How Your Promised Land Is Actually Now: Stepping into God’s Yes & Amen

Let me introduce to you my friend Heidi Lee Anderson, who is not only a speaker and a stay-at-home mom but also a bright light on social media @heidileeanderson as well as the author of her newest release, a 100-day devotional traveling through the Promised Land, called All In, All Yours. I would add she’s a master at cleaning up Cheerios spills and building LEGO towers while simultaneously chugging coffee like a Gilmore, but now I’m just getting carried away. After being diagnosed with cancer, Heidi’s fuel is now to make sure that Christ-followers realize, know, and claim the sure promises God offers—in the mundane, amid the heartache, and on top of the highest mountains. It’s a joy to welcome Heidi to the farm’s table today…

Guest Post by Heidi Lee Anderson

When you look around the landscape of your life, what do you see?

Maybe your season is early motherhood, and the baby is crying, the dirty diapers are fully ripe, and the rush of toddler demands is just ahead. Or maybe you’re facing a challenging career, and the shadows of corporate giants are always looming. Or possibly after a big milestone with your health, your age, or your goals, you’re looking ahead to uncharted territory, unsure what’s behind that wall.

We are not the only ones.

In fact, the Israelites beat us to it.

Before we barge into the Promised Land alongside them in Joshua 1, we gotta look around at the landscape to know what we’re stepping into.

In the land surrounding God’s people, birds are chirping, acacia trees are in full bloom, and the rush of the Jordan River is just ahead.

“This offer of life to the full isn’t dependent on your circumstances... It doesn’t change when the battle rages or the giants trespass. It doesn’t dissolve when anxiety climbs to an all-time high, disappointment hits, or there are setbacks in your plans. No, this promise stands the test of time.“

But so are the formidable walls of Jericho. The cities are already inhabited by many enemy nations (see Exodus 33:2). And, oh yeah, roaming lions and wild animals could “become too numerous for you” (Exodus 23:29, NASB).

So hold up. Why here of all places?

Why have the Israelites set their sights on this chunk of land when it’s already occupied? And excuse me, but what gives them the right to march in as if they own the place and push out people who have put down roots here for centuries?

Well, it’s because they do own the place. Rewind to the beginning, and we find that when God blessed Abram as the father of many nations, He also gave him this exact plot of land as a permanent possession. “You can be sure that your descendants . . . will be oppressed as slaves for 400 years. . . After four generations your descendants will return here to this land” (Genesis 15:13, 16, NLT).

Four hundred years later, these exact descendants are ready to march ahead. They are armed with the deed signed by the Creator of the land Himself, and you can almost hear them humming, “This land is my land . . . this land is [not] your land… this land was [not] made for you and me.” Without batting an eye, they are prepared to seize all that God has for them.

Like the Israelites, you too have been armed with a promise from Jesus Himself: “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly” (John 10:10, ESV). But it’s worth calling out: This offer of life to the full isn’t dependent on your circumstances.

It doesn’t change when the battle rages or the giants trespass. It doesn’t dissolve when anxiety climbs to an all-time high, disappointment hits, or there are setbacks in your plans. No, this promise stands the test of time.

Yes, Jesus saved us for all eternity, giving us a heavenly  home—and if that’s all He ever did, that would be MORE than enough. But our God is so good that He didn’t stop there.

“You have life . . . and in Christ, life to the full this very moment.“

Jesus also came to set us free today from sin, death, and shame.

He sent His Spirit to dwell in us, bearing the fruit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self- control (see Galatians 5:22-23). He continually makes known the path of life to us.

We are filled with joy in His presence and eternal pleasures at His right hand (see Psalm 16:11). Each day, He is our Sun and our Shield, bestowing favor and honor, and withholding no good thing (see Psalm 84:11). And He has “given you authority over all the power of the enemy. . . . Nothing will injure you” (Luke 10:19, NLT). Truly, with Him as our Good Shepherd, we “lack nothing” (Psalm 23:1, NIV).

You have life . . . and in Christ, life to the full this very moment.

“In Him, we’ve got places to go, sights to see, and promises to dwell in.“

Like the Israelites, this is all the confidence you need for the road ahead: This land is your land. God’s given you the title to the territory that now in Christ rightfully belongs to you, and you hold the deed in hand.

How can you view your circumstances today in light of being armed with the security of this final ruling?

No matter what stands in the way, it’s time to hold your head up high, move out, and move in.

In Him, we’ve got places to go, sights to see, and promises to dwell in.

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