Don’t Miss the Miracle in Your Marriage
Pastor Greer gives couples healthy relationship tips.
James Greer
Feb 12, 2017
Pastor James Greer gives healthy relationship tips for everyone. Although the sermon is for married couples, the advice applies to all relationships. He believes that most problems come from unmet expectations. He said that by focusing on the unmet expectations, you could be missing out on the miracles that God has planned for you. His advice is to admit the problem to God, accept God's suggestions to solve the problem, and then apply it to your life. Video recorded at Pineville, Louisiana.
TranscriptionmessageRegarding Grammar:
This is a transcription of the sermon. People speak differently than they write, and there are common colloquialisms in this transcript that sound good when spoken, and look like bad grammar when written.
This is a transcription of the sermon. People speak differently than they write, and there are common colloquialisms in this transcript that sound good when spoken, and look like bad grammar when written.
James Greer: 00:03 I've got to preach this whole year, of course, it's just the second week. No, but really and truly, I think it has some practical application that can not only change your marriage, but change every single area of your life. I can tell you today that God definitely He has a word for you and that he has some application, if you'll stay tuned and stay awake.
James Greer: 00:20 I want you to know that, that we have two verses that we've learned: Matthew 6:33, seek ye first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things will be added unto you, and Psalms 127:1 says, unless the lord builds the house, they labor in vain. So what we're really learning is how to apply those principles. The number one principle we learn is that God has to be our source, and that people can be the conduit of God, but what has happened over the years without being taught, without knowing....
James Greer: 00:49 We look to our mate, we look to our job, and we look to somebody else to be the source. When you start looking to your mate to be the source, to meet every single need in your life, you look to your job, you ended up living an unfulfilled expectations in your life. Because, who's got to be the source of meeting every single need in your life? God. And we're simply conduits that God uses, and if you're not careful, you start thinking that you're looking to that person who is only a conduit. When you really realize that you can go to God for every single need you'll ever have in your life, He is the source. You are simply the conduit. Man. I love this week. I don't know if ya'll saw it. We had Cecil and [inaudible] on Facebook this week. It was fantastic. If you didn't see it, you need to go back and see it, look at it and like it.
James Greer: 01:34 What they said about their marriage is, "We still go through problems, even though we come to church and God's changed our life. But, we've learned to respond differently in our problems."
James Greer: 01:40 Now, they didn't know it, but that's the key, the second key to having a Godly marriage. What we want to do is have not only a kingdom marriage, we want to make marriages what? Great again. So what I do, I don't want you to miss the miracles available to every single marriage. But I want you to know C3 was fantastic. You went to sleep. If you want to go next year when you go out you can sign up now and go ahead and make arrangements for it. Okay, well you ready? Wrong expectations can cause you to miss the miracles of God in your marriage and your life. See we're going to have times that we all have unmet expectations, but the key to the miracle is learning to respond correctly.
James Greer: 02:19 Two Keys, listen that we're going to go away with two weeks. Number One: God has to be our source to meet every need in our life. Not our mate, not our job, not anything else. We're just conduits, use of God. Now I'm might meet my wife's needs, but I'm not the source. God's the source. She might meet my needs, but she's just a conduit that God used. Okay, so there's number one.
James Greer: 02:41 Number two: If you really want to radically change your life, if you want to learn to experience the miracles of God, all of a sudden when you have unmet expectations, what we usually do with unmet expectations, is brings in an offense, and when we have an offense we have to learn to respond correctly to the offense. You know something? God has a great sense of humor. It seems like every time I'm going to preach on something, God wants to put me through it.
James Greer: 03:02 Man, we're having this great time at C3. We have 100 people and we're shuffling around and they'd been so kind to us. They let us go in first and get a seat because there's thousands of people and they did it the first time. The second or third time though they sent us upstairs, sent us downstairs and started shuffling us around, and I'm starting to get unmet expectations. In fact, I think John Goodman walked in and he put his hands kind of on my shoulder and he said, "Breathe in, breathe out."
James Greer: 03:29 Now I breathed in, but I was scared what I was going to say when I breathed out. Amen? And then I almost started laughing. I said, "God, you must have a sense of humor because I'm fixing to respond not correctly to unmet expectations, and then I'm going to preach on it Sunday." Amen?
James Greer: 03:42 But I want you to know how bad I want the Holy Spirit to convict you. One of the miracles in your life and in your marriage is we have to learn to respond correctly to unmet expectations. Amen? So let me show you about somebody in 2 Kings 5:1, and Naaman, he almost missed the miracle life. Commander of the Army of the King of Israel, he was a great and honorable man in the eyes of this master because him, the Lord had given victories to Syria. He was also a mighty man of valor, but he had leprosy. This is like say, listen, this guy, he had everything going for him. He had power, he had prestige, he had money, and he had servants. But there was a problem in his life. He had leprosy. And let me tell you, I don't care how powerful you are, I don't care how good you got it, I don't care how bad you got it, every one of us have problems that only God can meet that need. Look how He did it.
James Greer: 04:33 And the Syrians they had gone in, had a raid, and they brought back captive a young girl from the land of Israel. She wanted to wait on Naaman's wife. They went into Israel, they took these young girl captive and made her a slave to wait on this man's wife. But she said to her mistress, if only my master was with the prophet who is in Sumeria, he would be healed of leprosy. I love it because see, it's easy to miss our purpose when we have a problem. I have a problem. I just want God to remove the problem. See, but what God did to her, God gave her a purpose for the problem, but God (you ready?), did not remove the problem.
James Greer: 05:15 See, when I have a problem, the first thing I want God to do is just move it out of my way. I don't want to have to go through it, but with her see, when she found her purpose for the problem, she had a new power and presence of God. When you find your purpose for your problem, it'll radically change your problem. Look at this. Then Naaman, he went and told the master saying it’s this girl who was from the land of Israel. Important insight: Naaman had leprosy, but God already had a plan to answer his problem. Do you understand? If you came today, I don't care if it's a marriage problem, I don't care if it’s a financial problem, and you got a problem I want you to know something today. Guess what? God already has the answer.
James Greer: 05:58 See, I don't know if it's your personal, I don't know if it’s your marriage, but I want you to know that God does. It's really not simply unmet expectations; It's responding wrong to unmet expectations that calls us the myth, the miracle and power of God.
