In but Not Of

 

 

“My kingdom is not of this world”

That’s what Jesus said,

But what did he really mean?

Was it something else instead?

 

He said his servants would fight

If this world were his kingdom,

He could not have meant the cosmos

But the Roman world system.

 

Remember that Pilate had asked

If he was a king

And he made it very clear

Not of this world, no such thing.

 

Pilate finally declared him

To be king of the Jews

But the chief priests rejected this

Implying this was Jesus’ view.

 

Write that’s what he said,

They wanted written on the cross

But Pilate refused their request-

Showing he was still the boss.

 

John 18:36

 

“My kingdom is not of this world”

Keep that in your mind

As we quote Jesus again…

What did he say this time?

 

 

John 17:16

 

“They are not of the world

Even as I am not of the world,”

Jesus is showing his consistency

As both statements concur.

 

Neither he nor his subjects

Are of this world,

If they were when he was not

Then that would be absurd.

 

A king and his domain

Go hand in hand,

It was of a heavenly realm he spoke

In accordance with the divine plan.

 

Not only Pilate had missed this

But also did the Jews,

“We have no king but Caesar,”

Was their expressed view.

 

As long as he is in the world

Jesus is the world’s light

But his kingdom is not of the world

Else his servants would fight.

 

The heavenly parishioner

Is called to be both salt and light

His thinking is not the worldly type

He has heavenly insight.

 

His view is a heavenly city

Not made by human hands,

Just like the holy temple he is,

Not in the Jewish land.

 

 

At present, in the world

But not of the same,

Respecting the civil authorities

But not under their reign.

 

He is a chosen ambassador

With a mission on the earth

But he belongs to another country

Ever since his rebirth.

 

Stewart Russell © June 2020

 

It Is So Sad

 

It is so sad…

The state of our world,

And what some are fighting for

Seems so absurd.

 

Intelligent they are

And well credentialed

But their decisions and endeavours

Are so non-sensical.

 

They say it’s science

As if science is to blame

But I say, it is sad;

Such scientists are insane.

 

Male and female:

How much do they amount?

The so-called intelligent

Has now lost count.

 

Do not discriminate,

This is viewed as hate

And we all live in this world

However sad its state.

 

It is so sad…

The state of our world,

And what some are fighting for

Seems so absurd.

 

The Bible is vilified

Morning, noon and night

As what used to be dead wrong

Is now seen as right.

 

AI is on the rise

And IQ is on the slide

And we wage war to attain peace

With all we despise.

 

Don’t punish wrong

Instead reward it,

This kind of reverse psychology

Should do the trick.

 

Life is a game

We play all day long,

We must play our cards smart

If our hand isn’t strong.

 

Outsmart the poor

In order to get rich

And if something doesn’t belong

Try a force-fit.

 

Remember, it’s the end,

By whatever means:

At times it’s collateral damage,

Occasionally it’s the team.

 

Nothing is too much

To satisfy for one’s dream

And sometimes it may be necessary

To sacrifice the team.

 

It is so sad…

The state of our world,

And what some are fighting for

Seems so absurd.

 

Absurdity has become

Something to go after

And if such were not so tragic

It could bring laughter.

 

But alas, it is so sad

Though many may deny

And while the insane laugh

The hurting cry.

 

Mirth to the insane

Is death to the humane

And while the apathetic sleeps

It occurs again and again.

 

It is so sad

How the Bible is reduced

To an assortment of fairy tales

Some authors produced.

 

It is no different

From any other book,

Just do not take it too seriously;

Have a casual look.

 

It can be gripping

And mighty convicting

And the serious reader may feel

That something is missing.

 

Don’t take the chance

You may be changed

And then everything in your life

Will be rearranged.

 

Priorities will change

But for the better

And the sad state of the world

Will not ultimately matter.

 

It is so sad…

The state of our world,

And what some are fighting for

Seems so absurd.

 

Called to be salt

And called to be light

The believer’s responsibility

Is to exemplify the right.

 

Stewart Russell © November 25, 2024

 

The Enclave

 

 

I know of an enclave

Unlike any other,

It was provided for me

By my Heavenly Father.

 

It is in this world

But not a part thereof,

It’s really the New Jerusalem

Coming down from above.

 

The Apostle saw it

On the Isle of Patmos,

In a vision most clear

When he saw Jesus.

 

It replaced the old one

Covenanted to the Jews,

This one includes you and me

As the Father did choose.

 

Unless there was an old

They can’t be a new

I am speaking of Jerusalem

I trust you catch the view.

 

The old Jerusalem

Has come to an end,

Now there is the New Jerusalem

That the Father did send.

 

 

It is finished, said Jesus,

The old covenant went out,

And with it, the old enclave

It is the new we are about.

 

We don’t have to run in

If we are already inside

For already in Christ,

The believer resides.

 

There is no mix within

As there are in the world,

There is just one in Christ

As shown in the Word.

 

No Jew and Gentile

No black and/or White,

But those indwelt by the Spirit

Having come to the Light.

