January 29 Devotion - The Divinity of Silence

 He who guards his mouth and his tongue guards himself from troubles.

                                                  

مَنْ يَصُونُ فَمَهُ وَلِسَانَهُ عَنِ اللَّغْوِ يَحْفَظُ نَفْسَهُ مِنَ الْمَتَاعِبِ.

 

                                                Proverbs 21:23

 

Here are 20 situations where the Bible recommends that we be silent:

 

 

1. Be silent In the heat of anger - (Proverbs 14:17)

 

2. Be silent When you don't have all the facts - (Proverbs 18:13)

 

3. Be silent When you haven't verified the story -(Deuteronomy 17:6)

 

4. Be silent If your words will offend a weaker person - (1 Corinthians 8:11)

 

5. Be silent When it is time to listen - (Proverbs 13:1)

 

6. Be silent When you are tempted to make light of holy things - (Ecclesiastics 5:2)

 

7. Be silent When you are tempted to joke about sin - (Proverbs 14:9)

 

8. Be silent If you would be ashamed of your words later - (Proverbs 8:8)

 

9. Be silent If your words would convey the wrong impression - (Proverbs 17:27)

 

10. Be silent If the issue is none of your business - (Proverbs 14:10)

 

11. Be silent When you are tempted to tell an outright lie - (Proverbs 4:24)

 

12. Be silent If your words will damage someone else's reputation - (Proverbs16:27)

 

13. Be silent If your words will damage a friendship- (Proverbs 16:28)

 

14. Be silent When you are feeling critical - (James 3:9)

 

15. Be silent If you can't say it without screaming it - (Proverbs 25:28)

 

16. Be silent If your words will be a poor reflection of the Lord or your friends and family - (1 Peter 2:21-23)

 

17. Be silent If you may have to eat your words later - (Proverbs 18:21)

 

18. Be silent If you have already said it more than one time - (Proverbs 19:13)

 

19. Be silent When you are tempted to flatter a wicked person - (Proverbs 24:24)

 

20. Be silent When you are supposed to be working instead - (Proverbs 14:23)

 

 

I invite you to repeat the following prayer for yourself:

Abba Father, please teach me the divinity of silence and help me to stay silent when silence is the best response. Give me wisdom and discernment Lord to follow Your directions and guidance. Lord help me to seek and depend on The Holy Spirit; which You have placed within me; in all circumstances. Teach me Lord and help me to surrender to the direction of The Holy Spirit. Abba Father, thank You for loving me with a deep, unfailing, and everlasting love, thank You for Your abundant blessings and for the riches of Your grace upon my life. 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

 

In Him,

Wagdi Henein

 

January 27 Devotion -Trans- form-ation

Being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.

 

وَلِي ثِقَةٌ فِي هَذَا الأَمْرِ بِالذَّاتِ: أَنَّ الَّذِي بَدَأَ فِيكُمْ عَمَلاً صَالِحاً سَوْفَ يُتَمِّمُهُ إِلَى يَوْمِ الْمَسِيحِ يَسُوعَ.

 

Philippians 1:6 

 

When we were born again by accepting Jesus as our Lord and Saviour, the Holy Spirit came to live within us. 

When we try to live the Christian life depending on our own strength, we fail.

When we conclude that we cannot succeed on our own and surrender to The Holy Spirit, that is when we move from trying to trusting; and that trans-form-ation helps us to start flourishing in our Christian faith journey as we change internal spiritual form. Transformation as defined in the dictionary is the act of changing form. The Holy Spirit will continue to transform us to help us become increasingly Christ-like till the day we meet Jesus in person.

I invite you to repeat the following prayer for yourself:

Abba Father, I know and believe that The Holy Spirit within me is the only force that will make me able to live according to Your commandments. I acknowledge that I can do nothing apart from Christ. I trust that Jesus, who has started this Christian growth journey in my life, will continue to work in me to make me more like Him every day. Thank You Father God for loving me with an unfailing, deep, inseparable, and everlasting love. Thank You for 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, I lift You up on high, and glorify Your holy name. In the mighty name of Jesus, I pray to You Father God. To Jesus be the glory, the majesty, the power, and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.

 

In Him,

Wagdi Henein

 

 

January 26 Devotion - God is Love

 

Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.

