From Murder to Grace

By Manuel Villalobos

God took a spiteful, rage ridden, yet self searching young man and miraculously transformed him into a useful servant and son of the living God. For years all I wanted was to be happy. Not knowing the power of God to save, I belittled those who claimed to have a personal relationship with Him. Am I now ashamed of my past attitude? Of course. Things are not always as they seem. It was my pain and anguish that was not allowing me to see that God had been there all the time.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Manuel Villalobos
• Release date: Jun 25, 2018
• ISBN: 9780463199459

Manuel Villalobos

Manuel Villalobos: I am not an author of books? It was never my intention to begin writing books. As God would have it, I was basically thrown into it by circumstance. My brother was the one who got me thinking about writing. He had written a couple of books at the time. I am currently residing in Victorville, Ca. I am married and have several children. It is due to God's grace I am what I am today as my books testify to. My goal is to allow others to have what I have found in Christ. My prayer is that once they hear my testimonies, they too will reach out to God through His only begotten Son, Jesus the Christ. May God bless you one and all. Manuel Villalobos

Book preview

Forward

Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow...Isaiah 1:18.

Who can understand the depth of God's infinite mercy and grace?

One of the first things I learned as a believer was that God was greater than all my sin. There was absolutely nothing He wouldn't & couldn't forgive. The following is the story of God's redemptive power. How He reached out and touched a heart that was looking for the one thing we as humans long for and crave; Love and acceptance. The following pages speak of that amazing love; so freely given to my brother and to all the whosoevers who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.

Ernestine Comeau

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank and acknowledge the following persons for all their help, support, encouragement, and prayer:

My Brother Jesus

My Sister Ernestine

My Sister Rita

My Wife

Most of all my God and Savior, Jesus Christ.

From Murder to Grace

By

Manuel Villalobos

© 2018 Manuel Villalobos: At Smashwords; No part of this manuscript may be copied, photocopied, stored in an electronic storage device or in any way duplicated without the express permission of the publisher.

Table of Contents

Forward

Acknowledgments

Prologue

Chapter 1 What is a Christian

Chapter 2 Why isn’t Dad Interested

Chapter 3 The Girl Next Door

Chapter 4 Ten Sisters; Three Brothers

Chapter 5 I’m Only Sixteen

Chapter 6 My New Bride

Chapter 7 Jesus Freaks

Chapter 8 Uncle Sam to the Rescue

Chapter 9 God Saved Him and He got Baptized

Chapter 10 Sister’s Lost Her Mind

Chapter 11 I Can’t Take it Anymore

Chapter 12 School

Chapter 13 I just don’t get it; What Did I See

Chapter 14 My Apartment

Chapter 15 What do My Feet Have to Do with Anything

Chapter 16 Links of a Chain

Chapter 17 I want to be Happy

Chapter 18 Why Did I Say That

Chapter 19 Prove the Existence of God

Chapter 20 Devouring the Word

Chapter 21 Before

Chapter 22 Back at Home

Prologue

Before becoming a believer and follower of Jesus Christ, I tried many roads seeking happiness and fulfillment. There was of course the usual junk; partying with friends, strangers, or by myself. Money spending became a favorite pastime. Women filled some of the void (even while I was married). The occult brought with its charm a certain type of spirituality, but was not totally satisfying.

These things brought a certain amount of happiness, but nothing satisfied my deepest longing. Loneliness and emptiness were continually inside of me. It became an obsession just trying to hide these feelings from everyone; Wearing the mask of I’m great-I’m happy in front of others. For as long as I can remember, I always thought I was different from other people. I could not put my finger on just why. I just felt out of step with the rest of the world. This feeling would haunt me for many years to come, but let’s start at the beginning.

I remember when I was about three years old riding in the back seat of our car. My Mom was sitting next to me showing me how to make the sign of the cross as every good catholic learns early. She told me about God and the baby Jesus.

When she said the name of Jesus, I felt a wave of power come over me with an overwhelming feeling of warmth and love; understanding at that young age, This person named Jesus was real!

For the rest of my life, before I knew Jesus Christ as my Savior, I knew God was real. However, despite all the things I was learning about Mary, God, and Jesus in Catechism class, I thought God was keeping all my sins listed for when I died, and wasn’t interested in my needs, wants, or feelings. When I did occasionally pray for stuff, or for answers to my problems, I never seemed to get my prayers answered. I thought He had no interested in my life until I died and had to meet Him face-to-face.

Make up my mind, did God make me, or, was I born? This question puzzled me for what seemed years. Where did I come from? My mother had told me that God made me, but later, I overheard people talking about babies being born.

My older Sisters told me when I got older that they remember me asking this question about where I came from. Apparently it was while making a trip with my mother. I do have a memory of them laughing at this question; I must have been about seven or eight years old.

These younger years of mine were a mixture of jumbled feelings which seemed at times to consume the very fabric of my life. I had so many questions and not enough answers to quench my puzzled mind and heart.

This then gives you an idea of where my life was headed at an early age. I was old enough to understand things which most children just took for granted. The problem was not my understanding, it was the contradictions in the way I heard people explain things.

This was probably because at one point they would be speaking with spiritual understanding, and then the next minute speaking in mere physical terms leaving God out of the equation. But at this age I did not understand that there was two ways of looking at things; one carnally speaking which is true in a physical sense, and one spiritually speaking which is the greater truth.

Chapter one

What is a Christian

There I was, working at The Boy’s Market in La Mirada (Early 1970’s). In the back of the store, outside of the dock doors but inside a separate cage, I was organizing and putting away all the empty bottles that had been returned by customers for their redemption value.

Off in the distance, I see a woman struggling to carry four bags of groceries; stopping every few steps to put down the bags only to pick them up again. Putting her hands on her hips, looking up toward the sky, she let out a long sigh.

Something inside told me to go help her; who it was that prompted me I now know, but not then. If I leave work, I will be missed and get into trouble, but judging by the amount of bags, she must live pretty close; Maybe one of the houses just past the field. I took off my apron and ran down to her and asked if I could help.

Yes, thank you very much; I guess I bought more than I thought.

I handed her two bags and I carried the other two.

We had walked almost to the end of the field, far enough where I could not change my mind about continuing to help her. We were engaged in small talk when she said the strangest thing I had ever heard; You must be a Christian, to come out here and help me like this?

She was looking at me, smiling and expectantly waiting my affirmation. Now, I had heard the term Christian before, but only in the movies and in school, and always in reference to them being fed to the lions in Rome.

Well, I’m a Catholic.

She got this look on her face, like I had said, I’m an ax-murderer. She didn’t speak to me again until we reached close to her home.

Walking along in silence, we got to the first street