prayer - Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven

 

 After Jesus had finished describing the wrong way to pray, He illustrated the right way to pray by using the following prayer:

 

“‘Our Father in heaven,                                                                                                                                                                              
hallowed be your name,
¹⁰ your kingdom come,
your will be done,
    on earth as it is in heaven.
¹¹ Give us today our daily bread.
¹² And forgive us our debts,
    as we also have forgiven our debtors.
¹³ And lead us not into testing,
    but deliver us from evil,

for yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.

Mathew 6: 9-13

 

Of course, if this prayer is simply memorized and repeated without a faith, commitment, and sincerity, it becomes the same sort of babbling that Jesus had just condemned. 

 

‘Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven’ means to me: As angels dwelling in heaven follow God’s commandments we should follow His commandments on earth. We should carry out God’s plans on earth the same way it is carried out by the angels in heaven.  We pray for His perfect will to also be done on earth and in particular, in us believers in our lives. We should be furthering His Kingdom here on earth and share the good news of God’s love for humanity with all those we can, so that this world would be more like His Kingdom.

 

I invite you to repeat the following prayer for yourself:

Abba Father, thank You for Your abundant blessings and Your deep, everlasting, 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 follow Your commandments and help further Your Kingdom here on earth and share the good news about Your deep love for humanity because You ‘want all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. ⁵ For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus, ⁶ who gave himself as a ransom for all people.’ 1 Timothy 2: 4-6  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. In the name of Your only begotten Son Jesus, I pray to You Father God. To Jesus be the power, the glory, the majesty, and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.

 

In Him,

Wagdi Henein

After Jesus had finished describing the wrong way to pray, He illustrated the right way to pray by using the following prayer:

 

“‘Our Father in heaven,                                                                                                                                                                              
hallowed be your name,
¹⁰ your kingdom come,
your will be done,
    on earth as it is in heaven.
¹¹ Give us today our daily bread.
¹² And forgive us our debts,
    as we also have forgiven our debtors.
¹³ And lead us not into testing,
    but deliver us from evil,

for yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.

 

أبانا الَّذِي فِي السَّماءِ،

لِيَتَقَدَّسِ اسْمُكَ،

10 لِيَأتِ مَلَكُوتُكَ،

فَتَكُونَ مَشِيئِتُكَ،

هُنا عَلَى الأرْضِ كَما هِيَ فِي السَّماءِ.

11 أعطِنا اليَوْمَ خُبزَنا كَفافَ يَومِنا،

12 وَاغفِرْ لَنا خَطايانا،

كَما غَفَرْنا نَحنُ أيضاً لِلَّذِينَ يُسِيئُونَ إلَينا.

13 وَلا تُدْخِلنا فِي تَجرُبَةِ،

بَلْ أنقِذْنا مِنَ الشِّرِّيرِ. [a]

لأنَّ لَكَ المُلْكَ وَالقُدرَةَ وَالمَجدَ،

إلَى أبَدِ الآبِدينَ. آمين

Mathew 6: 9-13

 

 

 

Of course, if this prayer is simply memorized and repeated without faith, commitment, and sincerity, it becomes the same sort of babbling that Jesus had just condemned. 

And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.

وَكانَتِ المَلائِكَةُ يُنادِي أحَدُها الآخَرَ:

«قُدُّوسٌ، قُدُّوسٌ، قُدُّوسٌ اللهُ القَدِيرُ.
مَجدُهُ يَملأُ كُلَّ الأرْضِ.»

Isaiah 6:3

In the time when Jesus was on Earth a person’s name was indicative of his character.  We are to honour or hallow God’s name for His name is Holy. The whole earth is full of His glory. We should honour, revere, worship, hold sacred, be in awe of and glorify God’s name.

 

I invite you to repeat the following prayer for yourself:

Abba Father, thank You for Your abundant blessings and Your unfailing, deep, inseparable, and everlasting love. LORD, I thank You that You allow me to call You Abba (Daddy) Father.

Hallowed be Your Name Lord for You are omniscient (all knowing), omnipotent (all powerful), omnipresent (present everywhere at the same time). Father God, I join the angels in singing and declaring that You are Holy and the whole earth is full of Your glory. 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. In the name of the King of kings and Lord of lords, in the Holy Name of Your only begotten Son Jesus, I pray. To Jesus be the power, the glory, the majesty and the dominion forever. Amen.

Jesus loves you,

In Him,

Wagdi Henein

April 27 Devotion - The Lord's Prayer - Our Father in Heaven

 

After Jesus had finished describing the wrong way to pray, He illustrated the right way to pray by using the following prayer:

 

“‘Our Father in heaven,                                                                                                                                                                              
hallowed be your name,
¹⁰ your kingdom come,
your will be done,
    on earth as it is in heaven.
¹¹ Give us today our daily bread.
¹² And forgive us our debts,
    as we also have forgiven our debtors.
¹³ And lead us not into testing,
    but deliver us from evil,

for yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.

