It’s Happening Again

 

 

Here I am again

With this longing to write

But as has happened before

Nothing’s in sight.

 

Nothing on the horizon

Or even beyond,

Maybe I should stop here

And be gone.

 

But it’s a challenge

That I must overcome,

Some idea will come along

Before I am done.

 

Writer’s block?  Nah!

There are so many topics,

I just want to move away

From what is habit.

 

 

I just came on an idea

Let me see if I can work it,

When I have expressed it

Then you can edit.

 

Is God still doing

Or has God already done?

I’d love to have your thoughts

On this precise one.

 

God is a planner

All can see this is a fact,

Having set things in motion

Why would He look back?

 

As though He is man

And does not know in full

Thus, has to make adjustments

Like ordinary people.

 

God who is proactive

Has put everything in place,

No fallaciousness in Him

No, not a trace.

 

 

God’s will be done

As the prayer clearly states,

He alone already knows

What is our fate.

 

As said in another place

All’s history in God’s eyes,

That He knows everything

Is no surprise.

 

God doesn’t have to do

Having already done,

Battles past present and future

He has already won

 

The doing is the Spirit’s

As he directs to the cross,

Another tick in the Book of Life

For no longer lost.

 

It is happening again

Across the whole wide world,

Not my occasional block

But the Gospel is heard.

 

 

Another checked off

That has come home,

Calling safe and election sure;

Nevermore to roam.

 

Stewart Russell © January 16, 2024

 

Not of this World

 

 

Not of this world?

From whence came such?

Go with me to John chapter 18 verse 36

And you will see as much.

 

Jesus answered,

My kingdom is not of this world:

If my kingdom were of this world,

Then would my servants fight,

That I should not be delivered to the Jews:

But now is my kingdom not from hence.

 

“They are not of the world,”

He said, referring his disciples

And like his disciples, the born again

Are his chosen people.

 

 

 

Not of this world,

But pilgrims on a journey

To a city not made with hands

In the heavenlies.

 

To the new Jerusalem

That John saw coming down,

There’s nowhere on this earth

Where it can be found.

 

“For here,” said the Apostle,

“We have no continuing city,

But we seek one to come.”

Paul continued definitively.

 

For he looked for a city

Meaning Abraham,

Whose builder and maker is God

That originated this plan. 

 

A city with foundations,

Not of rock and stone,

But built on the rock, Christ Jesus,

That is, our heavenly home.

 

The Church is the kingdom

Of Jews and Gentiles,

Both purchased with Jesus’ blood

Which none can defile.

 

Not replacement theology

But the unfolding of a plan

Conceived in eternity by the Trinity

And not by man.

 

For verily was our salvation

Before the foundation of the earth:

To the Jew first and then the Gentile

Delivering both from the curse.

 

 

Not of this earth for either,

Jesus made this clear,

But of the new Jerusalem John saw

On Patmos Isle appear.

 

A kingdom that is spiritual

A kingdom within the born-again,

A kingdom that is eternal

A kingdom where Christ reigns.

 

And so, I reiterate

The reassuring words of Jesus

On which we can boldly stand

And in them place our trust.

 

Jesus answered,

My kingdom is not of this world:

If my kingdom were of this world,

Then would my servants fight,

That I should not be delivered to the Jews:

But now is my kingdom not from hence.

 

 

In the world

But surely not of the world

Yet, being the salt and the light

As we reflect God’s Word.

 

Stewart Russell © January 2, 2025

 

God Looked Down

 

 

God looked down

And He smiled then He frowned,

He looked again

Then he saw a cross and a crown.

 

God looked down

And everything was very good,

He smiled a radiant smile

Two people in His garden stood.

 

God looked down

And then he frowned again,

Those two people had found

The path to death and pain.

 

God looked down

On eight people after the flood,

Here was another opportunity

For His children to be good.

 

God looked down

And His smile changed to a frown

For He knew all along

These children would go wrong.

 

God looked down

Across millennia of years

He frowned at the cross

But then a smile appeared.

 

 

This is my beloved Son

In whom I have infinite pleasure

For depraved humanity

This is my utmost treasure.

