May 22 Devotion - Hearing God's Voice

 

Whoever is of God hears the words of God. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. Moreover, he said to me, “Son of man, all my words that I shall speak to you receive in your heart, and hear with your ears.”  Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it,”

Whenever you turn to the right hand or whenever you turn to the left.  Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.      

 

John 8:47

John 10:27-28

Ezekiel 3:10

Isaiah 30:21

Psalm 119:105

 

I have often wondered: does God still speak to us today? If I listen will He speak personally to me? The answer based on God’s grace is YES! God is always available to hear from us and I believe He wants us to hear His voice. God loves us and we need to love Him back so as to be able to hear His voice. His words may come from reading the scriptures, from a Godly friend or relative, from signs, from open doors, from closed doors, from dreams or visions, whichever way He chooses, He will speak to us.

The following is how Mama Maggie (The Mother Teresa of Egypt) addresses the secret of listening to God: Silence is the secret….

Silence your body to listen to your words….

Silence your tongue to listen to your thoughts….

Silence your thoughts to listen to your heart beating….

Silence the sound of you heart beating to listen to your spirit….

Silence your spirit and listen to God's Spirit…..

In silence we leave many and be with The One.

 

I invite you to repeat the following prayer for yourself:

Abba Father, You are my teacher and guide, teach me to listen and hear Your voice distinctively. I will be still, and know that You are God Psalm 46:10

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 have a strong faith that You will talk to me, and I will hear You and obey Your will. You will show me the path of life Psalm 16:11 You will instruct me and teach me in the way I should go; You will guide me with Your eye. Psalm 32:8 Let Your word be a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. 

Abba Father, thank You that Your unfailing, deep, and 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. 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 declare Jesus as my Lord and Saviour and I pray in His holy name.

To Jesus be the power, the glory, the majesty, the blessings, and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.

In Him,

Wagdi Henein

May 20 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, 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. He also knows the best timing for us to receive His blessings.

 

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 for Your unfailing, deep, steadfast, and everlasting love for me. 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. Father 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 You Father. To Jesus be the power, the glory, the majesty, and the dominion before all time, now, and forevermore. Amen.  

 

In Him,

Wagdi Henein

May 19 Devotion - Talking with God

Oh, give thanks to the Lord! Call upon His name; Make known His deeds among the peoples! O my soul, you have said to the Lord, “You are my Lord, My goodness is nothing apart from You.”

احمدوا الرب ادعوا باسمه. عرفوا بين الامم باعماله. قُلْتُ لِلرَّبِّ: «أَنْتَ سَيِّدِي. خَيْرِي لاَ شَيْءَ غَيْرُكَ».

 

Psalm 105:1, Psalm 16:2

 

When we set our hearts toward the Lord, our faith is strengthened, and we develop the habit of talking to Him throughout the day.

 

 

God’s word is telling us:  Call upon His name. God loves to hear His name on our lips, and He promises to respond to the prayer that follows. Unfortunately, we try to resolve problems on our own or discuss them with friends and/or relatives instead of immediately turning to God. Imagine calling a believer and instead of offering you empathy, sympathy and support, he/she says, “I appreciate you calling me, and would love to help you, however, have you talked first to God about it? Have you prayed?”

 

 ^“When you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.”

 أَمَّا أَنْتَ، فَعِنْدَمَا تُصَلِّي، فَادْخُلْ غُرْفَتَكَ، وَأَغْلِقِ الْبَابَ عَلَيْكَ، وَصَلِّ إِلَى أَبِيكَ الَّذِي فِي الْخَفَاءِ. وَأَبُوكَ الَّذِي يَرَى فِي الْخَفَاءِ، هُوَ يُكَافِئُكَ.

 

Matthew 6: 6

At all times and especially as soon as we encounter any kind of problem/challenge let us immediately turn to God and request:

Abba Father, guide me in my feelings, thoughts, actions, and words.

I invite you to repeat the following prayer for yourself:

Abba Father, teach me to always seek Your wisdom, guidance and support. Help me to always first ask The Holy Spirit who dwells in me to take over. O my soul, say to the Lord, “You are my Lord, My goodness is nothing apart from You.” Father, create opportunities for me to make Your deeds and blessings known among people. 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. God I praise You, revere You, worship You, I stand in awe of You, and glorify Your holy name. I proclaim to the world that Jesus is my Lord and Saviour. In the name of Jesus, King of kings and Lord of lords, I pray to You Father. To Jesus be the praise, the power, the authority, the glory, the majesty and the dominion since the beginning of time, now, and forevermore. Amen.

