Slain in the Spirit

 

 

Slain in the Spirit

Cannot be too good

And we need to examine it,

Really, we should.

 

Take this in good spirit

Yes, and the pun is intended,

In the spirit in which it is offered

Do not be offended.

 

I checked the word slain

In the WordWeb dictionary

And it simply means dead:

No life in the body.

 

 

What an implication

For being slain in the Spirit!

Since the Holy Spirit is life-giving

Slaying won’t be his habit.

 

Two spirits you’d notice:

Capital ‘S’ and common ‘s’,

The former being the Holy Spirit

And the latter far less.

 

God’s Spirit and our spirit

Is an apt summation

To make us clear in our mind

Regarding each definition.

 

With this in mind

Let’s examine this phenomenon

That over time

Has been a problem.

 

 

The victim, falling backward,

Has to be caught and let down

So that he or she won’t be injured

As they hit the ground.

 

Catchers must be in place

And their job is to catch

So that a potential lawsuit

Doesn’t become a fact.

 

This has happened

When things went very wrong

And people got injured

When they hit the ground.

 

 

Some people fake it

While for others it is real,

But whether real or faked

Both get a failing grade.

 

If the living is slain

Then communication is dead

Unless the communicator

Is the Godhead.

 

Jesus spoke to the dead

And the dead obeyed,

A confirmed case is Lazarus

Whom Jesus raised.

 

There is a difference

Between unconscious and dead,

Unconscious is what happens

To the slain instead.

 

God requires consciousness

When He deals with us

So that being slain in the Spirit

Is unbiblical stuff.

 

 

 

“Come let us reason,”

Check Isaiah 1 verse 18,

This slain in the Spirit phenomenon

Is a whole different scene.

 

Falling forward is one thing

Falling back is another,

This slain in the Spirit thing

Is truly a bother.

 

It is not as frequent

As it was before,

Someone said it was merely a fad

And now it’s a fad no more.

 

The suggestion I imagine

Is that fads wear off,

Nothing is genuinely gained

And I guess nothing is lost.

 

Slain in the Spirit

Seems to connote the dead,

However, the Spirit is life-giving

And gives life instead.

 

Stewart Russell © April 6, 2024

 

Salvation and Its Jargon 8

 

 

Just a few more I will mention

Deliberately left for the last:

“The Kingdom of God” will ever be

Even after “The Church” is passed

 

The Church is the “called out”

That is the “body of saints”:

It comprises all of the born again

Whom Satan cannot taint.

 

Jesus Christ is its Head,

For the Church he gave his life

And as such his relationship to it

Is likened to a husband and wife.

 

The Kingdom of God has always been

From where the Godhead rules alone,

God the Father, the Son and Holy Spirit

Sits upon its throne.

 

Holy are they: all three of them

And their holiness is imputed to us,

Our fellowship is in the Holy Spirit

And we are united with Jesus.

 

Salvation therefore is in no other

Save in the Lord Jesus Christ,

In him resides the glorious Gospel

And naught but him will suffice.

 

These several salvation terms

Explain our present hope,

With faith and trust in Jesus Christ

In this life we can cope.

 

But not only in this life

Does the “Christian” have hope

But in the life to come

There will be unlimited scope.

 

Stewart Russell © June 2018

The Believer’s Covering

Every born again child

Is covered by the blood

Plus the Holy Spirit indwells him

And directs him for his good.

He needs no other covering

In this life or the one to come,

The Godhead is his covering:

That’s the Father, Spirit and Son.

If they three cannot guard him

Then pray, tell me who can?

Such protection is available

To every child, woman and man.

On a point of clarification

Let me make it particularly clear,

This is about the born again

And as such we need not fear.

A believer’s covering is in God

Not in somebody’s prayer,

Hence while prayer is important

We are in the Saviour’s care.

It is Jesus that died for us

And he that rose from the dead,

None among men could be found

To die in the sinner’s stead.

His life here is our example

But in heaven he’s our object

And as we look to him in prayer

He is our daily subject.

I do not mean prayer as a ritual

But prayer embedded in trust,

Praying in consistent reliance

On our Saviour, the Lord Jesus.

He is the Shepherd of the sheep

Of the sheep that are his own,

And he has promised his sheep

Never to leave them alone.

Much hullabaloo is made

About deliverance after we’re saved

As though Jesus did not complete

The requirements his death had paid.

Hence there is many a deliverer

To whom we can go thereafter

Seeking complete deliverance,

Such is really a disaster.

As believers we must be careful

To trust in our Shepherd’s care,

To put all our faith in him alone

And never in anybody’s prayer.

Intent to listen to his voice

As his sheep are wont to do

And to follow wherever he leads,

Keeping him always in our view.

With a steady gaze on him

Imperfect though that may be

But looking towards that day

When as he is, we shall see.

So in the meantime, a caution,

A caution we need to heed:

Put human leadership in perspective

We are born of incorruptible seed.

Trust no pastor or priest or Pope

For the covering that you need,

You already have that covering

If you are born again indeed.

