"Father, I am your servant, willing and desiring to be used to bless your people."

                                       The Fields are white and the laborers are few!
C.H. Spurgeon said, "If God does not save a man by truth he certainly will not save them by lies, and if the old gospel is not competent to work a revival, then we will do without the revival;"

James 3:1   My brethren, be not many masters, knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation.

James 3:2   For in many things we offend all. If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body.

James 3:3   Behold, we put bits in the horses' mouths, that they may obey us; and we turn about their whole body.

James 3:4   Behold also the ships, which though they be so great, and are driven of fierce winds, yet are they turned about with a very small helm, whithersoever the governor listeth.

James 3:5   Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth!

James 3:6   And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell.

James 3:7   For every kind of beasts, and of birds, and of serpents, and of things in the sea, is tamed, and hath been tamed of mankind:

James 3:8   But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.

James 3:9   Therewith bless we God, even the Father; and therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude of God.

James 3:10   Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be.

James 3:11   Doth a fountain send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter?

James 3:12   Can the fig tree, my brethren, bear olive berries? either a vine, figs? so can no fountain both yield salt water and fresh.

James 3:13   Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? Let him show out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom.

Let's pray. Father,  Open my eyes so I can see Your truth.

Open my ears so I can hear Your voice.
Open my mind so I can understand Your Word.
And open my heart so I may receive all that You want me to receive. AMEN

The devil knows how to use gossip and rumors to destroy people.  It's not too hard to find the person in the church who has trash can ears. How do you know the person who will carry your message? Because you've heard them carry so many messages before. They try to justify themselves with words like "People seem to just trust me with this stuff." It's because they have sensed you will perform the duty of a garbage truck for them. You'll deliver their trash talk so they don't have to get their own hands dirty! "But, I can't break their confidence!" Well if it was in confidence, you shouldn't be telling me anything of it anyway.

Henry Ward Beecher, "Life would be a perpetual flea-hunt if a man were obliged to run down all the innuendoes, inveracities, insinuations and suspicions which are uttered against him."

Slander is usually an attack on someone trying to accomplish something. So, the only way to avoid it is to do nothing and be nothing. But where there's friction there's motion, and some will be rubbed the wrong way. I want to be a mover, a shaker, and a change maker. I don't want to intentionally hurt feelings, and try hard to avoid that, but not at the expense of accomplishing things.

"If I were to try to read, much less answer, all the attacks made on me, this shop might as well be closed for any other business. I do the very best I know how - the very best I can; and I mean to keep doing so until the end. If the end brings me out all right, what's said against me won't amount to anything. If the end brings me out wrong, ten angels swearing I was right would make no difference."

Don't be surprised when slandered. The servant is no greater than his master, and think about what they said about Jesus: that He was illegitimate, a glutton, a drunk, who operated in the power of the devil.

We are told not to be ignorant of the devil's devices.

God's people are not helpless in the face of problems. We do not have to sit idly by and just accept whatever life deals our way. A Christian shouldn't have the negative mindset that there is a difficulty surrounding every opportunity. A good Christian sees an opportunity in every difficulty! But every miracle God ever performed started out with a problem. Jesus didn't do miracles to make good things better. He did miracles to make bad things good. He righted wrongs and fixed broken things. Problems are opportunities for God to show Himself strong.

2 Corinthians 10:4
4 (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)

Prayer moves the hand that moves the world!

God is referred to as Great and Terrible!

Why "great and terrible?" Terrible here means 'one who incites terror.' It's not about His characteristics, it's about His position over us. It comes from the same root word from which we get the term 'reverend.' So if you call me Rev. Darrell you're calling me terrible Darrell! We live in a culture today where we only want to hear about the love of God, the mercy and grace of God, and the goodness of God. They are all very real, and I'm thankful for those attributes. But if you reject the above the Bible says it is a fearful thing to fall in to the hands of the living God!
2 Corinthians 5:11
11 Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men;

When you have real problems and impossible situations you don't need a God you can walk up to and 'high five.' You need a God that is so great, mighty, and powerful, that coming into His presence causes you to kneel in humble contrition.

There's 2 times to pray: when you feel like it and when you don't. And we especially need to pray when we feel like it the least. There's 2 times to pray: when you feel like it and when you don't. And we especially need to pray when we feel like it the least.

When is the last time you prayed not because you were called upon or out of habit, but because you were broken hearted and hurting? When is the last time you were burdened about someone's soul so much that you wept and prayed for them? When is the last time you bore the burden of a fellow Christian and took their request on your back so much that you helped carry that burden...and you carried it to God in prayer, believing you

4. Don't use unwise words.

A slippery slope awaits the one who speaks without thinking and praying. This is why Saul said he would kill his own son...to keep his unwise word he had given. And, because the troops were denied food, they were not able to accomplish all they could have, and they eventually end up sinning by breaking God's command by eating meat with blood in it, they were so famished. Saul's unwise words were the cause of all of this.
Proverbs 12:18
There is that speaketh like the piercings of a sword: but the tongue of the wise is health.

5. Don't be puffed up with pride. (15:12).

Saul was a complicated person but at the root, he was a man filled with pride. He started out humble but now he wants everyone to give him homage. 1 Samuel 15:12 says that Saul set up a "monument in his own honor." We need to make sure that our lives are not filled with pride. Is this one of your spiritual soft spots? If so, deal with this fatal flaw before you fall.

6. Don't make obedience optional. (15:1-15).

I heard about a young boy who wanted to buy his mom a birthday present. He went to the store and asked the clerk to show him the cookie jars. Very carefully and methodically he went to each jar, carefully lifting the lid and putting it back on. He went through all of them and his face fell as he got to the last jar. He looked at the clerk and asked, "Aren't there any cookie jars with lids that don't make any noise?"

In what is perhaps his biggest blunder, Saul gets caught with his hand in the cookie jar as he disobeys the very clear command to attack and annihilate the Amalekites and to take no plunder. He makes excuses, blames others, and is very defensive, but God always holds us accountable for our actions, and there's no way to make a deal w/ God on the side. All the sacrifice in the world is worthless to our Lord next to the sacrifice of obedience.

Hosea 6:6
For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.

Donald Gray Barnhouse once told a story of a young son of a missionary couple in Zaire. One day the little boy was out playing in his front yard, and suddenly his father appeared and very sternly said, "Phillip, obey me immediately. Drop to your stomach." The little boy obeyed. Then the father said, "Now, start crawling toward me." And the little boy began to crawl, not understanding what was going on. And then the father said, "Now, jump up and run to me as fast as you can." With tears in his eyes, the little boy ran toward his father, and his father scooped him, hugged him and kissed him. He then slowly turned around and pointed to the deadly snake that was hanging from

4. Don't use unwise words. (14:24-28).

In  [II Sam. 24]

David numbers the people. He took a census. It was a pride thing. He had been commanded not to. Plus, he would feel independent, and not trust in God, but in horses and chariots, soldiers and artillery.

God gave David the choice of 3 punishments: 7 years of famine, to be pursued by enemies for 10 days, or a 3 day pestilence, which is what he chose. 70,000 men died. That's a number!

Sin always affects others around us. You are not an island.

A perfect heart comes not from sinlessness, but from confession. Some preachers say the sin nature is eradicated at salvation, but none of their wives believe that!

Acts 2:1   And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.

Acts 2:2   And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.

Acts 2:3   And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them.

Acts 2:4   And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

Acts 4:31   And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost,and they spake the word of God with boldness.