Surviving Adversity Using the Word of God

By Erma Royster

No matter what happens in life, always remember that God is with you. Mothers grow stronger in the Lord. Take back your families from the enemy. Stand firm, and fight for the children whom God gave you; they are a gift. Surrender yourself unto the will of God, and be saved, and reap the blessings for your family. Open your Bibles. Look for what describes your feelings at that time in the index. Read the scriptures and recite and declare deliverance over your life, and fight until it happens. Amen. Daily prayer: Psalm 91.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Jul 29, 2018
• ISBN: 9781640797925

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Surviving Adversity Using the Word of God

Erma Royster

Copyright © 2018 Erma Royster

All rights reserved

First Edition

Christian Faith Publishing, Inc

Meadville, PA

First originally published by Christian Faith Publishing, Inc 2018

ISBN 978-1-64079-791-8 (Paperback)

ISBN 978-1-64079-792-5 (Digital)

Printed in the United States of America

Introduction

Living holy and acceptable to the will of God is the hardest thing I have ever encountered. Today in the twenty-first century, many of the so-called religious believers are not converted by the Holy Spirit that is available to those who believe. There are many who attend religious functions and have no relationship with God at all. The concept of separating yourself from the world’s way of living unfortunately doesn’t hold the meaning of the word of God. I was introduced to serving God and doing his will by having Jesus live on the inside of me. The strong suffer infirmities of the weak (Romans 15:1). When does it end? Today’s so-called believers tend to have more faith in doctors and medicines than the saints of old. I’ve never seen such a broken group of individuals as the church of today. They attend functions because they want to be amused and entertained. However, souls are being lost, and the Spirit of God is not dwelling in them. I gave myself as a living sacrifice (Romans 12:1) so my family could be saved. I believe in the word of God and dedicated myself daily to him. Most are broken and don’t know how to apply the word to their lives. However, it works for me. I renew my strength daily by living holy and repenting for anything that I’ve done that is not pleasing to God. Spreading the Gospel is hard when you are witnessing to people who have no concept of how the Holy Spirit works. My people parish for lack of knowledge (Hosea 4:1). However, most have more trust in man, self, and their jobs. The stress that I witness is astronomical. Keeping up with technology, designer goods, and many other venues of life describe who they are. Sharing any amount of kindness is considered weak. I remember when good advice was most acceptable to folks.

Surviving in the Times of Adversity (Raised in a Dysfunctional Family)

The 1960s

I was born in the fall of the ’60s. I remember sitting outside on the marble steps late nights waiting for my mother to stumble home drunk. Times were different then or people were. Children were safe to run throughout the neighborhood because everyone knew one another. I grew up in South Philadelphia between Lombard and the original South Street to Christian and Broad to Sixteenth. My mother and father were teen parents, so we lived at home with my grandmother and her blind friend. Also my two uncles and one aunt. There were always family around, aunts, some uncles and cousins, as well as my parents’ friends. As children, we would roam the streets from Sixteenth to Twentieth, visiting uncles and aunts, and cousins. We never went hungry even though the food was not good. I remember we would put the food down the hole in the floor that led to the basement. The OIC was and still is a free organization that served us breakfast before we went to school. I can still taste the grill cheese and scrambled eggs like it was yesterday. We were lucky our school EM Stanton was at Seventeenth and Christian Street and the OIC was one block over at Sixteenth and Catherine Street. The First African Baptist was across the street from our big three-story house on Sixteenth and Christian. We went to church every Sunday and all summer for vacation Bible school. The YMCA was at Seventeenth and Christian for after school and summer camp, which was free to the public. The Marian Anderson Center at Seventeenth and Catherine was also free for summer camp and swimming.

My mother wasn’t around much. I guess she was working and out with her friends. My sister took me everywhere with her. I remember one Easter Sunday we went to church and then to South Street, where we took photos (black and white) at the studio. After that, we went to the Jr. Hot shop for burgers, fries, and milkshakes. We always went to the movies on South Street. It was thirty cents, and we saw two movies and a cartoon. Back then we would stop at pops for popcorn and candy right next door to the Royal Theater. We never purchased hot dogs and other concession at the theater. Nobody checked your bags then. My mother, when she went with us, would bring all kinds of food and snacks with us. We had a brother four years older than me and two years older than my sister. He was out with cousins and friends, I guess. I remember climbing out of the third-floor window onto the roof of our house, looking down onto the alleys and grapevines. We were safe, so it may have seemed. Nothing happened to us, that is, where we played. The most that ever happened was slipping down the old wooden staircases, and we all got hit by cars from running across the streets in the middle of the blocks. No one hit and ran. Every car stopped to assist the parent to the hospital or wait for the police or ambulance. My mother said that one woman refused to help after her car hit my sister, and my mom actually picked her car up, and I guess then she cooperated. Living with Momma, we never got spanked and was allowed the freedom to be children. I remember going to the drugstore at Fifteenth and Catherine; and you were able to buy dolls, tea sets, and all kinds of toys for ten cents.

My grandmother’s friend was blind. My sister and I would escort him to where he wanted to go. We were his eyes. He would scratch the outsides of his coins in order to count and identify his money. I am not quite sure about the paper money. However, he used to squeeze our hands if we walked too fast while we escorted him to the bar at Fifteenth and South Street. While there, we would dance on the bar tables for money and drinks for him. Often I remember looking in the bars for my mother. The Pink Elephant was on the corner of Sixteenth and Catherine.

My dad was always around in those days. I remember my dad used to sit me on his neck and carry me around. We never missed a parade down Broad Street at Thanksgiving and on New Year’s. It was a