Yes,You!

By Delilah P.I.O.

Delilah was about to lose everything: her life, her home, her marriage, and her future. She was desperate and without direction because she was going through one more marriage failure and would become a single mother again with two sons. She was broken and abandoned, with no family to help her in the United States. She struggled, unable to understand why this was happening if she had done everything right in her third marriage. She tried to fix her marriage, but she could not. She thought that everything was lost. Depression and suicide were surrounding her until she heard the voice of God.

In this book, Delilah shares how God restored her life. She shares her life story openly without shame but with courage. This book details the process that God took her through, and she narrates her conversation with God, which happened through visions, dreams, and the revelation of each one. She shares how a person can be living in the present without being aware of what could be destroying their life. She expresses the need to change, even though you may think you are right. She feels privileged that God has chosen her to be a bilingual author; she writes in Spanish and English. Both books have been written simultaneously in two languages. She gives God all the glory. She includes a study guide in this book, and you can access more material on her webpage www.delilahpc.com

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Jun 22, 2022
• ISBN: 9781664260726

Delilah P.I.O.

Dalila tiene su carrera como Técnica en Ciencias de Servicios Humanos del Colegio Columbia de Misuri de Estados Unidos de América. Ella fue misionera por más de 22 años en México. Dalila ha vivido en México, Europa, Belice y Estados Unidos. En la actualidad vive en el Sur de California.

Book preview

Copyright © 2022 Delilah P.I.O.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

WestBow Press

A Division of Thomas Nelson & Zondervan

1663 Liberty Drive

Bloomington, IN 47403

www.westbowpress.com

844-714-3454

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Interior Image Credit: Delilah P.I.O.

Scripture taken from the King James Version of the Bible.

ISBN: 978-1-6642-6073-3 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-6642-6074-0 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-6642-6072-6 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2022904791

WestBow Press rev. date: 06/21/2022

Dedication

Thank you, Lord, for your mercy, providence, and faithfulness in my life and family. I am thankful for your great love, plans, and purpose for my life.

To my two sons, I love you, and I am so grateful to God for giving me you two as my sons. To my son Moses, thank you for having a forgiving, loving, and caring heart. To my son Gershom, thank you for having such a gentle spirit and a kind and giving heart. My sons, you are the most precious gifts in my life, and I am constantly learning from you. God has used you two to teach me how to pray and to not give up on life but to persevere in the faith. Thank you, sons, for putting your faith in God, believing in my words and love, and graciously loving me during all the hardships we had to endure together. I love you both very much!

This book is dedicated to the Lord God the Father, the Son Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit.

Contents

Acknowledgments

My Gratitude To

Prologue

Chapter 1 Yes, You!

Part 1 Who Do You Choose?

Part 2 Who Chose You?

Chapter 2 Threats of the Enemy and God’s Protection

Chapter 3 My Weakness and Temptations

Chapter 4 I Forgive Myself

Chapter 5 Speaking Life

Chapter 6 Enemy’s Oppression and My Faith in God

Chapter 7 The Bride and The Groom

Part 1 Who Is the Bride?

Part 2 Who Is The Groom?

Reader’s Guide

Study Notes

Acknowledgments

I start this list of recognition with my grandfather. Thank you, Grandfather Angel, for teaching me the Bible as a child and loving me always. You taught me how to be compassionate by giving me the example of how to live a life committed to God, the family, and others.

I want to thank my parents, Manuel (Don Pachuco) and Asension (Doña Chonita), for giving me the best of you. You have been a great example of how to love unconditionally and how to be a hard worker and brave. Thank you, dear parents, for always teaching me to put other people above the material things in life. Thank you for being an example to follow on how to live with a humble heart.

Thank you to all my brothers and sisters, their spouses, and their children. Thank you for all your support and love, and for always being available for my family and me. I thank God for each one of you and the way you are, how each one has contributed to our family by bringing that sparkle of love, craziness, hard work, happiness, and much more. I cherish the great memories I have of us growing up in our large family. Thanks to the rest of my family. I love you all, and God bless you!

To my husband, my love, thank you very much for supporting me in this job as a writer and for having the patience to give me the time I needed to learn how to become one. The Lord had his plans before we had ours, and I thank him for allowing you to come into my life and for allowing us to fall in love and marry. You are such a blessing! I love you very much!

