A Power Called Love

 

 

Love is not weepy and weak

It’s gentle yet firm,

It is harnessed power

Even when spurned.

 

It’s synonymous with God

For God is love,

Jesus demonstrated it

When he came from above.

 

Love was reviled

But reviled not again,

It was to a cruel rugged cross

That love came.

 

To enforce is temporary

Until fear goes away,

But God’s love is everlasting

And has the last say.

 

Love cannot be forced

And is not external,

Au contraire, it is within

And is eternal.

 

Love is the power of God

That constrains,

It is why we do what we do

In Jesus’ name.

 

 

 

Love held the Saviour

On Calvary’s cross,

It was not those iron spikes

But his love for the lost.

 

Love was the real power

That held him there,

Love shouts across the centuries

Jesus cared.

 

 

For God so loved…

Therein is the power

That created heaven and earth

And keeps us every hour.

 

The vastness of God

Does not speak of His size

But to His wonderful love

That so many despise.

 

Love so amazing

Of power so divine

That assures me I belong to Jesus

And Jesus is mine.

 

Yes!  Such is the expression

Of the power that is love

That came that first Christmas

From heaven above.

 

 

Love is harnessed power

Released under control

And coupled with grace and truth

God’s mercies unfold.

 

Each and every day

His love comes our way,

It’s synonymous with God’s power

That over us holds sway.

 

Who or what can separate us

From love so profound?

God’s love has all the power

Any opposition to confound.

 

Love is the power

That binds us to Christ

Just like it held him to the cross

In his atoning sacrifice.

 

Love is the power

That keeps all that he saves

And brings them back in line

When they misbehave.

 

Love is the power

That binds the born again together,

No fear that unharnessed power

Will cause us bother.

 

 

No power without love

And no love without power

For what would be the use

One without the other?

 

A power called love

To a love that is secure

And a love that is powered

To keep us assured.

 

Stewart Russell © April 20, 2024

 

Holding on or Eternally Held?

 

 

 

So often we say

We are holding on

But in actual fact

Our strength is gone.

 

We are being held,

That is the fact

And the hands that hold us

Will never grow slack.

 

This is the believer’s reality,

I mean the born again,

It is God’s mercy to us

In both pleasure and pain.

 

His holding is constant,

Our holding on is not,

Reliance on God’s dependability

Is the believer’s lot.

 

God doesn’t permit us

To pull our hands out of His

Even though, of course,

We are still exposed to risk.

 

I know we do things

That do not please Him

And it appears he has let go

On account of our sin.

 

 

But it is not what it seems

Though we have let go,

God is still holding our hands

That’s how much I know.

 

It’s difficult to understand

But is most assuredly real,

Almighty God, our Father

Can never fail.

  

Next time you are asked

How you are doing,

Reply “eternally held”

Even if it’s not showing.

 

For we walk by faith

And not by sight,

And when everything seems wrong

Everything is right.

 

There I go again

With the unexplained,

But once God’s holding my hand

All is well in sun or rain.

 

Stewart Russell © March 2020

 

Dumber and Dumber

 

 

I am becoming dumber and dumber

The older I get,

And, as a matter of fact,

I am not at my dumbest yet.

 

I have this premonition

That I will definitely get worse…

Stop thinking what you are thinking

I don't mean I am cursed.

 

For one, I am getting older,

I am nearly seven decades now

And up to this present time

I have managed somehow.

 

That to me is incredible

Given the view most people hold

But I try as much as possible

Not to carry the critics’ load.

 

Because, overload you they will,

They must jettison their stuff

And if you are not careful

They’ll make life more tough.

 

And I don’t mean acquaintances

Or even your workmates,

I mean very important others

Trying to alter your state.

  

I have resorted to dumbness

Meaning, given to much less talk

Even when regarding the issue,

I am not remotely at fault.

 

 

You actually begin to feel stupid

At not vindicating yourself

But a semblance of peace is preserved

And that maintains your health.

 

Ordinarily I would blow up

But that I have put behind,

Dumber it is that works for me,

It is easier on my mind.

 

I am becoming dumber

But not in the way you think,

I am very aware of what’s going on

And also… what I drink.

 

I am not senile or alzheimic

Just getting dumber and dumber,

It’s actually my defense mechanism

As I gracefully grow older.

