Sheep or a Shepherd?

I apologize for skipping a day!  I didn't realize anyone would even notice!  I hope everyone who texted and messaged and liked and shared was able to be an angel this weekend in some way!  Pay it forward this week if you can! 

Continuing with the story of Christmas and the importance of the parts/characters, I hope someone has learned a new tidbit, thought about Christmas differently, or even reread the Christmas story from a different perspective as we have looked at the stable, Mary, Joseph, and the angel.  This week I'll focus on the Shepherds... I could spend two weeks on them, but I'll do my best to be short and sweet....I may make up for my one day skipped this week with another story about them. 

I was asked several months ago to speak to the church about how much Women's Ministry meant to me.  I'd like to share the video from that service and recap in a just few paragraphs about my journey with being a sheep... and Jesus the shepherd. 

https://www.facebook.com/bellviewbaptistchurchwoodruff/videos/2115200208520971/

My testimony begins about five minutes into the video.

I still have this sheep in the window of the kitchen... each morning I start my day with my thyroid medicine, a cup of coffee, and looking at this sheep.  He has dirtied over the years, but I still keep him... he reminds me that each day I'm like him... lost... not knowing what I'm doing or where I'm going... he reminds me that I need cleansing or I will get dirty if I don't repent of my sin... and he reminds me that I am saved by a shepherd. 

Isaiah 53:cents is a great reminder that we like sheep have gone astray.... we have to rely on our shepherd every day to make it in this mean ugly world!  I'll talk later in the week about the shepherds that were there the night Jesus was born.... but years and years before that the prophets knew that we would need a shepherd.  They actually knew the entire birth story. 

So.... don't try to be a shepherd in a sheep world just yet.... allow yourself to be a sheep.... Be led by the Lord... let Him control things... repent of your sins for today.... be like the sheep in the nativity scene and sit at the feet of Jesus in awe as the animals stared at the manger with newborn baby. 

You can't make it through this world without someone guiding you... let it be Jesus who is the guide.  Don't try to control things... don't try to make things "look" right... don't try to be in charge.... give it God... whatever is dampening your spirit or worrying you.... show your faith by giving your anxieties to Him.  He will guide you and give you a peace like no other! 

Out of curiosity.... what animals are in your nativity scene?  I have a camel, a donkey (or could be a cow), and a sheep.   Just wondering if there are others that I've never seen.... just reply in the comments... and it may take you getting up and going to look... better yet... snap a picture of your nativity scene and share it in the comments!