What if He had not Risen?

What if He had not risen?

·       Faith would be in vain.

·       preaching would be for naught

·       witnessing would be useless

·       all would be lost in sin

·       those who came before would simply be gone

·       There would be no light left

·       The world would be without hope

·       Heaven would forever remain a mystery

But he did!

And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they went in they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel. And as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen. (Luke 24:2-6)

And because he did…

I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.  (Galatians 2:20)

We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.  (Romans 6:4)

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,  (I Peter 1:3)

For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. (John 6:40)

We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. (Romans 6:9)

For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17)

Jesus said, in John 11:25-26…“I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?”

Granny's Pantry # 29: The Peacocks of High Rock

Peacock (or peafowl)--Pavo Cristatus

• I think the peacocks at High Rock  came to the farm in the 1950s because Granny Cole liked them and wanted to raise her own to decorate the place and to sell.

• They have been there ever since. 

• The males defy description with their incredible colors and fan-like tail displays. The ladies are rather plain in their brown feathers and short tails.

• In the fall, the males nicely shed their tail feathers and leave them  strewn around the yard for us to pick up and decorate our houses. 

• The peahens lay their eggs in the shrubbery where they fall prey to raccoons, possums, owls and foxes.

• Once Aunt Ruthie picked up two stray eggs and put them out of the way on a shelf in the greenhouse, only to discover later that the sun and heat had hatched them. One baby peacock chick fell into  a pot of water and drowned, but the other little orphan lived. She named him Hoot.

• Peacocks are better alarms than guard dogs because not only do they warn you with their calls when someone comes in the yard, but also the screeching they make is so loud and intimidating that no intruder without nerves of steel would stay around to identify the source of the cacophony.

All of the peahens are now gone from the farm. If they aren't replaced, which doesn't seem likely, when these males are done, the peacocks of High Rock will be gone.

  For the king [Solomon] had at sea a navy of Tarshish with the navy of Hiram: once in three years came the navy of Tarshish, bringing
gold, and silver, ivory, and apes, and peacocks.I Kings 10:22