Clear the Clutter

James Greer (00:00):
Good morning Journey Church. Woo. Let’s welcome to Alexandria campus. Hey, Hey. tell Daryl to eat his heart out. You all see his shoes? He got a pair of brown ones, Eric does too. They don’t have blue ones like these. They wish they did. Hey man. Everybody, Saturday you want to be at the Alexandra campus for I am Journey. Man, we’re going to canvass the area and invite them to church. And we’ll have the opportunity to tell them about Jesus. But, you’ll all have somebody with you. Everybody’s invited. Amen?

James Greer (00:07):
We’re going to continue our series and talk about table talk. Man, we’ve got all kinds of junk up here. We’ve got fishing rods, we’ve got baseball, we’ve got a golf course. We got working out. I don’t know what that is. Oh, it’s beer. Wait, that’s for later, if you all stress me out. No, not really. What’s that? That’s a game. That’s a book, underneath here, somewhere, barely can find it, there’s a Bible. And it’s usually at the bottom of the junk. You know what I mean? You’ve got to go through all this probably to get to it. And there’s many other things. And instead of table talk, it could be called clutter talk. I guess. That’s what most of our lives look like. It’s just so full of clutter that we can’t get to Jesus. Our finances are in a mess. There’s no margin in our life. Our homes are clutter. It might not be physically cluttered, but there’s mental clutter all over our life. Our lives so cluttered, we just don’t have time to do anything.

James Greer (01:38):
We need to learn to unclutter our lives. Look where our Bible usually is. It’s usually under all the clutter. In other words, we have to go through the clutter to get to God’s word. It used to be, we should get to God’s word where we can unclutter our lives. In Matthew 6:33 it says, seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things shall be added to you. What things? All. What are the all? The things that you need most in your life are found when we put God first in our life. It also means as we learned to further God’s kingdom, therefore do not worry about tomorrow. Well, the main reasons we worry about tomorrow, you ready? Because we’re looking in the wrong place to try to get our needs met. So therefore don’t worry about tomorrow for tomorrow I’m telling you has enough to worry about itself. Amen?

James Greer (02:32):
So, what we got to do is take in God’s word. The Psalmist said in 119:74 it says, that those who respect, rejoice when they see me, because they have put their hope in your what word. Now, this is important because you’ve got to learn to put your hope in the word. And most people put their hope in the world. The world will disappoint you. You know, the reason many people have cluttered minds inside and out is because they put their hope in the world, instead of the word.

James Greer (03:30):
If there’s anything I want us to get out of this three series, is the third message about table talk. It’s how important the word of God is. Because listen though the world is painful, you’re going to go through a lot of pain and heartaches and suffering, but God gives us a gift. One of God’s greatest gifts next to Jesus Christ is hope. And this is not a hope I make it. I hope everything’s good. I hope it’s all right. This is a biblical hope. This is a hope and God’s word. This is a hope. That means we have a confident expectation of a positive future in spite of our present circumstances. But when your hope is in the world, it’s always cluttered. It’s always discouraging. In other words, Proverbs 29:18 puts it this way, where there is no word, where there’s no word of God, the people are out of control. You just do what you want to, you follow the world. But, those who obey what they had been taught, which is God’s word, are happy. In other words, God says, I have a formula for happiness, not worldly happiness. Worldly happiness depends on your situation, circumstances. God’s word is not conditional. His happiness, it says, hey, you get in God’s word, you obey God’s word, and you can have happiness in spite of your situation, in spite of your circumstance.

James Greer (04:30):
I taught you last week that you can feast with the father every morning, or you can feast on fast food. 1 Corinthians 14:33 he says, God is the author of peace, not of confusion unto all the church. God is not the author of confusion, but of peace. He’s not the author of clutter. He is the author of peace, to all the saints. By the way, if you’re saved, you’re a saint. Now, when I look out there and I think, look at all the saints. Yeah, amen is not exactly what I see. Thank God we don’t look on the outside. Amen? God looks on the inside, and God see things when you all leave today, just remember Saint James will be at the door waiting.

