The handwriting was perfect, the letter looked like it was all covered in gold, my eyes turned blue… The feeling was inexplicable! It wasn’t the letter that made it so special for me, it was the way everything happened from a simple trust in God. It was as if I was being rewarded for giving Him the upper hand in my life…

I immediately remembered my sacrifice in the previous campaign of Israel. It had been a ring, but not just a golden ring, my only ring. My father had given it to me as a birthday gift for my 15th birthday. It meant a lot to me, so much so that it was the only thing I had to sacrifice. I didn’t work, I didn’t have any money, I didn’t have any valuables.

After placing it inside the envelope, I felt proud of my faith somehow, as if I had finally done something with it all those years. I asked God for one thing in that envelope, I wanted to marry my first boyfriend, who would have to come from Him (and no one else).

I was the bishop’s daughter, everybody wanted to set me up with somebody… In their eyes, I was available. In my eyes, I wasn’t. I wanted God to set me up because I knew He’d choose someone perfect for me. He knew my expectations and so, it wouldn’t be anything less than those!

When Renato wrote me that love letter, out of the blue, not having met me or once spoken to me, it was as if God had written the perfect romance for me. I couldn’t stop smiling… and I have a feeling, God couldn’t either.

Cristiane Cardoso

“What we see in the mirror is the result of the decisions we make in life.”

Look in the mirror and tell me what you see. If you like what you see, then you can stop reading today’s article. It’s not relevant to you. But, if it’s taking you too long to figure out who you really are; if you are disappointed with the person who is looking at you in the mirror, it means that you need a spiritual renewal, and I’ve written this message especially for you.

What we see in the mirror is the result of the decisions we make in life. Decisions like giving less than what is expected from us, or the kind of offerings we have done.

We are the result of our offerings. I don’t mean only financial offerings—these are the easiest ones and anyone can give them. Your life, your time, your dedication, your sacrifices, your efforts, and your love are offerings as well.

How many times have you found yourself in a situation where you could have done more, but you simply decided not to do it? Instead, you decided to do the least that was expected of you. This “offering in disguise” was probably rejected.

Perhaps, you have given many offerings that said, “I don’t care about what you think, Lord,” without even noticing it. These kinds of offerings can be compared to Cain’s—they are turned down. The worst of all is that they bring long-lasting consequences.

If you want to change the person you see in the mirror, change the kind of offering you give—the kind of offering you are. You are the outcome of your offerings.

Cristiane Cardoso
www.cristianecardoso.com

Mrs Cristiane,

I am 19 years old and it’s been three years since I left the church. You know, Mrs Cristiane, I had been attending the UCKG with my mother since I was a child, and so I decided to leave in order to know the world for myself. After three months, I found a boyfriend—my first boyfriend. My life changed since that day: I began to drink, smoke, sleep with him, and as if having sex with him wasn’t enough, he’d ask me to masturbate in front of him. That’s how bad my life became.

Our relationship—if I could call it a relationship—quickly wore out because the only thing he wanted was sex. After three months, we broke up.

I was devastated and I started drinking more than what was considered “normal”. I started smoking and sleeping with every man that I met. I don’t know what happened to me, but I’d go out with a guy for the first time and we’d end up having sex.

But now I want to go back to the things I used to do, to evangelize, pray, fast, and just do the things of GOD. But I can’t! I don’t have the strength to make myself do all of that. I feel dirty.

I try to attend the church on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays but it seems that there’s something blocking me. I don’t know what it is… Actually, I do. I know it’s evil, but I don’t have strength to fight against it.

For God’s sake, help me; tell me what to do. Help me in prayer, give me a kind word. I don’t know what to do. I’ve been thinking about taking my life…

I want to do what I used to, but I can’t. I want it so badly, I really do. I am willing to give my life for this to happen.

I am sorry for bothering you, but even without knowing you, I felt in my heart that I could count on you.

Thank you for your attention!

D.M.

You’ve done something wrong, you cry about it, apologize, think of changes you need to input in your life, and then move on. That’s the normal attitude for someone who lives by faith, but there’s something in between the lines that we can sometimes miss big time.

The problem that led you make that mistake is still there. The mistake in itself was just a consequence of that big problem, which often is completely ignored because of its invisibility to the human eye. Only God can see it.

People treat this problem by feeling their minds with distractions so they don’t have to face it. But it doesn’t go away, in fact, the longer it’s there, the bigger it gets.

To look inside of us and ponder about why we act the way we do can be a scary thing to do. Thus the reason why so many people prefer to avoid it altogether and only deal with the exterior consequences.

