Are You a Ten?

Announcements:

• The SEAMLESS free lunch program is still going on at Shiloh. Call Shirley to volunteer!
• The Wonder Tour is in progress in Sulphur Springs City Park on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday--free dinner games with the kids, live music, etc. Come join the fun!

Updates:

• Lisa’s operation went well and she is recuperating, June is being a great blessing. Please keep them both in your prayers.

Praise Reports:

• We got some much-needed rain.
• Johnny fell and got 5 staples in his head, but praise the Lord that it wasn't worse!
• The Augustins had a sort of impromptu family reunion this week with a lot of family coming in.

Prayer Requests:

• The Rogers had a good interview with a potential new customer, so please pray for the best!
• Pray for traveling angels to go with Trent, Emily, and the boys back to North Carolina.
• Vivian is spending a week in Tennessee with her family. Please pray that she will have safe travel and be a great blessing while she's there.
• Betsy Stull is visiting the Youngs for a few days just to "get away from it all". Pray that they will all have a great time together.
• Roy Allen is going to get Brenna from Texas for her to stay up here for an indefinite period of time. Please, just remember the Allens as often as possible. Julie is now a full-time student to become a PRN, Roy is working with the Postal Service, and they still have Gabe and now Brenna. Pray that God will touch Rebecca with a mighty hand!

Number 10, a photo by yoppy on Flickr.

Vernon gave the message this week!

He was very excited at hearing last week's sermon, as it was actually the same basic message he had taught in Liverpool a week before! Some of the comments that were made afterwards gave birth to this teaching today.

Vernon handed out blank slips of paper and and asked everyone to write down a number, the number between 1 and 10 that they considered the "level" of their relationship with God, with 10 being the highest and 1 the lowest. While we wrote, he began teaching. 

What is the best relationship with God you can imagine? Probably a lot like Adam and Eve's relationship with him before the Fall: they just walked and talked with him in the cool of the evening. Rules? There were practically no rules back then: just a living, vibrant relationship with Father God. There was no evil in his presence. What was the consequence of the Fall? God said that it would be death, but did Adam and Eve die immediately? Well, their bodies didn't die, but they experienced a heart-rending separation from their Father. Millions of people today are living in that kind of death. 

0010_3, a photo by Cappellmeister on Flickr.

The serpent said that when Adam and Eve ate of the fruit they would become "like God". What happened then? The Law came. In a sense, God said, "You want to be like me? Well, welcome to my world: try to be perfectly righteous." Adam and Eve couldn't do it, and neither can we! That doesn't mean that the Law isn't perfect, holy, and amazing, but it does mean that trying to keep it is an exercise in frustration.

After last week's sermon people made comments about "bearing our crosses" and how Christianity was a "hard walk". But is it really? Jesus guaranteed us heartache, persecution, and hardship, but is a walk with God really so difficult and painful? Vernon is figuring out that it's actually easy, not because we're so good but because God's so good!

Do you wonder what the average "level" was in our church on that scale of 1 to 10? 5.5. So what does that mean: that we doing so well, or that God is failing so badly? The truth is that because of Jesus we can all be 10s! Have you ever thought of that? If we aren't wholly acceptable to God, then what did Jesus die for? He died to restore a relationship to the state that it was in the Garden of Eden. He said, "It is finished," and we rate that at a 5.5? We can be 10s not because of how good and holy we are, but because of our Savior's awesome sacrifice!

Satan is the Accuser: he comes before the Father with a long list of our wrongdoings. One huge mistake that Christians make is in listening to him. God doesn't listen to him; our slates are wiped clean in his eyes. Why, then, do we beat ourselves up and rate our relationship with God so low?

For decades Vernon has struggled with a certain sinful habit. Time and again he has prayed that it be removed, but it remained as a "thorn in his side". Finally a few months ago he felt led to return to studying the fear of the Lord, something he had delved deeply into years ago. He got very enthusiastic about it, and finally grasped the fact that the "fear of the Lord" basically means recognizing who God is and who we are, and that is the beginning of wisdom. He saw God's mercy and His grace in its proper context. 

Not long after that he had a life-changing moment on the highway as he faced an oncoming semi-tractor-trailer and heard God saying to him, "Do you know you could die right now? Do you want to come before Christ as

Number 10, a photo by ☺ Lee J Haywood on Flickr.

 you are?" Vernon knew that he didn't want to be judged by Jesus until his sinful habit was dealt with, and in that very moment the Lord made him free of his habit! It was nothing Vernon did, no great act of self-control, just a wondrous and completely free miracle from the Father. 

There is a terrible heresy that says Christians can sin all they want because they're saved and God doesn't care. Of course we are to try to live righteously. A true Christian wants to be 100% pure, but is not capable of it on his own. We are grateful for our salvation--like a broken, mangy dog that is taken in by a kind, selfless master. (Did you know that the word for "worship" in the Bible is literally "as a dog licks his master's hand"?) No matter how much we want to be perfect, we will stumble (Do you doubt it? Just read James 2:10). But whenever we do we can repent before our Father; David is a beautiful example of this.

Remember that everything is a gift, even our righteousness (Romans 5:1, 6, 8-17)! Romans 4:7-8 (quoting Psalm 32) says, "Blessed are those whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the one whose sin the Lord will never count against them." The word "blessed" means "blessed beyond all measure". The words "count against" come from a Greek word that is the root of our "log book", like the kind kept on ships, tracking everything that is done. Jesus will never keep a record of wrongs when they are covered by his blood. He has given the free gift of #10 righteousness for a #10 relationship!

Personal Application: What would your life look like if you started living as if you were a 10 in God's eyes?