Well, today you and I are going to have another
one of those heart -to -heart talks. I don't
know when I got started calling it Old Fashioned
Missouri Cornbread. I don't know. Maybe it's
because I like the way Mama made her cornbread.
She made it differently than any cornbread that
I have ever eaten in my life. It wasn't... thick,
you know. It wasn't, I guess, the kind of cornbread
that they call real good cornbread is supposed
to stand about two inches high and a little fluffy.
Well, Mama made hers thin and a little juicy.
It was really soggy, but it was juicy. Oh, you
may not have liked it. And you'd be amazed how
many people have sent me recipes for cornbread
because I refer to Zora Cornbread. But none of
those recipes that you've ever sent me were right.
No, ma 'am. They never were like Mama's. And
to this day, I get so hungry. For the way Mama
made the cornbread when I was a kid, those cold
winter mornings in the Zora. Sometimes we had
molasses syrup, but it tasted just as good without
it because I loved it. And Mama always said,
it's so good for you. And the kind of cornbread
that I give you. I would like to feel is so good
for you. Not stiff. Not fancy. Not two inches
tall. A little soggy. Maybe a little too thin
at times. But good for you. You know, we're talking
about living this. Christian life, and it is
a day -by -day proposition. Let us never forget
that. Now, when you read the Word of God, you'll
find that as thy day, so shall thy strength be.
Always know that He'll not give you strength
tomorrow for today's trials. Never. It's a day
-by -day proposition. He'll give me strength
for today. When I wake in the morning, I have
this confidence. I have this assurance. I have
this security that no matter what happens to
me today, I know that my Lord and my God will
give me strength for what I have to face that
day. If I knew when I wake in the morning, everything
that I would have to face the next 24 hours,
it would kill me before I ever left the room.
I couldn't stand it. I couldn't take it. If I
knew before I ever left my room, the disappointment
that I would have to face that day or all the
work that I would have to do, I'd get tired before
I ever left the room. If I knew everything that
was involved in the next 18, 19, 20 hours, I
would just crawl back in bed again. Pull the
cover over my face so that I can't take it. But
I do not know what I'll be faced with during
those hours of that day. But I go out secure.
I leave. with a trust, with a confidence in my
heart and my mind that as that day, so will he
supply the strength for that day. And so, I've
lived low these many years without having had
a breakdown. Now, people have nervous breakdowns
when they try to see beyond that day. You can't
do it. If right now, I would just stop and think
of what my calendar looks like. And I visualize
all those dates on the calendar, and every day
is full. I'm supposed to be in Dallas, Texas.
I'm supposed to be in St. Louis. I'm supposed
to be in Washington, D .C. I have all these telecasts
to make. I have all of these radio broadcasts
to make. I've got all these sermons to preach.
I have all this mail before me. I've got all
of these prayer requests to take care of. I've
got this commitment. I've got another commitment.
If I stopped right now and thought about that
calendar and mentally saw those dates on the
calendar and all the things that I have to do,
well, I might just as well say goodbye, folks.
Let somebody else take over the rest of the broadcast.
I'd be out of breath. thinking about all the
hours I have to spend in the air and all the
work that I have to do and all the sermons that
I have to prepare. And, you know, I just don't.
I just don't do it. And that is the reason I've
never had a nervous breakdown. And if you are
on the verge of a nervous breakdown, it's because
you're trying to live more than one day at a
time. Moment by moment. That's how to live a
victorious Christian life. Don't cross that bridge
until you get to that bridge. Don't cross those
deep waters until you get to the brink of the
water. Don't lie awake at night and worry all
night about that thing that... you're going to
have to do the next day. If you do, you're going
to be so tired and such a nervous wreck that
when you face that thing the next day, you don't
have the refreshed mentality to do a good job
or the refreshed body. Go to bed and sleep and
commit that thing to God. That's perfect trust.
That's perfect confidence. That's where our faith
in Him comes in. You sleep. If anybody's going
to do the worrying, let God stay up and worry.
Let Him worry about how He's going to take care
of it. If anybody's going to do the worrying,
just let God do it. And it's just like that.
You go to bed and you sleep. You commit it to
him. And if anybody has to work during the night,
let him work on the thing. So that when you awake
in the morning and you have to face that thing,
you're refreshed mentally and spiritually. Where
do you think I keep going? Now, I don't think
a single one of you listening to me just now
know how much... Work I put out in one day or
how long my hours are and everything that I do.
I don't think a single person listening to me.
I could not be doing the work that I'm doing
if I didn't live and practice the very thing
that I'm telling you now. Oh. Oh, that wonderful
promise is in 2 Kings, the last verse of the
last chapter. A daily rate every day of your
life, so long as you shall live. I've lived on
that promise. I've claimed that promise for years
and years. A daily rate. Not a weekly rate. Not
a monthly rate. Not a contract for five years.
It's a guarantee. A daily rate. Every day of
your life. So long as you shall live. Oh, if
you're worrying about going to poorhouse. Oh,
Miss Cooman, I tell you, my husband died and
I'm a poor widow and I tell you, I'm afraid I'm
going to wind up in a poor house. Oh, honey,
not if you have the same Heavenly Father that
I have. And I'm sure you do have. Your Heavenly
Father is my Heavenly Father and my Heavenly
Father is your Heavenly Father. There is just
one God. And either you believe his word or you
don't. A daily rate. You say, where is that,
Miss Cooman? I wasn't so interested when you
first gave the scripture, but I am now. Where
is it? Second Kings, the last chapter and the
last verse. A daily rate. Giving you the king.
