Sovereignty and Free Will

 

 

Concerning Sovereignty

There is only One,

History has its Emperors and kings

But they are long gone.

 

Pseudo sovereignty

Meaning a mere pretense

But never having ultimate control

Whatever their intent.

 

The Emperors of Rome

And the great kings of Israel:

They all suffered irreversible defeat

In their final battle.

 

The Presidents of today

And Prime Ministers as well

Are destined to lose their life battle

After their spell.

 

Death is appointed

For both great and small

And when death dials our number,

None can stall.

 

Pseudo sovereignty

Is all that we have got

And whether Emperor or pauper,

Death is our lot.

 

God is the only Sovereign

And there’s not another,

Don’t you dare consider the devil:

That deceptive usurper.

 

 

 

Now man has free will

Given to him by God

Meaning he has limited choice,

That is all.

 

He is not sovereign

And this is so very clear

For he lives for a period of time

And then disappears.

 

Man may choose

Whether to live or die

And this must be seen in two ways:

One being suicide.

 

Or he can remain dead

In his trespasses and sins

And refuse the gift of salvation

God offers to him.

 

Man can choose to work

Or idle away all day,

He can choose to become muted

Or have a say.

 

He can choose a job

And build a nice career

Or be a recluse and from people

Stay clear.

 

He can have a family,

I mean of his own

Or having been born into a family,

He can go off alone.

 

 

 

A Myriad choices

Are available to all

But understand choice is unlimited

Only to God.

 

God sets the limit

On the choices of man

And we can accept or reject Him

If we so plan.

 

BUT

 

There are consequences

To the choices we make

And these can be very heart wrenching

Like here of late.

 

 

 

Choices by our leaders

And important others

That put harsh measures in place

And cause great bother.

 

Nations against Nations

In skirmishes and war

Choosing weapons of destruction

To show their power.

 

Taking another’s resources

By sheer brute force:

The animals’ survival of the fittest

Now man’s recourse.

 

Changing their gender

As though this is possible

And then actually agitating for it,

Though reprehensible. 

 

Man is not a robot

But then, neither is God

And because He is the I AM that I AM

He is sovereign of all.

 

 

 

Creating Adam and Eve

God gave them a rule:

It was His way or the other way;

They could choose.

 

Think of a world

Without restrictive choice:

Wherein are no rules or regulations:

No regulating voice.

 

No reason, no empathy,

Just all is civil anarchy!

Surely God did not create the world

For this to be.

 

Hence a Sovereign voice

With ultimate control

That can limit the despicably wicked

And put evil on hold.

 

Thus, the reason for death

And the limit imposed,

I AM that I AM is the only Sovereignty

And none other comes close.

 

We can do as we like

But not for as long as we like

For Almighty God is in ultimate control

And will set things right.

 

Free will is limited

And this is without doubt

So, to rulers of countries and nations,

So is your clout.

 

Stewart Russell © November 10, 2025

 

God Is in Control

 

God is in control

Though it mightn’t look so,

The assertion may be puzzling

But by faith we know.

 

I choose to believe this

Come whatever may,

God is in absolute control

Each and every day.

 

That it is getting worse

Is the opinion of many

But never mind how it looks,

God is the Almighty.

 

 

The Omniscient One

The only wise God,

He that sees all and knows all

Here and abroad.

 

Take note of the order

That exists in all of space

And how each heavenly body

Is held in its place.

 

By God’s word

They all were created

And by God’s word alone

They are supported.

 

 

The winds and the waves

Obeyed the Christ

Having no mind of their own

For good or vice.

 

Unlike human kind

That was given a choice,

Man could obey his Creator

Or ignore His voice.

 

Like back in Eden

You would no doubt recall

When Adam and Eve

Both did fall.

 

Deceived by a serpent

The agent of Satan,

Eve felled for his treachery

Followed by Adam.

 

 

God was in control

When all this occurred

And He is in no less control

In the Present world.

 

Men do as they please;

They have lost control

Especially our world leaders.

They’re on a roll.

 

God is not responsible

For our present raw deal,

It is the leaders that we trust

To whom we must appeal.

 

Appeal to their conscience;

At least, what of it is left

Seeing in the wake of their insanity,

There is suffering and death.

 

Israel and Palestine

Russia and the Ukraine,

Guyana and Venezuela

They are all insane!

 

 

Yet God is in control,

It is mankind that is not

And it is not difficult to see

Given all the rot.

 

However, be assured

Man will answer to God

Not only in the life here and now

But in that final call.

 

God's still in control

Dare to believe with me,

A time of reckoning will come

For everybody.

