Daily Jewel

by Pastor Carnell, McAlester, OK

“Can You Hear Me Now?”
“Does not wisdom call out? Does not understanding raise her voice?” – Proverbs 8:1

For the past ten years the television world has been graced with a series of commercials featuring a man approximately in his early to mid 30’s holding a cell phone to his ear and uttering the same five words every time; “Can you hear me now?” When these commercials first started airing, the Verizon® Wireless Corporation was barely the third largest wireless network in the United States. Their market share in the cell phone world percentage-wise was in the mid teens—today, they are the largest wireless network in the world. Now, to say that an advertising campaign is the sole reason for their success would really be stretching things but perhaps the phrase, “Can you hear me now?” can easily be replaced with, “Do you hear me roar?”
I am not here to be a commercial for a cell phone company…but there is something to be said for the way they flooded the airwaves with the simplest of concepts: We have the answer for what you need. For the past seven chapters countless verses have beckoned us to pay strict attention to the words and wisdom of not just simply a man, but a man given the mind of God to both govern and advise. So it begs the question of all of us…”Do I have your complete and full attention now?” Perhaps a better way to approach this is to ask the question, what does it take for God to get your complete and undivided attention? Tragedy? Sickness? Conflict? Financial crisis? Death?
I am astonished (or saddened more like it) that our human nature is either incredibly resilient to change or what is perhaps more toward the truth we are too stubbornly prideful to consider that God’s advise can truly be of use to our life. So…are you listening? Nick Thomas found himself at the age of 47 unemployed and under tremendous financial pressure. Though he had a successful career in the Air Force and the insurance business, some reversals had set him back and left him with no place to go. His wife, Liz, made their situation a matter of deep prayer. She was in church one morning, praying about their dilemma when she thought she could almost hear the words, "Make the mustard." Her family had a mustard recipe going back several generations when from when they lived in Russia and every Christmas she had made mustard as presents for her friends. She decided to give it a try. She prepared a substantial amount and called on a local cheese shop. The manager tasted it and immediately bought out their inventory. Within three months they had cracked the highly competitive major New York Deli market. Because the Thomases committed their troubles to prayer, looked to God for guidance, and committed themselves to listening......He gave them the direction they were needing.
So…what would it take for God to get you attention? If you were to receive an answer to a dilemma in your life would you believe that God truly hears our prayer? If you had the kind of faith that could indeed move a mountain would the words, “Can you hear me now?” change your perspective on what He will do for you today? Take a chance!
Pastor J. T. Carnell

Good Things

by Everett Christian

GOD SPEAKS TO US THROUGH HIS HOLY WORD
68 You (O Lord) are good, and what you do is good; teach me your decrees. - Psalm 119:68(New International Version).

GOD'S PROMISE TO US FROM HIS HOLY WORD
. 5 Your love, O Lord, reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness to the skies. - Psalm 36:5(New International Version).

A QUOTE
If I can stop one heart from breaking, I shall not live in vain: If I can ease one life the aching, or cool one pain, Or help one fainting robin unto his nest again, I shall not live in vain. - Emily Dickinson - ( 1830-1886 )

A THOUGHT TO REMEMBER
Broken friendship may be soldered, but may not be sound. - From Proverbs for Daily Living -

CAT POETRY
Baggage (The Meaning of Rescue)
By Evelyn Colbath(c)1995 Baggage All rights reserved
Now that I'm home, bathed, settled and fed, All nicely tucked in my warm new bed, I'd like to open my baggage, Lest I forget, There is so much to carry, So much to regret.

Hmmm...Yes, there it is, right on the top, Let's unpack Loneliness, Heartache and Loss, And there by my perch hides Fear and Shame. As I look on these things I tried so hard to leave, I still have to unpack my baggage called Pain. I loved them, the others, the ones who left me, But I wasn't good enough - for they didn't want me.

Will you add to my baggage? Will you help me unpack? Or will you just look at my things, And take me right back? Do you have the time to help me unpack? To put away my baggage, to never repack? I pray that you do - I'm so tired you see, But I do come with baggage, Will you still want me?
By Evelyn Colbath(c)1995 Baggage All rights reserved
,br /> NOTES
Today has been a cloudy day. Around noontime a cold front blew in. The temperature at noon time was 74 degrees but has dropped down to 42 degrees at present. We had a little rain in early afternoon but didn't get enough to measure at my house. I saw Charley and Bill at noon. I went to the post office and then by Braum's for a carton of ice cream. I took a nap this afternoon . When I awoke Leo (a cat) was on the bed with me. It was too cool to sit out with the cats this evening but I did take treats our for them at around 5:30 p.m. I worked in my office room some this afternoon before I took my nap and again this evening before I did the Good Things. Since last night's Good Things, I have heard from Michelle and Geneva. Thanks for your e-mails. Thanks to everyone who reads the Good Things.
The cats are fine. I have seen all of them this evening. At present Rascal is in the recliner. When the weather gets cold the cats stay inside a lot.
I hope everyone has a nice Friday!
I will see you next time,
In Christian Love, Everett.

Good Things

by Everett Christian, McAlester, OK

GOD SPEAKS TO US THROUGH HIS HOLY WORD
9 If you make the Most High your dwelling— even the Lord, who is my refuge— 10 then no harm will befall you, no disaster will come near your tent. 11 For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways; 12 they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone. - Psalm 91:9-12(New International Version).

