What Is Your Promised Land?

"First prime minister,

David Ben-Gurion

declares Israel's independence

on May 14, 1948

at the Tel Aviv Museum."

Happy 61st Birthday Israel!

What Is Your Promised Land?
TGIF Today God Is First Volume 2, by Os Hillman

"So I gave you a land on which you did not toil and cities you did not build; and you live in them and eat from vineyards and olive groves that you did not plant" (Josh 24:13).

God called the people of Israel to leave Egypt and come out of slavery in order to enter their own Promised Land. It meant they had to change a way of life they had known their whole lives. Instead of being told what to do everyday by a taskmaster, they were now being led by the cloud of God that led them into the desert with the ultimate goal of entering their own Promised Land.

Every believer has a Promised Land in their lives. It is the place where you receive all God intended for you to receive. However, many of us are still living in Egypt where we sweat and toil in response to the taskmaster of production dictated by our workplaces and our lifestyles of busyness.

We will know when we are beginning to experience our Promised Land when we experience God's rest at the same time we are fulfilling our work life call. We will begin to give testimony to what Joshua says in the above verse. We will begin to receive things we never built or planted. We begin to experience a level of rest in our working lives that is not characterized by sweat and toil. Things become easier because we are receiving them as a fruit of our call instead of a goal.

I began to experience this new way of living as I began to be obedient to doing things based on His direction versus my perceived outcome. Provision began to follow obedience. Projects began to get done with little sweat. God brought the people to me to get things done. There was no longer a tendency to manipulate outcomes that I wanted to have happen. God was giving me my Promised Land as I yielded to Him.

Are you living in your Promised Land? If not, release the goals of your life to the Lord and simply be obedient to His voice. Ask Him for the steps you are to take to receive your Promised Land.

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Today's Prayer

Dear God, I worship you and lift up my praise to you, my Creator and Sustainer. Thank you for showing me the things that bind me on this earth. Open my eyes that I may always be mindful of what may hold me in bondage. Help me to resist the things I should. Help me to steer clear of hazards and to draw strength from Your Holy Spirit when temptations are enticing me. Please help me to break free...and to experience total freedom in you. Thank you, my gracious God. In the name of my Savior I pray. Amen.

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HEADLINE NEWS

Obama congratulates Israel on turning 61
Haaretz Service
U.S. president says bond with Israel 'unshakeable as ever'; Independence Day festivities kick off in J'lem.

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The last man who witnessed Israel's declaration of independence
Nathan Jeffay, The Forward
Arieh Handler, 94, is the only man alive today who was present during the historic 1948 proceedings.

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And if you think you have problems where you live - read this:

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Palestinian gets death sentence for selling land to Israel
The Associated Press
Palestinians consider selling land to Israelis an act of treason; Abbas likely to withhold approval for hanging.