BITS AND PIECES TO HELP SMOOTH OUT THE LUMPS ON YOUR LIFE_S JOURNEY

By Mary Murray

Bits and Pieces to Help Smooth out the Lumps on Your Life's Journey is a book about finding help as you navigate your path through life and tackle the various issues and situations that arise. At times, the mistakes we make due to trusting ourselves when we lack wisdom will compound our efforts and our problems worsen. No matter how old we are, or how much we think we can handle, we can use a faithful, trustworthy, gentle, kind, loving, stable, wise, confident, forgiving, loyal and understanding God to help us along the way. Family, friends and counselors may be available, but sometimes they don't have the real-life experience behind them to provide the connection we need. After reading the bible and not studying it, I still had unanswered questions. Is there more than one baptism? What is the Trinity? What is salvation and what does that mean for me? Who and what are angels? What is prayer about and how do we get results? Who is wise counsel? How does confessing the Word of God affect our spiritual path? Who is Satan and so much more. Through the years, I have found these answers through His Word by studying it from pastors, teachers, bible studies, and getting results. I now have more peace, joy, love, strength, faith and confidence in my choices. Through Bits and Pieces, my personal journey has become remarkably easy and worry free as I have found the Savior who supplies my need graciously as I become stronger in Him. Bits and Pieces is written from my heart and soul and by God's Grace, with the simple desire to help others. Here you can find the support to grow strong, prosper, and free yourself from most havoc, failures, illnesses, and unhealthy relationships. Lighten your sorrows, grief, loss and enjoy a smoother journey. Once you are strengthened, strengthen your brother or sister.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Covenant Books, Inc.
• Release date: Oct 8, 2019
• ISBN: 9781644717844

Book preview

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Bits and Pieces to Help Smooth Out the Lumps on Your Life’s Journey

Mary M. Murray

ISBN 978-1-64471-783-7 (Paperback)

ISBN 978-1-64471-784-4 (Digital)

Copyright © 2019 Mary M. Murray

All rights reserved

First Edition

Previously published:

Single: With Hindsight to Help Other Single Sister’s

Scripture quotations used in this book are from the following sources:

The King Kings Version of the Bible (KJV)

The New King James Version of the Bible (NKJV)

The Amplified Bible (AMP)

The Message Bible (MSG)

The New Spirit Filled Life Bible from New King Version and the Living Bible Versions

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the publisher. For permission requests, solicit the publisher via the address below.

Covenant Books, Inc.

11661 Hwy 707

Murrells Inlet, SC 29576

www.covenantbooks.com

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments

About the Author

Don’t Give Away Your Vision and Dreams

Grief/Death of a Loved One

The Good News, the Gospel, and Salvation

A Prayer for Salvation.

The Holy Spirit (Holy Ghost), Our Helper

The Holy Spirit with Evidence of Speaking in Another Language (Tongues)

Angels

Faith

Confessions of the Word of God

Health and Healing

Biblical Prosperity

Pray/Prayer

Getting to know the Father to build relationship

The Lord Has Dealt Bountifully with Me

Spiritual Gifts

Satan, Demons, and Fallen Angels

Celibacy

The Influence of the Book of Esther and Effect by Dianna Booher

Giving Thanks to God

Miscellaneous Nuggets

Pursue

Acknowledgments

All praises, honor, glory, and thanksgivings go to the head of my life, God the Father, Jesus the Son and Holy Spirit/Holy Ghost.

Not wanting to plagiarize anyone’s work, being given many paper resources throughout the years and not sure who said what, I want to acknowledge some quotes, prayers, and Bible studies teaching from Christian Television: TBN, Daystar, Hillsong TV, and the Word Network.

