How to Get to Your Promise Land

There is a name for that place…you know the one.  The destination that the Lord has promised to you.  It’s your Promise Land.  It might seem unattainable and in a place so distant that it would take light years to even get within proximity of, but it’s there…assigned to you.  So how do you get there?  Let’s find out shall we…

The last three years of my walk with Christ has been one of the most challenging times in my life.  At times, I have felt like I was one of the Israelites hiking through the wilderness in Exodus and Numbers trying to reach their Promise Land.

Then the Lord pressed upon my heart that the journey we are on was never intended to be an easy one.

What we can learn from the Israelites

The Israelites of the Old Testament had a unique promise from God and all they had to do was be faithful and obedient to God’s commands.  They failed.  The Israelites were promised the land of milk and honey, yet the road they traveled was a painful one and it took far longer than it should have.

It was made difficult simply by their own disobedience.  God burned with anger because they had turned away from the way He had commanded them to live.  I can certainly relate to that when I think of my own disobedience.  Can you?

God was ready to destroy the Israelites but Moses changed the Lord’s mind by pleading for their lives.  This reminds me of believers in my life who were praying for me while I wandering around as the stubborn prodigal child.  It should remind you of yourself as you pray for the unbelievers and backsliders in your life.  God hears your pleas in the form of prayer and He will answer those prayers in His own timing.

“But Moses tried to pacify the LORD his God.  “O LORD!” he said.  “Why are you so angry with your own people whom you brought from the land of Egypt with such great power and such a strong hand?  Why let the Egyptians say, ‘Their God rescued them with the evil intention of slaughtering them in the mountains and wiping them from the face of the earth’?

Turn away from your fierce anger, Change your mind about this terrible disaster you have threatened against your people!  Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  You bound yourself with an oath to them, saying, ‘I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars of heaven.  And I will give them all of this land that I have promised to your descendants, and they will possess it forever.'”

So the LORD changed His mind about the terrible disaster He had threatened to bring on His people.”

Exodus 32:7-14

Israel’s disobedience to God

The Israelites were punished for their lack of faith and for worshipping other gods even though they had seen God’s miracles with their own eyes.  They made God angry with their complaining and whining.

This day in age it’s the same thing.  We start relying on money or work to bail us out of life’s situations.  We might seek counsel from a friend before we go before the Lord.  Then we take matters into our own hands because we think we have everything figured out.  We start being disobedient to God and we grumble along the way (I wrote a post about complaining here).

This disobedience results in us having to be disciplined.  God is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow.  Our decision to be disobedient to God directly influences how long it will be before we receive His promise for us.

Achieving your Promised Land

There is a divine purpose assigned to each believer’s life and in order to step into that purpose we have to be willing to listen to God’s call.  His call is in His word, the urging He places on your heart, in that quiet still voice, and in prayer.  Sometimes our promise is received in the form of a prophetic message.  With that being said how do we obtain this promise?

Even though each of our Promises may look a little different I believe the path to achieving them is the same.  He desires a relationship with us that goes beyond lip-service and is actually lived out.  He wants us on the straight and narrow path that leads to Him.  There are no diversions and no short-cuts.

“So commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these words of mine.  Tie them to your hands and wear them on your forehead as reminders.  Teach them to your children.  Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up.  Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates, so that as long as the sky remains above the earth, you and your children may flourish in the land the LORD swore to give your ancestors.

 “Be careful to obey all these commands I am giving you.  Show love to the LORD your God by walking in his ways and holding tightly to him.”

Deuteronomy 11: 18-22

That is an all consuming kind of love that we are committing to and it’s dependent on His word and a relationship with His Son.

If I could I would post Deuteronomy 11 in its entirety because I think the complete chapter speaks volumes to us about what He desires in our hearts in order for us to be ready for our Promise.

So whether our promise is a calling, a ministry, a position, or Heaven above…it is only attainable when our hearts are surrendered to Jesus and we are obedient to his call.

God bless!