The First Star on A Tree

 

 

The first star on a tree

Was not the wise men’s star

Though to a stable that led

Those wise men from afar.

 

Neither was it

On the first Christmas tree

And stood at the summit

To cap its beauty.

 

No Christmas tree is complete

Without that star on the top,

Of a Christmas tree’s many stars

It holds the top spot.

 

 

No star shines as brightly

As that topmost star,

Just like that star in the heavens

That led wise men from afar.

 

But that’s not the first star

That was ever on a tree,

To truly view that star

One must revisit Mount Calvary.

 

Not that first Christmas

When heaven’s angels had sung

But that first Good Friday

When from a tree Jesus hung.

 

 

On that roughly hewn cross

Hung the brightest ever star:

The light of the world

Though disfigured and marred.

 

No longer does he hang

From that old rugged cross

But like the star o’er Bethlehem

He still beckons the lost.

  

Let there be light

Did not mean the moon or the sun

But the initial unveiling

Of Jesus, God’s Son…

 

That would light the world

Which in darkness was flung

When our fore parents

That grave sin had done.

 

 

This star always existed

Unlike the stars in the night

And still brings wise men to himself

Since he is the light.

 

The first star on a tree

If you’ve grasped what I mean

And not on the first Christmas tree

O'er a nativity scene.

 

As you gaze this Christmas time

On the Christmas tree,

Do not only recall Bethlehem

But remember Calvary.

 

 

 

For ‘twas the tree at Calvary

From which Jesus did hang

Very unlike the Bethlehem event

When heaven’s angels sang.

 

Jesus, the light of the world

The first star on a tree

Was crucified at Calvary

For you and for me.

 

Stewart Russell © December 13, 2020

 

Not Out of My Mind

 

 

I’m not out of my mind

Only half way there,

Some call me half-mad

But I don’t particularly care.

 

I have been like this

For a good while now

But in a world of mad people

I have managed somehow.

 

Do I miss the lost half?

Not ever,

Would I seek after it?

No, never.

 

Why not, I hear you ask,

The answer is very simple,

I have half more than you

And most other people.

 

Out of my mind?

No, just the useless half,

I still have that part

That makes me laugh.

 

If you no longer laugh

You’ve lost the critical half,

You are a raft in life’s ocean

Without an oar or mast.

 

To lose this half

Is to lose all your mind,

This half makes you laugh

Even when you are in a bind.

 

Laughing at yourself

Is one of the evidences

And by the way, even in that bind

You can still rest.

  

Out of my mind?

How would you tell

If you have totally lost yours

And cannot be well?

 

Just imagine this!

The mad assessing the half-mad,

If that’s how we are operating

Then things are really bad.

 

Then the mad will rule

And the half-mad will serve...

Breaking News! That’s what it is,

The last news I’ve heard.

 

Now you’ve stop laughing

You’ve joined the totally mad,

No appreciation for a joke

That is very sad.

 

Stewart Russell © November 1, 2020

 

A COVID-19 Christmas

 

 

I’ve heard of a white Christmas

And of a blue Christmas too

But never of a COVID Christmas

Tell me, have you?

 

A Christmas full of snow

And a Christmas without you

But a COVID-19 Christmas!

More reasons to be blue.

 

A Christmas wearing a mask

Like we are Santa Clause

Cutting back on the celebration

And not for just a pause.

 

A pause to focus on Christ

In the Christmas midnight mass

Or in the early morning service

Before the dawn is passed.

 

This year will be different

As COVID-19 fills our thoughts,

For some, merriment curtailed

And others, utterly distraught.

 

A COVID-19 Christmas

Among our Christmas wishes

And with the wearing of masks

Hindering Christmas kisses.

 

In fact, physical distancing

Has outlawed our Christmas hugs

And this excessive hand sanitizing

Is a constant Christmas humbug.

 

 

A reminder of Ebenezer Scrooge

That infamous hater of Christmas

Whose Christmas pleasantries

Were worse than a wintry blast.

  

COVID-19 in Christmas 2020

And not looking to leave soon,

The prospect of a virtual Christmas,

A Christmas spent on ZOOM.

 

Some, if home for Christmas,

Might be in quarantine,

Not even in the war time

Was there such a depressing scene.

 

An agreed cease-fire

Specially arranged for Christmas day

But in the case of COVID-19,

The obvious answer is “No way”.

 

 

A time without COVID-19

Seems like in the distant past

And keeping this humbug away

Appears an impossible task.

 

But there is a consolation

In a Christmas without the mass,

It is an opportunity for certain

To focus on the Christ, at last!

 

So, for this year twenty-twenty

No need to lose all hope,

Put the Christ back in Christmas

And with COVID you will cope.

 

This is just another lesson

That COVID has come to teach,

While much is beyond our grasp

Christ is within our reach.

 

 

So, put him in your Christmas

During this COVID season,

For the fact there is a Christmas,

Jesus is the reason.

 

Stewart Russell © December 10, 2020

 

Metaphorically Speaking

 

A friend inspired this-

We’ll just call him Winfield

And if you must know a bit more

Pastor would be ideal.

 

He sends devotions daily-

They are simple but profound

And his dependence on the Word

Shows he’s on solid ground.

 

In this one he cited metaphors

Descriptive of the Word

Showing its reliability and ability

To function as God’s Sword.

 

 

James 1:23-25

 

God’s Word is a reliable mirror

Into which a man may look,

Such a man is blessed in all his deeds

If he walks in the way of the Book.

 

1 Peter 1:23

 

God’s Word is a thriving seed

That when sown in the human heart

Brings forth fruit in due season

That will never ever depart.

 

Ephesians 5:25-27

 

God’s word is the purest water

That cleanses and refreshes

And amidst the heat of our daily grind

Our thirst it abundantly quenches.

