Understanding How Faith Can Make Your Dreams Come True

James Greer: [00:00:00] Man, welcome, Journey Church, whether you're downstairs, upstairs, or online. Amen? I'll tell you, I love that people, love to preach to people. You know, I was thinking this morning about how the virus has popped his head back up and the virus has one main purpose. And that's to separate, to divide, which equals desolation. Separation, isolation equals desolation. But Jesus has a purpose too, and that's to bring an abundant life. And so I want you to understand that Jesus has a purpose. We've been having a time that’s called Time to Dream. The first service, the first lesson was why you should dream. And why you should dream is Jeremiah 29:11 says, I know what I'm doing. Jesus said, you know what? Jesus said, I know what I'm doing. I love that because I don't know what I'm doing a lot of times. You might not know what you're doing a lot of times. But Jesus says, I don't know what I'm doing. Jesus said, not only do I know what I'm doing. He says, I got a plan for you. So Jesus says, I know what I'm doing. I have a plan for you. So God says, why don't you dream about the plan that God has for you? And He says, and I'm going to carry it out for you. So we said, you should dream. The second week, we said, why don't you learn to thrive, not just survive. And we talked about that you were created in God's image. And because you created in God’s image, God gave you a God-given desire to thrive.

James Greer: [00:01:25] That's the difference between humans and animals. Animals have an instinct just to survive, and you should have a desire to thrive. And then third, we said how to survive until you thrive. And Hosea 4:6 said, the people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. And what you don't understand is many times disappointments and tests are times that God is just developing you where He can use you. If you don't understand many times that disappointments are a test and God is developing you, you'll end up living a disappointing life. And today I'm just really excited because I want you to know that how dreams are shattered. They don't have to be shattered. But I want you know there's nobody that can shatter your dreams but you. In fact, we're going to talk about today there's no problem too big for you and God together. We're going to talk about King Saul. King Saul’s dream came true. Matter of fact, he became the king. It was a godly dream, and nobody could shatter his dreams but him. No other kingdom, no power could defeat him but himself. By the way, nobody can defeat you but you. If you're right with God, nobody can defeat you but you. Not your mate, not your boss, not any other force. Just you. God wants you to have godly dreams, and He wants you to be who he called you to be.

James Greer: [00:02:58] But we're going to see how dreams are shattered. Dreams are shattered when we walk by sight, when we make decisions based on what we see, what we feel, what we hear, not God's Word and God's promises. Saul was fixing to have a big battle. You can see what the odds were in 1 Samuel 13, starting in verse 5. And he says this. Then the Philistines. When you read about the Philistines in the Bible, that was the type of enemy, that was a type of the devil. And we're going to have battles and the Philistines, they gathered together to fight the Israelites. That's us. I mean life can be a fight. Amen? It can be a battle. I mean the Philistines, they had 30,000 chariots, 6,000 horsemen. Listen to this. And people as the sands which are on the seashore in Malta. Did you know, it says, listen, I want you to know that they had all these chariots, all these horses, they had so many men, you couldn't even count them. Now, the Philistines were always the type of the enemy and the devil and that you go to face. But this is also a physical picture of spiritual application. This really happened, but the Bible says, the New Testament, that the Old Testament were physical pictures of spiritual application. The Bible is telling you, listen, you're going to have battles in your life that look like they're impossible. And to Saul, when he came up and he’s standing there and he look down at all the battle.

James Greer: [00:04:34] He said, my goodness, there are so many people, you can't count them. Insight number one. You ready? The devil always tries to make your problems and obstacles look bigger than they really are. See, I don't know what your problem is today. But really and truly with God on your side, it's not as big as you think it is. The devil wants you to make it's bigger, it's harder than you think it really is. Number two, the real power Satan has, the only real power Satan has over you is getting you to believe a lie. That's it. If you're a Christian, he doesn't really have any power over you. So what he does is try to get you to believe a lie. Now were the enemy really there? Was thousands of chariots and 6,000 men and I mean hundreds of thousands? Yeah. But God was on his side. Satan uses, listen, Satan uses what we see, what we feel, which is our emotions, what we think, and what we hear to try to bring fear and discouragement. That's why it's so important to control what you think on. Satan wants to use us to try to take things in our own hands. He wants us to try to handle it ourselves. He doesn't want us to wait upon the Lord. He wants us to fight in the flesh.

