I Have Decided To Walk in Obedience | Pastor Adam Peterson

Look into the camera and just tell all of our online family wherever you're joining in from right now. You are here I got online earlier. There's a bunch of you we're so grateful for you lean into what God has for you put the pancakes and the waffles down and Listen cuz God's gonna speak to your heart today, and then you may or may not know this rise church family But every single week we stream into hundreds and hundreds of prisons and so to the men and women in the correctional facilities Come on, you are our church family We are so grateful for you today We're talking about this and this is a series where you have to make this decision because nobody else can make it for you But today we're saying we're deciding to walk in obedience This is a this message I'm gonna bring in the spirit of my wife today who from time to time will look at me We're we're going on 20 years of marriage today and come on listen not today But but this year and and and and every once in a while She'll look at me and she'll say these famous words in our household. If you would just listen to me Come on ladies She'll look at me and she'll say if you would just listen to me things would be a lot easier I got three kids 17 15 and 8 we like to wrassle. Okay, we're from the South man I like to like to throw my kids around they want to have fun and I think that's a fun thing to do But every once in a while, I know I'm turning 42, but I got to let my kids know I will still dominate you Okay, my son is 17. He needs to know you ain't got it, bro I still own you so I'll pick them up I'll throw them across the room every once in a while and they start when when I got hurt mommy daddy hurt me and then she gets mad at me because they're a bunch of sissies and And she'll look at me she goes why don't you just listen to me just all right So this is what I want to say today God's got some stuff that he wants to speak to us. Come on. We need to listen. We don't just need to listen We need to obey we need to follow after him. And so today's message from the Word of God is gonna be like vegetables Don't always you don't always want to eat them, but you know, they're good for you. Come on How many of you like me maybe you don't have to raise your hand might bring up some past memories for you But when I was a kid, and I didn't want to eat something that was on my plate. My dad would say I'll help you and

He would take the fork. He'd grab those vegetables and he'd say open your mouth And he would help feed me. Oh, you know and and And so that's that's what we're gonna do today I'm gonna I'm not gonna force feed you something you don't want but I'm gonna give you a word today from God's Word of what? We all desperately need if you're with me say yeah When we look at God's Word, we can look at it one of two ways We can look at it as something negative or positive Let me say it another way We can look at it something we have to do or we can look at it as something we get to do And if you're here today and your view of Christianity your view of following God is well This is just something I have to do I hope that you get a new perspective shift today of man. You don't have to do any of this man I get to do this. I Get to open up God's Word. I get to pray and talk to God. I get to serve people I get to give this is not a have-to man. This is the greatest thing I could give my life to I think so many people outside in the world look at the Bible and go well That's just a list of things that God doesn't want me to do because he doesn't want me to have any fun No, God wants you to live and he knows that if you pursue anything That is not his best for you. You're gonna go down a path. That's gonna lead to brokenness Anybody want to just confess that you tried it your way How many of you that did not work out too well for you and God would scream at us today I've got something better for you Jesus actually said it like this in Luke chapter 11 man You're blessed blessed rather are those who hear the Word of God and obey it So there's a beauty today that we get to hear the Word of God, which is awesome But if we just hear the Word of God and we don't obey it then nothing's gonna change in our lives So may we hear the Word of God today and then may we act on it and obey it It's almost like this this can of paint right here How many of you love painting? I mean you love smelling paint you We know who you are. Listen

If I want to paint a room in my house. I've got to go buy the can of paint But I can't just buy it and go. All right, I'm gonna put it in the room What do you got to do you got to open up a can somebody and You got to get a roller out You got to get a paintbrush out and you got to take that paint paint and you got to apply it to the walls for the Falls to change colors so that it can accomplish what you're wanting to do. That's the word of God. We gotta take this word, not just hear it, we gotta apply it to our lives so that it changes us. I know in a room this size, people watching online, listen, some of you are gonna hear this word, you're gonna apply it to your life and it's gonna change you. Others of you aren't. And nothing's gonna change in your life. And God just wants to let you know your life is actually blessed when you hear his word. Your life is even more blessed when you respond to it and you obey it. What does that word blessed means? It means happy, it means joyful, it means peaceful, it means all the things that God wants to give you, you get when you actually do it God's way. Can I get a better amen? If you're a note taker this morning, you're gonna love this one right here. God's word isn't restrictive, it's protective.

