November 21 Devotion - What we Choose to Think

Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

كل ما هو حق كل ما هو جليل كل ما هو عادل كل ما هو طاهر كل ما هو مسرّ كل ما صيته حسن ان كانت فضيلة وان كان مدح ففي هذه افتكروا.

Philippians 4:8–9

When we choose to think about those things that inspire us, encourage us, teach us, and build us up emotionally, we find that we want to follow God’s will and we will desire to remain faithful to Him.

When we choose to think about the majesty and glory of God, we rely upon Him with increasing faith and trust.

I invite you to repeat the following prayer for yourself:

Abba Father, thank You for Your abundant blessings and inseparable love. Lord, I praise You, I glorify You and I rejoice in You. 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 be changed by the renewing of my mind. Help me Lord to think the way You want me to think, to constantly think positive and pleasant thoughts of people & circumstances. Help me to concentrate on Your love for me and feel your joy in my heart. Help me to think thoughts of obedience and discipleship. 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 and unto ages of ages, Amen.

Jesus loves you,

In Him,

Wagdi Henein

November 20 Devotion - God's ways Are Greater

Yet when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days.

فَقَدْ مَكَثَ حَيْثُ كَانَ مُدَّةَ يَوْمَيْنِ بَعْدَ عِلْمِهِ بِمَرَضِ لِعَازَرَ .

John 11: 6

Lazarus’ family was thinking of a healing. Jesus was thinking of a resurrection. God’s ways are so different than ours. We may be praying for something but He may be preparing something much greater.

As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.

فَكَمَا ارْتَفَعَتِ السَّمَاوَاتُ عَنِ الأَرْضِ، كَذَلِكَ ارْتَفَعَتْ طُرُقِي عَنْ طُرُقِكُمْ، وَأَفْكَارِي عَنْ أَفْكَارِكُمْ.

Isaiah 55:9

I invite you to repeat the following prayer for yourself:

Abba Father, thank You for Your abundant blessings and inseparable love. Lord please help me to release all of my cares and concerns to You knowing that You have a greater plan prepared for me. Teach me to be patient and to trust You fully. Help me realize that having extreme needs presses me closer to You and provides me an opportunity to see Your glory. In Jesus' name I pray. To Him be the power, the glory and the dominion forever and ever, Amen.

Jesus loves you,

In Him,

Wagdi Henein

November 19 Devotion - When We Feel Frustrated

So too the [Holy] Spirit comes to our aid and bears us up in our weakness; for we do not know what prayer to offer nor how to offer it worthily as we ought, but the Spirit Himself goes to meet our supplication and pleads in our behalf with unspeakable yearnings and groanings too deep for utterance.

Romans 8:26

وكذلك الروح ايضا يعين ضعفاتنا. لاننا لسنا نعلم ما نصلّي لاجله كما ينبغي ولكن الروح نفسه يشفع فينا بأنّات لا ينطق بها.

The Webster Dictionary defines Frustration as: A deep chronic sense or state of insecurity and dissatisfaction arising from unresolved problems or unfulfilled needs.

As humans we sometimes experience a deep sense of frustration that derives from problems or needs beyond our control.

What we need to remember during the period where we are experiencing insecurity and dissatisfaction arising from unresolved problems or unfulfilled needs is: God is in the process of revealing a great lesson to each one of us.

I believe He sometimes allows frustrations to build so that we will be driven back to Him in prayer, and once we are on our knees and pray we feel God’s peace engulfing us and we feel stronger and our burdens feel lighter. We then need to be still and listen to His voice.

I invite you to repeat the following prayer for yourself:

Abba Father, thank You for Your abundant blessings and inseparable love. Lord, I praise You and glorify You. Lord, I need the Spirit Himself to meet my supplication and to plead in my behalf. Jesus, I need You to whisper words of hope and peace to my confused and frustrated heart. Only You God can offer the freedom I need to survive my frustrations. You are the One who knows how to satisfy perfectly my every need. Jesus, come to me like You came to Your disciples walking on the water through the storm and help me to sail through the storm Jesus and strengthen me spiritually, emotionally and physically and give me rest for in Your Holy name I pray. Amen.

