Southcoast Church International, San Clemente, CA

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Lives God has changed

John 14:4-11
Jesus Answered, "I am the way and truth and life. No one comes to the Father except through me"

Victor G.|Chris S.|Barbara C.|Gene D.

Lives God has changed

Victor G. Does God care about me? Yes! I grew up in a catholic family and went to catholic elementary and catholic highschool. I grew up with a disdain for protestants and any other christianity other than catholicism. I loved my friends and I loved our comraderie. It was a cozy life with no real concern for anyone else but us. A selfish life. After highschool I went to college in Richmond, VA at Virginia Commonwealth University where I still was catholic but only by name. I only went to church on sundays but with no real christian friendships. I also yearned for a relationship with God but I never felt I was gaining any ground. I just enjoyed going out, drinking with my friends with no real reason or purpose.
I went to New York for about two years after graduation where I worked for the bank of new york. My main goal was to make money...lots of it! I also went to catholic church every sunday. But still feeling like I needed God more than than a sunday. Sound familiar? I worked and went out partying during the weekdays. I stayed up until three am in the morning and go into work the next morning at six am. I was also in a relationship. We went out alot and it was fun. I was living the New York life! Go out, sleep at someone's house in the city and go back to work the next day.
At the end of two years at the Bank of New York, I had realized that I needed some time away from the city. I was invited by a friend to take a trip to South Africa. During my six week stay there, I attended church. We had a prayer meeting in the evening when a lady came up to me with a scripture and an encouraging word. She said that 'God has his eye on me'. I tried to figure out what she meant and had several discussions with people about it. Coming home, I thought about my life and what I was focusing on. I put the material things ahead of the spiritual things. And I knew this was my own doing. I decided to to give my life to Jesus. I can safely say that my relationship with God is deepening everyday and not a day goes by that I don't think of the freedom that I can live in because of Jesus being king in my life. My priorities about life, money, death, guilt, and especially eternal life has changed! We all have a bright future in God!