May 14 Devotion - Sing to The Lord a new Song

Sing to the Lord a new song;     sing to the Lord, all the earth. ² Sing to the Lord, praise his name;     proclaim his salvation day after day. ³ Declare his glory among the nations,
    his marvelous deeds among all peoples.

⁴ For great is the Lord and most worthy of praise;     he is to be feared above all (so called)gods.

 

رَنِّمُوا للهِ تَرنِيمَةً جَدِيدَةً.
غَنُّوا للهِ يا كُلَّ أهلِ الأرْضِ.
² غَنُّوا للهِ، بارِكُوا اسْمَهُ.
حَدِّثُوا بِخَلاصِهِ يَوماً بَعدَ يَومٍ.
³ أخبِرُوا بِمَجدِهِ بَينَ الشُّعُوبِ.
أخبِرُوا كُلَّ النّاسِ بِعَجائِبِهِ.
⁴ لأنَّ اللهَ عَظِيمٌ وَمُستَحِقٌّ لِلتَّسبِيحِ!
هُوَ الأكثَرُ مَهابَةً بَينَ جَمِيعِ الآلِهَةِ.

 

   Psalm 96:1-4

 

It was a custom that poets/psalmists wrote a new song whenever God had a new large blessing for the people. We see in this song/hymn that we are called to praise and bless(affectionately praise) God and give Him glory. Three times we are here called to sing unto the Lord; sing to the Father, to the Son, to the Holy Ghost, as it was in the beginning. This new song is a new New-Testament song, a song of praise for the new covenant and the precious privileges of that covenant, it looks further to The Kingdom of Christ.

 

I invite you to repeat the following prayer for yourself:

Abba Father, thank you for your abundant blessings. Lord I sing a new song, a song of Your New Covenant, a song of my salvation through the atoning blood of Jesus Christ. Lord whenever I feel low or focus on anything other than Jesus help me to refocus on Christ by singing this new song, to sing to You LORD, to proclaim Your glory and Your wonderful news of The Gospel of Jesus Christ and my redemption, forgiveness, justification, reconciliation, sanctification and glorification. Never let me forget that I am a loved and adored child of God. I declare Your glory Lord among the nations, and Your marvelous deeds among all peoples for You are great and worthy of all praise.

In the name of my Lord and Saviour, in the Holy Name of Jesus I pray. To Him 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

May 13 Devotion - You shall love The Lord

And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment

وتحب الرب الهك من كل قلبك ومن كل نفسك ومن كل فكرك ومن كل قدرتك هذه هي الوصية الاولى

                                                          Mark 12:30

When Jesus laid out the most important commandment for humanity, He started with loving the Lord with ALL of our heart. I often wondered how can I love Jesus with all my heart?

The heart is where we keep our emotions, cares and desires. The rudder of my ship is my cares and desires.

In order to bring my life (ship) in from the storm, the rudder (my cares and desires) needs to be my love for God with all my heart.

How do I do that? Jesus teaches me that:

For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

لانه حيث يكون كنزك هناك يكون قلبك ايضا

Matthew 6:21

 

I invite you to repeat the following prayer for yourself:

Abba Father, thank you for your abundant blessings. I praise You and glorify You. Jesus help me and teach me to make You my undisputed treasure. O my soul, you have said to The Lord, “You are my Lord, my goodness is nothing apart from You.” Psalm 16:2

Lord, help me to have the discipline of spending time with You daily and give me the gift of treasuring this time and rejoicing to be in Your presence. In the name of The King of kings and Lord of lords, in the Holy Name of Jesus I pray. To Him be the glory and the power and the dominion forever and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen.

قُلْتُ لِلرَّبِّ: «أَنْتَ سَيِّدِي. خَيْرِي لاَ شَيْءَ غَيْرُكَ»

Jesus loves you

In Him,

Wagdi Henein

May 12 devotion - Focus on God

God sends forth his love and his faithfulness.