James Greer: 06:13 Now let me tell you that young girl, if I was her, and you had gone to Israel and you take me captive, I would say man that was not my plans, God. I want to get married one day. I want to have kids one day. I want to be free. I want to live where I want. Now here she is. She'd been taking captive and she's a slave and she's taken her problems. She found her purpose. Now she's helping her master get well.
James Greer: 06:37 Some of y'all on the job are having problems. You're ready? And you say Brother James you just don't understand. I'm having problems with my boss on the job. If anybody was on a job that probably had a problem, it could have been her. Her boss is one that took her into slavery, and her boss was making her be a servant to his wife. But listen, so if you go on your job and you just look, and you say, okay, now I'm have an unmet expectations. They're talking to me in the ways they shouldn't. They're not paying me what they should have. You'll probably miss the miracle on the job.
James Greer: 07:08 Instead, she went on her job and she found God's purpose for the problem. Let me tell you a different way. He didn't remove the problem, did He? No, he didn't, but He gave her a purpose. Can I tell you the difference in purpose when you're having a problem? No one knew there was a flood coming. Everybody was making fun of him because he had a purpose. He built an ark and saved his family. Daniel went through fire and trials. They put him in the lion's den. He fell asleep while he was in the lion's den. You know why? Because Daniel said, hey, I got a problem but God has a greater purpose in my life.
James Greer: 07:43 You see when David had to come against Goliath, Goliath is one of the biggest problems you could ever face in your life. Amen? They said he was nine foot something and David said, hey, you think it's a problem, but God has a purpose, and God's purpose during my problem was to bring honor and glory to God. And when he ran down, he took that slingshot and took that stone, put it in the head of that giant, and he fell down and he cut his head off. He said, listen, I had a problem, but I found God's purpose and I found God's power and I have God's presence. Amen? So whatever your problem is right now, start saying, God, what is the purpose of my problem? Amen, Brother James, I can do that.
James Greer: 08:18 The King he went and told the King of Syria and the King of Syria said go now and I'm going to send the letter to the king of Israel. So he departed, and he took with him 10 talents of silver, 6,000 shillings of gold and 10 changes of clothes. See Naaman, he went with his horses and his chariots and he stood at the door of Elisha. Guess what? This server girl said I'm telling you, if you'll find this prophet, this prophet can heal you of leprosy. And so this Naaman, this mighty man of valor is a warrior that brought all kinds of honors to the king. And the king said, listen I'm going to send money, I'm going to send silver, and I want you to go. And here they are all the chariots, all the army, and they're all sitting there. They finally got to the Prophet's house. I love it. And Elisha sent his messenger to Now, Elijah sent a messenger to......
James Greer: 09:06 He was standing at the door and he didn't say I'll just send you an email. He said listen, and he sent a messenger and said, just go wash in the Jordan seven times and all your flesh will be restored. Seven times is the number for completion, perfection [unintelligible] and restored you and you shall be clean. Naaman came to the man of God as he was told and God said, hey, he can bring healing. But what do you think happened to him? Man they should go outside. [unintelligible] she said let's all celebrate. We found the man of God. He told me what to do. Let's rock the house. Amen? Guess what he did? He gets ticked off at him. He told him what to do and he gets ticked. Instead of go and doing it, he gets ticked. I understand that.
James Greer: 09:48 I used to do some counseling and when they'd come to me I thought they wanted to know the truth. I don't know if JD is here, but if he is he needs to raise his hand. JD? If you've got marriage problems, there is the man to go see. Amen? Usually if they come see me, they don't come back to church. After a while I figured out I don't have the gift of counseling. I mean if they'd come to me I said, man, I think it what it is. I tell them what it is. I mean, you know quit being so selfish, quit talking to each other, quit being so ugly. It's not all about you. You're just being so selfish. They don't want to come back.
James Greer: 10:26 And here he gave him the answer to the problem and (stay with me) Naaman became offended and he allowed his offense the blind him to the miracle God. Y'all understand that? So when you get offended, when you respond, wrong, you missed the miracle of God.
James Greer: 10:48 Don't you understand? If you learn two things, that God is your source; your mate and everybody else, is just a conduit that comes from God. You are going to get offended if you're married. Amen? The rest you are just wimps because you won't tell the truth. I'm offended. You're offended. We're all offended. Amen? Pako, isn't that right? Hey we get offended sometimes, right? Even though you're still honeymooning, you still have offense, and it's not the offense, it's what you do with it. If you're not careful, you get blinded to it like I almost did here at bringing 100 people to Church and here I'm fixing to get offended. I'm fixing to say something I shouldn't say, and then I went from there and I finally sat down and I started laughing. I said, "Way to go God." You're the man. I messed up again, but I'm learning.
James Greer: 11:30 I'm trying to help you to change your marriage. Because see what he did Naaman went there. He told him what to do. Instead of going and doing what he said, he got ticked off and he almost missed out on the miracle of God. And God's trying to do miracles in marriages every single time, and what do you do? Look, you ready? But Naaman became angry and went his way. Oh, come on.
James Greer: 11:51 Have you ever been in an argument with your wife? And all the men said Amen. And all the women said Amen. And all the women said? And all the men said? Hmmm, I think the men are tracking better.
James Greer: 12:13 Anyway, so what he did is he got furious and he went his way. Have you ever been in an argument with your wife, you know, and so you just go your way? You know, there's the blowups and there's the shut ups. I'm the blow up. You know if I get fired up, I want to talk, talk, talk. Some of them are just shut up. Then you say, honey is there anything.... Nope. Where are you going? To bed. You're not coming? What's wrong? Nothing. Well that helps, amen? Although I just knew you were going to talk to me like that, you shouldn't ever scream at me; you shouldn't ever holler at me, blah, blah, blah. So one's blowing up and one's shutting up, and that really misses the miracle and power of God. The miracle and power of God is saying, hey, let's respond correctly and let God do a miracle in our marriage and every relationship we have.
James Greer: 13:03 He allowed it to blind him. Verse 11: He became furious and he went his own way and he said to himself (I've been talking to y'all about talking to yourself too much). I talk to myself, you talk to yourself, we all talk to ourselves. The problem is, listen, when you talk to yourself, listen, you've got more influence on your life than anybody. When you talk to yourself, you have more influence in your life than your mate. When you talk to yourself, you've got more influence in your life than I do. But the problem is when you talk to yourself, you better talk yourself into faith and not out of faith. When people talk to themselves, they talk themselves into fear, not out of fear.
