September 6 Devotion - Wise Relationships

Jonathan said to David, "Go in peace, for we have sworn friendship with each other in the name of the LORD, saying, 'The LORD is witness between you and me, and between your descendants and my descendants forever.' “Then David left, and Jonathan went back to the town.

فقال يوناثان لداود اذهب بسلام لاننا كلينا قد حلفنا باسم الرب قائلين الرب يكون بيني وبينك وبين نسلي ونسلك الى الابد.

1 Samuel 20:42 

Our past experiences influence our ability in building trusting relationships with others. If we have been hurt before, we may be less likely to open our hearts again. While there is always the risk of rejection which is very painful, I believe that finding a relationship that is based on genuine trust, devotion and loyalty is worth the risk.

Some may base relationships on personal ambition or selfishness. When we depend on another person for our security or take advantage of someone for our own personal gain, we are not building wise, lasting relationships nor are we acting in a Christian manner.

As believers, we have a mutual interest in our faith in Jesus Christ and our relationship with Him. Only Jesus can meet all our needs at the spiritual, physical, and emotional levels.

I invite you to repeat the following prayer for yourself:

Abba Father, thank You for Your deep and everlasting love for me and Your abundant blessings and for the riches of Your grace in my life. Lord, I pray that out of Your glorious riches You strengthen me with power through Your Spirit in my inner being, so that I may be a true friend who comes alongside others without any selfish motives. Help me Lord to strengthen others as You have strengthened me, and to be able to give others wise advice that stems from You Lord. I pray that my love for my fellow believers may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that I may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God. Philippians 1  In Your name Jesus, my Lord and Saviour, I pray to The Father. To Jesus be the glory, the power, the dominion, the majesty and the blessings forever and ever and unto ages of all ages. Amen.

Jesus loves you,

In Him,

Wagdi Henein

September 5 Devotion - A time to work and a time to rest

Then the apostles gathered to Jesus and told Him all things, both what they had done and what they had taught. ³¹ And He said to them, “Come aside by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while.”

Mark 6:30-31

For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven.
² A time to be born and a time to die. A time to plant and a time to harvest. Ecclesiastes 3:1-2

So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. 1 Corinthians 10:31

Today is ‘Labour Day’. A time for rest from work. Jesus Himself told His disciples after their hard word that they should take a time to rest and rejuvenate. So must we. As Solomon wrote: There is a time for everything under the sun.

The Scriptures tell us in 1 Corinthians 10:31 that whatever we do we should do for God’s glory. So whether we are working or at rest we need to glorify God.

We have to remember that Jesus gave us a job to do apart from our regular jobs. In His great commission Jesus said to His disciples and to all believers  

“ ..make disciples of all nations… teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” Matthew 28

So if you have retired, welcome to your second career.

Let us remember that when we surrender our lives to Jesus and make Him Lord of our lives:

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

لأَنَّ اللهَ هُوَ الَّذِي يُنْشِيءُ فِيكُمُ الإِرَادَةَ وَالْعَمَلَ لأَجْلِ مَرْضَاتِهِ

Philippians 2:13

I invite you to repeat the following prayer for yourself:

Abba Father, thank You for Your abundant blessings, Your inseparable love, and for the riches of Your grace. God of peace may the blood of the eternal covenant; the resurrection of Jesus; His Shepherd care for His sheep; and the equipping of the Holy Spirit; guide my every action. I declare Jesus as my Lord and Saviour. LORD, I pray that out of Your glorious riches You strengthen me with power through Your Spirit in my inner being, so that I want what You want for me, work in me Lord to will and to work in order to fulfill Your purpose in me. 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 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

September 2 Devotion - Godly Self-Acceptance

The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart,

And saves such as have a contrite spirit.

قريب هو الرب من المنكسري القلوب ويخلص المنسحقي الروح

Psalm 34:18

I believe that one of the greatest assets we can acquire is a sense of Godly self-acceptance. Contentment, peace, and joy are the by-products of personal acceptance. When we learn to accept ourselves and view our lives the way God does, the need to strive in order to gain or achieve the praise of others disappears.

I believe we should always let our acceptance of ourselves be rooted in Christ. When we do that we will never be disappointed.