Be exalted, O God, above the heavens;     let your glory be over all the earth
My heart, O God, is steadfast
    I will sing and make music.
9 I will praise you, Lord, among the nations;     I will sing of you among the peoples. 10 For great is your love, reaching to the heavens;     your faithfulness reaches to the skies.
11 Be exalted, O God, above the heavens;    let your glory be over all the earth.

Psalm 57

I acknowledge that I sometimes fall into the trap of focusing on my challenges in life and forget about my Saviour. It even gets worse when I start redirecting my frustration toward God. This turns into a spiral downward motion feeding the loss of hope and the start of depression. Have you ever been there? I am there now and working on refocusing on my God. The paradigm shift goes from look God at the size of my problems to look problems at the strength of my God.

I am now looking at what King David wrote in Psalm 57 and applying it to myself. If you are in the same boat now, or whenever you find yourself in this situation let us repeat the above phrases from Psalm 57.

I feel the need to focus on God’s grace and unconditional love for me, I need to focus on His power and ability to control all circumstances. Let us focus on His always-listening ear and His always-watchful eye. When we keep focusing on God, our thoughts about our problems diminish and our hope increases and our depression turns to enthusiasm.

I invite you to repeat the following prayer for yourself:

Abba Father, thank You for Your abundant blessings and love. Lord, I choose to see Your loving arms wrapped around me lifting me up to safety, provision, and peace. I thank You that You are a reliable and trustworthy God and You promised that You will never leave me nor forsake me, and I know that You are faithful. Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; let Your glory be over all the earth. I will praise You Lord, among the nations; for great is Your love Lord, reaching to the heavens; Your faithfulness reaches to the skies. I choose today to concentrate on You, to hold fast my confession that Jesus is my Lord and Saviour and in His mighty name 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  والقادر ان يفعل فوق كل شيء اكثر جدا مما نطلب او نفتكر بحسب القوة التي تعمل فينا

له المجد في الكنيسة في المسيح يسوع الى جميع اجيال دهر الدهور.آمين

Jesus loves you

In Him

Wagdi Henein

May 9 Devotion - I will cause you to rest

Commit your works to the Lord, And your thoughts will be established.
Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy-laden and overburdened, and I will cause you to rest.

الق على الرب اعمالك فتثبت افكارك. تَعالُوا إلَيَّ أيُّها المُتعَبِينَ وَيا مَنْ تَحمِلُونَ أحمالاً ثَقِيلَةً، وَأنا سَأُعطِيكُمُ الرّاحَةَ

Proverbs 16:3,  Matthew 11:28

 

When we commit our works to The Lord and we ‘Come’ to Jesus we transfer our burdens from our backs to one who is much stronger and much more capable to bear them. The noblest thoughts we can produce are thoughts about God. Our thoughts are the source out of which our actions and works spring. We can never fully exhaust our ability to think about the goodness and greatness of God. There should be no end of our praise of Him.

 

I invite you to repeat the following prayer for yourself:

Abba Father, thank You for Your abundant blessings and love. O LORD, be gracious to us; we long for you. Be our strength every morning, our salvation in time of distress. Isaiah 33:2  My heavenly  Father, I want to transfer my burdens from my own back to Yours because You are stronger and wiser and by doing this my activities will be based on Your counsel and Your plans. I know that when I commit and trust my actions wholly to You; You will cause my thoughts to become agreeable to Your will. Lord, You know that I struggle with that and try to resolve my problems on my own and the result is that I am overburdened. Help me Jesus to ‘come’ to You. Thank You Jesus that You are my salvation and You are preparing a mansion for me in Your Father’s house and that I will live with You forever. I praise You God and glorify You in the name of Your only begotten son Jesus.

