August 17 Devotion - Strengthen your Faith and be ready to receive

 

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life;

إِنَّمَا خَيْرٌ وَرَحْمَةٌ يَتْبَعَانِنِي طَوَالَ حَيَاتِي،

Psalm 23:6

 

Enlarge the place of your tent, stretch your tent curtains wide, do not hold back; lengthen your cords, strengthen your stakes.

وَسِّعِي فَسْحَةَ خَيْمَتِكِ وَابْسُطِي سَتَائِرَ مَسَاكِنِكِ، لاَ تُضَيِّقِي. أَطِيلِي حِبَالَ خَيْمَتِكِ وَرَسِّخِي أَوْتَادَكِ،

Isaiah 54:2

I believe that God has many blessings prepared for us. David had faith and was expecting God to supply goodness and mercy for the rest of his life, and was ready to receive the blessings.

Isaiah had faith and a vision and he enlarged his tent.

Have you enlarged your tent? Meaning: are you expecting abundance or scarcity? If you have a one litre container and God has a hundred litres to give you, the problem is not with the supply. The problem is that you don't have the capacity to receive the hundred litres. The container represents our faith and our ability to receive.

If we think we have reached our limits, the problem isn't that God doesn't have the resources or the ability. The problem is that our container is too small. We need to strengthen our faith and enlarge our vision to receive God’s blessings. Then with that kind of faith, we increase our capacity to receive so that we can live the abundant life Jesus came to give us, for Jesus Himself said:

I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.

أَمَّا أَنَا فَقَدْ أَتَيْتُ لِتَكُونَ لَهُمْ حَيَاةٌ، بَلْ مِلْءُ الْحَيَاةِ!

John 10:10

I invite you to repeat the following prayer for yourself:

Abba Father, I want to experience the abundant life Jesus came to give me. Lord, please enormously strengthen my faith and enlarge my vision of myself, my service to You, and my future. Lord, make me ready to receive all the blessings You want and are ready to give me. Help me to have a deep belief that goodness and mercy will follow me for the rest of my life. Thank You Lord for Your deep and everlasting love for me, Your abundant blessings, and for the riches of Your grace in my life. Jesus, I declare to the world that You are my Lord and Saviour and in Your name Jesus that I pray to You Father. To Jesus be the power, the glory, the majesty and the dominion before all time and now and forever. Amen.

Jesus loves you,

In Him,

Wagdi Henein

August 14 Devotion - PEACE BARRIERS

 

Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless.

14 لذلك ايها الاحباء اذ انتم منتظرون هذه اجتهدوا لتوجدوا عنده بلا دنس ولا عيب في سلام.

2 Peter 3:14

 

Our quest for true peace begins at birth. As babies, we long for our mother’s comforting arms; as children we yearn for happy experiences that are void of fear; and as adults we strive to find success and fulfillment through jobs and relationships. These pursuits are desirable, but temporal.

 Lasting peace cannot be attained through our own efforts, but rather through Christ in us. The peace that comes from Him is eternal. Until you have peace with God, you cannot experience the peace of God.

 If you have accepted Christ as your personal Lord and Savior and are not experiencing peace, it is time to examine your relationship with God. Your bond with Him is the foundation upon which real peace is built.

 

I invite you to repeat the following prayer for yourself:

Abba Father, I long for Your peace as surely as I have sought peace on my own throughout my life. Jesus, please show me the barriers to everlasting peace in my life and help me to overcome them through The Holy Spirit. Father God expose anything that may be preventing me from receiving the peace that only You can give, and help me to listen with an open heart and receive what You reveal to me through Your teachings, the Scriptures, or Your own voice. When the barriers are removed, help me to rejoice in Your faithfulness Lord. Thank You Father God for loving me with a deep and everlasting love, thank You for Your abundant blessings in my life, and for the riches of Your grace upon my life. 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

August 13 Devotion - Have a benevolent regard

 

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

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

  كَيْفَ تَقُولُ لأَخِيكَ: دَعْني أُخْرِجِ الْقَذَى مِنْ عَيْنِكَ، وَهَا الْخَشَبَةُ فِي عَيْنِكَ؟ 5يَامُرَائِي، أَخْرِجْ أَوَّلاً الْخَشَبَةَ مِنْ عَيْنِكَ، وَحِينَئِذٍ تُبْصِرُ جَيِّدًا أَنْ تُخْرِجَ الْقَذَى مِنْ عَيْنِ أَخِيكَ!

فَلا يَنبَغي أنْ يَهتَمَّ كُلُّ واحِدٍ بِمَصالِحِهِ الخاصَّةِ فَقَطْ، بَلْ يَنبَغيَ أنْ يُراعِيَ مَصالِحَ الآخَرِينَ أيضاً

Matthew 7:5

Philippians 2:4

 We are to break the spirit of selfishness, and to have a benevolent regard for the happiness of others. 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, please 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 the defects of others. Lord strip me from any pride that may be hindering me from carrying out your commandments. Thank You Lord for Your abundant blessings and for Your deep, everlasting and inseparable love. 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