 

Stewart Russell © March 15, 2024

Esther

 

 

The book of Esther is not about Esther

God would have us understand,

Rather, it is about God whose name is not,

And His wonderful redemptive plan.

 

God is not mentioned, that you can see

But He is definitely behind the scenes,

Behind every act and every scene involved

The God of the Bible can be seen.

 

Let us note the four principal characters

And the roll each one plays

As they negatively or positively portray

God’s miraculous power to save.

 

Many see it as just a great story

But it can be easily checked for its truth,

The event involves Medo-Persia and Israel

And history supplies the proof.

 

Over one hundred twenty-seven provinces:

From India to Ethiopia Ahasuerus reigned,

Such was the might of the Medes and Persians

Having risen to second world-power fame.

 

 

Haman is the villain as we all can see

And he solicits the support of the King,

His objective is to execute Mordecai

And genocide to all of Israel bring.

 

 

Mordecai on the other hand is a Jew

And he will not take this sitting down,

The King at this time desires a new queen

Hence, a ring and a wedding gown.

 

And here enters the beautiful Esther

A descendant of the Benjamin tribe,

Emerging top of the list of the prospective queens

Esther becomes King Ahasuerus’ bride.

 

This was the scarlet thread for Mordecai

As he put his rescue plan in place,

If he does not counter wicked Haman’s plot

Of the Jews there would not be a trace.

 

Hence, a dangerous job for the new queen,

Before King Ahasuerus she must stand

But in order for her to do such a thing

This must be at the King’s demand.

 

To do such a thing could mean her death

But Mordecai determined that she must,

If something was not done, and very soon,

Every Jew would lie in the dust.

 

Can you not see what that would mean?

There would be no promised Messiah,

Perhaps Mordecai also knew this

And that’s why he persuaded Queen Esther.

 

However, he was convinced if she refused,

Deliverance would come some other way

But that Esther had come to the throne for this

And King Ahasuerus she could sway.

 

 

If I perish I perish, were Esther’s words

And into the king’s presence she went,

He received her with such acknowledgement

You would think that for her he had sent.

 

The king had issued an irreversible decree

On information Haman had supplied,

He knew not that the information was false

And so, every single Jew must die.

 

However, Mordecai had saved Ahasuerus’ life

When he told of a plot to overthrow the king

And while reading his diary one sleepless night

The king came upon this very thing.

 

On this information he sent for Mordecai

And offered to make amends

But because the decree could not be retracted

He could not reverse that trend.

 

Instead, he made a counter decree

That allowed the Jews themselves to defend,

And with that a massive victory they won

That throughout the provinces extend. 

 

 

As for Haman, he died on his own gallows:

The one he had built for Mordecai,

Like Pharaoh, Herod and many others,

Any attempt to prevent the Messiah with them died.

 

So, Esther is not some fairy tale

Around which Hollywood movies are made,

But it takes its rightful place in the Canon

And deserves the highest grade.

 

It appears to be around the same period

As that of Ezra and Nehemiah

And clearly from these two prophets

That’s when the 70-year exile expired.

 

 

They were able to rebuild the temple

And repair the breeches in the walls

After King Cyrus in adherence to the prophecy

Suggested they should no longer stall.

 

However, not all the Jews had returned

From Daniel and Ezekiel’s time

So, Jerusalem was still under Medo-Persia rule

And this we must keep in mind.

 

Eventually, however, most did return

And the city of Jerusalem was reestablished,

The rituals and ceremonies were done again

Just like the devout Jews would wish.

 

The dry bones had come to life again

Just like the prophet Ezekiel saw,

That these events were this prophetic fulfilment

Is the conclusion I now draw.

 

There are still a lot of questions

To which I do not have the answers

But the idea this will occur at some future time,

Now, that’s a different matter.

 

Stewart Russell © August 31, 2021

 

No Nations in Heaven

 

 

No nations in heaven

Not a single one,

God ushered in the heavenly Jerusalem

And the old was gone.

 

He didn’t start with a nation

But with one man

To whom he gave a woman

For redemption’s plan.

 

The first Adam failed

With his eyes opened wide,

That he knew what God required

Cannot be denied.

 

 

Judgement came later

In the form of a great flood,

Noah preached for 120 years

But nobody budged.

 

Eight people were saved

To repopulate the world:

Noah, his wife and six others

According to the Word.

 

Next it was Abraham

Called from among his clan

And who was instructed by God

To journey to a land.

 

Followed by Isaac

And Jacob renamed Israel

Out of whom came the twelve tribes

God’s chosen people.

 

 

In faithful Abraham

All nations are blessed

Becoming one people in Christ

Thus, entering God’s rest.

 

No nation at the start

And no nation in the end

But a people out of many nations

Christ calls his friends.

