Spiritual Growth

 

 

 

We have heard quite a lot

Concerning spiritual growth

And there are some among us

That make a boast.

 

They speak of many exploits

On the battlefield

As though their performance

Gains them heaven’s seal.

 

Some pray a whole lot

Certainly, more than I do

And they believe that much prayer

Is what gets them through.

 

And still others I know of

Are very steep in the Word

And they can explain most anything

Both heard and unheard.

 

But none of these, I tell you,

Though spiritual components,

Comprise a summary of spiritual growth

For the Christian adherent.

 

In my early years in teaching

I was introduced to the following

That “Learning changes behavior”

Was a fundamental maxim.

 

This became my pivotal lens

For observing student-progress,

It was manifested by their behavior

In their assessment tests.

 

 

Coaches use this too

To determine a player’s grasp

Re the coaching techniques employed

In a particular task.

 

This became more meaningful

When in the Bible I saw

Colossians 1 verses 9-11:

The Spiritual Growth Law.

 

You can go there now

And read the same for yourself,

Just dust the old Bible off

After you take it off the shelf.

 

I find especially these days

That dust is on the move,

In its movement and settlement

It can clog up the grooves.

 

In this scriptural reference

You will certainly find

A definitive spiritual growth cycle

You can use every time.

 

 

In verse 9 is knowledge

Which is a critical component

But which in itself means little,

If not used with wisdom.

 

You can recite the whole Bible

From cover to cover

But without Holy Spirit's wisdom,

You still won’t be clever.

 

It is knowledge plus wisdom

That brings about insight,

Yes, the aha moment, my friend,

That suddenly looms bright!

 

“I did not see this before!”

You are most likely to exclaim

When knowledge, the unexplained,

Meets wisdom, the explained.

 

But that’s not all there is

Re the combination of these two,

We have got some way to go

Before we can be through.

 

I used the word insight

Just about three verses above

And this word means understanding

Which forms the spiritual hub.

 

"And with all thy getting

Get understanding!"

The counsel of the wise Solomon

As he developed its meaning.

 

Proverbs 4:7

 

Wisdom is the principal thing;

Therefore, get wisdom:

And with all thy getting

get understanding.

 

With understanding, learning

And with learning, behaviour,

Behaviour that reflects the image

Of Jesus Christ, our Saviour.

 

That ye might walk worthy,

Worthy of the Lord and pleasing,

Being fruitful in every good work

And in his knowledge increasing.

 

Thus, the continual cycle:

Knowledge wisdom understanding,

A pleasing walk and fruit bearing

And back to the beginning.

 

Ephesians 4:15

 

But speaking the truth in love,

May grow up into him in all things,

Which is the head,

even Christ.

 

Colossians 1:9-10

 

Understanding brings learning

Learning changes behaviour

Behaviour evidences fruit bearing

That is pleasing to the Saviour.

 

This is spiritual growth

As we journey through the years,

Cyclic as we walk from day to day

Changing through life's gears.

 

Colossians 1:11

 

Strenthened with all might

According to God’s glorious power,

Unto all patience and long suffering

With joyfulness.

 

 

Thus, this is spiritual growth

Just plain and simply so,

More than what we boast about

Or even what we know.

 

Stewart Russell © November 14, 2022

 

Conflagration, Incineration & Arson

 

 

 

I know you are seeing red

It is common to the above,

And whether we agree or not

It is still one love.

 

Conflagration is a fire

Incineration is as well,

And what arson actually insinuates

I do not have to tell.

 

All three speak to fire

Though arson is of evil intent,

Arsonists employ fire to destroy

But you are not so bent.

 

A conflagration is any fire

Burning out of control,

Like the California summer fires

Whose devastation is untold.

 

Incineration is controlled

And confined within a space,

Usually, a contraption to contain

The fire taking place.

 

So many fires are raging

Of the arson type,

And many a political minion

Engage in fiery hype.

 

Like those California fires

Burning out of control,

Not of incineration but arson

And the drama unfolds.