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 I praise You, revere You, worship You, I stand in awe of You, I lift You up on high and glorify Your Holy Name. I pray that out of Your glorious riches You strengthen me with power through Your Spirit in my inner being, so that I never yield to the temptation that I am anything less than what You have created me to be. Lord, I am struggling with loneliness and I need You to encourage my heart. Lord I admit that I have fallen into the trap of focusing on the negative side of my situation and it has lead me to feelings of self-pity and doubt. Strengthen me to trust in and apply Your promise in Jeremiah 3:33 “Call to Me, and I will answer you, and I will tell you great and mighty things, which you do not know” Lord I know that You hear my  prayers and You know the cries of my heart and that You are filled with compassion concerning me. Help me to realize that the secret of my faith and contentment is not in the company of others, but in Jesus Christ and to believe like The Apostle Paul; I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. 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. In Your name Jesus, my Lord and Saviour, I pray to The Father. To Jesus be the glory, the power, the dominion, the majesty and the blessings forever and ever and unto ages of all ages. Amen.

Jesus loves you,

In Him,

Wagdi Henein

September 1 Devotion - The Humbled and Exalted Christ

Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, ⁶ who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, ⁷ but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. ⁸ And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. ⁹ Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name,

فَلْيَكُنْ فِيكُمْ هَذَا الْفِكْرُ الَّذِي هُوَ أَيْضاً فِي الْمَسِيحِ يَسُوعَ.

 ⁶ إِذْ إِنَّهُ، وَهُوَ الْكَائِنُ فِي هَيْئَةِ اللهِ، لَمْ يَعْتَبِرْ مُسَاوَاتَهُ لِلهِ خُلْسَةً، أَوْ غَنِيمَةً يُتَمَسَّكُ بِهَا؛

 ⁷ بَلْ أَخْلَى نَفْسَهُ، مُتَّخِذاً صُورَةَ عَبْدٍ، صَائِراً شَبِيهاً بِالْبَشَرِ؛

 ⁸ وَإِذْ ظَهَرَ بِهَيْئَةِ إِنْسَانٍ، أَمْعَنَ فِي الاِتِّضَاعِ، وَكَانَ طَائِعاً حَتَّى الْمَوْتِ، مَوْتِ الصَّلِيبِ.

 ⁹ لِذَلِكَ أَيْضاً رَفَّعَهُ اللهُ عَالِياً، وَأَعْطَاهُ الاِسْمَ الَّذِي يَفُوقُ كُلَّ اسْمٍ،

Philippians 2:5-9 

Many of us wish and strive to be Christ-like. We learn from the above scriptures that Jesus was obedient, humble and loving. He loved us and died on the cross in our place, to offer us the opportunity to be forgiven, redeemed and declared righteous in the eyes of God, by accepting Him as our Saviour and declaring Him as Lord over our lives.

Humility is sometimes misunderstood.  I understand that when God says we should be humble, to mean we should be free from pride and arrogance. Humility means to me that we know that in our flesh we are inadequate, yet we also know who we are in Christ, we are able to walk humbly in the power of God’s Holy Spirit, not our own personal power.

I invite you to repeat the following prayer for yourself:

Abba Father, thank You for Your abundant blessings and Your deep, inseparable, and everlasting love for me.

Help me LORD and give me wisdom and teach me to be Christ-like, through the Holy Spirit. Help me to be humble and ‘Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of my mouth, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.’ Ephesians 4:29 Strengthen me Abba Father to ‘get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, and slander, along with every form of malice’. Teach me to be kind and compassionate to others, forgiving them, just as Christ God forgave me.’ Ephesians 4:31-32. In the name of my Lord and Saviour; The King of kings and Lord of lords, in The Holy Name of Your only begotten Son Jesus, I pray to You Father. To Jesus be the power, the glory, the majesty and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.

لاَ تَخْرُجْ مِنْ أَفْوَاهِكُمْ كَلِمَةٌ فَاسِدَةٌ، بَلِ الْكَلاَمُ الصَّالِحُ لِلْبُنْيَانِ الَّذِي تَدْعُو إِلَيْهِ الْحَاجَةُ، كَيْ يُعْطِيَ السَّامِعِينَ نِعْمَةً.

انْزِعُوا عَنْكُمْ كُلَّ حِقْدٍ وَنَقْمَةٍ وَغَضَبٍ وَصَخَبٍ وَسُبَابٍ وَكَلَّ شَرٍّ.

 ³² وَكُونُوا لُطَفَاءَ بَعْضُكُمْ نَحْوَ بَعْضٍ، شَفُوقِينَ، مُسَامِحِينَ بَعْضُكُمْ بَعْضاً كَمَا سَامَحَكُمُ اللهُ فِي الْمَسِيحِ.

Jesus loves you,

In Him,

Wagdi Henein