 

وَمَنْ لاَ يُحِبُّ لَمْ يَعْرِفِ اللهَ، لأَنَّ اللهَ مَحَبَّةٌ

1 John 4:8

Meditate on Bible verses that illustrate God's love for you. Make it a project to grasp how much God loves you. Read the following verses slowly and prayerfully and ask God to make them real to you.

The Lord appeared to me from ages past, saying, “I have loved you with an everlasting love; Therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you and continued My faithfulness to you.

ظَهَرَ لِيَ الرَّبُّ قَائِلاً: «أَحْبَبْتُكُمْ حُبّاً أَبَدِيًّا، لِذَلِكَ اجْتَذَبْتُكُمْ إِلَيَّ بِرَحْمَةٍ.

Jeremiah 31:3 AMP

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life

لأَنَّهُ هكَذَا أَحَبَّ اللهُ الْعَالَمَ حَتَّى بَذَلَ ابْنَهُ الْوَحِيدَ، لِكَيْ لَا يَهْلِكَ كُلُّ مَنْ يُؤْمِنُ بِهِ، بَلْ تَكُونُ لَهُ الْحَيَاةُ الأَبَدِيَّةُ.

John 3:16

Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends

لَيْسَ لأَحَدٍ مَحَبَّةٌ أَعْظَمُ مِنْ هذِهِ: أَنْ يَبْذِلَ أَحَدٌ حَيَاتَهُ فِدَى أَحِبَّائِهِ.

John 15:13

As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love

مِثْلَمَا أَحَبَّنِي الآبُ، أَحْبَبْتُكُمْ أَنَا، فَاثْبُتُوا فِي مَحَبَّتِي.

 

John 15:9

But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions--it is by grace you have been saved

أَمَّا اللهُ، وَهُوَ غَنِيٌّ فِي الرَّحْمَةِ، فَبِسَبَبِ مَحَبَّتِهِ الْعَظِيمَةِ الَّتِي أَحَبَّنَا بِها، 5 وَإِذْ كُنَّا نَحْنُ أَيْضاً أَمْوَاتاً بِالذُّنُوبِ، أَحْيَانَا مَعَ الْمَسِيحِ، إِنَّمَا بِالنِّعْمَةِ أَنْتُمْ مُخَلَّصُونَ،

Ephesians 2:4-5

Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God

وَاسْلُكُوا فِي الْمَحَبَّةِ عَلَى مِثَالِ الْمَسِيحِ الَّذِي أَحَبَّنَا وَبَذَلَ نَفْسَهُ لأَجْلِنَا تَقْدِمَةً وَذَبِيحَةً لِلهِ طَيِّبَةَ الرَّائِحَةِ.

Ephesians 5:2

But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit

وَلَكِنْ، لَمَّا ظَهَرَ لُطْفُ مُخَلِّصِنَا اللهِ، وَمَحَبَّتُهُ لِلنَّاسِ، 5 خَلَّصَنَا، لَا عَلَى أَسَاسِ أَعْمَالِ بِرٍّ قُمْنَا بِها نَحْنُ، وَإِنَّمَا بِمُوجِبِ رَحْمَتِهِ، وَذَلِكَ بِأَنْ غَسَلَنَا كُلِّيًّا غُسْلَ الْخَلِيقَةِ الْجَدِيدَةِ وَالتَّجْدِيدِ الَّذِي يُجْرِيهِ الرُّوحُ الْقُدُسُ،

Titus 3:4-5

 

This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins

وَقَدْ أَظْهَرَ اللهُ مَحَبَّتَهُ لَنَا إِذْ أَرْسَلَ ابْنَهُ الْوَحِيدَ إِلَى الْعَالَمِ لِكَيْ نَحْيَا بِهِ. وَفِي هَذَا نَرَى الْمَحَبَّةَ الْحَقِيقِيَّةَ، لَا مَحَبَّتَنَا نَحْنُ لِلهِ، بَلْ مَحَبَّتَهُ هُوَ لَنَا. فَبِدَافِعِ مَحَبَّتِهِ، أَرْسَلَ ابْنَهُ كَفَّارَةً لِخَطَايَانَا.

