Well, are you ready for another Heart to Heart
Talk? Ready or not, here it comes. You know,
sometimes I think that some folk really do not
know how to live a daily, consistent, victorious
Christian life. Always remember something. We're
living not only a spiritual life. That's wonderful.
Oh, this spiritual life is marvelous. But remember,
after you've been born again, and after you've
had that wonderful experience after you've been
filled with the Holy Spirit, never lose sight
of the fact that you're... Still in a body of
flesh. You're still an old material world. Your
neighbors haven't changed. The folk with whom
you work have not changed. The enemy of your
soul has not been converted. You still have to
work for a living. You still have to eat. You
still have to sleep. You have the same husband.
You have the same wife. You've got the same children.
Or maybe you wish that you didn't have, but you
do have. And sometimes I think, you know, we
get so carried away with the ecstasy of our experience
that we expect that everything has changed. Our
neighbors have changed. Members of our family
have changed. And then when we come to the realization
that they haven't changed... then we start working
on them, not with wisdom. And we can't understand
why they don't see the same way that we see things.
And we try to force our experience upon them.
All for wisdom. For divine wisdom. Make that
a part of your daily prayer the very moment that
you open your eyes in the morning. Dear God,
give me wisdom. And usually the folk who need
wisdom most are those who do not see their lack
of wisdom. I repeat. We're not only living a
spiritual life, but a bodily life. We're still
in a world with trouble and heartache and sorrows.
We're in the world, not of it, but we're still
in the world, a bodily life, and whether we like
it or not, A very large part of our time and
interest is taken up with things which concern
the body. I'm going to tell you something that
I feel that is so seldom brought to our attention.
I don't know whether it's because we don't realize
how important some of these things are or not.
A mother sat searching her Bible. Sat reading
her Bible. She'd been reading for some time.
Seeking after the deeper things of the Spirit.
She was so hungry for the baptism of the Holy
Spirit. And she was seeking the Word of God for
light on the baptism. She spent so much time
seeking spiritual help that the duties of a household
became irksome. And were... either just hurried
through, many times neglected. The homeliness
was soon gone until it got to be so that the
husband wasn't always too happy to come home.
Remember, if your husband gets to the place where
he'd rather be away from home than to come home,
you'd better search your own life. Search your
own heart. I'm talking about those who profess
spiritual things. I'm talking to God's children.
And I repeat, a man's home should be his... Every
man who has a family, who has a wife and children,
should desire to come home, spend the evening
at home, happy to come home. And it's the duty
of the wife to make such an atmosphere, to bring
about such a wonderful hominess in the home.
that the husband will hurry home, that the children
will want to come home. If your children would
rather be at the neighbor's house than home,
then the neighbor has a nicer home life than
you do, and there's something wrong with you
someplace, and you're failing. It's just like
that. I like mama's cookies better than... Any
cookies that any of the neighbor women baked.
And I'm not so sure those cookies were so good.
I can remember Papa saying, when Mama would apologize
for the burnt toast, and Mama was awful good
at that. And Papa would say, well, Emma, I'd
rather have your toast burnt than to... eat anyplace
else. It was just kind of like that. We never
went to Aunt Belle's, never. And Aunt Belle was
a show -off. I might just as well tell you. That
was Mama's sister. And Aunt Belle was the kind
that when it came to desserts, cake wasn't just
enough. She had cake and pie and probably something
else. She was kind of like that. You went there
and... Maybe you'd have a couple of different
kinds of meat. It was just like Aunt Belle. We
had never gone to Aunt Belle's house yet when
I was a kid. Her table just loaded with good
things to eat, and she'd keep bringing on more
and more and more. There was never a time but
what the next day after we'd been to Aunt Belle's,
Papa would say, Well, Emma, I'd rather eat at
home than to eat at Belle's house any day. And
it wasn't because Mama was a good cook. She really
wasn't. She didn't like cooking, you know. She
really didn't like it. And my Mama wasn't a slave
to her. kitchen. I can remember as a kid, she'd
be sitting out on the porch swing, on the front
porch. She'd say, quick, quick, quick, quick,
quick, quick, put the tablecloth on and put the
coffee pot on. Here comes Papa. You know? And
as long as Papa saw the white tablecloth on the
table and the coffee pot was on when he entered,
he didn't know for what Mama had slaved all day.
to get whatever she had on the table at night.
But Mama made a nice home. And we'd rather be
home. We'd rather sit at our table. Papa would
rather eat Mama's burnt toast. I'd rather have
Mama's cookies than any of the neighbor's cookies
or any of Aunt Belle's food. These are some things
we need to think about. Well, so here is this
mother searching her Bible, reading the Word
of God. She spent so much time with her head
buried in the Bible that one day she was very
deep in study and her little girl, just a baby
girl, toddled up to her side with a broken doll
and said, Mommy, please mend my... Dolly for
me, please? And with an impatient gesture, the
mother just pushed the little one aside and said,
Honey, I have more important things to do than
to be troubled with your dolly. Go on, honey.
Go on. Can't you see that Mama's busy with her
Bible? And the little one turned sadly away.
And the mother continued her search for holiness.
But the search was a fruitless one. And the mother
closed the Bible with a sigh and sought the little
child. And she found her little baby girl lying
on the rug with her little doll. in her arms,
with the tears still wept on her pretty little
face. The mother's heart was smitten with conviction.
