WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:01.720 For a few minutes, we're going to discuss something 00:00:01.720 --> 00:00:09.419 that I feel is mighty important and something 00:00:09.419 --> 00:00:18.100 that I'm so grateful for and something that I 00:00:18.100 --> 00:00:26.280 realize is so lacking in the lives of literally 00:00:26.280 --> 00:00:31.550 thousands and... thousands of people today. And 00:00:31.550 --> 00:00:40.909 that is peace of mind. Do you realize that there 00:00:40.909 --> 00:00:46.189 are comparatively few people who have honest 00:00:46.189 --> 00:00:53.890 to goodness peace of mind? After a day's work, 00:00:54.070 --> 00:01:02.149 they can go home. Lie down, go to sleep without 00:01:02.149 --> 00:01:07.909 a sedative, without a sleeping pill, without 00:01:07.909 --> 00:01:16.409 something to put them to sleep. And then sleep 00:01:16.409 --> 00:01:23.450 all night without being disturbed by a mental 00:01:23.450 --> 00:01:32.959 torment of some kind. Peace of mind. I'm telling 00:01:32.959 --> 00:01:38.760 you, it's the most important possession an individual 00:01:38.760 --> 00:01:44.299 can have outside of his own salvation. He's like 00:01:44.299 --> 00:01:50.200 that. Even if one has health, love, beauty, talent, 00:01:50.319 --> 00:01:56.019 power, fame, money, prestige, steel, If one lacks 00:01:56.019 --> 00:02:00.939 peace of mind, life is a hideous torment and 00:02:00.939 --> 00:02:06.579 an intolerable burden. Now, there are several 00:02:06.579 --> 00:02:11.580 basic reasons why so many people do not have 00:02:11.580 --> 00:02:16.120 this blessed inner peace. And we're going to 00:02:16.120 --> 00:02:18.120 be very practical about the whole thing today. 00:02:19.419 --> 00:02:25.319 Very practical. As Papa used to say, we're not 00:02:25.319 --> 00:02:33.379 going to spare the horses. First of all, let's 00:02:33.379 --> 00:02:37.599 talk about something that is very prevalent in 00:02:37.599 --> 00:02:42.539 most lives. We worry about things we do not have. 00:02:43.520 --> 00:02:48.879 And then we become dissatisfied with what we 00:02:48.879 --> 00:02:54.050 have. I believe this is... One of the most dissatisfied 00:02:54.050 --> 00:03:01.430 generations that ever existed. I mean that. I 00:03:01.430 --> 00:03:08.169 always remember the old Missourian. One day he 00:03:08.169 --> 00:03:13.849 was talking to me. He lived in the lake of the 00:03:13.849 --> 00:03:18.289 Ozarks. Oh, that's beautiful country. That's 00:03:18.289 --> 00:03:26.680 beautiful country. The scenery is gorgeous. And 00:03:26.680 --> 00:03:29.120 he was telling me about the days when they had 00:03:29.120 --> 00:03:34.620 very little. His folks were poor. Their relatives 00:03:34.620 --> 00:03:40.379 were poor. The neighbors were all poor. Their 00:03:40.379 --> 00:03:43.979 neighbors had no more than they had. And so, 00:03:44.199 --> 00:03:49.599 they were just happy poor people, you know. They 00:03:49.599 --> 00:03:52.289 were all in the same boat. But they never complained. 00:03:52.949 --> 00:03:57.590 There was no dissatisfaction, not really. They 00:03:57.590 --> 00:04:01.669 had their cornbread. They had their black -eyed 00:04:01.669 --> 00:04:08.830 peas. Oh, sure. In the summertime, the kids went 00:04:08.830 --> 00:04:12.490 barefooted. They didn't worry about shoes until 00:04:12.490 --> 00:04:16.110 it was time to go to school. Then he said, you 00:04:16.110 --> 00:04:20.500 know, we were all... all so contented. It seemed 00:04:20.500 --> 00:04:24.139 we were all so happy and everybody got along 00:04:24.139 --> 00:04:28.660 so well. There was no complaining and no troubles 00:04:28.660 --> 00:04:35.660 and nobody had real problems until the day that 00:04:35.660 --> 00:04:40.300 the mail