 

God came down

In the form of His Son

And on Calvary’s tree

Was crucified for everyone.

 

God looked down

As they mocked and ridiculed

And treated His Son

As though a lunatic and fool.

 

God looked down

And on all this he frowned

But the dawn was coming

When His smile would rain down.

 

God looked down

And that frown went away

To be replaced by the smile

As He viewed a coming day

 

For glorious in majesty

Was the Son whom he love

Sitting on the throne beside Him

In heaven above

 

God looks down

And today He still frowns

Because of every human being

Who Him has not yet found

 

But the smile returns

For everyone that comes home

And the Trinity rejoices

Around God’s throne.

 

Stewart Russell © February 2018

 

One with Eternity

 

 

God is one with eternity

Neither came before the other

Neither had a beginning

So no need to bother.

 

God is the eternal being

So are the Spirit and the Word,

None of the three was created

And that is not absurd.

 

In the beginning was the Word

And the Word was God,

So was the Holy Spirit:

The Trinity they are called.

 

Co-essential and co-eternal

Are attributes of all three,

Father, Son and Holy Spirit

The Blessed Trinity.

 

It is not easy to grasp

But the concept is strongly implied,

The Trinity is Bible based

And cannot be denied.

 

The Father, Son and Holy Spirit

Constitute the Eternal One,

These three coexist in eternity

Unlike the gods all gone.

Who made God

Is the question that many pose

Thinking God must have had a beginning

As their argument goes.

 

Then He would be less than God

That we see in the Holy Word

And just like idol worshippers

We too would be absurd.

 

To create an idol and worship it

Is nonsense to the height,

It’s like the blind leading someone

Who still possesses his sight.

 

However, God is the Eternal One

Thus, one with eternity,

He is one but yet three

As expressed in the Trinity.

 

I confess my limitations

And so, I cannot explain,

But if I could, I would be God

And only One can make that claim.

 

That’s God and God alone

Elohim, Jehovah, Yahweh,

The I AM THAT I AM

As Moses was told to say.

The Eternal One

And one with eternity,

Creating time and space and matter

The universal Sovereignty.

 

Not constrained by time

Or contained by the depth of space,

Not defined by earthly matter

Or by the human race.

 

In His image created He them

But He Himself was not created,

The Eternal One is He

Just as the Bible stated.

 

Three-in-One I must repeat

It needs to be emphasized,

The Lord God Jehovah is one God

And there is none besides.

 

One with Eternity

 

Stewart Russell © November 27, 2021

 

Somebody's before Somebody

 

 

Yes, there is a difference

Between these two:

Somebody’s and Somebody

‘Tis very true.

 

I am somebody’s

Before I am somebody,

This is so both physically

And socially.

 

I am somebody

Because I am somebody’s,

Were it not for my parents

I’d be nobody.

 

There is nobody

And there is a nobody:

The former has never existed

And the latter is socially.

 

 

If one is a nobody

That one is frowned upon

And more often is regarded

As a nobody’s son.

 

Lacking in status,

The lowest of the lows

And in dress and behaviour,

This is likely to show.

 

However, though,

He is still somebody

Due to the unmistakable fact

He is here physically.

 

Born of a woman

Thus, the seed of a man,

But very unlike Jesus Christ

In redemption’s plan.

 

 

Jesus the God-Man

Was the seed of the woman

Only in so much as to effect

Salvation’s plan.

 

I am somebody’s

Before I was somebody,

Not only physically and socially

But also spiritually.

 

Possessed by Christ

And born of the Spirit,

I am spiritually somebody

Though not by merit.

 

Bought back

By his atoning blood,

Jesus did for depraved me

What no one else could.

 

Being God’s child

Makes me not only somebody’s

But in Christ Jesus

I am somebody.

 

Born again

Not of the will of man

But of the blessed Holy Spirit-

The Triune plan.

 

I am somebody’s:

Owned by the Trinity

And this makes me somebody

Because of Christ in me.

 

 

 

Redeemed by the Father

Redeemed through the Son,

Kept in the Holy Spirit-

They Three-in-One.

