It's time to say goodbye...

Four and a half years ago, Jewels of Jesus went live in the blogging world. It started with Esther and Tiffany. Later, I joined the team. Eventually new writers joined, and left, and now only I remain. 

I have been so blessed to be a part of this ministry with all of you. You have been the motivation and passion that has kept JOJ going for so long. Thank you for your encouragement and partnership in this blog and magazine.

I'm writing to let you know that I won't be continuing this blog any longer. With changes in life and commitments on the horizon, the necessary time investment to JOJ just isn't going to be possible.

But I just want to tell you how grateful I am for each of you. For your contributions of time, energy, and talent into encouraging one another through this ministry. For your testimonies of the way JOJ has challenged and blessed you. For your desire and commitment to make Jewels of Jesus the ministry it has been.

The Lord has been faithful in the little details and in the most far-reaching elements. He has done some amazing things, and He isn't stopping here!

With a new year beginning, we have the opportunity to look ahead, and seek God's will for each of our lives. He desires to use us, to work in and through us to accomplish His purposes. 

So keep shining the light of Jesus. Keep trusting His sustaining grace. Keep walking in the truth of His Word. Keep praying in the power of His Spirit. Keep being Jesus' Jewel. 

You don't need to lose contact with me, though. :) Feel free to follow my personal writing blog, Compositions for the King. I occasionally post there, when time allows me to. 

In Jesus, 

Rachel

Now the Lord of peace himself give you peace always by all means. The Lord be with you all.

- 2 Thessalonians 3:16 -

86,400 seconds

"86,400 seconds are all you receive in one day. If you only had 86,400 seconds left in your entire life, what would you do with them?"

John Wesley was once asked what he would do with his life if he knew he would die at midnight the next day. His answer was something like this:

“I would just carry on with what I am doing. I will arise at 5:00 a.m. for prayer, and then take a house meeting at 6:00 a.m. At 12 noon, I will be preaching at an open-air. At 3:00 p.m. I have another meeting in another town. At 6:00 p.m. I have a house meeting; at 10:00 p.m. I have a prayer meeting and at 12:00 midnight, I would go to be with my Lord.”

If you knew that you would die in 24 hours, would you be able to keep living on in good conscience as you are? Or would you begin to do all manner of ministry and evangelistic outreach? Would you be more loving and caring and thoughtful to those around you?

The Bible tells us…

“Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.” (Matt 24:44)

Do we live each day honoring to the Lord? Do we use each minute wisely? Time is a very precious gift. If you knew you only had 24 hours left to live, what changes would you make to your routine? In reality, we should live each day as if it were our last, because…it may really be our last. Oh Lord, help me to live each day for Your glory and to not have regrets!

Maybe you have not accepted Christ as your personal Savior, for you say, “I will get right with God before I die. There’s enough time.”

Is there really enough time?

10 out of 10 people die. Think about that. And how many of those knew that their hour to go had come? Death can happen suddenly. Very suddenly. You could have a heart attack…be hit head on by an incoming vehicle…even die in your sleep. Approximately over 150,000 people die and go to their eternal destiny every single day. Each one of us will someday meet our Maker and give an account of the things we did in this life.

May I ask you this: Do you know when you will die?

The obvious answer is no. None of us know when our time will come. But it may be today.

Are you ready?

If you are not ready for death, please, I beg you…get right with God. He is waiting with open arms, and invites you to come to Him and accept Him by faith. 

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 

Hello to our faithful blog readers...(if there are any out there after our long spaces of silence ;) ) We have a surprise coming (hopefully) soon to Jewels of Jesus, so stay tuned!! :) Keep your eyes on Jesus! 

I need YOUR help!

Hello readers!!

I would love to do something new on JOJ...but in order to do it, I need your help! :)

I'd like to interview different Christian young ladies + older women, asking them questions and formulating them into different posts for this blog! 

Here's where you come in - what are some questions you've wanted to ask a godly woman, younger or older? would it be about life, the future, the past, God, the Bible, relationships...what would you ask? :) Please post YOUR questions (any and all!) in the comments below, and I will use some of them in my interviews! 

Thank you so much! Looking forward to what you come up with. :)

{ Rachel }

Guess what....

Today is Esther's birthday!! 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ESTHER!!

♥ ♥ ♥

I hope you have a wonderful year...filled with the joy of Jesus and His blessings. I love you! 

Ways Esther has blessed me...

...by always looking to Jesus, even in hard times.

..being encouraging to me, and to you all here. Without Esther, JOJ wouldn't be here! 

...giving me inspiration for writing, when I'm drawing a blank. ;-)

...just the little things we've talked about in our phone conversations...I always love those! =) 

...challenging me in my walk with the Lord.

...her joyful spirit.

How has Esther blessed you? Share in the comments below, and don't forget to wish her a Happy Birthday!! ;-) 

October Wallpaper!

I want to apologize for not posting a wallpaper for September. With the giveaway going on, it slipped my mind until it was near the middle of September! 

Here it is...the October wallpaper! :) 

(Click and save image to your desktop and enjoy all month long!)
Please do not use these images for any other purpose other than personal enjoyment on the desktop of your computer!!!

Enjoy this month's wallpaper! If you enjoy using the wallpapers, please tell us! :)

Don't forget!!!