Books of Christian and secular authors, pastors, and teachers: James and Kathleen Norman, Kenneth Copeland, Frederick Price, Charles Capps, Kenneth Hagen, Sr., Barbara Johnson, Cindy Trimm, Andrew Wommack, Andrew Murray, John Hagee, Germaine Copeland, Stephen Covey, Joyce Meyer, Leroy Thompson, Charles Stanley, Tim LaHaye, Gary Chapman, Creflo Dollar, James McDonald, Robert Morris, Joseph Prince, Andrew Stanley, Bill Winston, John Gray, David Jeremiah, Steve Furtick, Jentezen Franklin, Joel Osteen, Christine Caine, Jesse Duplantis, Jack Hayford, and many, in no particular order, names I don’t recall and other sources unknown. I thank you all.

My thanks and appreciation also to my family and friends, too many people to name one by one, but you know who you are. My life’s journey brings in all kinds of people, saved, unsaved, happy, sad, clueless, intelligent, lazy, and academic in all walks of life’s position and all ages.

To my investors, the best in the world, those who believed in the Lord working in me to speak in my integrity, the truth as I see it with His eyes. Thank you to Covenant Books, Inc. to do this again.

To a very special lady, whom the Lord placed to help me in editing this book, pastor and author, Cinda Herring, her book, Repairing the Breach. She heard my cry and felt my passion for this book and was willing to do the work. Thank you so much for editing also, Vielka Williams and Reginald Williams! The Lord always has a ram in the bush when you do something for Him.

One cannot tell it all and how often we forget some details along the way in our journey of life and that’s where the title of this book comes from, Bits and Pieces to Help Smooth out the Lumps on Your Life’s Journey.

Bits and Pieces

Enjoy your journey,

Mary M. Murray

About the Author

My life now is working for the glory of God and His pleasure, and for me, it’s desires, surprises, hope, faith, love, blessings, joy, and relationships. His love surrounds me like a shield and things that I don’t know about, which He has already taken care of them. What a faithful Father we have.

I’m not a theologian, nor a Bible historian, but I have been in the body of Christ most of my adult life and have had a relationship with Jesus that keeps growing through His love for me. I’m spirit filled, and I do hear His voice and try to follow it, I’m still working on some learned habits that are harder to get rid of more than others, so you see, I’m not near perfect and will never be until Jesus return, and I have on my incorruptible body. My journey is not a religious one, trying to keep up with a lot of rules (laws) and regulation of the church, but the more I learned, the freer I became.

The journey of life is a process, and we are unique and wonderfully made from our creator. God said, Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness. Let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. That’s our Father, Son, and Holy Spirit/Holy Ghost.

Even with that statement, some will say, I had it hard, only one parent and didn’t get everything that I needed, but you did, you are still here! Go after it, it’s still not too late to begin again. Sure, you won’t have some things or advantages to work with, nor the support needed when you first began, but praise God you have something, invest in yourself right where you are now!

For me to be me, I did have a small silver spoon growing up from childhood, had both parents in our home. My parents were married for thirty-nine years until his death in 1975. My father came from a small town in Texas; he met my mom, married, and moved to Los Angeles, California, in October 1943. He worked at Alcoa Aluminum Company of America. They had five children, which consisted of three girls and two sons—I was in the middle of them. If you were an odd number, you know the middle, enough said.

Today, they are all with the Lord. To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord, included are babes and children, but if you are older, you must make a choice to accept the plan that is presented, the plan of salvation. God has His plan all written out, and it’s all about believing and that is a faith action. We will get into that later in Bits and Pieces.

Some children don’t get to be born because of birth issues or abortions, if you were blessed to survive, your fate, which is a power that is supposed to be settled ahead of time, how things will happen for your predestination, an act by which God is believed to have decided beforehand upon everything that would happen to you. It’s really after you are grown, I’m meaning twenty-five to thirty, and you see some choices that you made, and now you must take a detour and get on another track not sure where you are headed. He gives us His plan in Bits and Pieces. Most likely not all at once!

