Saved from What?

  

 

Oh, that’s an easy one!

Saved from sins

And you can take your Bible

And inquire within.

 

For he shall save his people

From their sins-

Matthew chapter 1 verse 21

As sharp as a pin!

 

But there is much more,

I can assure you

And it concerns all of his people

Including me and you.

 

Sin brought separation

Between God and us

And therefore, God sent His Son,

The sinless Jesus.

 

 

 

Upon His own Son

God poured out His wrath

And made him a public spectacle

To make a path.

 

It was for our sins

That Jesus was crucified,

Yes, it was on account of our sins

He suffered and died.

 

It should have been us

Crucified on that cross,

We should have been the ones

Suffering the loss.

 

So, saved from what?

I will ask you again

And you will need to re-examine

Your original claim.

 

 

 

It’s far more, I assure you,

Much more than our sins-

God actually sent his Son, Jesus,

To save us from Him.

 

God, Himself, I mean,

From His divine judgment,

He poured out on His Son, Jesus

Whom He sent.

 

Expressed another way,

It’s the wrath of a just God

Who has zero tolerance for sin

We make light and small.

 

 

 

Enemies of a Holy God,

That’s what we had become

And the only peace that could be had

Was through His Son.

 

Mankind had no desire

To initiate such peace with God

But rather, from Adam's historic fall,

Man had declared war.

 

Thus, God is the initiator

Of the peace shown in Romans 5

And it's as a result of God’s grace

By which we survive.

 

So, saved from what?

I am forced to reiterate,

Not only sin, but from God’s wrath,

The sinner’s fate.

 

Romans 5:1

 

Therefore,

Being justified by faith,

We have peace with God

Through our Lord Jesus Christ.

 

 

 

Saved from God’s wrath

Culminating in divine judgment

But poured out upon His righteous Son

Whom God Himself sent.

 

From His righteous wrath

Only God could protect us

And His expression of amazing grace

Was sent through Jesus.

 

From justice to mercy,

From mercy to amazing grace,

Through the resurrection and the life

Death has been displaced.  

 

Stewart Russell © July 30, 2026

 

Like Seriously?

 

 

How could the devil

Be more popular than God?

You mean to tell me more people

Believe in King Fraud?

 

And we are intelligent

Yet snub intelligent design?

Goodness gracious! Get a brain

And do so in quick time!

 

Deny the stark truth

And a lie you will believe;

Like when one believes in God

That one is naive.

 

I’d rather be simplistic

In my fundamental thinking

Than to be viewed as scholastic

In fallacious reasoning.

 

Too many erudite souls

Are seeing refracted light

And appear blissfully unaware

Of their pending plight.

 

 

 

They are not blind

As in one that cannot see

But they have chosen to be blind

To avoid accountability.

 

For to believe in God

Is to be accountable to Him

But no God and no accountability

Is folly to the brim.

 

A man has got to do

What a man has got to do,

I am very aware of this saying

And no doubt you are too.

 

 

 

But today people do

Whatever satisfy their crave

And this is especially indicative

How the godless behave.

 

But God has His chosen

And they will come to Him,

These are the saints of all time

That repented of their sin.

 

Saved by God’s grace

And walking in the God’s light,

Washed in the blood of Jesus

And doing what is right.

 

 

 

That number God knows

Never mind how it looks

For the names of all His saints

Are written in Life’s Book.

 

We must make our calling

And our election sure

Then leave the rest to the Saviour

Who will take us o’er.

 

And do remember this,

It’s not a popularity contest;

The Lord knows those who are His

And it’s in Him they rest.

 

 

 

In the final analysis

Millions more will be saved

For Father God will be vindicated

For the precious Son He gave.

 

Stewart Russell © July 5, 2024

 

Christmas Solar Lights

 

 

A little bit saved

Is a little bit gained,

The Barbados Light & Power

Had become a strain.

 

Constantly ascending,

No coming down,

Cutting here and cutting there

But still a frown.