James Greer: [00:05:53] The Bible tells us in Psalms 27:14, he tells us this. Wait on the Lord. In other words, what he's trying to say when you get upset, when you think you’re having this big battle, when you really don't know what it looks like, this impossible situation, the first thing I do is I want to try to handle it myself. God says, no, wait upon the Lord. Why? Be of good courage because you know God will be with you. Then He shall strengthen your heart. Because when you're facing a battle, what you need more than anything else is strength because your natural instinct is to fear. Wait, I said, upon the Lord. I mean the Lord is capital LORD. The Lord of the hosts, the Lord of all the armies, the one that’s ultimately in control. God said, wait. Our first instinct is try to handle it ourselves. Isaiah 40:31 puts it this way. It said, listen, but those who wait on the Lord, they shall renew their strength. What do you need when you're facing unbelievable odds and problem? You need strength. They shall mount up on wings like an eagle. They shall run and not grow weary. When it says you mount up on wings like eagle, it says when you wait upon the Lord, you shall walk and not faint. When you mount up on wings like an eagle, you get to go over the problem and see the problem and you get to see the power of God.

James Greer: [00:07:09] See, when you don't wait, you just see the problem, and you don't focus on the power. First, what God's purpose is for allowing stress and pressure. I have stress. You got pressure. We all have it. Amen? In our lives is to learn. You ready? Is to learn and turn. What do we do when we have stress and pressure? Learn and turn. What do you do when you have stress and pressure? Learn and turn from God to depend upon God's strength and direction and comfort and power and provision. Not self. Learn and turn, not turn and run. So many people, when they come under pressure, they want to turn and run. When you have a test, it’s to turn and run, the test is to teach you to trust. You're going to have tests, you're going to have stress, you're going to have pressure. It’s to turn and learn. If the test is to teach you to trust. Amen? Second, second, the test, the stress, the pressure is to learn to wait. Man, I am so impatient. I don't even like the wait at a red light. Sometimes I'm sitting at a red light and I'm looking. Is there anybody around? I know I can turn right on red. Does anybody know I can turn left on red? I mean what would it hurt? There's nobody around. Amen? I'm not telling you if I do it anyway. I'm just saying. It's hard to wait.

James Greer: [00:08:47] And when I'm in problems, when I'm having stress, it’s hard. Well, I preach to wait upon the Lord. Let me tell you, it's much easier to preach than to practice what I preach. Amen? But I'm just trying to help you. When you having stress and pressure, God's trying to teach you wait upon the Lord. God's time is always right, but it doesn't always seem right to me. Amen? I want God to remove the test. God wants me to trust. I want the problems to go. God wants me to grow. I want them to go. He says, grow. I don't remove the test. He said, no, you trust. Fourth, the danger of not allowing stress and pressure to keep us dependent on God, we start to depending on self and others and things get worse. See, Isaiah 26:3: says, I love this. You will keep Him in perfect peace. Wouldn't you like to have perfect peace? Amen? No matter what's going on in your life, God says, I'm giving you a prescription for perfect peace. You will keep Him in perfect peace whose mind stays on You because he, here it is again, trusts in You. Trust in the Lord forever, for in Yah, the Lord is everlasting strength. God said, listen, while you're waiting, let your mind be on God, on His power, His promises, His presence. And it takes your focus off your problem and puts it on God's strength.

James Greer: [00:10:36] See, there's no problem too big for God's power. Amen? See, one of the reason that we turn to God is to learn from God. And to trust is what controls our mind and controls the person. See, your mind controls your peace. Amen? Listen to me. Your mind controls your peace. Your peace controls your patience. When I'm at perfect peace, I've got patience. I can come up to the red light and say, that’s cool, it’s red. My patience controls the power I get from God. The power I get from God controls the outcome. My outcome determines my future. Can I tell you something? Nobody can rob my peace and nobody can rob your peace but you. I don't care what's going on around me. I don’t care what's going on around you. Nobody can rob your peace from you but you. Because God says if my mind stays on Him, I have perfect peace. Now the opposite of that is when you don't have peace, your mind is not upon God. It's upon your problem, another person, or something else. Amen? Man, and Saul, he walks up. King Saul. God tells him, I'm going to be with you, I'm for you, I'm going to protect you. But he walks up and he sees 30,000 chariots, 6,000 horses and so many people you cannot count them. So how are dreams shattered? You began to walk by sight, not by faith. 2 Corinthians 5:7 says, to walk by faith. God's Word, God's promises, God's presence. Not by sight. That's a problem because most people operate and walk and live by sight.

