August 15 Devotion- Transforming failure to Success

Wealth and riches are in His house; and His righteousness endures forever.Being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ. Blessings and prosperity will be yours.

رغد وغنى في بيته وبره قائم الى الابد‏.

 واثقا بهذا عينه ان الذي ابتدأ فيكم عملا صالحا يكمل الى يوم يسوع المسيح.

طوباك وخير لك.

 Psalm 112:3, Philippians 1:6, Psalm 128:2

 

“If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.” That approach is taught all over the world. As Christians, we tend to integrate this attitude into our walk with Christ.

If we fail to conquer certain habits, or disobey key Scripture verses, we keep trying on our own strength. Although perseverance is necessary, determination alone will not cure our problems.

We need to admit our failure and realize that we can do nothing apart from the support and strength of The Holy Spirit. Failure can be a catalyst that converts our methods from trying to trusting.

 

I invite you to repeat the following prayer for yourself:

Abba Father, thank You for Your abundant blessings. Lord forgive me for my weaknesses and strengthen me to make the transition from trying on my own to trusting in Your power. Lord I know that Your house is full of riches; and that Your righteousness endures forever. I am confident that if You set me on a direction or path You will complete it in spite of the trials and snares that are in my way; and that blessings and prosperity will be mine. Lord, I know that without The Holy Spirit acting on my behalf I cannot accomplish Your will. I trust and I pray in the name of Jesus Christ, my redeemer.

Jesus loves you
In Him,
Wagdi Henein

August 13 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.

 

I invite you to repeat the following prayer for yourself:

Abba Father, thank You for Your abundant blessings and love. Lord You are my teacher and guide, help me to learn to listen and hear Your voice distinctively. I will be still, and know that You are God Psalm 46:10 I want to have a strong faith that You will talk to me and I want to 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. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.

Jesus loves you

In Him,
Wagdi Henein

August 12 Devotion - True Contentment

Godliness with contentment is great gain.

واما التقوى مع القناعة فهي تجارة عظيمة.

1Timothy 6:6

 

Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content
ليس اني اقول من جهة احتياج فاني قد تعلمت ان اكون مكتفيا بما انا فيه.

Philippians 4:11

What really is contentment?

According to the Holman Bible Dictionary, contentment is:

“An internal satisfaction which does not demand changes in external circumstances”

We achieve contentment when we can seek the things of God above the things of the world. When our relationship with Christ dominates our thoughts and Jesus is our Lord.

 

I invite you to repeat the following prayer for yourself:

Abba Father, thank You for Your abundant blessings and love. Teach me Lord to be content under all circumstances. Help me to put my relationship with You Jesus above all others and to draw contentment from the richness of Your love and grace. Strengthen me Lord to bring every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, so that I can feel the warmth and contentment of my fellowship with Jesus in whose mighty name I pray. Amen.

Jesus loves you
In Him,
Wagdi Henein

August 9 Devotion - JESUS UNDERSTANDS

being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

واثقا بهذا عينه ان الذي ابتدأ فيكم عملا صالحا يكمل الى يوم يسوع المسيح.

Philippians 1:6

And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.

Romans 8:28

 

Jesus understands us and cares for us. There isn’t any situation in our lives that is beyond His awareness, His concern, and His tender care. Jesus understands our hurts and cries with us. He shares our pain and sorrow. He never abandons us in a time of trial or suffering.

 

“I will never leave you nor forsake you.”

Hebrews 13:5

I invite you to repeat the following prayer for yourself:

Abba Father, thank You for Your abundant blessings and love. Thank You Jesus that through Your grace You understand me and love me unconditionally. Thank You that Your love for me is infinite and merciful and You accept me just the way I am. I trust that you will complete everything that You started in my life and I know that all things will work together in my life for my good. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.

Jesus loves you
In Him,
Wagdi Henein

August 8 Devotion - Feelings versus Truth - Feeling rejected

In the last three days we examined the negative feelings of being unworthy, unloved and insignificant, and we studied God’s answers and truth about those feelings. Today we will examine the last negative feeling in this series of devotions, the feeling of being rejected.

 

My objective is that we can all get rid of these negative feelings by knowing God’s truth. I am first on that list.

