If We Want to Obey, We Must Abide [Melissa Kruger] | Word First

And here's the thing, obeying God is never going to be easy or maybe culturally relevant. The reality is people might think we're crazy. I'm sure they thought that of Noah. But he obeyed God and this is actually evidence of God's power at work in Noah, not that Noah was such a great person. Do you see the difference? This is evidence that God is working in us that we start to obey him and love to obey him. That's evidence of his power within us. And that's what 1 Peter tells us. Again, that same passage I just read, he himself bore our sins in his body that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. His salvation will have effect in our lives. Now, you may hear that and you may say, "I feel trapped by sin. I'm not sure how to fight it." And so, let me just say clearly, God has given us means of grace by which we can fight sin in our life. It's kind of like your cell phone. I'm sure someone in this room forgot their cell phone charger this week and and that magical little telephone that we have that we carry with us, if it is not plugged in it will eventually completely stop working. And the reality for us, if we do not abide in the vine we will not live powerful Christian lives. Jesus said, "Abide in me and my words in you and you will bear much fruit. Apart from me, you can do nothing." We have got to be women who abide if we want to be women who obey. We need Jesus to help us to turn on the power in our lives. Now, let me also give this caveat. This does not mean that Noah was made perfect. Noah had power over sin, but we know a chapter the very next chapter he's drunk in his tent. Noah was not perfect, but the power of God was at work in him. And so what we can know is that God's power, if we are in Christ, will be at work in us, but we will still struggle with sin. The Lord's Prayer even presupposes this. I mean, it says, "Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us." We're going to sin against others, and people are going to sin against us. That's going to be part of the Christian life because we are not yet freed from sin's presence. So this is our last point. One day, because God is true to his word, we will be completely free from sin's presence. Read with me. This is Revelation 21. This is the best news for all of us who are weary and tired and hurting and longing. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away." Do you want a life of joy? You will never get it by looking at your circumstances. Present joy is rooted in a past reality and a future hope. What do I mean by that? Past reality. The cross has fully paid for every sin you will ever commit. That's good news. That can never be taken from you. Everything else in your life can be taken from you. There are no promises. Everything in life can be taken from us. Your salvation can never be taken from you. It's also based on a future hope. One day Jesus will come again and he will rescue us from the presence of sin. If we want present joy, we have two anchors. This past reality and a future hope. This does not mean we walk around with a Pollyanna, pull yourself up by your bootstraps, I'm going to put a smile on my face and be joyful no matter what anyone says. No, this means we live the paradox of the Christian life. We are sorrowful, yet rejoicing. We are like Habakkuk who looked at an army coming upon him and he said, "Even though there's no fruit on the vine, yet I will rejoice." Where's he going to take joy? "I will take joy in the God of my salvation." The joy we have is so much deeper and so much richer than any temporal happiness we can get because circumstances happen to go our way. This is joy in the Lord that no one can take from us.