James Greer: [00:12:17] I mean by what you see, by what you hear, by what you read. And that's what Satan wants you to do. God wants you to walk by faith. 1 Samuel 13:6 says, when the men of Israel saw. Uh-oh. That’s sight. That they were in danger, the people were distressed. They get all stressed out. What did they stress out for? Because of what they saw. And then the people, they hid in the caves, in the thickets, in the rocks, and in the holes and in the pit. See, what Satan wants, he wants to bring fear. Fear is Satan's power. Really fear is fabricated. It's not true. It's fabricated by Satan. The men of Israel, the ones that God said, I'm going to be with you, I'm going to be for you, I'm going to protect you. Now they're running, they're hiding, they’re in caves. See, you might not be in a cave, but you might be in your house. You might be on your job, but you're not doing what God called you to do. You might be in the family, but you're not doing what God called you. See, you're hid. You're a secret servant Christian. I've done it a big part of my life. You're just not doing what God called you to do. You're afraid to say anything. You're afraid to do anything. Isaiah 45 told them something else. He said in Isaiah 45, he said, I myself will prepare your way.

James Greer: [00:13:38] God said, I will personally prepare a way. If I have to, I'll level the mountains, I'll level the hill, I'll break down the bronze gate, I'll smash the iron bars. God said, listen, I’m going to take care of you. And matter of fact, I'll give you treasures from dark secret places. God says, I'll take care of the hard things. I'll take care of you financially. God says, do you know I have finances in secret places? Did you know God said I'll take care of everything you need? When we know what I am. The Lord and the God of Israel, I call upon my name. God said, listen, you don't have to worry about it. I've got the power. I got the provision. I'm going to take care of you. Jeremiah says this. Jeremiah 1:8, he said this. He’s talking to me. He's talking to you. Don't be afraid of anyone. Amen? God's got a word for some people in here. You came in afraid. God's got a message. Don't be afraid. Amen? Because I'm with you to protect you. Don't be afraid. God said, I'll protect you, says the Lord. That's pretty good when He says, I protect you and I’m the Lord. He said, I'm the master, I'm in control, I'm all the Lord of all the armies and the heavenly hosts. What do you have to be afraid of? Amen? What you need to do is trust in the Lord and quit trusting other things. Part of worry and overwhelm tells you you're not trusting God.

James Greer: [00:14:56] Amen, Brother James. I mean my goodness. What do you say to these things? If God be for you, who can be against you anyway? Amen? Let me go to verse 7. And some of the Hebrews crossed over to the Jordan, to the land of Gad and Gilead. As for Saul, no, no, he was still at Gilgal and all the people followed him trembling. They were afraid. But listen, I would rather follow God trembling than not follow God at all. Amen? Then he waited seven days according to the time set by Samuel. Samuel was the prophet. Samuel was God's spokesman. Samuel represented God. But Samuel did not come to Gielgud, and the people scattered from him. You got to understand, here is the king, King Saul. He's standing there. He's waiting for the Saul. Waiting for Saul. The people start first trembling, then they start scattering. Can I tell you something? There's nothing worse for a leader when the people start scattering. When you're trying to go forward and your people scatter. There's nothing hurts you more as a leader than your people scatter and they portray you. You're trying to do what God called you to do. You're trying to go forth. And people get afraid and scatter. I mean do you, can I tell you something? I'm leading in a time where people are afraid and scattered. Yeah. But to me, this is the greatest time in history.

James Greer: [00:16:20] While a lot of people are scattered, there's a lot of people who are standing up. There's a great outpouring of God. We're seeing more people get saved. Every single Sunday, we're baptizing, including this one. Amen. Praise Jesus. Don't scatter, don't tremble. Go forward. Amen? You got to learn to live only one and it's a one and it's Jesus Christ, not everybody else. When you do that, you don't have to be afraid. You don't have to tremble. But Saul was standing there. The people were trembling. The people were scattered. But he was still standing. He should have stayed. See, there's a danger of not waiting on the Lord. There's a danger of taking things into your own hands. In verse 9, Saul said, uh-oh, bring me the burnt offering, the peace offering here to me. And he offered the burnt offering. What God had told him to do is you wait. You wait for Samuel. He never told Saul to do that. When he said, you bring me the peace offering, he's saying. You ready? I'm taking things into my own hands. I'm playing God. I know better than God. I’m going to do it my way. See, only Samuel is God’s spokesman. Only Samuel could do the burnt offering. Saul was not willing to wait on God. He was not listening. He wasn't willing to wait on God's authority. Everybody has an authority in their life. Everybody does. I have to be under God's authority. You should be under authority. Everybody should. Couples, individual. Many times, they come to me, and they'll ask for godly counsel.