Sometimes our negative feelings may be caused by:

·     Our upbringing,

·     What is happening in our lives,

·     How we are being treated,

·     How we see ourselves.

Whenever we feel rejected, let us remember that we are chosen by God and are precious to God.

 

Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious.

الذي اذ تأتون اليه حجرا حيّا مرفوضا من الناس ولكن مختار من الله كريم

1 Peter 2:4

 Did you ever feel rejected? Well if you did, you are not alone. So how does God address this feeling? By pointing out the truth and ‘the truth will set us free’.

The best way to combat this emotion is to return to The Word of God and see what He says about us or to us.

 

See, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands;

Isaiah 49:16

 

I do not know about you my friend, but since God has chosen me and inscribed my name on the palms of His hands, then I will repeat with the psalmist:

 

The LORD is on my side; what can man do unto me?

Psalm 118:6

Let us remember that Jesus prayed for us and asked God to sanctify us by His truth. Truth about us is what is important, not our feelings.

 Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.

قدسهم في حقك. كلامك هو حق

John 17:17

 

I invite you to repeat the following prayer for yourself:

Abba Father, thank You for Your abundant blessings. Father, whenever I feel rejected, remind me of Your love for me and that You have inscribed me on the palms of Your hands. Sanctify me by Your truth Father and ‘cut’ this feeling of being rejected and ‘paste’ the knowledge that You are on my side so what can man’s rejection do unto me, nothing. Through the truth that Jesus loves me so much that he considers me His friend and He died in my place I will never ever feel rejected again. In Jesus’ mighty name I pray. To Him be the power, the glory and the dominion forever and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen.

Jesus loves you

In Him,
Wagdi Henein

August 7 Devotion - Feelings versus Truth - Feeling insignificant

In the last two days we examined the negative feelings of being unworthy and unloved, and we studied God’s answers and truth about those feelings. Today we will examine the feeling of being insignificant.

 

My objective is that we can all get rid of these negative feelings by knowing God’s truth. I am first on that list.

Sometimes our negative feelings may be caused by:

·     Our upbringing,

·     What is happening in our lives,

·     How we are being treated,

·     How we see ourselves.

Did you ever feel insignificant? Well if you did, you are not alone. So how does God address this feeling? By pointing out the truth and ‘the truth will set us free’.

The best way to combat this emotion is to return to The Word of God and see what He says about us or to us.

 

·     Whenever we feel insignificant, let us remember that we are very significant because we can be used by God to accomplish His glory:

 

And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.

وكل ما عملتم بقول او فعل فاعملوا الكل باسم الرب يسوع شاكرين الله والآب به

Colossians 3:17

 

God was involved in our creation while we were still in our mothers’ wombs (and even before the creation of the world), so how can we be insignificant? King David said in Psalm 139 that not only are we not insignificant but we are wonderfully made:

 

For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother’s womb. ¹⁴ I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.

Psalm 139:13-14

لانك انت اقتنيت كليتيّ. نسجتني في بطن امي.

احمدك من اجل اني قد امتزت عجبا

 

Let us remember that Jesus prayed for us and asked God to sanctify us by His truth. Truth about us is what is important, not our feelings.

 

Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.

قدسهم في حقك. كلامك هو حق

John 17:17

 

I invite you to repeat the following prayer for yourself:

Abba Father, thank You for Your abundant blessings. Father, whenever I feel insignificant, remind me of Your love for me and that I am so important that I can contribute to Your glory. Sanctify me by Your truth Father and ‘cut’ this feeling of being insignificant and ‘paste’ the knowledge that I am wonderfully made in Your image. Through the truth that Jesus loves me so much that he considers me His friend and He died in my place I will never ever feel insignificant again. I believe that if I was the only one on earth Jesus would have died for me. I must be extremely significant. In Jesus’ mighty name I pray. To Him be the power, the glory and the dominion forever and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen.

Jesus loves you
In Him,
Wagdi Henein

August 6 Devotion - Feelings versus Truth - Feeling unloved

Irrespective of our positive attitude, positive thinking, and a general upbeat nature some of us may have, we are all subject to feeling negative at times. Yesterday we examined the negative feeling of being unworthy and studied God’s answers and truth about that feeling. Today we will examine the feeling of being unloved.

