Steve's Testimony

ON LIFE WITHOUT JESUS IN CONTROL!

Before Jesus came into my life I thought life was just one big party and that I was what the world revolved around (Always Me, Me, Me). Eventually I started losing jobs for the first time in my life although I was very good at what I did for a living my attitude and team morale stunk. My marriage was 90% bad and 10% O.K. and never truly good. I was never happy, even when I had a fresh bag of speed or a big bag of weed. I was always angry about everything and anything and the fifth of hard liquor I drank everyday no longer helped me to feel better in life. Then on the night of August 15th 1995 while in the process of pulling pills so we could make up a batch of speed me and another got onto the conversation of religion and I expressed my feelings that I didn’t believe in a God that ruled the universe because there was to many different religions with different beliefs and the majority of what I saw were hypocrites and that God was just a crutch for many and that if they believed in it and it worked for them then so be it, but as far as I was concerned I was my own god and if there really was a living and true God then He should give me something to believe in. Five minutes later the S.M.A.S.H. team came through the door on a probation check looking for someone else, but we were busted red handed and my life would never be the same.
I was facing at least 3-5 years in prison according to the DA’s wishes for manufacturing, my wife took off with another man, my cousin quit talking to me, my son was now with his mom and my whole life was crumbling down around me and since I no longer carried the goods I no longer had any so called friends. Then while serving my first months in West Valley Correctional Facility and appearing in court on these charges God sent a fellow prisoner to me with a bible and he told me that God was real and that He loved me. After a few more days of boredom and misery I picked up that bible and started reading parts of it and I found out that we were all sinners and we were nothing apart from God, then I read a part about how I could receive Jesus as my personal Lord and savior. 

After a few more days of hating life & seeing my life & freedom fading away I realized that I needed this savior and His love that He offers freely for the taking, and I also realized that my idea of life really wasn’t life at all because I was miserable all the time, my life had no purpose, no one actually liked me as a friend unless I had the bag and now my freedom was gone. So in a complete state of depression I went back to the bible and I found the prayer that would lead me to a life with the Lord and I read it again then I cried real hard on the inside and then I prayed that prayer with all my heart wanting so badly to know this Jesus, this Savior and Creator. After that night I read all I could of the Bible everyday and attended church every Sunday along with mail order bible studies through Set Free Prison Ministries and just totally surrounded my self with God’s word constantly and all of a sudden things started happening. My family started talking to me again, court proceedings started looking more hopeful and I suddenly realized that I was much happier although I was locked up in jail. I started looking forward to getting out and attending a real church. I also realized that there weren’t any fights going off in my cell blocks and dorms like there were in the other ones and I started experiencing Gods awesome Grace and Mercy.
Before I knew what happened my sentence came through 9 months which meant 6 months with good behavior and I went from not knowing the Lord to the Lord using me to talk to fellow inmates about the Lord and before I knew what was happening the Lord had me starting up a prayer circle in the dorm at night and people asking me how they could receive Jesus. Luke 1:37 “For with God nothing will be impossible” Five months later I was set free from jail with 3 years probation ahead of me. The probation officer that I received ended up being the same one that arrested me, and when I talked to him he told me that I would fail and statistics told me that I probably would fail because 8 out of 10 do go back in, and I was scared but God told me in Psalm 118:6 The Lord is for me; I will not fear; What can man do to me. and also in Mathew 10:28 Jesus says “And do not fear those who kill the body, but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. 

So once again like every other day I prayed and told Jesus that my P.O. was probably right that I couldn’t make it, but Jesus told me in Philippians 4:13 I can do all things through Him who strengthens me. “the Him being Christ” so I proceeded on with life, and a couple months later I was helping my cousin open a print shop. During this whole ordeal I was praying that God would heal my wife and fix my marriage but she was on drugs and said no and that I was a felon and would never have my son again. But then I remembered Mathew 19:26 Jesus said “With man this is impossible but with God all things are possible. and you know that in less than 4 months from the time of my release by the grace of God I was given full custody of my son and in less than 10 months God brought the woman of my dreams into my life and within another 14 months I made her my wife because God truly has a better plan for each and every one of us.
During this whole time the print shop has done very well and I even served as a Director for the chamber of commerce for a full year and God gave me a better wife than I ever dreamed possible along with 3 beautiful step sons. I still have 1 month to go and it hasn’t always been easy but with the Lord in my life it has been manageable, and now life is happy and fulfilling. Just recently that same probation officer walked into my shop and didn’t even recognize me and that’s because I’m a new creation as Jesus says in 2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. and I know this is so true Gods promises are true and He is so awesome for I now see that the things I use to think brought me happiness (which they never did) I now see are from Satan, and are his works to destroy me & many others and to rob us of the true joy that Jesus has for us. The Lord tells us in Jeremiah 29:11 “For I have plans for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. and this is so very true and I thank God every day for sending the officers there that night to arrest me and give me a real life in Christ, because I hate to think how life would of been if I hadn’t come to know the Lord because in the past I was serving Satan without even knowing it because the Lord tells us in Mathew 

12:30 “He who is not with me is against me. and to be against God is to be serving Satan and his plans. 
I thank God for this day of life and this breath of air that has enabled me the chance to share my testimony with you and I can only pray that it reaches out and touches the heart of another in need and may God Bless each and everyone of you always if you just give Him the chance and except him as your Lord & Savior. 

John 14:6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 

No Jesus - No Peace
Know Jesus - Know Peace

JESUS

IS LIFE
THE REST IS JUST DETAILS!
_____________________________________

Are you sick and tired
of being sick and tired?
Then take the time to ask 
Jesus into your life and let Him
give you a real life,
an eternal life !
Secure your passage to eternity
Right Now By:

~1. Realize that you are a sinner.
No matter how good a life we try to live, we will still fall miserably short of God’s standards.
The Bible says, “No one is good-not even one.” Another word for good is righteous . The word righteous means “one who is as he or she ought to be.” Apart from Jesus Christ, we can not become the person we “ought to be.”
~2. Recognize that Jesus Christ died on the cross for you.
Scripture says, “But God showed His great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.” God gave His very Son to die in our place when we least deserved it. As the apostle Paul said, ”(Christ) loved me and gave Himself for me....”
~3. Repent of your sin.
The Bible tells us to “repent and be converted.” The word “repent” means to change our direction in life. Instead of running from God, we can run toward Him.
~4. Receive Jesus Christ into your life.
Becoming a Christian is not merely believing some creed or going to church on Sunday. It is having Christ Himself take residence in your life and heart. Jesus said, “Behold. I stand at the door (of your life) and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in....”

1. Romans 3:10/NLT
2. Romans 5:8/NLT
3. Galatians 2:20
4. Acts 3:19
5. Revelations 3:20

Would you like Jesus Christ to come into your life right now? If you do then please take the time and pray this suggested prayer and mean it from your heart and ask our Lord and Savior into your life right now !

“God, I am sorry for my sin. But I thank you for sending your Son, Jesus Christ, to die for me and to pay the price for my sin. I turn from it now and turn to you by faith. Please come into my life and please forgive me. I want to follow you from this time forward as your disciple. Thank you, Lord in Jesus’ Holy name I pray.”

If you prayed this prayer and want to know more about what it is to become a Christian, please contact a Christian you know or contact a Calvary Chapel near you and they will be glad to talk to you, pray with you and to give you a Bible to get started.

God Bless and may God be with you
Your Brother in Christ

Steve