See, this isn't just a list of rules and guidance for your life to go, well, I don't want you to have a good time. No, this is God going, if you follow my word, it'll actually protect you. And you know what? If you're a parent in the house, you get this. I got three kids, my eight year old right now, I know it's taken us a little bit of time, I've kind of been a lazy parent, but we're learning to ride a bike without training wheels right now. My girl's killing it, okay? But you know what that means? That means I have to follow her as she rides her bike. I'm turning 42 tomorrow. I was running around the whole neighborhood yesterday, oh, oh, oh, watching her, and she wants to go, well, dad, just let me do it myself. And you know what? I'm a pretty good dad, so you know what I'm not gonna do? Let her go do it herself. Why not? Because there are 2,000 pound automobiles that are driving around our neighborhood that don't love my daughter like I love my daughter, that aren't watching for her like I'm watching. Well, you're just being restrictive. No, I want her to live. Just let her go ride her bike, no.

I wanna protect her. This is God's word for you. God's word for you. He's not trying to, oh, I don't want you to have fun. No, no, he wants you to live, he wants to protect you. So here's what we need to come around this morning. Come on, somebody. Obedience to God isn't a suggestion. How many of you, when you see a speed limit sign, how many of you look at it as a suggestion? Come on, show your hands, let's go. Some of y'all do that with our parking team in the parking lot. They're trying to show you where to park, and you're like, appreciate you, just a suggestion. I'm gonna do what I want. Y'all do that with our usher team. Matter of fact, y'all do that with every team in our church. Okay, there we go. Just a suggestion. But obedience to God and his opinion, it's not a suggestion, okay? Couple things. One, it's an invitation. He is inviting you in to follow him. But it's not just an invitation, it is an expectation. And again, I get this as a parent, you do too. When I tell my kids to do something, I expect they're gonna do it. When I tell them to do something, I expect,

and if they don't do it, there are gonna be consequences to that. Not only is it an invitation and an expectation, it is a command of God. Be, if you wanna claim to know him, and he is commanding you to obey him. And can we just rally around this collectively, and I'm right here with you, that sometimes we take casually the commands of God to obey him. Anybody ever negotiated with God? Anybody ever justified maybe some sin in your life? Listen, may we get to a point in our lives where we raise the bar of the holiness that God is calling us to. And we start flirting with the things that God is calling us to flee from. And we run to God and we say, God, I'm gonna walk in obedience, because your way is better than mine. James is kind of straightforward. If you ever wanna read just a book, that if you're like, man, I like it when somebody just hits me in the face, like read the book of James. Because James says this, don't just listen to God's word. That's what we're doing right now. We're listening to the word of God being preached. Don't just listen to it. You must do what it says.

That's when the change starts happening. Because otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves. James says you're actually becoming foolish when you hear the word, but you don't respond to it. When you hear God's word, but you don't follow it. When you hear God's word, but you don't obey it. He goes on to say this, it's like you looking in a mirror, seeing yourself and then walking away and forgetting what you look like. Some of you men need to look in a mirror, and be like, you're looking rough, bro. God has better plans for your life. We have to wake up, because if not, we'll just fall right back into that life of disobedience, pursuing things that God has rescued us out of. Galatians, this is Paul writing to a church. And he's gonna lay out this idea. Let me just break it down for us. He says the flesh desires what is contrary to the spirit and the spirit was contrary to the flesh. Meaning this, that all of us on the inside of us, when we were born, we were born with a sinful nature that desired the things of this world. But the spirit of God that is trying to wake us up draws us back to the things of God and they're at war with one another. Matter of fact, it says they are in conflict with one another. So this flesh side wants the things that the world has to offer.

Y'all know what I'm talking about, okay? All the glitz, the glamor, the gold, all the things, the girls, all the stuff. But then the Holy Spirit is like, no, no, no, no. Come follow the things of God over here because this is better and they're in conflict. And that's the war that we're in. And he goes on to say this. So that you are not to do whatever you want. For 17 years, you know how I lived? I did whatever I wanted to. Because I had no regard for God in my life. For 17 years of my life, I did whatever I wanted. But that led me to a place of brokenness and emptiness. Thank you, Jesus, that you didn't give up on me. Anybody grateful this morning that God didn't give up on you? So even if you're here this morning or maybe you're watching online, you're like, man, I still don't follow after God. I'm 40, I'm 30, I'm 50. Like, God's never given up on you. And this is the moment he wants to wake you up. Because if you keep doing whatever you want, man, you're gonna make a wreck of your life. So if you're a follower of Jesus, you don't get to play that card anymore. You don't get to go, I'm just gonna do whatever I want. No, because the Holy Spirit of God is calling you to something more.

