WEBVTT 00:00:00.560 --> 00:00:05.200 I'd like to talk with you for a few minutes about 00:00:05.200 --> 00:00:14.519 our future. And I mean exactly that. Not only 00:00:14.519 --> 00:00:22.739 your future, but my future, too. All of us have 00:00:22.739 --> 00:00:27.239 a future, and it's just one step ahead of us. 00:00:27.690 --> 00:00:31.649 My future today is just one step ahead of me. 00:00:32.929 --> 00:00:37.049 I'm very deeply interested in it. I'm concerned 00:00:37.049 --> 00:00:41.049 about my future. I'm deeply concerned about my 00:00:41.049 --> 00:00:46.109 future. That's something that you should be vitally 00:00:46.109 --> 00:00:52.210 interested in also, your future. It's extraordinarily 00:00:52.210 --> 00:00:58.009 important, this thing of future. But that's where 00:00:58.009 --> 00:01:00.469 you and I are going to spend the rest of our 00:01:00.469 --> 00:01:08.230 life. There in the future. And so, how can we 00:01:08.230 --> 00:01:15.310 improve our future? I'm not satisfied with me 00:01:15.310 --> 00:01:20.150 as I am today. Oh, you say, Catherine Kuhlman, 00:01:20.250 --> 00:01:23.590 are you really concerned about your future? Am 00:01:23.590 --> 00:01:27.579 I? Because I know that there are greater things 00:01:27.579 --> 00:01:32.140 out there in the future for me if I only know 00:01:32.140 --> 00:01:38.299 how to cooperate with God. Don't be satisfied 00:01:38.299 --> 00:01:44.239 with you the way you are this hour. There's a 00:01:44.239 --> 00:01:47.760 future out there, a far greater future out there 00:01:47.760 --> 00:01:53.260 for you than what you are enjoying today. And 00:01:53.260 --> 00:01:58.319 if we both can learn how to cooperate with God, 00:01:58.620 --> 00:02:04.980 our future can be great. And so we have to learn 00:02:04.980 --> 00:02:07.620 how to improve our future. Now, this question, 00:02:07.659 --> 00:02:09.599 like most every question, has an answer in the 00:02:09.599 --> 00:02:13.159 Bible. That's why the Bible lives. It has an 00:02:13.159 --> 00:02:16.419 answer. It's the book of answers. It makes no 00:02:16.419 --> 00:02:19.680 difference what problem you have. You hunt through 00:02:19.680 --> 00:02:23.469 the Bible, you'll get your answer. That, to me, 00:02:23.469 --> 00:02:27.069 is the strangest thing about the Bible. It's 00:02:27.069 --> 00:02:32.629 just as adequate in our complicated, unsophisticated 00:02:32.629 --> 00:02:35.289 modern day as it was when it was first written 00:02:35.289 --> 00:02:42.669 in an age of camels. It still holds all the answers 00:02:42.669 --> 00:02:47.590 to every problem that any man, any woman of any 00:02:47.590 --> 00:02:51.530 generation has had to confront. That's the... 00:02:51.870 --> 00:02:54.689 amazing thing, the startling thing about the 00:02:54.689 --> 00:03:00.490 Bible. There is absolutely no question, no problem 00:03:00.490 --> 00:03:04.530 that you're confronted with this very hour. But 00:03:04.530 --> 00:03:07.990 what if you'll study the Word of God, you'll 00:03:07.990 --> 00:03:11.949 find the answer to that question, to that problem. 00:03:13.169 --> 00:03:15.050 Now, in the book of John, the first chapter, 00:03:15.210 --> 00:03:18.030 the 12th verse, I find these words, which are 00:03:18.030 --> 00:03:23.330 a formula for having a glorious future. But as 00:03:23.330 --> 00:03:31.669 many as received him, to them gave he power to 00:03:31.669 --> 00:03:36.370 become. In other words, to those men and women 00:03:36.370 --> 00:03:38.590 who accepted him, took him into their lives, 00:03:38.710 --> 00:03:43.129 built their lives about him. He gave the power 00:03:43.129 --> 00:03:47.789 to become something, to have a wonderful, a glorious 00:03:47.789 --> 00:03:52.800 future. That is really... All that you and I 00:03:52.800 --> 00:03:57.199 need to know. Take him. Receive him. And all 00:03:57.199 --> 00:04:00.379 of our weaknesses will fall away. You will overcome 00:04:00.379 --> 00:04:06.020 your frustrations, your defeat, your fears. You 00:04:06.020 --> 00:04:09.780 will have the power. He will give you the power 00:04:09.780 --> 00:04:16.480 to become. And I want to become. I don't want 00:04:16.480 --> 00:04:19.939 to stay just as I am. I'm not satisfied with 00:04:19.939 --> 00:04:23.680 me just as I am. I'm not satisfied with that 00:04:23.680 --> 00:04:28.259 which I have accomplished in life for humanity. 