Day 4

Good morning everyone! I pray that this blog for this morning is as good the second time as the first! My first attempt (30 plus minutes of work) was deleted when my blog provider had technical difficulties. I hope “take 2” at this devotional makes sense and actually makes it on my blog!

Anyway…

“Lord Jesus Christ, speak to me.”

“Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.” Matthew 7:24

The third core value at The Bridge is:

Biblical Teaching is for Life-Change.
We value application of Scripture.

I love cats. I’m a cat guy. Nothing against dogs. I like them as well. But I love cats. I especially love big, fat, lazy cats! I love lounging around and having a big, fat furball there with me. We have a cat as a pet now – Daisy. She is incredibly thin. I can’t explain why. She is amply fed and sleeps about 18 hours a day. The other 6 hours she eats and lays around the house. I have not idea why she doesn’t gain weight. Lucky her. Most other animals (and humans for that matter) would gain a lot of weight if they did as little as Daisy. Our bodies are meant to consume and then produce. We consume, then we exercise to offset our intake. If we don’t, our bodies become unhealthy. The same is true in our spiritual lives. God wants us to consume (His Word) but then to do something about it. The Bible is meant for transformation, not just information. Our spiritual fitness is not what it needs to be if we are simply a wealth of Bible knowledge. We don’t teach the Bible at The Bridge in our services or in our Connection Groups simply to create biblically literate membership. The last thing we need is a lot of Bible know-it-alls. God wants us to be Bible do-it-alls! We’ve got to apply what were learning or it does us no good. The scripture tells us, “knowledge puffs up, but love builds up.” It’s not how much you know. It’s how much you apply. Should we want to win a Bible trivia contest or love our neighbor?

So how’s your spiritual fitness? Are you attempting live out what you’re learning? The truth is, it’s hard. The Bible is not so easy to apply. Often, the Bible calls us to do things that don’t make sense to us. Other times it calls us to do things we don’t want to do. Love your enemy. Serve. Forgive. Go the extra mile. Turn the other cheek. God knows what He is doing. He is not going to lead us astray. Read God’s word and ask Him, “How does this apply to my life?” What do I need to do as a result of what I learned? Is there a command for me to obey? Is there an example for me to follow? Is there a sin I need to avoid?

As you read through the New Testament this month, keep in mind that the Bible is meant for transformation, not just information. Take a step of faith and do something radical – apply the Bible to your life.