 

Psalm 119:105

 

A lamp to our feet and light to our path

That unerringly points the way,

More reliable than the mid-day sun

That shines each and every day.

Ephesians 6:17

 

God’s Word pierces and divides

Just like a two-edged sword

And nothing can discern a man’s thoughts

Like God’ sword, His Holy Word.

 

Job 23:12

 

It’s more than one’s necessary food

According to Job’s confession

It strengthens and develops all those

That value its instruction.

 

 

1 Peter 2:2; Hebrews 5:12-14

 

It is milk for the spiritual babes

As well as meat for the more mature

And once one feeds on the Holy Word

Spiritual growth is assured.

 

John 6:51

 

The bread that came from heaven

Even the Lord, Jesus Christ

That gave himself for you and me

And declares, “I am the bread of life.”

 

Luke 24:32

 

God’s Word is an internal fire

With the power to judge and purify,

Removing all impurities from each heart

That the Holy Spirit occupies.

 

 

A mirror and seed; water and fire

And a discerning two-edged sword,

More important than our necessary food

Is God’s everlasting Word.

 

Bread of heaven and bread of life

On which we spiritually thrive,

The lamp that lights our spiritual path

And the light that daily guides.

 

These are but a few of the metaphors

That define God’s infallible Word,

If you are yet to come in line with it

I deem that as being absurd.

 

Such was I before I was convinced

Of the truths contained therein,

But praise to God who showed the way

And deliver me from my sin.

 

And now His Word is my very life

For without it I am nothing,

And that, in fact, is my crowning metaphor

Thanks to my Lord and King.

 

 

Is God’s Word your compass

In these rough and unchartered waters?

If not, there is much you will lose

In the now and the hereafter.

 

Stewart Russell © November 18, 2020

 

Living in the Shadows?

 

 

“Living in the shadows?

What do you mean?”

Read on further I would suggest,

See what you can glean.

 

Obstacles cast shadows

When they block out the sun

Like the horizon

When the day is done.

 

This is the natural order

As we move from day to day,

That huge shadow is called night

This is the Creator’s way.

 

In a comforting sense

Shadows provide us with shade

Especially on a hot day

When our strength would fail.

 

 

But there is a downside too,

Especially when we need the light,

Shadows can cause darkness

That robs us of good sight.

 

So too in a spiritual sense

As in the case of the Colossians,

And to add another church

The case of the Galatians.

 

Let no man judge you

In meat or in drink

Don’t let new moons and sabbaths

Determine how you think.

 

 

Colossians 2:17; Hebrews 1 

 

These were only a shadow

Of that which was to come,

Thanks to God for His unspeakable gift

The entire work is done.

  

Why live in the shadows?

Why the weak and beggarly elements?

Jesus is the once for all sacrifice

And that to the fullest extent.

 

Even the Old Testament Law

Was a shadow of things to come,

Now there is a better covenant

And to Jesus we ought to run.

 

Why live in the shadows

When there is light?

This light that is offered is Jesus

And he waits to enhance your sight.

 

 

The only shadow that matters

Is the shadow of the cross,

Beneath his cross I will take my stand

For I am no longer lost.

 

Galatians 4:9

 

Not the weak and beggarly elements

But the precious blood of Christ,

Not Sabbaths, new moons or the Law

But his atoning sacrifice.

 

No shadowy existence for me

But I am walking in the light,

Filled with the Holy Spirit

That guides my steps aright.

 

His law is written on my heart

I have been made anew,

No obscurity on account of shadows

And heaven is within my view.

 

Stewart Russell © November 2, 2020

 

Not Me Not You

 

I am no higher animal

And neither are you,

I was made in God’s image

And so were you.

 

Dismiss the folly as of now

It doesn’t make sense,

Calling anyone an animal

Is an offense.

 

Be it a dog, a goat or an ass

You would be offended,

Yet this scientific ideology

You’ve constantly defended.

 

 

There’s a colossal difference

That surely you can see

Between any of the primates

And you or me.

 

Show me their homes

And show me their families,

Show me where they live

And their communities.

 

Show me their transport

How do they commute?

Same as always

You cannot dispute.

 

 

Any religious observance?

There’s absolutely none,

No acknowledgement

Of the Father or the Son.

 

Their routines are instinctive

They seldom change,

That’s because their behaviour

Was prearranged.

  

You and I were made

In the image of God,

The very one who created us

Whom we should applaud.

 

Not a single animal,

Not the ape or monkey

Can be compared in any way

To you or me.

 

We innovate

Thus, making life easier,

Any ape that did such

Would create a stir.

 

 

Where are their buses

Their cars and their trains?

Show me their ocean vessels

And show me their planes.

 

They do not buy and sell

Like you and I do,

No mercantile system yet

And none in view.

 

No schools and colleges

No educational institutions,

No hospitals or clinics

No organizations.

 

 

No parliament, no senate,

Judiciary or constabulary,

No burial rites

And no cemetery.

 

No view to a higher life

After this one is passed,

No sense of the future

Or even the past.

 

Animals live in the now

Even as we do

But we plan for tomorrow,

At least, I know I do.

 

Humans are not animals

Do not be confused,

Any suggestion I am one

Makes me feel abused.

 

I take it as an insult

And I abhor the thought

For from my first birth

Human was my default.

 

 

Human at my first birth

But now born again,

Adopted in the family of God

And bears His Son’s name.

 

Christ-like in my endeavour,

Though not perfect in my walk

But by the blood of Jesus,

A saint is my default.

 

I could never be an animal

Since I was not created one,

There is a colossal difference

So mad scientist, be gone!

 

Stewart Russell © October 5, 2020