 

But be warned, I am not perfect

And I don’t always get it right,

Please do not take me for granted

I still know how to fight.

 

Stewart Russell © December 15, 2021

 

Beware the Tics

 

 

Nah, I don’t mean on animals

That provide a safe haven,

They are spelt differently,

Come on, have you forgotten?

 

So, what do you mean?

I am hearing you ask,

Well, bear with me a while

While I finish the task.

 

Not only animals as you know

But words carry tics,

Quite a few as I can recall

But for now, four will fit.

 

Yes, out of some 223 words

I’ll only choose four,

For the purpose of this discourse

I will need no more.

 

Let me say from the outset

They all relate to people,

You and I are among the four-

Sorry to burst your bubble.

 

I will start with the one

That says who I have become,

A skeptic for sure I now am

And I am not making fun.

 

I find it difficult to believe

Much of what I hear,

Most is intentional propaganda

And this I truly fear.

 

News and views went together

Now they are so unrelated

That I sometimes wonder

If the truth is now outdated.

That’s why I am now a skeptic

Not that I want to be

But when I listen to the news

The truth I cannot see.

 

Two sides in a given matter:

Which is right I cannot tell,

If I were to be tested on the truth

I wouldn’t do very well.

 

Skeptics, as far as I can see,

Are the least of these four tics,

The second I now give to you

Which for me is a critic.

 

 

 

Just like the skeptics today

Critics are on the increase,

These know so little about everything

But they talk will never cease.

 

Theirs is always another view

Different from any before

And they are extremely innovative

In giving one view more.

 

They even criticize their view

Yes, their own view they criticize

If an opposer carries the same,

They will feign surprise.

 

In the eyes of too many critics

A solution is never to be found

Since critics tend mostly to look in

And seldom look around.

 

I have a problem deciding

Which of the next two is worse

But I have unilaterally decided

To deal with a lunatic first.

 

 

Lunatics are mad people!

Nothing more and nothing less,

They ebb and flow like the sea

And never are at rest.

 

The moon controls the tides,

At least, that’s what I was told

But being by my new nature a skeptic,

To this I tenuously hold.

 

So lunar, looney, lunatic,

All words that are related

Indicating the magnitude of insanity

In which this era is inundated.

 

Finally, the last of the tics

Is none other than heretic,

This tic is extremely closely related

To its predecessor, lunatic.

 

 

Heretics evade the truth

And they do this at all costs,

Their proselytizing is foremost

As their recruit the lost.

 

The Pharisees were exposed

And censured by Jesus Christ

Whose righteousness they rejected

Feeling theirs would suffice.

 

Heretics are all around us

Trying to obscure the truth

And there are many in the church

That are of living proof.

 

Yes, skeptics and critics,

Lunatics and heretics!

These are in many ways related,

Watch out for their tricks!

 

Stewart Russell © November 11, 2023

 

Under the Sun

 

 

What does it mean:

This phrase under the sun?

29 times in Ecclesiastes,

The rest of the Bible: none.

 

Especially mention #2

No new thing under the sun

And that which is done

Is that which shall be done.

 

A special word emerges

With this interesting phrase

In 10 verses I discovered it

And upon it gazed.

 

That special word is labour

With which we are occupied

Morning, noon and night

In order to provide.

 

 

Food for our tables

And clothing for our backs

With the hope that if we strive

There will be no lack.

 

And all this toil and labour

Is done under the sun

And it all comes to an end

When our day is done.

 

Day in and day out

Generation after generation

Dealing with the vagaries of life

While under the sun.

 

Sleeping, working and playing

Studying and coming of age

The common denominator being

Under the sun at very stage.

 

 

What profit hath a man of all his labour

Which he taketh under the sun?

  

I looked on all the works

That my hands had done

And all was vanity and vexation of spirit

And of no profit under the sun.

 

Yea I hated all my labour

Which I had taken under the sun

Because I should leave it to another

After my work was done.

 

And who knows whether he shall be

A wise man or a fool?

Yet after my labour under the sun,

Over it he shall rule.

 

It is under the sun we labour

Not for ourselves, but another,

So labour on we must

And let it not be a bother.

 

 

We all are beneficiaries

Of another’s toil and labour

So, as under the sun we daily toil,

Thank God for His favour.

 

Stewart Russell © August 29, 2021

 

Mind and Matter

 

Which came first

Mind or matter

And what are your reasons

For the former or latter?

