Seven Ways to Stretch Spiritually

Seven Ways to Stretch Spiritually

By Ada Brownell

When they think about stretching, health conscious adults head for the gym. But what about spiritual fitness?

With disuse, faith gets flabby. Here are a few spiritual stretches I did the last couple of years and plan to continue.

1.      DESIRE TO ENLARGE YOUR TERRORITY. Pray the prayer of Jabez every day and mean it: “Oh, that You would bless me indeed, and enlarge my territory, that Your hand would be with me, and that You would keep me from evil, that I may not cause pain!” (1 Chronicles 4:9-10NKJ). After I began praying the prayer, new opportunities opened that surprised me. I realized I had more potential than I thought, and God was with me!

2.      STRETCH YOUR ABILITIES

·         Dust off old talents and develop others. You never know what the Lord might use, even if it’s only to increase your contentment.

·         Witness to others when opportunities open, and resist fear.

·         Tell your family how and why you are a Christian and share a witness.

3.      STRETCH YOUR KNOWLEDGE

·         Get a good study Bible or join a Bible study group. Last year I asked my husband to buy me a new Bible because I wanted the included commentary. I often study a book of the Bible at a time or one subject. Recently I did an intense study on faith using my study Bible. I also looked up scriptures in different versions and on biblegateway.com

·         If you don’t have a ministry, pray and see where God leads. I grew spiritually when I taught Christian education classes because it stretched me.

·         Learn new things that will enhance your career. Ask God for direction and take a class, do research, or take advice so you can be your best.

4.      STRETCH YOUR LOVE

·         Put into practice everything you know about being a better wife, mom, grandma, husband, father or grandpa.

·         Contact relatives and friends you haven’t communicated with recently, and visit neighbors.

·         Pray for supernatural love to help you show love to people who are difficult.

5.      STRETCH YOUR COMPASSION

·         Give to a credible organization that helps those in need.

·         Encourage the grieving, the ill, the elderly and lonely with a card, email, phone call or something from your kitchen.

·         Ask your pastor if there is someone who especially needs encouragement or help.

6. STRETCH YOUR FAITH

·    Believe God for something you need or desire that looks impossible.

·    Venture out and do what you know God wants you to do, but you’ve hesitated.

·    When you pray, give your faith a jump start with the Word.

7.      STRETCH YOUR THOUGHTS, PATIENCE AND SPEECH TO PLEASE GOD

·         With David I pray, “Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer” (Psalm 19:15).

·         I pray, “Fill me with the fruits of the Spirit. ‘For the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy peace, longsuffering (patience), kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control’” (Galatians 5:22-23).

Is it possible to be delivered from fear when death is near?

MORE QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS FROM SWALLOWED BY LIFE: MYSTERIES OF DEATH, RESURRECTION AND THE ETERNAL

Buy the book Here

Study Questions for Chapter Three

1. Where do you feel the music Carolyn heard originated?

2. Would you go for a bone marrow transplant if  it could save your life?

3. Is it possible to truly be delivered from fear when death is near? How?

4. Is it normal to be filled with shock and disbelief when you lose someone, or does this only happen to imperfect people?

5. Think about a time when a scripture breathed peace to your heart. Share this experience with others.

6. Would losing a loved one change your view of God? If you don’t receive a miracle, is there still hope?

7. Do you understand Jesus taking the sting of death away?

8. Are you surprised to learn even heroes of the faith went through sorrow, grief, pain, and torture, while others received miracles? What was their bottom line?

9. Have you noticed how many scriptures refer to eternal life? What is your favorite?

10. Do you have a favorite song about our hope for eternity with Jesus?

Quiz Answers for Swallowed by Life Chapter Three

1. The author believes the music was heavenly, but give your own answer.

2. Again, give your own opinion.

3. Through faith and God’s grace and mercy.

4. These feelings are normal stages of grief.

5. Share your thoughts.

6. Losing someone to death helps us find out whether we believe what we think we do. 1 Corinthians 13 says hope abides forever.

7. 1 Corinthians 15:56 says, “The sting of death is sin,” and if we have repented of our sins and accepted Jesus as Savior, sin and the sting are gone. The previous verse says, “Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your sting?”

8. They were seeking another country, eternal in the heavens, whose Builder and Maker is God (Hebrews 11).

9. Share your favorite scriptures about eternal life.

10. Hymnbooks are full of songs about heaven. One of the author’s favorites is “The Unclouded Day.”

Truth Guarantee? Think again.

SWALLOWED BY LIFE

By Ada Brownell

Chapter Two

 Answers to Study Questions from Swallowed by Life posted yesterday

1. The polygraph lie detector, rice in the mouth, making a person grasp a hot rod, truth serum.

2. The polygraph. It’s not admissible in many courts as evidence. Truth often is elusive.

3. Believing in God and keeping the commandment, “Thou shalt not bear false witness” causes people to tell the truth as nothing else can. When that is lost, whose word can you trust?

