Friday's Fave Five #58

It's time for another Friday's Fave Five (hosted by Susanne at Living to Tell the Story).

My Fave Five this week:-
1. CHRISTmas: Celebrating CHRIST's birth with family. I also loved the candlelight service at church. The feast, fellowship, and fun were fabulous, too :). Giving and serving others always bring me joy. I also like seeing my loved ones being happy and surprised by the gifts I pick out  for them.

2. My kids helped bake cookies for our annual Christmas give-away goodies. We enjoyed delivering them (plus my homemade bookmarks) and visiting with our neighbors.

3. My husband has had last Friday and this whole week off. We love having him home with us!

4. Our Top Ten Highlights from 2011 (which includes the slideshow I made that sums up our year in pictures)

5. Relaxing and reading. You can check out my Top Ten Reads of 2011 here.

"Long after the angels disappear into the heavens, the shepherds return to their flocks, the magi journey home, and the great star sets, JESUS remains.
The Child in whom we rediscover God's great love for humanity becomes the adult Redeemer who challenges us to imitate His selflessness and compassion in order that we might transform our world in love. 
May we allow the miracle of CHRISTmas to continue long after the holiday trappings have been packed away. 
May we welcome the adult Messiah and His challenging Gospel to recreate our lives--making the peace, justice, and hope of this holy season a reality in every season of the new year." 
(~Author Unknown)

Have a blessed & Christ-centered New Year, everyone!

Thankful Thursday #15

 
This week...
1. I am thankful for snow.  We all love snow here.  We had our first snow of this winter on Tuesday and had lots of fun sledding.

2. I am thankful for my husband's time off work from Dec. 24th to Jan. 3rd.  We love having him home with us. 

3. I am thankful for our wonderful neighbors.  We enjoyed our visit with them when we gave them our Christmas goodies.  They are really nice people.

4. I am thankful for books that are encouraging & inspiring and draw readers closer to God and His Word.  You can see my top ten reads of 2009 here (the post below this one).

5. I am thankful for the eternal perspective God has given me.  Trials and sufferings on earth are nothing when we think of spending eternity in either heaven or hell.  "I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us." (Romans 8:18)  May you welcome a new year with an eternal perspective!  "Save some, O Christian!  By all means, save some.  From yonder flames and outer darkness, and the weeping, wailing, and gnashing of teeth.  Seek to save some!  Let this, as in the case of the apostles, be your great, ruling object in life, that by all means you might save some." Charles Spurgeon

Have We Committed a Crime?

"What is the greatest crime in the desert? Finding water and keeping silent." Eastern proverb

"Jesus answered her (the Samaritan woman), 'If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked Him and He would have given you living water.'....Jesus answered, 'Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.'" John 4:10, 13-14

We (Christians) have found the living water, but...have we been keeping silent? Have we committed the greatest crime in the spiritual desert?

      You Forgot My Soul

You lived next door to me for years
We shared our dreams, our joys, and tears.
A friend to me you were indeed...
A friend who helped me when in need.

My faith in you was strong and sure
We had such trust as should endure.
No spats between us ever rose;
Our friends were like...and so our foes.

What sadness then, my friend, to find
That after all you weren't so kind.
The day my life on earth did end
I found you weren't a faithful friend.

For all those years we spent on earth
You never talked of second birth.
You never spoke of my lost soul
And of the Messiah Who'd make me whole.

I plead today from Hell's cruel fire
And tell you now my last desire.
You cannot do a thing for me...
No words today my bonds will free.

But do not err, my friend, again;
Do all you can for souls of men.
Plead with them now quite earnestly,
Lest they be cast in Hell with me.

~Author Unknown

Are we truly loving our neighbors as ourselves? Are we doing all we can to reach the lost...to help quench their thirst by leading them to the Living Water...to show them that only Jesus offers lasting spiritual satisfaction?

"Save some, O Christian! By all means, save some. From yonder flames and outer darkness, and the weeping, wailing, and gnashing of teeth, seek to save some! Let this, as in the case of the apostles, be your great, ruling object in life, that by all means you might save some." Charles Spurgeon (Note from me: Only God can save! I think Mr. Spurgeon understood that and he just meant that Christians need to reach out to the lost in the hope that they might come to the Lord and be saved.)