 

 

International conflagration

Reaching regional shores,

Pushing import prices higher

Causing inflation to grow.

 

Some incineration too

Getting rid of undesirables

Be it re Russia and the Ukraine

Or the Gaza strip and Israel.

 

Yes, controlled demolition

And collateral incineration,

A casting into hell as it were…

Human deprivation.

 

And the arsonists’ identity?

The political directorship!

Hand in hand with the filthy rich

Espousing their sales pitch.

 

 

 

“Sanitizing the imperil earth

For generations to come,”

A “slash and burn” you might say,

When all is said and done.

 

“Rid the garden of weeds

That the produce may grow,”

Produce determined by the farmer

That only a farmer can know.

 

Playing God as it were

Regarding who lives or dies,

Narcissism first, then nepotism,

And all that such implies.

 

Oh, what a conflagration

Across the political landscape!

Millions of unfortunate souls

Simply being raped.

 

Robbed of dignity and drive

Deprived of human rights,

Incinerated in the claws of adversity,

A most unsettling sight!

 

Such conceited arsonists

With almost unlimited power!

Safe in their self-contained bunkers

As above them go up in fire.

 

They owned the igniters

That caused the conflagration

And the incinerators too are theirs,

What devastation!

 

 

Eight billion is untenable

The poor can’t afford the trip,

How dare they share the resources

Of the powerful and rich!

 

Stewart Russell © February 28, 2024

 

Trickle Down

 

Two basic strategies

Well, maybe three,

Determine how the poor fares:

To eat or stay hungry.

 

Barbados, a two-party system
Now basically one,

With two thirty-love drubbings

One is almost gone.

 

A hand-up recently

Seems not appreciated,

A cross-over appears to be loved

But also hated.

 

Vehemently both ways

And thus, a split,

A cavernous split in my view

Where foes won’t quit.

 

Before the death throes

Of this famous party,

It was an alternate Government,

Hale and hearty.

 

Now it struggles daily

So much from inside

That it seems particularly bent

On political suicide.

 

A mere trickle of life

A defector from the BLP foes,

The second in a real sense

Adding to the DLP woes.

 

 

Double party leaders

Both from the other party:

One just a few years back,

The other recently.

 

A trickle down from the BLP,

A hope for more to follow

But this hope seemingly dashed!

Too much to swallow.

 

A BLP/DLP in the making?

Don’t ask me!

Better ask the Prime Minister:

Mia Amor Mottley.

 

If infiltrators or not

She would probably know

But there is some trickle down,

That’s for sure.

 

 

Talking ‘bout trickle down

It’s an economic strategy,

Practised for a very long time

By the BLP.

 

Take care of the employer

And the employee will eat

Crumbs from the master’s table;

Isn’t this neat?

 

Grantley practised it

And so too, did his son Tom,

Owen halted it for two terms

And then continued on.

 

It was taken up by Mia

Particularly so recently,

Everybody’s against the consumer:

BLPC, the PM and FTC.

 

More than likely, though,

Trickle down will trickle back up,

Under a BLP administration

This is the poor man’s cup.

 

 

Barrow’s DLP was different

That insignia long gone,

Ever since its founding principle

The DLP has moved on.

 

Take care of the poor

And the rich will get their share,

From the rich the poor have to buy

So, the rich won’t have a care.

 

Trickle down trickles back up

It’s so obvious to me,

It was so with Grantley and Tom,

It’s so with PM Mottley.

 

I said two basic strategies

Well, maybe three,

And I guess you are wondering

What that third one be.

 

Well, it is welfare-ism:

Line them up for handouts,

It was revisited during COVID:

A BLP ploy without a doubt.

 

From the masses up

Or, trickle down,

When either is handled poorly

The poor is less strong.

 

Put money in their pockets

Then send the taxes sky high

Or trickle down that doesn’t reach

And they will still die.

 

Two obvious practices

By two distinctive parties,

Now that there is essentially one,

Who will fight fuh we?

 

 

Ronnie versus Ralph

With the BLP running free

Well, except for the Marcia Weekes Show,

Dem fighting fuh we?