 

The highest month

Was December, of course,

The Christmas tree lights pulling

On the electric source.

 

This year, however,

I have been forced

To cut back on electric power

To another source.

 

 

 

Solar lights to the rescue

In Christmas 2024,

I started last year but this year

There is more.

 

They are mostly outside

In the many plants

And I spend quite a lot of time

Watching them dance.

 

The way they go off

And come on again

Makes the entire garden area

Like a lighted frame.

 

The yellows and reds

The greens and blues

And in between these colours

All different hues.

 

 

The sun is the switch

That turns them on

Since they light up beautifully

As soon as it is gone.

 

And when the sun rises

At the earliest dawn

The lights will all turn off

As it moves on.

 

A few in the patio

Still depend on BL&P

But if life be spared next year,

Less of these we’ll see.

 

Hopefully,

These lights will stand up

But I won’t cross my fingers

For that kind of luck.

 

 

Solar is where it’s at

To cut down on my bill

While still lighting up the place

To get a thrill.

 

There’s a light though,

Better than the sun

No company can produce it;

Absolutely none.

 

I introduce you now

To that wonderful light

That lit up the entire world

On Christmas night.

 

 

It was Christmas #1

When the light appeared

In the person of a little baby

In Bethlehem fair.

 

A light to the Gentile

And a light to the Jew,

A light to illumine the hearts

Of me and you.

 

A light for all people:

Every ethnicity and race,

The light, the Lord Christ Jesus:

Compliments: God’s grace.

 

Come to the light

It’s shining for thee,

I thank my heavenly Father

It has shone on me.

 

Stewart Russell © December 18, 2024

 

Were It Not for Grace

 

Were it not for grace

I would be lost,

And you would be too

Were it not for the cross.

 

God’s amazing grace

Expressed in Jesus Christ,

Wonderful, marvelous grace;

His atoning sacrifice.

 

Were it not for grace

Where would I be?

And where would you be

Were it not for Calvary.

 

God’s grace from on high

Coming down to the earth

To save a poor wretched sinner

And give him new birth.

 

 

Were it not for grace

The world would be lost

But God forbid it should be

And died on the cross.

 

It was God in Christ

Reconciling us to Himself

And through His amazing grace

We have spiritual health.

 

Grace, grace, God’s grace

That sought for you and me,

Grace, grace, God’s grace

What wondrous liberty! 

 

 

 

Were it not for grace

Sin would have forever reign

But there is wonderful salvation

Ever since Jesus came.

 

That first Christmas morn

When the angels sang,

It was of God’s amazing grace

That in the heavens rang.

 

Were it not for grace

We’d be stumbling along

But because of God’s wonderful grace

We sing redemption’s song.

 

Redeemed, redeemed,

Redeemed by the blood,

The precious blood of Jesus Christ,

Born not once but twice.

 

Stewart Russell © October 23, 2023

 

Faith, the Faith and Faithfulness

 

 

We talk about faith

In very loose terms,

Often ignorant

Of that for which we yearn.

 

We often understate it

And just as often overate it

All the time still confused

As is our lifetime habit.

 

We pray in faith

Or so we believe,

And we are especially exasperated

When we do not receive.

 

We are saved by faith

Well, that is initially

But it also takes faith

To walk in the faith continually.

 

 

By God’s grace are we saved

And by our faith also,

And as we walk in the way

That faith must show.

 

It is faith at the beginning

And faith as we walk

In justification and sanctification

And not just plain old talk.

 

Faith to first believe,

Faith for daily transformation,

An initiation and a walk,

Grace and faith for salvation.

 

That takes care of the first

But what of the second?

Considering some still walk

As though nothing happened.

 

 

In what do we walk?

And according to what?

What is our spiritual compass?

What is our spiritual lot?

 

The doctrine of the Apostles

As taught by Jesus Christ,

Himself being the chief cornerstone,

This constitutes life.

 

Nothing more, nothing less,

As explicitly understood,

No interpretation or hidden agenda;

Undiluted as we should.

