A Sense Of Future

Julie and I pray this finds you full of joy and peace. A few days ago I read the following quote in the introduction to 1 Thessalonians in the Message Bible.

The way we conceive of the future sculpts the present, gives contour and tone to nearly every action and thought through the day. If our sense of future is weak, we live listlessly. Much emotional and mental illness and most suicides occur among men and women who feel that they have no future.”

The Christian faith has always been characterized by a strong and focused sense of future, with belief in the second coming of Jesus as the most distinctive detail. From the day Jesus ascended into heaven, His followers have lived in expectancy of his return. He told them he was coming back. They believed he was coming back. They continue to believe it. For Christians, it is the most important thing to know and believe about the future. The practical effect of this belief is to charge each moment of the present with hope. For if the future is dominated by the coming again of Jesus, there is little room left on the screen for projecting our anxieties and fantasies. It takes the clutter out of our lives. Were far more free to respond spontaneously to the freedom of God.

This really got me meditating about our hope and future in Jesus. He always has amazing and positive things for us to do with Him, loving others and building His Kingdom for the future generations. This is true no matter our age or stage of life. Psalm 103:5 in the amplified states, “That the Lord satisfies your mouth [your necessity and desire at your personal age and situationwith good so that your youth, renewed, is like the eagle’s [strong, overcoming, soaring]”. I like the fact that the Lord has designed that no matter what our age or stage in life is, He has something good to satisfy our hearts with. 

My friend, Pastor Bryan Cockrell, once told me, “Your twenties and into your forties are your growing years. Your forties into sixties are your knowing years. Then your sixties into your eighties are your showing years.” When we understand that there are stages in life, we will not be frustrated and lose hope. When you are young and learning (growing) you should not be so concerned that you are not able to produce all of what you are learning. When you are operating in and producing what you have learned and what the Lord has developed in you, be content. You are still growing, but now you are growing in wisdom produced by experience. Then as you are entering into the showing years, you understand that you may not be able to produce as much as before. Now it is time to begin to pass on what you have learned to others, to show and impart into others. This is when we can now multiply what the Lord has taught and given us. Though seasons of life change we always have a future. We just need to embrace the new season and the new and good things the Lord has for us in it.

Remember Jeremiah 29:11, “For I know the thoughts and plans that I have for you, says the Lord, thoughts and plans for welfare and peace and not for evil, to give you hope in your final outcome.” He has many thoughts and many plans for us. I want to encourage you that whatever age or stage you are at, Jesus has something amazing for you to do with Him. Something that you will truly enjoy doing and that will be a great blessing to other people. Let us not look into or at the world to discern what our future may be. Let us be looking to Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith (our story). You may have lived one or two thirds of your book, but He has new chapters for you to live. So as the plot thickens, there will be new and exciting twists and turns in your beautiful story with Jesus.   

Jesus is coming back, so the long-term future is very positive. Until then, He is with us and in us everyday, so our immediate future is extremely bright. By connecting others with Jesus, we truly change their future and thus change their today. He is the best thing we have to give others.   

Thank you for your prayers. Julie’s shoulder is doing great!

With much love and many thanks,

Charley & Julie

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Julie and I send you our love and greetings from Colombia. We wish you a happy Easter holiday and season. Please, allow me to update you concerning the awesome and amazing things the Lord is doing here in Colombia. We have a tremendous report that truly glorifies Jesus. The team, from Life Bible College in Boise, returned home. We and many […]

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Julie and I send you our greetings from beautiful Colombia. We are in our third week of extended revival meetings at Iglesia Buenas Noticias, in Medellin. I reconnected with an old friend, pastor Carlos, who invited me spur of the moment to preach his Sunday service on February 16th. I shared a message entitled, “Don’t Be Spiritually Handicapped”, concerning the […]

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Julie and I pray and believe for you that this will be a milestone year of faith and blessings. May you be filled to overflowing with Holy Spirit and the fire that He alone gives. Julie, Hannah, and I finished the year very busy with the best kind of business. Julie and Hannah were very blessed and fortunate to minister […]

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“As a young girl growing up on a farm in East TX, with a large globe of the world on my desk, I used to dream of traveling to faraway places on the other side of the planet. Reading books with stories from Kathmandu, Nepal and Europe fueled my passion to experience cultures, foods, and […]

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Julie and I pray this finds you full of hope and joy today. I am sharing great news from Mexico. The last two weeks here have been one word, “fire”.  I want to quickly share with you just a few of the flames that Jesus ignited in the hearts and lives of many. All the glory to the Lord. These […]

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Summer Pastors Conference

Julie and I send our love and greetings. We are happy to share this month with a really good report.  The Pastors conference in Asia made a great impact on all that attended. We had planned and prepared for two hundred, but at the last moment we were able to accommodate an extra fifty. Seven states were represented. […]

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Encouraging Leaders

Hello from Colombia. Julie, Hannah, and I pray this finds you strong in the Lord, and experiencing His loving kindness, and abundant blessings in your life!   When springtime comes, God’s creation always speaks to my heart of how Jesus makes all things new. Though my spirit was born again many years ago, my hope and faith has continuing […]

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His Love For You

Julie and I send much love your way. “Praise God from whom all blessings flow.” That line from the Doxology has been rolling inside my soul this whole week. My earliest remembrance of the presence of God was singing that song in the Episcopal church when I was around four years old. It is such […]

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The Miraculous In Mexico

Julie and I send greetings from Mexico. It is such a privilege and blessing to write this month and share the great things God is doing.  When we were here in January, many doors opened and the Lord led us to come back. The spiritual hunger level is high in the congregations the Lord has sent […]

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