Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread":
Nduri (this is Part II) was the little African widow living in a village on the slopes of Mt. Kenya who had been taught by the Presbyterian missionaries to reverence the Bible and the worship of God (thank God for their work!). In her “family worship” one day she read Hebrews 7, the story of the strange man, “Melchizedek,” who served God all alone, “without father, without mother,” vs. 3). She briefly marveled that any one could serve God all alone like that.
Then she hurried to sell her beans in the market, but no success for three days. In desperation, she walks many miles, dodging elephants, to Tharaka, where people always have cash for beans. There she listens to Pastor Solomon explain Bible truths she had never dreamed were therein;—the second coming of the Lord Jesus, the thousand years of Revelation 20, the glorious new earth yet to be created, we humans being mortal await immortality as a gift from Christ at His coming, on and on. The pastor’s sermon probably lasted all morning; he told everything he knew, including the news about the holy seventh day Sabbath of the Lord.
As he pleaded with the congregation for a decision to follow Jesus all the way, renouncing the world and its sinful ways, trusting in Him, taking up the cross to follow Jesus, her heart thrilled; she wanted to say “Yes!” but then she thought, “How can I serve the Lord all alone in my little village? I would be the only one there who kept the Sabbath as the Bible says we should; no, I’m afraid that being all alone I might not remain faithful!”
But then like a flash there popped into her mind that story about that strange man, “Melchisedek.”
“If he could serve the Lord all alone, I can, too!” Then came that smile of victory.
I get into the story later, because when I came up and met her, she asked me to baptize her, to seal her decision to follow Jesus every step of the way. (I’ll never forget that clear ice water in that stream that flowed from Mt. Kenya’s snow.) Until her death, Nduri remained an inspiration to many in Kenya, and those around the world who have heard her story.
Don’t despise the littleness of your witness for Jesus!
Be sure to check your e-mail for "Dial Daily Bread" again tomorrow.
Daily Bread - Readings about life and the Word of God.
Friday, June 29, 2007
Thursday, June 28, 2007
Dial Daily Bread
Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread":
It’s a fascinating story of how the plain, simple Bible, well, in this instance the New Testament only, brings joy to uneducated people. It happened on the slopes of Mt. Kenya where little streams flow down from the melted snow.
Nduri, a poor African widow lived in a little hut where she loved her Kikuyu New Testament. She had just enough education to know how to read it haltingly. The English Presbyterian Church had done a wonderful mission work among this people, giving them this portion of the Bible in their own language and opening schools for them. Some saint of God had taught Nduri to have “family worship,” even though her family was only herself; each day, before going to work in her bean field she would read a portion, and pray.
Today she must sell some beans in the market because she needs money to buy a little soap, salt, and kerosene for her lamp. She spreads little piles of beans on her banana leaf, and awaits customers. Her Scripture reading this morning happens to be Hebrews 7:1-4 about a strange man named “Melchisedek,” who served God all alone, “without father, without mother.” She wondered, how could anyone serve God like that, all alone with no family?
But not a bean does she sell today. She tries again tomorrow; same economic disaster; again the third day. Amazed, for this has never happened before, Nduri gets desperate; she is out of soap, salt and kerosene. So she walks many miles to Tharaka, dodging the elephants, where the people can’t grow anything to eat but they raise goats to sell; they always have cash to buy beans.
She times her arrival for early morning, anxious to get to that market. My personal friend, Pastor Solomon Ngoroi, is holding a series of evangelistic meetings in our little prayer chapel and is walking up and down the road inviting people to come. Nduri tells him she loves the Bible, etc., but sorry, she must get to the market and sell her bag of beans. The pastor assumes the posture of a prophet, looks her in the eye, and solemnly assures her: if she will come, the Lord will sell those beans.
The mystery happens—“deep calleth unto deep” (Psalm 42:7); Nduri recognizes the Holy Spirit in the strange pastor’s invitation. She comes, drops her heavy bag of beans in the back of the meeting place, and listens eagerly.
“Melchizedek” gets into the picture now, and later I do; but we don’t have time to finish, for this must be brief. Maybe we can tell the rest tomorrow, the Lord willing.
Be sure to check your e-mail for "Dial Daily Bread" again tomorrow.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please forward these messages to your friends and encourage them to subscribe. The "Dial Daily Bread" web page resides at: http://1888message.org/dailybread/
To subscribe send an e-mail message with "subscribe" in the body of the message to:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Robert J. Wieland's inspirational "Dial Daily Bread" phone message is available via e-mail to anyone who wishes to receive a daily portion of uplifting Good News. "Dial Daily Bread" is FREE. Due to travel or other circumstances, there may be intervals when "Dial Daily Bread" will not be sent.