James Greer: [00:17:56] Most of the time, that's why I don't do counseling. Most of the time what they want to do is agree with them. I'm the expert at counseling if you don't ever want to come back to church again. You come to me once, and most of the time, they never come back. You do. You need to go and pay somebody where they'll listen to you. Because I think, I'm so naïve, I think when you come, you want the truth. But most time when they come, you know, and they want you to agree, and you tell them the truth. They get upset. They don't take it. Then it doesn't work out for them. And then their life falls apart, and it shatters. They wonder, wonder what happened to me? You don't have to be too smart to figure it out. They don't want to do it God's way. They want to do it their way. See, I believe any couple, if both couples want to do it God's way, no matter what they've gone through in their life, God can put them back together, and they can have a great life. I know couples that were in affairs and yet they knew it was wrong and repented and both turned back to God. And they have great marriages today. I believe that couples both, no matter what you've been through, no matter what happens, if you want to do it God's way and not your way, that God can turn your life around and you can have a great marriage.

James Greer: [00:19:10] I don't care individuals. I don't care what you've done in your life. I don't care what your past is. If you'll humble yourself, you can be happy. But if you're prideful, you will fall. Amen, Brother James. I believe that. Verse 10. Now it happened. What happened? As soon as he had finished presenting that burnt offering, Samuel comes on the scene. Saul went to meet him. Samuel said, what have you done? Saul said, when I saw, uh-oh, when I saw the people were scattered from me. Here's the king, and he saw his people scattering. It would be like being the pastor and you come to church, and everybody scattered. What are you going to do? He said, I saw people scattering for me, and that you didn't come the day you were appointed. What he really meant you didn't come the time I wanted you to. I came the seventh day. I just didn't come when you want me to come. You didn't come the time I wanted you to come, you didn't come the way I wanted you to come. In other words, I had sight, I saw, I feared, I blamed, and I came to shame. You didn't come the day I appointed. And that the Philistines gathered together at Michmash. And I said, the Philistines, well, now they're going to come down on me at Gilgal, and I made a supplement to the Lord their God.

James Greer: [00:20:39] I felt. That’s what he said. I felt. I felt compelled. He felt compelled. He thought, I'll do it my way. So I offered a burnt offering. I, I, I, I. Let me tell you what. I instead of God will get you in trouble. I instead of God will bring shame. I instead of God will shatter your dream. I instead of God is why Satan get thrown out of Heaven. Saul became afraid so he blames Samuel who was really God's representative. Then he really thought, I'm smarter than God. I'll take it into my own hands, and I'll do it my own way. Satan's in the I business. When you start saying, I'm going to do it my way, I'm in charge, I'm more powerful, I'm right. You're headed for the fall. Verse 13 said, and Samuel said to Saul, you've done foolishly. Basically, Saul in 1 Samuel 13:13 called the king a fool. You've not kept your commandment of the Lord your God, which He commanded you. Listen to this. For now, the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. He said, if you’d just obeyed, your kingdom would have been forever. Your dreams would have lasted for a lifetime. Samuel was telling, your kingdom would have lasted forever. Nothing or nobody could have ever caused your kingdom to fall. This is what I was trying to tell you. There's nothing that can cause your dream to shatter but you. That's what he said. If God be for you, who can be against you? He said, well, I had 30,000 chariots, I had 6,000 horseman.