Jesus loves you,

In Him,

Wagdi Henein

November 18 Devotion - Amen (so be it)

But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, ⁶ to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, ⁷ to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. ⁸ For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

2 Peter1:5-8

ولهذا عينه وانتم باذلون كل اجتهاد قدموا في ايمانكم فضيلة وفي الفضيلة معرفة

6 وفي المعرفة تعففا وفي التعفف صبرا وفي الصبر تقوى

7 وفي التقوى مودة اخوية وفي المودة الاخوية محبة.

8 لان هذه اذا كانت فيكم وكثرت تصيّركم لا متكاسلين ولا غير مثمرين لمعرفة ربنا يسوع المسيح.

I read the above scripture as a roadmap to be fruitful unto the knowledge of our Lord, Jesus Christ. The Apostle Peter outlines that we should make every effort to complement our faith with several dimensions, each dimension fitting into and developing the others. We start with complementing our faith with good character and moral excellence; and in exercising moral excellence we should develop our spiritual knowledge and intelligence. As we apply our spiritual knowledge we should develop alert discipline and self-control. By applying our self-control we develop patience and endurance and thus develop reverence and piety. As we exercise reverence, we develop warm friendliness and brotherly affection toward others. In exercising brotherly affection and friendliness toward others we develop Christian love.

I invite you to repeat the following prayer for yourself:

Abba Father, thank You for Your abundant blessings and inseparable love. Lord, I praise You and glorify You. LORD, I pray that out of Your glorious riches You strengthen me with power through Your Spirit in my inner being, so that I am fruitful unto the knowledge of my Lord, Jesus Christ. Please Lord give me moral excellence so that my character is seen as good in your eyes; sharpen my spiritual and emotional intelligence; help me master my self-control and grant me an acute ability for discipline. Help me to be patiently impatient to develop piety and reverence for You. Lord, I long to develop warm friendliness and brotherly affection and Christian love toward others. 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 (so be it).

Jesus loves you,

In Him,

Wagdi Henein

November 17 Devotion - Our God Given Talents

The LORD will fulfill his purpose for me; your love, O LORD, endures forever—
do not abandon the works of your hands.

الرب يحامي عني. يا رب رحمتك الى الابد. عن اعمال يديك لا تتخل

Psalm 138:8

I believe that God intends for us to maximize our potential—to become the man or woman He created us to be and then to use all of the talents, abilities, and gifts that He has placed within us for His glory.

I invite you to repeat the following prayer for yourself:

Abba Father, thank You for Your abundant blessings and inseparable love. Lord, I praise You and glorify You. Lord, may Your love endure forever in my heart. I thank You that You will fulfill Your purpose in my life. I thank You that You will never abandon me. Help me God to follow Jesus and become Christ- Like. Help me Heavenly Father to use all of the talents, abilities, and gifts that You have placed within me for Your glory.  I pray that Your heart will rejoice in what You have done in me. In Jesus’ mighty name I pray. 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

November 14 Devotion - Reap what you Sow

For whatever a man sows, that and that only is what he will reap.  For he who sows to his own flesh (lower nature, sensuality) will from the flesh reap decay and ruin and destruction, but he who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.

لان من يزرع لجسده فمن الجسد يحصد فسادا.ومن يزرع للروح فمن الروح يحصد حياة ابدية.

Galatians 6:8

Amplified Bible (AMP)

In the same way as a farmer expects a crop from the seeds he sows, today, I am planting seeds for the harvest in my future.

I therefore have to constantly evaluate my actions to make sure I am depositing good seeds so that I can reap a good harvest in the future.

I invite you to repeat the following prayer for yourself:

Abba Father, thank You for Your abundant blessings and inseparable love. Lord I praise You and glorify You. Lord, please uproot any negative seeds that I have sown in the past and search my heart and mind and guide me to sow only good seeds that are pleasing to You. Lord help me plant Your Word in the soil of my heart and to sow to the Spirit so that from the Spirit I reap eternal life. In Jesus’ mighty name I pray. 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

November 13 Devotion - Our Great High Priest

Inasmuch then as we have a great High Priest Who has [already] ascended and passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession [of faith in Him].

