If He Had Stayed

If He Had Stayed

If He had stayed where tender, caring hands had put Him, Wrapped around with linen and aromatic preparations, Stayed enclosed in the cool, dark rock, to sleep on, decayed and forgotten, while eternity rolled away into forever-ness. If He had stayed imprisoned behind the Roman seal, soon to be but another set of bones added to the numberless skeletons bred of earth, If He had stayed down where tradition laid His head, done with sight, and touch, and voice; Oh Beloved ! If He had stayed...excruciating contemplation! Hopelessness behind doom ahead, no gathering here today. Yet here we are, and it can't be said without enough power, not by human voice anyway; No, imagine it ringingly proclaimed by heaven's angelic hosts... ( He didn't stay ) He is risen ! poem by Audrey Yeager

"...and if Christ has not been raised , your faith is worthless; you are dead in your sins." I Corinthians 15:17 "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable..." I Peter 1:3

Lamb AND Shepherd ?

Our little bottle baby lamb was put outside to romp for awhile, but she did not want to be too far away from us. We're her mama you know, and lambs have at least the sense to know they need their mamas."Baaaaaaaa -(where are you ?)" Oh joy, to kick up her heels and run and run and run, jump and run, then zig-zag, jump and run again! Leapin' lambs,an exuberant expression of the sheer joy of life.

Gotta check out everything, maybe just a little nibble ?

The Bible has numerous scriptures referring to Jesus as "The Lamb of God"."Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world." John 1:29 "...and he looked upon Jesus as he walked and said,"behold the Lamb of God !". John 1 34 ~If you have been around lambs for even a little while you know they are defenseless. They rely on their mothers who are also defenseless. Lambs and their mamas need a shepherd to care for and protect them. The Bible calls us sheep and Jesus is our Shepherd. ~"Know that the Lord Himself is God ; It is He who has made us and not we ourselves; We are His people and the sheep of His pasture." Psalm 100 :3 ~ Our Shepherd is also a Lamb. The Shepherd who became as a Lamb, sacrificed for our redemption. "...knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers , but with precious blood as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ." I Peter 1:18, 19