carrier left a mail order catalog at 00:04:40.300 --> 00:04:45.740 the neighbor's house. That did it. That did it. 00:04:47.240 --> 00:04:51.740 He said after that first mail -order catalog 00:04:51.740 --> 00:05:02.579 arrived, nobody has been happy since. He said 00:05:02.579 --> 00:05:06.360 that disrupted his family, the neighbor's family, 00:05:06.540 --> 00:05:13.579 the families of in -laws. Even the outlaws were 00:05:13.579 --> 00:05:21.459 unhappy. everything was serene until that day 00:05:21.459 --> 00:05:28.560 the mail carrier left that mail order catalogue 00:05:28.560 --> 00:05:33.319 at the neighbor's house he said everybody in 00:05:33.319 --> 00:05:37.540 the neighborhood began looking at it first wonderingly 00:05:37.540 --> 00:05:44.490 and then longingly and then he said Nobody has 00:05:44.490 --> 00:05:48.250 ever been satisfied since. Said it wasn't long 00:05:48.250 --> 00:05:51.089 before the people forgot the beauty of the lakes. 00:05:51.790 --> 00:05:55.110 They forgot the beauty of the trees that surrounded 00:05:55.110 --> 00:05:59.009 them. Instead of sitting outdoors at night for 00:05:59.009 --> 00:06:02.910 two or three hours, marveling at God's wonders 00:06:02.910 --> 00:06:08.990 in the heavens, he said they all stayed in the 00:06:08.990 --> 00:06:12.709 house with the kerosene lamps burning. going 00:06:12.709 --> 00:06:16.430 through the mail -order house catalogs, making 00:06:16.430 --> 00:06:21.129 themselves miserable at the thoughts of the many 00:06:21.129 --> 00:06:27.029 things that they did not possess. Oh, he said, 00:06:27.110 --> 00:06:33.209 my wife began nagging me. She saw something she 00:06:33.209 --> 00:06:37.410 wanted. He said the kids began begging for things. 00:06:38.610 --> 00:06:46.550 He said... It was never the same. And he said, 00:06:46.589 --> 00:06:51.589 I tell you, we never had peace at our house after 00:06:51.589 --> 00:06:57.550 that. Well, the other day going down the street, 00:06:57.689 --> 00:07:02.009 I saw a mother pulling her crying youngster out 00:07:02.009 --> 00:07:07.750 of a five and ten cent store. She had the kid 00:07:07.750 --> 00:07:11.069 by the hand and he was yelling bloody murder. 00:07:11.759 --> 00:07:14.879 I stopped. I thought the youngster was suffering. 00:07:15.040 --> 00:07:18.220 I thought, my goodness, the life. This youngster 00:07:18.220 --> 00:07:22.019 must be in great pain. You could have heard him 00:07:22.019 --> 00:07:25.120 two blocks away. I turned around and looked. 00:07:25.319 --> 00:07:31.800 His face was red. Oh, the look on that youngster's 00:07:31.800 --> 00:07:35.819 face. One would have thought he had an amputation. 00:07:37.519 --> 00:07:40.920 In his hand, he was catching a small toy, just 00:07:40.920 --> 00:07:46.500 a little tiny car, little toy. But do you want 00:07:46.500 --> 00:07:50.120 to know what was wrong with that youngster? Why 00:07:50.120 --> 00:07:52.959 he was screaming and yelling and kicking the 00:07:52.959 --> 00:07:57.220 way he was? He was making himself miserable because 00:07:57.220 --> 00:08:01.699 he couldn't have all of the other toys in the 00:08:01.699 --> 00:08:05.319 store that he had seen, and his mother wouldn't 00:08:05.319 --> 00:08:08.759 let him buy them. And because he couldn't have 00:08:08.759 --> 00:08:12.959 all of them, he wasn't satisfied with the cute 00:08:12.959 --> 00:08:16.879 little toy car that she had just purchased for 00:08:16.879 --> 00:08:24.939 him. Yeah, it's like that. You bring a child 00:08:24.939 --> 00:08:28.500 a little toy home, he'll be thrilled with it. 00:08:28.600 --> 00:08:32.940 He'll love it. He'll play with it for hours, 00:08:33.019 --> 00:08:38.809 days. But let him go into the store and see all 00:08:38.809 --> 00:08:42.809 the other toys. No matter what you buy, he'll 00:08:42.809 --> 00:08:46.429 be unhappy because he can't forget about the 00:08:46.429 --> 00:08:51.590 toys that you didn't buy him. And the toys he 00:08:51.590 --> 00:08:58.210 couldn't have. It's human nature. A young man 00:08:58.210 --> 00:09:04.600 thinks he's in love. He's sure. He's in love 00:09:04.600 --> 00:09:09.259 with two young ladies. Oh, I've seen this over 00:09:09.259 --> 00:09:15.480 and over again. No matter which one he marries. 