Each Day Brings Us Nearer

 

We’re at the end of September

Three-quarters through the year,

October will start tomorrow

Independence and Christmas are near.

The thirtieth day of September:

This day will never be repeated again,

What we have written is written

Whether it has caused us joy or pain.

Each will have his memories

The many hurts we will try to forget,

The joys we will cherish forever

Of such we will have no regret.

I cannot help but recall

As each month swiftly passes by,

The days would appear to be shorter

The time just absolutely flies.

Perhaps this is not the meaning

We should draw from Matthew 24:22

But it is an assurance to the believer

That God is seeing us through.

For what He promises He delivers

The believer can count on that

And while we can expect tribulation

Our deliverance is a fact.

A fact in the history that is written 

Written from the beginning of time,

No foul-ups, bleeps or blunders

Can remove it from God’s timeline.

 

So keep looking towards the skies

Not for an oncoming storm

But for the assurance that’s been given

Christ is coming for the reborn. 

Stewart Russell © September 2018

What Think Ye?

 

What think ye of Christ?

What think ye of his cross?

What think ye of the Gospel message

That’s given to save the lost?

What think ye of his teachings?

What think ye of his call?

What think ye of his death

The death he died for all?

What think ye of his life?

What think ye of his pain?

What think ye of the fact

That he is coming back again?

What think ye of the new birth?

What think ye of your soul?

What think ye of repentance

And your need to be made whole?

What think ye of eternity?

What think ye of hell?

What think ye of heaven

From which the Devil fell?

What think ye of this moment?

What think ye of Christ’s offer?

What think ye of the fact

That only in Christ you can prosper?

What think ye of Christ’s return?

What think ye of your fate?

What think ye if heaven you miss

Because you were too late?

What think ye of the judgment?

What think ye of your demise?

What think ye of your sentence

Because the Saviour you despised?

The time to think is now

Now that you have the time

For if time should run out for you

You cannot change your mind.

  

Decide for Jesus now

Accept him before it’s too late,

Make your call and election sure

So that hell won’t be your fate.

Stewart Russell © March 2018

Who I Am

Tell me why it is

That whenever we are asked

Who we are

We give a name.

We treat to a name

As though it’s a summary

Hence good name and bad name

That’s the game.

So that if my name

Just happens to be you know who

Then I take on his importance,

Is that your view?

If he is a criminal

Then I am just as bad

But if he is important

I would be a good lad.

Does a name make a person?

Does a name make a man?

Is a name all one is?

Is that God’s plan?

There are some who feel

All Russell’s are family

But even if that’s so

Does it shape my destiny?

The correct response

To who you are

Cannot be a name,

That is wrong by far.

Don’t get me wrong

One’s name is key,

Certainly it’s important

Regarding one’s identity.

I am more than a name

Or a mere statistic,

I am a family member

With certain characteristics.

  

I am unique, yes

There’s not another me,

Not in the past or present

Or in the future will be.

My name doesn’t make me

I impact my name

And whether I am good or bad

I am to blame.

I could be a bad Russell

While the others are good,

Who a person is

Is even more than just blood

So that neither name nor blood

Determines who I am,

I could be a good person

From a very notorious clan.

Examine my conduct

Before me you criticize,

Because of my name

You should not me despise.

Though it may appear

The Russell’s is a good name

A couple years from now

It might not be the same.

For the good legacy left

May not be carried on,

As of the generations now

None maybe around: no not one.

It’s critical therefore

That we know who we are

Not simply by name

But more than that by far.

For who we really are

We will more than likely pass on

For generations to emulate

Long after we have gone.

We are a family,

A creed and a clan

And raising godly seed

That’s the Creator’s plan.

Who am I?

I am a child of God,

I am more than a name,

Time to spread that abroad.

Stewart Russell © January 2018

Grace Trumps Obedience

There was a man named Noah

He was mandated to build an ark

He assiduously committed to the task

Right from the very start.

It was not easy one would imagine

For this boat was very huge

But he laboured on it night and day

Due to the coming deluge.

God’s word he did not doubt

That it would rain for forty days

And so while building he also preached

To the people to change their ways.

But the people laughed him to scorn

And they continued as before

But Noah would not be deterred

And continued to preached the more.

Year after year had passed

And there was not even a trace of rain

But Noah kept on building the ark

And from his preaching did not refrain.

One could just imagine

When the first twenty years had passed

How those people must have felt

About Noah’s seagoing craft.

For there was no sea around

And not even a semblance of rain

And here was this crazy man

Building an ark in vain.

“I wonder how he would move it,”

Somebody must have thought

But none of their silly observations

Caused Noah to be distraught.

So on and on he worked

Till one hundred years had passed

And still the abuse kept on coming

But Noah stuck to the task.

  

There are some who will opine

It was Noah’s obedience that saved him

But I pause to state emphatically

That view is rather dim.

God’s word points out one and all

That before Noah had laid a plank

He had found grace in God’s own sight

It is God’s grace we have to thank.

There’s nothing that we can do

To merit the favour of God

For grace is God’s unmerited favour

And this must be spread abroad.

Noah had preached to the people around

That God would send a flood

But for one hundred and twenty years

The people against him stood.

Not one of them had repented

And had taken advantage of God’s grace

And so the flood came as appointed

And they vanished without trace.

But Noah and his immediate family

Were safe in the belly of the ark,

‘It’s time we heed the glorious message

The angelic host still bids us, “Hark!”

God’s grace is extended to one and all

As he bids us all to come in,

Would you today believe His word?

Would you be saved from your sin?

Stewart Russell © January 2018