My objective is that we can all get rid of these negative feelings by knowing God’s truth. I am first on that list.

Sometimes we may have negative feelings that may be caused by:

·     Our upbringing,

·     What is happening in our lives,

·     How we are being treated,

·     How we see ourselves.

Do you ever feel unloved? Well you are not alone. So how does God address this feeling? By pointing out the truth and ‘the truth will set us free’.

  

The best way to combat this emotion is to return to The Word of God and see what He says about us or to us.

·     Whenever we feel unloved, let us remember that God loves us so much that He sent His only Son to die in our place and grant us everlasting life.

¹⁶ For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

لانه هكذا احب الله العالم حتى بذل ابنه الوحيد لكي لا يهلك كل من يؤمن به بل تكون له الحياة الابدية.

John 3:16

What Jesus did for us by dying in our place is the ultimate type of love for Jesus said:

Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.

ليس لاحد حب اعظم من هذا ان يضع احد نفسه لاجل احبائه .

John 15:13

Let us remember that Jesus prayed for us and asked God to sanctify us by His truth. Truth about us is what is important not our feelings.

Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.

قدسهم في حقك. كلامك هو حق

John 17:17

I invite you to repeat the following prayer for yourself:

Abba Father, thank You for Your abundant blessings. Father, whenever I feel unloved, remind me of Your love, and Your promises. Sanctify me by Your truth Father and ‘cut’ this feeling of being unloved and ‘paste’ Your love for me deep into my heart and my spirit. Through the truth that Jesus loves me so much that he considers me His friend and He died in my place I will never ever feel unloved again. In Jesus’ mighty name I pray. To Him be the power, the glory and the dominion forever and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen.

Jesus loves you

In Him,

Wagdi Henein

August 5 Devotion - Feelings versus Truth - Feeling unworthy

Irrespective of our positive attitude, positive thinking, and a general upbeat nature some of us may have, we are all subject to feeling negative at times. In the next several devotions I would like to explore some of the negative feelings we may experience and study God’s answers and truth about these feelings. My objective is that we can all get rid of these negative feelings by knowing God’s truth. I am first on that list.

Sometimes we may have negative feelings that may be caused by:

·     Our upbringing,

·     What is happening in our lives,

·     How we are being treated,

·     How we see ourselves.

Do you ever feel unworthy? Well you are not alone. So how does God address this feeling? By pointing out the truth and ‘the truth will set us free’.

  

The best way to combat this emotion is to return to The Word of God and see what He says about us or to us.

Whenever we feel unworthy let us remember that God made us in His image, so we are precious:

Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness”

وقال الله نعمل الانسان على صورتنا كشبهنا

Genesis 1: 26

God created us so that He might have a unique relationship with us. We were made in "his image" by having a body soul and spirit, so that we might be capable of fellowship with our creator.       

Let us remember that Jesus prayed for us and asked God to sanctify us by His truth. Truth about us is what is important not our feelings.

Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.

قدسهم في حقك. كلامك هو حق

John 17:17

And, "I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty."

2 Corinthians 6:18

I invite you to repeat the following prayer for yourself:

Abba Father, thank You for Your abundant blessings. Father, whenever I feel unworthy, remind me of Your truths, Your words, Your love, and Your promises. Thank You Father that You created me in Your image and Your likeness and I am Your child Father God. Sanctify me by Your truth Father and ‘cut’ this feeling of unworthiness and ‘paste’ Your truth deep into my heart and my spirit. Through the truth that I am made in God’s image and my sanctification through Jesus Christ, I will never ever feel unworthy again. I come to You Father in the name of Your only begotten Son Jesus, to whom be honour and everlasting power. Amen.

Jesus loves you

In Him,

Wagdi Henein

August 1 Devotion - A time to act and a time to wait

To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven.

“I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work.”

لِكُلِّ شَيْءٍ أَوَانٌ، وَلِكُلِّ أَمْرٍ تَحْتَ السَّمَاءِ زَمَانٌ.

"فَعَلَيَّ أَنْ أَعْمَلَ أَعْمَالَ الَّذِي أَرْسَلَنِي مَادَامَ الْوَقْتُ نَهَاراً. فَسَيَأْتِي اللَّيْلُ، وَلاَ أَحَدَ يَقْدِرُ أَنْ يَعْمَلَ فِيهِ."