4. Yes. There are numerous references, including 2 Peter 1:21 and John 17:16–18.

5. Forty different authors with varying occupations, inspired by the Holy Ghost over a period of one thousand five hundred years, on three continents, and in three languages.

6. Joseph Smith. Mohammad, with some additions by his followers.

7. Because they all agree on hundreds of controversial subjects, although they were imperfect humans.

8. Because faith is necessary for salvation.

9. Jesus is the only way of salvation and the Bible reveals Him to us. At least a person needs to hear what’s written in the Bible, the story of redemption, to believe and receive salvation.

10. Think about what you believe, then share your thoughts.

HOW DO YOU DETERMINE TRUTH?

Discussion questions from Swallowed by Life: Mysteries of Death, Resurrection and the Eternal

By Ada Brownell

Chapter Two

1. Name at least one historical method for determining truth. Would you trust any of them?

2. What is the most popular method of getting at the truth today? 
 Do you think it’s trustworthy?

3. Was something  lost when people quit believing in God and swearing on the Bible? Why?

4. Does the Bible claim to be the source of truth? What evidence do we have for that claim?

5. Who wrote the Bible? How many authors? Were they all prophets?

6. Who wrote the Book of Mormon? The Koran?

7. Why is having more than one author significant?

8. Why do we still need faith that the Bible is true?

9. Is belief in the Bible necessary to find the truth about life beyond physical death?

 10. What is it about life that most amazes you? What do you know about God that causes the most awe in you?

Ada Brownell bio

Ada Brownell has been writing for Christian publications since age 15 and spent much of her life as a daily newspaper reporter. She has a B.S. degree in Mass Communications and worked most of her career at The Pueblo Chieftain in Colo., where she spent the last seven years as a medical writer. After moving to Springfield, MO in her retirement, she continues to free lance for Christian publications and write non-fiction and fiction books.

      Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/#!/AdaBrownellWritingMinistries

     Twitter: @adellerella

     Blog: http://inkfromanearthenvessel.blogspot.com Stick to Your Soul Encouragement

     Amazon Ada Brownell author page: http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B001KJ2C06

Answers to Study Questions from Swallowed by Life (Chapter One)

Answers to Study Questions

SWALLOWED BY LIFE; MYSTERIES OF DEATH,RESURRECTION AND THE ETERNAL

Chapter One

1. Oxidation. Aging.

2. Several million

3. We start as a tiny egg. Organs and other body parts can be removed or transplanted from another person and it doesn’t change who the person is. Cell death and regeneration. Weight gain and loss.

4. Seven days.

5. Seven years.

6. A leap of faith. Because there is no way we can prove it exists beyond the grave and because faith is required for Salvation—the way to eternal life.

7. “While we live in these earthly bodies, we groan and sigh, but it’s not that we want to die and get rid of these bodies that clothe us. Rather, we want to put on our new bodies so that these dying bodies will be swallowed up by life” (2 Corinthians 5:4 NLT).

8. Answers here depend on each individual. Be truthful to yourself.

9. Same as above.

10. Same as above.

MEET ADA BROWNELL

Ada Brownell blogs and writes with Stick-to-Your-Soul Encouragement. She is the author of six books, about 300 stories and articles in Christian publications, and she spent a large chunk of her life as a reporter, mostly for The Pueblo Chieftain in Colorado. A Bible student since her teens and a youth educator, she also taught on the Bible and science; courses from Josh McDowell’s Evidence that Demands a Verdict; and other faith-building courses. She now lives in Missouri, a beautiful state except for tornadoes and chiggers.

Among her books: The Lady Fugitive, an historical romance; Imagine the Future You, a youth/parent Bible study;.Joe the Dreamer: The Castle and the Catapult, a novel for middle grade up; Swallowed by Life: Mysteries of Death, Resurrection and the Eternal, includes evidence we’re more than a body; Facts, Faith and Propaganda, a book that unmasks propaganda as well as reveals amazing truth; and Confessions of a Pentecostal, out of print but released in 2012 for Kindle; Most books are available in paper or for Kindle. Imagine the Future You audiobook is available at www.Audible.com  Free book with new Audible membership.

Amazon Ada Brownell author page: https://www.amazon.com/author/adabrownell

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/#!/AdaBrownellWritingMinistries

Twitter: @AdaBrownell

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1654534.Ada_Brownell

Blog: http://inkfromanearthenvessel.blogspot.com

Burn out or rust out? What is the process in the human body similar to rust?

Swallowed By Life

Discussion Questions

 By Ada Brownell

Preface and Chapter One

 Discussion questions for Chapter 1 of Swallowed by Life (Answers Tomorrow)

1.      You’ve heard people say they’d rather burn out than rust out. What is the process that occurs to the human body that is similar to rust on iron? When this process occurs in people it is called  _________.