Who's the king? Our Heavenly Father. If that
isn't security, so many people, you know, turn
to the government for their security. Well, honey,
I'm not so sure that those checks are going to
continue to come in every month from the government.
That's not... Real security? I can point you
to one who'll give you better security than even
the government. Do you realize that the United
States government can go bankrupt? Whoever thought
that the Pennsylvania railroads would ever go
bankrupt? Whoever? Now, let's be realistic about
this thing. Why, if my papa knew that the Pennsylvania
railroad went bankrupt, he would turn over in
his grave. There was a day when they would be
the last institution to ever go bankrupt. But
they did. Who has the assurance that our government
cannot go bankrupt? And there goes your Social
Security checks. Let's just be realistic about
this thing. Our real security is in Christ Jesus.
I'm secure in something that is secure. And as
a child of God, you can be secure in something
that is real security. God will never go bankrupt.
Never, never, never. Never. In the sermon just
last night, We were talking about the church,
not as a denomination, not as an institution.
I was talking about the church of the Lord Jesus
Christ, where Jesus himself is the head of his
church, this glorious body of believers. You
and I are born into his. church, this invisible
church. With Christ as the head, his church will
never go bankrupt. His church will never know
defeat because he is the head of his church.
But when you come to a denomination, that denomination
can go bankrupt spiritually. And there are a
lot of denominations that are suffering spiritual
bankrupt state today. But not his church. And
if you are a part of his church, that invisible
body of believers, it'll never go down in defeat.
You have guaranteed spiritual wealth. and victory
if you are a part of this invisible body. And
so it is, beloved, with your trust and your confidence
in him. Not for one minute do you have to go
down and defeat. Not for one minute do you have
to worry about poverty, about... Because you
have one who has promised you a daily rate. All
the days of your life, even if you live to be
104. Ask Mr. Hinderlighter and he'll tell you.
that he has victory in Christ Jesus. He'll tell
you that the Lord has never let him down, even
at a hundred and four. You'll never live too
long. And no night will be too dark. You do not
have to be overcome by any burden. Oh, that's
glorious. Just stop right now and remember to
whom you belong. Because if you live that kind
of life, moment by moment, day by day, you'll
find that you'll be a happy person. It's a happy
life. And I still contend that people living
the victorious life are the happiest. They're
the most human of all people living. There is
a joy. You can't help it. It isn't something
that's forced. It's something that's spontaneous.
I always know when I see an unhappy Christian
that they're missing the boat someplace. There's
something wrong someplace in their life. And
I don't care what the circumstances are. I don't
care under what circumstances you may have to
live. God has still made provision for you to
be happy because the Word of God continually
speaks of the joy of the Lord. And the promise
is so profound that the joy of the Lord is your
strength. what those words really mean. The joy
of the Lord, the joy that He gives me in serving
Him, the joy that I get from helping others is
my strength. It's something you can't analyze,
but it's something that's as real to you as the
air that you breathe. No one will ever know the
joy that I get out of helping others. No one
will ever know. No one will ever know the joy
that I get out of giving. I get a far greater
thrill, a far greater joy out of giving than
perhaps the joy that the folk receive and the
pleasure the folk receive who have. to whom I've
given, is kind of like that. Inside of me, it's
such a glorious world. It's such a glorious life.
It's so challenging. I don't know whether those
people in Vietnam got as big a thrill out of
receiving what I've done for them as the joy
that I got out of giving to them. You know, it's
just kind of like that. I'm so excited about
the hospital that... The Catherine Cruman Foundation
is building in Vietnam. I get so excited about
it. Those wheelchairs that we've sent over. Those
bed sheets, those pillowcases. My word, I got
the thrill out of sending all that stuff. You
would have thought that I was furnishing a magnificent
home someplace. It's just like that. And the
bed that we've sent over. And I can just visualize
these sick people. The comfort that they're finding
in lying on a good bed. The comfort that they
get out of nice clean sheets. The wells. The
money that we've sent over for them to drill
wells. And I think of all the little dirty bodies
that'll get a bath for perhaps the very first
time in their lives. It's just like that. like
that. Even in sending you the letters in reply
to your prayer requests. That piece of paper
is more than just a piece of paper to me. You
are a human being. And when I read that letter,
I don't see just that paper and that envelope.
I see a person. A personality. I live with You
am as one with you in that need that you are
expressing in that prayer request. Do you understand?
Some will live or die. Never understand. But
that's the reason that you're not a happy Christian.
That's the reason that you have never experienced
the real joy in being a Christian. Love is something
that you do is inescapable. It's something that's
spontaneous. Now, if you have to force yourself
to live the kind of life that I'm talking about,
then you have never had that experience where
you have literally become a part of God and God
has become a part of you. If you have to force
yourself, then there's something wrong. You are
not a part of Jesus, and Jesus is not a part
of you. There is a place where literally you
get your vitality from him, and his vitality
flows through your body. You take on the personality
of Jesus. You can't help it. You can not help
it. You will take on the personality of Jesus.
And the joy of the Lord will be your strength.