Life as the Promised Land

UV 2110/10000 Life as the Promised Land
For the LORD thy God bringeth thee into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and depths that spring out of valleys and hills
Deuteronomy 8 v 7
The Lord likens our lives to a good land, full of brooks of water, of fountains, of valleys and hills. Our lives are bound to be full of ups and downs, problems, challenges, victories, solutions, answers. We will find fountains of joy and peace whether we are in the valleys or on the hills and mountains of our lives if we depend on the Lord to bring us into the good land. He allows mountains and hills or difficult times in our lives so that we will discover the depth of our faith and the height of His love extended to us. We will rejoice like a fountain as we experience His grace and wisdom in our valley moments. The word is the GPS that leads us to and through the good land. Obviously, without a sense of direction we would end up in the bad lands – spiritual deserts without hope, peace, love or joy.

The brooks of water from heaven that nourish our faith are the inspiration we receive from the Word and from the Lord. Rivers of life-giving water spring forth from our hearts of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, humility and self control. These attributes of the Lord are poured into our lives in the midst of our hills and valleys, our successes and failures, our victories and defeats, our troubles and pleasures. These spiritual streams quench our thirst for meaning, purpose, power and grace. We will physically thirst again but spiritually we will never thirst again as we find all our answers in Jesus and the word.

Apart from the supernatural internal sources of refreshment and renewal from the Holy Spirit, we receive the rain of the water of heaven- the blessings of living a faithful life, trusting Jesus at all times, in good times and bad times, in easy, leisure- filled seasons and in difficult and stressful seasons. The uni-verse states that “ the Lord brings”, implying that many of the things that happen in our lives, our circumstances are not of our own choosing. It might not even appear to be remotely good but we need to trust the Lord that eventually He will bring us into the good land He has promised us.

Prateep V Philip