فَمَادَامَ لَنَا رَئِيسَ كَهَنَتِنَا الْعَظِيمُ الَّذِي ارْتَفَعَ مُجْتَازاً السَّمَاوَاتِ، وَهُوَ يَسُوعُ ابْنُ اللهِ، فَلْنَتَمَسَّكْ دَائِماً بِالاعْتِرَافِ بِهِ.

Hebrews 4:14

Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

فلنتقدم بثقة الى عرش النعمة لكي ننال رحمة ونجد نعمة عونا في حينه

Hebrews 4:16

Whenever we experience adversity (hardship; distress; affliction) we can:

·     Deal with it on our own, or

·     Allow God to carry our burden for us.

The first requires human strength and effort, which are rarely sufficient in handling grievous trials. Heartache erodes human ability.

The wiser course of action is to allow God to handle our adversities. His ability to provide goes beyond our greatest imagination. He is the God who has the ability to calm every storm.

I invite you to repeat the following prayer for yourself:

Abba Father, thank You for Your abundant blessings and inseparable love. Lord, I praise You and glorify You. Lord, thank You that in Your divine love, wisdom, grace and mercy You have allowed me to come directly to You through our High Priest Jesus Christ my Lord and Saviour and eliminated the need for anyone else to intercede for me. Thank You that You instruct me to come boldly to the Throne of Grace, and find help when I need it the most. Jesus in Your name I pray, help me to hold fast to my faith in You and surrender to You and to leave all my troubles at the foot of Your Cross for You to handle for me. To You Jesus be the power, the glory, the majesty, the blessings, and the dominion forever and ever, Amen.

Jesus loves you,

In Him,

Wagdi Henein

November 12 Devotion - My Grace is sufficient for you

And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

 ⁹ فَقَالَ لِي: «نِعْمَتِي تَكْفِيكَ، لأَنَّ قُدْرَتِي تُكَمَّلُ فِي الضَّعْفِ!» فَأَنَا أَرْضَى بِأَنْ أَفْتَخِرَ مَسْرُوراً بِالضَّعَفَاتِ الَّتِي فِيَّ، لِكَيْ تُخَيِّمَ عَلَيَّ قُدْرَةُ الْمَسِيحِ.

2 Corinthians 12:9

When we are weak, we need the energizing work of the Holy Spirit to sustain us. Isaiah encourages us that God “Gives power to the weak and to those who have no might He increases strength”

يَهِبُ الْمَنْهُوكَ قُوَّةً وَيَمْنَحُ الضَّعِيفَ قُدْرَةً عَظِيمَةً.

Isaiah 40:29

We need to rely fully on God and praise Him ahead of and in expectation of His support.

I invite you to repeat the following prayer for yourself:

Abba Father, thank You for Your abundant blessings and inseparable love. Lord, I praise You, I glorify You and I rejoice in Your grace. Lord, in my weakest moments, assure me that the power of Christ will rest upon me. Your grace is sufficient for me. I believe that when your grace abounds my weakness will be transformed into strength and I will soar like an eagle and I shall run and not be weary. Heavenly Father, let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go, for to You I lift up my soul. 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

November 11 Devotion - ABCD

If anyone wants to sue you and take away your tunic, let him have your cloak also. ⁴¹ And whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two. ⁴² Give to him who asks you, and from him who wants to borrow from you do not turn away.

وَمَنْ أَرَادَ أَنْ يُخَاصِمَكَ وَيَأْخُذَ ثَوْبَكَ فَاتْرُكْ لَهُ الرِّدَاءَ أَيْضاً.41. وَمَنْ سَخَّرَكَ مِيلاً وَاحِداً فَاذْهَبْ مَعَهُ اثْنَيْنِ.