Thank you to each of my children’s fathers for your love and support for our sons. Thank you to the other two children that I helped raise, I love you both very much, and I thank God for your lives. God bless you all!

My Gratitude To

Thank you, Eileen, for being obedient to the Holy Spirit by helping me with my book and making sure you respected my writing style. Also thank you to those who helped me with this book: my nephew Japhet; my niece Jenny, Letishia, Rebecca; and my sister-in-law Leonor.

A special thanks to all my friends in the United States for opening your homes to me and my sons. Thank you, Lisa and family; Drucilla and her son; Maricela and family; Leida and family; Rose; and Lisa and family. God bless you all!

Thanks to each one of you who have been a part of my life. You have left a piece of you in my heart and memories. I start with the Pastors: Cano, Marcos, Daniel, Daniel & Guille, Cipriano, Marcos R., Angel & Chary, Felipe & Jenny, Joel & Kelly, Mike & Hannah, and Abel. The families: Lozano, Alvarado, Zubieta, Ayuso, Zoila, Rosita, Mother Sarah, Dunia & Kevin, Linda & Iran, Ernesto, Claudia, Sergio, Mara, Angelica, Anel, Luz, Lucero, Eunice, Josephine, Marilisa, Lisa, Drucila, Leida, Letishia, Charlotte, Mary, Maricela, Susana, Vanessa, Vicky, Audra & Ron, Dawn & Robert, Tery & Paul, Maura, Lisa, Janet, Denise, Lisa, Rosalind, Isabel & Sergio, Erika, Vincent, James, Emily, Nashielli, Rose, Lisa & Evan, Grace, Oddie, Deborah, Gena, Aida, Nicole, Essy, Hailey. The congregation where my brother Pastor Angel Perez pastored for 18 years, the Nazarene Church Communion in Tijuana, Mexico. You all have been that fresh mist of God over my life when I needed it most, either to be with me in difficult times or to celebrate with me the joyful moments in my life. I love you very much. Thank you all for being in my life, for praying and helping me. God bless you and your families. Proverbs 17:17 reads, A friend loveth at all times, and a (sister) brother is born for adversity.

My life is a tribute to God for his love and faithfulness, a tribute to my family and their love, a tribute to my friends and their goodness, and a tribute to the church for bringing Christ into my life and their intercessory prayers. God bless you all!

Prologue

I Need to Be Loved!

I was becoming more and more in love with God every day, but at the same time, I was very lonely and hurt because I was going through my second divorce. I had been writing in a journal for barely two months, and this was something new to me. One day when I finished writing, I wrote these words: No man can satisfy me until I am satisfied with My Great I AM—Jesus! If God has a missionary husband for me, He will provide it, and if not, I accept my singleness.

Despite being in the process of divorce, I still believed in love and longed to be loved by a man and remarry. I really did not think this would happen to me soon, but it did. Seven months after my second divorce, I remarried, thus starting my third marriage. I had met my third husband at my Christian church, and we had gone out a few times thinking we could become friends, and without realizing it, we fell in love and started to date. Soon after this, we became engaged, and months later, we married without really knowing each other.

When we dated, we had problems, but after we married, these issues continued and never got resolved. There were many conflicts, and they almost always ended up with my husband running me out of the house, but I never left the house. Instead, he would leave the house, abandon me for a few days, and then return as if nothing had happened. My life became a cycle of arguments, abandonment, and pain, but I endured everything, pretending that everything was fine between us. I slept in another room to avoid having more conflicts when he was home and in a bad mood or after arguments. It was very difficult to accept the fact that I had failed in another marriage, so instead I tried to fix it—but without much success. We had many great days, and those were the times when both of us would show love for each other. They were other times when we did not normally talk but live as roommates. The only thing we had in common was that we liked to eat and travel, but apart from that, we were opposites in everything. I knew that only God could help and change our marriage for good. Every time we reconciled, I would pray for us or ask my husband to lead us in prayer, but he was not always willing. I thought things would change, but unfortunately, they did not. Instead, they got worse as my husband struggled with me serving God and working on what I wanted, and I did not understand why.

