Author: davesdailyscriptures

I lived in the far corner of Northeastern Washington with my beautiful wife for 16 years, but now live in my home state of Wisconsin. God has blessed me tremendously and I am so thankful for His grace, and the people He has put in my life, and for His work in and around me.

Forgive You, Forgive Me

I was thinking about talking about forgiveness and as I was the line from the movie, Jerry Maguire, “Help Me Help you!” kept coming into my head.  That is sort of where this title came from.  In order to forgive others, I think one must learn how to forgive one’s self.  And, when being forgiven, one must learn to forgive.  “Help me Help you.”  God has shown us mercy through His Son, who loved us so much that He gave His life in order that we may be forgiven.  Nothing we do can earn forgiveness, it is God’s act of love.  We don’t deserve His forgiveness, but He forgives us anyways.  We just need to accept it.  In the same way, those who have hurt us do not deserve forgiveness but if we remember what Jesus did on the cross, we can forgive them too. Continue reading “Forgive You, Forgive Me”

Tolerance vs. Being Judgemental

There is a lot of talk about being tolerant in today’s society.  What does that mean? When Jesus said, “Judge not” what odes that mean?  And what is the context of it?  As Christians, we are to love all people.  Does that mean to accept what they are doing even if we know biblically it is wrong?  How do we talk to that person without being judgemental?  What does it mean when someone says, “love the sinner, hate the sin?”  Why is this offensive to some people?  Where do we draw the line between being self-righteous, judgemental, or “fruit inspectors” and being tolerant and compromising?

I had a person talk to me about churches and she was looking for a good church that isn’t “holier than thou” as she put it.  We both agreed that God is a loving God and we are saved by grace.  She talked about tolerance.  I mentioned that some churches are too tolerant (and compromising) and do not want to teach about sin.  We parted ways when she asked me my stance on gay marriage.  She said churches should be tolerant and welcome all people.  I agreed we are to welcome all people, including homosexuals.  But, we are also to teach the truth and Romans 1 is very clear on this subject.  She told me that I almost convinced her to come to my church until we talked about gay marriage.

So, how do we handle these touchy issues?  Most people will quote Matthew 7:1 to basically tell Christians to mind their own business.  I think many times they are right.  We are also to share God’s word.  I believe we must show God’s truth (we must teach and learn all of scripture, not just the part we are comfortable with), but our attitude must be in a loving manner but without compromising our faith and belief. Continue reading “Tolerance vs. Being Judgemental”

Grace and Legalism

These two words are talked about a lot these days:  grace and legalism.  Many churches are one extreme of the other.  Many people are.  Where do we draw the line between the two?  The Bible is clear we are saved by grace and not by works.  It is also clear that we are to obey God’s commands.  We show that we love God by how we live.  Our lives reflect our salvation and that Christ is in us.  To me, that is the difference.  Some people treat grace as a “get out of jail free” card.  But if you really are saved and Christ is in you, would you not want to live for Him?  On the other hand, salvation is not about rules and regulations, it is about the heart. Continue reading “Grace and Legalism”

New Covenant Living

I was debating on the title for this study between “New Covenant Living” and “Practical Christianity.”  There is a lot in Hebrews 13 about how we are to conduct ourselves as Christians.  It’s kind of a “now that I am saved, what do I do now?” instruction manual.  Of course, it is not the only one.  The New Testament is full of letters on how we are to live as a child of God.  There have been a couple good studies on Hebrews that I went through that taught me a lot on this book, one by J.D. Graeer and one by Pete Briscoe.  You can probably find both on YouTube or just google them.  Anyways, some of this comes from notes I have from watching their studies.  I hope this will strengthen you, encourage you and help you to grow in your walk with the Lord.  May God bless you always! Continue reading “New Covenant Living”

Hebrews 12: Encourage to Live by Faith

As I was going through a study in Hebrews, I learned a lot about Jesus, who He is, what He did for us, and how we are to live and think.  Jesus sacrificed Himself for us; His blood was shed so that there is no more need for sacrificial offerings, there is no need to go to anyone but Him (He is the only way) to confess sins or to ask for forgiveness.  That is God’s grace.  We are not under the Law.  We are under grace.  Our salvation is based on accepting His grace, for He paid the price.  Salvation is not about following rules and regulations.  It is about following Jesus Christ.  It is about a personal relationship with Him.  It is about faith in what Christ can do, not about what we try to do to earn favor.  Continue reading “Hebrews 12: Encourage to Live by Faith”