Cyberspace and God

 

 

I was looking for cyberspace

But I could not find it,

I looked and looked and looked again

Until I was forced to quit.

 

Have you had this challenge?

Looking for cyberspace?

Were you like me, forced to quit,

Having not found a trace?

 

I know beyond the slightest doubt

That cyberspace is real,

I save all my documents there

And it has never failed.

 

To me that is adequate proof

That cyberspace exists,

If you have successfully found it,

Show me what I've missed.

 

 

 

Consider the level of confidence

We repose in cyberspace

That we consign critical information

To this indescribable place.

 

In yonder post office

It takes many to sort the mail,

Not so in imaginary cyberspace

It’s more like a fairy tale.

 

Yet it is more than imagination

Given its predominant use,

It handles billions of documents

And also suffers abuse.

 

It is a very useful facility

But is also abused by many,

Such is the reality with some minds

That are bent on depravity.

 

I’ve never heard anybody say

That cyberspace is not real,

Even though like the Almighty God,

Its presence is veiled.

 

 

Yet, some say there is no God

And to believe in Him is folly

But they’d rather believe in cyberspace

Which is God’s creativity.

 

Some will boldly declare

“I won’t trust what I cannot see,”

But their morning and evening word

Simply do not agree.

 

They willingly trust cyberspace

But yet they refuse to believe in God-

Both for the same very reason…

Sounds to me like fraud.

 

 

Dropbox, iCloud and Google:

All three were created by man

But the Creator of all that there is

Was handled by cruel hands.

 

Nailed to a cross at Calvary,

Hewn from a tree God created,

The only Son of God there suspended

That man’s sins could be expiated.

 

Yet, we reject the Creator

As well as His only Son He sent

While putting faith in cyberspace

And refusing to repent.

 

Away with that silly excuse

For not believing in God,

If for the same reason you trust cyberspace

Then you must be a fraud.

 

A fraud you would have to be

And a fraud you must be called

If you can believe in cyberspace

But can’t believe in God.

 

Stewart Russell © September 7, 2023

 

As in the Old so in the New

 

 

She did as she liked

And ruled with an iron hand

And when her husband was depressed

She claimed another’s land.

 

She had him stoned and slain

And boasted about his death

Then she said to her husband

You can add that to your wealth.

 

She found it rather strange

That a king could be depressed

And that something that he wanted

Could give him so much stress.

 

 

She even scared a prophet

And made him run and hide,

He had slain her false prophets

That her table had supplied.

 

 

She set a watch upon his life

He must die within a day

And when he heard the dreadful news

He took to his heels and ran away.

 

It still remains a mystery

After his victory at Mount Carmel

How the faith of this great prophet

To such staggering depths fell.

 

Such was the fear for this woman

She could frighten any man,

Even her husband seemed to fear her

Though he benefitted from her plan.

 

Her husband was very wicked

But she was incomparably worse,

To come up on her wrong side

Was to be afflicted with a curse.

 

She stirred the king to wickedness

The description the Bible used

And all who dared to oppose her

Their life they were sure to lose.

 

She even killed some of the prophets

And planned to exterminate more

Such that a hundred had to be hidden,

This queen was vexing sore.

 

But the end comes for all

Whether they be good or bad

And the end for this Old Testament queen

Turned out to be very sad.

 

It was prophesied how she would die

A very horrible death indeed,

How as her body lay in the street

The dogs would on it feed.

 

 

That’s exactly how she died

Confirming the prophecy in full,

All that was left after the dogs did eat

Were her feet, her palms and skull.

 

Let me hasten to establish

As in the Old so in the New,

We shall learn of a New Testament king

That like this queen had a similar view.

 

This king was no different

And ruled with an iron hand

He lived an adulterous life

With the wife of another man.

 

The thing that made it worse

Was that it was his brother’s wife

And the prophet of that time

Rebuked him for this strife.

 

He wanted to kill the prophet

But decided to have him imprisoned,

He feared what the people would do

If such to this prophet should happen.

 

It happened on his birthday

While watching his niece dance

He was so enthralled by her

That he took a reckless chance.

 

He impetuously offered her

Anything for which she wished,

She requested that he give to her

The prophet’s head on a dish.

 

This was her mother’s wish,

She wanted the prophet dead

And though the king showed sorrow

He called for the prophet’s head.

 

 

The prophet’s head was removed

And paraded on a platter,

You could well imagine at that time

The astonishment and the chatter.

 

It was this very same king

Before whom the Lord had stood

That mocked him and arrayed him

In royal kingly duds.

 

He had hoped to see a miracle

Because of the things he had heard

And he questioned him repeatedly

But the Lord answered not a word.

 

This king attacked the fledgling church

At its very early stage,

He was bent on wiping it out

In his anger and his rage.

 

He sought to kill the apostles

And succeeded in the case of one,

Another whom he had imprisoned

Escaped before the light of dawn.

 

So perplexed was he at this

That he left for another territory,

The embarrassment was so much

That it bruised his dignity.

 

 

One day while arrayed in royal apparel

He sat upon his throne

The people regaled him with praise

That should have been God’s alone.

 

They, speaking of this king

Said his was the voice of a god,

He made no attempt to stop them

But basked in the glory like a fraud.

 

Immediately he was struck

By the angel of the Lord,

According to the Word he was punished

For not giving the glory to God.

 

He was eaten of worms

Of such there was nothing to boast

And eventually according to the Word

He had given up the ghost.

 

The word to us all is to remember

We’re not a law unto ourselves,

God is the only sovereignty

Not an amulet on our shelves.

 

This life is not ours forever

Whether king or pauper we may be,

The lesson of these two should teach us

To live life accordingly.

 

Stewart Russell © April 2018

 

God Is in Total Control

On Satan God sets limits

That Satan cannot break,

Satan is not the Almighty God

Hence, such restrictions he hates.

God will not allow on us

Above what we are able to bear,

Thus, when Satan comes a tempting

Him we ought not to fear.

Satan makes a proposition

But God inserts an imposition,

Satan can go thus far and no further

For God, he’s no opposition.

 

Yes, he accuses the brethren

But that is as much as he can do,

Unless God gives him the permission

He is like a discarded old shoe.

Take Job for an example

God was always in control,

This you would see very clearly

As you watch that narrative unfold.

Satan is never ahead,

He is always playing catch-up

But because we are not privy to the discourse

We seldom consider as much.

Satan is not really about us

He wants to discredit God,

He knows that God has made some promises

And he wants Him to look like a fraud.

That’s why he says to us, “Look,

Those promises God cannot keep.”

But God assures us in His Book,

In Him we can peacefully sleep.

God does not tempt us, He doesn’t,

But he allows Satan to do so

And through the temptations we experience,

God’s mercies always show.

He goes with us in the flood

And in the heat of the fire He’s there,

God is in total control, my brother, my sister,

And it is all because God cares.

Satan is plugged into God

It’s from God he gets his power,

He may pretend to be a roaring lion

But not one of God’s lambs can he devour.

He could not touch Noah in the Ark

Or the Hebrew boys in the fire,

Daniel was safe in the lion’s den

When God showed Satan to be a liar.

 

God is in control I assure you:

In our lion’s den, fire and flood,

And when it becomes too much for us

He will pull Satan’s plug.

So, cheer up my brother, my sister,

Whenever you feel forsaken,

When it appears God’s not in control,

It is Satan’s kingdom being shaken.

Stewart Russell © March 2020