 

In there we find refuge

During the storms of life

And there, we have the solution,

Re the problem of world-strife.

 

It is God’s kingdom

That is present on the earth

And the entry qualification

Is the new birth.

 

It is the light in the world

And also, the salt,

And if you are not a resident

Then, that is your fault.

 

But that can be corrected

Just respond to the call

That says, “Come into the enclave.

Why do you yet stall?”

 

If your name is whosoever

There is room for you,

And it doesn’t really matter

If you are Gentile or Jew.

 

Come in today

Do no longer delay,

Just heed what the Spirit says

And He’ll show you the way.

 

Stewart Russell © June 2020

 

An Indictment

 

 

If the world will only get worse

Then, what are we doing?

This would be an indictment on us

Surely from where I am viewing.

 

Before I go any further

Let me define “we” and “us”,

By these first-person pronouns I mean

Those named after Jesus.

 

I mean the “born-again”

More commonly known as Christians,

And certainly not “cushions”:

A once popular perversion.

 

The conversation would go like:

“Don’t you know she is a Christian?”

Whereupon there’d be the response,

“You must mean a cushion!”

 

Then would follow a history

Of the unchristian things she does

And the listener’s ears and mind

Would suddenly come abuzz.

 

 

Immediately she’d be indicted

Whether false or true,

For especially in small societies

This is what we do.

 

While this may be a specific

The proverbial brush is applied to all

And this, not only to professors,

But also, to the called.

 

Professors and possessors alike

Painted with the same brush,

And such an indictment causing

A definite lack of trust.

 

If the world will only get worse

Christians are to blame!

Don’t kill the messenger yet,

Give him chance to explain.

 

“Be salt and be light!”

Tell me, how can we do this

If this is an impossible task?

Something is here I miss.

 

 

This is the mandate given

As shown in the Gospel of Matthew

But the glitz and glamour of the world

Have redirected our view.

 

Hence, the indictment is on us

If the world will only get worse,

It means our salt and light are lacking;

We contribute to the curse.

 

Be salt, be light, as Jesus says

Cannot be an impossible task

And that we must be faithful to this

Is all the Saviour asks.

 

He has given the enablement,

He has provided the tools,

The indictment is definitely on us

If we gladly suffer fools.

 

Our outlook must be different

From the one we have settled on,

The world will only get worse

When every Christian is gone.

 

For every born-again believer

The world is a better place,

It is another light to light the dark

And salt to improve its taste.

 

Stewart Russell © January 16, 2022

 

Grasshopper Mentality

 

 

Numbers 13:33

 

And there we saw the giants,

the sons of Anak, which come of the giants:

and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers,

and so we were in their sight.

 

As it was in that day

So, it is in our time,

Not only are we grasshoppers

But so is God in our mind.

 

The land was great

And worthy of possession

But there were giants there:

A gigantic obstruction.

 

Twelve spies were sent out

To spy out the land,

God had promised them it;

That was His plan.

 

The majority reported

The land was already taken

There were giants there

And they were frightened.

 

“They are stronger than we

We can’t go up against them,

No consideration of God;

Don’t you see the problem?

 

 

We look like grasshoppers

in our own sight

And no doubt these giants

Will see us in the same light.”

 

Those giants were too big

Perhaps, even for God,

That’s what ten spies thought

But these were not all.

 

Two read it differently

And urged to possess the land,

They believed, unlike the other ten,

This was God’s command.

 

Well to cut to the chase

They preferred to go elsewhere

And wandered in the desert

For forty years.

 

 

God judged that generation

For their gross unbelief

And all but Joshua and Caleb

Became deceased.

 

None of that generation

Entered the promised land

But Caleb and Joshua,

Not another man.

 

Moses could only view it

From the summit of a mount

Of them that entered

He was not in that count.

 

 

The grasshopper mentality

Is still alive and well

And believers are reluctant

The Good News to tell.

 

The World are the giants

And we are the grasshoppers,

We’ve become so politically correct

The Gospel don’t seem proper.

 

Join them or be quiet

Appears to be the trend

Or simply engage in a show

Of let’s pretend.

 

Some call this hypocrisy

Others call it survival

But the grasshopper mentality

Is a more appropriate title.

 

The World is the field

Where the harvest is ripe

But to them we are grasshoppers

We continually gripe.

 

The Gospel is too good

To waste on these animals

God, come for your church

And save your people.

 

This world is getting worse

Even a blind man can see,

And in this ungodly confusion

Is no place to be.

 

 

We keep on forgetting

That we are salt and light

And the world will get worse

If we refuse to fight.

 

The difference is made

With each soul that is saved

When we carry out the command

Which the Saviour gave.

 

“Go ye therefore

And teach all nations!”

But there are giants in the land:

A gigantic obstruction.

 

 

The world is our Jericho

And God has empowered

But we look like grasshoppers

In their eyes and ours.

 

It’s the grasshopper mentality

That fills us with fear

Causing us to be as grasshoppers

In our eyes and in theirs.

 

Stewart Russell © November 20, 2020