00:04:29.220 --> 00:04:35.879 In the past, I'm not satisfied. I want power 00:04:35.879 --> 00:04:45.720 to become. I want greater power to become. However, 00:04:45.779 --> 00:04:48.519 the passage continues, and it reads, to become 00:04:48.519 --> 00:04:52.899 the sons of God. That means to inherit all of 00:04:52.899 --> 00:04:58.980 God's great things. Literally thousands of people 00:04:58.980 --> 00:05:01.920 have read that portion of the Word of God, and 00:05:01.920 --> 00:05:07.879 they have overlooked the real meaning of the 00:05:07.879 --> 00:05:15.459 Scripture. To become the sons of God, Do you 00:05:15.459 --> 00:05:17.980 realize everything that is involved in that? 00:05:19.379 --> 00:05:26.259 It means that you are to inherit all of God's 00:05:26.259 --> 00:05:32.100 great things. The Bible doesn't deal in little 00:05:32.100 --> 00:05:40.100 promises. It deals in big promises. We live such 00:05:40.100 --> 00:05:44.800 small lives. When God expects us to live such 00:05:44.800 --> 00:05:52.439 big lives, such full, such abundant lives, the 00:05:52.439 --> 00:05:57.540 Bible doesn't deal in little promises. Whenever 00:05:57.540 --> 00:06:00.600 the big promises of the Bible have been believed 00:06:00.600 --> 00:06:04.879 in earnest, great things have happened in people's 00:06:04.879 --> 00:06:09.540 lives. The trouble with too many churches nowadays, 00:06:09.819 --> 00:06:12.750 and I don't mean to be critical, But it's true. 00:06:13.389 --> 00:06:17.009 And it's the fact that the minister is literally 00:06:17.009 --> 00:06:24.089 afraid of the promises of God. He really doesn't 00:06:24.089 --> 00:06:27.350 believe. That's the reason he doesn't think big. 00:06:28.170 --> 00:06:32.670 And he doesn't preach big. He has never experienced. 00:06:33.949 --> 00:06:37.250 And therefore he cuts it down, whittles it down, 00:06:37.410 --> 00:06:40.629 makes it small. That's the reason our young people 00:06:40.629 --> 00:06:44.470 today. have a right to challenge the church. 00:06:45.970 --> 00:06:49.230 They have a right to challenge these things. 00:06:49.389 --> 00:06:51.290 In other words, they are saying, either put up 00:06:51.290 --> 00:06:54.149 or shut up, if these promises are real, then 00:06:54.149 --> 00:06:56.670 let us see the manifestation of the power of 00:06:56.670 --> 00:07:01.230 God. They're right in their thinking. I feel 00:07:01.230 --> 00:07:05.639 exactly the same way. I'm not going to literally 00:07:05.639 --> 00:07:10.199 give my life for something that is small and 00:07:10.199 --> 00:07:15.180 little and something that doesn't work. I have 00:07:15.180 --> 00:07:19.800 given my life for something that's big and wonderful 00:07:19.800 --> 00:07:23.379 and workable. The greatest thing in the whole 00:07:23.379 --> 00:07:28.779 world. The promises of God are big. They're workable. 00:07:29.199 --> 00:07:32.439 The life of a Christian that he has planned for 00:07:32.439 --> 00:07:36.480 each Christian is one of abundant living, a full 00:07:36.480 --> 00:07:40.899 life, a glorious life. You know this thing of 00:07:40.899 --> 00:07:44.779 being happy. I'm so amazed at people who think 00:07:44.779 --> 00:07:51.860 that to be happy is unscriptural. Unscriptural? 