James Greer: [00:22:34] I had so many men that you can't count. I don't care. If God be for you, who can be against you? Verse 14 said, but now your kingdom shall not continue. Why? The Lord has sought for himself a man after his own heart who ended up being David who was the next king. And the Lord has commanded him to be the commander over his people because you have not kept what the Lord has commanded you. So Saul lost his kingdom. And he said, you could have had it. Nobody could have defeated you if you had just done what I said. Nobody can defeat you. Nobody can overcome you. Nobody can shatter your dreams but you. And then Saul tells him, he said, listen. But Samuel answered, what please the Lord more? Burnt offerings and sacrifice or obedience to His voice? It is better to obey than to sacrifice. It is better to listen to God than to offer to a fat cheat. Let me give you some closing thoughts. Number one, remember this, nobody can defeat you, overcome you but you. If you're here today and you've been blaming somebody else for your defeat, stop doing it. If you're facing tests, temptations and battles and trials, stop trying to overcome it by what you see, by what you feel, by what you think. Instead, ask God to open your spiritual eyes. Trust in God's Word, not what you see.

James Greer: [00:24:07] Trust in God's Word, not what you think. Trust in God's Word, not what you feel. In 1 Samuel 13:11 and 12, it tells, that's what he did. Third, if your dreams have been shattered, this is important. Mine have been shattered many times. Sometimes they were my fault, sometimes they weren't. But if there's anybody who's gone through shattered dreams, it's me. I've gone through financial shattered dreams. I've gotten through emotional shattered dreams. I've gone through physical shattered dreams. Admit your part. Because I love what the psalmist said in Psalms 35. For His anger is just for a moment, but His favor is for life. Do you know every Sunday I pray for God's favor? Weeping may endure for the night, but joy comes in the morning. Man, you know what? Yesterday I could have shattered my dreams, but I got the next morning. I could start all over again. I don't have to wait till the new year. It could be today. Yours could be this morning. You don't have to wait till another day, another year. It could be today. Isaiah 54:7 says, for a brief moment, I might abandon you. It means permit. But with great compassion, with mercy, I’m going to take you back. Maybe you feel like you turned your back on God, and you really messed up. God said, I’m going to take you back. In a moment of anger, I may have turned my face for a little while, but for an everlasting love, it'll never fail.

James Greer: [00:25:45] I'm going to have pity on you. Listen to this. I'm the Lord. I'm your redeemer. Mercy means I'm going to, you're going to miss the punishment you deserve and I'm going to pardon you. The redeemer means I'm going to deliver you, but it means more than that. I'm going to bring back something that you lost, that was taken away from you. And most of all, today Jesus is our redeemer. He's our Savior. He's our Deliverer. He's the one that'll save you from your sins and hell. If you're here today and you need a redeemer, today is the day. If you're not sure today if you’d die and you’d go to Heaven today, your redeemer is here to deliver you. You just simply have to come and admit that you’re a sinner and you know that Jesus died for you and you want to be redeemed. He's your redeemer that’ll help your dreams come true. He's the redeemer that gives you a brand-new start. He is the redeemer that can give you things back that you have lost. Maybe you have a situation that looks impossible. There's nothing more impossible than facing so many men that you can't count them, and God said I was going to deliver him. Maybe you shattered your dreams, and today is the day, today is the day you want the Dreamer, the Redeemer to start over a brand-new you and a brand-new start.

James Greer: [00:27:18] I'm going to ask you to stand, and today we're going to give you two ways to respond. You've got next step cards that you could put in the back or you got people in the front. Father, I just thank you that you're the redeemer. God, you can redeem us from anything in our past. Joy comes in the morning. This is the morning. We don't have to wait for the new year. We don’t have to wait for another day. Today is the day for a brand-new start. For those that have been facing impossible situations, God, you're the Lord of hosts. You said you will be on our side, that you would protect us, that you would defend us, that you would provide. Let us put our faith and trust in you and not in the problem and not in any person. For those that never follow through in public baptism, the death, the burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, I pray today they would make that commitment. For those that maybe want to make this church their home, not just visit, but their home, God, that today would be the day. God, I want them to go out with courage. Cast out fear. Cast out doubt. God, those that need have someone pray with them and pray for them, we have people up front. God, whatever decisions need to be made, God, I pray that you have your will and your way in their life. It's in the precious name of Jesus I pray. Amen.

Bruce Goulart: [00:28:38] On behalf of Pastor James, I want to say thank you for joining our online experience today. Man, what an amazing day it is to watch students go up another grade level. And as this week continues, school is going to start. So I just want y’all to be in prayer for all the students as this school year starts. And I just want to say thank you again for joining our online experience today.

Recorded in Pineville, Louisiana.