And he goes on to give this list of what our flesh is, our sinful nature. He says this, when you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear. Meaning this, if you know somebody that's not a Christian, you can look and go, oh yeah, I know they're not a Christian. That makes perfect sense. What shouldn't make perfect sense is somebody that claims to be a follower of Jesus, a Christian, and lives like this. That doesn't make sense. But it's clear. It's clear to you, it's clear to me. When I'm walking in the Spirit, man, peace is coming out of my life. Holiness is coming out of my life. But when I give in to my fleshly desires, man, it's not pretty. It's clear. And so that's what Paul's saying here. The results are very clear. Here's what's gonna come out of your life when you just do whatever you want. Sexual immorality. That encompasses anything outside of marriage between a husband and a wife. Impurity, lustful pleasures. Jesus said to even look lustfully upon a woman is sin. Idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, arguing,

jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, and envy. Can anybody relate to any of these on this list? All right, some of you are like, bingo, I hit all of them. Goes on to say this, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. So he's just encompassing this entire list, and he says this, let me tell you again, which is Paul getting on toddler level with us, going look at me, look at me, look at me. I already told you this once before, let me tell you again. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the kingdom of God. Now let me break this down for you very clearly. There is a huge difference, huge difference, in living a life of those things, and struggling from time to time with those things. Big difference. The Christian is pursuing the things of God, and every single one of us from time to time are going to fall. We're going to give back into that temptation, we're going to trip and fall into sin in our lives. That is going to happen, we're not perfect. We're in the perfection process. God is making us more like Jesus, meaning these things should have less of a hold. We should be falling back into them less as we pursue God. So there's a huge difference in struggling

from time to time with sin, as opposed to living in it constantly. So where are you today? Because if you're living a life of sin, the Bible would say, you will not inherit the kingdom of God. What does that mean? You're not getting all the things that God wants to give you. Heaven? Got real quiet. It's scary in the Bible belt that we live in. that people think they know God. But I'm telling you, you can know about God and not know Him personally. Because when you know Him, you turn from this life and you turn to Him. You surrender those things and you turn to Him. Again, we're not talking about perfection, but we are talking about a heart for the things of God and not the things of this world. We are dying to these things so that we can pursue God. And if your life is being controlled by any of the things that we just read on that list, I'm talking like if like every day, like I'm in that every day, every day, every other day, like there is a moment where you need to wake up and go, I'm not walking in obedience to God and I need His power to set me free. And if that's you in this place, you are in a safe place. You are welcome here and we are for you and so is God.

He's got better for you. But obedience is simply this, it's belief. Belief in what? Belief that God's way is better than your way. Can anybody just confess this morning that God's way is better than your way? All right, so let me give you a couple, just in case you're like, I don't know, man, my way's pretty good. No, your way stinks, okay? All right, this is what God says. God looks at you and says, forgive. Meaning, people are gonna hurt you, people are gonna say things about you, people close to you are gonna hurt you. God says, forgive. You know what we say? Nah, I'm gonna hold on to that bitterness and anger towards them. I don't even know God's way is better than your way. God says, hey, use your words to build people up, to encourage one another. You know what your fleshly desire says from time to time? No, I'm gonna use my words to tear people down because I feel better about myself when I put you down. God's word says, be quick to listen and slow to speak. You know what he's saying there? Shut your mouth. Be patient. That's God's way.

God's way is patience. You know what your way is? Impatience. Your way is, you cut me off in traffic? Oh, let me see what I'm gonna do to you. I'm gonna let you know that you're number one. Peel the banana, baby. You know what I'm saying? Listen, your way is, oh, you said that to me? Then I'm gonna come right back and I'm gonna say the first thing that comes. I'm gonna type the first thing that comes to my mind. Listen, your way is not good. God's way is better. Quick to listen, slow to speak. James would say, that's a recipe for you to become slow to get angry. Be patient, because God's way is better. God's way says, love your wife and lay your life down for her. You know what your way says? No, I'm gonna do my own thing. I don't care what she says. I'm gonna defend myself. I'm not gonna serve you. God's like, no, I got a better way, because that's what he did for us. Come on, women. God says, respect and honor your husband. You know what your way says?