00:07:53.060 --> 00:07:55.180 If you follow the word of God and live according 00:07:55.180 --> 00:07:57.800 to the word of God, you'll be the happiest person 00:07:57.800 --> 00:08:03.019 in the whole world. Life, not only life, but 00:08:03.019 --> 00:08:07.019 he's promised to give it more than just life, 00:08:07.100 --> 00:08:14.279 but abundant living. When you take the gospel, 00:08:14.480 --> 00:08:18.420 really take it and believe it, nothing is too 00:08:18.420 --> 00:08:23.170 good to be true. Many people attend our services, 00:08:23.209 --> 00:08:25.610 you know, and after they will adopt the great 00:08:25.610 --> 00:08:30.290 miracle service, they'll say, that was almost 00:08:30.290 --> 00:08:36.090 too good to be true. Did our eyes deceive us? 00:08:36.289 --> 00:08:42.230 Were we dreaming? Was that just imagination what 00:08:42.230 --> 00:08:50.559 I saw? Nothing is too... Good to be true when 00:08:50.559 --> 00:08:56.080 you take the Word of God and believe it. If it 00:08:56.080 --> 00:09:00.620 is there in the Bible, it's truth. And as you 00:09:00.620 --> 00:09:04.759 believe this, you become big. And only big people 00:09:04.759 --> 00:09:08.340 achieve big things. Little people with little 00:09:08.340 --> 00:09:14.200 faith, little ideas, little concepts get little 00:09:14.200 --> 00:09:24.179 results. So be big in your faith when you think 00:09:24.179 --> 00:09:29.159 about your future and when you realize, really, 00:09:29.259 --> 00:09:36.779 that your future is where you're going to spend 00:09:36.779 --> 00:09:40.059 the rest of your life. It isn't something trivial 00:09:40.059 --> 00:09:43.039 that I'm talking to you about today. I'm talking 00:09:43.039 --> 00:09:44.399 to you about something that's vitally important. 00:09:45.769 --> 00:09:49.950 When you realize that your future is you the 00:09:49.950 --> 00:09:56.149 rest of your life, then look up. Lift up your 00:09:56.149 --> 00:10:02.009 head. Square your shoulders. Be big in your faith. 00:10:03.330 --> 00:10:06.409 Be big in your thinking. You've got a big God. 00:10:07.450 --> 00:10:13.389 You've got big promises. To as many as received 00:10:13.389 --> 00:10:19.429 him, to them he gave the power to become. Don't 00:10:19.429 --> 00:10:22.970 be a little person. Don't be a person with little 00:10:22.970 --> 00:10:27.009 faith, little ideas, little concepts, getting 00:10:27.009 --> 00:10:34.210 only little results, if any. The way this comes 00:10:34.210 --> 00:10:39.509 to pass is that you receive the power from him. 00:10:40.240 --> 00:10:44.179 To improve yourself. And by improving yourself, 00:10:44.480 --> 00:10:48.779 you improve your future. It's a strange thing. 00:10:49.120 --> 00:10:53.019 But you can limit your achievement. You can limit 00:10:53.019 --> 00:10:59.340 your world. You can limit your future. We draw 00:10:59.340 --> 00:11:08.000 unto ourselves according to what we are. You 00:11:08.000 --> 00:11:13.639 can have only that. which finds hospitality within 00:11:13.639 --> 00:11:19.100 yourself. Oh, to be sure, outside forces also 00:11:19.100 --> 00:11:23.360 play upon us and determine certain aspects and 00:11:23.360 --> 00:11:26.580 events of our lives. That's true. But in the 00:11:26.580 --> 00:11:31.840 long run, we receive just about according to 00:11:31.840 --> 00:11:37.929 what we are. I'm going to say something. will 00:11:37.929 --> 00:11:40.509 probably startle you. And that is the fact that 00:11:40.509 --> 00:11:44.710 I don't believe that we receive what we deserve. 00:11:45.870 --> 00:11:51.009 Because God has made it so that we deserve much. 00:11:54.649 --> 00:12:01.269 God made plans in His thinking, in His designing 00:12:01.269 --> 00:12:05.860 for men and women, for His children. He designed, 00:12:06.159 --> 00:12:11.720 he planned that we should deserve much. You and 00:12:11.720 --> 00:12:13.919 I were not made for failure. There was not a 00:12:13.919 --> 00:12:17.840 single man who's ever been born who will ever 00:12:17.840 --> 00:12:24.179 be born in the future who was made for failure. 