00:09:16.220 --> 00:09:20.440 And more than one young man has come into the 00:09:20.440 --> 00:09:24.440 office and asked my advice and has said, Now, 00:09:24.460 --> 00:09:31.700 Miss Kuhlman, would you please help me? I... 00:09:31.799 --> 00:09:35.919 I need a little advice. Here's Martha. She's 00:09:35.919 --> 00:09:40.899 lovely, so -and -so. I'm sure I love her. And 00:09:40.899 --> 00:09:45.340 then there's Anna. She has such sterling qualities. 00:09:48.139 --> 00:09:51.940 I think I'm in love with both of them. And I 00:09:51.940 --> 00:09:55.720 don't know which one. I love the better. What 00:09:55.720 --> 00:09:59.159 do you think I should do? Would you pray with 00:09:59.159 --> 00:10:05.000 me about it? I'll say, I know I'm terribly practical 00:10:05.000 --> 00:10:08.879 about some of these things, but they're just 00:10:08.879 --> 00:10:12.919 some things you use your good common sense about. 00:10:13.759 --> 00:10:18.600 No matter which one he marries, no matter what 00:10:18.600 --> 00:10:24.019 advice I give him or anyone else gives him, invariably, 00:10:24.059 --> 00:10:27.960 he'll go through life making himself miserable 00:10:27.960 --> 00:10:35.700 and... The wife, the woman that he married, miserable 00:10:35.700 --> 00:10:39.700 too. Because he'll keep thinking that he should 00:10:39.700 --> 00:10:44.019 have married the other one. Every time the one 00:10:44.019 --> 00:10:47.100 that he married does something he doesn't like 00:10:47.100 --> 00:10:50.899 or crosses him in any way, he'll think about 00:10:50.899 --> 00:10:55.159 the one that got away. The one that he didn't 00:10:55.159 --> 00:11:01.720 marry. Oh, you know what I'm talking about. That's 00:11:01.720 --> 00:11:09.899 human nature. We always want the one that got 00:11:09.899 --> 00:11:16.820 away. We're always wanting something we don't 00:11:16.820 --> 00:11:22.840 have. If you are a part of humanity, this includes 00:11:22.840 --> 00:11:29.580 you too. Someone asked one of our great... the 00:11:29.580 --> 00:11:34.240 secret of his serene spirit. And he replied, 00:11:34.679 --> 00:11:42.600 as I grow older, life becomes simpler because 00:11:42.600 --> 00:11:49.279 I see the essentials more clearly in the evening 00:11:49.279 --> 00:11:59.519 light of my life. Mm -hmm. All right. Let's go 00:11:59.519 --> 00:12:03.279 back to Mama. I guess this is one reason why 00:12:03.279 --> 00:12:06.440 all these things are very real and vivid to me. 00:12:07.019 --> 00:12:09.960 And why I become so practical about the whole 00:12:09.960 --> 00:12:14.440 thing. We usually had a crisis at our house when 00:12:14.440 --> 00:12:18.759 I was a youngster. Well, at least once every 00:12:18.759 --> 00:12:26.179 two years. And it got so that I usually... Look 00:12:26.179 --> 00:12:30.379 forward to it because... And I think Papa did 00:12:30.379 --> 00:12:35.600 too. Papa was expecting it, sure. And the crisis 00:12:35.600 --> 00:12:42.419 always came every time our furniture company 00:12:42.419 --> 00:12:47.759 in Concordia got in a new type of china closet. 00:12:48.080 --> 00:12:55.379 Now, Mama just loved her china. Mama just loved... 00:12:55.799 --> 00:13:00.639 loved fine china because Aunt Belle would order 00:13:00.639 --> 00:13:04.399 it from France and Aunt Belle painted china. 