Life Conquers Death

God's creation is full of the promise that YES, life is stronger than death!
We are not alarmed at the death of winter, knowing that spring will burst forth with joy !
We endure the darkness of night, waiting for the morning sun to arise with glorious light.
Hope is ingrained in us - death cannot be the end.  We cling to that hope by planting flowers in graveyards filled with crosses that symbolize that ultimate victory of resurrection Sunday.

Hope - expectation - faith -  We believe ! And because we believe we do not sink into despair.

Again it is the time of year when we reflect on that Day above all Days  -  Resurrection Sunday !  What was intended by evil to be the ultimate in defining DEATH, instead unfolded  in victorious, eternal  LIFE! 

BUT ...  we celebrate this day as those who have read the book, as those who look with the knowing of hindsight. We know death's hold on Good Friday was weak - we know  Jesus - our God, our Saviour -  arose having conquered death, not only for Himself but for you and me.   We have read and know all the promises that are ours through faith in Jesus. 

BUT .. what if we had been one of those who stood beneath Jesus' cross on that Friday and grieved to a depth we cannot fathom. Grieved not just the death of someone they loved, but grieved the death of all their hope that the Messiah had finally come to set them free!  But no, He was dead and so were all their hopes.  Had they been deceived?  They awoke  to a world that was dark, their hearts empty, their minds too distraught and dead in profound shock and sorrow  to even think .. "what now?"
Yes, Jesus had told them He would rise again, but they did not understand.  What they knew was that Jesus was dead ...  it was over ... they had hoped in vain.

I try to imagine their joy when the resurrection words were spoken - first to one, then another and another , spreading like the morning rays of the sun. 
Think of when you laid a loved one to rest ... you walked with bowed head from the grave ... you awake with the weight of grief heavy upon your heart .. and then .. the phone rings and someone tells you your loved one is alive and well !!    Could you even contain the responding emotion ?  Maybe disbelief is the cushion that gives your mind time to absorb such incredible news. 
Just like Jesus' loved ones ...  disbelief ... then a glimmer of hope...  then finally that exploding joy that focuses on only one reality ... JESUS IS ALIVE !! 

As we remember...   may our hearts fill with that pure joy of what Jesus did for us !
 He rose ... He conquered death that we might live .. .not just in this earthly life but forever more -- in His presence ! 
Let us rejoice  - not in His death -  but in His LIFE !!!!  In HIM we too have LIFE eternal.   

"If  Christ be not risen, then our faith is in vain ...  

if He did not rise, then we also will not rise from the dead ... 

if in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most pitiable ...  

BUT NOW CHRIST IS RISEN FROM THE DEAD ...!!!!"   

taken from I Cor. 15:13-20

The Cross of Good Friday

The Cross is probably one of the most readily recognized symbols. Yet for many people it is so familiar that it has lost the ability to connect people with the emotional event that changed history.
Two thousand years ago,  the cross was the torture instrument that killed the Son of God who came to earth to reveal God's love for mankind.

I think of that day.  I think of what it must have been like for the people who witnessed it.  For those who loved Jesus, His family, His followers, it must have been agony to watch - what thoughts, emotions whirled over and over in their bewildered minds and hearts. 

But then there were also the chief priests, the scribes, the elders who watched with cold hearts and mocking voices.  It is hard to imagine how these religious leaders could be so hard, so cruel that they  could take pleasure in the suffering of Jesus.  Finally, they had won - Jesus would trouble them no more!
They said mockingly, "If He is the King of Israel, let Him now come down from the cross and we will believe Him."    Will those words come back to haunt them on judgment day?  Jesus DID come down from the cross and LIVED .... but did they believe?   No.

There were those who simply walked by, with only a turn of the head to look upon the one suffering on the cross and blasphemed Him, mocking that Jesus had said He would destroy the temple and build it up in three days !  How ridiculous...

I look at the Roman centurion who stood and watched and was so moved he cried out ...  "Truly this was the Son of God!"    I wonder,  when Jesus rose from the dead did this centurion seek out the disciples of Jesus and became a believer ?  I like to think that he did.

We are once again remembering Good Friday - believers and non-believers are reminded of that historical day.
 Everyone has a response ...
-- a shrugging of the shoulders and dismissing it as something irrelevant to them
--  a passing  regret that a good man was condemned to a torturous death
--  a thankfulness for a holiday from work
--  a mocking that people have lifted this Man up to be God - and created a religion around Him
--  a tug at their heart and a wondering thought  -  could this be the Son of God? What does it mean?
--  a humble recognition and deep thankfulness and profound gratitude that this One on the cross came from heaven - God in human flesh -  to suffer for mankind, to offer to every man the gift of forgiveness and eternal life.

What will be your response ? 
Do you hear Jesus ask, as you lift your eyes to His cross .....

"Is it nothing to you, all you who pass by?  

Behold and see ..."  

Lam. 1:12

Combing your Feathers?

Recently we came upon this beautiful heron posed on a branch of a tree beside the road.  He remained long enough for my husband to capture some excellent photos.
In downloading the images I realized I didn't know much about the Blue Heron and did a bit of research.