Jesus loves you
In Him,
Wagdi Henein

May 8 Devotion - Dealing with loneliness

See, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands

“I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

انْظُرُوا هَا أَنَا قَدْ نَقَشْتُكِ يَاصِهْيَوْنُ عَلَى كَفِّي

وَهَا أَنَا مَعَكُمْ كُلَّ الأَيَّامِ إِلَى انْتِهَاءِ الزَّمَانِ
 

Isaiah 49:16

Matthew 28:20

 

There is a critical difference between solitude and loneliness:

·     Solitude, is a time where we are alone and enjoy the peace and quiet and where we get in touch with our feelings and can meditate

·     Loneliness, is a time where we are alone but would prefer to be able to fellowship with others

 

When we feel lonely we should admit our emotions to God. He knows what we are going through, and He wants to be the One to fill that void. The reality of God’s constant presence with us is a fact, but we are not always aware of Him, especially in lonely periods.

I have many times questioned, How come I cannot feel His presence even though I know He is with me, how come I feel so alone? When I feel that lonely, my courage diminishes.

I need to keep reminding myself that where God has begun the work of grace, He will perfect it. He will help those who, in humble dependence on Him, help themselves. Having our hearts and our hopes focused on God, we shall be carried above all difficulties, and be enabled to lay hold of the prize of our high calling in Christ Jesus. The truth is that He will never leave or forsake those whom He has saved.

I invite you to repeat the following prayer for yourself:

Abba Father, thank You for Your abundant blessings. O God, do not be far from me; O my God, hasten to my help! Psalm 71:12 Lord, please use my loneliness as a tool to draw me closer to You. I am comforted in the knowledge that I am so special to You that You have inscribed my name on the palms of Your hands, and that as a believer in Jesus Christ; my Lord and Saviour; You love me unconditionally. Thank You Jesus that You will be always with me until the end of the age. In Your name Jesus, my intercessor, I pray to The Father. Amen.

Jesus loves you
In Him,
Wagdi Henein

May 7 Devotion - 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 pray God should I love my neighbour, but we can pray to God to help us love them. Otherwise every detail in our life we can pray about and I believe we should pray about. 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 for Your abundant blessings. Lord, 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. In the name of The King of kings and Lord of lords, in the Holy Name of Jesus I pray. To Him 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

May 6 Devotion - God works in us

for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.

¹³ فَاللهُ هُوَ الَّذِي يَضَعُ فِيكُمُ الإرادَةَ لِعَمَلِ ما يُرضِيهِ، وَيُعطِيكُمُ القُوَّةَ لِتَحقِيقِ ذَلِكَ.

Philippians 2:13 

 

God leads us to "will and to act." He does not will and act for us. We "will and act" – however God influences

us to do it. God  does not compel us, we are free to choose. He exerts an influence to lead us (believers in His Son Jesus Christ) to will and to do that which is in accordance with His will.

We cannot take any credit for our good works, all we will and have, and do, is from God.

 

I invite you to repeat the following prayer for yourself:

Abba Father, thank You for Your abundant blessings. Lord, thank You that You work in me, guide me and direct my actions to be in accordance with Your good will. Lord, I pray that out of Your glorious riches 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 fulfill Your good purpose and advance Your Kingdom. In the name of The King of kings and Lord of lords, in the Holy Name of Jesus I pray. To Him 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

May 5 Devotion - God Shall Supply All Your Need

My God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.
وَإِنَّ إِلَهِي سَيَسُدُّ حَاجَاتِكُمْ كُلَّهَا إِلَى التَّمَامِ، وَفْقاً لِغِنَاهُ فِي الْمَجْدِ، فِي الْمَسِيحِ يَسُوعَ.

Philippians 4:19

 

Please note that God is telling us through the Apostle Paul that our needs will be supplied "according to his riches in glory", so in the area of financial needs we do not need to worry that it is linked to the current economic status.

It is God's will to bless us abundantly in all our needs but we need to believe that He will.