I think that if I could picture this place inside of us, it could be easily compared to a dark cave, the further you go in, the darker it gets. And why? Because there are things about us that are shameful, humiliating, even disgusting sometimes. It’s in our human nature, they accumulate with the things we went through when growing up, the things we witnessed that made an impact on us, and the things that traumatized us somehow. We carry all of these things around us everyday, every minute, and every second.

So it’s useless to deal with what you did. It’s useless to forget about it and move on thinking you’ll change because you’ve learned your lesson. The only way you’ll really change is when you get inside that cave and deal with the root of your problem. Faith cannot help you here – it’s something you have to do it or else, you’ll always be in the same cycle. Sometimes up, sometimes down. Good days, bad days. Everything going well for you, everything going bad for you.

Stop and ponder why. Then deal with it. Don’t let yourself move on until you’re sure you’ve dealt with those hidden inner problems. God can help, but He won’t do that for you. There’s no place for friends in this process. You’re alone in this and that’s the only way you’ll ever get it right.

God taught us to convert from our evil ways. To convert is to change entirely, not just change from doing this or that. Convert by changing who you are inside.

(Written by Cristiane Cardoso)

Many times we ignore the power of a simple word. But God, who is infinitely compassionate, lifts the beggar from the ash heap through former, yet sincere “beggars”.

Hi Mrs. Cristiane,

This article changed my life: “When it’s not about faith”.

Some time ago, I was on the ground floor of the UCKG. I usually come early and wait for the service to start. Anguish was filling my heart because I was going through a very difficult time. What made me feel even worse was knowing that I was to blame for everything that had happened. But I couldn’t put my finger on where things had started to go wrong.

I went upstairs, sat down on the front row before the altar, and talked to God. I asked Him to show me why I was going through all of that.

After a few minutes, I stood up, took a copy of the church’s newspaper and started reading it. I saw an article with the title, “When it’s not about faith”.

As I read that article it felt like the author was sitting right next to me. In the first paragraph, she said, “You’ve done something wrong, you cry about it, apologize, think of changes you need to implement in your life, and then move on…” That’s exactly how I was feeling. It was unbelievable! Before I could finish reading the article, God made me see that my mistake was that I had made friends with worldly-minded people inside the church. I allowed myself to be influenced by what my eyes saw and ignored God’s voice that said, “Be careful!”

I was being condemned for things that I hadn’t done; people were misjudging me and I couldn’t look at them with pure eyes anymore. It was a very difficult time. The only mistake I had made was to trust in people when I should have trusted in the Lord Jesus. I paid a high price for that.

It took me 5 minutes to realise this—exactly the same time it took me to read the article.

I felt renewed after reading the last sentence. You said, “Convert by changing who you are inside.”

I stood up, participated in the service and began examining myself until I finally overcame that “dark cave where the further you go in, the darker it gets.”

That day, I learned that a true friend is a person God uses to light up the darkness of the cave through sincere words.

For this reason, I usually make a joke saying that my three best friends are: Cristiane Macedo (my husband’s sister), Cristiane Lopes (my brother’s wife) and Cristiane Cardoso, who was the instrument God used to rescue me when my faith was weak.

Thank you.

Daniela Macedo
Married, 25
Bahia, BRAZIL

When my daughter approached me with the idea of having her weekly articles made into a book, I thought it was a great idea, but I never imagined it would have such an impact in the Work of God. This was God’s sign of how much He wants to use women nowadays. Until now, we’ve had some women pastors, but there has always been an uncertainty as to what their role is in the church. We believed their role was to be less noticeable, discreet, subtle…

The importance women had during the building of the kingdom of Israel leads us to imagine them today full of the Spirit and working toward the construction of the Kingdom of God.

Women play a very important role in the Work of God, not only in regards to being zealous for the church, but also by glorifying Him through their character and testimony. Many women are looking for other women that they can look up to and follow. Unfortunately, many end up following celebrities that are a reflection of indiscretion.

“As a ring of gold in a swine’s snout, so is a lovely woman who lacks discretion.” (Proverbs 11.22)

God wants to use you, so that through you, He can reach out to other women, save them and use them as instruments in His hands. If you have not read the book Better Than a New Pair of Shoes don’t waste any more time. Even if you don’t like reading or if you don’t have time to read, make an effort. What matters is that through this book, you allow God to mould you.

I feel immense gratitude to hear that thousands of women, all over the world, have been blessed by this book. And yet, I would be even more pleased if more women were putting themselves at the Holy Spirit’s disposal to do His Work.