1 John 4:9-10

 

I invite you to repeat the following prayer for yourself:

Abba Father, thank You for Your unfailing, deep, everlasting, and inseparable love for me. LORD, I pray that You strengthen me with power through Your Spirit in my inner being, so that Christ may dwell in my heart through faith, and I can feel Your love for me, and to follow Your commandment to love others as You have loved me. Help me Father God to feel as a conqueror over all things that displease You through Him who loved me. I pray that I, being rooted and established in love, may have power to grasp how wide, long, high, and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge--that I may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. In Your holy name Jesus, I pray. To Jesus be the glory, the majesty, the power, and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.

 

In Him,

Wagdi Henein

January 20 Devotion - How can we approach God?

 

Jesus said to him, “I am the [only] Way [to God] and the [real] Truth and the [real] Life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.”

 

فَقالَ لَهُ يَسُوعُ:

أنا هُوَ الطَّرِيِقُ وَالحَقُّ وَالحَياةُ. لا أحَدَ يَأْتِي إلَى الآبِ إلّا بِي

.

John 14:6 Amplified Bible

 

 ^….is in accordance with [the terms of] the eternal purpose which He carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord, ¹² in whom we have boldness and confident access through faith in Him [that is, our faith gives us sufficient courage to freely and openly approach God through Christ].

 وَفْقاً لِقَصدِهِ الأزَلِيِّ الَّذِي حَقَّقَهُ فِي المَسِيحِ يَسُوعَ رَبِّنا. 12 فَفِي المَسِيحِ، وَبِالإيمانِ بِهِ، لَنا امتِيازُ الدُّخُولِ إلَى حَضرَةِ اللهِ بِجُرأةٍ وَثِقَةٍ.

 

Ephesians 3: 11-12 Amplified Bible

 

Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

 

إذاً فَلْنَتَقَدَّمْ بِجُرأةٍ إلَى عَرشِ نِعمَةِ اللهِ، لِكَي نَنالَ رَحمَةً وَنَجِدَ نِعمَةً تُعِينُنا وَقتَ الحاجَةِ.

Hebrews 4:16 NKJV

                                                                                  

Christ is the only way of access to God. Through Jesus’ mediation we; who have accepted Jesus as our Lord and Saviour; can approach and have audience with God. We can come to The Throne of God with boldness, meaning we have been given liberty of speech to The Father, such as children use in addressing a generous father. We can ask of God directly through Jesus our mediator with confidence and boldness. It is on the basis of such scriptures as these that it becomes obvious that we need to conclude all our prayers in the name, and for the sake of, Jesus Christ our Lord.

 

 I invite you to repeat the following prayer for yourself:

Abba Father, thank You God that I am Your child because I was purchased with the precious blood of Christ. Thank You God that I may approach You with freedom and confidence through Jesus Christ. Thank You my gracious God that I can come boldly to Your throne and receive Your mercy and I will find grace to help me when I need it most. Abba Father, please 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 and Friend. Thank You Father God 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. In the Holy Name of Jesus, I pray to You Father. To Jesus be the glory, the authority, the power, and the dominion forever and ever and unto ages of all ages. Amen.        

 

In Him,

Wagdi Henein

January 19 Devotion - Abundance

 

Jesus said:

“Give and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.”

أَعْطُوا، تُعْطَوْا: فَإِنَّكُم تُعْطَوْنَ فِي أَحْضَانِكُمْ كَيْلاً جَيِّداً مُلَبَّداً مَهْزُوزاً فَائِضاً، لأَنَّهُ بِالْكَيْلِ الَّذِي بِهِ تَكِيلُونَ، يُكَالُ لَكُمْ».

Luke 6:38

 

God applies what He preaches. He is a God of abundance! He is always giving us; He wants to pour out His abundance on us until we are so full that we are running over with His abundance.

We should notice however that Jesus said: "Give and it will be given to you." We need to continue/start giving. Giving is not just financial. Spiritual, emotional, acts of service are included and required.

When we plant an orange seed, God gives us an orange tree with a single orange…No, he gives us an orange tree with an abundance of oranges. If we plant many orange seeds, we can get an orange grove. That's what happens when we obey God in our giving, we get an abundant harvest in return and when we give some away, the cycle repeats itself.

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

Abba Father, thank You for Your abundant blessings and for Your unfailing, inseparable, deep, and everlasting love. Thank You for the gift that no one else can give, salvation through Jesus Christ. Help me to be a blessing to others and to give in the same way I want to receive, a good measure that is exceeding expectations. Father God, please help me to open the door to Your abundance in all areas of my life. 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.

In Him,

Wagdi Henein