We Should Always Long for the New Promise Land!

While the Israelites were still in the wilderness and just before God led them into the promise land flowing with milk and honey, He commanded them through Moses to always remember Him and to keep His commandments and statutes. God commanded them through the voice of Moses to love their Lord by putting Him first and walking in His ways as stated in Deuteronomy 30:11-20, “For this commandment which I command you today is not too hard for you, nor is it far off. It is not in heaven, that you should say, ‘Who will ascend into heaven for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ Nor is it beyond the sea, that you should say, ‘Who will go over the sea for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ But the word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may do it. See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil, in that I command you today to love the LORD your God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commandments, His statutes, and His judgments, that you may live and multiply; and the LORD your God will bless you in the land which you go to possess. But if your heart turns away so that you do not hear, and are drawn away, and worship other gods and serve them, I announce to you today that you shall surely perish; you shall not prolong your days in the land which you cross over the Jordan to go in and possess. I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live; that you may love the LORD your God, that you may obey His voice, and that you may cling to Him, for He is your life and the length of your days; and that you may dwell in the land which the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them.” God also gave them a warning to NOT turn away from Him by worshipping other gods. Today, we have many distractions that get more of our undivided attention than focusing on God and His word through prayer. We are in a sense placing idols of distractions before God without realizing it, which to Him He views us in the form of and a like manner of worshipping other gods. Self-centeredness is a major distraction and a form of idol worship before God. Jesus gave us our greatest and most important commandment which was the same commandment that Moses gave the Israelites in the wilderness from God before they received the promise land. Jesus revealed this commandment in Matthew 22:37-38, “…You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment.”

Dear friends, if you are struggling with this most important commandment, then your entire Christian walk with God in Jesus will suffer. If you adhere to this greatest commandment then your Christian walk with Jesus will be in His will. Moses gave us instructions to not only obey His commandments but to also teach them thoroughly to our children and not just in the morning or at night but to teach them all day long. We shall never forget His commandments by putting them on our hearts, posting them in our houses, on our door posts, and at our gates. Moses teaches us in Deuteronomy 6:5-9, “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. ‘And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. We must meditate on and follow God’s word daily while teaching them to our children and youth. Like the Promise Land of Israel for the Israelites, Jesus came 2,000 years ago to fulfill the new covenant of eternal salvation for ALL mankind and promised us a new land and dwelling place for those who believe upon Him, accept Him, and are obedient to follow His commandments. This new kingdom to us is much more than a land flowing with milk and honey and is indescribable! Jesus tells us that He goes to prepare a place for us where He will return one day in John 14:1-6, “ ‘Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. And where I go you know, and the way you know.’ Thomas said to Him, ‘Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?’ Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”

Jesus is the only way to heaven and He tells us that if we are obedient to Him by keeping His commandments then we will love Him and will dwell as one with the Father, the Son, and Holy Spirit as revealed in John 14:21-24, “ ‘He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.’ Judas (not Iscariot) said to Him, ‘Lord, how is it that You will manifest Yourself to us, and not to the world?’ Jesus answered and said to him, ‘If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him. He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine but the Father’s who sent Me.’ ” This body or temple we have from God is a temporary dwelling place and was given to us by God in Christ to love and serve Him. It is NOT ours but His to use for His good purpose as detailed in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, “Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.” Our life on earth is a temporary dwelling place since our true citizenship is in heaven with our Lord – Philippians 3:20-21. Jesus will return one day for His sheep who love, obey, and hear His voice. We hear His voice through His Holy Spirit that lives inside of us as detailed in John 14:15-18, “If you love Me, keep My commandments. And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever— the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.” On that day of resurrection, we will be with the Lord forevermore as Jesus reveals John 10:27-30, “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand. I and My Father are one.”

What a glorious day that will be! For we will be clothed with a new incorruptible, immortal, and eternal body to live, praise, worship, and serve our Lord and Savior, God and King forever and ever! Death and the grave will NOT hold us down as expressed in 1 Corinthians 15:53-58, “For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: ‘Death is swallowed up in victory. O Death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory?’ The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.” Paul continues to explain it this way in 2 Corinthians 5:1-8, “For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed with our habitation which is from heaven, if indeed, having been clothed, we shall not be found naked. For we who are in this tent groan, being burdened, not because we want to be unclothed, but further clothed, that mortality may be swallowed up by life. Now He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who also has given us the Spirit as a guarantee. So we are always confident, knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord. For we walk by faith, not by sight. We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord.” For no eye has seen nor ear heard, nor heart known of the great things that the Lord has prepared for those that love Him – 1 Corinthians 2:9.

