My Purpose

My purpose in establishing this blog is neither for material gain nor recognition of any sort. Most of the postings will be poetry that I am certain the Lord has given me, most of it written over the past twenty years, often from ideas that came to me in the wee hours of the morning. Most of my poetry has to do with Christian ideas and thoughts that give another perspective to what many of us who wear the Name of Christ have experienced or are experiencing. No one has learned more about God and the way that He works with and through man than I have as I worked my way through each of these writings. It is my hope and prayer than all who take the time to read what I have been given to put on paper will gain new insights and be uplifted and strengthened by these words that I have been given.

God Has No Opposite

A great many Christians, I’m afraid, unwittingly subscribe to the doctrine of dualism, even though they may never heard of it nor have even the slightest idea of what the term means. They tend, I ‘m convinced, to think of God and Satan as two great cosmic forces who are equally balanced and who are locked in an almost equal struggle for the control of the universe. Nothing could be farther from the truth! To explain the difference is the purpose of this poem.

God Has No Opposite

God has no opposite. There is no perfect imperfection,
And hate as deep as His great love Is but a human misconception.
The goodness of God is absolute; That cannot be said of evil,
For evil is but corrupted good. ‘Tis pride that corrupts the devil.
Satan is not God’s opposite! He’s but a fallen angel;
As a bad man is to one that’s good, So old Satan is to Michael.
Without good, you see, there would be no bad; They’re not mutually exclusive,
For bad is but corrupted good. It’s not what but how men use it.
Satan’s sin was selfish pride And he passed it on to man.
He made self the object of man’s love Instead of the great “I AM.”
He took the things that God had made And turned them upside down,
Turned love to hate and life to death And brought a curse upon the ground.
No, Satan is not God’s opposite. He’s an angel with free will
Who chose, instead of serving God, To hate and maim and kill;
To corrupt and destroy what God calls good, With a special hate for man,
Whom God created to share His love As the focus of His great Plan.
Yes, God certainly has no opposite, And we need to understand
That Satan is not His equal, But a rebel to God’s command;
A rebel whose been defeated, Whose plans have been brought to naught
By the death of God’s Son on Calvary’s cross, Which mankind’s redemption bought.

a. franklin staples

January 22, 1991
© 1991 by A. Franklin Staples

The Ways of God Are Not my Ways

THE WAYS OF GOD ARE NOT MY WAYS!

The ways of God are not my ways, for He alone is Lord.
Really all that I can do is take Him at His word.
The thoughts of God are not my thoughts; much higher His than mine,
For He sees through all eternity while I am bound by time.

The ways of God are not my ways, for His are straight and sure.
While mine are twisted and bent by sin, His are Holy and Pure.
The thoughts of God are not my thoughts, not logical to me,
But human logic does not stand up to the God of Eternity.

The ways of God are not my ways. They are past finding out.
I need not bother to tax my strength to seek what they're about.
The thoughts of God are not my thoughts, for He is infinite.
My finite mind can't comprehend His Wisdom and His Might.

The ways of God are not my ways. He is the God of Power
While I am weak and poor and blind. I need Him every hour.
The thoughts of God are not my thoughts. He end from beginning sees
While my poor mind oft cannot discern the forest for the trees.

The ways of God are not my ways. I cannot understand
How He made the worlds and holds them up by the power of His hand.
The thoughts of God are not my thoughts. His are Holy, Righteous, Just.
Mine are weak and base and lowly. In Him alone can I trust.

The ways of God are not my ways. He's of infinite dimension,
But length and depth and width and time are all that I can mention.
The thoughts of God are not my thoughts. His Wisdom and His grace
My feeble efforts so far surpass as to make them commonplace.

The ways of God are not my ways. I see His mighty acts
And consider them as miracles. To Him they are but facts.
The thoughts of God are not my thoughts. His are the sublime.
Mine are human, shallow, earthy, confined in a span of time.

The ways of God are not my ways. He does not act in haste,
While I don't take time to smell the flowers or to savour some great taste.
The thoughts of God are not my thoughts. He is the God of love.
My thoughts are often fixed below, not on things above.

The ways of God are not my ways. My mind cannot take in
His Goodness and His Mercy, or His Judgment of man's sin.
God's thoughts are not my thoughts. I can do no more than try
To live as He directs me, and on His Grace rely.

God's ways are not my ways. I cannot understand
How He will deal eternally with those in heathen lands.
God's thoughts are not my thoughts. I can do no more
Than rest upon His promises, for they are true and sure.

a. franklin staples
1 Based on Isaiah 55:8,9

January 16, 1989

Copyright © 1989
by
A. Franklin Staples