Being raised in Los Angeles, I went to all the neighborhood public schools, east side, Ascot Avenue, George Washington Carver, Jr. High, and Thomas Jefferson Senior High School. I first wanted to be a cosmetician, a glorified hairdresser, I made all my friends and family hairstyles look good. I had completed a six hundred hours course for cosmetology in high school, and after graduation, I took and past the exam at Trade Technical College, but because the majority of my clients were family and friends, there was little pay; and because it was too late to change my major for that semester, at seventeen, I had a choice of taking elevator operator or PBX. I chose PBX, found a job, and became supervisor at a telephone answering service during that time. I was in that field for fifteen years.

My mother was an usher at this church for thirty-three years, but Dad didn’t attend church much after he left Texas, unless my mom very firmly asked him to attend her functions. During my upbringing, we were made to attend church and Sunday school (I strongly recommend this for your children—Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart or will come back), so when we were about ten to thirteen, if we wanted to stop going, we could, and I did stop going. Some kids, not all, were doing all types of things outside the church; however, the seed was planted, we prayed and ask Jesus to come into our hearts and be our savior, and I know today that prayer brought me back to Him. We had some dysfunction in my family, but we made it.

One of the reasons my dad didn’t go to church when he came to L.A. is because he found other men who he worked with that had a more exciting life style, women also worked at the plant. They didn’t attend church, but drank, gambled, and liked women. Our house was an open nest for his friends most weekends, so we learned early how to drink, gamble, and like women or men. My brothers learned to play the field with girls, but they tried to keep an eye open over their sisters. That didn’t stop me from falling in love and marrying Clay at eighteen; by then, I was three months pregnant. We were going to get married in September but got married in May instead. I had child number one at nineteen, and child number two at twenty—they are twenty-three months apart. Our first eight years were with worldly living and dysfunction, and sin was good for a season. I’m believing you will know when that season is over and make changes. I’m so thankful that God kept me and my record clean; therefore, I was able to work with a security clearance for Northrop B-2 Division with secret documents.

Both Clay and I worked and cared for our sons. While he worked more than I did, I was a supermom. I took care of their school business and took them many places like amusements parks, their sporting events, movies, swimming, vacations, and social clubs—Woodcraft Rangers—for years. They lived the good life on the outside, but Mother and Dad did their own thing together and apart. I smoke cigarettes, drank, smoked weed (that was the name then), and saw men; not often, but I did. I must say when you are attractive in looks, and personality, you must be very careful because Satan will send people in your life to topple you over. He doesn’t send you something you don’t want, his job is to steal, kill, and destroy. The sins of the father or mother can be passed down to the children, if the curse isn’t broken, by the blood of Jesus, your past can’t be changed, but your future can be, Bits and Pieces.

With my son’s permission, I asked them if it would be okay to share some things in their past, and I’m so proud of them saying, Let it rip. Go for it, Mom. I can speak on both of our sons—who had problems with women, alcohol, and some drugs in their earlier years. One went to jail, charged with attempted murder during the Rodney King beating and riot. I thank God he wasn’t convicted of the crime, but if he had been convicted, it would have been three life term sentences, God is good. My son was out in the fast lane for a while, which kept me praying. He was told that he had two daughters that was caught in that trap, but both girls turned out not to be his. We were heartbroken, I went with him for the DNA hearing of one daughter, and the other one I went to Hall of Record for the birth certification, and this one daughter had another man listed as her father. However, he does have another daughter, but they have relationship issues even today, but it is peaceful, still praying for them, never give up.

He went back to school. After serving in the US Army, he received an honorable discharge, went back to college, and received a bachelor’s degree in engineering where he’s been working in that field for twenty years. He later married and has two sons. You have to be strong, pray, and hold onto the Lord when they go out to begin their own lives. You can’t buddy up with them and get into their business, they must make their own choices. You can only pray they were trained up right and don’t stray too far from the Lord, because the Bible says, Sin is good for a season. You must keep your faith that it won’t last too long, and they don’t get hurt too badly, but with His help, they will recover, if they know Him.

