ICS Daily Devotions
Are You Living the Abundant Life?
Exodus 3:8 (NKJV) So I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a good and large land, to a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites.
Joshua 14:9 (NKJV) So Moses swore on that day, saying, ‘Surely the land where your foot has trodden shall be your inheritance and your children’s forever, because you have wholly followed the Lord my God.’
In the Old Testament, the Israelites obtained the promises given by God when they entered the Promised Land. With regards to us taking hold of the promises given to us in the abundant life, there are four categories of people.
Some have never heard of the Gospel and are wandering in the wilderness in spite of their success in life. Then there are those who have heard the Gospel, but have chosen not to accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour, and thus will die in their sins despite having had the opportunity to call upon the name of the Lord to be saved. Next, there are those who have accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour, but because they choose to allow the world and its values to remain in their hearts, they fail to enjoy the promises of the abundant life by living in carnality and a life that differs very little from the people of the world. Lastly, there are those who allow the Lord to rule and reign in their lives as King and work with Him to overcome the flesh, thus claiming the promises in the Bible and are enjoying the abundant life now.
God heard the cry of His people when they were in slavery in the land of Egypt, unable to set themselves free. Their lives became so difficult that God raised up Moses to deliver His people from slavery. God is our deliverer, and He listens to our cries regarding all the struggles that we are facing in our lives.
The Promised Land is an inheritance given to the children of Israel by the Lord—a land flowing with milk and honey. The nature of God is to ensure that His people and creation are well provided for, as in the Garden of Eden and in the Promised Land. Likewise, God’s desire for his children, whose lives have been restored by the finished work of Jesus Christ, is that they would be very different from the past. While the Israelites have inherited a physical land, we have a spiritual inheritance and an abundant life!
Sermon Series: You Are in the Hall of Faith! (Part 4)