James Greer: 13:37 Listen, Naaman had almost talk himself out of the miracle instead of into the miracle, because the way he was talking to himself. You got it? So he talked to himself. He said, he will surely come out. This is the way he talked to himself. He surely would come out to me knowing who I am. He stands for more, only in the name of the Lord is going to wave his hands over all these people, and I'm going to be healed. He said, I don't want him just to go tell me what to do. I want him to come out, hold his hands up, praise God. Wave his hands over me and I'll be healed.
James Greer: 14:03 He decided not to do that. What's the problem here? Naaman expected Elisha to answer and respond in one way, and when he didn't he got offended. And when he got offended, he got blinded to the miracle. You know what happens everyday men and women? We do the same thing. We get upset at what our mate said and did because we expected them to do something or say something one way and they didn't. We get blinded to the miracle God wants to do in our relationship.
James Greer: 14:37 You say, well brother James, I'm not even married. Well, maybe you want to get married.
James Greer: 14:46 And if you're not careful, you'll be blinded to what God's wanting to do in your life.
James Greer: 14:50 But maybe you're on the job and you say, "Well I'm married, but I'm so ticked off at my job. I'm ready to quit. I'm ready to retire."
James Greer: 14:55 You might be right where God wants you. He might want to take the problem on your job and give you a purpose, and your purpose is to bring honor and glory to the job. Wouldn't it be great if some of the people on your job started getting saved because you invite them to church? Amen? See, that's really what happens when you start looking to God as your only source and that you're a conduit from God. And even though you're offended, you respond correctly to the offense, God begins to do a miracle in your life. I can't even imagine how many miracles I've missed because of the way I responded incorrectly in my life. Not only me, but you.
James Greer: 15:33 And then he started naming. He started saying, well, you know, there's Aram and Pharaoh at the rivers and Damascus, there's better water. They're all better waters in Israel. He said man we've got some nice rivers over where I'm at. I mean, they're better, they're cleaner, they look good, and you want me to go here? You want me to go to the River of Israel? Could I not just wash in them and be clean? So he turned any he went his way and now he's enraged. He went from anger to rage. See, your way is not better than God's way no matter what you think. See, many Christians miss a miracle because they expected God to answer one way he didn't. God wanted to give you the answer. You just want to obey it.
James Greer: 16:09 Just like God could help the man with leprosy, God can help you with whatever problem you have. In fact, Naaman the story is not so much about leprosy as it is the power of God to radically change your life even in the midst of problems.
James Greer: 16:25 His servant came to him and he spoke to him. He said, oh my father is a Prophet who told you to do something great. Would you not have done it? How much more than when he just says, go and wash and be cleaned?
James Greer: 16:40 You ready? Many people miss the miracles because you're looking for something great. You're coming to church even, and you say I'm just missing something and God is speaking to you every single Sunday. He wants you to apply what you're getting every single Sunday. But you're looking for Him to speak to you audibly. He's never spoken to me. If he did, I'd be [inaudible]. He's never written anything on the wall. He doesn't even write my messages for me. I have to still study and do it. I've asked him to do it. You're missing the little things
James Greer: 17:05 He said, if you'd asked me to do something great, and if something great would have happened, I'd change. You're missing the little things. Did you know the Song of Solomon says that the little foxes spoil the vine? Do you know in most marriages it started out just the little things? And then some other little things, and you didn't deal with the little things and it became a big thing and then you just destroyed your marriage? Instead of learning to obey God, listen in the little things.
James Greer: 17:34 What are the little things? Quit looking to your wife to be the source of God. She can't meet all your needs. Quit looking to your husband to be the source of meeting all your needs. Listen, when you understand God's the ultimate source, that you're God's conduit, your wife or husband doesn't meet your needs, you can still say God will meet every need in my life because I'm not looking to them for the source. They're the conduit that God uses.
James Greer: 18:01 When you go on your job, some of y'all have gone your job so long you have been looking to your boss, you've been looking to those people. You're looking to them for the source to meet every simple need in your life, and God sometimes will take that away from us where we have to look to Him as a source to meeting every need, not somebody else and that something else.
James Greer: 18:20 So he went down. You Ready? This is it. Stay with me. Verse 14. So he went down and he dipped seven times in the Jordan. How many times they he dip? Seven. If he had dipped six times, do you think he would have been healed? Nope. If he had it done it five times, nope. How many times did God tell him to do it? The answer is seven. Seven is completion. This time he's doing what God said. He's doing it the way God said it. He dipped seven times. You know what happened to his flesh? His flesh was restored like the flesh of a small child and he was healed. He did what God told him to do.
James Greer: 18:55 Are you willing to obey God and bring healing to your marriage? Next time you're offended, listen, next time you're offended - why are you offended? Unmet expectations, right? Unmet expectations offense, handled incorrectly, blinded to the miracle of God. This is what'll happen. Every one of y'all that's saved, Holy Spirit will remind you just like he did me in Dallas. I'm having unmet expectations. I feel like they offended me. And what am I going to do with it? Well, sometimes I responded wrong. The difference is the whole time I responded wrong, I was thinking about what I was gonna preach. Listen, you know what I'm going to do now when I have unmet expectations and I feel offense coming? I'm going to turn around and say man, God, I'm looking for the miracle. Every time. I'm going to say God I'm looking for the miracle. When I mess up and do something or say something, I'm gonna say, "God, I'm sorry. Forgive me." Or to my wife I'm gonna say, "forgive me", and I'm gonna look for the miracle. I'm absolutely ashamed of probably how many miracles I missed in my marriage and in my life because I've let unmet expectations cause me to be offended and blinded to the truth of what God wanted to do in my life.
James Greer: 20:05 Well, he returned. After that, he returned to the man of God and he came. He stood before him and he said, look, (you ready?) indeed now I know there is no God in all the earth except in Israel. Now, therefore, please take this gift from my servant. Okay, here's Naaman, he brought all his money, he's trying to give it to the server and Elisha, but he said, as the Lord lives before whom I stand, I will receive nothing. And he urged him to take it, but he refused to take it.