James Greer (05:31):
How do we begin to clean the clutter the same way you get everything else in your life, that’s changed. You got to admit it. You’ve got to admit that my life is just too cluttered. It’s not what I want to be. You even take in Romans 10:9, you confess your mouth, the Lord Jesus believe in the heart, God raised from the dead. Thou shall be saved. In other words, we need God’s help. Many times when you read the word saved in the means healed. It means to recover. Anybody recovering in here. Amen? Lots of you. It means to be made whole and to be saved. So, we need God’s help, but we also need other people’s help. James 5:16 says there’s many things that will not recover from. There’s many prayers that we will not be healed from without help from another. It says, confess our trespasses one to another. To who? If we’ve got to do this one to another, we’ve got to have somebody else in our life. And pray for one another, that we might be healed. Emotional, spiritually, financially, the effectual, fervent prayer of a what kind of man? A righteous man availeth much.

James Greer (06:29):
I used to think I’m never going to be righteous as bad as I am. You’re pretty bad too. But, I never understood that our righteousness comes through Jesus Christ. It’s not what I did it’s what Christ did for me. Amen? So, if I’m going to be righteous, first of all, I’ve got to be right with God. It’s why Jesus Christ paid the price, I accepted him as my savior, so I’m right with God. Amen? And the rest of the time I get right with you, I get right with other people. I have to confess when I’m wrong. I have to ask for forgiveness. But, I will tell you when I’m right with God and I’m right with other people, it says the effectual, fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. Did you know what that God gave you an example? Elijah prayed and it did not rain for three years. That’s a pretty powerful prayer. Amen. He prayed again. It rained and God was saying, I want you to know that you have that type of prayer power available to you, if you get saved and you get right with the people in your life. So, you need each other just like you need God.

James Greer (07:48):
Sometimes we need to confess to our mates. One of the hardest things used to be for me is to tell my wife, I’m sorry. I mean it just was tough. Then to say, will you forgive me? I mean I’d rather say it to anybody other than my wife. Now, she’d be the first one to forgive me, but it’s one of the hardest people to ask for forgiveness. I might say, you know, I shouldn’t have done that. She said, I know it, but how about confessing would you forgive me? How about, I need you to help me?

James Greer (08:22):
Men are crazy, you all. Have you ever been driving and not want to ask your wife for help? I drove 30 minutes out of the way one time my wife said, you sure you know where you are going? I know where I’m at. Do you want to get GPS? I got it. I got it. I mean, we just don’t want to confess it. We don’t want to admit it. I’m going to tell you men, sometimes the greatest need, the greatest person we need to confess to next to God, of course, is our own mate. Amen? And wives, you too.

James Greer (09:03):
Sometimes it’s on the job. Sometimes we need to confess it to our boss. Sometimes we need to ask our own kids to forgive us, our friends, a small group, maybe in CR, but there has to be sometimes, or some places that you’re willing to go and confess your faults. There’s some clutter in your life that you’ll never get rid of without somebody to go to, to help you.

James Greer (09:33):
Second, we, sometimes we’ve got to disconnect digitally. Disconnect, that that’s hard for me. I mean, I really want to look right now. I want to. I could get online and watch myself preach, but I want to, we are live Facebook, Amen? I have gotten back there and watched it. Ooh, there’s nobody that needs to digitally disconnect more than me. Well, we’ve got to be careful that we’re so digitally connected that we’re spiritually disconnected. So we’ve got to be careful. We don’t want to digitally disconnect from God. Amen? So, let’s do something with it. Let’s turn it around to something good. Let’s don’t digitally connect until we’ve already spiritually connected with God. Boy, it got quiet. you all are suffering the same problem I am? Let’s use it for something good. Do you have devotions on there? Do you have a Bible app? Do you have day to day study on it? So, use it for something good. So take something that could be almost dependent on and use it for something that’s good.

