Samson’s Unusual Weapon

 

 What worth could be in a jawbone

Especially the jawbone of an ass?

The best body to ask would be Samson,

Please get him here fast!

It was a new jawbone

Perhaps placed there for Samson’s use

Samson put forth his hand and took it

And with it he let loose.

Swinging left and swinging right

The Philistines fell with each swing,

When he finished a thousand died

And only Samson was left in the ring.

One thousand slain that day

With the jawbone of an ass,

One by one he took them out

And piled them in a mass.

Quite obviously, it was God

That had performed this wondrous feat,

Alas though, Samson was tired and thirsty

And not too steady on his feet.

That new jawbone of an ass

Became a brand-new water cooler

As God hollowed out the inside

And gave Samson a thirst-quencher.

What an unusual weapon!

And it was a water decanter too!

Make do with what ever you have

And God will surprise even you.

Stewart Russell © June 2020

And with His Stripes

Wounded for our transgressions

Bruised for our iniquities,

The chastisement of our peace was upon him

And with his stripes we are healed.

Isaiah 53:5

Healing of the physical

There is no doubt

But when dealing with this verse

We must count this out.

Transgressions and Iniquities

Speak to the spiritual,

And the chastisement of our peace

Does not mean the physical.

Of what are we healed?

Of transgressions and iniquities:

The wounds of one man

Is the healing of humanity.

He was wounded, he was bruised,

The chastisement of our peace was upon him,

It is with his stripes that we are healed:

The remedy for humanity’s sin.

When we check out the tense

Thrice the author uses “was”,

But notes he switches to “are”

To point out what is the goods.

The goods here is the healing

That is both past and present,

A continuing reality

For the saved and the penitent.

Those stripes were indicative

Of the skin stripped from Christ’s back,

It’s with those stripes that we are healed

And the new birth becomes fact.

Healed of sin’s dominance

As expressed in our walk in the Spirit,

Where once the children of disobedience

Now, obedience is our habit.

It was not for his sins

Jesus was punished on the cross

But for our transgressions and iniquities

As all humanity was lost.

Some use this verse

To source a miracle of healing

But for such we must look elsewhere,

It’s to the spiritual this verse is appealing.

 

With one man’s wounds

All the nations are healed

Of their transgressions and iniquities

When to Jesus they appeal.

By confession and repentance

Regarding their sin,

On the acceptance of Jesus

Spiritual healing is wrought within.

“Healing in His Wings”

That beautiful hymn by Mary J. Nichols

Aptly expresses the healing therein

As the healing that is spiritual.

Regarding healing of the body,

In this life, that is only temporal,

But in Isaiah chapter 53 and verse 5,

The healing here is eternal.

Stewart Russell © April 2020

 

Then by Charles Wesley

“Five bleeding wounds, he bears,

Received at Calvary,

They pour effectual prayers

They strongly plead for me.

Forgive him, O forgive, they cry,

Nor let that ransomed sinner die.”

Gideon’s Fleece

          

           
            

                 He was the least in his family

               That gave him the menial tasks,

              It was a case of taking his place

               Since of his brothers he was the last.

                 But one day God called him

               He was to defeat the Midianites,

               But Gideon knew only too well

                That he was not one for a fight.

                But to be sure it was true

               Twice Gideon put out his fleece,

              God honoured his request each time

                Much to Gideon’s relief.

             

            With an army of three hundred

            God took out the Midianites,

             The sword of the LORD, and Gideon,

               Put the Midianite armies to flight.

               Stewart Russell © June 2020

For My Sister’s Sake

Today is a beautiful day

And I have an announcement to make,

It goes out to all of my readers

Please read it for my sister’s sake.

I know you are puzzled by this

And if she knew she would be livid,

But I thank God more than ever

So far, she has defeated COVID.

But she is now one of the vulnerable;

She qualifies today for sure,

Draw an inference from what I have said;

Do I need to tell you more?

If you still do not understand

It is time to give you another clue,

She has been around for a long time

And she looks much better than I do.

 

If she were born thirty years before

She would be celebrating one hundred,

Now I gone and tell out she age

Tomorrow I could wake up dead.

As is expressed in Psalm 90 verse 10

Seven decades is the biblical amount

But by reason of her obvious strength

I am sure she’ll add to this account.

Of course…

None us knows about tomorrow

But we’ll put that in the Master’s hand,

And as you do please put my sister too

As she continues to follow in His plan.

By now I know that you know

My sister is seventy years young today

And to celebrate that milestone with her

Is really what I wanted to say.

Happy birthday my loving sister!

This comes from the entire family,

God has kept you in wonderful shape

Even on reaching seventy.

You are definitely our favourite sister;

Nilan, Mac and Carl agree,

And to have lived to celebrate with you

We know that makes you very happy.

