Charity in All Three

 

 

In essentials: unity

In non-essentials: liberty

In all things: charity

 

Two cannot walk together

Except they be agreed,

Neither should we yoke a mule

With a fast running steed.

 

Two at different speeds

Cannot walk together,

Neither will keep the other’s company

In any kind of weather.

 

The foregoing scenarios

Speak to the fundamental,

Hence the strength of our unity

Must hang on the essential.

 

What are the essentials?

On what must we agree?

The undiluted Gospel of salvation

That in God’s Word we see.

 

 

Summed up in John 3:16

For God so loved He gave…

Thus, redeeming the repentant sinner

From the clutches of the Knave.

 

That Jesus came and died

Must indeed be an essential,

And that he rose up from the dead

Is an indisputable fundamental.

 

That there is only one God

And only one path that leads to Him:

Meaning there is absolutely one way

That we can be saved from sin.

 

Jesus is that way,

He is also the truth and life

And unless a man believes in him,

He is forever in sin’s strife.

 

The Word of God is our manual,

No other book even comes near

And whenever we peruse its pages,

We must do so with godly fear.

 

Reverencing the Holy Spirit

That brings enlightenment

To the born-again believer

And to the genuinely repentant.

 

Yes, in essentials: unity

Absolutely no compromise

And be aware of the counterfeiter

That comes in alluring disguise.

 

In non-essentials: liberty-

Judge not another on these,

However, cause not a brother to stumble

Is top of the charitable pleas.

 

Focus not on the “do-nots”

Rather, focus on the “do’s”

And be patient with one another

As God has been with you.

 

The “do-nots” are alluring,

Like Eve, we wonder, “Why not?”

Like Eve, we fall headlong

And trouble becomes our lot.

 

Quite enough non-essentials:

Discuss but don’t quarrel,

The enemy loves divisiveness

And in disunity he revels.

 

 

 

In all things: charity

Yes, charity in all three:

In essentials, non-essentials and all things

There must be charity.

 

Charity conquers all,

It is the evidence to the world

Of every born-again believer

That walks in God’s Holy Word.

  

It’s the hallmark of the faith-

The unifying trend

That says to all and sundry,

We will be faithful to the end.

 

In essentials: unity

In non-essentials: liberty

In all things: charity

Yes, charity in all three.

 

Stewart Russell © September 27, 2020

 

Love Never Fails

 

 

The month of love

That’s what February is called,

I will not contest the notion

It’s not so with all.

 

But by the majority,

Even if you still don’t agree,

The best month of the year

Must be February.

 

Yes, I do have a bias

But let us get past this

Lest the real point to be made

You actually miss.

 

 

Love never fails!

This is the point to be made

Then, please tell me, if you will,

Why marriages get derailed.

 

It’s not love that fails

But people often forget

To put love at the very front

When becoming upset.

 

Self being highlighted

Becomes the intrusion

That grows bigger and bigger

And causes confusion.

 

The praises say I

And the blame says you

And there is nothing but good

That I ever do.

 

It is not so with you

My argument will go

And where the fracas will end

We never know.

 

 

But if love is foremost

When conflicts assail

We would agree unanimously

Love can never fail.

 

It’s a universal salve

That works every time,

It does not matter the person;

It’s never unkind.

 

It is not far-fetched

As some people opined

And not of the wishy-washy hype

We so often find.

 

 

 

Love never fails

As long as it is applied,

Relationships grounded in it

Will always abide.

 

It is not the eros type

Or even the filial kind,

Rather, it is the agape sort

Or love divine.

 

This love never fails,

It is enduring and strong

And relationships built on it

Will be life-long.

 

Stewart Russell © February 17, 2025

 

I Know Someone

 

 

I know someone

That loves me at my worst,

A love that’s not just put on

One that’s not rehearsed.

 

Not my wife

Though she does so too

But a love far surpassing

What any love can do.