James Greer (10:27):
Third, this is the most dangerous of all. So, I want you to really listen. You’ve got to get rid of the idols on the table. You’ve got to get rid of the clutter in your life is the idols in our life. It’s the key to having spiritual victory. It’s the idolatry in your life, in my life. And you’re saying, well, I don’t have any idols. Well, what are you worshiping? Whatever you’re spending your time and your money and your energy on, that’s your idol. Whatever’s controlling you. There’s nothing wrong with baseball or football or, I guess, fishing, money. Some people sleep too much. The wrong books, TV, golf, fantasy football. I don’t know, working out. It’s the clutter in your life, but you’ve got to be careful that it doesn’t become the idol in your life.

James Greer (11:56):
Do you know how you know if it’s a idol? As a Christian, especially, you ready? An idol is looking to anything other than Jesus Christ to meet your physical, emotional, and spiritual needs. You’ll know it’s an idol when you have a pain, you go to your idol. When you have a need, you go to your idol. When you have a hurt, you go to your idol. When you celebrate, you go to your idol. Uh oh. How do you know if something’s become an idol? First, when you’re looking to it to meet your need other than Jesus Christ, number one. Second, you’re using it on a regular basis to meet your personal need, it’s very important, but it’s not bringing honor to God and it’s not furthering the kingdom. Galatians 3:17 says, whatever you do in word and deed. Whatever I do, whatever I say, wherever I work, whatever I do, do it all in the name of Jesus Christ, giving thanks to God, the father, our Lord Jesus Christ. In other words, whatever I do, is it making a difference for God? It goes back to it goes back to Matthew 6:33, seek ye first what? The kingdom of God and his righteousness, now all these thing should be added unto you.

James Greer (12:31):
Let me give you an idea. So, is fishing necessarily bad? No. Is golf necessarily bad? Only if you play like me. Is football? Only if you play like me. Now beer, is it bad? If you drink too much. No. Yeah, it is too. This is the problem. you all see this little thing right here? That represents your life. Even if you live to be a hundred, I’m 67, if I live to be a hundred, that’s nothing compared to eternity, right? So, what am I doing that makes a difference in eternity? There’s only a few things you can bring with you. Let’s say I’m playing golf. That’s no problem, play golf. It’s when I’m playing golf, am I doing it to the honor and glory of God and it’s going to make a difference in eternity? Am I fishing? See the decisions you make now, good or bad, what are they going to do in eternity?

James Greer (14:34):
Let me give you about seven things that will make a difference in eternity. Winning souls. Yes, you get to bring that with you. One reason you should be there Saturday, invite people to come to church. That’s one form of evangelism. Everybody in here should invite people to come to church. Amen? So, invite somebody next Sunday. Even if you don’t come to Alexandria Saturday, this week, make it a point to invite somebody. If you invite somebody and they get, say you’re part of it, guess what? Bingo, makes a difference in eternity.

James Greer (15:17):
Enduring trials and tribulations and not giving up, and boy, we’ve got a lot of those in our church. Say a lot of people, when you go through trials and tribulations, you turn from God instead of to God.

James Greer (15:24):
Third, finishing the race. How many people do you know that started out coming to church, serving God, where are they at? You don’t see them. You don’t hear him. Are they going to go to heaven? Probably so, but are they going to be sorry? Yes, because they’re going to miss out on reward. See, everybody thinks you’re going to be glad just to get in this doors. You will be, but there is going to be rewards in heaven that you’re going to wish you had.

James Greer (15:50):
Faithful in the ministry. Absolutely. Amen. Are you here? You serve and you are doing what God called you to do. Yeah, man, that’s why I pay you to preach. Faithful in there. It’s going to matter when I get to heaven. It may not matter here, but it’s going to get something I can bring to heaven with me. Are you faithful in the ministry?

James Greer (16:14):
Giving to God’s work? Did you know that the money you give here goes before you? If you give it for the right reason, to heaven? Most of the money, listen, are you all ready? I’m not preaching on tithing, though, you should tithe. Do you know most of the money that you spend here is not going to affect you in heaven at all? Oh, and yet you’re all cluttered up with things and all this stuff on this table that you’ve got. And then, I don’t care which one of these habits or hang ups it is, and you’re doing all this, spending all your money, you’re not going to bring any of that to heaven with you. Amen?

