My name is Maria M. Padilla let me tell you my story…
I had my first encounter with God in September 17, 2006, when I moved to New Jersey from New York. I moved to New Jersey seeking peace from strife from the streets, family and friends. I had seen and experienced a lot from the streets and even from day to day occurrences from friends and family. I was hurt from a lot of judgments, gossip and negativity. Because of my hurt, I hated everybody. Often, I spent time alone trying to get away from everybody, just to find peace and quiet. So I sought a new life of peace just across the bridge to New Jersey where my brother Tony and his family lived. One day my sister-in-law, Tony’s wife, invited me to come to church on a Wednesday night. I went because I didn’t want to disappoint her and I thought that if I went one time, she would leave me alone, not knowing that God was not going to leave me alone. Since that day everything changed in my life. Little by little, I began to see and allow God to work in my life. In July of 2009, I met Pastor John Ramos at a barbecue. He spoke to me about the vision of Vine Fellowship Network, and how the Lord called him and his family to New Jersey to minister and launch VFN in New Jersey. I spent a lot of time sharing my testimony with him. Shortly after, I felt drawn to visit VFN. I still did not understand the plans God had for me. I started to see how authentic and real their walk was with the Lord and how the glory of God was in their home. My first experiences at VFN with God’s glory and presence caused me to want to know more, and learn more. I felt that there just had to be more, and that there was still something missing. God spoke to me through Pastor John and Theresa, and told me that abiding with the Lord is everything. I began discipleship with them, (the Biblical Foundations of Truth series) and I realized that I did not know God. I had a lot of information about God but I did not know Him. I did not know how to abide with the Lord and I did not know His voice. It was a struggle at first because I did not like to read or take direction. I was very honest with Pastor John about how I felt about reading daily. We were attending VFN about six months already and I was still lingering on the discipleship book entitled Knowing Jesus as Lord. I started speeding through the Foundations of Faith books when thoughts of my Pastor asking me about how discipleship was going came to my mind. I did not want to lie. Then, one evening my husband Eddie and I had a meeting with Pastor John and Theresa and we discussed how my abiding was going with these Foundations of Faith booklets. I told him I was not consistent, but how I had made it to book four Building for Eternity. To my surprise, he told me to start over again beginning with the booklet Knowing Jesus as Lord. We talked about other things, and I realized that I went through the book Knowing Jesus as Lord through the Foundations of Faith book Building for Eternity through my head and not my heart, and that I needed to get serious. That night, I truly surrendered my heart to the Lord. I decided to obey God through obeying my Pastor. God revealed to me how I need his grace daily to abide with Him. To this day, I still ask him daily for that grace. One week later, after that decision, God began to speak to me. He would surprise me with words, scriptures, or speak to me though my thoughts. I even began to realize how he was speaking to me through Brother Greg during the Sunday teachings, and through my husband. I also learned that in hearing God that I needed to obey what he was speaking to me about me. I thank God every day for His mercy and kindness that led me to repentance. God has shown me that He wants to be my father. He has also blessed me with a spiritual father in the Lord, Pastor John. Never before could I have imagined knowing Jesus Christ like I do now. And I never imagined I could be a daughter of His. The presence of God has brought peace into my life and without any doubt that is something that cannot be experienced in this world apart from God. Having the revelation of His presence in my life is beyond any feeling, and no word is adequate to describe what that is like. A word that I use to describe his presence in my life is peace! Not worrying, not being depressed, not suffering from anxiety, not feeling the weight of this world, is to know Jesus Christ. Jesus has brought family back into my life and is teaching me to truly know how to love everyone. He has brought love back into my life, taught me how to forgive and be merciful to others, He healed my heart from deep wounds of the past and gave me an appreciation and compassion for others that I have never experienced. Understanding what Jesus did when he walked on this Earth makes so much more sense. I learned how to break bread with others and worship Him, spend time with others, and share the truth in love. That is real. He is in my life and He is all I need. My prayer is that if you feel like you are in bondage that you would give your heart to Jesus and watch Him set you free. |
From my earliest memories, I was raised in a Catholic home. I attended CCD, which is a Catholic teaching program that teaches school age children the Catholic doctrine. I knew a lot “about” God. I was raised in a Catholic home, but never had a relationship with Jesus Christ. All I had was religion. No matter how many times I went to church, my life still remained the same. I claimed my faith to Jesus with my mouth but denied Him every day with my lifestyle. I would go to him when I needed something from him and when I was blessed, I would say, “Thank you very much, God” but my life still remained the same. No matter what I did, I still remained depressed and empty inside. I used God when I was in need. 