October 6 Devotion - Laugh and Rejoice

He who sits in the heavens shall laugh. He will yet fill your mouth with laughing, And your lips with rejoicing. Be glad in the LORD and rejoice, you righteous; And shout for joy, all you upright in heart! ⁴ Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!

الساكن في السموات يضحك

عندما يملأ فاك ضحكا وشفتيك هتافا.

افرحوا بالرب وابتهجوا يا ايها الصدّيقون واهتفوا يا جميع المستقيمي القلوب

افرحوا في الرب كل حين واقول ايضا افرحوا

Psalm 2:4, Job 8:21, Psalm 32:11, Philippians 4:4

Since God created laughter and joy and He himself laughs, this should be something we should do a lot of. Since Christians who have accepted Jesus as their Saviour have the biggest reason to rejoice, we should all be smiling. Being pious does not mean we need to be so strict that we almost frown.

God has a reason to tell us that He will fill our mouths with laughter because He loves us and He created laughter to strengthen our immune system, boost our energy, diminish pain, and protect us from the damaging effects of stress.

I invite you to repeat the following prayer for yourself:

Abba Father, thank You that You have a great sense of humour and thank You for creating laughter. Maximize my sense of humour and uplift my approach to life so that I enjoy life more. Fill my mouth with laughter Lord and my lips with rejoicing in Your love. Thank You Father for Your deep and everlasting love for me, Your abundant blessings, and for the riches of Your grace in my life. Help me to start living eternity with you from now on. Give me a spirit that always shouts with joy and always rejoices. I proclaim to the world that Jesus 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 You Father. To Jesus be the power, the glory, the majesty and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.

Jesus loves you,

In Him,

Wagdi Henein

October 5 Devotion - Access to God

Now all of us can come to the Father through the same Holy Spirit because of what Christ has done for us.

 فَفِي المَسِيحِ نَقدِرُ كِلانا أنْ نَقتَرِبَ مِنَ الآبِ بِالرُّوحِ الواحِدِ.

Ephesians 2:18

Through Jesus, we all have access through the influence of the Holy Spirit, unto our Heavenly Father, God Almighty. No spirit can have access to God except through Jesus Christ, and Jesus only introduces to God the spirit that has received His Holy Spirit. Jesus said:

“I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.”

قال له يسوع انا هو الطريق والحق والحياة .ليس احد يأتي الى الآب الا بي .

John 14:6

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 in my life. I am grateful that I was purchased with the precious blood of Christ and I now have access to God through the Holy Spirit because I have accepted Jesus as my Lord and my Saviour. Jesus I acknowledge that You are the only way to The Father, and that You are The Truth and The life. LORD, I pray that out of Your glorious riches You strengthen me with power through Your Holy Spirit and I pray that through Your grace Jesus will continue to dwell in my heart through faith. God I praise You, glorify You and lift You up on high.In the Holy Name of Jesus I pray. To Jesus be the glory and the power and the dominion forever and ever and unto ages of all ages. Amen.

Jesus loves you,

In Him,

Wagdi Henein

October 4 Devotion - Keep yourselves in God's love

For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing.

...But you, dear friends, build yourselves up in your most holy faith and pray in the Holy Spirit. Keep yourselves in God's love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.

Romans 7:19, Jude1:20–21

فَأَنَا لاَ أَعْمَلُ الصَّلاَحَ الَّذِي أُرِيدُهُ؛ وَإِنَّمَا الشَّرُّ الَّذِي لاَ أُرِيدُهُ فَإِيَّاهُ أُمَارِسُ

وَأَمَّا أَنْتُمْ أَيُّهَا الأَحِبَّاءُ، فَابْنُوا أَنْفُسَكُمْ عَلَى إِيمَانِكُمُ الأَقْدَسِ، وَصَلُّوا دَائِماً فِي الرُّوحِ الْقُدُسِ.َاحْفَظُوا أَنْفُسَكُمْ فِي مَحَبَّةِ اللهِ، مُنْتَظِرِينَ رَحْمَةَ رَبِّنَا يَسُوعَ الْمَسِيحِ إِذْ يَعُودُ وَيَأْخُذُكُمْ لِتَحْيَوْا مَعَهُ إِلَى الأَبَدِ.

I invite you to repeat the following prayer:

Abba Father, thank You for Your abundant blessings, Your grace and Your deep, everlasting and inseparable love for me. Lord, I cannot do it on my own. Replace my self-effort and my problem solving techniques with Your power. Help me learn to walk by faith. Jesus, You are my Strength and my Shield. You are the One who can fortify my human frailty with Your supernatural grace. I lean on You today and every day. Saviour, saturate my mind with Your Word and fill me with Your Spirit. Keep me in Your love and strength as I await Your return Jesus. In Your Holy name I pray. Amen.

Jesus loves you,

In Him,

Wagdi Henein

October 3 Devotion - The Humble Christ

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.

Philippians 2:7-8

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

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

Being made in the likeness of man, Jesus laid himself as low as possible laying aside the brilliance of His glory. He took upon Himself human form assuming the lowest character, that of being the servant of all. He accepted to die for us, and He accepted to die the lowest and most disgraceful kind of death, the death of the cross; the punishment of the meanest of criminals.

‘What must sin have been in the sight of God, when it required such humiliation in Jesus Christ to make atonement for it, and undo its influence and malignity!’ (Adapted from Clarke's Commentary on the Bible.)

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.

Humility frees us to love and serve others selflessly, for their sake, rather than our own. 

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 in my life. Lord Jesus, thank You that You humbled yourself to die in my place and to grant me the forgiveness of my sins. Jesus, You became a servant for my sake to set me free from the bondage of sin, selfishness and conceit. Jesus, I pray that out of Your glorious riches You strengthen me with power through Your Spirit in my inner being, so that I can be humble as You are humble and to love others freely and graciously. Teach me Lord to be ‘kind and compassionate to others, forgiving them, just as Christ God forgave me.’ Ephesians 4:31-3  I declare Jesus as my Lord and Saviour and I pray in His Holy Name. 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