It Takes a Lot

 

 

It takes a lot, I have noticed

To move the Almighty God,

It’s almost like begging the Government

To respond to an urgent call.

 

A lot of prayer is requested

And nowadays they have to shout

And as if all of this were not sufficient

They must get warriors with clout.

 

Intercessory prayer

Meaning on someone’s behalf

Just like the High Priest in Bible times

Interceded for Israel past.

 

Then they sacrificed animals

To temporarily expiate sin

But now as individuals Jesus invites

All and sundry to come to him.

 

We seem not to understand

Our standing in Jesus Christ

And that his indwelling Holy Spirit

More than satisfies.

 

Thus, it often puzzles me

As to whom we are praying,

It really cannot be God Almighty

Given what we are saying.

 

For oft in the midst of praying

We turn to address the Devil

Commanding him to do this and that

And remind him of his peril.

 

We send him back to hell

From where he apparently came

And demand he remove his filthy hand

From all in Jesus’ name.

 

A conversation with Satan!

Intercessors revel in this

While losing focus of the Almighty God

And lots of benefits miss.

 

Peace of mind, for sure

With the comfort that He gives,

As well as the wisdom and understanding

By which we daily live.

 

 

We go to the intercessors

And then they shout at God,

Meanwhile we stand and noisily agree

And sometimes someone falls.

 

Desperate circumstances

Require desperate measures

Hence, we rant and rave and carry on

To unlock God-given treasures.

 

It really takes a lot

At least, that’s how it appears

To get the Almighty God to respond

To His children and their cares.

 

 

 

It was not so with Eli

Or with Aaron or Samuel,

  It was not so with the disciples

Or any of the apostles.

 

Why must it be so, I ask,

With modern day intercessors?

Why must they come over so harshly

Behaving like oppressors?

 

Somewhat known

For their lengthy prayers

Other services become prayer meetings

Overburdened with cares.

 

Oh, that it could be similar

Regarding the study of the Word,

No doubt many would consider this

Somewhat absurd.

 

 

 

Lord, give us a passion

For your Holy Word

That our prayers would align with you

And with your Word concur.

 

Prayer is very important

And none should deny this

But at no time should it come over

Like a shopping list.

 

Neither should it be a noise

As in quarrelling with God

Demonstrating to all within earshot

God hears when we bawl.

 

 

There will be times in our life

When the heat will be hot

But having an empathetic Father

Is the believer’s lot.

 

Isaiah 65:24

 

And it shall come to pass,

That before they call, I will answer;

And while they are yet speaking,

I will hear.

 

God hears and answers prayer

Is the promise to the born again,

Praise Him in all your circumstances

And bless His Holy name.

 

Stewart Russell © May 22, 2024

 

Apostate Judaism

 

 

The first enemy of the Church

Was not the power at Rome

But the first enemy of the Church

Were the apostate Jews at home.

 

They were no less prodigals

Than the children that roamed

For Jesus noted he was rejected

When he came to his own.

 

Remember Herod was a Jew

But tried to kill the Christ child,

That Jesus he did not recognized

Cannot not be denied.

 

Even his biological family

Who regarded him as being insane

Had little to do with him

And from his teaching refrain.

 

Except for that in Bethany

There was nowhere to call home

Thanks to Mary, Martha and Lazarus

Who did their best to atone.

 

 

The Christ of the Church

Was hated by apostate Jews

And even to this very day

His Church, they still abuse.

 

From early in the Old Testament

They asked Samuel for a king,

They had rejected God

And with Christ, the same thing.

 

Jesus came to his own

And his own received him not,

That is why they can be described

As an apostate lot.

 

This reference is to the Jews;

They crucified the Christ

And via the Roman authority

He became sin’s sacrifice.

 

This was the avenue God used:

For His Son to shed his blood

For the remission of the sins everywhere:

Thus, out of man’s evil came good.

 

 

The Jews meant it for evil

But God meant it for good

For there can be no remission of sins

Without the shedding of blood.

 

But apostate Judaism continued

To target the body of Christ

With the Romans following on after

As Christians were sacrificed.

 

And even up to this day

Apostate Judaism is rife

As many Jews do not believe

In Jesus as the giver of life.

 

Some believe in a special time

When Jews will be saved in a day

But on that matter, I can only say,

Jesus is the only way.

 

Until one comes to that realization

For him there is no hope

For the Gentile as well as the Jew

This is the critical note.

 

Stewart Russell © May 16, 2021

 

God Chooses Broken Vessels

I was listening to a message

And I concluded the preacher was right,

God chooses broken vessels

Brokenness is every human’s plight.

We get so big up in our Christian life

As though we have reached the mark

Forgetting our common brokenness

And when we were in the dark.