 

I invite you to repeat the following prayer for yourself:

Abba Father, thank You for Your abundant blessings. Lord, You know all my needs and You have promised to provide them when I seek first Your kingdom and Your righteousness. Teach me not to worry about tomorrow, and let tomorrow to worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. Help me to transfer my anxieties to Christ and to ‘help’ You by letting You be God and I Your faithful servant and friend. I rejoice in the victorious thought that You are taking care of me and You have never failed to keep any of Your promises. God, I leave all my present and future needs at Your alter for I know You are faithful, omniscient, and love me perfectly. In the Holy Name of Jesus I pray. 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

May 2 Devotion - Keeping my focus on Jesus

But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them.

ونحو نصف الليل كان بولس وسيلا يصلّيان ويسبحان الله والمسجونون يسمعونهما.

Acts 16:25

I continue to learn that if I am not extremely careful, my emotions can and will govern my life.

God instructs us to keep our focus on Jesus in order to grow spiritually. When I succeed on doing that, the emotional ups and downs of this life will not shake or change my world.

In “Telling Yourself the Truth”, William Backus writes about joy:

“Joy comes from your relationship to God and His unchanging faithfulness. You don’t need to live in perfect circumstances to be happy. It’s pleasant to be loved and appreciated, but not vital to your happiness.

The Bible tells how two men of God, Paul and Silas, were brought before Roman authorities at Philippi and beaten with rods and then thrown into jail … But did Paul and Silas moan and complain, “If it weren’t for the cruelty of the unbelievers, we wouldn’t be wounded and bleeding. We’d be happy!” No.

Paul and Silas had a strong belief that transcended circumstances, events, people, feelings; it even transcended pain. That belief was in the person, power, and presence of Jesus Christ. They believed their suffering wasn’t as important as the message they carried …

They sang so loudly their voices were heard throughout the prison! And not only that, God … opened the prison doors for them. Their happiness came from the belief in Jesus Christ within them and not from circumstances around them.”

 

I invite you to repeat the following prayer for yourself:

Abba Father, thank You for Your abundant blessings. Lord, I praise You, I glorify You and I rejoice in Your grace. Lord, help me to keep my focus on the person, power, and presence of Jesus Christ in my life instead of the circumstances of my life. I thank You Jesus that You promised that You will never leave me or forsake me. Thank you LORD that I have absolutely no doubt that You are in control of every second of my future and that through this assurance I can have an inner sense of peace that transcends all our human understanding. Thank You Father that You delight in showing me again and again that You are the source of my strength, my provision, my protection, and my ultimate joy in life. In the name of Your precious Son Jesus, I pray. To Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.

Jesus loves you
In Him,
Wagdi Henein

May 1 Devotion - You raise me up

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 put your speakers up & listen to the song)

http://youtu.be/0OOhd6R2EiY

 

I invite you to repeat the following prayer for yourself:

Abba Father, thank You for Your abundant blessings. 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. Amen.

Jesus loves you
In Him,
Wagdi Henein

April 30 Devotion - Why are you cast down, O my soul?

Why are you cast down, O my soul?
And why are you disquieted within me?
Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him
For the help of His countenance.

لماذا انت منحنية يا نفسي ولماذا تئنّين فيّ. ارتجي الله لاني بعد احمده لاجل خلاص وجهه

Psalm 42:5

 

Why are you cast down, O my soul? I realize that  discouragement comes to everybody at one time or another, but Lord I do not want it to stay. I believe that realizing that I feel down is the first step to overcome discouragement.

