My Soul Awoke to music.
Oh, so sweet yet still.
My spirit leaped within my breast,
as if a child reborn.
The Gates of Pearl flung open wide,
no need to lock you see,
for the Great Deceiver,
Beelzebub is gone.
I chose the gate of Judah
to enter within.
My feet were light
and I could fly
and leap like a gazelle.
The streets were gold,
yet transparent,
a sight beyond compare.
I saw children dancing in the streets,
hanging nosegays
on each gate and holding banners high,
Jerusalem
The Lord is Here
I seemed to know each one,
and yet,
we had not met,
all the Saints
gone on before us in ages past.
Saint Peter and Saint Paul.
I saw Dorcas
and the scars upon here hands,
and yet the scars were gone.
No lame here.
No blind.
Each one was whole.
I saw Lydia dressed in purple -
Amethyst
All the trees seemed to bow
before the Saints of God,
laden heavy with fruit,
lifting their leafy arms to clap,
and in the leaves a medicine
for the healing of the nations.
The names of the Apostles
were inscribed upon the walls,
and I saw a crystal river so clear, so pure,
the walls of New Jerusalem
reflected like a mirror.
As I traveled on my spirit sensed
a spirit,
Oh, so great that His brightness
overwhelmed me and I thought
that I would faint.
For just an instant I wondered,
how did I dare enter in?
And on the right,
high and lifted up,
I saw the image
of the Old Rugged Cross,
and a Christ
who died for all.
I saw the nail prints in His hands,
and crimson blood
like a Sardius stone running down,
Then I beheld the One
who sat upon the throne.
Cherubims and Seraphims
sing " Holy! Holy! Holy! is the Lamb. "
Immediately I fell upon my face
and the words came -
Alpha and Omega
The Great I Am
El Shaddi
Tsidkenu and Flaming Fire
My mind raced on and on -
Emmanuel
Anointed One
Healing in His Wings
The Righteous One
I do not know how long
that I lay prostrate before His Throne,
for time is gone -
Eternity,
Oh, New Jerusalem
Joyce E.Russell
© 1995
The Cup
Christ cried out in Gethsemane,
" Will you take this cup from me?"
And yet, he knew,
that the trials of a affliction
would be the only price for our redemption.
So he embraced it.
And as Christ's own,
bought with a price
we too embrace the cup -
The cup of mourning
The cup of loss
The cup of pain
The cup of trials
For we, like he, know -
That with mourning,
comes sweet comfort
That with loss,
comes sweet reunion
That with trials,
comes sweet rewards
That with pain,
comes sweet release
Christ cried out on the cross,
"Forgive them
for they know not what they do."
So we, like he,
forgive
Joyce E. Russell
© Written March 11, 1997
It Is Finished
On a hill top called Golgotha
The words echo
" It is finished"
Lightning streaks across
the eastern sky
An eclipse impedes
the light of day
On a hill top
called Golgotha
The earth shook
and grave split open
Saints that slumbered,
now ascended
To bare witness
to the King
On a hill top
called Golgotha
The temple veil
is rent asunder
The old law at once rescinded
Now we have access to his throne
On a hill top called Golgotha
The words echo "
It is finished"
All creation trembles
at the strain
as grace is ushered in
Joyce E. Russell
© 1998
"A Dream Of New Jerusalem", was the first poem that
Joyce submitted when she joined us. As I read down and seen just what
this massage has to say, it took my breath away. What a masterpeice!
When it came to choosing a background for Joyce it was this poem that
told me it had to be bright. Although I love all three, it was this
poem that excited me so, to know she was becoming apart.
