Sunday, April 27, 2014

THE INVISIBLE---by Guest Ada Brownell




Amazing unseen things happened at my conception. Then after birth, unnoticed activity took place in my brain as I grew. I learned to speak English. I decided I didn’t like hominy ‘cause they used lye to make it. Fear of flogging roosters stirred in my skinny breast, and panic disturbed my sleep because a sibling told me Indians used to roam on our farm.

I wasn’t much more than a toddler when I learned Jesus loved me and had a wonderful plan for my life. From a large impoverished family and a freckled-faced redhead, when I started school, classmates often teased me. Yet, I smiled inside where they couldn’t see because I had a secret. Jesus loved me!

I’d never seen Jesus, but when I gave my heart to Him, I knew He is real. The invisible has been much of my reality. I saw people in our family healed, and observed other answers to prayer and miracles. I breathed invisible air, felt invisible wind, planted seeds with invisible life, and ate eggs with God’s invisible design in them to make a live chicken, if fertilized. I could go on and on.

God is teaching me more about the invisible. No, not about the evil out there, but the wondrous power of God available.

In Hebrews 11, the Faith Chapter, we’re told, “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see... By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible” (1,3).

In awe, I think about the power that created the universe.  Power more amazing than man can imagine, and yet I can have a portion of that power. Isaiah wrote, “He gives power to the weak, and to those who have no might he increases strength.” “God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and a sound mind” (2 Timothy 1:7).

Acts 1:8 says, “You shall receive power after the Holy Ghost comes upon you and you shall be my witnesses.”

The same power that created the universe will abide in me to accomplish things not seen, such as love and redemption. Invisible, but amazing.
©Copyright Ada Brownell April 2014





The invisible.
The seed growing in the ground. The egg in the womb. The air we breathe.

Forces of evil, as well as angels of light.
The miraculous touch of salvation, healing, restoration.
My thoughts. How they can affect my behavior and the lives of others.
How winter is turned into spring (maybe touch Job’s description)
The wind.
Sin, righteous, Judgment

                                  

 IMAGINE THE FUTURE YOU---A motivational Bible study by Ada Brownell


The intriguing thing about our dreams is we’re always the “Star.”  Comedy, romance, murder mystery, drama, documentary of a heroine—there we are in the middle of everything.

When we’re awake we also star in our dreams. Dream big and work toward your goals and you’ll write a story with your life that might amaze you.

Whether your story is a tragedy or a cherished classic depends on who you want to become and if you pursue your dreams.

If you continue to do or not do what you practice now, what kind of future do you imagine for yourself?

The decisions we make ourselves affect our future more than those made for us. We have control of our attitudes, our work ethic, our sense of wonder, our faith to believe in God and for great things. It is up to us where we end up in life and eternity.

This Bible study will help you discover evidence for faith; how to look and be your best; who can help; interesting information about dating, love and marriage; choosing a career; how to deposit good things into your brain you can spend; and how to avoid hazards that jeopardize a successful life on earth and for eternity, all mingled with true stories that can make you smile.


 



MEET THE AUTHOR:
Ada Brownell, a devoted Bible student, has written for Christian publications since age 15 and spent much of her life as a reporter for The Pueblo Chieftain in Colo. After moving to Springfield, MO in her retirement, she continues to free lance for Sunday school papers, Christian magazines, write op-ed pieces for newspapers, and books with stick-to-your-soul encouragement. She is critique group leader of Ozarks Chapter of American Christian Writers and a member of American Christian Fiction Writers.

Among her books: Imagine the Future You, a youth Bible study (November 2013). Joe the Dreamer: The Castle and the Catapult, (Jan. 15, 2013); Swallowed by Life: Mysteries of Death, Resurrection and the Eternal, (Dec. 6, 2011); and Confessions of a Pentecostal, out of print but released in 2012 for Kindle; All the books are available in paper or for Kindle.

      Facebook: 
     Twitter: @adellerella
     Blog: Stick to Your Soul Encouragement
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Thursday, April 24, 2014

THE POWER OF PRAYER--By guest Teresa Pollard




"For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds,and to him who knocks it will be opened.”  Matthew 7:8 


The one thing The Lord taught me early was that He answers specific prayers. 
  
We had just moved into a new mobile home in Roanoke, VA, and the mobile home park required us to underpin it within 90 days.  My husband was fresh out of college, we had a new baby, and after medical bills and buying the mobile home, we had very little money.  We didn’t know how we were going to do it.  

Wade said that since it was a yellow mobile home, it would look great with yellow bricks as underpinning, but they would be far too expensive. So we prayed for $300 to buy underpinning.  

Our time was almost up, and we still didn’t have the money when we got a call.  A man Wade had done some work for asked if we had any use for yellow bricks.  He had knocked down his storage building.  The bricks were still in excellent condition.  There were exactly enough of them to fit our mobile home.   
   

