A Letter to God

Bishop, when I was a child, I wanted to send a letter to my friend. However, I didn’t have money to buy a “stamp”. I thought about it and quickly tore a stamp from an old letter and glued it on my letter. I thought my “problem” was solved. I ran to the mailbox, placed my letter inside and came back “feeling” like my mission was accomplished. A couple of days later, to my disappointment, the mailman appeared at my house to return the letter. He explained that each stamp is “unique” and has its own expiration date.

I began to wonder about why the Holy Spirit is called the Seal of God, and imagined us being like letters mailed to the sky. However, if the stamp (seal) is expired, we will not reach our desired destination, and it is also impossible to mail a letter that does not have a stamp. When Jesus comes back and asks the angels to gather His chosen, the angels will be like mailmen, only taking the “letters” that are properly “sealed”. These letters will be identified because they’ll have the Seal of God, which is the Holy Spirit Himself. In other words, there can be no salvation without first being sealed.

The Holy Spirit is the guarantee of salvation! Those who have Him today may say ‘OH, WHAT A DAY!’, but those who have Him until the coming of our Lord will sing ‘OH WHAT AN ETERNITY!’.

Bruna Oliveira – Balneario Camboriu, Santa Carolina – Brazil

THE FOUND COIN

Hello Bishop, may God bless you. Bishop, I was a lost coin and even though I went to Church, I was on a path far, far away from the rest of the flock. I no longer had the protection of God, so I suffered, cried, grieved. Until, some time ago, I strived wholeheartedly to repair my life, return to the flock, find safety under the shadow of the Almighty, and God answered me. And today, after hearing your message on the radio, I had the most extraordinary experience of my life. I was driving home from work and during the prayer, I didn’t care about anything, I just exposed myself to my God. I sincerely poured out my heart before Him and received such an intense peace and an immense joy that I wanted to fly. I wanted to fly to my Lord, Hallelujah! And for the first time in many years, I cried… I cried so softly. There were no longer tears of pain or despair for not having Jesus. They were tears of gratitude for receiving something so precious, so sublime. I opened my eyes and felt light. I looked at the sea and the sky, which seemed to be smiling at me. I was no longer alone. Jesus was protecting me now. Today I know that I will no longer suffer, because I was found. I AM NO LONGER A LOST COIN.

CLEIDE – Salvador, Bahia – Brazil