42. مَنْ سَأَلَكَ فَأَعْطِهِ وَمَنْ أَرَادَ أَنْ يَقْتَرِضَ مِنْكَ فَلاَ تَرُدَّهُ.

Matthew 5:40-42

At one of my work assignments, the company encouraged people to go beyond their job descriptions and their objectives. When a person did that they got an ABCD award. Above and Beyond the Call of Duty.

Let us remember today all those who lost their lives in protecting us by going Above and Beyond the Call of Duty.

How can we get an ABCD award in our Christian life when the bar is as high as Jesus puts it? On our own we cannot because we cannot even meet the bar that Jesus has set. In my opinion these verses are there to teach us three things:

·     One lesson is: that is the nature of God. That is how He loves and treats us.

·     The second is to show us that on our own we cannot but through The Holy Spirit we can.

·     The third is that we can never do enough works to enter heaven, we need the Grace of God demonstrated by the justification we experience through the death of Jesus in our place.

I invite you to repeat the following prayer for yourself:

Abba Father, thank You for Your abundant blessings and inseparable love. Lord, thank You for Your gifts from the lowest pulsation of life to the highest powers of action and of continued existence. God, I acknowledge my constant and absolute dependence on You for in You Lord I live and move and have my being. Acts 17:28

Lord, strengthen me with power through Your Spirit in my inner being to go the extra mile and to be generous toward others. Thank You Jesus that you sympathize with my weaknesses and that You are my high priest to whom I take my needs, and through You Jesus I can come boldly to God’s throne of grace. Keep me safe, O God, for in You I take refuge. Psalm 16:1 Let all who take refuge in You be glad; let them ever sing for joy. Spread Your protection over us that those who love your name may rejoice in You. Psalm 5:11 Give ear to my words, O Lord, Give heed to the voice of my cry, My King and my God, For to You I will pray. Psalm 5:1-2  Those who know Your name will trust in you, for you, LORD, have never forsaken those who seek you. Psalm 9:10. In Jesus’ mighty name I pray. To Him be the power, the glory and the dominion forever and ever, and unto ages of all ages. Amen.

Jesus loves you,

In Him,

Wagdi Henein

November 7 Devotion - In Everything

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

 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

 Philippians 4:6-7

It is good to be concerned and excited but wrong to be worried and anxious. Anxiety makes our concerns to become all-consuming and debilitating.

Adam Clarke in his commentary on Philippians writes,

This peace passes all understanding; it is of a very different nature from all that can arise from human occurrences; it is a peace which Christ has purchased, and which God dispenses; it is felt by all the truly godly, but can be explained by none; it is communion with the Father, and his Son Jesus Christ, by the power and influence of the Holy Ghost.

I invite you to repeat the following prayer for yourself:

Abba Father, thank You for Your abundant blessings and inseparable love. Lord I praise You and glorify You. Lord, I dwell on Your goodness knowing that You never fail me. God, You know exactly where I am emotionally and mentally. Teach me to bring my troubles to You and help me to practice growing still before You Lord. Father, I know that You sometimes allow the pressures of life to build so that I can learn how to deal with them from a position of faith and not fear. Thank You for Your mercy and for providing me wisdom for all I face. Strengthen me Lord so that in everything and in all circumstances I am always thankful and I do not feel anxious instead I feel that Your peace which surpasses all comprehension, is guarding my heart and mind in Christ Jesus. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.

‘Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.’ Ephesians 3:20-21

Jesus loves you,

In Him,

Wagdi Henein

والقادر ان يفعل فوق كل شيء اكثر جدا مما نطلب او نفتكر بحسب القوة التي تعمل فينا

له المجد في الكنيسة في المسيح يسوع الى جميع اجيال دهر الدهور.آمين 

November 6 Devotion - God's Love Pyramid* - A review of all the devotions about God's love for believers

God love me to life

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 6:23

An inseparable love

For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, ³⁹ nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 8:38-39

 A calling love

You are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;

1 Peter 2:9

A redeeming love

Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace

1Galatians 3:13, Ephesians 1:7

To redeem means: to purchase back at a cost. Jesus went to the cross for the primary purpose of purchasing us back from a life of slavery to sin, to a life of freedom as children of God.