 

To all that received him

They are children of God:

A people not limited to ethnic Israel

But scattered abroad.

 

 

 

Made up of every nation,

Every kindred and tongue

Having heard the everlasting gospel

To YAHWEH now belong.

 

A people, not a nation,

Do not be mistaken!

All of ethnic Israel will not be saved;

Only those that are forgiven.

 

Now no wall of partition,

No longer Gentile and Jew,

All are one people in Christ Jesus

No chosen nation in view.

 

 

No nations in heaven

Only the people of God,

And with these God tabernacles

Though scattered abroad.

 

1 John 3:2

 

Beloved,

Now are we the sons of God,

And it doth not yet appear

What we shall be:

 

But we know that,

When he shall appear,

We shall be like him;

For we shall see him as he is.

 

The New Jerusalem

Prepared as Christ’s bride,

Coming from God out of heaven

With us to forever abide.

 

Stewart Russell ©June 13, 2025

 

God Knows Everything

 

 

He was called by his name

Long before he was born

And I can boldly say

He was not the only one.

 

His name was given

Fifty decades before his birth

And he became a great leader

In all the earth.

 

Although he was a pagan king

God used him mightily,

He was only twenty-five

When he won a great victory.

 

He became a world emperor

At the fall of Babylon,

What God says He will do

Must be counted as done.

 

 

He was anointed

By none other than by God

Go to Isaiah chapter 45

And read it in His Word.

 

He was a prototype

Of the Messiah that would come

And I am fairly sure you know

I mean Jesus, God’s Son.

 

God gave him much wealth

And many a conquest

And concerning His people Israel

In him did greatly invest.

 

Isaiah 44:28

 

Said God of this emperor

“He is my shepherd,”

And God Himself added,

“He shall perform all my pleasure.”

 

 

Even saying to Jerusalem

“Your walls shall be built;

And to the temple,

“Thy foundation shall be laid.”

 

 

A prophecy that came to pass

At the time prophesied,

That God knows all things

Cannot truly be denied.

 

God knew this emperor

Long before he was born

And he knows everything about us

Thus, we have been warned.

 

A particular king of Judah

Was named before he was born,

This one was Josiah;

Cyrus was the other one.

 

There were specific prophecies

Relating to their lives

And everyone was fulfilled

As in the biblical archives.

 

God is a promise keeper

And He knows everything,

He is able to declare

The end from the beginning.

 

Stewart Russell © July 2020

 

God and Elections

 

 

To whom did God listen

If He listened at all?

No doubt both sides prayed;

Both on Him called.

 

Whose request was honoured?

Did God play a part?

Did he actually set it up

From the very start?

 

Did He cast a vote

Not one but two

And did He influence the voters

In the voting booth?

 

Would it have been fair

In your opinion

If God took a side

In this recent election?

 

Did He decide

The victor and the vanquished

And tell me, if you can,

Did He grant your wish?

 

I would imagine

That Christians prayed

And they voted preferentially

As is the democratic way.

 

However, one side lost

And another won,

Why should not the losers feel

They were undone?

 

Did their faith play a role

In the victory wrought

Hence the lesser faith of the two

Defeat on them brought?

 

All these are questions

That we need to ask

But who can answer them?

Who’s equipped for the task?

 

 

“God puts up Governments

And He takes them down”,

You must have heard this one

Making the rounds.

 

But given its context,

Is this so today?

Does a theocracy and a democracy

Work in the same way?

 

Did the Israel of old

Operate like we do today?

Did they hold general elections

Allowing people a say?

 

And while it is true

The “ayes” favoured Saul,

Concerning the selection of a king,

Was it so for all?

 

Certainly not for David,

The prophet Samuel can attest

And in Father Jesse’s mind

David was not his best.

 

Not a shepherd boy

Who was not in war skilled

Even though a lion and a bear

He had killed.

 

Oh, and by the way,

He had slain a giant too

And put to ignominious flight

The entire Philistine troop.

 

 

No ballots were cast

As in general elections today

And unlike today, generally,

The people had no say.

 

We must not blame God

For the choices we make

When things begin to fall apart

And our hopes dissipate.

 

For while we vote

As is our democratic right,

Christians can only pray and hope

Our leaders see the light.

 

That divine light,

That “thus saith the Lord”

That is the hallmark of leadership

That follow God’s Word.

 

For given the “separation”

Between state and church,

The church is basically regulated

By legal experts.

 

They meet in Parliaments

And they pass the laws

That the church must abide by

Even though flawed.

 

 

God is not a politician

Out begging for a vote

And with that said I will end

On this sober note.

 

Stewart Russell © November 6, 2024