Bring You Into A Good Land

I'm loving this study of Deuteronomy so much, and my favorite lesson (which keeps resonating in my head and heart) has been about the good land the Lord promised His people.  Our "key verse" for the book is found in chapter six and verse twenty-three:  "And He brought us out from there, that He might bring us in and give us the land that He swore to give our fathers."

He brought us out to bring us in.

Don't you think He does that still today?  He brings us out of sin, out of slavery, out of false mindsets, out of vain worship and idolatry, out of vanity.  But He doesn't just bring us out--He brings us into something else.  Our  "good land".

In the Old Testament, the Lord promised the Israelites a literal good land.

 Deuteronomy 8:7-10
⁷ For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs, flowing out in the valleys and hills,  a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive trees and honey,  a land in which you will eat bread without scarcity, in which you will lack nothing, a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills you can dig copper.  And you shall eat and be full, and you shall bless the Lord your God for the good land he has given you.

A good land=a place of produce, fruitfulness, and wealth.  It is a place where you will lack nothing

What "good land" does the Lord bring us into in the New Testament?

I Corinthians 1:4-7
I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus, that in every way you were enriched in him in all speech and all knowledge— even as the testimony about Christ was confirmed among you— so that you are not lacking in any gift, as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ,

Our good land today=abiding in Christ=a place where we are "made rich in every way in Him, in all your speech and in every kind of knowledge" and "you do not lack any spiritual gift".  A place where we will be productive as we abide in Christ (John 15:4-11).  Our promised land is not a place--it's a person.  It's IN CHRIST.

Beth pointed out that it is the Father's will that we be profoundly effective in the sphere of influence He has given us.  The promise of material wealth in the old testament has given way to the promise of spiritual wealth in the new covenant.  Christ came that we might have more abundant life.  The physical productivity of the good land has given way to spiritual productivity--fruitfulness.  She challenged us:  Get rid of the distractions of life that are just not bearing fruit.

Yikes!  What is the sphere of influence the Lord has given me?  Am I profoundly effective here?  Profoundly effective?  What distractions of my life are just not bearing fruit?  What needs pruned? What am I trying to do in my own strength rather than through abiding in Him?

Identifying whether or not you are living in your "good land" the Lord has brought you to has nothing to do with happiness.  We are not talking about looking for "happy land".

This is how you know you're living in your "good land"--when you are a benefit, producing fruit.  When others are blessed through you, you're in a good land.