Let The Master Steer

On life’s highway there’s no reversing

For its bends ahead there’s no rehearsing

But steer we must as we move ahead

Trusting in God who has capably led.

Check your speed; don’t go too fast

Thinking you’ve come this way in the past

A tight turn may take you unawares

So drive with the Master; let Him steer.

Trust me you’ve not passed this way before

Our Guide impresses upon us more and more

Though it seems familiar it’s not the same

You cannot reverse and come again.

Only one lifetime to get it right

But ample opportunity to drive in the Light

For in Jesus there’s light, no darkness at all

Just stay on cue and respond to his call.

Many a wreck you will come upon

But you need not be one if you follow the Son

And perchance you have an accident or two

Don’t despair he will take you through.

A glance in the mirror but just a glance

Don’t with past success become too entranced

Driving is forward not backwards I say

Too long in the mirror and you’ll miss the way.

Note the one-way sign saying Jesus is the way

Enquire of the Holy Spirit who’s in you to stay

Check your road map each and every day

And from the straight and narrow do not stray.

The rest of your drive might be steep or flat

Just remember easy street is full of traps

But I assure you if you allow the Master to steer

He’ll take care of all your threats and all your fears.

Stewart Russell © December 2017

The Haunting Past

It is a fact and you will agree

The past sometimes gets in the way

Even in the Christian’s life

It can loom like the present day.

No doubt it has happened to you

Like it often does to me

That rather than moving forward

You are caught in your history.

Do not get me wrong

Frequent reflection is a must

But when it arrests your progress

It is just like a virus.

It will make you sick

It will start its havoc in the mind

Next it will affect your body

This is the order every time.

Positive reflection is beautiful

Negative!  Get out of there!

For before you know it

Your past will drag you back with fear.

Isaiah chapter 43 and verse 18

Is instructive in this light

“Remember ye not the former things”

With such is not your fight.

“Neither consider the things of old”

For they are in the past

God is reconstructing your life

Now you are in a different class.

The truth of the matter is

We can do nothing to change our past

The present should be our concern

And shaping our future God’s task.

Look again at Isaiah chapter 43

This time focus on verse 19

“Behold I will do a new thing.”

Surely God is at your scene.

“Now it shall spring forth,” says God

“Shall ye not know it?”

In the wilderness He’ll make a way

This is God’s reassuring edict.

We can trust the Lord on this

As a matter of fact on anything He says

And defying the haunting past

March forward in all His ways.

God is faithful to His promises

In fact God can never lie

And whatever He has promised

Not even the devil can deny.

So “Feeling down on your luck?”

Forever haunted by your past?

Time to let it go my friend

For you God has a present task.

It’s the purpose he has always had

And He wants you to walk in it

Learn the lessons from your past

But make God’s purpose your daily habit.

Stewart Russell © June 2018

Unaware

Unaware I was lost

Thought I had it all down-packed,

Unaware of the cost

And the burden I carried on my back.

Groping my way through life

But pretending to be bold,

Confronting the daily strife

With the challenge of my load.

Unaware of my plight

Since I was a normal guy,

Unaware of the light

And just kept passing it by.

I had done well in life

As far as my career was concerned,

Attending church with the wife

And two lovely kids of our own.

Unaware there was better

I was the king on my throne,

Unaware of the loneliness

And the fact that I was alone.

What a peril to be in!

What a dangerous path to tread!

To be unaware that in sin

And trespasses you lie dead.

To be fooled you are alive

By the adversary of your soul

And while dead you think you thrive

Though stone dead and cold.

Unaware of the genuine

Satisfied with the constant sham

Unaware of the deadly sin

That causes your soul to be damned.

Yes, seemingly happy and proud

As you journey on life’s way

But unaware of the death shroud

That hugs you every day.

  

A success in life as it were

A fair share of money on the bank,

A comfortable house for sure

And a managerial position to thank.

For what more can a guy ask

When he is sitting so smug

And when the perils of this economy

Off his back he can shrug?

For money answers everything

You must have heard that before,

In this life you can have a fling

And enjoy it to the fullest for sure.

Unaware of a life hereafter

With its impending doom,

Here there might be lots of laughter

But there eternal darkness looms.

Unaware of the coming disaster

As propagated in God’s Word,

Made drunk by fun and laughter

Too drunk to be bothered or disturbed.

But where there is life there is hope

And the Word still reaches you,

In this life without Christ you grope

And blind man’s view is no view.

Being unaware is no excuse

It just means you are spiritually dumb

And each time the Word you refuse

Your heart continues to be numbed.

So now is the time to be aware

Of the need of your eternal soul,

Respond to the Saviour’s call and care

As he invites you into his fold.

For there is coming a time

When you will be more than aware

And in hell you will certainly find

There will be a lot of company there.

Those you laughed and joke with

When confronted by the truth

Will miss what you also missed

In hell you will have that proof.

Nowadays it’s not politically correct

For some to preach about hell

And even in the church they reject

When some preachers this bad news tell.

But the good news begins at the bad

Concerning the issue of sin

And the receiver’s heart is made glad

As the good news is told to him.

What a contrast one gets to ponder

As one considers the good and the bad!

What a marvelous miraculous wonder

That in Jesus this good can be had!

Confession and repentance is key

And acceptance of the crucified Christ,

His offer is priceless yet free

For you he paid sin’s price.

You need not be unaware

That in Christ there is so much more

When you walk with him right here

And trust him for what is in store.

Stewart Russell © November 2017

Neither of Us the Wiser

How oft have you been asked

A question you could not answer

And when you shared your ignorance

There was laughter as well as banter?

Your interrogator had expected then

That the answer you should know,

He may not have known the answer

But he never let it show.

If you had supplied the answer

He would have come to know it too

But neither of you became the wiser

Since he was trying to outsmart you.

If information was readily shared

We would be much further along

The path that leads to more knowledge

And you and I would both be strong.

But instead we pretend to know

Or hide that which we do

Then try to get what another has

With selfishness blocking our view.

The purpose of this poem is simple

And very short it will be

So when you hear the advice it offers

Adjust your thinking speedily.

If we share with one another

The knowledge that we have gained

We would all be the wiser for it

And the more knowledge we would retain.

But if we try to deprive another

Of the knowledge we possess

Neither of us would be the wiser

And we’d rob each other of our best.

So that next time you’re asked a question

And of the answer you are sure

Share it with the other person

And together you’ll be learning more.

Stewart Russell © October 2017