 

The medicine for the soul

And needed boost for the spirit

First, the explicit

And when necessary, the implicit.

 

Yes, faith number 1.

Is being saved from our sin

While faith number 2

Is walking in the doctrine.

 

 

The body of truth

That regulates both lip and life,

That helps us to conform

To the image of Christ.

 

We have been changed

And are daily being changed

And what we once used to be

Is being rearranged.

 

Hence, the call to faithfulness

As the consistency in our walk,

And not be stumbling around

Like the lame or the halt.

 

Emulating God’s faithfulness

As He has been to us

And through the Holy Spirit

Conforming to the image of Jesus.

 

 

Faith and the faith

And good old fashion faithfulness,

Being true to our calling

Whatever the test.

 

So, when you say faith

Identify what you mean

For the faith that ultimately matters

Is when upon Christ we lean.

 

Love for God

And love for our fellowman,

Faith, the faith and faithfulness:

That is the Divine plan.

 

Stewart Russell © July 2020

 

All You Can Do

 

 

They were the best laid plans

But they came to naught

And I was still led to believe

That it was all my fault.

 

If it were only once

That would have been fine

But I sat down and planned again

And I stuck to the line.

 

I carefully planned my work

And diligently worked my plan

Yet the same result as before;

It was as if I were damned.

 

But I refused to give up

And steadfastly held my grip,

I went back to the drawing board

And I refused to be licked.

 

I tried different approaches

And when I was tempted to give up

I determined in my mind

Failure was not my cup.

 

Then it hit me between the eyes

Like a ton of bricks

And I decided there and then

There is no way I could quit.

Quitting was not an option

It struck me like a lightning bolt:

“All you can do is do all you can do”

And this revived my hope.

 

All you can do is do all you can do

You surely can do no more,

Steel yourself each time you fail

And press on like before.

 

Be diligent and be vigilant

And stare your failure in the face

Then do all you can do with all you have

Trusting God’s unlimited grace.

 

When you have done all to stand

Just simply stand!

For all you can do is do all you can do

And put the rest in God’s hand.

 

Stewart Russell © December 4, 2021        

 

A Note for You and Me

 

 

If you could see the way I see

Wouldn’t you think the way I think?

And if you could feel the way I do

Would you not sink the way I sink?

 

Probably so and probably not

Seeing we are wired differently,

Hence the caution we should heed

When appraising judgmentally.

 

We are quick to grab the big stick

To be the jury and the judge

And the sentence we wish for another

Is akin to settling a grudge.

 

We quote the Bible extensively

Highlighting the old covenant law

Yet when we are in the same predicament

We regard that judgment flawed.

 

We live in momentous times

As a friend of mine would say

And it would behoove us, he would add,

To understand another’s way.

 

Understanding is not condoning

But an appreciation for the facts

And a realization that words are damaging

And can never be taken back.

 

Sometimes though we see alike

There are still many discrepancies

And these sometimes, subtle differences

Distinguish you from me.

 

Some have had a horrendous life

Not nearly the kind that we have had

And though this does not give them license,

There are reasons why they are bad.

 

I thank God for my upbringing

And for the parents that I have had,

That upbringing has made the difference

Hence, thank you Mum and Dad!

 

Many have not been as fortunate

To have had a similar past

And the experiences they have experienced

Would leave us all aghast.

 

Each one of us is a product

Of the many experiences we have had

And the lessons we learnt or did not learn

Will augur for good or bad.

 

Again I will quote my friend

That we live in momentous times

And it behooves us who can godly think

To spiritually train our minds.

 

 

There will be many a behaviour

That will be difficult to understand

But final judgment must be left to God

For that is His determined plan.

 

Help where we can with understanding

Using both reprimand and praise

And appreciating our own shortcomings

Always our own standards raise.

 

Cognizant of the reality check

That "there go I but for the grace of God"

And for whatever good may be found in us

It is God we must applaud.

 

Stewart Russell © January 2020