My position and desire were to remain married, but this meant giving up on serving God and my dreams of the type of career I wanted. When I was his girlfriend, I shared with him that I was going to continue my missionary work and that I was going to finish my degree so I could use it to work helping people, and he had no objection. But now that we were married, he was forbidding me from serving God and work on what I wanted. I only had his permission to be a wife and mother and accept the job he thought was best for me. He wanted full control of my life, all because he was jealous of God and every person with whom I interacted. I was living with such a broken spirit, asking God to change my situation even though it did not improve. I seemed to get worse every day until one day I hit rock bottom!

One day I tried to talk to him about the struggles in the marriage, but things ended in an argument. It seemed as he could not handle this marriage, and in reaction to it, he would do what he normally did. He would leave me. So, he left me but returned the following day to pick up his belongings. After he was through collecting his things, we talked. During the conversation, he said words that hurt me very much that led me to despair. I was already very broken and abandoned, and upon hearing his hurtful words, these led me into the abyss.

I asked myself, For what was I created? I know I am a mother, but how is it possible that no man can love me? This husband tells me the same things as my previous husband. Why?

This caused so much devastation in me that I wanted to flee. I thought of bad things, like hurting my own body so I could disappear from this world. I wanted to keep living for my children, but I was in so much pain, and I did not want to hear another man telling me that I was not lovable. I could not bear it anymore! Because I was unable to change my husband and make him love and accept me, I got angry and broke a red vase that I had on my table. I could not believe that these words had come out of the mouth of my husband, the man who was supposed to love me. And then I thought, I was not born to be loved by any man except by my two sons.

As a young girl, I always thought that no man should love me, because of everything I lived in my childhood. In this third marriage, I felt that this came true again, but I did not want to accept it until my husband expressed it in his own words on this day, even though his deeds had already proven it. I was already very depressed because of my husband opposing my calling and work, and this put me in a deeper depression. My spirit felt broken. I was in a spiritual drought, which is a dangerous thing.

I thought, What good is my life? How is all this happening to me? How can this be possible for a person like me, who loves God? I think I am a good mother and wife, so why am I treated this way?

Thank God that He knows all my thoughts and interceded on this day by allowing my husband and me to calm down and talk. I expressed to my husband that it was wrong for him to speak to me with such cruelty and that I was incredibly sad and hurt. At the end of our talk, he left, as planned. I could tell that my husband felt bad about the incident but had no idea how hurt and depressed he left me.

He returned home on Saturday, and on Sunday we went to church as usual. That day I cried, imploring God to fix my marriage. I told Him that I did not like living like this and that I knew that He didn’t like us, his children, living in constant fights. I said this prayer while standing next to my husband at our Christian church during the time of praise and worship. I felt hopeless and without purpose! I did not understand how we could be together in the church, but once the service was over, we could not carry on and live with love. My prayer was a plea to God because I could not keep living in another marital failure. I did not have the strength to fight for one more marriage. I did not understand what was happening to me and us. Where was all the love we said we had when we were dating? I was taking care of myself, my husband, and my children, and the home was well-kept. What else could I do to make him happy? I thought I was like any human being who sometimes had some bad days but not enough for my husband to mistreat me and abandon me. I did not understand.

I burst into tears and asked, Lord, why am I living? I am lost! I have no purpose. Look at the life I live with my husband. It is one more failure, for the third time!

At the end of the service, we went home and argued. My husband abandoned me again. For the first time, I was able to tell him before he left, If you leave, don’t come back!

He left three more times until I finally could say, No more! I finally understood that I couldn’t change him and that I didn’t want to continue living life with a controlling man who had an anger problem. At the beginning of our courtship, I noticed this, but I did not want to acknowledge it. I thought that he would change, but he did not, and I could no longer live like this, like a prisoner. I could no longer live in a place where there was no peace with a husband who refused to change. We could not continue living with such bitterness and unhappiness. So, I would rather be alone with my children and be able to work on what God called me to do in life than to live with my husband fighting every week. I loved my husband and desired to be married, but I did not want to live this way.