Facebook family and all others:

Please send a birthday greeting to Harriet,

And do understand as you grant my wish

Many of you have not reached there yet.

Your time will come if you live long enough

And you will want us to celebrate,

So, now you have heard my announcement

Please do it for my sister’s sake.

For this we would normally be gatherin’

But COVID has had other ideas,

However, there is absolutely no reason

Why we can’t wish her a Happy Birthday.

  

So Happy Birthday to you, Harriet

On reaching your seventieth milestone,

And may God continue to richly bless you

Throughout this day and beyond.

Stewart Russell © 26^th June 2020

I Wish I Was White

I wish I was white!

Why was I born black?

Why must I be made to suffer

By being constantly attacked?

What’s wrong with black

That makes it so repulsive?

Why can’t black be accepted

And be allowed to freely live?

Why is black a curse

And so obviously demonised?

What is there about black

That Whites must criticise?

I wish I was white

For then, I would be free,

Free to move up and down

Like the many whites I see.

Free of being targeted

Like black can’t be nice,

Free of being accused

Of every conceivable vice.

Free to pursue a livelihood

Like whites so easily do

And accomplish my dreams

And what is my legal due.

Free of police harassment

And the political abuse

That makes me good for a vote

But after that, just refuse.

I wish I was white

Cause being black is too tough,

For whites, it’s a breeze;

They get more than enough.

At thrice the white’s effort

Blacks achieve far less,

It doesn’t matter the qualifications

Being white is the best.

If anything will change

It will take both pigments together

Because blacks on their own

Will cause little bother.

In the meantime, though,

I wish I was white

Because it seems a long time coming

Before we Blacks see the light.

Stewart Russell © June 2020

The Widow’s Last Meal

 

It was to be their last meal

For just her and her son

And after they both had eaten

Their sustenance would be done.

She had nothing more left,

For them there was no hope

But then along came the man of God

And this is worthy of note.

He asked for water and a cake

From the little she had left,

And then she and her son

Together could eat the rest.

It was not even enough for two

            But she gave to Elijah first

           And the oil and meal kept reproducing

             Until the Lord sent rain on the earth.

             Stewart Russell © June 2020

Elijah’s Little Cloud

It was just a little cloud

But promised an abundance of rain,

At first there was nothing;

The servant looked again and again.

It was on the seventh time

That it arose from out of the sea,

It was shaped like a man’s hand

And as small as a cloud can be.

The servant was still skeptical

But Elijah sent the king a warning

To get down off the mountain

For the rain would soon be falling.

Elijah outran Ahab’s chariot

You could just imagine his speed,

The hand of the Lord was on him

And he was the first to Jezreel.

          Stewart Russell © June 2020

Hurting

The flame was lit

And brightly it shone,

Suddenly it was extinguished

Just before dawn.

The sun was about to rise

The prospects great,

A job well done

With much to anticipate.

A day like any other

Surely, when it had begun,

Turned out unlike any other

When it was done.

A Christian young man

Taken out in his prime

Leaving questions galore

During this COVID time.

A worker on the frontline,

A young photojournalist

Quick to respond to duty

Now sadly missed.

Heart wrenching news

Of the nightmare type

As a wonderful sunlit day

Suddenly turned to night.

 

“One of our very own”

The news media announced,

Suddenly robbed of his prospects

His verve and his bounce.

I cannot come to grips

As I ruminate on this,

How shattered the dreams

Of Sonia and Chris!

  

A job that in Barbados

Should be relatively safe,

Now we wonder…

After what has taken place.

He was not a police officer

As in the case of his dad,

Or joined the military forces

As is a youthful fad…

But a photojournalist

With an excitingly bright future,

Bringing the news to us

With a myriad of pictures.

Thousands of words

Painted with his camera lens

Suddenly, as of yesterday,

Coming to an end.

 

In the line of duty

At another murder scene,

Taken out by a vagrant

How abhorrently obscene!

Left in its wake

Shattered family and friends,

Distraught colleagues

And questions without end.

Why? Heavenly Father,

Not unlikely the first,

Show us Heavenly Father

The blessing in this curse.

I thought at this point

To mention his name

But I am restrained by a feeling

I’d be adding to the pain.

I trust God for his family

As they sort out this riddle

For no doubt in the distant future

It will still be a puzzle.

To the other grieving family:

It’ll be no different for you,

A myriad of questions

With no clear answers in view.

Yours too headed for work

Just like any other day,

Having not the slightest clue

Of this hurdle in his way.

It proved insurmountable

Through no fault of his own,

Plunging your family and friends

Into this twilight zone.

The way forward

Will not be an easy path

But God, your heavenly Father,

Is not daunted by any task.

Draw nearer to Him,

Make him your security and defense

And trust Him with your life

When life makes no sense.

Stewart Russell © June 2020