CREDIT: Midjourney AI

Dear Children of God,

You may or may not have been blessed with children. As a dad, I remember when my children were born. Today, over thirty years later, I couldn’t have imagined they’d be where they are now. And I’ll never be able to completely imagine where they’ll be years from now. I might have ideas about where they’ll be, what they’ll become based on the past. But to truly know what the future holds for them, for me, for any of us isn’t possible…

Except for our ultimate, eternal futures. We can imagine that because “we are” – not “we will be” or “might be” or “could be” – we are children of God right now. (1 John 3:2) That means our ultimate, eternal futures are certain. God promises each of us who know and believe in Him, “Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when He appears we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him as He is.” (1 John 3:2-3) These words tell us of our ultimate, eternal futures. We’re not there yet, but God assures us, we will be. We will be truly holy – “like Him” – like Jesus. We will be in His actual, physical presence – after all “we will see Him as He is” – we’ll see Jesus face-to-face. That is our ultimate, eternal future. 

Between now and then, none of us is truly certain where we’ll be, what we’ll be doing, or for how long we’ll be doing it. A case in point, me! In 2010, as I began to wind down my Air Force career, I was sure I’d be teaching high school math and science and coaching baseball. That’s what I imagined. But God saw something else and led me elsewhere. And here I am, a pastor in His church. No matter what you’re imagining for your future, know that God has a plan for you to use the gifts He’s given you in this life as He leads you into your ultimate, eternal future.

In Christ’s Love,

                                            Pastor Jim