James Greer (16:59):
But listen, what you give to God’s work, man, it’s going to make a difference now and it’s going to follow you to heaven. Isn’t that cool? Amen? Man, you all, let’s go brother, let’s go. Helping the poor, bingo, goes to heaven. You ready? Using your gifts and talents.

James Greer (17:23):
Do you know most of the rest of it? Not going to mean a thing. Not going to go to heaven. Just going to be burned up. a lot of clutter. There’s a lot of clutter we need to kind of clean up. We need to get off the junk food and get on the right food.

James Greer (17:35):
we need to get in to God’s word. Man should not live by bread alone, but every word that proceeded out of the mouth of God. Everybody here find out some way that you can get into God’s word every day. I don’t care if it’s a devotion. I don’t care if you want to read the book. Everybody should read through Proverbs. I read through it over and over and over. I teach a class called pipeline leadership and in that we start from Proverbs 1 and go down. In our staff, I start in Proverbs at the back and go up. So, I’m going through it both ways. And you say, well, brother James, why do you keep going through it? Because I need wisdom more than anybody. And Proverbs is a book of wisdom.

James Greer (18:24):
Psalms is a book of God’s hearts. I mean, if you don’t know where to start, do that. Then read Ephesians, get the power of God. I mean, just start somewhere, but read it.

James Greer (18:35):
The Bible says in Psalms 34:8, why don’t you taste and see that the Lord is good. Blessed is a man that trusts God. He said, man, just taste and see, it is good. Let me tell you something. You’ve got to taste. You’ve got to change your perspective on God’s word. This is what I used to. I used to think, oh, I have to read God’s word. I have to read God. Now I thank God, I get to read God words. I get to read God’s word. A big difference. Change your perspective on the way that you see God and his word, and it’ll change your life. That’s good Brother James. I can preach to myself.

James Greer (19:10):
It’s a light unto my feet it’s the guidance. It’s a direction to my life. It can do that. You know, start cleaning the table. I’m not going to do it, but some of you all, see this trash. I’m not putting it in there. All of it. Some of it. I’ll put this in there because I know it will make you all feel better. That beer, I’ll get it off the table. I’ll lay this down. Some of you need to clean the trash. I think you need to either use it for the glory of God. Amen? To further his kingdom or get rid of it. I really do.

James Greer (19:53):
I think in the truest sense, the first clutter you need to get rid of, you ready, is the sin in your life. that that that’s what keeps us from the power and presence of God. 1 John 1:9 says this, if we confess our sins, he’s faithful and forgives all our sins. You ready? If we say we have not sin, Oh, we make God a liar. One thing, I’m so glad our church, I know everybody in this church is a sinner. Amen? Some of you a lot worse than others, but we all sin. We all sin. We all mess up. Amen? That’s why we’re all welcome at this church. Romans 3:23 he says, we’ve all sinned and come short of the glory of God. Some of those had been saved, but we still sin and we need to confess that sin.

James Greer (20:41):
Some of you are here and you’ve never accepted Christ as your savior who cleanses you from all your sins. Romans 10:9 says, if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus Christ and you believe in the heart, God raised him from the dead, thou shall be saved. Some people are trying to make salvation too hard. It’s what I do. I can’t do it. I’m not ready when I get better. You’re never going to be ready. You’re never going to be good enough. He’s already paid the price. Come up here and accept him. Amen?

James Greer (21:17):
He said there’s no difference between the Jew and the Greek. I love that because it doesn’t matter if you’re black or white or pink or yellow. Doesn’t matter if you’re rich or poor. After that said, whosoever calls upon the Lord shall be saved. Let me tell you what. If you’re here today and you’ve never done that, you believe Jesus died for your sins and you want to call upon the Lord, it says whosoever, what is whosoever in the Bible? Thank you. You all are listening today. First of all, we need to get rid of the sin in our life. Second of all, we need to get rid of the idols in our life. All of us have idols. We all do. We all have idols. It’s a constant battle for the rest of your life. I don’t think we achieve it, we battle it until one day we just go into heaven.

