“A NEW PERSPECTIVE IN THE TIME OF COVID”

My dear Friends:

Peace be with us!

Last week, I wrote about “Hope in the Time of COVID!”. We said that the
message of COVID is … GOD IS SEEKING A WHOLE GENERATION OF PEOPLE IN US,
WHO WILL SEEK HIM and who will make him the LORD and MASTER of our lives!

That the message of COVID is message of HOPE… that there is a light at the end of this
tunnel of darkness. God is seeking us to seek HIM.

And I urged everyone to heed God’s invitation….He is seeking us to humble ourselves,

pray and seek and obey Him. Then He will hear us from heaven and forgive our sins and heal
our land of this pestilence!

Many of us are experiencing anxiety and fear an uncertain future because we know,
things will not be the same again. Even if our lockdown is eased, we will henceforth face a new
normal. Some of us may never be able to go back to our jobs especially if we work in the
tourism or travel industry. Some malls are not going to open full swing. Schools may continue
to be closed and teachers and professors are preparing for on-line teaching methodology. Office
and business meetings are conducted via zoom or on other platforms where participants do not
face each other. Restaurants may have to devise a scheme to maintain social distancing.
Churches and large gatherings such as concerts, seminars, even celebrations may have to be
delayed. And since there persist the real danger of catching the virus, most of us will have to
reinvent ways of earning income using internet portals.

Already, the Supreme Court has issued directives urging the first level courts to conduct
hearings on line especially for urgent matters like petitions for bail for violators of the quarantine
laws. There will be epic and monumental changes in the way we think and act and work and live
our lives.
 As I write this, I am weighed down by the uncertainties of the uncertain future.

It is really tempting to feel pressed down by the worries of the future. But do we?
Certainly, worries will not bring us solutions but will all the more bring us to the brink of
hopelessness. But like I said before there is hope in these times. All we need to have a new
perspective of looking at things and the situation.

When we look back at the difficult times in our lives, how did we cope? We held on to
faith that difficult times will pass and that like travelers, the roads are paved with humps and
bumps, twists and turns but we managed to traverse the roads we took. In the most difficult times
of our lives, we see ourselves praying more, hoping more, desiring more, dreaming more,
believing more, working more and relying to God more. We hear ourselves saying “kapit lang,
lilipas din yan, dadaan lang at hindi magtatagal, makakaraos din!” Saan or kanino ba tau
kumakapit? To God. That’s the reason why in my previous letter, I said, despite this pandemic,
God is reaching out to us to call him and to follow Him!

But we need to have a perspective see life; as it is now, in the way God wants us to see
Him.

How does God want us to have a perspective of Him? How does God want us to see Him
or to have a perspective of Him? I bring you to the one of the most beautiful and comforting
verses in the Bible because this is how God want us to see him in these most difficult times!

The Lord Is My Shepherd

A Psalm of David.
23 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
2 
    He makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside still waters.[a]
3 
    He restores my soul.
He leads me in paths of righteousness[b]
    for his name's sake.
4 
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,[c]
    I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
    your rod and your staff,
    they comfort me.
 5 
You prepare a table before me
    in the presence of my enemies;
you anoint my head with oil;
    my cup overflows.
6 
Surely  goodness and mercy[e] shall follow me
[d]

    all the days of my life,

and I shall dwell[f] in the house of the Lord
    forever.[g]

That verse is so reassuringly wonderful! Try to memorize it! It is a source of comfort and
strength especially in these times that we are assured that our shepherd, Jesus Christ, will guide
us, will provide for us, will protect us, will defend us, will comfort us, will justify us in the
presence of our enemies, will never abandon us, will always be with us all the days of our lives
and that he will bring us to the house of God someday and there will dwell with him forever!
Grabe! Wala na tayong dapat ikatakot! If you memorize and recite this whenever you are
confronted by fears and uncertainties, all your fears will disappear because you know God will
never forsake you or leave you! And that He is true to his promises and that you can count on
Him to fulfill his promises!

In John 10:14-18, Jesus said and I quote:

“I am the good shepherd; and I know My  sheep,  and am known by

My own. As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay
down My life for the sheep. And other sheep I have which are not of this
fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will
be one flock  and  one shepherd. “Therefore My Father loves Me, because I
lay down My life that I may take it again. No one takes it from Me, but I
lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to
take it again. This command I have received from My Father.” 