GOD'S PROMISE TO US FROM HIS HOLY WORD
(Jesus said) 18 “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, 19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” - Luke 4:18-19(New International Version).

A QUOTE
I'm learning that the most important thing in the world is loving God. That everything good comes from that. - Phil Callaway

- A THOUGHT TO REMEMBER
When the fox preaches, beware of your geese. - From Proverbs for Daily Living -

CAT POETRY
I'm Only a Cat
I'm only a cat, and I stay in my place... Up there on your chair, on your bed or your face!
I'm only a cat, and I don't finick much... I'm happy with cream and anchovies and such!
I'm only a cat, and we'll get along fine... As long as you know I'm not yours... you're all mine! - Author Unknown -

NOTES
Today has been partly cloudy with a high temperature of 81 degrees and a low temperature of 70 degrees. I had lunch today with Charley, Bill and Bill's son, Mark. I went by the post office and then came home. My cat, Tony, took a nap with me this afternoon. I went outside with the cats around 5:30 p.m. and stayed out with them for over an hour. Since last nights Good Things I have heard from Michelle, Alice and Geneva. Thanks for your e-mails.
The cats are fine. I have seen all of them this evening. Some have been coming through to see me occasionally since I now have the front patio door ajar so they can go out and in. Friendly just came by to see me and now Tony is here on the desk near the computer.
Have a nice Thursday!
I will see you next time,
In Christian Love, Everett.

Daily Jewel

by pastor Carnell, McAlester, OK

“End of the Road”
“Her house is a highway to the grave, leading down to the chambers of death. “ – Proverbs 7:27

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, And sorry I could not travel both And be one traveler, long I stood And looked down one as far as I could To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair, And having perhaps the better claim, Because it was grassy and wanted wear; Though as for that the passing there Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay In leaves no step had trodden black. Oh, I kept the first for another day! Yet knowing how way leads on to way, I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh Somewhere ages and ages hence: Two roads diverged in a wood, and I— I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.
– Robert Frost

Have you ever come to a place where there was no where you could go? It was literally the end of the road.
Recently I was asked to go visit an individual that lived about 25 miles from my house. Now, to say this person lived 25 miles does not tell the entire story. If you were to take a map, draw a straight line from my house to theirs then I would say yes, it would have been about 25 miles. But getting to that house was not quite that simple. There was absolutely no direct road from my house to there. There were at least 12 turns…and about a third of it was on dirt roads. By the time I left my house to the point where the house was my odometer registered 52 miles. And by the time I reached the house it was literally at the end of the road. I could go no further!
How fitting that the last verse of this chapter describes perfectly the result of allowing the wrong passions to grab a hold of us and leading us to a place where there is no place to go! The road ends there and so could your life. What is even a greater distress is to know that so many take that same road—one after another follows the same path leading to the exact destructive end. It is like going to the end of the road—a road that ends at the edge of a cliff—and instead of stopping before going over the precipice they keep on going…tumbling down into the abyss that is death.
The poem by Robert Frost talks about the “road less traveled by” which perfectly describes the road that Jesus refers to as well in the book of Matthew. I referenced it a couple of days ago but it fits here as well:
"Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it.” – Matthew 7:13
Solomon’s advice, which has led us through most of this chapter, has been along this line. This verse (and the message attached) not only concludes the chapter—it concludes life. And he is imploring his readers to avoid taking this route and spare the most precious gift we are given—life.
There are a number of ways we can self-destruct. This is just one of them and if we can apply the same principle, that the “woman” in this passage represents not a person but a method—a means to an end that is not God’s way.
Stay on the right road. Stay on the one that leads to life where the last stop is a glorious end!
Pastor J. T. Carnell

Good Things

by Everett Christian, McAlester, OK

GOD SPEAKS TO US THROUGH HIS HOLY WORD
22 A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones. - Proverbs 17:22(New International Version).
GOD'S PROMISE TO US FROM HIS HOLY WORD
7 For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline. - 2 Timothy 1:7(New International Version).
A QUOTE
One of the most difficult things to give away is kindness, for it is usually returned. - Mark Ortman -
A THOUGHT TO REMEMBER
If you're green with envy, you're ripe for trouble. - From Reminisce Magazine -
CAT POETRY
Cats Sleep Anywhere
Cats sleep anywhere, any table, any chair. Top of piano, window-ledge, in the middle, on the edge. Open drawer, empty shoe, any body's lap will do. Fitted in a cardboard box, in the cupboard with your frocks. Anywhere! They don't care! Cats sleep anywhere. Eleanor Farjeon (1881 - 1965)
Today has been partly cloudy with a high temperature of 81 degrees and a low temperature of 69 degrees. I had lunch today with Charley, Bill and Pastor J.T. I then went to the post office, the Petsense Store and Walmart before I came home. I took my nap this afternoon without a cat napping with me. I went outside with the cats about 5:45 p.m. and sat out with them for over an hour. Since last night's Good Things I have received e-mails from Burlene, Leela, Michelle, Mary Jo, Geneva and Alice. I always appreciate your e-mails. I appreciate everyone who reads this old man's Good Things. I am happy that they help some readers.
The cats are fine. I have seen all of them this evening.
Have a nice Wednesday!
I will see you next time,
In Christian Love, Everett.