When God spoke to me His words in Jeremiah 23:3-4 saying, “I Myself will gather the remnants of My flock out of all the countries where I have driven them and will bring them back to their pasture, where they will be fruitful and increase in number. I will place shepherds over them who will tend them, and they will no longer be afraid or terrified, nor will any be missing, declares the Lord”, I immediately felt the Lord’s displeasure over the condition of His flock at this point in time. This is well attested by His self-involvement in the raising-up of a new breed of shepherds over His people. Well-meaning servant of God will sense that the prevailing situations in the greater part of the Body of Christ today truly call for God’s intervention. Many Christian churches are being run like profit organizations by people who are in sheep’s clothing whose primary concerns are not the welfare of the flock of the Lord entrusted to their care and protection, but themselves. Personal growth, social connections, and financial gains define the meaning of their servanthood. The call to give up one’s life for God’s service is becoming foreign to most. The Lord’s disapproval of what is happening to the lives of His people – the people He had saved with His own Blood, calls for our active involvement!
I was fully persuaded to act on this cause of the Lord when He spoke to me again on September 19, 2001 using the same Scriptures. This led to the birthing of a new Ministry after I met another servant, Ptr. Samuel Bontilao, whom the Lord also touched with the same burden. Thus, Christ’s Shepherds and Flock Ministry International came into being on January 11, 2002, exactly a year after I’ve received God’s word in Jeremiah 23:3-4 while I was in Sacramento, California visiting my spiritual father in the faith, Bishop Wally Magdangal. But like young soldiers entrusted with a big mission, we were stunned upon realizing the immensity of the task involved. But we thanked the Lord because He fully understood our frailty and limitations.
The Lord did not fail us. He honored the hours we spent before Him by allowing us to see the things He wanted to accomplish through this Ministry. The greatness of the vision He showed us made us wondered how we would accomplish it. It was at this instance that He made it very apparent to us that we are not alone in this blessed endeavor. He constantly reminds us that the task of preparing, equipping, and reproducing Spirit-filled and faithful servants of God who will stand ready to answer the call of the Lord Jesus Christ to shepherd over the flock that He gathers, and who will make certain that none of them are found needy and are missing, is not a work of one man but of everyone who love Him. This was made plain to us when He opened our eyes to the part of the letter of Paul in 2 Corinthians 5:15 saying, “And He died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died for them and was raised again.”
From this enlightenment, we no longer feel the heaviness of the load that the Lord burdened us. Instead, the joy of serving Him and His will has overtaken us. We come to realize that every person who has tasted the goodness of God through the life that the Lord Jesus Christ has imparted to him will find the full meaning of his existence only in serving the Lord’s Will. It is only sad to note that the complexities of our needs in life hindered most from realizing this truth. Even highly dedicated children of God are being affected by this dilemma. But, praise the Lord because He is so familiar with this very condition. He too was exposed to the same situation during His time on earth.
The Gospel account vividly shows us how those people who have the heart for Him and His work managed their affairs through the account in Luke 8:1-3 saying, “After this, Jesus traveled about from one town and village to another, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God. The twelve were with Him, and also some women who had been cured of evil spirits and diseases: Mary (called Magdalene) from whom seven demons had come out; Joanna the wife of Cuza, the manager of Herod’s household; Susanna; and many others. These women were helping to support them out of their own means.” Their enthusiasms to serve the Lord and His Ministry were never affected by their predicament.
These early beneficiaries of God’s goodness demonstrated to us that they served the Lord not because they have the time, but rather they serve because they have the opportunities. We know that the Lord Jesus Christ personally called the twelve apostles and gave them opportunities to work with Him according to the will of God, thus they made the time for these opportunities to serve His purpose. The others who were healed of their diseases and were set free from their inabilities were blessed materially and were confronted with opportunities to give, thus they made the time for these opportunities and served God’s purpose through their wholehearted giving.
Now, an opportunity to serve the Lord and His Ministry is opened before us who love God and are called according to His purpose. We have now some of the people who are making the time, leaving their personal pursuits like the early apostles, because they were called by the Lord to serve in His ministry. (We believed that there are lots of them yonder as our feelers continue to advise us of the souls who are praying for inclusion in the SHARE Program of the Ministry.) They are now being prepared for the work of the ministry in formal Seminaries. We believe that this opportunity to help them is God’s call of the hour for us, through whom He will accomplish His plan of bringing the situation in His vineyard back to His expectations.
The benefit of sharing in the burdens of these brethren who are personally called of the Lord to serve in His ministry is guaranteed in Heaven. This was sounded off in Hebrews 6:10 saying, “God is not unjust; He will not forget your work and the love you have shown Him as you have helped His people and continue to help them.” There is no greater opportunity of winning the attention of the Lord than helping His people. History tells us that those whom He called to work with Him opted to leave their secular trades. Thus, when we look over their welfare, there lies a big variance between their needs and their provisions. Truly, the Lord did not forget this aspect. He intentionally left this gap visibly open as an opportunity for others, like you and me, who love Him to invest and be blessed by Him. Yes, the Lord desires that we receive the fullness of His ordained blessings when He comes again. Let us value this opportunity together for His glory!