In the Scripture, we are likened to sheep. Sheep are the damnest of all animals, they need to be led and
guided, because, if not, they will go astray without any sense of direction. Sheep are foolish and are slow to
learn, they do not sense danger and even if they get hurt because they caught up with a barbed wire or bumped
a cemented fence, they will commit the same fate the next day, unless the shepherd guides them to safety.
They do not know how to escape a predator or fall not to a ravine or pause in front of a ravaging waters or
rampaging stream. They will still traverse the dangerous stream or jump a ravine anyway to their death. They
just eat and eat grass, that’s all they know. Sheep are also stubborn, they refuse to move unless the shepherd
will really to make them move. And when there is a stampede, they just go with the stampede and on to their
death, unless the shepherd appears and lead them to their safety. Sheep are restless, when one sheep decides to
run, everyone runs. And even at nights, they seem to stay awake, still eating grass. In all these, sheep are
dependent upon their shepherd and hence cannot live without their shepherd.

They say that when a baby sheep is born, the shepherd names the baby sheep and every morning, the
shepherd repeats and repeat the name of the baby sheep until the sheep remembers his name and remembers
the voice of the shepherd.

We are like sheep because like sheep, we go astray, we are lost, we rebel, we are stubborn and are
restless that is why we are dead, spiritually. But Christ is our shepherd. As our shepherd, he knows each and
every one of us by our names and if we belong to Him, we recognize his voice and follow him.

And when one sheep is lost, the Shepherd leaves the 99 and looks for the stray one and brings him
back to the fold! The shepherd loves his sheep that he lays down his life for his sheep. What a reassuring
verse! We are like sheep. We go astray. We are lost. Tayo kinakalimutan natin sya pero tayo hindi nya
nakakalimutan! Hahanapin at hahanapin nya tayo

to bring back to his fold!

God wants us to have a new perspective of seeing him as the Good Shepherd in these
difficult times. That in all these confusion and uncertainties, we can rely on him as the good
shepherd, where he will bring us to greener pastures, in other words, he will give us provisions.
He will bring us to still waters, where we will never be thirty and we will be safe. He restores
our soul, it means that He will brings us peace and harmony and rest. He leads us to the path of
righteousness for his glory because he wants us to be right with him. Therefore, even if we walk
in the midst of the shadow of death, we will not fear because he will always be there to protect
us. He is always with us to protecting us. And not only that, He prepares a banquet or a feast
for us, justifying us in the presence of our enemies. He anoints us with the oil of refreshments
and our blessings overflows. Goodness and mercy follow us all the days of our lives and one
day, we will live with him in the house of the Lord, forever.
As the good shepherd, he will never change. He is a God who keeps his covenant, his
promises. What a wonderful God he is!
 In this time of COVID, God wants us to see him as the good shepherd. That in this
difficult time, he wants us to have a perspective of him that like a good shepherd, he will always
take care of his sheep and will protect his sheep and that we have nothing to worry. And that all
we have to do is to come back to his fold and recognize his voice so that he will heal our soul
and will take our fears and worries.

If you are a lost sheep, you do not know who Jesus is, He wants to save you. Will you
give your life to Jesus Christ, surrender your life to Christ. Jesus gave his life for you.

Please join me in prayer…

Lord Jesus, I recognize I am a sinner, I am lost but thank you I am found today because
you are the shepherd you looks for me. Today, I surrender my life and I declare that you are my
Lord and Savior that I receive you and that by asking for your forgiveness, you have forgiven
me. And that from this day on, I will seek you and have a personal relationship with you.

Lord, I pray that you want to lead me again to the green pasture, so I will find rest, be
our great healer, provider, protector, comforter! Lord have your way, that you will guide me to
the path of righteousness. You are the way the truth and the life. Thank you for giving your life
to us, the lord, the good shepherd who is faithful. I love you I honor you. And I thank you for
giving me a new life that will give glory to God, in Jesus name we pray, amen and amen.

If you pray that with me, I know that there is feast in heaven, celebrating your
acceptance of a personal relationship with God. And I hope, we all grow in our walk with God.

In the coming days, we will reflect about how it is to make Jesus our Lord and Savior and
how do we apply this in our everyday lives.
 Until then. I pray the Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord makes his face shine upon
you and be gracious to you and give you peace… Amen!

Sincerely,

Your servant in Christ.