Just A Dash

 

It’s 11:58 on June 19^th

Now it’s June 20^th

Time is fleeting

Like a rocket it’s speeding

A moment in time

A moment is just that

Almost split decision making

That is a fact

What we do in that moment

Determines a lot

It will some day determine

Our eternal spot

Not to be treated lightly

We must understand

There’s an after life judgment

That is God’s plan

Life is a dash

We will all make a splash

But we must be careful

Not to be rash

Little time to correct

Errors we make

All the more reason

That care we should take

Life is a dash

Let me say that again

Though it mostly feels long

When there is pain

However it’s a critical dash

That shapes eternity

For what is done therein

Determines our destiny

A decision for Christ

Means a decision for heaven

Hell is the reward

For those not forgiven

Sound harsh I know

Coming from a loving God

But don’t be deceived

By Satan the Fraud

He is the cause

But he won’t tell you that

He’ll cheat you blindly

Then turn his back

“Oh you have time!”

He’ll make you believe

Then have a celebration

Each time you’re deceived

Knowing full well

That the dash is short

A decision for Christ

He’ll cause you to abort

Make your dash count

Make it count for Christ

His earthly dash

For you he sacrificed

Just thirty-three years

For you and for me

For me that dash

Has shaped my eternity

Your eternity depends

On your response to that dash

Choose Christ I implore

Do not be rash

Just a dash, I agree

But a significant one indeed

Let it matter to you

Choose Christ I plead

Let me press on you mind

Re: your dash in time

It will eternally haunt you

If Christ you decline

Stewart Russell © June 2018

The Myth and the Gift

One was fat

And somewhat rotund

Just about the mid-section

Quite a belly was found

One was slim

And walked everywhere

And though he was hated

For all he cared

One differentiated

Between the naughty and nice

The other for all

Became a sacrifice

One focuses on children

And gifts he brings to them

The other sees all as children

And died to save from sin

One prefers reindeer

And the cold night air

That’s when he makes deliveries

At a certain time each year

One makes no distinction

Be it morning, noon or night

He is always delivering

People from their plight

One slips down the chimney

With beard as white as snow

And thereby exits again

With nothing black to show

One came down from above

He was the spotless lamb

He gave his life for one and all

This was the Father’s plan

One leaves his gift

At the foot of a tree

The other was God’s gift

On a tree at Calvary

  

One is the perennial myth

About a workshop and elves

The other is the truth

Told in a book on our shelves

One is about a season

That comes once a year

The other is for all seasons

An all year affair

The former is a myth

Enjoying universal approval

The latter is a life saving truth

And its resistance is global

One brings satisfaction

Of the fleeting kind

The other satisfies and sanctifies

The soul and the mind

One is expected to return

On every Christmas Eve night

When the other returns

It will be the Christians’ delight

By now you should know

Who these two persons are

The world gravitates to one

The other is less popular

There is no comparison

Between the myth and the Gift

It’s like chalk and cheese

If you catch my drift

I trust that as you read

You would have been stirred

And would boldly say right now

It’s the Gift I prefer

By the world’s glitz and glamour

No longer be drawn away

Accept Jesus into your heart

Do it my friend without delay

Stewart Russell © May 2018

SSD

Signed in the blood of Jesus

Sealed by the Holy Spirit

The promise of the Father

Delivered by God: the Triune edict.

Immersed in the blood of Jesus

Born again in the Holy Spirit

A new creation of God the Father

A walk in faith our daily habit.

Never to be taken lightly

Any promise of the Father

And so the Holy Spirit

Takes care of this Triune matter.

Must be accomplished at all cost

Hence the blood of the Lamb

The redemption of the believer

That trusts in the Divine Plan.

Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ

And you will be saved

Walk daily by the Holy Spirit

That’s how we are to behave.

Signed, sealed and delivered

The promised is as good as done

It’s written in the past tense

That with assurance we can run.

No doubt that God will deliver

Assured that the Spirit will lead

Washed in the blood of Jesus

In him we are godly seed.

Yes there will be times of struggle

But be not the pessimistic kind

That sees everything as negative

And seldom with a positive mind.

“Trials come to make us strong”

Should be the Christian’s outlook

As we follow the lead of the Spirit

And stay immersed in God’s Book.

  

For God has given us a manual

That shows us the way we should take

That is to keep our eyes of Jesus

And to the Spirit obediently relate.

Signed, sealed and delivered

We don’t have any cause to doubt

That God will keep His promise

The promised to bring us out.

Yes! out of this Egypt-like land

To a land that He has prepared

Where one day He’ll surely take us

To live with Him over there.

So like the mail service of old

When delivery of the mail was assured

We are signed, sealed and delivered

For God can do infinitely more.

From anything Satan can contrive

To frustrate, to mislead or thwart

We are signed, sealed and delivered

With the Trinity as our Escort.

Take courage my brother, my sister

We will make the heavenly shore

God will ensure we set eyes on Jesus

The one whom we adore.

So praise and glory to the Father

Praise and glory to the Son

Praise and glory to the Spirit

Signed, sealed and deliver, it is done.

Stewart Russell © June 2018