If we are NOT seeking for His return and longing for His new promise land of eternal life for us, then we are NOT hungering and seeking after Him. We are guilty of letting the cares of this world and other distractions drown our hearts and affections for our Lord and Savior. Our Christian walk with Christ is suffering because we are NOT putting Him first and foremost in our lives. We need to search ourselves and get our hearts right with God in Jesus as explained in 2 Corinthians 13:5-6, “Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you are disqualified. But I trust that you will know that we are not disqualified.” We must have the Spirit of God dwelling inside of us to be a child of the Most-High God and to be included in the resurrection, rapturing of the saints, for eternal life in heaven with Him as revealed in Romans 8:8-11, “So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God. But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.”

We do NOT need to let the trials and troubles of this world drag us down since Jesus who dwells in us has overcome this world. Jesus commands us to always be ready and watchful for His soon return as stated in Matthew 24:42-44, “Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming. But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.” As Moses was NOT allowed to enter into the promise land with the Israelites but was able to see the land of milk and honey from a nearby mountain top (Mount Nebo – Deuteronomy 34:1-12) before passing on from this life, we too may NOT be alive when Jesus comes back to rapture all the saints but may be asleep in Christ when He returns. Many professing Christians may NOT be seeking Jesus and His soon return since they may have disbelief in their heart to where they do NOT believe He is coming back anytime soon. However, when we die, we either wake up to Jesus as the eternal Judge or as our Lord and Savior. When we pass on from this life it’s too late to choose to follow Christ since our fate is sealed. No one knows the days of their life on earth except God the Father just like no one knows the day nor hour of the return of Jesus except God the FatherJob 14:5, Psalms 90:12, Psalms 139:16, Mark 13:32-33. We could die tomorrow or next week, so do NOT gamble with your eternal life and salvation in Christ! If you are lost and in need of salvation in Jesus, CLICK HERE! If you have rebelled or fallen away from God, repent and turn back to Jesus before it’s too late – James 5:19-20.

If it were easy to follow and serve God in Christ, everyone would do it! If you are NOT obedient and actively seeking the soon return of Jesus, our Lord & Savior, you may NOT be counted as a worthy bride – Luke 21:36. Suppose you lived in medieval times and the king of the land gave you a command, but you did NOT do it. What would happen? Death by execution? Torture by punishment? Imprisonment? Is the Son of the living GodJesus our Lord and Savior and His authority NOT of much more value than a king of the land? This is why Jesus said many would follow the easy and wide path of the world (the world is under the sway and trance of Satan and his evil demons – John 15:18-19Romans 1:28-32Ephesians 2:1-3James 4:41 John 2:151 John 5:19Revelation 12:9) into destruction where only a few would take the difficult and narrow path to heaven as stated in Matthew 7:13-14, “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.” So, take the narrow and difficult path that leads to everlasting life in Christ! – Matthew 22:36-40.

Do you know where you will spend eternity after you die on earth? Will Jesus be your Lord and Savior or your eternal judge – John 3:15-21Romans 2:162 Timothy 4:1? Jesus says He is the narrow gate to heaven where it is difficult to find and only a few will enter by it where many will enter the easy, wide and broad gate that leads to Hell and destruction – Matthew 7:13-14. Will you experience the second eternal death (spiritual death) – Revelation 2:11Revelation 20:6Revelation 21:8? Do you know for sure that you are written in the eternal Lamb’s Book of Life – Revelation 3:5Revelation 20:12-15? The place called Hell is NOT a myth and is very real and an extremely awful place – Watch this Video!

Do you need Prayer?

Inspiring music video from Audra Lynn, Kingdom Come.

Inspiring music video from Bethel Music & Molly Skaggs, Ain’t No Grave.

Inspiring music video from Beckah Shae, Awake.

Inspiring music video from Jesus Culture, My Soul Longs For You.

Inspiring music video from Jesus Image, Way Maker.

Inspiring music video from Phil Wickham, Children of God.

Inspiring music video from TobyMac, Promised Land.