March 18 Devotion - Be of Good Cheer

“…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. May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing [through the experience of your faith] that by the power of the Holy Spirit you will abound in hope and overflow with confidence in His promises.

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

فَلْيَملأكُمُ اللهُ، مَصدَرُ كُلِّ رَجاءٍ، بِكُلِّ الفَرَحِ وَالسَّلامِ بَينَما تَتَّكِلُونَ عَلَيهِ، حَتَّى تَفِيضُوا بِالرَّجاءِ بِقُوَّةِ الرُّوحِ القُدُسِ.

Philippians 4:6-7, Romans 15:13

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, You know exactly where I am emotionally and mentally and I know as per Jesus’ promise that You will comfort me and give me good cheer. 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 from a position of fear. Thank You for not condemning me for my fear, and for providing wisdom for all I face. Abba, God of hope fill me with all joy and peace in believing that by the power of the Holy Spirit I will abound in hope and overflow with confidence in Your promises and never feel anxious and always thankful. I pray that Your peace which surpasses all comprehension, will guard my heart and mind in Christ Jesus. God I pray to You in the name of Your precious Son; my Redeemer and Saviour; the Lord of my life, Jesus Christ. To Jesus be the power, the glory, the majesty, the blessings, and the dominion before all time and now and forever. Amen.

Jesus loves you,

In Him,

Wagdi Henein

March 15 Devotion - I will give you 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 give you 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 that You love me and that Your love  is unfailing, steadfast, deep, and everlasting. Thank You Father for Your abundant blessings in my life, and for the riches of Your grace upon my life. Jesus, 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. In Your Holy Name Jesus I pray. 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

March 14 Devotion - Self - Esteem

So He said to them, “You are the ones who declare yourselves just and upright in the sight of men, but God knows your hearts [your thoughts, your desires, your secrets]; for that which is highly esteemed among men is detestable in the sight of God.

 فَقَالَ لَهُمْ:«إِنَّكُمْ تُبَرِّرُونَ أَنْفُسَكُمْ أَمَامَ النَّاسِ، وَلكِنَّ اللهَ يَعْرِفُ قُلُوبَكُمْ. فَمَا يَعْتَبِرُهُ النَّاسُ رَفِيعَ الْقَدْرِ، هُوَ رِجْسٌ عِنْدَ اللهِ.

Luke 16:15

Self-esteem is defined as confidence in one's own worth or abilities; self-respect.

While believers should have high self- esteem, the source of their self-esteem is crucial. I find myself conforming to the world by drawing my self-worth based on how the world and people measure me.

What is the source of your self-esteem? Is it your social setting? Your professional setting? Your culture setting? Your financial setting? Or do you get your self-esteem from pleasing God?

But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”

فَقَالَ الرَّبُّ لِصَمُوئِيلَ: «لاَ تُلْقِ بَالاً إِلَى وَسَامَتِهِ وَطُولِ قَامَتِهِ إِذ لَيْسَ هَذَا مَنِ اخْتَرْتُهُ، فَنَظْرَةُ الرَّبِّ تَخْتَلِفُ عَنْ نَظْرَةِ الإِنْسَانِ، لأَنَّ الإِنْسَانَ يَنْظُرُ إِلَى الْمَظْهَرِ الْخَارِجِيِّ وَأَمَّا الرَّبُّ فَإِنَّهُ يَنْظُرُ إِلَى الْقَلْبِ».

1 Samuel 16:7

 

When I get my self-esteem from pleasing God, I get my confidence by trusting God. 

                        

I invite you to repeat the following prayer for yourself:

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 surrender to You and let You transform me into a new person by changing the way I think and make me stop copying the behaviour and customs of this world. Romans 12:2. Lord increase my self-esteem in proportion to the extent that I please You and increase my trust in  You. Abba Father, thank You that You love me and that Your love is unfailing, steadfast, deep, and everlasting. Thank You Father for Your abundant blessings in my life, and for the riches of Your grace upon my life. Father God I pray to You in the name of my Redeemer and Saviour; the Lord of my life, Jesus Christ. To Jesus be the power, the glory, the majesty, the blessings, and the dominion before all time and now and forevermore. Amen.

Jesus loves you,

In Him,

Wagdi Henein

March 11 Devotion - Death and life are in the power of the tongue

God’s word emphasizes that a home full of quietness and peace is much better than a house loaded with feasting but full of arguments and conflict. Peace between people requires establishing mutual trust. Trust is built through listening with the intent to understand (not judge) the other person and through carefully choosing our words and the tone in which they are spoken. Speaking off our mind without carefully filtering our words and the impact they can have on the other person will produce anger and will lead us to behave in a way that is not pleasing to God.

I invite you to repeat the following prayer for yourself:

Abba Father, 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 a careful, thoughtful listener who listens with empathy and understanding. Help me Lord to control what I say, how I say it, and to be mindful of not hurting the listener and also help me purify what I think.  Keep me away from ALL strife Lord and help me to be patient, forgiving and slow to anger. Thank You Father God for Your unfailing, inseparable, deep and everlasting love for me, Your abundant blessings in my life, 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

Jesus loves you,

In Him,

Wagdi Henein

March 8 Devotion - He who is mighty has done great things for me

In the day when I cried out, You answered me, And made me bold with strength in my soul. When His lamp shone above and upon my head and by His light I walked through darkness; He who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is His name.

يَوْمَ دَعَوْتُكَ اسْتَجَبْتَ لِي، وَشَجَّعْتَنِي إِذْ زِدْتَنِي قُوَّةً فِي دَاخِلِي. حِينَ كَانَ مِصْبَاحُهُ يُضِيءُ فَوْقَ رَأْسِي، فَأَسْلُكُ عَبْرَ الظُّلْمَةِ فِي نُورِهِ. فَإِنَّ الْقَدِيرَ قَدْ فَعَلَ بِي أُمُوراً عَظِيمَةً، قُدُّوسٌ اسْمُهُ.

Psalm 138:3, Job 29:3, Luke 1:49

When we walk in the light of God's countenance, every outward comfort is increased, every trouble is diminished, and we pass cheerfully by this light through life. When we rely on His loving-kindness and truth through Jesus Christ, we will always find Him faithful to His word.

I invite you to repeat the following prayer for yourself:

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. Abba Father, thank You for Your promise to guide me and to comfort me through the most difficult circumstances. As I look back on my life I see how You protected me God through the darkest hours and helped me walk in the light of Your countenance. I can boldly say that He who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is His name. Thank You Lord that You love me with an unfailing, inseparable, deep and everlasting love, thank You for Your abundant blessings in my life, and for the riches of Your grace upon my life. Abba, I claim Your promises to continue to do great things for me and to give me wisdom, strength and peace. God I pray to You in the name of Your precious Son; my Redeemer and Saviour; the Lord of my life, Jesus Christ. To Jesus be the power, the glory, the majesty, the blessings, and the dominion before all time and now and forevermore. Amen.

Jesus loves you,

In Him,

Wagdi Henein