God’s Foreknowledge

 

 

Did you always know

What you now know?

If every iota of it

Please show!

 

Do you now know

What you will know?

Well, if you already do,

How is this so?

 

Foreknowledge is knowing

Past, present and future,

Every iota of it:

The total picture.

 

Not just a part of it

But the entire volume,

Very unlike any human being

Who must assume.

 

So, I ask again,

Did you always know

What you now know?

Please show!

 

Do you now know

All you will ever know?

Well, if you already do

How is this so?

 

But God does:

Both future and past

And He is the only one

In His unique class.

 

The unit set

They would say in Math:

The only one to be found

In such a class.

 

This is not dumb!

Someone has to be

And He has to be omnipotent

To create all we see.

 

Infinite knowledge

With wisdom to boot

With never ever an occasion

To utter, “Oh, shoot!”

 

A mild admission

Something is wrong

But with the Almighty God

This does not belong.

 

 

Not a single mistake

Has God ever made,

It is beings with choice

That always have failed.

 

Lucifer in heaven

Adam and Eve on earth,

Both yearning to satisfy

Their lustful thirst.

 

But God is love

And love permits choice,

That is, to obey or disobey

The lover’s voice.

 

Love is not withheld

By what can happen

And neither was God’s love

When Satan threatened.

 

 

 

God knows

What He always knew,

Nothing is hidden from Him

All’s within His view.

 

So, if you know

What you always knew

Then you would have to be God-

That’s a logical view.

 

But only God knows

What He always knew,

Therefore, let all men be liars

And let God be true.

 

No knowledge

Outside of God’s knowledge,

Foreknowledge in a narrow sense

Is God-given knowledge.

 

Stewart Russell © May 15, 2024

 

You Don’t Know

 

 

You don’t know what you don’t know

Though you argue that you know,

Such an argument is baseless

And I shouldn’t have to tell you so.

 

You can know what you don’t know

But only if you know you don’t know,

When you know that you don’t know

That’s a step to getting in the know.

 

He that knows that he does not know:

That one is a child and can be taught,

Quite unlike the fool that does not know

And leaves us feeling quite distraught.

 

 

He that knows not that he knows not:

The same is a fool and must be shunned,

Of such are many of our leaders today

Who I wish were like King Solomon.

 

The wisest man that ever lived

Because he confessed that he didn’t know,

And by so admitting this to the One above

Of wisdom was given an abundant store.

 

Unlike our so-called gifted leaders

That wallow in self-important ignorance,

Solomon turned to the Leader of leaders

And in humility requested guidance.

 

 

You don’t know what you don’t know!

Tell this to our world leaders

That attempt to take on God-like status

But invariably are fakes and imposters.

 

You don’t know what you don’t know!

Tell this to the leaders in the church

That are obsessed with titles of importance

And becoming ineffective experts.

 

Pardon my harshness if you will

But some have long forgotten their calling

And given their misguided, self-righteous bent,

Many of their constituents are ailing.

 

You don’t know what you don’t know!

Members of Parliament, can you hear?

The draconian and austerity measures you bring

Are now too much for us to bear.

 

 

You don’t know what you don’t know!

Madam Prime Minister, are you listening?

I sincerely hope that you are still aware

Given the numerous trips you are making.

 

You don’t know what you don’t know

But you can if you are not a fool,

Learning ought to be a life-long endeavor

And the world is everybody’s school.

 

Stewart Russell © November 24, 2023

 

Spiritual Growth

 

 

 

We have heard quite a lot

Concerning spiritual growth

And there are some among us

That make a boast.

 

They speak of many exploits

On the battlefield

As though their performance

Gains them heaven’s seal.

 

Some pray a whole lot

Certainly, more than I do

And they believe that much prayer

Is what gets them through.

 

And still others I know of

Are very steep in the Word

And they can explain most anything

Both heard and unheard.

 

But none of these, I tell you,

Though spiritual components,

Comprise a summary of spiritual growth

For the Christian adherent.

 

In my early years in teaching

I was introduced to the following

That “Learning changes behavior”

Was a fundamental maxim.

 

This became my pivotal lens

For observing student-progress,

It was manifested by their behavior

In their assessment tests.

 

 

Coaches use this too

To determine a player’s grasp

Re the coaching techniques employed

In a particular task.

 

This became more meaningful

When in the Bible I saw

Colossians 1 verses 9-11:

The Spiritual Growth Law.

 

You can go there now

And read the same for yourself,

Just dust the old Bible off

After you take it off the shelf.

 

I find especially these days

That dust is on the move,

In its movement and settlement

It can clog up the grooves.

 

In this scriptural reference

You will certainly find

A definitive spiritual growth cycle

You can use every time.

 

 

In verse 9 is knowledge

Which is a critical component

But which in itself means little,

If not used with wisdom.

 

You can recite the whole Bible

From cover to cover

But without Holy Spirit's wisdom,

You still won’t be clever.

 

It is knowledge plus wisdom

That brings about insight,

Yes, the aha moment, my friend,

That suddenly looms bright!

 

“I did not see this before!”

You are most likely to exclaim

When knowledge, the unexplained,

Meets wisdom, the explained.

 

But that’s not all there is

Re the combination of these two,

We have got some way to go

Before we can be through.

 

I used the word insight

Just about three verses above

And this word means understanding

Which forms the spiritual hub.

 

"And with all thy getting

Get understanding!"

The counsel of the wise Solomon

As he developed its meaning.

 

Proverbs 4:7

 

Wisdom is the principal thing;

Therefore, get wisdom:

And with all thy getting

get understanding.

