Choose Wisdom, Part 1

The wise woman builds her house, but the foolish tears it down with her own hands. Proberbs 14:1

A wise woman builds her house by starting at the foundation. She wisely accepts Jesus Christ as her Lord and Savior and He becomes the cornerstone of all that she builds on in the future. She is careful to always stay fully surrendered to the Lord Jesus Christ and lets Him have His will in her life.

A foolish woman puts off accepting Christ, thinking she will do it later. Meanwhile, she is building her house on the things of this world. Unfortunately, her foundation won’t hold when the storms of life come and wash it away.

A Word to the Wise – It is never too late to surrender everything to Jesus. You can start today to build a new life with Him as your foundation. Pray this prayer, “God, I’m sorry for leaving you out of my life. I repent and turn away from my sins. I invite you to come into my life and live in me. I accept Your Son, Jesus Christ as my Savior. In His name I pray. Amen.”

Don't Let the Bed Bugs Bite!

For decades no one worried about bed bugs, but for the last few years the problem has escalated and now its making headline news. Bed bugs were so prevalent back in the 1920s and 30s, it was common for people who stayed in hotels, (even nice hotels) to strip the beds and check the mattresses for the pests before they settled into a room.

Well, the bed bugs are back with a vengeance and some people are finding that they’re not an easy problem to get rid of. When hotel rooms become infested, management has to bring in exterminators who pull out base boards and treat them in the walls. Mattresses and box springs are thrown out and when the room has been fumigated, they replace the beds with new ones.

If hotels didn’t take extreme measures to get rid of them, you and I would take them home in our luggage. What do these little pests thrive on? Would you believe human blood? It’s a pretty serious problem, wouldn’t you say?

We deal with a similar enemy on the spiritual level. Job 1:7 says, “And the Lord said to Satan, ‘From where do you come?’ and Satan answered the Lord and said, ‘From roaming about on the earth and walking around on it.’”

Just like checking for bed bugs, we have to check our own hearts and see if there is anything we are hiding from ourselves. We have to strip back the masks we wear and let the light of the Lord and His Word shine inside us, exposing any hidden sin. After all, even our own hearts will deceive us.

We have to surrender ourselves to the Holy Spirit and let Him exterminate the sin in our lives. He will cleanse us and restore us like new. “If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” I John 1:8-9

Let Go

We often hear the phrase; Let Go and Let God, but how do we do that? Paul L. Tan wrote about a college student back in the nineteenth century who “took six postcards and wrote a large letter on each one of the postcards;  L – E – T -- G – O – D

He then put them on the mantelpiece in his room where he was living at school. One evening a draft blew through the window and the card with the “D” blew away. As he picked up the remaining cards, what he saw seemed to be a message from God, and the secret of the Christian life; LET GO. Only by letting go can you let God carry out His will in your life.”

Letting go and giving everything we have to God should be a daily practice for Christians. Why? Because we tend to hold on to “things” and take back “things” that we’ve already given to Him. Actually, we don’t own anything anyway. Everything we have is simply “on-loan” for a while. Well known author, Corrie Ten Boom understood this. She once said; “I have learned to hold everything loosely. That way it doesn’t hurt when God takes them from me.”

I have my own way of Letting Go and Letting God. In prayer I tell the Lord that I am giving Him what I’ve been holding onto - I name it. It can be one of my children, my husband, or another family member. It may be a person I’m angry with and haven’t forgiven. Instead of a person, it may be a sin. You fill in the blanks.

Then I picture myself picking up the person (or the sin) and laying them at the feet of Jesus. I give to Him what I’ve been holding onto, what I’ve been worrying about and brooding over. He takes my burdens away when I let go. “Cast your cares on the Lord…” Psalm 55:22

Pulling Together

A great marriage is all about pulling together. But married or not, some things are hard to accomplish unless we have someone helping us. We worked in Mexico for 20 years and during that time we ministered with Pastors and Churches in poor areas sharing Jesus Christ among the people. Not only were the people in these areas poor, but the Pastors and their families were as well.

Our ministry brought in resources that helped the Churches spread the Word of God. Pulling together, we were able to reach thousands of people with the Gospel that would not have been reached otherwise.

One Pastor in particular touched my heart. His name is Pastor Guerra. His flock loves him so much and he loves them. He is an excellent Pastor and a powerful preacher, although he is poorly educated. Many have come to know Christ as their Savior through his faithful work for the Lord.

So what is so special about this man? His shortcoming is what makes him special. He’s totally illiterate. He can’t read or write. So, what miracle has God wrought that enables this humble, uneducated man to prepare his sermons? It’s the miracle of a loving, patient wife who can read.

Every night, sometimes for hours, Senora Guerra reads the Bible to her husband. God has given this Pastor an excellent memory and he has committed much of the Bible to memory just by listening to his wife read.

It makes God smile when we come together with others and lend a helping hand. Who do you know that needs you to come alongside and pull together with them? What are you waiting for? Go ahead, make God smile. 1 Corinthians 3:7-9