James Greer (22:01):
We’ll have moments, man, when we’re out of it, man, we just say God. And God says, here I am. And then there’s times I say, God, it’s James. Nothing. Just like nothing. You know? And so I got to say whatever I do in word and do a deed, I’ve got to do it unto the Lord. And I got to do a spiritual checkup. And it all starts with the neck up. I got to see, Hey, what’s going in my mind? What am I thinking? You know, have I forgiven everybody, if I asked forgiveness, uh, what am I reading? What am I looking at? What am I doing? God, what are my hobbies? Can I tell you something real important? Whatever we do in word and deed, whatever this is, and we’re not doing it in the name of the Lord, our life will be cluttered, confused, complicated, codependent on the wrong things, controlled by the wrong things, and worst of all, you ready? You can be saved and cursed. That scares me. Every Sunday that I preached John 10:10, that Jesus came that you could have life and you have it more abundantly. And people go home with a less than abundant life. Because you’re actually inviting, you’re doing it, not God. God wants to give you an abundant life.

James Greer (23:11):
1 Corinthians 6:9 says, it surely you know, he said, you should know this. He taught, surely you know Christians, that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God. In other words, surely you know, if you have idols in your life, you’re not going to inherit the kingdom God. In other words, they said, don’t be fooled, don’t be deceived, for those who sin sexually and worship idols. Oh, worship what? Idols. Don’t take a part in adultery. Those don’t be a male prostitute. Men don’t have relationship with other men. Don’t steal. Don’t be greedy. Don’t be a drunkard. Don’t be lying. Don’t rob. They will not inherit the kingdom of God. You said, that means they’re not going to heaven. No. I think there are Christians. Listen, everybody has their own interpretation. I believe there’s Christians that are going to go to heaven, but they’re living like hell right here.

James Greer (24:28):
And that’s what Romans 14:17 says, the kingdom of God it’s not eating, it’s not drinking, but it’s righteousness. Oh, there’s that word again. A right relationship with God, right relationship with other people. They have peace and joy through the Holy spirit. Part of the kingdom of God is having peace and joy. 1 Corinthians 4:20 says, the kingdom of God is not word, but it’s power. So, God is saying this. Listen, idolatry robs your peace, your joy and your power. If you don’t, you’re ready. If you don’t have peace, if you don’t have joy, and you don’t have the power of God, you’re either not saved, or there is some clutter and idolatry that you need to clean up in your life. Okay? You ready? There’s no better time than right now. I think if you don’t do it here with the power of God and the Holy spirit in this place, you probably won’t do it when you leave. So, we’re going to do is, hey, we’re going to give you an opportunity right here and right now today, so stand, let me pray with you and pray for you.

James Greer (26:20):
God, you’re an awesome God. I thank you how much you love us. I thank you that all of us that are messed up can come to a church and be accepted and loved. I pray now God that you would have your will and your way for those here, God, that not sure that they saved, you said call upon them the Lord and they shall be saved. You said whosoever will. Whosoever wants to do that. Today is the day, not someday, today you just step out and you come the front and we’ll pray with you. We’ll show you how to do that and God for all of us that are struggling with idolatry and habits and hang up that are getting in the way. God, I pray today would be the day that we come and then we confess it just it’s going to be a battle, but if we don’t admit it, if we don’t pray one for another, we don’t get healed. We don’t start getting free. So everyone of us has had those battles. I pray that we humble ourselves. God, where you could lift us up. I pray today would be the day God that we could start enjoying the kingdom of God. Then we can enjoy joy. We can enjoy peace, we can enjoy power. We can have our prayers answered like never before. God. You want that for us. Help us remove pride. Help us start worrying about other people. God, I bind Satan through the power and the blood of Jesus Christ. I pray that your spirit might work in a great and mighty way and God we’ll give you the honor and the glory and the praise. It’s in your name I pray. Amen.

Recorded in Pineville, Louisiana.