 

With understanding, learning

And with learning, behaviour,

Behaviour that reflects the image

Of Jesus Christ, our Saviour.

 

That ye might walk worthy,

Worthy of the Lord and pleasing,

Being fruitful in every good work

And in his knowledge increasing.

 

Thus, the continual cycle:

Knowledge wisdom understanding,

A pleasing walk and fruit bearing

And back to the beginning.

 

Ephesians 4:15

 

But speaking the truth in love,

May grow up into him in all things,

Which is the head,

even Christ.

 

Colossians 1:9-10

 

Understanding brings learning

Learning changes behaviour

Behaviour evidences fruit bearing

That is pleasing to the Saviour.

 

This is spiritual growth

As we journey through the years,

Cyclic as we walk from day to day

Changing through life's gears.

 

Colossians 1:11

 

Strenthened with all might

According to God’s glorious power,

Unto all patience and long suffering

With joyfulness.

 

 

Thus, this is spiritual growth

Just plain and simply so,

More than what we boast about

Or even what we know.

 

Stewart Russell © November 14, 2022

 

A Ledge and Alleged

 

 

What have these in common

And how are they set apart?

Let’s go to the very beginning,

It’s a very good place to start.

 

All the letters you find in one

You will also find in the other

But if you should number them

That’s a different matter.

 

Allegations and alligators

Lies and crocodiles,

An infestation of reptilian distortions

Operating under disguise.

 

 

Now for some definitions

Of the two terms we started with

And hopefully along the way

You will catch my drift.

 

Uncertain of his information

He used the term “alleged”,

He feared a lawsuit was beckoning

And he was out on “a ledge”.

 

It’s not the safest of places

With little or no protection,

And if it is five or six stories high…

Just use your imagination.

 

What a height from which to fall!

That’s a long, long way down,

Not enough time to change one’s mind

By the time he hits the ground.

 

 

Alleged is a serious business

And fraught with serious risks,

So too are unfounded allegations

Shrouded in illusory mist.

 

He alleged and she alleged-

An attempt to mirror the truth

But what’s concealed in the cellar

Will show up on the roof.

 

What more can I say

About these two sound alike terms?

It’s like, if one plays with fire,

One is likely to be burned.

 

 

The moral of this poem is:

Some ledges are not safe

And alleged if used in a court of law

May require more than faith.

 

On this I rest my case

Regarding “a ledge” and “alleged”,

You see, I am very afraid of heights

And can’t see behind a hedge.

 

It’s wise to use wisdom

Before employing one’s tongue,

Your “alleged” might be “a ledge”

Way high up from the ground.

 

Stewart Russell © February 23, 2024

 

The Embers of 2023

 

 

It is Day number 365

Of the year 2023,

In the next fourteen hours or so

It will pass into eternity.

 

Never to return again

Like a moment that is passed,

Complete all unfinished tasks

For 2023 is going fast.

 

Within reason, of course,

Is wisdom’s way,

That which would take a year

Cannot be done in a day.

 

Herein is a wise thought

To take into the New,

When the time finally runs out

There’s nothing we can do.

 

 

It is like a raging fire

That finally burns itself out,

Not much the embers can do then

And this is without doubt.

 

Anything to be achieved

Must now be a daily task

For a year-long project at this time,

Is an unreasonable ask.

 

We are into embers now

Of a flame that burnt all year

And all we can carry forward

Are memories and fears.

 

No amount of fanning

Can reignite these final embers,

Like every year that has passed

This will be gone forever.

 

The greatest of plans

If by this time not executed,

They are like a sound no one heard,

They are forever muted.

 

 

Their embers are dying

Never ever to be awaken,

Soon 2023 will have passed

Though not to be forgotten.

 

Memories good and bad

Will battle on in our active mind

But regarding the year 2023,

It will be gone for all time.

 

Stewart Russell © December 31, 2023

 

What Is Your Life?

 

 

 

This is a question we must ponder

As we walk this passage of time,

When we plan our lifelong ambitions

It should be optimal on our mind.

 

For your life is but only a vapour

That perishes with the rising sun

And relative to the passage of time,

In a moment, it is done.

 

Tomorrow you will do so and so

Like it is the inevitable plan

Not recognizing as you really should

The frailty that is man.

 

And so, James poses this question

In the book that carries his name,

What is your life, he asks of his audience

Back then and to us again and again.

 

It is a flower of the grass, he posits,

That arises in all of its beauty

But is scorched by the heat of the sun

As it proceeds on its tour of duty.

 

For the sun rises every day

And this is the constant that has been

But not so every human being

As every one of us has seen.

 

 

The fleeting nature of a vapour

Speaks to the frailty of man

And the short-lived beauty of the flower

Contextualizes his plans.

 

It is even a vapour, James exclaims

Notice he did not say like,

A word to the academic and erudite

That think they are ever so bright.

 

It is even a flower of the grass

Mindless of its stunning beauty

A word of admonishment to the vain

And also to the haughty.

 

Your life is a vapour and a flower

And soon it quickly fades away

But there is more to life than meets the eye

And this should help to make your day.

 

It is a gift from the Source of life

That is none other than Almighty God

And all who have a different view

Walk hand in hand with the fraud.

 

For Satan would have you to believe

What the Bible calls the lie

When he himself does not believe it

But after all, he is Mr. Sly.

 

So teach us to number our days

The psalmist would have us understand

And to apply our hearts to wisdom

Would be the number one plan.

 

 

Be like a vapour that succours a plant

Though short be its stay

And a flower that shares its beauty

To light up another’s day.

 

Stewart Russell © December 22, 2020