Yes! Pastor David Shearer is back with another great sermon.

1 Samuel 15:22," But Samuel replied: Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the LORD? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams."

Now, in order to obey God, we must first hear Him. In order to hear Him, we have to walk with Him. Obedience is learnt through suffering. Suffering may not happen physically, but the "I" suffers and decreases when we obey God and the "He" increases in us.

Psalm 91:1 ," He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty."

Now, this is one of God's great contradictions. Although God is fully clothed in light, we find that he does cover Himself with darkness. But it is this training in the darkness that prepares us for His works in the light. This will ensure that by the time we get to that point, there will be no trace of Life's darkness left in us, and then we can proceed to do His works.

Exodus 20:19-21," They stayed at a distance and said to Moses, ' Speak to us yourself and we will listen. But do not have God speak to us or we will die.' Moses said to the people, 'Do not be afraid. God has come to test you, so that the fear of God will be with you to keep you form sinning.' The people remained at a distance, while Moses approached the thick darkness where God was."

Generally, the people of Israel did not want to hear from God because if He spoke to them directly, they would have to put to death a part of their old selves, and there were only 2 choices: to Obey or to Disobey. Instead, if they heard from Moses, they could give the excuse that what Moses was speaking was his opinion and not God's.

God's love for us is jealous in a good way. His love is so consuming that He will not share us with anything that can compete with His love for us, and our love for Him.

Song of Songs 8:5-7," Who is this coming up from the desert leaning on her lover? Under the apple tree I rouse you; there your mother conceived you, there she who was in labour gave you birth. Place me like a seal over your heart, like a seal on your arm; for love is as strong as death, its jealousy unyielding as the grave. It burns like a blazing fire, like a mighty flame. Many waters cannot quench love; rivers cannot wash it away...."

Whatever others spend a lot of their time and energies on, that is their "god". Basically, God is a jealous god, and like fire, will burn away anything in your life that is placed above Him, because He loves you, and He does not want you to love anything else more than Him. Others can love devote their time and energies to other things, we cannot, because God simply loves us, and we have been called by Him to do great things.