A justifying love 

Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him.

By Him everyone who believes is justified from all things from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses.

Romans 5:9, Acts 13:39

  God justified us, which means He declared us not guilty, because by the gift of faith we have accepted Christ as Saviour.

A reconciling love 

For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell, ²⁰ and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross.

²¹ And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled ²² in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight—

Colossians 1:19–22

Reconciled: It is now possible for us to have a personal relationship with God. When we accept Jesus as our Lord and Saviour, Jesus’ blood makes it possible for God to change our status from being an enemy of God back into a right relationship with Him. Christ’s blood is the bridge, the peace offering that reconciles us to God.

A sanctifying love 

By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

Hebrews 10:10

Sanctification is God’s cleansing and process of setting us apart unto Himself for His purpose and His will.

A glorifying love 

Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.

For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son,… Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.

1 John 3:2, Romans 8:29-30

When God glorifies His children, He gives us inward beauty—called holiness. This begins as a process in this life (sanctification) and culminates when we come into the presence of Christ at death or at his second coming. When we go to be with the Lord our sinful nature will be left behind and we will be like Him, and with Him, forever.

God’s Love Pyramid*

*copy write Wagdi Henein (depiction reflects my origin)

We reviewed the many ways God loves us depicted in the love pyramid shown above and we saw how God loves us to life. Finally, God shows His love by glorifying us. Throughout our lives we will wrestle with sin, but we’re promised that the good work God begins in us will be completed.

I invite you to repeat the following prayer for yourself:

Abba Father, thank You for Your abundant blessings and inseparable love. Lord I praise You and glorify You. Thank You God for the enormous love You have for me. Lord please remove any barrier that stops me from feeling Your love which I only deserve through the atoning blood of Christ. Thank You Lord that through Your grace You predestined me to be conformed to the image of Your  Son, and that when I accepted Your Son Jesus Christ as my Lord and Saviour, You have redeemed me, forgiven me, justified me, reconciled me, sanctified me and glorified me. Abba Father, I pray that out of Your  glorious riches You continue to strengthen me with power through Your Spirit in my inner being, so that I can continue to declare to the world that Christ is my Lord and Saviour and Jesus may continue to dwell in my heart through faith. In Jesus’ Holy Name I pray. 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

November 4 Devotion - God's Love - A Sanctifying Love

By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

Hebrews 10:10

 فبهذه المشيئة نحن مقدّسون بتقديم جسد يسوع المسيح مرة واحدة

 Sanctification: Sanctification which is ‘hagiasmos’ in Greek, means “making holy”. It also means “consecration” or “setting apart” something for a special holy purpose. Sanctification is God’s cleansing and process of setting us apart unto Himself for His purpose and His will. He sanctified us when we were saved, and He continues to sanctify us to make us clean vessels properly prepared for His good works. Sanctification is an ongoing work in our lives as Christians. There may be moments of special consecration and powerful change worked by God, but a Christian could be deceived if he/she considers he has reached full sanctification.

  In the Christian life, sanctification has two parts - God’s part and ours. In the Christian life God is playing the major role, our part is to respond in faith and obedience to what God is saying.

 

I invite you to repeat the following prayer for yourself:

Abba Father, thank You for Your abundant blessings and inseparable love. Lord I praise You and glorify You. Thank You God that when I accepted Your Son Jesus Christ as my Lord and Saviour, You sanctified me unto Yourself through the atoning blood of Christ, by and through whom I am presented to you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in Your sight. Lord please continue to sanctify me. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.

‘Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.’ Ephesians 3:20-21

والقادر ان يفعل فوق كل شيء اكثر جدا مما نطلب او نفتكر بحسب القوة التي تعمل فينا

له المجد في الكنيسة في المسيح يسوع الى جميع اجيال دهر الدهور.آمين .

Jesus loves you,

In Him,

Wagdi Henein