The Rock of My Salvation

    Mangers— To those of us who live in North America, they are hay boxes made of wood, and so they are depicted in Christmas manger scenes throughout the Western World. But mangers in Judea in the time of Jesus earthly sojourn were hewn from solid stone, either free-standing or hewn out of the wall of the cave being used as a stable.

    Have you who have read God’s Word considered the number of times rocks and stones are associated with our Lord Jesus Christ, both in the Old and the New Testaments?

    Both Moses and David refer to Him as the “Rock of Salvation,” David specifying the “Rock of my salvation;” Isaiah calls Him a “great Rock in a weary land;” Isaiah, Paul and Peter all refer to Him as a “Rock of offence;” Paul says He was a stone of stumbling; Jesus Himself said that upon Himself, “This Rock,” He would build His Church; Matthew said of Him, “The stone that the builders rejected, the same became the head of the corner;” Daniel saw Him as the “stone cut out of the mountain without hands” which dashed the image of Nebuchadnezzar to pieces, and so on.

    I awoke this morning, December 5, 1987, with these images passing through my mind and then came the words to this poem:

    The “Rock of My Salvation”

The “Rock of my salvation” was laid in a manger of stone
When He came as a babe in Bethlehem To make this earth His home.

“Thou art the Christ, the Son of God,” Said Peter, a little stone,
Of the “Rock of my salvation,” Jesus the Cornerstone.

The “Rock of my salvation” Was laid in a tomb of stone
When He died on the cross of Calvary For my sin to atone.

The “Rock of my salvation” Came forth from that tomb of stone,
Forever and ever conquering death, Jesus, and Him alone.

Said the “Rock of my salvation” As He stood on Mount Olive’s stone,
“Go, preach, baptize, and teach,” Then into heaven was gone.

But the “stone cut out of the mountain” All nations will claim as His own,
When the “Rock of my salvation” Shall return to sit on His Throne.

    — a. franklin staples       

Copyright © 1987 by a. franklin staples

Fathers

    Fathers

Let’s thank the Lord for fathers on this their special day;
We make so much of mothers that fathers fade away.

In far too many cases, the majority, it seems,
The lot of many fathers is to be behind the scenes.

Our society’s great disaster is that fathers, to their grief,
Have given up, forsaken, their place as head and priest.

Instead of being honoured as head of house and home,
O so many fathers let mothers stand alone.

The home has suffered greatly; the world’s in disarray;
Divorce is running rampant and children run away,

Or else, in many cases, they’re physically abused
By mothers and by fathers who don’t care how they are used.

So stand up, Christian father, and take your priestly place
As head of home and household; yea, stand there by God’s grace.

Be not among the weaklings; stand straight and tall and sure
On the Holy Word of Almighty God that ever shall endure.

Give love and honour to your wife, as Christ has loved His own,
And work with her, side by side, to make a loving home

Where children are welcomed, cherished, with love that’s sweet and pure,
Disciplined, trained up in the Lord, and made to feel secure.

We give honour to our mothers and to our fathers, too,
For God, in His commandments, so said that we should do.

Let us not forget the fathers when honour is being given,
For a Christian father is a blessing from the Father who’s in heaven.

    — a. franklin staples                

    Copyright © 1993 by a. franklin staples

A Forgiving Spirit

    A Forgiving Spirit

    Our Lord Jesus Christ, on the cross, said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” This is the great example of forgiveness that I, if I am to be Christ-like, must follow.

    No matter what men may say about me or to me or would attempt to do to me, none of it can upset me or divert me from God’s Way if I have a forgiving spirit! Of what value is it, or what satisfaction can my critic or adversary derive from it, if I have already forgiven him for it?

    And not only that, but it brings to me peace of mind that would be impossible to obtain by any means if I allowed it to be unforgiven, but rather went around bearing a grudge or a hurt feeling day after day.

    Yes, I am only human, but I cannot allow myself to use that as an excuse to commit the sin of being unforgiving. I am human, but I am being remade to conform to the image and likeness of the Creator God, covered by the precious blood of His Son, Jesus Christ, and sustained daily by the power of the Holy Ghost. Like everyone else, I must take life as He gives it — ONE DAY AT A TIME — and casting all of my burdens and cares on Him, strive daily to do His will.

    a. franklin staples

Copyright © 1985 by A. Franklin Staples

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

Remembrance Day

What Do You Remember?

What do you remember of Nineteen and Thirty-nine
When war-clouds darkened the world’s skies To which yet some were blind?
What do you remember of that time of awful strife;
Of the German hordes and their Nazi lords and their disregard for life?
What do you remember of that time of total war,
When Canada’s sons and daughters fought on foreign shores?
What do you remember of those days now long gone by
When men-of-war plied the Seven Seas and warplanes filled the sky?
What do you remember of the bloodshed, the pain, the fear
Of “Missing in action; presumed dead.” — Words loved ones dreaded to hear?
What do you remember of that time away back then;
Of blackouts and of Victory Bonds and talk of fighting men?
What do you remember of Nineteen and Forty-five;
Of weary men on battle fronts just glad to be alive?
What do you remember, if anything at all,
Of the awful cost of all-out war when men answer duty’s call?
What do you remember of those returning home
With wounded legs and arms and eyes and terrors all their own.
What do you remember? Quite a lot, if you’re like me,
Even though, when that war began, I had not quite yet turned three.
But you say, “I can’t remember.” Then think and watch and pray
And give thanks to God, who made us all, for the freedoms you have today.

a. franklin staples
Copyright© 1992
by A. Franklin Staples