James Greer: 20:36 Listen to this. Y'all ready? You can't buy salvation. You can't buy freedom. See, when you come to the cross of Jesus Christ, you're saved by grace through faith plus nothing. Too many people are trying to work their way to Heaven, too many people are trying to buy their way to Heaven and the way to Heaven has already been paid. Jesus Christ came to the cross. He died. He rose again, and you can't buy it. Amen? You can't buy freedom. You can't buy peace. It only comes from obeying God. He said he did it seven times. Seven times is the type of completion. When Jesus Christ went to the cross and He died and He rose again. It was complete. It was over.
James Greer: 21:05 You already have what you need. He lives in you now. You just have to learn to live it and you have to learn a [inaudible]. You ready? Naaman now understood the purpose of his problem for the first time.
James Greer: 21:20 See, you had two people that had problems. The servant girl had a problem. She had been taken a slave. If I was a slave I would be saying, oh God just remove me. Let me go back home. Will you set me free? It's not about this young girl. She's the real hero of the whole story (for everybody that doesn't know). You know why she's the hero? Because God didn't remove the problem in her life. God gave her a greater purpose in her life. Her purpose was to bring honor and glory to God, and her purpose was to tell her master about how to find Jesus Christ. And when he found Jesus Christ, when he was healed, he came back and told him, there is no God, no other God.
James Greer: 21:53 Can you imagine when he came home? Can you imagine when he came home and he saw that servant girl? He's going praise God, your God is the God of Gods. Now instead of talking about how bad his servant is, he's talking about the same God she is. So he took it and turned it around. Naaman had a problem that he didn't know Jesus Christ as his personal savior. Naaman had a problem that he was trying to find his freedom in its completeness in his work and what he did and where he went. But see he even went to [inaudible].
James Greer: 22:17 The earthly king, liked him, but he needed to see the King of Kings was the only one that could heal him. And you got some problems. You're probably go to the wrong person, the wrong boss, and doing the wrong thing. Why don't you go to the King of Kings? He's got the only answer for you.
James Greer: 22:32 Two problems. Two purposes. Jesus met every single one of them and then Naaman said to Him then what? Then he said to Naaman, go in peace, and he departed. I've got to tell you something. There's nothing that brings peace like the power and presence of God in your life.
James Greer: 22:47 We'll get ready to close here in a minute, but I'm going to give you four ways that I believe any individual can begin to experience miracles in their life. Whether you're married or not, you ready? Number one, you've got to admit you've got a problem. Until you admit you have a problem, you're not going to get any better.
James Greer: 23:07 Most people, especially married people, they don't admit they have a problem because they'd been offended and they responded incorrectly, so they're blinded. The problem is you. Too many people want to blame their mate, their boss, their pastor. No, no, I'm telling you to examine your own life. Say, God, what is the problem in my life? Is it my marriage? Is it my finances? Is it my job? Every one of us have a problem somewhere. Ask God, say God what is the problem? And then admit you have a problem. You know what you've got to do [inaudible]? Believe God already has the answer problem. Isn't that good? So you don't admit the problem and then when you admit the problem, you believe God's got the answer to the problem. And then when God gives you the answer to the problem, you obey Him. That's cool. That's good.
James Greer: 23:49 Admit you've got a problem. Believe God has the answer to the problem. Believe God can take your problem and give you a new purpose in the problem. Don't let offenses and unmet expectation cause you to miss the miracle in your life. Let God give you purpose to your problems and learn to listen to God and obey him.
James Greer: 24:03 Okay, here we go. Getting ready to close. Get ready to close. Why would you come to church? Listen, real good. You know why I first started coming to church? Because I was having problems. I was having problems and I thought my daughter Shannon (the oldest one) should be in church. I said, "Honey, we're having problems but she needs to be in church."
James Greer: 24:32 I got in church and I found that I was the one that needed to be there more than she did. And it had come to the point that I admitted I had a problem. I had a spiritual problem because I had been baptized when I was young, but I wasn't saved. I didn't get any better, I got worse. I had a marriage problem because I wanted to be the boss. I had a father problem because I didn't have one following my Father in Heaven. The first thing I had to do is come to say, "God, I've got a problem and the problem is me."
James Greer: 25:03 It can be a different problem. It can be a finance problem, personal problem, or a family problem. You're not gonna get any better until you admit the problem. You can't do it on your own.
James Greer: 25:15 Number two, I tried that. You've got to come and say, I'm not the source. I don't have the strength to do it. My mate isn't the source, my boss isn't the source anymore. God you've got to be the only source to meet every single need in my life. That gives me a new freedom like I never had in my life. But to do that, you've gotta make sure you have Christ in you. The hope of glory. If there's never been a time, not that you were baptized, not that you ever joined the church. Is there ever been a time you've been born a second time? That you knew you had sinned and today you said you believe that Jesus Christ died, and He rose from the grave and you want to come and you want to invite him into your heart? You've got to know you have a problem.
James Greer: 25:53 You got to believe that Jesus Christ is the answer to the problem and He always has the answer, and you got to be willing to obey Him. Do you know if you do those things and you respond correctly this morning, you could go back and participate in the miracles of God? He's not a [unintelligible] person, but what He did to Naaman, it wasn't all about leprosy. It was all about trying to get me and you a physical picture of spiritual application that He wants to work in every one of our lives. Journey Church is the greatest church. I mean, I'm telling you, I saw churches from all over the world this week. There's no place I'd rather be than right here, but I've learned something more the last few months than I've ever learned in my life. God's bringing me on a journey. It's the greatest movement journey I've ever been on in my life.
James Greer: 26:39 I don't want to go alone. I know when God speaks to me like He spoke to me the last two weeks that it's not just for me. Yeah. I have to learn the lessons. I have to learn to apply them, but so do you. I want you to go with me so bad. I don't want you to go home the same way that you came today. I don't want you to be like Naaman and he's just got ticked off because of what the man of God said and he almost missed out on the miracle.