00:12:24.340 --> 00:12:27.679 No person listening to me this very moment was 00:12:27.679 --> 00:12:34.690 ever born to be a failure. God gave all the provisions 00:12:34.690 --> 00:12:40.870 that every man, every woman might live a happy 00:12:40.870 --> 00:12:44.669 life. And he gave us everything that we needed 00:12:44.669 --> 00:12:48.730 to make it a happy life. He has plans for you 00:12:48.730 --> 00:12:51.850 that you should have a great future, a happy 00:12:51.850 --> 00:12:55.610 future, a wonderful future. I'm not talking about 00:12:55.610 --> 00:12:59.509 the fact that there won't be troubles, that there 00:12:59.509 --> 00:13:02.820 won't be sorrow. I'm not telling you about that. 00:13:03.620 --> 00:13:06.940 There will be. But he also gives you the strength 00:13:06.940 --> 00:13:11.879 to rise above these things. In that hour of sickness, 00:13:12.080 --> 00:13:15.639 he'll still give you the equipment whereby you 00:13:15.639 --> 00:13:20.159 can live an overcoming life. A life of confidence. 00:13:23.919 --> 00:13:27.179 Inside, there'll still be that great inner peace. 00:13:27.559 --> 00:13:31.919 Peace of mind and peace of soul. No, I don't 00:13:31.919 --> 00:13:34.059 believe that we receive what we deserve because 00:13:34.059 --> 00:13:39.240 God has made it so that we deserve much. But 00:13:39.240 --> 00:13:44.720 by a lack of faith, by a closed mind, by sinful 00:13:44.720 --> 00:13:50.980 living, by our littleness, we cut off the divine 00:13:50.980 --> 00:13:58.220 supply. We do it. His providence doesn't do it. 00:13:58.509 --> 00:14:04.149 We do it ourselves. You and I are our own worst 00:14:04.149 --> 00:14:10.690 enemy. Caspin Cooman is her worst enemy. Now, 00:14:10.690 --> 00:14:13.610 that's something to think about. And I thought 00:14:13.610 --> 00:14:19.269 about it an awful lot. Oh, sure. I know that 00:14:19.269 --> 00:14:23.710 there are those out there who, um... Oh, you 00:14:23.710 --> 00:14:27.470 know, we don't talk about it. Who probably do 00:14:27.470 --> 00:14:30.639 not... like Katherine Kuhlman, like you like 00:14:30.639 --> 00:14:36.360 Katherine Kuhlman. We don't just don't talk about 00:14:36.360 --> 00:14:38.220 it. We just act like it never happened, you know. 00:14:38.860 --> 00:14:44.100 But I know something this very moment. I am my 00:14:44.100 --> 00:14:48.200 own worst enemy. I don't care who your enemies 00:14:48.200 --> 00:14:54.200 may be this hour. You are your own worst enemy. 00:14:55.500 --> 00:15:00.059 And by lack of faith, by a closed mind, by our 00:15:00.059 --> 00:15:04.559 littleness, we cut off this grand and glorious 00:15:04.559 --> 00:15:08.539 divine supply. God doesn't do it. We do it ourselves. 00:15:09.220 --> 00:15:12.399 We limit Him. The promises are there. The power 00:15:12.399 --> 00:15:16.980 is there. The potentials are all there. And the 00:15:16.980 --> 00:15:21.539 potentials are tremendous beyond our comprehension. 00:15:21.940 --> 00:15:26.639 The potentials... are there for my future, a 00:15:26.639 --> 00:15:29.220 greater future than anything that I've ever experienced 00:15:29.220 --> 00:15:33.259 in the past. They're all there. I can have them. 00:15:33.840 --> 00:15:40.600 It's only my closed mind and my smallness in 00:15:40.600 --> 00:15:44.440 thinking that keeps me from reaching out and 00:15:44.440 --> 00:15:47.679 enjoying those great potentials that he has for 00:15:47.679 --> 00:15:52.919 me. The same with you. You all like to talk about 00:15:52.919 --> 00:15:57.519 me. And we see these things, you know, in the 00:15:57.519 --> 00:16:01.539 other person, but we forget ourselves. There 00:16:01.539 --> 00:16:05.440 