2.       How many people are estimated to suffer from chronic or terminal diseases at one time in the United States?

3.      Name three things you know about the human body that shows we are more than flesh and blood.

4.      How many days does it take for the skin to rebuild?

5.      In how many years does the skeleton become a totally new one?

6.      The mystery of eternal life requires ____________________. Why?

7.      Do you know the scripture this book is based upon and the reference for where it is found in the Bible?

8.      Does death being swallowed by life make sense to you? Why or why not?

9.      Does 2 Corinthians 5:3-5 bring joy or confusion? How? Why?

10.   How does the message of this scripture compare to John 3:16? Can you think of other scriptures with a similar message?

Link to buy the book: https://www.amazon.com/author/adabrownell

SWALLOWED BY LIFE: Mysteries of Death, Resurrection and the Eternal

http://amzn.to/Jnc1rW

                                          By Ada Brownell

Do you know evidence shows we’re more than a physical body? The author, a prolific religion writer and retired medical journalist, talks about the evidence; the wonder of life with all its electrical systems; the awesome truth about cell death and regeneration; mysteries surrounding the change from mortal to immortal; where we go when our body dies; resurrection; and a glimpse at what we will do in heaven.

Where you can find Swallowed by Life:

Amazon: http://amzn.to/Jnc1rW

Barnes and Noble: http://bit.ly/JnbKVL

Booksamillion.com http://ow.ly/cJmx8

And you can see reviews on GoodReads http://ow.ly/cJmMe

Ada Brownell bio

Ada Brownell has been writing for Christian publications since age 15 and spent much of her life as a daily newspaper reporter. She has a B.S. degree in Mass Communications and worked most of her career at The Pueblo Chieftain in Colo., where she spent the last seven years as a medical writer. After moving to Springfield, MO in her retirement, she continues to free lance for Christian publications and write non-fiction and fiction books.

      Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/#!/AdaBrownellWritingMinistries

     Twitter: @adellerella

     Blog: http://inkfromanearthenvessel.blogspot.com Stick to Your Soul Encouragement

     Amazon Ada Brownell author page: http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B001KJ2C06

THE ONLY WAY OUT IS UP

By Ada Brownell

I recently did research for a newspaper op-ed piece about the perilous condition in which our nation finds itself. The piece appeared in The Pueblo Chieftain December 2011, “The only way out may be up.”

In the 1950s, my husband and I lived in a cabin on top of Tennessee Pass. Les was agent-telegrapher at the Pando Reio Grande Railroad depot, across from Camp Hale, near Leadville. Colo..

One afternoon soldiers arrived on the train. A young man carrying his duffle bag gazed around in awe.

 “Mountains this way. Mountains that way. Mountains over there. Mountains over here. The only way out of this place is up!”

America finds itself trapped in a similar place.

After discussing the national debt and other problems, I wrote:

Our society careens near the precipice on the dangerous curves of moral bankruptcy. Similar to the narrow highway over Battle Mountain, a way out of Camp Hale, we’re near the edge and in a storm it’s difficult to see. Battle Mountain has few guard rails because highway crews need to shove the deep snow over the side.

 Guard rails that historically steered our nation morally have been dismantled— The Ten Commandments nudged over the cliff. Children are taught to worship the created rather than the loving Creator. They grow up believing morality doesn’t matter. The Centers for Disease Control reports we kill 234 babies for every 1,000 live births. In 2008, CDC reports 825,564 legal abortions. CDC’s 2010 report on Sexually Transmitted Diseases identified STDs as one of the most critical health challenges facing our nation, with 19 million new infections each year costing the health care system $17 billion annually.

 At the same time, Freedom of religion is being strangled while secularism becomes the national cult. On Dec. 2, 2011, the Family Research Council released this memo obtained from the Navy concerning Walter Reed Hospital in Maryland: “Navy officials have announced that ‘no religious items (including Bibles, reading material, and/or artifacts) are allowed to be given away or used during a visit. FRC brought the memo to the attention of Congress and Rep. Steve King. After speaking to Walter Reed, they were assured the Navy was rescinding the policy.

Many of us love money, things and entertainment more than one another. A large number of couples no longer honor their marriage vows and in their search to find joy compromise everything important and thereby drop into the chasm.

We stand in the storm, mountains to conquer, but no longer have strength or tools to scale them. A large number of folks require alcohol to have a good time or to soothe the conscience and kill the emotional pain. A good portion of our society seeks something stronger, according to the tons of illegal and prescription mind-altering drugs sold.

I believe with the soldier of years ago who said, “The only way out of here is up!”

I added repentance is our nation’s only hope and God is the only one who can lift the heavy burdens of sin, unbelief and rebellion that plague the individual, rob him of peace, strip him of joy, and plunge him into a constant state of despair.

Ignoring the chasm beside the treacherous road we travel will not give us peace. We do need to look up, and when we do, we need to believe that “He exists and that He rewards those who diligently seek Him” (Hebrews 11: 6).