My other son moved to Las Vegas where he was transferred there for his work, and he met this couple who either voodooed or drugged him. He went to jail for stealing and then to a mental ward. That night, his brother and I broke all speed limits getting there. He was later divorced for infidelity (women), had a daughter out of wedlock who he was separated from most of her childhood, and now they have a loving relationship and one son in college who still needs prayer. He has a degree in business administration and has worked in retail management for over twenty-five years, daily functions, hire and fire. I positively know there are other things small and big that they kept from me, and that was good. I was a praying mother who stayed on her knees for them to return to the Lord and for the angels to protect them until they came to their senses and my prayers were answered.

It took a while, years, but they changed, so don’t give up on your children, grandchildren, nor spouse that their future can change. One is now married sixteen years, and the other one is content to being single. They are changed men with love and respect from their children and young adults. They were brought up in the church, received Jesus Christ, went their way, and later came back to Him, not to the church yet, but they are still middle-aged men with a bright future.

During my marriage from one to seven years, it was worldly living. During the years from eight to twenty-four years, our life changed. It started with me first when I went back to church, and my life evolved into new things. No more house partying and clubs with hangovers and questions (like what did I do the night before), no driving tickets or arrests, and were the kids safe, etc.—all of this going through my mind the next morning. I started changing my friends, and the one I committed the most crimes with, I helped her come back to God also, so we stayed friends. I now went to Bible studies, help groups, luncheon, dinners, plays, auxiliaries, prayers groups, concerts, and getting involved in leadership and serving the Lord and people. He saw the change in his wife.

One night, there was a Bible study going on at the church, which was about twenty-five miles away from where we lived, and my friend wasn’t able to attend that night. I asked Clay to go with me, he said, No, he was waiting for a business call. I said the boys could take the message, and we wouldn’t be gone too long. He told me to take care of my church business, and he would take care of his truck business. My spirit said, Sit down and don’t say another word, so I did sit down and not speak. About fifteen minutes later, he came out of the bedroom and asked me if his shirt would be okay to wear, and of course, I said yes, and we went together. His life changed also, he went to church with me, received his salvation, sang with the men’s choir, attended Bible studies and other fellowship with other believers until cancer came into my husband’s life, and brought death at the age of forty-seven. I was forty-two with two sons—twenty-three and twenty-one.

Going back to my youth, I loved to sing. I sung at school, girls’ choir, glee club, and acapella choir in high school. Our instructor took us off campus to sing places and at a radio station. I formed my own do-wop group (like the Supremes), and we sang in our neighborhood on the street corner, etc. I wrote a few songs, we had it going on for a while, then a little later, I had an opportunity to sing as a backup singer to Pearl Bailey in Las Vegas, Nevada (don’t know who she is, huh?). It’s okay. Before your time, my manager thought I could go far, yeah right, he’s your manager.

The Spirit of the Lord told my husband that I shouldn’t take the trip, bright lights and big city would go to my head, drugs and alcohol was running ramped in the entertainment field, and I was on that road. I didn’t know anyone else in that field and to be away from home as a young woman, by myself, he said that he and the boys wouldn’t see me again. I believed his wisdom and didn’t go. I also believed my life could have ended early, so I made a choice not to pursue that direction any longer. I became content with my choice. We were a team, and I never had any regrets about that. I now sing for the Lord and for my edification, and also on occasions, I listen to Gospel, soundscapes, R&B classics, and smooth jazz. I still enjoy good music.

Our world of choices continues as you age and your decisions will not only affect and change you, but others in your life. My sons have seen the change in my life since Jesus, and they love and respect me for who I am. A changed woman with the help of God. After the death of their father five years later, I remarried to a man who had kidney disease. He seemed to be in control of his health. He was working, going to church, no ex-wife and no kids, and he was also ten years younger and living life. One and a half years later into our marriage, the disease began to worsen, he became suicidal and was admitted to a hospital’s mental ward twice. He succumbed to the illness.

No one is perfect, not the good or bad ones, rich or poor ones. No, not one, but the Lord only. I thank God for His direction in my life even when I wouldn’t listen, which is sometimes hard when you hear other voices and don’t have a good relationship and friendship with Him. He is the only real help I know now, and without Him, I could do nothing. He gave me grace and mercy because I was once lost and in