 

I know someone

Whose love is unparalleled,

A love that cannot be matched

One that cannot be quelled.

 

Not my mother

Her love has stood the test

But I have come to realize

Her love is not the best.

 

I know someone

That loves me infinitely

Enough to send His Son

To actually die for me.

 

Not an erotic love

Or a familial one

But a love that continues after

Both of these are gone.

 

 

I know someone

That loves me eternally

And whose love will go on and on

Throughout eternity.

 

Not a fictitious love

Or one that ebbs and flows

But a love infinitely beyond

Any that Hollywood shows.

 

A love that is practical

Yet is also spiritual,

A love that is eternal

Yet presently fundamental.

 

That meets my present need

Yet is full with promise

That shows me the very reason

Why I now exist.

 

Yes!  I know someone

That loves like this and more

And this depraved human being

He simply loves and adores.

 

His love is so puzzling

That I just cannot explain

Why in spite of all my faults

He loves me again and again.

 

His love transcended

My utter sinfulness

And by his freely flowing blood

Brought me back from hell’s abyss.

 

 

Spread-eagled on that cross

In love reached he out to me

In spite of my derision

My contempt and profanity.

 

Such love is inexpressible

By any human tongue

And some that understand it not

Upon it they still frown.

 

I too lack understanding

But I know this love is true,

And unlike any earthly love

You can trust it too.

 

Stop being disappointed

By love that’s like the dust

And like me know someone

Whose love you can trust.

 

I know someone I reiterate

That loves me from inside,

He resides within my heart

And with Him I abide.

 

Stewart Russell © March 2019

 

The Unfathomable Circle

A circle has no ending

Well none that we could see,

It has no beginning either

And so it appears to me.

But if someone drew it

He must have begun somewhere,

Therein is the beginning

Even though it’s unclear.

And if he’s no longer drawing

He must have made a stop,

Your challenge and mine, however,

Is we don’t know the spot.

If we should search for either:

That is the beginning or the end,

We would just go on and on

We’d never stop my friend.

Such a simple shape

But yet it’s so unfathomable

Neither beginning nor end

Is apparently visible.

Someone knows its beginning

And He too is unfathomable,

And that is why His love

Is likened to a circle.

It goes on and on the lyrics say

It’s a circle big and round,

Yes God’s love is like a circle

No ending can be found.

And so we’re in the month of love

But it should g on all year,

No ending should be in sight

I true love that is clear.

Ah but there be a beginning

For finite beings we be,

And when I came to Jesus

He started his love in me.

It was he that drew that circle

Beginning with the cross,

It is he that loves forever

So that none of his is lost.

And so the love of Jesus

Goes on eternally,

In all the saved it is present

And will be for eternity.

It’s unfathomable I remind you

But it is also very real,

Agape love is its expression

It’s that love that never fails.

Stewart Russell © February 2019

God’s Love and Power

Love without power

Is merely that

Power without love

Is a perilous trap

In the first case

Nothing much doing

In the second, however,

Much trouble brewing

Of course there’re some

With a bit of both

But it’s friends and family

Whom they toast

Some express authority

With little care

For those who get hurt

And create much fear

Then there are some

Who do what they can

But with little power

Not much of a plan

Some aspects of power

Are money and fame

Status and position

Are two others I’ll name

Without agape love

These are mostly contained

To select groups

More or less the same

If you’re not fortunate

To be in such a group

 I can suggest to you

A much better route

I have a friend

That has lots in store

An infinite amount

Who can ask for more?

  

He gives what I need

Of both love and power

He takes me through

Every day and hour

I depend on Him

For my daily supply

On His power and love

I can always rely

God’s love is infinite

And so is His power

Like the Psalmist of old

He’s my strong tower

I run into Him

In my time of need

He never fails me

In Him I succeed

His is the right balance

Of power and love

Aptly demonstrated

In His Son from above

He offers the same

To anyone today

That will deny himself

And follow His way.

Stewart Russell © February, 2018