 

أبانا الَّذِي فِي السَّماءِ،

لِيَتَقَدَّسِ اسْمُكَ،

10 لِيَأتِ مَلَكُوتُكَ،

فَتَكُونَ مَشِيئِتُكَ،

هُنا عَلَى الأرْضِ كَما هِيَ فِي السَّماءِ.

11 أعطِنا اليَوْمَ خُبزَنا كَفافَ يَومِنا،

12 وَاغفِرْ لَنا خَطايانا،

كَما غَفَرْنا نَحنُ أيضاً لِلَّذِينَ يُسِيئُونَ إلَينا.

13 وَلا تُدْخِلنا فِي تَجرُبَةِ،

بَلْ أنقِذْنا مِنَ الشِّرِّيرِ.

لأنَّ لَكَ المُلْكَ وَالقُدرَةَ وَالمَجدَ،

إلَى أبَدِ الآبِدينَ. آمين›

 

Mathew 6: 9-13

 

Of course, if this prayer is simply memorized and repeated without a faith, commitment, and sincerity, it becomes the same sort of babbling that Jesus had just condemned. 

 

We are taught to say, not MY Father, but OUR Father. Our hearts as children of God is a brotherly heart, in respect of all Christian believers we ask in the spirit of unity, fellowship, and love desiring for our brethren what we desire for ourselves. God is the Father of those who are adopted into his family, who put confidence in Him, who are true followers of Christ, and made heirs of life.

For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. ¹⁵ The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” ¹⁶ The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. ¹⁷ Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.

 

إِنَّ جَمِيعَ الْخَاضِعِينَ لِقِيَادَةِ رُوحِ اللهِ، هُمْ أَبْنَاءٌ لِلهِ. ¹⁵ إِذْ إِنَّكُمْ لَمْ تَنَالُوا رُوحَ عُبُودِيَّةٍ يُعِيدُكُمْ إِلَى الْخَوْفِ، بَلْ نِلْتُمْ رُوحَ بُنُوَّةٍ بِهِ نَصْرُخُ: «أَبَا! أَبَانَا!» ¹⁶ فَالرُّوحُ نَفْسُهُ يَشْهَدُ مَعَ أَرْوَاحِنَا بِأَنَّنَا أَوْلاَدُ اللهِ. ¹⁷ وَمَا دُمْنَا أَوْلاَداً، فَنَحْنُ أَيْضاً وَارِثُونَ؛ وَرَثَةُ اللهِ وَشُرَكَاءُ الْمَسِيحِ فِي الإِرْثِ. وَإِنْ كُنَّا الآنَ نُشَارِكُهُ فِي مُقَاسَاةِ الأَلَمِ، فَلأَنَّنَا سَوْفَ نُشَارِكُهُ أَيْضاً فِي التَّمَتُّعِ بِالْمَجْدِ.

Romans 8: 14-17

 

Our God is in heaven; he does whatever pleases him.

إِنَّ إِلَهَنَا فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ. كُلَّ مَا شَاءَ صَنَعَ.

Psalm 115:3

The phrase , abinu sheboshemayim, our Father who art in heaven, was very common among the ancient Jews; and was used by them precisely in the same sense as it is used here by our Lord.

 

Listen to The Lord’s prayer in English: https://youtu.be/u8jImIjg4UY?si=LIPKtN_GZNYFJmWc

           Listen to The Lord’s prayer in Aramaic: https://youtu.be/JgBJe66Cggk?si=UsNgZqzadNp2pjSy

 

Listen to The Lord’s prayer in Arabic: https://youtu.be/QJmwZodCVUc

 

I invite you to repeat the following prayer for yourself:

Abba Father, thank You for Your abundant blessings and Your unfailing, deep, everlasting, and inseparable love. LORD, I thank You that I can call You Abba (Daddy) Father. As a child of God please give me a brotherly heart, in respect of all Christian believers so that I may pray and ask in the spirit of unity, fellowship, and love desiring for my brethren what I desire for myself. Lead me by Your Spirit Lord.  As a child of God and as an heir, an heir of God and co-heir with Christ, help me to be able to share in Jesus’ suffering in order that I may also share in his glory. I declare to the world that Christ is my Lord and Saviour. Father God, I praise You, glorify You, and lift You up on high. In the name of the King of kings and Lord of lords, in the holy name of Your only begotten Son Jesus, I pray. To Jesus be the power, the glory, the majesty and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.

 

Jesus loves you,

In Him,

Wagdi Henein