Wednesday, August 18, 2010

August 18, 2010

“May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face shine upon us” – This is a great prayer/promise from Psalm 67:1, but do you remember the SO THAT phrase that follows in verse 2? “THAT your ways may be known on earth, your salvation among all nations.” Our heavenly Father wants to bless us, but He also wants to bless all peoples. He wants all nations to praise Him (v.3) and to “be glad and sing for joy” (v.4). These are the verses that God used this week to remind me of his desire for his eternal gospel to be proclaimed “to ALL who live on earth – to every nation, tribe, language and people” (Revelations 14: 6).

The verse that spoke to Jack this week was Hosea 2:23, “I will show my love to the one I called ‘Not my loved one.’ I will say to those called ‘Not my people,’ ‘You are my people’ and they will say, ‘You are my God.’

It is no coincidence that God led us to these words in His Book this week. During the last week, Jack and I had several opportunities to travel around our city and to nearby towns, which in many ways is representative of our country. AND we cannot leave our home without reminders that there are many people in our world who have not claimed His salvation and love, some because they are of others faiths and others because they have yet to hear and/or understand the Good News. We also see many groups of people in our country that are not loved or given respect such as street kids, residents of slums, and others because they come from areas of Kenya where education, clean water, quality health facilities, safety, etc., continues to be limited or even non-existent!

I cannot adequately describe all of this to you, so this week, our Prayer Update is in the form of photos. I encourage you to view “Your Salvation Among All Nations” (1) and praise God with the aid of Psalm 67 and kids from Ruiru Baptist Church. Travel with us last week and hear the prayer nudges we experienced in Praying Until "They Say, 'You Are My God.'" (2) This will take some time, but you can consider it an investment in God’s work that leads to incredible returns!

I also encourage you to look at the below links (3/4) with guides for joining those celebrating Ramadhan (August 11-September 10) – “…a time when Muslims are to slow down from worldly affairs and focus on self-reformation, spiritual cleansing and enlightenment; this is to establish a link between themselves and God through prayer, supplication, charity, good deeds, kindness and helping others.”(5) Though not shared as a prayer request, this WIKIPEDIA description offers guidance in praying that as Muslims pray, they will recognize and accept the link to the true God! A unique prayer nudge can also be found in today’s ALL ABOUT FOOD article found in our local Kenyan newspaper, the Daily Nation, entitled “Ramadhan treats from the Ismali.” (6) Cooking can offer a time of prayer as you prepare and serve Fried Bananas and Sweet Spaghetti (vermicelli). Your prayers CAN AND WILL lead to all in our world praising the true God! BERT
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(2) Praying Until “They Say ‘You Are My God’” - http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=266522&id=685050129&l=357f1c49b3
(3) “Praying Thru Ramadan” - http://namepeoples.imb.org/
(4) To know when daily Islamic Prayers are in your part of the world – one way to “join” them in prayer – go to: http://www.islamicity.com/prayertimes/
(5) WIKIPEDIA/Ramadhan – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramadan

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