00:13:04.879 --> 00:13:08.000 And she and Mama had about the nicest china collection 00:13:08.000 --> 00:13:11.399 in the state of Missouri. Mama thought a lot 00:13:11.399 --> 00:13:17.820 of her china. And that is one reason why she 00:13:17.820 --> 00:13:21.799 doted so on china closets. I think they called 00:13:21.799 --> 00:13:25.200 them buffets or whatever they were. Each year, 00:13:25.240 --> 00:13:28.940 I got a little more ritzy about what they called 00:13:28.940 --> 00:13:33.940 him. But every time there was a new model, Mama 00:13:33.940 --> 00:13:39.039 started on Papa. Easy at first, but it wasn't 00:13:39.039 --> 00:13:44.120 long before she was nagging him. And we'd sit 00:13:44.120 --> 00:13:49.779 down to the dinner table, and Mama would start 00:13:49.779 --> 00:13:58.610 on Papa. There was no peace until Mama got the 00:13:58.610 --> 00:14:05.850 new model at the furniture store. I was thinking, 00:14:05.889 --> 00:14:10.649 I think, Freaking's Furniture Store. And they 00:14:10.649 --> 00:14:15.230 always got the biggest and best in because they 00:14:15.230 --> 00:14:17.309 knew that Joe Kuman would have to buy it for 00:14:17.309 --> 00:14:22.289 Mrs. Kuman. But do you want to know something? 00:14:23.470 --> 00:14:28.909 In Mama's later years of life, she never even 00:14:28.909 --> 00:14:35.149 saw china closets. Buffets didn't mean anything 00:14:35.149 --> 00:14:40.309 to her. It made no difference whether she had 00:14:40.309 --> 00:14:45.529 one or not. Even her beautiful china didn't mean 00:14:45.529 --> 00:14:52.690 too much. Not really. In her later years, it 00:14:52.690 --> 00:14:56.649 meant more to her to have my brother come home 00:14:56.649 --> 00:15:02.909 and just sit down by her side on the sofa and 00:15:02.909 --> 00:15:07.850 talk with her for an hour or so. Mm -hmm. If 00:15:07.850 --> 00:15:11.009 she could have, she would have still held him 00:15:11.009 --> 00:15:17.889 on her lap. Sure, that meant more to Mama. than 00:15:17.889 --> 00:15:24.330 all the China classes in the world. It's like 00:15:24.330 --> 00:15:31.549 that. That was what the bishop meant when he 00:15:31.549 --> 00:15:37.990 said, as I grow older, life becomes simpler because 00:15:37.990 --> 00:15:42.429 I see the essentials more clearly in the evening 00:15:42.429 --> 00:15:51.080 light. We must learn not to make a crisis out 00:15:51.080 --> 00:15:55.200 of every unhappy experience, out of everything 00:15:55.200 --> 00:15:59.440 that we want and cannot have. We make ourselves 00:15:59.440 --> 00:16:04.000 miserable. You make yourself miserable. And you 00:16:04.000 --> 00:16:08.580 make everybody around you miserable. These things 00:16:08.580 --> 00:16:13.059 are not the essential things. It's far more essential 00:16:13.059 --> 00:16:17.320 that you have peace of soul. And after you have 00:16:17.320 --> 00:16:22.019 peace of soul, you have peace of mind. If you 00:16:22.019 --> 00:16:26.139 aren't careful, it won't be long before you develop 00:16:26.139 --> 00:16:32.539 a crisis psychology. Some crisis is always coming 00:16:32.539 --> 00:16:37.899 along. We are a part of the human race. There'll 00:16:37.899 --> 00:16:42.059 be sickness, financial difficulties, more than 00:16:42.059 --> 00:16:51.120 a thousand things. Taxes going up. Crisis in 00:16:51.120 --> 00:16:57.480 the family with the children. And when these 00:16:57.480 --> 00:17:03.860 things happen, be careful. It won't be long until 00:17:03.860 --> 00:17:09.839 you find out that your outer conflicts will destroy 00:17:09.839 --> 00:17:18.319 your inner peace. other people that destroy our 00:17:18.319 --> 00:17:21.880 peace. Our feelings are hurt. We carry a grudge. 