Don't forget ...

to enter our giveaway below! :) 

It ends tomorrow (Sept. 11 NZT) so don't wait! ;-)

Hope you enter! :D

Rachel for the JOJ team

Surprise!!! :)

We have a little surprise for you! :)

Jewels of Jesus will have a free monthly desktop wallpaper for our readers to enjoy! Lord willing, we'll try release a new wallpaper for each new month.

If you have a picture that could make a nice wallpaper, please send it to us at this email. Whether if we use it or not, we'll love seeing your pictures! :)

SO! For this month's wallpaper....

(Click and save image to your desktop and enjoy all month long!)

Please do not use these images for any other purpose other than personal enjoyment on the desktop of your computer!!!

Enjoy this month's wallpaper! If you enjoy using the wallpapers, please tell us! :)

Announcing...

THE JEWELS OF JESUS MAGAZINE, ISSUE #4!!!

Yes, it's finally here!

All the people who get a print copy received theirs last Tuesday, but I haven't had time to post until now on here. I hope you will forgive me. :)

Read/download your free copy here!

Lord willing, I will be starting to put the next issue (#5) together this week, even though it won't be finished until February or March. Several things we will be needing yet:

1. a short story from the Bible, retold (it can be first- or third-person. Doesn't matter either way.)
2. a couple poems for the Encouragement Page
3. several quotes for the Encouragement Page
4. a recipe (or two!)--just make sure that they are fairly easy to make. Preferably ones you've made before.
5. a short thought, something God's shown you, an answered prayer--doesn't have to be longer than one paragraph. We'd use them to fill up the gaps at the bottom of pages.

NOTE: If you send in any of the above that you haven't written, please give us the source--we'd like to see where you got it! ;)

Stay true to Him,

Esther

Will YOU Write For Us?

Well, I’ve just had a sudden inspiration. Tiffany and I would like to have more things from other people in our magazine (and I’m sure that anyone who has ever written a magazine, blog, or other such-like stuff could identify!). So, I was thinking…what about an article-writing day? Both Tiffany and I would write an article, and if you would like to participate (which I REALLY hope you want to!☺) that would be great. So, here’s what we would do:

You can write/send in anything.
Yup, anything—you could write:

Photo Courtesy

1. a story 
2. a poem 
3. a recipe 
4. a craft or sewing idea 
5. a bibliography biography of someone in the past that has been an inspiration to you
6. an answered prayer 
7. something God has taught/shown you 
8. an encouraging quote, and why it’s encouraging to you. 
9. an embarrassing moment, and something God showed you through that 
10. something you learned from a book of the Bible (such as Job) 
11. an exceptionally frustrating situation, and how God helped you conquer your frustration 
12. a devotional 
13. a question (yes, we do have a question corner, but no-one’s ever asked anything!) 
14. a book review 
15. about a treasure from the Scriptures that you found 
16. …let your imagination go wild! There are many other subjects I haven’t included! 

There are a few rules:

1. You can write anything. If you have something you wrote another time, that’s okay. Just send it in. 
2. The length doesn’t really matter. We can use whatever you send in. If it’s longer than 1 ½ – 2 pages, though, we’d have to break it up and put it in two magazines (which ISN’T a problem, believe me!☺) 
3. When you submit your story (I’ll have a form for you to submit it with), please include a short “About Me”—there’ll be a space for it!☺It would also be nice to have a picture to put at the bottom, but that’s optional. Your “About Me” could include anything (a few ideas below). I prefer at the minimum three sentences, but if you really can’t think of anything to write about yourself, it’s okay to just give your name (age and location would be great, too, but that’s optional). Your “About Me” could include:
       ○ age
       ○ location
       ○ where they can find you on the internet (your blog, etc)
       ○ some of your interests (crafting, baking, reading, writing, etc)
       ○ how to contact you
       ○ …all of the above are optional, but the “About Me” is designed to make the reader get to know you as an individual a little better—you aren’t just an anonymous writer that way. 
4. You’re supposed to enjoy yourself while you’re writing—it won’t be just another “chore”. 
5. If at all possible, what you write should be written in one day. But if you can’t manage, then I understand if it takes several days. The longest time I’ve ever taken to write something for JOJ has been about six months! 
6. Remember this quote: “You must write for yourself, above all. That is [your] only hope of creating something beautiful.” ~Gustave Flaubert. It’s very true. 
7. We may not put all of the submissions into one magazine, depending on how many there are. We will be sure, though, to put it in somewhere.
8. Any questions? Comment below! 

So, what do you think? Do you think you’d like doing this with Tiffany and me? If you think you would, please fill out this short survey:
NOTE: We will write on one particular day, depending on what day you all select. I was originally thinking of Monday, but if you think another day of the week would be better, we'd be glad to hear which day you think is best.

Thank you for all your support; we really appreciate it!

Blessings,

Esther

New button on the sidebar--finally! :)

Well, yes...I've been working on it on and off ever since we first got this blog up and going. Ahem, yes. That is a while. And I'm just slightly embarrassed about that fact. Anyway, here it is, in all it's glory:


Yup, very simple. Check the page out, though if you want to read the magazines! (you've probably read all of them, but they're there for reference, anyway!) Excited to see where this magazine is going next,

P.S. Did you notice that we changed our pictures on the sidebar? :)