July 7 Devotion - The Lord is Good

The Lord is good; His mercy is everlasting, and His truth endures to all generations.

فَإِنَّ الرَّبَّ صَالِحٌ، إِلَى الأَبَدِ رَحْمَتُهُ وَأَمَانَتُهُ دَائِمَةٌ مِنْ جِيلٍ إِلَى جِيلٍ.

Psalm 100:5

Because God is good, He only gives us what is best for us. Sometimes He says no and sometimes He gives us beyond our request and imagination, sometimes different than what we asked for, sometimes at a different timing but always what is best for us. I realize that God loves us with affection beyond imagination, and He knows us best because He fashioned every intricate fiber of our being.

For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb.

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.

لأَنَّكَ أَنْتَ قَدْ كَوَّنْتَ كُلْيَتَيَّ. نَسَجْتَنِي دَاخِلَ بَطْنِ أُمِّي.

 ¹⁴ أَحْمَدُكَ لأَنَّكَ صَنَعْتَنِي بِإِعْجَازِكَ الْمُدْهِشِ. مَا أَعْجَبَ أَعْمَالَكَ وَنَفْسِي تَعْلَمُ ذَلِكَ يَقِيناً.

Psalm 139:13–14

It makes total sense, then, that God knows exactly what each one of us needs and what blessings would benefit us the most.

I invite you to repeat the following prayer for yourself:

Abba Father, I thank You because I have been so amazingly and miraculously made. Lord, teach me to surrender totally to You and to realize that You are always looking out after me and doing what is best for me. Thank You Father God that Your deep steadfast love for me endures forever, thank You for Your abundant blessings in my life, and for the riches of Your grace upon my life. Lord, thank You that Your mercies are everlasting in my life. God I praise You, revere You, worship You, I stand in awe of You, and glorify Your Holy Name. I declare to the world that Christ is my Lord and Saviour and in His name I pray. To Jesus be the power, the glory, the majesty and the dominion before all time, now, and forevermore. Amen.  

Jesus loves you,

In Him,

Wagdi Henein

July 6 Devotion - Love God with All your mind

 

Part 4: With all your mind

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

In the last three devotions we covered how to:

‘love God with all your heart’ and

‘love God with all your soul’ and

‘love God with all your strength’.

Today let’s discover how to ‘love God with all your mind.’

I often wondered: what does it really mean to love God with all of my mind?

In order for me to love God with all my mind, I need to fill my mind with God’s Word. When I agree with God it awakens love in me, and my love for God is continually refueled when my mind encounters truth over and over again. When I use my mind to remember His qualities, and His love for me, I am putting love in my mind’s memory bank.

Since I treasure my relationship with the Lord, my thoughts and memory reflect that.

In order to bring my life (ship) in from the storm, the rudder of my ship (my thoughts and memory) needs to be my love for God with all my mind.

How do I do that? God teaches me that:

“I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds I will write them,”

اجعل نواميسي في قلوبهم واكتبها في اذهانهم

Hebrews 10:16

So my love for God with all my mind will be demonstrated by my thoughts and memories of God in my life and the rudder of my ship is controlled by every Word that God has written in my mind.

I invite you to repeat the following prayer for yourself:

Abba Father, I thank you for writing Your laws in my mind. Lord, help me and teach me to fill my mind with Your Word and to be in agreement with it. Lord, awaken love in me, and continually refuel my love for You. Help me to use my mind to remember Your qualities, and Your love for me, and to store love for You in my mind’s memory bank. Abba Father, thank You that Your deep steadfast love for me endures forever. Thank You Father 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. 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

July 3 Devotion - Love God with all your strength

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

I often wondered: what does it really mean to love God with all of my strength and what does the word ‘love’ in this context really mean?

I believe ‘love’ here means a reverent adoration toward God which is intense and steadfast, with passion and enduring loyalty.

In order for me to love God with all my strength, I need to reverently and passionately put all the gifts He has given me under His service. The gifts He has given me that I would put under His services include but are not limited to my abilities, resources, time, and energy. When I serve God it awakens love in me, and my love for God is continually refueled when I feel that I am pleasing Him. Since I treasure my relationship with the Lord, my actions reflect that.

In order to bring my life (ship) in from the storm, the rudder of my ship (my actions, deeds) needs to be my love for God with all my strength.

How do I do that? God teaches me that:

‘If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me;’

My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth.

1 John 3:18, John 12:26

So my love for God with all my strength will be demonstrated by my actions and deeds in serving God and the rudder of my ship is controlled by following Jesus.

I invite you to repeat the following prayer for yourself:

Abba Father, please help me and teach me to love and serve You with all my strength in the way that pleases You. Lord, awaken love in me, and continually refuel my love for You. Help me to put under Your service all the gifts You have given me; with passion and enduring loyalty. Jesus I want to follow You and love You in deed and in truth.

God I praise You, glorify You and lift You up on high. I thank You God for your abundant blessings and for Your deep, everlasting and inseparable love. In the name of the King of kings and Lord of lords, in the Holy Name of Jesus I pray. I declare Jesus as my Lord and Saviour, to Him be the power, the glory, the majesty, the blessings, and the dominion forever and ever, and unto ages of ages. Amen.

Jesus loves you,

In Him,

Wagdi Henein