Lord please help me to understand the reason. I realize that for me know hope at a deeper level I must endure times of hopelessness

I invite you to repeat the following prayer for yourself:

Abba Father, thank You for Your abundant blessings. Lord remind me of Your past care and provision and strengthen my faith to overcome discouragement. Help me to focus on You Lord and to remember that Your grace and loving kindness will rekindle my hope. Lord help me to stay focused on the fact that even though I am lonely, I am never alone, because You said: ‘The Lord is near to you because you have a broken heart, and saves such as have a contrite spirit. Psalm 34:17-20. Help me Lord to totally absorb Your commandment and affirmation: “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9 Lord help me to internalize Your words to the apostle Paul and to feel them in the depth of my heart, soul, mind and in my spirit: “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” 2 Corinthians 12:9   Hope in God, O my soul, for I shall yet praise Him For the help of His countenance.In the name of The King of kings and Lord of lords, in the Holy Name of Jesus I pray. To Him 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

April 29 Devotion - Whom shall I turn to?

When we encounter a crisis we may:

       i.          pretend it does not exist, or

      ii.          pretend to overcome it with our own self resolve and/or help from a friend(s), or

     iii.          bury it deep within us and put a lid on it, or

    iv.          go into depression, or

      v.          turn it over to Jesus Christ

 

The ‘V’ answer turns a crisis into an opportunity, an opportunity to trust God so that we may see God at work in our problems. As God strengthens and equips us, we get a renewed hope in God’s active presence in our lives.

The Lord God is my strength; He will make my feet like deer’s feet,
And He will make me walk on my high hills.

Habakkuk 3:19

الرب السيد قوّتي ويجعل قدميّ كالايائل ويمشيني على مرتفعاتي

 

I invite you to repeat the following prayer for yourself:

Abba Father, thank You for Your abundant blessings. Lord You are my strength, turn my feet into deer’s feet so that I may be swift to turn to You for help. Take me to the top of my hills of victory. Lord, uncover any crisis that I may have pushed deep into my subconscious and I have put a lid on it, and bring it to the surface and help me turn it over to You Jesus so that You deal with it. Turn all my challenges to opportunities to feel Your active presence and support in my life. I love You Lord, and I know that as per Your Word all things will work together for my good. In the name of The King of kings and Lord of lords, in the Holy Name of Jesus I pray. To Him 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

April 28 Devotion - The Tribulations of Life

“…In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”

فَإِنَّكُمْ فِي الْعَالَمِ سَتُقَاسُونَ الضِّيقَ. وَلكِنْ تَشَجَّعُوا، فَأَنَا قَدِ انْتَصَرْتُ عَلَى الْعَالَمِ

^{John 16:33}

Tribulations cause anxiety and sorrow and can lead to depression. When we experience tribulation in our lives we  need to turn to the one who has overcome the world. This sounds easier said than done. However practice makes perfect, and as we learn to turn to Jesus in the face of anxiety and sorrow in the little things we begin to develop our dependence muscles.

Learning that ‘Our anxiety does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow…but empties today of its strength’ (Charles Spurgeon)

helps us realize that anxiety distracts the mind from communion with God. The Apostle Paul teaches us to:

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; ⁷ and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

لا تهتموا بشيء بل في كل شيء بالصلاة والدعاء مع الشكر لتعلم طلباتكم لدى الله.

وسلام الله الذي يفوق كل عقل يحفظ قلوبكم وافكاركم في المسيح يسوع

Philippians 4:6-7

The word nothing means it excludes any reason. No reason is exempt and we are not allowed to worry about anything. This means that we are to pray about everything. Through thankful prayer we can declare to God our anxious thoughts and have faith that He will fill our hearts and mind with His peace when we leave our anxieties at The Cross.

I invite you to repeat the following prayer for yourself:

Abba Father, thank You for Your abundant blessings. Lord, You know exactly where I am emotionally and mentally and I know as per Jesus’ promise You will comfort me. Father, I believe that sometimes You do allow the pressures of life to build so that I can learn to deal with them from a position of faith and not fear. Thank You for not condemning me for my fear, and for providing wisdom for all I face. Strengthen me Lord so as not to feel anxious and to be always thankful so that Your peace which surpasses all comprehension, will guard my heart and mind in Christ Jesus in whose Holy Name I pray. To Him 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