Charged, Changed and Channeled

 

 

 I was guilty as charged

My defense was nil,

I did not want to do good

For I didn’t have the will.

 

Evil was my nature

Yet I had no excuse

For I reveled in wrongdoing

I never would refuse.

 

All my thoughts and imagination

Every moment of every day

Was evil continually,

It was my desired way.

 

I frowned at my Creator

I even doubted His existence,

Any moral thought or obligation

Met with steadfast resistance.

 

Yes, charged I was and guilty

But guilt, I felt not any

And mine was not the only case,

Besides me there were many.

 

In a world of twisted minds

Of continuous evil thought,

I was one of them

And with them daily fought.

 

In the middle of my darkness

A light came shining through

Like none I had seen before,

It began to clear my view.

 

Next I saw the Saviour

And in his light I saw myself,

The picture he painted of me

Was my ruined spiritual health.

 

He showed me what I was

But more, what I could be

But even more than this

That change was a possibility.

 

He showed me a different way

A life that could be lived in him,

He showed me it was possible

I could be changed within.

 

With mingling doubt yet accepting

The change was evident,

By faith I overcame that doubt

And praise God I did repent.

 

I still slipped from time to time

But with decreasing frequency,

Changed I am and being changed

In the Spirit’s company.

 

Now I tread a different path

Far different from before,

The road, the view, all that is changed

I walk that way no more.

 

 

 

A channel of blessing I’ve become

A tool in the Master’s hand

Now channeled by the Holy Spirit

To walk by my Father’s plan

 

At times I take a glance behind

And what a distance I have come!

Channeled by the grace of God

On the course I’ve been called to run.

 

Like the many walking before

And those who’ve joined in after

There are times of fiery trials

But also of enjoyment and laughter.

 

Charged and guilty as charged

But changed within and without,

Now channeled by the Holy Spirit

With so many reasons to shout.

 

Once on the way to destruction

But now a complete turn around,

Channeled in a different direction

Where mercy and grace abound.

 

Charged, changed and channeled

The story of my life,

Now walking a different road

From that of envy and strife.

 

By God’s grace I shall continue

To walk as the Spirit leads

Hand in hand with my Saviour

And channeled by his will, full speed!

 

Stewart Russell © May 2019