James Greer: 27:10 So, I want you to stand and I want to pray for you. I want to give you an opportunity to respond correctly to whatever's going on in your life. Father, thank you for Jesus Christ who is the source of everything in my life. God, I pray for every person here today, every person that's in our church or by watching online everybody. I pray, God, we ask you, what is the problem? In just a minute we're willing to admit the problem. God, I believe that you have the answer to the problem. And God, I'm willing to obey whatever it is you say. You've began to experience the miracles of God in your life. God, that's what I want for our church. Whether it's somebody that's been visited and they know today's the day that God wants them to join. Maybe if somebody has never been biblically publicly baptized, maybe it's a financial, marriage or children issue. Whatever the problem is today might be [unintelligible], that you're gonna say, God, here's my problem. I believe you've got the answer and I'm willing to obey God more than anything else. I want to experience the miracles of God in my life today. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
Recorded in Pineville, Louisiana.
James Greer: 00:20 I want you to know that, that we have two verses that we've learned: Matthew 6:33, seek ye first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things will be added unto you, and Psalms 127:1 says, unless the lord builds the house, they labor in vain. So what we're really learning is how to apply those principles. The number one principle we learn is that God has to be our source, and that people can be the conduit of God, but what has happened over the years without being taught, without knowing....
James Greer: 00:49 We look to our mate, we look to our job, and we look to somebody else to be the source. When you start looking to your mate to be the source, to meet every single need in your life, you look to your job, you ended up living an unfulfilled expectations in your life. Because, who's got to be the source of meeting every single need in your life? God. And we're simply conduits that God uses, and if you're not careful, you start thinking that you're looking to that person who is only a conduit. When you really realize that you can go to God for every single need you'll ever have in your life, He is the source. You are simply the conduit. Man. I love this week. I don't know if ya'll saw it. We had Cecil and [inaudible] on Facebook this week. It was fantastic. If you didn't see it, you need to go back and see it, look at it and like it.
James Greer: 01:34 What they said about their marriage is, "We still go through problems, even though we come to church and God's changed our life. But, we've learned to respond differently in our problems."
James Greer: 01:40 Now, they didn't know it, but that's the key, the second key to having a Godly marriage. What we want to do is have not only a kingdom marriage, we want to make marriages what? Great again. So what I do, I don't want you to miss the miracles available to every single marriage. But I want you to know C3 was fantastic. You went to sleep. If you want to go next year when you go out you can sign up now and go ahead and make arrangements for it. Okay, well you ready? Wrong expectations can cause you to miss the miracles of God in your marriage and your life. See we're going to have times that we all have unmet expectations, but the key to the miracle is learning to respond correctly.
James Greer: 02:19 Two Keys, listen that we're going to go away with two weeks. Number One: God has to be our source to meet every need in our life. Not our mate, not our job, not anything else. We're just conduits, use of God. Now I'm might meet my wife's needs, but I'm not the source. God's the source. She might meet my needs, but she's just a conduit that God used. Okay, so there's number one.
James Greer: 02:41 Number two: If you really want to radically change your life, if you want to learn to experience the miracles of God, all of a sudden when you have unmet expectations, what we usually do with unmet expectations, is brings in an offense, and when we have an offense we have to learn to respond correctly to the offense. You know something? God has a great sense of humor. It seems like every time I'm going to preach on something, God wants to put me through it.
James Greer: 03:02 Man, we're having this great time at C3. We have 100 people and we're shuffling around and they'd been so kind to us. They let us go in first and get a seat because there's thousands of people and they did it the first time. The second or third time though they sent us upstairs, sent us downstairs and started shuffling us around, and I'm starting to get unmet expectations. In fact, I think John Goodman walked in and he put his hands kind of on my shoulder and he said, "Breathe in, breathe out."
James Greer: 03:29 Now I breathed in, but I was scared what I was going to say when I breathed out. Amen? And then I almost started laughing. I said, "God, you must have a sense of humor because I'm fixing to respond not correctly to unmet expectations, and then I'm going to preach on it Sunday." Amen?
James Greer: 03:42 But I want you to know how bad I want the Holy Spirit to convict you. One of the miracles in your life and in your marriage is we have to learn to respond correctly to unmet expectations. Amen? So let me show you about somebody in 2 Kings 5:1, and Naaman, he almost missed the miracle life. Commander of the Army of the King of Israel, he was a great and honorable man in the eyes of this master because him, the Lord had given victories to Syria. He was also a mighty man of valor, but he had leprosy. This is like say, listen, this guy, he had everything going for him. He had power, he had prestige, he had money, and he had servants. But there was a problem in his life. He had leprosy. And let me tell you, I don't care how powerful you are, I don't care how good you got it, I don't care how bad you got it, every one of us have problems that only God can meet that need. Look how He did it.
James Greer: 04:33 And the Syrians they had gone in, had a raid, and they brought back captive a young girl from the land of Israel. She wanted to wait on Naaman's wife. They went into Israel, they took these young girl captive and made her a slave to wait on this man's wife. But she said to her mistress, if only my master was with the prophet who is in Sumeria, he would be healed of leprosy. I love it because see, it's easy to miss our purpose when we have a problem. I have a problem. I just want God to remove the problem. See, but what God did to her, God gave her a purpose for the problem, but God (you ready?), did not remove the problem.
James Greer: 05:15 See, when I have a problem, the first thing I want God to do is just move it out of my way. I don't want to have to go through it, but with her see, when she found her purpose for the problem, she had a new power and presence of God. When you find your purpose for your problem, it'll radically change your problem. Look at this. Then Naaman, he went and told the master saying it’s this girl who was from the land of Israel. Important insight: Naaman had leprosy, but God already had a plan to answer his problem. Do you understand? If you came today, I don't care if it's a marriage problem, I don't care if it’s a financial problem, and you got a problem I want you to know something today. Guess what? God already has the answer.
James Greer: 05:58 See, I don't know if it's your personal, I don't know if it’s your marriage, but I want you to know that God does. It's really not simply unmet expectations; It's responding wrong to unmet expectations that calls us the myth, the miracle and power of God.
James Greer: 06:13 Now let me tell you that young girl, if I was her, and you had gone to Israel and you take me captive, I would say man that was not my plans, God. I want to get married one day. I want to have kids one day. I want to be free. I want to live where I want. Now here she is. She'd been taking captive and she's a slave and she's taken her problems. She found her purpose. Now she's helping her master get well.