God spoke to her right then and there, and tenderly
stooping over the little one, she caressed her
with her kisses, and taking her in her arms,
she breathed a prayer to God for forgiveness.
She said, come on, honey. Mommy will fix your
dolly for you. She saw that holiness could not
thrive on neglected duties. Her devotion to her
Lord was henceforth seen in her care of her family,
her husband. her children, her household. And
that house became a home again. And the very
page of Scripture was lighted up with a fresh
glory. There is a holiness in being a good mother.
There is a holiness in being a good wife. Holiness
also means being a good husband. You cannot say
that you are deeply spiritual and following the
Lord in holiness if you are neglecting your children,
if you are neglecting that son, that daughter,
that husband. That wife. I'm saying something
that is as practical as the word of God. Do not
neglect your family. Do not neglect your children.
You are a living example. to them. You may be
the only Bible that they are reading right now.
In neglecting them, they may lose confidence
in you as a spiritual individual, as a godly
mother, and years later point an accusing finger
at you and say, you. were so busy reading religious
magazines, religious books, that you didn't have
time to be a spiritual mother to your child.
We believe that the Lord Jesus, who watched the
children at the play, and the fishermen and the
farmers at their work who worked himself and
yet made time to be present at a wedding feast
wishes you and wishes me to take a real interest
in all the concerns of life our own and those
of our friends he's given us a capacity for pleasure
and he longs to see us enjoy his gift of life.
Whatever we do, beloved, there must be joy in
what we do. You know, I was thinking again of
the daughter who came to me and said, Miss Cooma,
do you have to teach fasting? Because I resent
fasting so much. Is it in the Bible? And I said,
yes, fasting is in the Bible. It's something
that's very wonderful and something that the
Bible teaches and God honors. But I said, why
do you resent fasting so much? And really the
look on her face. This young girl was distressed.
And it was something that was vitally important.
And it was something she resented and something
that she hated. Even when she spoke the word
fasting, she almost spoke with vengeance. I said,
why do you hate fasting so much? She said, well,
I'll tell you exactly why. She said, every Friday,
my mother fasts. She attends your miracle services.
in the First Presbyterian Church here in Pittsburgh.
She's been coming to your services. And every
Friday is her fast day. And honestly, she says,
she makes us all so miserable that we hate to
come down to the breakfast table Friday morning.
She said, I hate Friday. Dad hates Friday. My
little sister and brother. hates to see Friday
come. Because we know that when we sit down at
the breakfast table, Mom comes in with a long
face. She pours Dad's coffee. She serves the
eggs and the toast and cereal. But she does it
with this long face. Every minute she does it,
she reminds us that she's fasting. She would
love to have breakfast, but it's her consecration.
She's fasting. She pours Dad's second cup of
coffee, and with it there's always a little sermon
about fasting. And her face is so long. Miss
Goodman, couldn't you just please leave out fasting
in your teaching? I said, Honeybunch, I can't
leave out something that's in the Word of God.
It's your mother who has to know that there's
joy in fasting. And when it becomes a drudgery
and she fasts with a long face. and it becomes
kind of a form and ceremony with her, then she
might just as well sit down at the breakfast
table on Friday mornings and eat two eggs instead
of one. She might just as well eat breakfast.
Because it doesn't mean anything more to her
than just a form, a ceremony, a duty, for the
real joy has been taken out. And she's... only
making it a burden to her family and something
they'll hate all the rest of their lives. It's
like that. You know, God has given us a physical
frame which needs food. It needs work. And that's
something, listen, a part of God's great plan
for humanity is work. He never expected us to
be happy without work. And man is made for work.
And man is happiest when he works. It's no disgrace
to work. It's a part of God's plan for a healthy
human being. He's made us for work. He's made
us for food. He's made us for exercise. He's
also made us for relaxation. He wants us to enjoy
our meals. He wants us to enjoy our work. He
wants us to enjoy our recreation. The marvelous
realm of nature. He made it for us. All things
bright and beautiful. All creatures great and
small. All things wise and wonderful. The Lord
made them all. And for our pleasure as well as
for his glory. But the world, dear Lord, that
you have made for us, the world that you made
for us to live in peace, we've made into an armed
camp. We live in fear of war to come. We're afraid
of the terror that flies by night and the arrow
that flies by day, the pestilence that walks
in darkness, and the destruction that wastes
at noonday. We are the one who has changed all
of these things. Not God. God made these things
beautiful for us to enjoy. Oh, I just love those
words. all things wise and wonderful the lord
god made them all for our pleasure as well as
for his glory the world is so full of a number
of things i'm sure we should all be as happy
as cakes God expects His children to be careful
about their dress and their manners. Surely He
desires us to be attractive Christians. Sometimes
I've seen God's children look so unattractive
that I think even God's a little ashamed of them.
I mean that. I remember how hard Mama used to
work when I was a youngster. She'd sew late at
night, even after Papa had gone to bed, to make
me nice little dresses because she delighted
in me. I was her child. She wanted me to look
nice. She was proud of me. I wore a bonnet when
I was a youngster so that I wouldn't have so
many freckles. so that when she would take me
out, she could be proud of me. I think my Heavenly
Father wants me to dress and look and act so
that he could be proud of me. I really believe
that. I look my best. I try to look so well.
that my Heavenly Father would be proud to say,
that's my.