 

In Him,

Wagdi Henein

 

May 16 Devotion - Strong Weak People

 

Peter said to Him, Lord, why cannot I follow You now? I will lay down my life for You.

³⁸ Jesus answered, Will you [really] lay down your life for Me? I assure you, most solemnly I tell you, before a rooster crows, you will deny Me [completely disown Me] three times.

 

عَادَ بُطْرُسُ يَسْأَلُ: «يَا سَيِّدُ، لِمَاذَا لَا أَقْدِرُ أَنْ أَتْبَعَكَ الآنَ؟ إِنِّي أَبْذِلُ حَيَاتِي عِوَضاً عَنْكَ!» ³⁸ أَجَابَهُ يَسُوعُ: «أَتَبْذِلُ حَيَاتَكَ عِوَضاً عَنِّي؟ الْحَقَّ الْحَقَّ أَقُولُ لَكَ: لَا يَصِيحُ الدِّيكُ حَتَّى تَكُونَ قَدْ أَنْكَرْتَنِي ثَلاثَ مَرَّاتٍ!»

John 13:37-38

 

Do not let your hearts be troubled (distressed, agitated). You believe in and adhere to and trust in and rely on God; believe in and adhere to and trust in and rely also on Me.

 لا تَضْطَرِبْ قُلُوبُكُمْ. أَنْتُمْ تُؤْمِنُونَ بِاللهِ، فَآمِنُوا بِي أَيْضاً

 

John 14: 1

 

All the disciples must have been troubled about Jesus' predictions of betrayal, denial, and departure. After all, if Peter's commitment was shaky, then every disciple should be aware of his own weaknesses.

In the Greek, the pronoun your is plural; therefore, Jesus was speaking to Peter and to all the other disciples.

Jesus did not want his followers to imitate Peter's impulsive self-confidence. Potential weaknesses and possible failures trouble us. So we don't like to think about them. Peter denied his own frailty and claimed more faith than he had.

 

Jesus' solution for troubled hearts requires us to trust in Him. Trust does not mean pretending we are strong; it means recognizing our weakness and need for God's help. If we believe for a moment that we can follow Jesus in our own strength, we will fail as miserably as Peter.

 

I invite you to repeat the following prayer for yourself:

Abba Father, thank You that You have provided for my weakness by sending the Comforter (Counselor, Helper, Intercessor, Advocate, Strengthener, Standby), The Holy Spirit, in Jesus’ name [in Jesus’ place, to represent Him and act on His behalf], to teach me to trust in You and in Jesus and replace my troubled heart with Your peace. Lord, I admit my weakness and my need for the help of The Holy Spirit to comfort me strengthen me and give me wise counsel.  Thank You Father God for Your abundant blessings and for the riches of Your grace upon my life. Father 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, now, and forevermore. Amen.

 

In Him,

Wagdi Henein

May 13 Devotion - During difficult times

 

Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me! For my soul trusts in You;
And in the shadow of Your wings I will make my refuge.

ارحمني يا الله ارحمني لانه بك احتمت نفسي وبظل جناحيك احتمي

Psalm 57:1

 

All of us at one time or another face difficult times in our lives.

 

I believe that during difficult times we need to:

 

1.  Depend on the fact that God’s character never changes.

 

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

يسوع المسيح هو هو امسا واليوم والى الابد

Hebrews 13:8

 

2. Remember that God has helped us before in the past.

 

3.  Increase our faith, obedience, and commitment to The Lord. Depend on God to comfort and reward us as He rewarded Abraham’s faith, rewarded Joshua’s obedience, and Daniel’s commitment.

 

4.  Strengthen our hearts through God’s grace.

 

It is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace

لانه حسن ان يثبّت القلب بالنعمة

Hebrews 13:9

Grace speaks of deliverance from affliction, or adversity. It also denotes enablement, daily guidance, forgiveness, and preservation. Grace is God’s supernatural provision, and it overwhelms every obstacle. 

 

I invite you to repeat the following prayer for yourself:

Abba Father, You are omnipotent and have unlimited power and are merciful, I take refuge especially during tough times under Your wings. Father, surround me and infill me with Your grace that overcomes every obstacle, every difficulty and dilemma. Thank You that You are merciful to me. My soul trusts in You. Thank You God that You are omnipresent, present in all places at all times throughout the ages and never change. Lord, I look at my past and I thank You 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. I know that You will never leave me nor forsake me. I rest in the assurance that Your grace works every time. Father God, I praise You, lift You up on high, and glorify You. In the name of my Lord and Saviour Jesus The Messiah, Your only begotten Son I pray to You Father. To Jesus be the power, the glory, the majesty, the blessings, and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.

 

In Him,

Wagdi Henein