 

Somebody’s, I am God’s,

Somebody in Christ,

Possessed by the Holy Spirit,

They three suffice.

 

Somebody's before Somebody

A physical and spiritual fact,

Born of the flesh and of the Spirit

Let's give thanks for that.

 

Stewart Russell © March 18, 2024

 

Science and Religion

 

Are these two opposed?

Many seem to think so,

I think they complement one another

And that’s what I will show.

 

Science is not anti-God

As even some Christians suppose

But we can do science because of God

And that’s what I propose.

 

For sure we all know

Laws are pivotal to science,

And it is Almighty God the Creator

Upon whom science is reliant.

 

God is all knowing, all wise,

And one with eternity,

He with the Son and the Holy Spirit

Forms the blessed Trinity.

 

Three persons in the Godhead

The first of many Triads,

Like time and space and matter:

In each what do we have?

 

 

Time is definitely a triad

With present, past and future,

It is Almighty God that created time-

I trust you get the picture.

 

 

In time he created space;

Space is length, width and height,

In space he stretched out the heavens

We see on a starry night.

 

 

In time He created the earth;

Matter is solid, liquid and gas,

In the beginning God created everything

Thousands of years in the past.

 

God established all science

And without Him there would be none,

By His Son all things consist

And Jesus is His Son. 

 

John 1:1-4

 

In the beginning was the Word,

And the Word was with God,

And the Word was God.

The same was in the beginning with God.

 

All things were made by him;

And without him

Was not anything made that was made.

In him was life;

And the life was the light of men.

 

Science dissects things

To see how they are made,

I tried the same thing as a youngster

But I consistently failed.

 

 

For having dissected things

I could not put them together again,

Somewhat like Humpty Dumpty-

You could well imagine my pain.

 

Religion puts them back together

To see what they mean,

The two complement one another

As facilitated by the Supreme.

 

God is not anti-science

There is absolutely no way He could be,

Creation is too full of science

That anyone can see.

 

Psalm 19:1-2

 

The heavens declare God’s glory

And the firmament shows his handiwork.

Day unto day utters speech,

And night unto night shows knowledge.

 

 

The Bible is full of science

And makes a great science text,

When science and religion are combined

Things become less complex.

 

Stewart Russell © September 19, 2023

No Unemployment in the Kingdom

 

 

 

Can’t find employment?

Disappointed at every interview?

Are you beginning to feel

There’s nothing for you to do?

 

Been trying for a long time?

Now about to give up?

Weighed down in your soul

And feeling out of luck?

 

Far from hiring on people

Companies are laying off

And even qualified persons

Have also suffered job loss.

 

It’s a global thing, you know,

A felt need to downsize,

Especially having the computer

Employment is minimized.

 

The technology is phasing out

The need for all these workers,

Especially since it was discovered

Computers are never shirkers.

 

 

They don’t take off time

Unless of course, they are switched off

And if they ever go bad

It’s not an irreparable loss.

 

And consider this recession,

World economies are shrinking,

Hence, to hire on new people

Would never be wise thinking.

 

But there’s one who is hiring

Workers for His field,

They are ripe for harvesting

And promise tremendous yield.

 

 

There is no unemployment

In the Father’s kingdom,

Heed the Macedonian call today

That is offered by His Son.

 

No chance of being retrenched

Or of being made redundant,

Be a fellow-worker with Jesus Christ

In gathering in the penitent.

 

Sign on to be a worker

That would never be out of work,

No unemployment in God’s kingdom

Or even in His Church.

 

It is a family business

In case you did not know

And the Father, Son and Spirit

Are the three C.E.O.’s.

 

Once you have enlisted

You become a kingdom heir

And if you read the Covenant

That would be made quite clear.

 

You’d be in the family business

With no chance of being fired,

So, rid yourself of unemployment

And offer yourself for hire.

 

 

Labour is never in vain

If you are labouring for the Lord,

You will be eternally rewarded,

It says so in His Word.

 

No unemployment in the kingdom

God has a work for you,

Get involved in the family business

And He will show you what to do.

 

Stewart Russell © March 2020