 

I wish I could hear

Another nine have crossed,

Twenty-ten would be just right

To temper the boss.

 

A BLP/DLP party?

Anything is better than this,

A vibrant Opposition in Parliament

Is what I miss.

 

A repeat of history

Re a parting from Grantley,

Why can’t we have it again?

This time from Mottley.

 

Stewart Russell © May 13, 2024

  

Just to Think

 

 

To think that the King of kings

Dwells within my heart,

To think that the Lord of lords

Gave me a brand-new start…

 

To think that the Almighty God

Is my all in all,

To think that on Abba Father

I can always call…

 

To think that the one I offended

Gave His life for me,

To think that through His sacrifice

I have been made free…

 

To think that He walks with me

And he holds my hand,

To think that I am His child

And he includes me in His plan…

 

To think that everything about me

Is important to Him,

To think that he has forgiven me

Of all of my sin…

 

To think that he calls me by name

His name He has given me,

To think He has made me somebody

When I was a nobody…

To think that He cares for me

Each and every single day,

To think He points me in the right way

Every time I go astray…

 

To think that His love is infinite

And His mercies are everlasting,

To think His grace reaches even me

And in Him I am abiding…

 

To think that He has a plan for me

And that He will complete it,

To think that He is so faithful

That trusting is my daily habit…

 

To think that He’ll return for me

Whether I am alive or dead,

And to think that while I live here

He is my Living Head.

 

Just to think that God is my Father

And Jesus is my Lord,

Just to think the Spirit guides me

And I have His Holy Word.

 

Just to that think I do not merit it

Yet He lavishes His love on me,

Just to think that as He promised

I am His eternally.

 

Stewart Russell © October 30, 2020

 

What Is Worship?

 

 

First time seen in the Word

At Genesis 22:5,

Go there now and read

And see how it comes alive!

 

Just two human beings:

A father and his son

Having traveled a great way,

To worship they have come.

 

“Stay here,”

He had said to the party,

No one was to stop his worship

To his God the Almighty.

 

Is worship singing?

There was no singing there,

No singing and no music

Just reverential fear.

 

The epitome of worship

It can’t get better than this,

A father, his offering and God

Just three on this list.

 

No clapping, no shouting,

No keyboard or drumming,

No clarinets or saxophones,

No guitarists strumming.

 

 

A pile of rocks and wood

Prepared for the sacrifice

Of his son, his only son, Isaac-

This could not be nice.

 

His only son?

Did he not have another?

The son he ultimately loved?

Lord, this is a bother.

 

Why not Ishmael?

Ishmael was his son also,

Isaac was the son God wanted

The best must be on show.

 

Worship is giving up

All that we hold dear,

Nothing between us and Jesus:

No fret, no gift, no care.

 

 

Holding everything loosely

As Corrie ten Boom did say,

Worship is one and Jesus

Just the two at play.

 

Personal before corporate

Abraham offered his son,

Not a single petition was made,

Absolutely none!

 

While God stayed his hand

The act was as good as done,

Obedience was the heart of worship

God’s favour he had won.

 

One could just imagine

The burden that was lifted

In this precursor of Jesus Christ

To whom all was shifted.

 

 

The Lamb identified by John

To take away our sin,

God’s Son, God’s only Son!

Yes, we must worship him.

 

“When,” somebody asked,

“Did worship become singing?”

Worship is one’s walk with Christ

Expressed in one’s daily living.

 

A life of total surrender.

A life of childlike trust,

A life holding all things loosely

With Jesus as the must.

 

Must have Jesus

Must live by his word,

Must shine for him in word and deed

Must show him to the world.

 

Worship is not singing,

It is a given over heart

Consecrated to God our Saviour

Who loved us from the start.

 

 

A slaying of self as it were,

A putting off and a putting on,

No more the long night of darkness,

Step into the light of dawn!

 

Worship is walking in the light

In the light that is Christ,

In constant obedience to him

As a living sacrifice.

 

Stewart Russell © May 6, 2024