2016 has come to its end! As we take a retrospective look at the way God has led and blessed His work in all the countries of our Division, we cannot help but to rejoice and praise Him for His unceasing goodness, guidance and protection.
His abundant blessings, however, are not to be seen as an end in themselves but as a token of His faithfulness and care. From Him come all the resources and gifts that are necessary for our daily needs and which allow us to be able to successfully accomplish the task He has assigned to us.
In spite of the challenges with which we are confronted, there is no reason for discouragement.
On the contrary, based on past experience and the knowledge of God’s kindness and His eagerness to provide us with all the necessary resources and blessings, we should go to Him and ask for whatever may be necessary for our daily needs and the accomplishment of the evangelical commission.
After Jesus’ resurrection and ascension, the disciples were confronted with very similar challenges. They were a small group of people, without resources and to whom God had entrusted the mission of “going and making disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.”
In just a few decades, the Gospel Message was spread everywhere – throughout the Roman Empire and beyond.
What was the secret of their success? They clearly understood a few very important and essential things:
• The task assigned to them was far beyond their mere human capacities. It would be impossible for them to accomplish it without God’s support and cooperation.
• They needed to be united as a team whose main objective was to glorify God – through Christ-like character, example and actions.
• They came together to intensely and earnestly pray that the promise of the Holy Spirit might be a reality in their lives and ministries.
The promise of an abundant outpouring and continual presence of the Holy Spirit is not to be seen as something exclusive to the disciples of the first century AD. The Holy Spirit is available and will come to all those who earnestly claim its fulfillment in their lives.
“So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish? Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!” (Jesus as reported in Luc 11: 9-13 (NKJV)
“The Holy Spirit is the breath of spiritual life in the soul. The impartation of the Spirit is the impartation of the life of Christ. It imbues the receiver with the attributes of Christ. Only those who are thus taught of God, those who possess the inward working of the Spirit, and in whose lives the Christ-life is manifested, are to stand as representative men, to minister on behalf of the church” (E.G.White, The Desire of Ages, 805).
Let us not forget that God wants us to be successful in everything we do. The harder the tasks and the greater the challenges, the more we realize the operation of His power and blessings in our lives and ministries.
The Gift of the Holy Spirit will bring along with it all the necessary gifts and blessings of God. It is fully available for all those who earnestly ask for it.
My most sincere wish and prayer for the upcoming year is that we do not forget to daily ask and walk in the power of the Holy Spirit.
Have a Happy and Blessed New Year 2017!
Mario Brito
EUD President
