A Thought

 

Some thoughts are so fleeting

And sometimes are gone so fast

That if we had to recount them

It would be an impossible task.

 

Try tracing a thought

From its inception to its end:

Even to contemplate this

It is difficult to comprehend

 

Though we often think

We seldom analyze our thoughts

And the times we do

We’re either excited or distraught.

 

A thought is sometimes referred to

As a brilliant idea

Though just as often too

It can run the other way.

 

A thought may be sinister

Or it may be saintly like,

Of course the former is darkness

While the latter is light.

 

 

Thoughts are linked to our senses

They are received in five ways,

They are reflected in our actions

As we live out our days.

 

Some thoughts are bothersome

And load us down with care:

These we wish we could forget

But they don’t easily disappear.

 

Some thoughts make us happy,

These are the desired experience

But unlike the other thoughts

They are not as intense.

 

Enough about thoughts though,

Let me concentrate on just one:

It will take just a few more verses

And then I will be gone.

 

 

When is the last time

You thought about your soul?

Can you trace it from its inception

Regarding the word you were told?

 

Please don’t dismiss that thought

Unceremoniously

For it bears a direct link

That speaks to your destiny.

 

For certainly that is a thought

That has eternal repercussions,

To ignore this particular thought

Is to court eternal damnation.

 

I know this sounds harsh

 And perhaps a little absurd

But you can verify it

If you search in God’s Word.

 

 

This thought comes from God

You are fortunate to have received it,

Make the best of your opportunity

Don’t resist the Holy Spirit.

 

Stewart Russell © October 2018

 

Something to Think About

 

 

I have often heard it said

Every fool has his own sense

But no one chooses a fool

To argue one’s defense.

 

Someone makes a statement

That many take for granted

And if that someone is “someone”

That statement is oft repeated.

 

Per chance if there is a query

We may begin to re-think

But the rule of thumb usually is

We mostly with it sync.

 

 

Same thing but only different

Could there be some proof

That renders to the apparent idiocy

Some validity with truth?

 

If it is something tangible

There is likely to be difficulty there,

However, if it is language related

We may have something going here.

 

There are many statements

That can be said in different ways,

Same thing only different

Could certainly apply here.

 

Same meaning different words

I am so happy for synonyms,

I can mean the exact same thing

Though I say it differently from him.

 

It’s a true fact

Tell me is there another kind?

Yet this statement is oft repeated

By persons all the time.

 

Perhaps it’s to prove a point

That lacks credible support,

To send the sincerest of signals

The speaker is not making sport.

 

The left foot right shoe thing

Where the left shoe is the right,

Well if your custom is wearing shoes

I am sure you’ll get this insight.

 

 

There is no absolute truth

The brilliant ones will tell you that

And before you think it through

You would accept it as a fact.

 

If you would only stop to examine

The lunacy of this statement,

You would discover just as I did

Something is underlying its intent.

 

If there is no absolute truth

Then this statement cannot be true,

It is a contradiction of itself

I can see that.  Can’t you?

 

I always tell lies

That my friend is impossible,

For if that statement could be true

“Always” would be a deductible.

 

Now if that statement is a lie

As I truly believe it to be,

In that person is a redeeming feature

I trust we all can see.

 

 

There are two sides to a story

I am sure you’ve heard this before

But you and I both I know

There are sometimes more.

 

And sometimes I might add

None of them is true

Since the sources might be speaking

From a self-opinionated view

 

It is true that it is wrong

We can definitely take that,

When truth points out the wrong

That’s an unmistakable fact.

 

Truth must be the benchmark

For me and for you,

It does not depend on opinion

Like you and I do.

 

We must pay for everything

Meaning that nothing in life is free,

I now invite you to Jesus

Come to him now and see.

 

 

For us he paid the ultimate price,

On Calvary’s cross he gave his life,

Nothing else could ever suffice,

Do not by this statement be enticed.

 

Salvation is free, is free indeed,

Jesus paid it all to meet our need,

If anyone demands a payment as seed

That is to satisfy his insatiable greed.

 

Logical contradictions

To this I have given some thought,

Perhaps it might be, I suggest,

Logic with contradictions fraught.

 

If logic can be a contradiction

How then can it be logic?

Now I am getting in over my head

Here is where I exit. 

 

 

It is not that I’m running away

I’m just fostering a little thought

Regarding what we’ve long accepted

And into what we have bought.

 

Stewart Russell © March 2019

 

Nothing to Lose

 

 

I am intrigued

By some statements we make,

Nothing statements I call them

And I don’t mean fake.

 

Nothing can make a thing

I have written on that,

It can either be false

Or it can be a fact.

 

Now I want to examine

Another nothing one,

Bear with me once more

And I’ll soon be gone.

 

I have nothing to lose

How can this be?

Nothing sounds like something

Sounds like that to me.

 

Is it really possible

To truly have nothing?

If you have life

That is something.

 

 

Once one is alive

There is something to lose

You have so much going for you

You can even choose.

 

Nothing means what I have

Doesn’t really matter,

I could afford to lose it

Might be idle chatter.

 

For example I heard something

That left me amuse,

“Try Jesus, my friend,

You have nothing to lose.”

 

Sounds like a wits end situation

Where nothing has worked

So try Jesus now!

At least it won’t hurt.

 

 

I tell you nothing is something

We don’t want to give up,

To you it might be nothing

But to others it’s their cup.

 

I have nothing to lose

Hear it again

Don’t you hear just a hint

Or a suggestion of pain?

