Sunday, November 28, 2010

Thoughtful Spot Sunday . . .

I love the principle taught in, John 21: 15-17 .  The Lord asked Peter, “Lovest thou me … ?” Peter answered, “Thou knowest that I love thee.” And the Lord replied, “Feed my lambs.” The Lord asked him the second time, “Lovest thou me?” Peter again answered, “Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee.” The Lord said to Peter, “Feed my sheep.” The Lord asked a third time, “Lovest thou me?” Peter answered, “Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee.” Jesus said unto him, “Feed my sheep.”

Jesus showed patience and love to all who came to Him seeking relief for their physical, emotional, or spiritual illnesses and who felt discouraged and downtrodden.  To follow the Savior’s example, each one of us must be shepherds.  We  must look around and reach out to the sheep who are facing the same circumstances and lift them up and encourage them to proceed on this journey we call life, and look towards eternal life.

This need today is as great as or perhaps even greater than when the Savior walked the earth.   As shepherds we must understand that we should nurture each one of His sheep to bring them back to Christ.

What better time of year, than the Christmas season,  to be shepherds, and to show those around you, through  example, your love for the Savior.  Savor the true meaning of Christmas by watching out for each other, by serving one another.  Robert L. Backman said:

"Those we serve, we love.  We discover that loving someone else deeply is one of the most joyous feelings we can know, and we begin to understand the bounteous love our Father in Heaven has for us."

So welcome, December!  There will be twice as many opportunities to do things for each other, and with all of the joy of the Christmas season, four times as many opportunities to relish the love!  Today, let me resolve to be a "good shepherd", to look for the one that might need a helping hand or a kind word.  Let me not get tired or crabby.  Let me instead, treasure, with delight, this season of love.

Warm hugs,

9 comments:

Kimmie said...

Beautiful~!

Simply Heart And Home said...

Barb,

Thank you for the lovely reminder! Warm hugs to you!

Gina

Ladybug said...

Barb I was reading this during my morning quiet
time with the Lord, beautiful reminder, I'm
also reading a wonderful Book A Shephard Looks
at Psalm 23 (Author Phillip Keller)has the
same message as your post.. Awesome thanks so
much for sharing the Love of the Savior our
Good Shepherd with others. Kindness, Love,
Faithful, Sharing...
Many Blessings to all this Christmas Season
Hugs... Trish

Vickie said...

Beautiful post, Barb! Good reminder to us all to have a grateful heart and agiving spirit all year long and not just at Christmas time!

Is is snowing up your way yet? Your header photo made me think so...

I've got to get busy this week and start Christmas-ing!

Vickie said...

Hi again Barb! Thanks for your visit.

Our menu - keep in mind that we're plain ole regular folks, and some would say a little country! haha!

Smoked turkey (traditional from Greenberg Turkeys, Tyler, TX - check out their site - even Oprah says it's her favorite, but we've been doing Greenberg's for as long as I can remember...)

Cornbread dressing with all the good stuff thrown in...

Smoked and glazed ham
Green bean casserole (a favorite)
Broccoli/cheese/rice casserole
Mashed potatoes
Candied yams (recipe handed down from Dad's mom)
Lime Jello salad with pecans/pineapple
Macaroni & cheese casserole - the kids' fave
Dinner Rolls & other assorted pickles, etc.

Now for the sweets!
Pecan Pie, Coconut Cream Pie, Chocolate Pie, Chocolate/coconut cake, chocolate covered pecans, peanut brittle, cranberry/oatmeal cookies...

I know there's more, but I can't remember! Now, you sure really wanted to know??? It varies a little from year to year on the veggies. For Christmas, we'll probably do something entirely different as Mom thinks it's much too soon to do Turkey again! BBQ or Mexican or Roast... ;)

Vickie said...

Hey, Barb - chocolate cake and homemade ice cream sounds great! When and what time is Christmas dinner being served???

haha! Yep, I think you and I would get along great!

Cheryl @ TFD said...

Hi Barb! Beautiful post. Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving! Wow, the menu above of Vickie's sounds yummy. Makes me hungry...it's time for lunch, I think. Have a great day!

Hugs,
Cheryl

LeAnn said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
LeAnn said...

Beautiful thoughts from a beautiful sister.
Thanks for sharing a very sweet message.
Love you much as always, LeAnn

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