Once again what I learned reminded me that no matter where we look we are confronted with the unmistakable fingerprint of God's  goodness, wisdom and creativity in nature.
To Him be all the praise and glory !

The Blue Heron is well equipped to take care of its grooming needs to stay looking photo-perfect!  Feathers need to be put into place and carefully groomed and cleaned. 
But how ?

He comes equipped with his very own comb and cleaning powder.

The Blue Heron has what is called Pectinate Toes. The center toe on each leg is longer than the other two toes and has along the side ridges that function like our toothed combs.
This 'comb' is perfect for arranging and preening his feathers, but simply preening is not enough.
The Blue Heron's love of fishing has the consequence of his feather getting rather grimy and he needs a way to clean them.

Falling  over across his chest the Heron has feathers that are uniquely different from his other feathers.   The feathers on his chest  grow continually and fragment - becoming almost like 'hair' , and they act like a 'washcloth' to clean his toes and also produce a cleansing and protective powder for his grimy feathers. 

A quote from the Cornell Lab of Omithology says .. "Great Blue Herons have specialized feathers on their chest that continually grow and fray. The herons comb this 'powder down' with a fringed claw their middle toes, using the down like a washcloth to remove fish slime and other oils from their feathers as they preen. Applying this powder to their underparts protects their feathers against the slime and oils of swamps."  

Isn't that amazing?
If God has so uniquely provided for the needs of the Blue Heron, how much more will He provide for our every need !

Philippians 4:19 "But my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus."

 Note that God does not meet our needs according to what we see around us, or what the world could possibly provide for us   -   no, God provides out of His riches in glory !!

  I don't think His bank account is ever in need of funds , do you ? 

Israel and the Olive Tree

When God inspired men to write down His words in what we call the Bible there is never a word wasted, never a word untrue, never anything scientifically in error, never anything fictitious.
I continually learn new details about something I did not know before that reveals yet  again God's infinite wisdom and attention to detail.
Recently, I learned some very interesting facts about the farming of olive trees in Bible times that support  Paul's analogy using the olive tree to illustrate the relationship between Israel and the Gentiles as God's people. 
This analogy is found in Romans 11:2-25.

The following characteristics of the Olive tree make this passage deepen in meaning and enlighten our understanding in its application.

1.  An olive tree can lose its fruitfulness and become unhealthy. 
A farmer watched carefully over the health of his olive trees , to maintain their ability to yield a good  crop of olives.
So also God watched Israel blessing them, caring for them, wooing them to Himself  but they became wayward and rebellious ... finally, He declared them hopelessly 'unfruitful' .. He says .. "All day long I have stretched out My hands to a disobedient and contrary people." (Rom. 10:21) 

2. Save the tree, don't destroy it ! 
A farmer with limited time and space was not willing to just cut down the unproductive olive tree. He desired to save it .
So also God, was not willing to totally reject Israel and start over ..  In Rom. 11:1 Paul declares .. "Has God cast away His people?  Certainly NOT !"

3. Grafting restores the life of the tree . 
The olive tree farmer knew he could bring back the health of a suffering olive tree by grafting in branches from the wild olive tree.   NOTE - The olive tree is the only plant where the wild is grafted into the cultured - in every other plant grafting it is always the other way around, the cultured grafted into the wild. 
Paul's analogy could  fall apart except for this unique fact about the olive tree.   The cultured tree was Israel, the chosen people of God, 'cultured' in God's vineyard.  But in God's plan the Gentiles - the wild olive tree - would be grafted into the cultured olive tree of Israel - so God created the olive tree with this unique characteristic. His foreknew how important this little detail would be to Paul's analogy. 
The work of grafting involved the farmer cutting off some of the branches of the cultured olive tree. He would then cut branches off the wild olive tree and graft them onto the cultured tree where the branches had been cut off the cultured tree. 

4.   Keep the cut off branches. 
When the farmer cut off the cultured branches he would lay them down at the bottom of the tree. 
  For three and a half years the cultured olive tree would force its sap up into the newly grafted in wild olive tree branches...  Then, after that time, he would bore holes into the grafted branches and graft back in the 'dead' olive tree branches that had been lying on the ground for 3 1/2 years.   These branches came back to life and become 'jealous' fighting for their share of the sap.
 The now healthy tree brings forth an abundance of fruit ! 

Isn't that the neatest picture of what Paul talks about ?  How the 'fall' (to the ground)  of the original olive tree branches  is not meant as their rejection ...but that these 'dead' branches will again be grafted in and come back to life. 
Paul even refers to the horticultural fact that these grafted back in branches will be provoked to jealousy, recognizing what they have lost and desire to once again to become fruitful in God's kingdom. 

The careful 'grafting' produced  a 'healthy tree'  of both Jew and Gentile. bringing the two into one so that "all Israel will be saved".  The olive tree (Israel) restored to health and life by the grafting in of the wild olive branches (Gentiles) fulfilling God's plan  that the ONE people of God  would "preach the everlasting gospel to those who dwell on the earth - to every nation, tribe , tongue, and people !"  (Rev. 14:6)