James Greer: 06:37 Some of y'all on the job are having problems. You're ready? And you say Brother James you just don't understand. I'm having problems with my boss on the job. If anybody was on a job that probably had a problem, it could have been her. Her boss is one that took her into slavery, and her boss was making her be a servant to his wife. But listen, so if you go on your job and you just look, and you say, okay, now I'm have an unmet expectations. They're talking to me in the ways they shouldn't. They're not paying me what they should have. You'll probably miss the miracle on the job.
James Greer: 07:08 Instead, she went on her job and she found God's purpose for the problem. Let me tell you a different way. He didn't remove the problem, did He? No, he didn't, but He gave her a purpose. Can I tell you the difference in purpose when you're having a problem? No one knew there was a flood coming. Everybody was making fun of him because he had a purpose. He built an ark and saved his family. Daniel went through fire and trials. They put him in the lion's den. He fell asleep while he was in the lion's den. You know why? Because Daniel said, hey, I got a problem but God has a greater purpose in my life.
James Greer: 07:43 You see when David had to come against Goliath, Goliath is one of the biggest problems you could ever face in your life. Amen? They said he was nine foot something and David said, hey, you think it's a problem, but God has a purpose, and God's purpose during my problem was to bring honor and glory to God. And when he ran down, he took that slingshot and took that stone, put it in the head of that giant, and he fell down and he cut his head off. He said, listen, I had a problem, but I found God's purpose and I found God's power and I have God's presence. Amen? So whatever your problem is right now, start saying, God, what is the purpose of my problem? Amen, Brother James, I can do that.
James Greer: 08:18 The King he went and told the King of Syria and the King of Syria said go now and I'm going to send the letter to the king of Israel. So he departed, and he took with him 10 talents of silver, 6,000 shillings of gold and 10 changes of clothes. See Naaman, he went with his horses and his chariots and he stood at the door of Elisha. Guess what? This server girl said I'm telling you, if you'll find this prophet, this prophet can heal you of leprosy. And so this Naaman, this mighty man of valor is a warrior that brought all kinds of honors to the king. And the king said, listen I'm going to send money, I'm going to send silver, and I want you to go. And here they are all the chariots, all the army, and they're all sitting there. They finally got to the Prophet's house. I love it. And Elisha sent his messenger to Now, Elijah sent a messenger to......
James Greer: 09:06 He was standing at the door and he didn't say I'll just send you an email. He said listen, and he sent a messenger and said, just go wash in the Jordan seven times and all your flesh will be restored. Seven times is the number for completion, perfection [unintelligible] and restored you and you shall be clean. Naaman came to the man of God as he was told and God said, hey, he can bring healing. But what do you think happened to him? Man they should go outside. [unintelligible] she said let's all celebrate. We found the man of God. He told me what to do. Let's rock the house. Amen? Guess what he did? He gets ticked off at him. He told him what to do and he gets ticked. Instead of go and doing it, he gets ticked. I understand that.
James Greer: 09:48 I used to do some counseling and when they'd come to me I thought they wanted to know the truth. I don't know if JD is here, but if he is he needs to raise his hand. JD? If you've got marriage problems, there is the man to go see. Amen? Usually if they come see me, they don't come back to church. After a while I figured out I don't have the gift of counseling. I mean if they'd come to me I said, man, I think it what it is. I tell them what it is. I mean, you know quit being so selfish, quit talking to each other, quit being so ugly. It's not all about you. You're just being so selfish. They don't want to come back.
James Greer: 10:26 And here he gave him the answer to the problem and (stay with me) Naaman became offended and he allowed his offense the blind him to the miracle God. Y'all understand that? So when you get offended, when you respond, wrong, you missed the miracle of God.
James Greer: 10:48 Don't you understand? If you learn two things, that God is your source; your mate and everybody else, is just a conduit that comes from God. You are going to get offended if you're married. Amen? The rest you are just wimps because you won't tell the truth. I'm offended. You're offended. We're all offended. Amen? Pako, isn't that right? Hey we get offended sometimes, right? Even though you're still honeymooning, you still have offense, and it's not the offense, it's what you do with it. If you're not careful, you get blinded to it like I almost did here at bringing 100 people to Church and here I'm fixing to get offended. I'm fixing to say something I shouldn't say, and then I went from there and I finally sat down and I started laughing. I said, "Way to go God." You're the man. I messed up again, but I'm learning.
James Greer: 11:30 I'm trying to help you to change your marriage. Because see what he did Naaman went there. He told him what to do. Instead of going and doing what he said, he got ticked off and he almost missed out on the miracle of God. And God's trying to do miracles in marriages every single time, and what do you do? Look, you ready? But Naaman became angry and went his way. Oh, come on.
James Greer: 11:51 Have you ever been in an argument with your wife? And all the men said Amen. And all the women said Amen. And all the women said? And all the men said? Hmmm, I think the men are tracking better.
James Greer: 12:13 Anyway, so what he did is he got furious and he went his way. Have you ever been in an argument with your wife, you know, and so you just go your way? You know, there's the blowups and there's the shut ups. I'm the blow up. You know if I get fired up, I want to talk, talk, talk. Some of them are just shut up. Then you say, honey is there anything.... Nope. Where are you going? To bed. You're not coming? What's wrong? Nothing. Well that helps, amen? Although I just knew you were going to talk to me like that, you shouldn't ever scream at me; you shouldn't ever holler at me, blah, blah, blah. So one's blowing up and one's shutting up, and that really misses the miracle and power of God. The miracle and power of God is saying, hey, let's respond correctly and let God do a miracle in our marriage and every relationship we have.
James Greer: 13:03 He allowed it to blind him. Verse 11: He became furious and he went his own way and he said to himself (I've been talking to y'all about talking to yourself too much). I talk to myself, you talk to yourself, we all talk to ourselves. The problem is, listen, when you talk to yourself, listen, you've got more influence on your life than anybody. When you talk to yourself, you have more influence in your life than your mate. When you talk to yourself, you've got more influence in your life than I do. But the problem is when you talk to yourself, you better talk yourself into faith and not out of faith. When people talk to themselves, they talk themselves into fear, not out of fear.
James Greer: 13:37 Listen, Naaman had almost talk himself out of the miracle instead of into the miracle, because the way he was talking to himself. You got it? So he talked to himself. He said, he will surely come out. This is the way he talked to himself. He surely would come out to me knowing who I am. He stands for more, only in the name of the Lord is going to wave his hands over all these people, and I'm going to be healed. He said, I don't want him just to go tell me what to do. I want him to come out, hold his hands up, praise God. Wave his hands over me and I'll be healed.