isn't anybody in the whole world who could not 00:16:05.440 --> 00:16:09.139 do a much better job in life than he's doing 00:16:09.139 --> 00:16:11.980 right now. I don't care how successful you are. 00:16:12.360 --> 00:16:14.679 I don't care what you have achieved in life. 00:16:17.700 --> 00:16:21.740 You can do a better job than you're doing right 00:16:21.740 --> 00:16:27.419 now. I thought five years ago, and at that time 00:16:27.419 --> 00:16:30.179 I said, I just can't take on anything more. I 00:16:30.179 --> 00:16:35.039 just can't do it. There are just so many hours 00:16:35.039 --> 00:16:40.399 in every day. I just can't do it. I can't take 00:16:40.399 --> 00:16:43.720 on more commitments. I can't take on more radio 00:16:43.720 --> 00:16:46.100 work. I can't take on more television work. I 00:16:46.100 --> 00:16:50.809 can't take on more services. I can't do it. I 00:16:50.809 --> 00:16:56.509 work down now to where it's impossible. And in 00:16:56.509 --> 00:16:58.129 thinking about it, I could have fallen apart. 00:16:59.490 --> 00:17:04.910 But instead of thinking about it and having a 00:17:04.910 --> 00:17:09.349 nervous breakdown over it, I just kept on taking 00:17:09.349 --> 00:17:19.730 on more and more and more. And I still think. 00:17:20.059 --> 00:17:21.299 Even though I'm sitting here talking to you, 00:17:21.380 --> 00:17:26.599 I could do more. I don't know how, but I'm sure 00:17:26.599 --> 00:17:30.740 I could. Because there's still the bigness of 00:17:30.740 --> 00:17:33.660 God. There's still the power of God. There's 00:17:33.660 --> 00:17:35.579 still the glorious strength of the Holy Spirit. 00:17:38.359 --> 00:17:42.259 And there isn't anybody who could not do a much 00:17:42.259 --> 00:17:48.720 better job in life than he is doing. I feel sincerely 00:17:48.720 --> 00:17:53.819 that I could do a much better job than I am doing 00:17:53.819 --> 00:18:07.099 if I would not be hampered by my lack of a greater 00:18:07.099 --> 00:18:13.400 faith in the promises and in myself, you know? 00:18:15.579 --> 00:18:17.200 Therefore, one of the very first things we need 00:18:17.200 --> 00:18:23.480 to learn is to work mentally with ourselves and 00:18:23.480 --> 00:18:31.180 lean heavily on God. What is it that you'd like 00:18:31.180 --> 00:18:34.700 to have in the future? Do you know? If you don't 00:18:34.700 --> 00:18:37.440 know, you'll never get it. Because in order to 00:18:37.440 --> 00:18:40.119 attain anything, you have to know what it is 00:18:40.119 --> 00:18:44.789 that you want to attain. Yeah? I may be talking 00:18:44.789 --> 00:18:48.130 to somebody today who really doesn't want to 00:18:48.130 --> 00:18:52.190 have a greater future. You're not really interested 00:18:52.190 --> 00:18:56.109 in being a better person. And you are this very 00:18:56.109 --> 00:18:59.549 moment. You're content. Millions of people are 00:18:59.549 --> 00:19:04.690 literally content to get up every morning, put 00:19:04.690 --> 00:19:08.730 the same coffee pot on, the same amount of water, 00:19:08.809 --> 00:19:13.720 the same amount of coffee. You've done the same 00:19:13.720 --> 00:19:18.319 thing for years and years and years. If you should 00:19:18.319 --> 00:19:22.400 change your routine, you'd fall apart. You've 00:19:22.400 --> 00:19:24.359 taken the same bus. You've traveled the same 00:19:24.359 --> 00:19:30.079 freeway. You've eaten at the same place. You 00:19:30.079 --> 00:19:38.000 do the same thing day in and day out. And so 00:19:38.000 --> 00:19:46.730 you're satisfied. But as for me, I realize my 00:19:46.730 --> 00:19:50.970 future is most important. Your future is most 00:19:50.970 --> 00:19:54.509 important. For that is where you're going to 00:19:54.509 --> 00:19:59.829 spend the rest of your life. I want to improve 00:19:59.829 --> 00:20:01.309 my future.