Daily Jewel

by Pastor Carnell, McAlester, OK

“Choose Real Life”

“Keep my commands and you will live...” – Proverbs 7:2 (NIV)

“This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the LORD your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the LORD is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.” – Deuteronomy 30:19-20

Moses was near the end of his life. He had spent the last 40 years of his life giving himself entirely to God and the nation of Israel. It makes one wonder, had he not obeyed the voice and command of God would he have lived those additional 40 years and would things have turned out the way they did? Guess we will never know the answer to that will we?
I love life! Life is fun and most of the time it is rewarding! For those who do not know me or my background I have in the last couple of years became a grandfather to a beautiful and vivacious little girl. The times I am with her make me so appreciative of the fact that I survived her mother’s childhood and teenage years so that I could enjoy this wonderful grandchild! (And I really do love my daughter too!) The same can be said for my new grandson—who is a spitting image of his father. I look forward to the days that I can spend with him—teaching him to love life—his parents—and most of all to love Jesus. Something that I did not receive as a child.
I did not grow up in a Christian home. My mother was a good woman, but not a spiritual one. I believe she knew of God, perhaps at some point of her life she attempted to follow Him, but she was not what I would call an ardent follower. The latter years of her life were not good ones...in fact she was downright miserable and made the people around her the same. She harbored a great deal of anger and bitterness from her past—“demons” that hounded her that in retrospect truly drained the life out of her. ,br /> As a child growing up I was completely unaware of any “problems” beside the fact that she was left to raise a teenage boy on her own after my father died. It was only after I had left home and returned for visits did I begin to notice a number of “hints” that her life was less than fulfilled and happy. She was not destitute by any means—nor was she outrageously wealthy but she was “comfortable.” As I reflect back it was evident that the one thing she did not have was a close and personal relationship with Christ. I often wonder that if she would have had that then perhaps she would have allowed Him to exorcise the demons that kept her bound to her discontent. The purpose of this search into my past was (is) to prove a point: The “commands” of God were never intended to be oppressive or uncaring. In fact the complete opposite is true; they are intended to give life meaning and complete satisfaction. Consider the following from the book of Leviticus:

“If you follow my decrees and are careful to obey my commands, I will send you rain in its season, and the ground will yield its crops and the trees their fruit. Your threshing will continue until grape harvest and the grape harvest will continue until planting, and you will eat all the food you want and live in safety in your land. I will grant peace in the land, and you will lie down and no one will make you afraid. I will remove wild beasts from the land, and the sword will not pass through your country.” – Leviticus 26:3-6 (NIV)

Notice the part that says, “I will grant peace in the land, and you will lie down and no one will make you afraid.” Now, call me a bit over-zealous in my approach but that does not sound the least bit oppressive to me…it sounds rather comforting. I do not want to merely exist—I want to live! I do not want to allow problems from my past—be they mistakes or sins to prevent me from enjoying the life I have been given. I do not have a lot in terms of earthly riches—but what I do have makes life worth the living and I plan to do that to the fullest. Always under the power, presence and commands of the author of life!
Pastor J. T. Carnell

Daily Jewel

by Pastor Carnell, McAlester, OK

“Which Way Do I Go?”

“Follow my advice, my son; always treasure my commands...” – Proverbs 7:1 (NLT)

Chapter seven picks up where chapter’s one through six end…with the “teacher” reminding the listener/reader to not only pay close attention to what is being said—but to follow his advice with purpose and passion! The word “treasure” is a great passion word which denotes a strong adherence to.
One of the current popular television stations has been running a commercial highlighting some of the “characters” that appear on their various shows. Some of you are probably familiar with some of their current shows: “White Collar,” “Psych,” “Burn Notice,” “Covert Affairs” and “Royal Pains.” Each of these shows reach a rather wide audience making the USA Network a major player in the television market. In the commercial each of the characters describes something about themselves in real life: One says, “I’m an adoptive dad,” another says “I’m Jewish.” One of the individuals describes himself as a “Christian,” and then another says, “I believe in many paths to God.” I believe the purpose of the commercial is to show how diverse we all are, to accept that diversity and learn to live in harmony with one another! In theory—it’s sweet. In practice—it won’t happen! It’s not that I have a problem accepting people because I believe there is Scriptural mandate to do that! (See Romans 12). Here’s the problem: To accept me means accepting what I believe (my Christian beliefs) and if that runs in opposition to what another believes we just might have a slight problem and it has to do with (not who) but what I accept into my life. It’s kind of hard to walk hand-in-hand when you are going in opposite direction! (I thought of that one all by myself!) How often have we heard that phrase, “many paths to God?” It is a phrase used most often in Eastern religions which has little to do with the “Creator-God,” (the One we know as Jehovah) as it does with the belief that we ourselves can become as god.
If, as is asserted, there are many paths to God, then any book we read is as good as reading the bible. Anything we worship is as good as worshiping God. Jesus was a good teacher/preacher/prophet and His words were as good as any that have come along, but others have some good things to say as well.
Solomon declares: “Follow my advice…” When Jesus met Peter and Andrew, James and John, He did not say to them: “If you want to know about Me, text me. Email Me…send Me a ‘friend’ request…follow Me on Twitter…” No! He said, “Follow Me!” The truth of the matter is you cannot follow sitting down…standing still…or going the opposite direction! To follow someone you have to go in the direction they are going, right behind them. He then follows that up with, “…always treasure my commands.” My interpretation: Follow as close as possible! Be no more than one step behind. Have you ever tried following someone in your car only to have a car (or two) get in between you and the one you are following? Or if you get too far back the one you are trying to watch goes through a yellow light and you get stuck at the red light? Your only hope is that the one you are following waits for you for if not reaching your wanted destination becomes increasingly difficult. The USA Network (like every network) wants me to watch their programs so they offer up a variety of “characters” and story lines to grab my attention. The world is no different! It offers up a variety of very appealing “programs” that fit whatever appetite one might have.
If you are not passionately following what God has prescribed for your soul then don’t be surprised if you find yourself on a path that does not lead to holiness—and make no mistake about it, there is only one way to God and that is by following Christ!
Pastor J. T. Carnell