No, I'm gonna criticize him and tell him everything he's doing wrong. We laugh because it's true. How many of you know God's way is better? I know I hit on this last week, but it's worth repeating again. God's way says, give generously of your finances to bless others. You know what your way says? No, I'm gonna hold on to him myself. I'm gonna be patient. Or I'm gonna be selfish. And I'm gonna keep it for myself. Let me just say this one more time. These aren't suggestions. These are expectations. These are commands from God. And you get to choose. Am I gonna be obedient to them? Or am I gonna do what I want? And the reality is, again, Luke 11, what we read at the very beginning, your life is going to be so much more blessed when you walk out these and so many more, because God's way is better than your way. If you're with me, say yeah. If the person beside you needs to hear it, say oh yeah. All right, all right. But it's not for them, it's for you. So here we go.

Not only are you blessed when you walk in obedience to God, but others are blessed as well. That means this. When you give, the Bible says you're gonna be blessed. But your giving actually goes to bless others. But your giving actually goes to bless others. When you serve, you're gonna be blessed. But when you serve others, they're gonna be blessed as well. That's how God works. He's such a good God. Verse is also true, you ready? When you walk in disobedience, you're gonna ruin your own life, and there's a good chance you might ruin somebody else's life. Anybody wanna raise your hand and just go, I have been affected by somebody else's bad decisions? Anybody wanna raise their hand and say, I have affected others by my bad decisions? And I'll give you one more chance to raise your hand if you didn't raise your hand. We all make decisions that aren't good. Let me tell you a quick story about a guy in the Old Testament, his name's Jonah. If you grew up in church, you know this story. Odds are if you didn't grow up in church, you know parts of this story. God looks at Jonah and he says, hey, Jonah, he's a preacher. He says, Jonah, I want you to go to Nineveh.

There's some evil, rotten, dirty sinners there, and I want you to preach repentance to them, and I want you to preach to them to turn to me. Jonah goes, I don't wanna do that. So he gets on a boat, goes to Nineveh, gets on a boat going the opposite direction of Nineveh. Nineveh's over here, he heads this way. He gets on a boat and a storm happens. The storm happens because God's trying to get Jonah's attention. You disobeyed me, here's the consequences. Guess what? Other people are on the boat. They all think they're gonna die. This is a crazy, wild storm. Jonah speaks up and he's like, ugh, this is my fault. God told me to do this and I did that, and they're like, you're an idiot. You ever wanna look at somebody and just go, you're an idiot, what are you? But you can't say that because you're a Christian and you love, you know, maybe you may need it. I don't know. Jonah goes, I got an idea. I think I know what'll fix this. If you guys just throw me off the boat, I think the storm will stop. And they're like, okay. They throw him off the boat, storm stops. And you know the story, right?

Here comes a big fish, some people say a whale, Bible doesn't say a whale, says a big fish, comes and swallows Jonah up. And for three days, he lives in the belly of this fish. How many of you don't like seafood just because of the smell? Yeah, more seafood for us, amen, praise the Lord. If you don't like cooked seafood smell, you would not like living in the belly of seafood, fish. And Jonah's in there and God's trying to get his attention. And I just feel like I need to tell somebody in here, you feel like you're in the belly of a fish right now and life just stinks and God is trying to get your attention, he is. And here's the good news, he's not giving up on you. He is not giving up on you. He's got something good for you. Please wake up today. And that big fish just starts swimming and after three days, guess what? Spits Jonah out, where? Nineveh, got a little Uber ride to Nineveh. Hey, because God will take you to the place that he wants to take you to, he will, he'll get you there. Jonah gets out smelling like all kinds of fish guts and guess what? He preaches repentance to the people of Nineveh and guess what they do? They all repent and they all turn to God, why? Because he finally was obedient, other people got blessed. His disobedience almost killed him