Ecclesiastes 3:1              John 09:4

As Solomon said: for everything there is a season. How do we know if God wants us to wait upon Him, as in Isaiah 40:31:  But those who wait on the LORD

or

God wants us to act as Jesus commented in John 09:4 and as God told Joshua in Joshua 7:  “Get up! Why do you lie thus on your face?”

A way of answering that question could be that we should act if we have fulfilled the following:

·     We have prayed and asked for God’s guidance

·     We have searched God’s word for guidance

·     We have submitted to Jesus’ Lordship

·     We have seeked Godly counsel

I invite you to repeat the following prayer for yourself:

Abba Father, thank You for Your abundant blessings. Guide me God to seek Your desire and plan for my life and strengthen me to submit to Your guidance for my life. Give me wisdom and teach me God to wait when necessary and to act when necessary. Help me to fully follow your plan with confidence, faith, and courage, for You O’Lord are the only one who knows the future and the only one who knows what is best for me and anyone I impact. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.

Jesus loves you

In Him,

Wagdi Henein

July 31 Devotion- Be Compassionate

Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.

Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.

Philippians 2:4

Matthew 7:5

Jesus teaches us to be kind to one another and to love our neighbour as we love ourselves. We need to be compassionate one to another in order to experience the benefit of God’s compassion toward us. While we should be concerned for believers’ interests we are not to interfere in their business.

I invite you to repeat the following prayer for yourself:

Abba Father, thank You for Your abundant blessings and love. Lord, teach me, strengthen and guide me, to care about others as much as I care about myself. Help me to esteem others and look upon and be concerned for their interests. Give me wisdom to give them advice and humility to not insist that they follow my advice or be offended if they do not follow it. Lord, give me insight and self-awareness to be able to see my own defects and grant me kindness to make allowances for their defects. Lord strip me from any pride that may be hindering me from carrying out your commandments.

In Jesus’ name I pray. To Him be the power, the glory and the dominion forever and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen.

Jesus loves you

In Him,

Wagdi Henein

July 30 Devotion - Be Happy

Whoever trusts in the Lord, happy is he.

In Your presence is fullness of joy;
At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

Proverbs 16:20

Psalm 16:11

To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven:

Ecclesiastes 3:1

Today I choose to make it a time to be happy, to be in God’s presence and therefore be full of joy, and stay at His right hand and find pleasures forevermore.  

You may say this is not sound doctrine, and I reply: Be happy and rejoice for this is the day The LORD has made.

I invite you to repeat the following prayer for yourself:   

Abba Father, thank You for Your abundant blessings and love. Heavenly Father, please continue to teach me to trust in You so that I can be transformed to be Christlike, to feel Your joy, to be happy, to live Your good and pleasing will for my life, a life full of pleasures forevermore. Lord, fill my heart with laughter and my tongue with songs of joy in appreciation of your blessings bringing all my thoughts into captivity to the obedience of Christ. I pray in Jesus’ mighty name, to Him be the glory both now and forever. Amen.

Jesus loves you

In Him,

Wagdi Henei

July 29 Devotion - Getting Pruned

Every branch in me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit.

John 15:2

We tend to resist the process of being pruned because it is usually painful. In agricultural terms the result of pruning a fruit tree is a more plentiful crop. Pruning out our habits that are not pleasing to God is a process that God applies to believers because His grace and love for us causes Him to sanctify us. We need to trust God that His pruning process will cause us to bear more fruit for His Kingdom.

I invite you to repeat the following prayer for yourself:

Abba Father, thank You for Your abundant blessings and love. Thank You God that You continue to prune me and cleanse me and set me apart unto Yourself for Your purpose and Your will. Abba, thank You that You sanctified me when I accepted Jesus as my Lord and Saviour. I realize that sanctification is an ongoing process while I am on earth, please continue to sanctify me to make me a clean vessel properly prepared for Your good works and the advancement of Your Kingdom. Help me Lord to respond in faith and obedience to Your pruning and guidance in my life so that I may bear more fruit. In Jesus’ mighty name I pray. To Him be the power, the glory and the dominion forever and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen.

Jesus loves you

In Him,

Wagdi Henein