There's a must-see video for every Christian produced by http://www.asialink.org.uk/ .  Please scroll up to the bottom of this page to watch the video. 

Please visit here for the links to other Spiritual Sundays posts.  Have a blessed day in the Lord, everyone!

Who Will Join Me and the Millions of Christians Around the World?

Each year, millions of Christians around the world unite together to pray for the Muslim world for 30 days during Ramadan (the holy month for Muslims). This year, Ramadan will take place from August 22nd to September 20th. These Muslims desparately need Jesus, the Savior of the world. They live without hope. They are our neighbors, too. If you truly love your neighbors as yourselves, wouldn't you want them to be saved from spending eternity in hell? Would you and your family please spare some time during each of the 30 days to pray for them? For more details, please visit http://www.30-days.net/ (tons of facts, figures, resources (including free downloadable materials), testimonies, and much more).

Printed booklets (prayer guides focusing on different people groups each day) are available in over 30 languages.
To receive free daily email prayer guides, please sign up at http://www.30-days.net/resources/email/
Español: 30 días de oración por el Mundo Musulmán: http://30-days.net/muslims/the-booklet/30-dias/

I hope you will join me and other brothers and sisters in Christ around the world in praying for the lost and the unreached in the Muslim world. Please help spread the word, too. Thanks!

The figures below are taken from this article.

Muslim Populations
■Africa – 400 million
■Middle East – 250 million
■Asia – 800 million
■Europe – 25+ million
■Americas – 5+ million
■TOTAL = 1.48 billion

Unreached
Here are some Muslim peoples of over 100,000 without any known Gospel witness. Call out in prayer for them.

Saho of Eritrea – 211,000
Maraikayar of India – 127,000
Mawalud of India – 1,161,000
Nikari of India – 151,000
Pashtun of India – 13,282,000
Thulukkan of India – 269,000
Asahan of Indonesia – 541,000
Bangka of Indonesia – 340,000
Belitung of Indonesia – 100,000
Gayo of Indonesia – 300,000
Kangean of Indonesia – 1,100,000
Takistani of Iran – 330,000
Afshari of Iran – 1,230,000
Khorasani Turk of Iran – 832,000
Seraiki of Pakistan – 17,854,000
W.Baluch of Pakistan – 1,261,000
Burig of Pakistan – 474,000
Kho of Pakistan – 314,000
Kolai of Pakistan – 410,000
Awan of India – 618,000
Chhimba of India – 1,047,000
Kamboh of India – 1,525,000
Kunjra of India – 1,601,000
Makhmi of India – 499,000
Mappila of India – 9,635,000
Kerinci of Indonesia – 260,000
Lembak of Indonesia – 120,000

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Tips on how to pray for your Muslim neighbor!

We can pray with the knowledge that:

- Every Muslim is unique and wonderful in God's eyes.

- Every Muslim is someone God loves. We can pray with a heart of love and compassion. (John 14: 12-14)

- According to Islam, Allah holds himself apart from mankind. When praying for Muslims, pray that they will have a full revelation of the true God and His loving character. (Hebrews 8:8-9)

- The Muslim worldview is strongly influenced by an awareness of the supernatural and the presence of good and evil spirits known as jinn. Superstitions control many aspects of a Muslim's everyday life and often result in them living in constant fear. (1 John 4:18)

- Islam teaches that a person must do enough good deeds to outweigh the bad deeds in order to make it to paradise. Even then, there is no guarantee for a Muslim of salvation. As a result of this belief, it is difficult for many Muslims to understand forgiveness of sins, repentance and assurance of salvation. (Ephesians 2:8-9.) (1 Peter 5:6) (Matthew 6:14-15)

- Vast numbers of Muslims have come to Christ as a result of supernatural encounters. Many have dreams and visions of Jesus.

- The Christian church globally is united to pray for the Muslim World each Ramadan. Let us join that prayer movement. Let us pray and fast during Ramadan. All the details are on the Internet. And as we start to pray during Ramadan together, let us remember the very real battle for the lost. Let us pray that blind eyes will be opened and that many will experience a true and lasting salvation. (Romans 8:26) (John 16:8)

(Taken with permission from http://www.30-days.net/resources/download/ )
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