     When my oldest daughter, Kristina, was a baby, she put her hand on the glass door of our oven and got a third degree burn over the entire palm.  It was a Wednesday night, and our entire church prayed.  When we went back to the doctor ten days later, he unwrapped the hand.  There was no evidence of a burn whatsoever.  

     So by the time my younger daughter Kara was dying of cancer, I had learned the power of prayer.  It would be wonderful to say that we prayed and Kara was miraculously healed, but that didn’t happen.  God said no.  

What did happen was almost as miraculous.  

Kara’s legs had swollen up like balloons.  She could barely walk, and they were extremely painful.  One night we laid hands on them and asked God to take away the swelling permanently.  The next morning the swelling was gone.  It never came back.   

God hears and answers prayer.  

He answers specific prayers specifically.  Sometimes He says no.  Even then, He makes Himself known and comforts us through the trial if we trust Him.  This world is not the end.  I’ll see Kara again.  Until then, I’ll keep asking, seeking and knocking.  I know the power of prayer.    
 





Teresa Pollard is from Richmond, Virginia, and was saved at a young age.  She has a Masters degree in English and Creative Writing from Hollins College, and has served as a Sunday School teacher and children’s worker for most of the last forty years.  Married for forty years, she was devastated by divorce and the death of her youngest daughter, but God has blessed her with a new home and another grandson, and she now resides in Dacula, Georgia.  

Find out more about Teresa's book on her website TeresaPollardWrites.com

Thursday, April 17, 2014

REDEEMED BY THE REDEEMER by Guest Keisha Bass


Keisha Bass author of PERMANENT RESIDENT AT THE PURSE TABLE
About ten years ago, I lost my job, dignity, and the respect of my family behind my drug addiction. Marijuana and cocaine consumed my life and the devotion to my drugs of choice guided the quality of my life to deteriorate. 

But God....

I’d given up on quitting on my own months before I lost my teaching job. I looked to God for answers. Going through my rehab ups and downs, I grew to live in total surrender and lean on God and His Word. I kicked the habit in the teeth as the God-sized strength that resided in me prevailed.

Over the course of that next year, I developed a new attitude about myself and my recovery. I worked as a substitute teacher the next school year which was a humbling experience. After struggling financially, yet growing spiritually, I applied with several other school districts for a full-time position.

Going through interview after interview, I kept my hope in a restored future as I knew I served a God Who was the Restorer. In a third interview for a different school district, I was asked to tell about my past experience.

“I’ve enjoyed teaching and coaching, and have had success in the classroom and on the court. In my personal life though, I’ve struggled. I needed to take care of some personal issues.”

“Well, are the issues done with?”

Smiling from ear to ear. “Yes.”

Hearing the answer I’d been longing to hear come out of my mouth, I wish I could’ve snapped a shot of my facial expression that day. With God’s guidance, I’d gotten to a point in my life where I was a year clean and living a life that glorified my Father.

My new teaching job was more than a chance to start over fresh in my career, but a chance to start over fresh in life. 

This coming May will make eleven years of sobriety. I am beyond amazed at how God has changed me and my life. He restored me from the inside out. Through God’s goodness and grace, He guided me through the hardships and celebrated with me through triumphs, redeeming me in the process. 
       
        In losing my job, I gained my life back. Today, I’m not only a better teacher, but a better person. Believe for restoration in your circumstance because the Lord will do it for you too.



 
View the book trailer for PermanentResident at the Purse Table
 
If you’re size six, you dance. If you’re Ava Alexander, you watch the purses while your girlfriends dance. Each man that passes her by takes a little of her self-esteem. After escaping a mentally abusive relationship, she promises God she will wait on Him to bring her the right man. And she means it—Until Ishmael. When her best friend’s fiancé throws a few compliments her way, she travels down the path of betrayal. Ava’s choice strains her friendship and sends her into a depression. 

Ava receives spiritual guidance from Dr. Glory Moses. Through God’s Word, there is a glimpse of hope for a restored friendship, and a newfound love for the woman she is. In addition, a man she meets at the counseling center offers her a glimpse of what could be if she lines up with God’s will for her life. Will Ava be able to overcome her insecurities and step into the life God plans for her, or will she continue to self-destruct?
 
Purchase links and Social media links


 
 

ABOUT KEISHA BASS 

Permanent Resident at the Purse Table is Keisha Bass’ first novel. Keisha has published non-fiction articles in magazines and online, and her article, “Heart Problems”, was published in Chicken Soup for the Soul: A Book of Miracles. Keisha is the Vice President of the DFW Ready Writers, a local chapter of American Christian Fiction Writers, and a member of North Texas Christian Writers. She grew up in Houston, Texas, but now resides in Arlington, Texas where she teaches middle school physical education and coaches girls’ sports.