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

 

Shalom

 

 

The way one Jew greets another

And how some Christians do,

Neither is speaking Greek nor English

But in fact, Hebrew.

 

It is a Hebraic expression

But has made its way into English

And is becoming more and more popular

As a born-again believer’s wish.

 

Shalom, meaning God’s peace,

This day be upon you,

Not the peace that the world gives

But of a heavenly world view.

 

It’s the peace of the blessed Christ

That came down at Bethlehem

When angels announced it to shepherds

And later was received by wise men.

 

 

It’s the peace that fills the heart

Of all of the born-again,

Meaning all of both Jew and Gentile

Who dare to trust in Jesus’s name.

 

For everyone that trusts in Christ

Dares to oppose the world,

The philosophy and the policies of which

Naturally oppose God’s Word.

 

A peace that passes understanding

That the world cannot give

And a peace it can never take away

From any that in Jesus Christ live.

 

 

Peace on earth and goodwill!

These words still echo in my ear,

That such peace is needed in this world,

To me is abundantly clear.

 

We fight for peace with weapons:

Weapons of mass destruction,

For the peace that this world seeks

Is one of domination.

 

That is, the weak over the strong,

The rich dominating the poor

And when it comes to ethnic cleansing

The world’s peace is a closed door.

 

However, in stark contrast,

Is the peace of the Prince of Peace,

Jesus offers this peace to one and all

That would from their own way cease.

 

 

May the shalom peace of Jesus Christ,

Permit me to be redundant,

Rest on our war-torn world this day,

Particularly on all the repentant.

 

Shalom

 

Stewart Russell © March 10, 2025

 

Marriage

 

 

If you are married

Don’t try to detach

And if you are not

Be sure of your match.

 

Don’t rush into marriage

For any reason at all,

An unfulfilled marriage

Is the worst kind of fall.

 

The only thing that’s worse

Than an unfulfilled single life

Is an unfulfilled marriage

That is loaded with strife.

 

Pretty faces wear off

And alluring voices too

And the muscles you see

May be a mistaken view.

 

Strength of character

Does not grow on limbs

And movie-like marriages

Are made for films.

 

In the real world however

Marriage is for real

And the spouse is not a car

That one puts up for sale.

 

 

Until death do us part

Was the solemn vow,

It should be kept in view

Even when there is a row.

 

 

For while it is beautiful

Marriage can be marred

By the things one says

That leave indelible scars.

 

The enticing charm goes

And the beauty turns ugly

None of these comes to the fore

In an ongoing hostility.

 

On occasions it’s easy

And sometimes it is rough

But the overall picture says

Marriage is for the tough.

 

If you lack backbone

Or your spine is jelly-like

Think hard before marrying

For marriage is a fight.

 

On this you may disagree

You may be at the start,

Wait a little while

When something falls apart.

 

The truth of the matter is

It should get better with time

If you put in the effort

And make up your mind.

 

Fight for your marriage

Not against one another,

If you are unequally yoked

Now that’s a different matter.

 

Be sure to consider

And examine each angle

For a bad marriage

Can leave your life in a tangle.

 

Divorce is horrid

Especially when a child is involved

And just parting ways

Does not all matters resolve.

 

 

Tongue and teeth will clash

As ours sometimes do

But both of these are important

If our food we must chew.

 

Our teeth will draw blood

When they bite our tongue

But even when false

We still keep some around.

 

For a marriage to work

Each spouse is required,

Should either one quit

That marriage has expired.

 

All the more reason

Why you ought to be sure

That you have God’s peace

Before you enter that door.

 

Stewart Russell © February 2018

 

Can You Believe It?

I was knocked for six

When I heard the news,

This was particularly so

Considering the recent reviews.

Enquiring how he was

“Great improvement” was the word

So that when I learnt of his passing

To me this was absurd.

Just over twenty four hours

“Great Improvement” was the word

Now I just could not understand

What I had just heard.

Just one year before

We suffered the passing of his wife,

Now one year later

He is void of all life.

How can this be?

I ask myself again and again

I am tempted to question God

But from that I shall refrain.

All things work together

For every born again believer

And the moment we forget this

We’ve been tricked by the Deceiver.

But it does toy with the mind

I can tell you that

And all who have lost a loved one

Will tell you, that’s a fact.

I am trying desperately

To switch to “consolatory” mood

But I just can’t seem to make it

Out of the “denial” groove

My god-brother and friend

One of the best I have ever had,

He is no longer with us

And that makes us quite sad.

  

We still try to come to grips

With the passing of Pearline,

Now Michael has also departed

It’s a “double whammy” scene.

Lord, help us at this time

As we try to process this event,

We are often baffled by life

But our good is your intent.

Comfort us with your peace

And strengthen by your grace

And remind us of your faithfulness

Through all that we must face.

Stewart Russell © December 18, 2018

At: 3:58 a.m.