Stewart Russell © February 2019

The Fork in the Road

 

 

I had been walking for a while

When I came to a fork in the road,

I decided to stop for a rest

And temporarily jettisoned my load.

I was considering my two options

When I heard a distinct voice,

“I see you are pondering,” it said,

“Perhaps mulling over your choice”

I had not seen him at first

Maybe I was just too tired to see

For he stood not far away

And he appeared quite elderly.

His beard was unusually long

And I must add it was all white.

There was an ancient look to him

And he presented quite a sight.

He ambled over to me

With the greatest of ease,

For his age he moved rather well

Like a machine well greased.

“I have been here about for ages,”

He expressly said to me,

“I have seen many come and go

So there’s little I don’t know.

And you are one of the many

That I have seen at this spot,

I await your obvious question

And you know just what.”

I thought of his approach

As you see he was quite blunt,

He did not beat around the bush

He went straight to the point.

“I have come a long way,” I said,

“I have been walking for a while,

However, enquiring the way of others

Is normally not my style.

However, you look quite informed

So perhaps you might be aware

Which of the better of these two ways

I can proceed without much care.”

“Before I give you my answer

Let me tell you who I am,

Not that this really matters 

For I am just an ordinary man.

 

Many have come to this fork

Adjoining this very road

And like you did they too

Temporarily disposed of their load.

Then they asked the question,

The same one I knew you would ask,

At the first I had no answer

But time has made easy my task.

At first when I could not answer

I said the way is up to you,

They took one and then the other

Each time returning with a view.

First they went to the left or right

Then returned after many days,

Dissatisfied with the way they took

Then turned and went the other way.

Not many days after that

They would return again confused

Then take the other way again

Dissatisfied with any way they choose.

I have learnt from their experiences

And have attempted none of the ways,

That’s why I am here at this point

Still undecided even up until today.

So if an answer you still require

I can give you a definite one today,

Take either left or right of this fork

And you’d wish you’d gone the other way.”

But what is definite about an answer

That does not determine the way?

It’s only a way that appears to be right

By which many a one is led astray.

So before I close off this poem

For the weary traveller I’ve got good news,

There’s a way with no fork in the road

It’s the way that you should choose.

It is the straight and narrow way

We should walk and keep looking up ahead

Trusting in our Faithful Guide

Assured that we are correctly led.

So that we have no such dilemmas 

Concerning forks appearing in the road

And our cross He helps us carry

For He has already lightened our load.

For it’s Jesus who walks with us

It’s God who holds our hand

It’s the Holy Spirit who shows the way

The Godhead directs our life plan

So if ever you come to a fork in the road

Take neither the left nor the right,

The pilgrim’s pathway is straight ahead!

We walk by faith and not by sight.

Stewart Russell © 2017

Galloping Time

 

Against what is time racing?

After what is time chasing?

Could this be the shortening of the days?

What a mystifying craze!

September 1st! Can you believe it?

Eight months gone before you could spit,

Just yesterday this year began

And like Usain Bolt away it ran.

Time appears to be winding down,

Much is going on in every town,

The news is the same in every tabloid

Advising which cities and countries to avoid.

Such is the time in which we live

For peace and safety what wouldn’t one give?

But alas, these commodities are rare

And war and violence is too much to bear.

With just four months to go in this bolting year

Men’s hearts are failing them for fear,

Death and dying fills the air,

For whom next will the Grim Reaper appear?

The rate at which evil is occurring

Is so heart stopping and so unnerving,

Seared consciences and little respect for life

Give rise to conflict and unimaginable strife.

Against what is time racing?

After what is time chasing?

Could this be the shortening of the days?

What an absolute mystifying craze!

There is a saying under the sun,

“How time flies when we’re having fun!”

Here is a difference we must admit, though

How we wish evil could go on “go-slow”!

It is as though someone is deliberately at work,

Yes, some particularly insensitive jerk

And who not even time can divert

From seeing all of life interred in the dirt.

We have an idea who that someone is

So I need not ask that question in a quiz,

Most people know though unwilling to admit

That until all is lost that someone won’t quit.

And so now that someone races against time

And time races too I humbly opine,

A real race, more than an illusion of the mind,

It’s a race that affects people of every kind.

 

Many have lost the race against time

Their time having run out, nature’s design,

Having come to the end of their daily grind

At the end of their day were forced to resign.

For the others time gallops on at a terrific rate

Like a runaway train ignoring the gate,

Whistles, warning lights and trumpeting horns

Have no impact on time’s oncoming storm.

Time, a created segment within eternity,

Is quickly approaching its end, that’s a certainty,

As predetermined by the Godhead Trinity

It’s coming to an end most definitely.

And so too this year having just begun

Races on like a bullet triggered from a gun

And like the thousands that have gone before

Gives subtle insinuations of what is in store.

More of the same, perhaps more intense

Evil on the increase, intrigue and suspense,

Amidst it all a certain bravado and pretense

As the more aware become more incensed.

Against what really is time racing?

After what is time chasing?

Could this be the shortening of the days?

What really is this time galloping phase?

Stewart Russell © September 2017