00:17:22.519 --> 00:17:25.619 One woman said recently that when she entered 00:17:25.619 --> 00:17:29.960 the quiet time of her day to pray, the only thing 00:17:29.960 --> 00:17:33.839 she could do when she became quiet was to chew 00:17:33.839 --> 00:17:38.119 on her resentments. The time of prayer simply 00:17:38.119 --> 00:17:44.150 brought to the surface a nursed grievance. You 00:17:44.150 --> 00:17:47.609 will never, never in a thousand years have peace 00:17:47.609 --> 00:17:52.769 of mind as long as there is a grievance, a grudge, 00:17:52.910 --> 00:17:56.990 an unforgiving spirit in your own heart. The 00:17:56.990 --> 00:17:58.890 other person may not know one thing about it, 00:17:58.930 --> 00:18:03.650 but as long as you are carrying it in your own 00:18:03.650 --> 00:18:09.210 heart, as long as it has become an issue of the 00:18:09.210 --> 00:18:14.380 mind, you will never have peace. peace of mind. 00:18:15.519 --> 00:18:18.779 There's a scripture that's marvelous. It's found 00:18:18.779 --> 00:18:22.740 in 26th chapter of Isaiah, the third verse. Thou 00:18:22.740 --> 00:18:30.339 wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is 00:18:30.339 --> 00:18:37.839 stayed on thee. Why? Because he trusteth in thee. 00:18:41.740 --> 00:18:47.859 Did you know that the mind rules the body? In 00:18:47.859 --> 00:18:53.559 fact, the world in which a man lives is created 00:18:53.559 --> 00:19:00.480 out of his own thoughts. That's right. The kind 00:19:00.480 --> 00:19:07.359 of world that you live in is created out of your 00:19:07.359 --> 00:19:13.190 own thoughts. God knew well the product of his 00:19:13.190 --> 00:19:18.369 creation. He knew that if his children will put 00:19:18.369 --> 00:19:23.589 perfect trust, perfect confidence in him, their 00:19:23.589 --> 00:19:30.430 mind stayed on him, that perfect peace would 00:19:30.430 --> 00:19:36.309 be theirs. Knowing that he will take care of 00:19:36.309 --> 00:19:41.240 every problem, every need, and... every tomorrow. 00:19:42.000 --> 00:19:47.000 If it's just this moment, somehow the Holy Spirit 00:19:47.000 --> 00:19:52.519 could get you to commit yourself completely unto 00:19:52.519 --> 00:19:59.519 Him. Your thoughts, the world in which you have 00:19:59.519 --> 00:20:03.579 created for yourself, committed all unto Him. 00:20:04.700 --> 00:20:09.880 Commit this hour unto Him. Commit yourself. Commit 00:20:09.880 --> 00:20:17.099 all of your problems, everything to him. Thou 00:20:17.099 --> 00:20:27.599 wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is 00:20:27.599 --> 00:20:34.480 stayed on thee. Tell me what is the center of 00:20:34.480 --> 00:20:37.400 your mind. Tell me the center of your thought. 00:20:38.640 --> 00:20:44.779 Tell me what governs your mind. And I will tell 00:20:44.779 --> 00:20:52.420 you what governs you. It's like that. Is there 00:20:52.420 --> 00:20:59.700 greed? Is there jealousy? If you're being mastered 00:20:59.700 --> 00:21:04.880 by greed, you're the unhappiest person living 00:21:04.880 --> 00:21:10.430 this very hour. If you are being governed by 00:21:10.430 --> 00:21:15.329 jealousy, you're the most unhappy person that 00:21:15.329 --> 00:21:19.630 lives and breathes. If you're jealous of everything 00:21:19.630 --> 00:21:24.869 your neighbor gets new, if you're jealous of 00:21:24.869 --> 00:21:31.650 your friends, you're being mastered by jealousy. 00:21:33.269 --> 00:21:40.160 You're unhappy. If you want real peace, peace 00:21:40.160 --> 00:21:45.640 of mind, then, beloved, here's the secret. Thou 00:21:45.640 --> 00:21:50.799 will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is 00:21:50.799 --> 00:21:57.299 stayed on thee, on the Lord Jesus Christ. For 00:21:57.299 --> 00:22:03.240 he is the one who gives you peace of mind and 00:22:03.240 --> 00:22:05.079 peace of soul.