After a few days of being alone, I realized the reality of my life and started to cry. I had failed again as a woman, and now I had another marriage failure. I could not accept this again, that I was being abandoned, that I was not wanted and not loved. In my desperation, I went and looked for a friend to comfort me, but I did not find anyone. I went to my church and sought to speak with the marriage pastor, but he was not available. So, I returned home. When I got home, I stopped crying, as I did not want my son to notice. I served him his dinner and spent time with him.

Once he went to bed and fell asleep, I started to cry again. This time I was inconsolable. Then suddenly I heard the voice of God say, Delilah, stop crying!

I said, But, God, my husband keeps leaving me.

God instructed again, Delilah, stop crying!

I answered Him, But, Lord, my husband keeps abandoning me.

God said, Delilah, stop your crying and fast for seven days because these demons only leave with fasting and prayer! Fast for seven days!

I then answered God, Yes, Lord, I will do it!

I thought, Of course I will fast! I have been wanting to fast and pray before but did not have the willpower to do it, but no more!

Get comfortable and join me on this fasting journey and see what the outcome was for my life.

SEVEN DAYS

Chapter 1

YES, YOU!

PART ONE

WHO DO YOU CHOOSE?

Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them.

—Ecclesiastes 12:1

California, February 2, 2017

Day 1 out of 7. Is Thursday, and I begin my first day of fasting and prayer. God leads me to read all these Bible verses:

For God so loved the world, that He gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life (John 3:16).

Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations (Jeremiah 1:5).

For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved" (Romans 10:13).

God makes me see that despite accepting Him as my Lord and Savior at the age of twelve, my life is not what it used to be at that young age. Today, I am in my early forties, and I see that my life reflects more what the Bible says in Ecclesiastes 12:1, Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them.

This is the Bible verse I had used as the theme verse for my fifteenth birthday celebration, which is known as a quinceañera in the Mexican culture. At this religious ceremony, my pastor prayed for me, and at the end of the ceremony, I was introduced to my church and society as a young lady, according to Mexican tradition.

I can recall being young and not wanting to be in the state that Ecclesiastes 12:1 talks about, nevertheless, today I am in that state, I find no pleasure with my life. When I was a preteen and a teenager, I was full of life and happy, but now in my forties, I am neither happy nor satisfied with my life due to all my marriage failures, including this last one. I am fully satisfied and happy as a mother, but as a woman and wife, I am very unhappy and with much brokenness, all because of my failed relationships with men. I know I had walked away from God when I was nineteen years old, but I returned to him a few years later, and I have been serving Him since. I did not understand. How could I be having another marriage failure?

So, after meditating on all these, I pray, and God answers me right away. He makes me see that He has always loved me, but how I decided to walk away from Him when I was at that young age. That’s when I decided who to fall in love with, to do things my way instead of waiting on Him. Also, He makes me see that I am currently disobeying Him.

I ask myself, Disobeying in what? But if I pray and I seek you. If I am married and I am not just living together with my husband. How is this possible?

Then I answer myself, Oh, I know it’s because I got married instead of being a writer, and that is my disobedience to God.

I realize what God was talking about. I have been writing down everything He revealed to me, but I never shared them or believed that I should publish them. I know I have failed to do what God instructed me to do.

Since I think I have the answer for God in what I had disobeyed, I pray, Lord, I disobeyed you. I didn’t believe that you called me to be a writer, and instead of doing that, I got married. But now look at me. I am without a husband, and I never obeyed you on publishing what you have given me to write.

Then God replies, Yes! You disobeyed me. You got married, and you focused only on that! Delilah, the problem is not your marriage! Delilah, the problem is you and your disobedience to me! For when I tell you to do something for me, you do not do it! You got married, and that is not the problem! The problem is that you put aside all I gave you to write. You didn’t believe me then, and you still don’t believe me now! Delilah, single or married, you have to obey me! Your marriage did not prevent you from obeying me, but You are the one who stopped yourself from obeying me! So now I say Hebrews 12:5 to you. ‘My daughter (Delilah), despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of Him.’ I know how hurt and lonely you are because of the failures of your marriages. Your husband is not a mistake. I know how much you need for your husband to love and appreciate you. But first you need to accept my love. Accept me as your husband and be obedient to me.

Then the Lord leads me to read 1 Peter 4:12–19.

Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy. If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you: on their part He is evil spoken of, but on your part