and other people on the boat. His disobedience would have left them in their sin, unrepentant, turning back to God but because he finally obeyed God, now a whole nation is turning to God. I'm just here to tell you, your obedience can actually bless somebody else's life. Your obedience could actually play an impact on somebody else's eternity. So let's go. Pastor Jonathan, join me up on the stage. First Samuel says it like this. What is more pleasing to the Lord? He's gonna give a compare and contrast here. Which one is more pleasing to the Lord? Your burnt offerings and sacrifices or your obedience to his voice? Samuel goes, listen up, right here, don't miss this. Obedience is better than sacrifice. It's okay, it's okay. You're either clapping because you're like, I like clapping or you're not clapping because you're like, I don't know what that verse means or you're not clapping just because you didn't clap. Here's what it means. I'm just gonna put it in today's terms. Don't come in here and worship God with your singing if you're not gonna obey him tomorrow. Let that sober you up. This is God saying, I'd rather you not.

Don't come in here and sing and offer me these sacrifices of praise if you're not gonna do what I'm asking you to do tomorrow. Some of you, God's been speaking to you for a while. Let me just hit on a couple things that might relate to some of you. Some of you are dating the wrong person and God's like, they are not my best for you. Break up with them and you keep justifying it. Leave him, leave her. If you're like marriage, does that count? No, no, no, you're in a covenant relationship. Outside of any abuse, you're stuck. Figure it out, God'll be with you. We'll walk with you too. I don't say that lightly. Some of you, it's obvious. Things you're putting before your eyes right now. The shows that you're watching on Netflix, Prime, name it. Stuff you're scrolling at. You're scrolling and you're lingering. You're searching on. I'm just telling you, you have been hearing the voice of God speaking to you going, that's not for you. There's a holiness that God's calling us to. For each of us, it's something specific. Maybe it's for somebody in here that the Lord has been speaking to your heart and that you don't need that alcohol anymore. You're like, pastor, you're telling me I can't drink?

No, I'm not saying that. The Bible says don't get drunk because when you're drunk, it's got control of you. And maybe you're not getting drunk, but God's still telling you. Would you lay that down? I'm not trying to be your Holy Spirit. I'm saying God is speaking that to some of you. Would you be obedient? Because here's what God wants from us. He wants obedience. He goes, and then when I have your obedience, then you come in a room like this, then you in your car, you crank that worship music, and because of your obedience to me, because you want all of me, give me all of your worship and I will listen to every bit of it because you're following me. That's what he's calling us to. And I shared this at our Dream Team event that we did last year where we get all of our volunteers in the room and have fun and encourage them. And I just wanted to bring it to you. There's a song that God kind of put on my heart last year, and man, it's just such a powerful song, and there's a line in it that I want to share with you. It just says this. Hell's not scared of a Sunday faith. Like, the devil's not scared when you just walk into church on a Sunday morning,

and that's all that is happening in your life spiritually. That doesn't make hell go, whoa, watch out. The song goes, what we need is a Monday morning faith. Praise God you're in here today. Praise God you're in here today. Praise God you're watching online. What we want, what I want for my life and what I want for your life is we wake up tomorrow ready to storm the gates of hell all over again and go, God, I'm gonna walk in obedience to you. I'm gonna advance your kingdom. I'm gonna shine your light in my life. I'm not gonna look like everybody else. I'm not gonna talk like everybody else. By your strength, by your grace, by your mercy, I'm gonna be a light in the midst of a dark world. We need a Monday faith, a Tuesday faith, a Wednesday. Like, every day, we choose God over everything else. Hey, and if you stumble and you fall and you give in to some temptation, receive the grace of God, repent, get back up, and run after the Lord. Amen. It's not an accident that you are here today. I think this is a wake up call for the church as we've been a little too casual with the things of God. There's a standard that the Lord is saying, holiness, obedience. Cause it matters. If you're with me say yeah.

Let me pray over you every hour. Let's be livid. If you're with me say yeah. Let me pray over you every head bowed, every eye closed. I didn't do this at the first service and this is nobody looking around. If you would just say hey, that message is for me. There's some things in my life that I know I'm not walking in obedience to God. And God spoke to my heart and he woke me up today. If that message was for you today, just put your hand in the air right now. Amen. You can put it right back down. Thank you for that. Thank you. God, give us the courage, the bravery to not just hear your word, but be obedient to it. Your way is better, period. Give us the strength that we need to overcome the things that are trying to take us out. Put the right people in our life, God, to encourage us, because life is not easy. But most of all, remind us every single day that you're with us.