We forget we are still broken

And the Potter still works with us

And our perfection is not our own

But our perfection is in Jesus.

That we are being made to conform

To the image of Jesus Christ

And that nothing in our self

Will ever be good enough to suffice.

That the same way we started out

Is the same way we must continue

And that our born again experience

Must be lived through and true.

King Saul messed up and David too

Did God not see this would happen?

Yet Samuel was told to anoint them

Didn’t God see both men were broken?

God made Solomon a King over Israel

And also the wisest man on earth,

Did he not see Solomon’s folly

From the very first day of his birth?

God chose Eli and Samuel too

And He revealed to him Eli’s problem,

But did you realize that the same thing

Also happened to Samuel’s children?

Both these men were priests of God

And they served in the temple faithfully

But as they came to their latter years

Their children did wickedly.

Did God not foresee all of this?

Like you, I have no doubt He did,

The Almighty God sees everything

And nothing from is view is hid.

But God chooses broken vessels

Vessels like me and like you,

It is He who qualifies the chosen

Starting with a life made brand new.

So when you see a brother sliding

You may be sliding too

But since your slipping is different

His may be the only one in view.

For it is natural to look out for blame

But look in when we seek praise

But every born again believer

From a broken vessel was raised.

In a real sense we are still broken

Though we have had a perfect birth,

But we will still be a work in progress

As long as we live on this earth.

Our rate of maturity is different

Even though our Craft Master is the same,

You see He works with what we give Him

Thank God in Jesus’s name.

Some vessels are broken and proud

While others are broken and humble

But brokenness is common to both

And as a result both are prone to stumble.

However, never let your brokenness

Stop you from worshipping God,

Making you feel unworthy to worship

Is another trick of the wily Fraud.

God treats us not according to our worth

For in ourselves we have none

But notwithstanding our brokenness

He sees us through His Son.

He looks not so much at what we are

But what in Christ we can be

And while I look on your brokenness

Christ in all of us is what God sees.

So the valued lesson for me today

Is that I am still a broken vessel

But one day God will perfect what He’s begun

And I will be perfectly special.

Stewart Russell (c) March 2019

At Wit’s End Or?

I know of a woman

She was most discreet

So she begged all that came

Her secret to keep.

Now this is not hearsay

I have a reliable word,

It is through something I read

And not something I heard.

You could take my word though

This is as true as they come,

I’ll tell you what I know

And then I’ll be done.

I know of this man

He was a very powerful man

But he did as he liked

And did not stick to the plan.

Well he got into trouble

And was at his wit’s end,

There was none to help him

Not a relative or a friend.

He tried calling on God

But that didn’t help

So you could well imagine

How this man felt.

Well, he asked around

Through the people he knew

And soon a particular woman

Came into view.

But to do what he wanted

His own law he must contravene

However, this was no big thing

It was a regular scene.

After all he was a big one

And a law maker too,

Remember I told you

He did whatever he wanted to do.

To this woman he went

And of her made his request,

It was clearly illegal

But she promised her best.

She reminded him of the law

And the penalty of death

But he swore to secrecy

Putting her mind at rest.

He took with him two men

And it was night:

The ideal time to do those things

Which by law were not right.

Well she knew his request

But she needed the specifics,

This he revealed to her

And the results were terrific.

An old man appeared

He was wearing a mantle,

By now you must have guessed

It was the prophet Samuel.

When the woman saw Samuel

She cried with a loud voice,

What she had encountered

Was not of her choice.

Straightway she recognized

That her patron wore a disguise,

It was he who’d passed this law

This law he’d now despised.

He inquired of her

Of what form was he,

"An old man wearing a mantle,"

Alarmingly said she.

This great man showed respect

To the prophet he had ignored,

Now before him bowed

Unlike what he had done before.

There one conversation ended

And another begun

Initiated by the prophet Samuel

That this man had shunned.

“Why have you disquieted me?

Why have you brought me up?”

This powerful man responded

By detailing his bitter cup.

He had had little regard

For the prophet during his life

But now disturbs his rest

Alerting him of his strife.

Well the prophet reminded him

There was nothing he could do,

God had rejected him

And that was his just due.

Before the prophet left him

He did prophesy

But the prophecy was of no comfort

For on the morrow he would die.

To the woman he kept his word,

She even prepared him a meal,

Eventually he and his two men left

Anticipating what was revealed.

True to every word

Came to pass what the prophet said,

The Philistines defeated his armies

Leaving him and his sons also dead.

Noticed the play on the title?

Did you pick it up?

To make a law than break it

Must be a poisoned cup.

How this great man had fallen!

What a devastating plunge had he!

Right down to the witch at En-dor!

I wonder how much was her fee.

Such has been the case

Of many a man in God’s Word,

That’s where I read it

It was not something I heard.

Stewart Russell © October 2017