A Gigantic Misnomer

 

 

How oft we’ve not prayed enough

Or so we’re led to believe

Simply because that for which we’ve prayed

We had not received?

 

How oft we’ve beaten up ourselves

Thinking “it’s some sin in me”

Just because God did not grant our wish

And the wish did not come to be?

 

How long have we believed

That God only answers the clean

And we set about cleaning ourselves

Because only the clean He esteems?

 

You see, that’s the way we think,

That we must earn our way

And rid ourselves of our many demerits

So that we can merit our pay.

 

But, does God reward us

In accordance with our perceived standing

And only meet our expectations

When we meet what He is demanding?

 

I should hear a resounding “No!”

For God always exceeds our asking

And we are His benefactors in this life

And in the life everlasting.

 

He is working always for our good

And in concert with His glory

And the minute part that we often see

Is not the major story.

 

It is disappointing, I know,

When our expectations are not met

Especially by the God who promised

To meet our every debt.

 

But now, we see through a glass darkly

And do not know what we shall be,

But we shall be like him, the Word assures,

And then we shall clearly see.

 

In the meantime, rest assured

In spite of the many unanswered questions

And draw the more closely to God

When the ill-winds threaten.

 

 

Never will God forsake us

Or abandon any by the wayside,

This is His promise to all that in him abide

And in Jesus the crucified.

 

Stewart Russell © March 3, 2022      

 

Not He

 

 

“Not he” is a regular response

We hear from day to day,

I will identify two customary scenarios

When “not he” you’d hear people say.

 

The first relates to the negative

As in the case of committing a crime,

“Not he,” you are likely to hear

From a loved-one of some kind.

 

The second will follow the first

I trust you don’t miss the switch,

I am sure if you read very carefully

It’ll happen without a hitch.

 

“I know he father and he mother,

I know he brothers and sisters too

And I would put my neck to the block,

That crime he would never do.”

 

He come up in Sunday school

And he went to school with me,

I tell you sincerely from my heart

No way at no time; “not he!”

 

I can vouch for him, I tell you,

Cause I know him for many a year

So, don’t you scandalize his name,

Don’t you dare!

“Not he,” I am telling you

He would never do anything like that

So, whoever you hear running talk,

Tell them they are talking crap.

 

Cause you know someone that knows

And he told you definitely “not he”,

And, if that doesn’t satisfy them

Tell them to come and talk to me.

 

Tell them I would set them straight

Regarding who they talking ‘bout,

He would never do what they say he do,

“Not he,” without a doubt.

 

“I didn’t know he was that bright

I never got that impression!

What is it that you say he achieved?

“Not he,” is still my submission.

 

Why, he only went to a low school

And he left there at an early age

So, what you are telling me is impossible,

“Not he!” now or at any stage.

 

 

I bet you he got it from in the USA

Where degrees can be gotten for a fee

Such that if that is how he got his

I could take back my “not he”.

 

But, and I am only saying but,

If he achieved it by dint of study

That would still be highly suspicious

And I would still advance, “not he”.

 

He just doesn’t have what it takes

Whether by a fee or through study,

So, my position remains the same:

I am adamantly saying, “Not he!”

 

Two scenarios I have advanced:

One negative and the other a positive

Where the phrase “not he” was used

Concerning what a person did.

 

We hold perceptions of persons

That we are reluctant to ever change

And when they differ from our expectations

We think, “That’s rather strange!”

 

Whether negative or even positive

The “not he” comes into play,

It could be a crime or some achievement:

“Not he!” someone would likely say.

 

Stewart Russell © June 8, 2022

 

A Bad Good Friday

 

 

The first Good Friday was a bad one:

The Lord Jesus was crucified,

For his followers and those he had healed

It was day to be despised.

 

The one upon whom their hope lay

Was suddenly taken away,

Their champion, like none from before,

Was crucified on that day.

 

Crushed were their expectations

And devastated would have been apt,

All that was left to do was run and hide;

All their gains were rolled back.

 

 

Things looked bright and hope was alive;

Their conquerors were held at bay

But the tables were turned unexpectedly,

As in the tomb their champion lay.

 

They gazed from afar afraid to come near;

Fear was then their greatest torment,

Betrayal and denial were in evidence

And Judas did not live to repent.

 

A bad Good Friday is an apt summary

As we looked back on that dreadful scene,

For his disciples, it was a nightmare

But for the Jews, a realistic dream.

 

They had planned with bedevilment

And had yearned for this eventful day:

The day they would see the back of Christ

And under the ground he would lay.

 

 

They rode on the backs of the Romans

Since crucifixion was without their remit,

They were bent on killing the Lord Jesus

But were actually following his script.

 

He was wounded for our transgressions,

He was bruised for our iniquity,

The chastisement of our peace was on him

And with his stripes we are healed.

 

It was a horrid day to the faithful few,

For the Jews, it was a dream come true,

But to everyone that believes in Jesus,

It is salvation to both Greek and Jew.

 

The first Good Friday was a bad one

But the resurrection removed the bad

So that each born-again believer ever since,

Has had every reason to be glad.

 

Stewart Russell © April 14, 2022