James Greer: 14:03 He decided not to do that. What's the problem here? Naaman expected Elisha to answer and respond in one way, and when he didn't he got offended. And when he got offended, he got blinded to the miracle. You know what happens everyday men and women? We do the same thing. We get upset at what our mate said and did because we expected them to do something or say something one way and they didn't. We get blinded to the miracle God wants to do in our relationship.
James Greer: 14:37 You say, well brother James, I'm not even married. Well, maybe you want to get married.
James Greer: 14:46 And if you're not careful, you'll be blinded to what God's wanting to do in your life.
James Greer: 14:50 But maybe you're on the job and you say, "Well I'm married, but I'm so ticked off at my job. I'm ready to quit. I'm ready to retire."
James Greer: 14:55 You might be right where God wants you. He might want to take the problem on your job and give you a purpose, and your purpose is to bring honor and glory to the job. Wouldn't it be great if some of the people on your job started getting saved because you invite them to church? Amen? See, that's really what happens when you start looking to God as your only source and that you're a conduit from God. And even though you're offended, you respond correctly to the offense, God begins to do a miracle in your life. I can't even imagine how many miracles I've missed because of the way I responded incorrectly in my life. Not only me, but you.
James Greer: 15:33 And then he started naming. He started saying, well, you know, there's Aram and Pharaoh at the rivers and Damascus, there's better water. They're all better waters in Israel. He said man we've got some nice rivers over where I'm at. I mean, they're better, they're cleaner, they look good, and you want me to go here? You want me to go to the River of Israel? Could I not just wash in them and be clean? So he turned any he went his way and now he's enraged. He went from anger to rage. See, your way is not better than God's way no matter what you think. See, many Christians miss a miracle because they expected God to answer one way he didn't. God wanted to give you the answer. You just want to obey it.
James Greer: 16:09 Just like God could help the man with leprosy, God can help you with whatever problem you have. In fact, Naaman the story is not so much about leprosy as it is the power of God to radically change your life even in the midst of problems.
James Greer: 16:25 His servant came to him and he spoke to him. He said, oh my father is a Prophet who told you to do something great. Would you not have done it? How much more than when he just says, go and wash and be cleaned?
James Greer: 16:40 You ready? Many people miss the miracles because you're looking for something great. You're coming to church even, and you say I'm just missing something and God is speaking to you every single Sunday. He wants you to apply what you're getting every single Sunday. But you're looking for Him to speak to you audibly. He's never spoken to me. If he did, I'd be [inaudible]. He's never written anything on the wall. He doesn't even write my messages for me. I have to still study and do it. I've asked him to do it. You're missing the little things
James Greer: 17:05 He said, if you'd asked me to do something great, and if something great would have happened, I'd change. You're missing the little things. Did you know the Song of Solomon says that the little foxes spoil the vine? Do you know in most marriages it started out just the little things? And then some other little things, and you didn't deal with the little things and it became a big thing and then you just destroyed your marriage? Instead of learning to obey God, listen in the little things.
James Greer: 17:34 What are the little things? Quit looking to your wife to be the source of God. She can't meet all your needs. Quit looking to your husband to be the source of meeting all your needs. Listen, when you understand God's the ultimate source, that you're God's conduit, your wife or husband doesn't meet your needs, you can still say God will meet every need in my life because I'm not looking to them for the source. They're the conduit that God uses.
James Greer: 18:01 When you go on your job, some of y'all have gone your job so long you have been looking to your boss, you've been looking to those people. You're looking to them for the source to meet every simple need in your life, and God sometimes will take that away from us where we have to look to Him as a source to meeting every need, not somebody else and that something else.
James Greer: 18:20 So he went down. You Ready? This is it. Stay with me. Verse 14. So he went down and he dipped seven times in the Jordan. How many times they he dip? Seven. If he had dipped six times, do you think he would have been healed? Nope. If he had it done it five times, nope. How many times did God tell him to do it? The answer is seven. Seven is completion. This time he's doing what God said. He's doing it the way God said it. He dipped seven times. You know what happened to his flesh? His flesh was restored like the flesh of a small child and he was healed. He did what God told him to do.
James Greer: 18:55 Are you willing to obey God and bring healing to your marriage? Next time you're offended, listen, next time you're offended - why are you offended? Unmet expectations, right? Unmet expectations offense, handled incorrectly, blinded to the miracle of God. This is what'll happen. Every one of y'all that's saved, Holy Spirit will remind you just like he did me in Dallas. I'm having unmet expectations. I feel like they offended me. And what am I going to do with it? Well, sometimes I responded wrong. The difference is the whole time I responded wrong, I was thinking about what I was gonna preach. Listen, you know what I'm going to do now when I have unmet expectations and I feel offense coming? I'm going to turn around and say man, God, I'm looking for the miracle. Every time. I'm going to say God I'm looking for the miracle. When I mess up and do something or say something, I'm gonna say, "God, I'm sorry. Forgive me." Or to my wife I'm gonna say, "forgive me", and I'm gonna look for the miracle. I'm absolutely ashamed of probably how many miracles I missed in my marriage and in my life because I've let unmet expectations cause me to be offended and blinded to the truth of what God wanted to do in my life.
James Greer: 20:05 Well, he returned. After that, he returned to the man of God and he came. He stood before him and he said, look, (you ready?) indeed now I know there is no God in all the earth except in Israel. Now, therefore, please take this gift from my servant. Okay, here's Naaman, he brought all his money, he's trying to give it to the server and Elisha, but he said, as the Lord lives before whom I stand, I will receive nothing. And he urged him to take it, but he refused to take it.
James Greer: 20:36 Listen to this. Y'all ready? You can't buy salvation. You can't buy freedom. See, when you come to the cross of Jesus Christ, you're saved by grace through faith plus nothing. Too many people are trying to work their way to Heaven, too many people are trying to buy their way to Heaven and the way to Heaven has already been paid. Jesus Christ came to the cross. He died. He rose again, and you can't buy it. Amen? You can't buy freedom. You can't buy peace. It only comes from obeying God. He said he did it seven times. Seven times is the type of completion. When Jesus Christ went to the cross and He died and He rose again. It was complete. It was over.