 

Nothing to lose

Sounds somewhat abstract

But it is really relative

And that is the fact.

 

What I hope to gain

Far exceeds the loss,

The best thing in this life

Came at a tremendous cost

 

They that lose their life

Shall find it

But they that save their life

Shall lose it.

 

This is in essence

What Jesus said,

While there is something to lose

What’s to be gained is greater instead.

 

Nobody really worries

About losing nothing,

The fact that people worry

Means nothing is something.

 

Stewart Russell © November 2019

 

No Tomorrow

 

 

Is there a tomorrow?

No, not at all!

Today is all that there is,

Tomorrow is not our call.

 

Life consists of the now:

That is really today,

There is nothing beyond

So do not delay.

 

It makes sense to plan

But to plan today,

It should be pretty obvious

There is no other way.

 

You can’t plan tomorrow

When all you have is now

So, don’t try the impossible

That can’t be done anyhow.

That tomorrow never comes

Is an essential fact,

You do what you can today

And then… relax.

 

Never a now moment

In any tomorrow;

Not a minute from the past

Can we ever borrow.

 

I have heard some talk

About planning ahead

But they did not understand

What they actually said.

 

Planning is done now

It can never be done ahead,

I need not say more on that

So, enough said.

  

No tomorrow!

I need to emphasize that:

And today is not tomorrow

That too is a fact.

 

Tomorrow is a notion:

It’s like an idea in our mind,

The other days we name

But re tomorrow, we decline.

 

Today being Friday

Means tomorrow is Saturday

But do we say its name?

No, “tomorrow” is our way.

 

You’ll never see tomorrow

In the days of any week,

That’s just to make my point

Without getting in too deep.

 

I guess you can say the same

For today and yesterday

But both of these are facts:

One is passed; the other is today.

Tomorrow is never a fact

Neither can we say it will be,

Yesterday was and that’s for sure

And now today we see.

 

“Give us this day our daily bread.”

It doesn’t say tomorrow:

God provides for our todays;

And soothes today’s sorrows.

 

“Act, act in the living present.”

Remember the Psalm of Life?

For there is no tomorrow;

Only today’s strife.

 

Stewart Russell © August 21, 2020

 

 

The Kingdom

 

 

The kingdom is coming

Nay, already come,

Actually, my brothers and my sisters

We are in the millennium.

 

This is kingdom building

Being done through the Church;

Read the Word for yourself

Before consulting experts.

 

From in Matthew chapter 4

The kingdom of heaven was at hand,

So, said the King, Jesus,

As he unfolded God’s plan.

 

And throughout the book

From Matthew chapters 4 to 14

He tells about the kingdom

He being the King on the scene.

 

If my kingdom were of this world

My servants would fight,

The essence of Jesus’ words

As he showed them their plight.

 

Go to St John 18 verse 36

For Jesus’ exact words,

This should leave no doubt

Why Pilate was so disturbed.

 

Remember, it was the Jews

That had delivered him up

But Jesus framed it differently

Regarding his bitter cup.

 

They saw a political kingdom

Being under Roman yoke

So, this imposter they called Jesus

Could never get their vote.

 

He was delivered to the Jews

Thus, to be crucified

And though the Romans killed him

It was at Jewish hands he died.

 

The king had come

And so too did his kingdom

And almost immediately after

Began the millennium.

 

It is not a political kingdom

And it never will be,

Political kingdoms are temporal

His is for eternity.

 

From eternity to eternity

That’s the kingdom of God,

And throughout the millennium

This is to be spread abroad.

 

 

From Jerusalem through Judea

Obviously first to the Jews,

Jesus' servants had to be scattered

To tell the good news.

 

Don’t be misled by a thousand

It only means a lot,

And even so, compared to eternity,

It is not even a drop.

 

I tell you the kingdom is here,

Jesus said it has come

And there is no other king but he,

God’s incarnate Son.

 

It is not the political kingdom

For which the Jews had yearned

But at present, a spiritual kingdom,

From the Bible we learn.

 

We are heirs to the kingdom

Heirs and joint-heirs

And with Christ we sit in the heavenlies

Even while we are here.

 

We wait in earnest anticipation

When the fullness will unfold

For at present, ours is a deposit

Of treasures untold.

 

Stewart Russell © May 6, 2021

I Dreamt I Wet My Bed

 

 

The night was hot

And so was I

And I desperately longed to sleep

But how ever I tried

I still could not

On account of the horrid heat.

 

Up I got

To drink some water

Then back to my bed I went,

It was quite a long while

But I finally slept

And in my sleep, I dreamt.

 

I dreamt, my friend,

I wet my bed

And in the dream, it was no lie,

Upon awaking

I checked my bed

Only to find out it was dry.

 

 

I was quite relieved

At this reprieve

Though I checked again and again,

The bed linen was dry

And so was I:

Absolutely no pee stain.

 

A word of advice

To you water drinkers

That drink just before you sleep:

The doctors advise it

But I do not

You may actually spring a leak.

 

 

How embarrassing

That would be

Next morning if you awake

For you may wish

That you were dead

In your dire emotional state.

  

Think of your wife

And your kids also

And their laughter, though suppressed,

Is it worth it?

That glass of water?

And all of the resulting stress?

 

 

Be careful, I advise,

To limit yourself

And allow some time in between

Or that glass of water

Before going to bed

May prove to be more than a dream.

 

Stewart Russell © June 1, 2021