 

Mind is immaterial

This you would expect

However, matter is material,

This you won’t reject.

 

In agreement up to now

Both you and me,

Let’s dig in a little deeper

And see what we can see.

 

Matter has no mind

This is a known fact,

The mind can ponder a matter

But matter is just that.

 

Matter has an origin

But not so the mind,

Mind transcends matter

And even time.

 

It would have to be

If you see what I mean

And this is why I set store

By the Genesis theme.

 

 

In the beginning God,

The eternal mind,

First cause of everything

Even time.

 

The power of mind

That is the mind of God

Is the origin of all matter

And I mean all.

 

There’s nothing new

Under the sun,

A sentiment of the wisest man,

Namely Solomon.

 

“Let us make man”

A concept of a mind,

Not of matter, my friend

And not of time.

 

 

Time is a major factor

In the theory of evolution,

After billions of years

Matter came to fruition.

 

A misguided concept

That pertains to nothing

And that tells you and me

Nothing is something.

 

Nothing is something

And something is matter

And this is probably why

Some chose the latter.

 

Mind or matter?

Matter edges in front,

Surely this is the conceptualizing

Of the mind of a dunce.

 

 

 

Without mind

Matter won’t matter

For how else could we tell

That matter is matter?

 

Mind came first

And mind always had to be,

God is the explanation!

The only one I see.

 

The intelligent mind,

God the Supreme

That always will be

And always has been.

 

The I AM THAT I AM

Is His name,

Yesterday, today and forever

He is the same.

 

If matter created mind

Rather than the other way

Then day is night

And night is day.

 

Down is up

And up is down

Heaven is hell

And a smile is a frown.

 

Alas, this is not so

For we all have a mind,

It’s not just a matter of matter

But it’s God’s design.

 

 

The mind matters 

But matter doesn't mind

And matter never has

At any given time.

 

Stewart Russell © April 21, 2024

 

When Prayer Didn’t Work

 

 

There’ve been times

When prayer didn’t work

And many reasons were given

To address the hurt.

 

The hurt of persons

That anticipated a miracle

Only to be terribly disappointed,

Unrelieved of their trouble.

 

And to add insult to injury

There were many reasons

Not the least of them all being,

“It was not one’s season.”

 

Another excuse was

That it was not God’s will,

Better ensure before you pray

God’s will be fulfilled.

 

Not enough faith

Was another excuse offered,

Too little faith is not enough

Hence, no answer.

 

Sin got in the way

And thus, it caused a block,

Making that one’s prayer effort

An inevitable flop.

 

Not enough prayer

Is one we hear quite often,

When objectives are not met

This reason is given.

 

It goes hand in hand

With too little prayer support,

Too few came out to pray

For God to work.

 

Here is yet another:

He works in mysterious ways,

When prayer didn't work

What else could they say?

 

The timing was wrong

Hence, not the right time.

The water needed to be troubled

Readily comes to mind.

 

God’s working it out

And breakthrough will come,

It’s like, give Him more time

He’ll soon be done.

 

A lesson in patience

Is what I am noticing here,

Yeh, but this is another reason

For unanswered prayer.

 

Or a lesson in trust,

We must learn to trust God,

That’s why prayer didn’t work

When on God you called.

 

Perhaps you did not fast

And this one is biblical,

You may need to pray and fast

Based on the trouble.

 

Wrong motive is another

Maybe you asked amiss,

Or there was double-mindedness;

Add three to the list.

 

A little different from faith

Is that you did not believe,

How can you pray unbelievingly

And expect to receive?

 

Sixteen reasons I’ve heard

For when prayer didn’t work,

Of course, some things we can do

But we’d rather shirk…

 

 

Hiding behind much prayer

Hoping for God to come and do it

But faith without works is dead

Is the biblical remit.

 

There must be a reason

When prayer didn’t work

So, if none of the foregoing apply

Ask a prayer expert.

 

Not powerful enough!

Make that seventeen,

Prayer warriors and intercessors

Must be on the scene.

 

Was there ever a time

When prayer didn’t work?

So, tell me the honest truth,

Did you not feel hurt?

 

Stop with these reasons

For what you can't explain,

At the end of the day God is God

And this He will remain.

 

FOREVER!

 

Stewart Russell © March 10, 2024