James Greer: 21:05 You already have what you need. He lives in you now. You just have to learn to live it and you have to learn a [inaudible]. You ready? Naaman now understood the purpose of his problem for the first time.
James Greer: 21:20 See, you had two people that had problems. The servant girl had a problem. She had been taken a slave. If I was a slave I would be saying, oh God just remove me. Let me go back home. Will you set me free? It's not about this young girl. She's the real hero of the whole story (for everybody that doesn't know). You know why she's the hero? Because God didn't remove the problem in her life. God gave her a greater purpose in her life. Her purpose was to bring honor and glory to God, and her purpose was to tell her master about how to find Jesus Christ. And when he found Jesus Christ, when he was healed, he came back and told him, there is no God, no other God.
James Greer: 21:53 Can you imagine when he came home? Can you imagine when he came home and he saw that servant girl? He's going praise God, your God is the God of Gods. Now instead of talking about how bad his servant is, he's talking about the same God she is. So he took it and turned it around. Naaman had a problem that he didn't know Jesus Christ as his personal savior. Naaman had a problem that he was trying to find his freedom in its completeness in his work and what he did and where he went. But see he even went to [inaudible].
James Greer: 22:17 The earthly king, liked him, but he needed to see the King of Kings was the only one that could heal him. And you got some problems. You're probably go to the wrong person, the wrong boss, and doing the wrong thing. Why don't you go to the King of Kings? He's got the only answer for you.
James Greer: 22:32 Two problems. Two purposes. Jesus met every single one of them and then Naaman said to Him then what? Then he said to Naaman, go in peace, and he departed. I've got to tell you something. There's nothing that brings peace like the power and presence of God in your life.
James Greer: 22:47 We'll get ready to close here in a minute, but I'm going to give you four ways that I believe any individual can begin to experience miracles in their life. Whether you're married or not, you ready? Number one, you've got to admit you've got a problem. Until you admit you have a problem, you're not going to get any better.
James Greer: 23:07 Most people, especially married people, they don't admit they have a problem because they'd been offended and they responded incorrectly, so they're blinded. The problem is you. Too many people want to blame their mate, their boss, their pastor. No, no, I'm telling you to examine your own life. Say, God, what is the problem in my life? Is it my marriage? Is it my finances? Is it my job? Every one of us have a problem somewhere. Ask God, say God what is the problem? And then admit you have a problem. You know what you've got to do [inaudible]? Believe God already has the answer problem. Isn't that good? So you don't admit the problem and then when you admit the problem, you believe God's got the answer to the problem. And then when God gives you the answer to the problem, you obey Him. That's cool. That's good.
James Greer: 23:49 Admit you've got a problem. Believe God has the answer to the problem. Believe God can take your problem and give you a new purpose in the problem. Don't let offenses and unmet expectation cause you to miss the miracle in your life. Let God give you purpose to your problems and learn to listen to God and obey him.
James Greer: 24:03 Okay, here we go. Getting ready to close. Get ready to close. Why would you come to church? Listen, real good. You know why I first started coming to church? Because I was having problems. I was having problems and I thought my daughter Shannon (the oldest one) should be in church. I said, "Honey, we're having problems but she needs to be in church."
James Greer: 24:32 I got in church and I found that I was the one that needed to be there more than she did. And it had come to the point that I admitted I had a problem. I had a spiritual problem because I had been baptized when I was young, but I wasn't saved. I didn't get any better, I got worse. I had a marriage problem because I wanted to be the boss. I had a father problem because I didn't have one following my Father in Heaven. The first thing I had to do is come to say, "God, I've got a problem and the problem is me."
James Greer: 25:03 It can be a different problem. It can be a finance problem, personal problem, or a family problem. You're not gonna get any better until you admit the problem. You can't do it on your own.
James Greer: 25:15 Number two, I tried that. You've got to come and say, I'm not the source. I don't have the strength to do it. My mate isn't the source, my boss isn't the source anymore. God you've got to be the only source to meet every single need in my life. That gives me a new freedom like I never had in my life. But to do that, you've gotta make sure you have Christ in you. The hope of glory. If there's never been a time, not that you were baptized, not that you ever joined the church. Is there ever been a time you've been born a second time? That you knew you had sinned and today you said you believe that Jesus Christ died, and He rose from the grave and you want to come and you want to invite him into your heart? You've got to know you have a problem.
James Greer: 25:53 You got to believe that Jesus Christ is the answer to the problem and He always has the answer, and you got to be willing to obey Him. Do you know if you do those things and you respond correctly this morning, you could go back and participate in the miracles of God? He's not a [unintelligible] person, but what He did to Naaman, it wasn't all about leprosy. It was all about trying to get me and you a physical picture of spiritual application that He wants to work in every one of our lives. Journey Church is the greatest church. I mean, I'm telling you, I saw churches from all over the world this week. There's no place I'd rather be than right here, but I've learned something more the last few months than I've ever learned in my life. God's bringing me on a journey. It's the greatest movement journey I've ever been on in my life.
James Greer: 26:39 I don't want to go alone. I know when God speaks to me like He spoke to me the last two weeks that it's not just for me. Yeah. I have to learn the lessons. I have to learn to apply them, but so do you. I want you to go with me so bad. I don't want you to go home the same way that you came today. I don't want you to be like Naaman and he's just got ticked off because of what the man of God said and he almost missed out on the miracle.
James Greer: 27:10 So, I want you to stand and I want to pray for you. I want to give you an opportunity to respond correctly to whatever's going on in your life. Father, thank you for Jesus Christ who is the source of everything in my life. God, I pray for every person here today, every person that's in our church or by watching online everybody. I pray, God, we ask you, what is the problem? In just a minute we're willing to admit the problem. God, I believe that you have the answer to the problem. And God, I'm willing to obey whatever it is you say. You've began to experience the miracles of God in your life. God, that's what I want for our church. Whether it's somebody that's been visited and they know today's the day that God wants them to join. Maybe if somebody has never been biblically publicly baptized, maybe it's a financial, marriage or children issue. Whatever the problem is today might be [unintelligible], that you're gonna say, God, here's my problem. I believe you've got the answer and I'm willing to obey God more than anything else. I want to experience the miracles of God in my life today. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
Recorded in Pineville, Louisiana.
Read More