It’s a fascinating story of how the plain, simple Bible, well, in this instance the New Testament only, brings joy to uneducated people. It happened on the slopes of Mt. Kenya where little streams flow down from the melted snow.
Nduri, a poor African widow lived in a little hut where she loved her Kikuyu New Testament. She had just enough education to know how to read it haltingly. The English Presbyterian Church had done a wonderful mission work among this people, giving them this portion of the Bible in their own language and opening schools for them. Some saint of God had taught Nduri to have “family worship,” even though her family was only herself; each day, before going to work in her bean field she would read a portion, and pray.
Today she must sell some beans in the market because she needs money to buy a little soap, salt, and kerosene for her lamp. She spreads little piles of beans on her banana leaf, and awaits customers. Her Scripture reading this morning happens to be Hebrews 7:1-4 about a strange man named “Melchisedek,” who served God all alone, “without father, without mother.” She wondered, how could anyone serve God like that, all alone with no family?
But not a bean does she sell today. She tries again tomorrow; same economic disaster; again the third day. Amazed, for this has never happened before, Nduri gets desperate; she is out of soap, salt and kerosene. So she walks many miles to Tharaka, dodging the elephants, where the people can’t grow anything to eat but they raise goats to sell; they always have cash to buy beans.
She times her arrival for early morning, anxious to get to that market. My personal friend, Pastor Solomon Ngoroi, is holding a series of evangelistic meetings in our little prayer chapel and is walking up and down the road inviting people to come. Nduri tells him she loves the Bible, etc., but sorry, she must get to the market and sell her bag of beans. The pastor assumes the posture of a prophet, looks her in the eye, and solemnly assures her: if she will come, the Lord will sell those beans.
The mystery happens—“deep calleth unto deep” (Psalm 42:7); Nduri recognizes the Holy Spirit in the strange pastor’s invitation. She comes, drops her heavy bag of beans in the back of the meeting place, and listens eagerly.
“Melchizedek” gets into the picture now, and later I do; but we don’t have time to finish, for this must be brief. Maybe we can tell the rest tomorrow, the Lord willing.
Be sure to check your e-mail for "Dial Daily Bread" again tomorrow.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please forward these messages to your friends and encourage them to subscribe. The "Dial Daily Bread" web page resides at: http://1888message.org/dailybread/
To subscribe send an e-mail message with "subscribe" in the body of the message to:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Robert J. Wieland's inspirational "Dial Daily Bread" phone message is available via e-mail to anyone who wishes to receive a daily portion of uplifting Good News. "Dial Daily Bread" is FREE. Due to travel or other circumstances, there may be intervals when "Dial Daily Bread" will not be sent.
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Dial Daily Bread
Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread":
Intervarsity Press publishes these two complementary books, Why I Am Not a Calvinist, and Why I am Not an Arminian.
Both Calvin and Arminius were honest men living up to the light they had for their day, and the Wesleys, too. And their respective followers today we believe to be sincere. But what is “the truth of the gospel” that so fired the apostle Paul to write Romans, Galatians (2:5), Ephesians, etc.? The love of Christ, agape, which constrained him to follow the Lord Jesus in total devotion. What he knew was beyond both Calvinism and Arminianism.
Neither can grasp that agape, because both even today hold the non-biblical idea of natural immortality. The Bible is clear: Christ died for us! Yes, the Son of God, the Savior of the world, died! When He “tasted death for every man” (Heb. 2:9), the death He “tasted” was what the Bible calls the second death.
This profound truth opens up a new world of gospel understanding—what Paul means when he says that Christ “emptied Himself”(Phil. 2:7). He “tasted,” that is, experienced the horror of soul that the lost will know as they face those at-last opened “books” and the lake of fire. He was “made to be sin for us who knew no sin” (2 Cor. 5:21), endured the most dreadful “curse of God” (Matt. 27:46; Deut. 21:22, 23), “poured out His soul unto death” (Isa. 53:12). “Herein is love [agape], not that we loved God but that He loved us, and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (1 John 4:10). Oh, joy!
When Christ died for the world, He died the world’s second death and therefore achieved a “verdict of acquittal” for every sinner on earth. At the same time He achieved, purchased, won, secured, obtained, a real justification for every sinner—real but not recognized by the world as real. That “verdict of acquittal” satisfies the broken law of God because Christ died as the last or second Adam, the new Head of the human race; it was a perfectly valid legal “verdict of acquittal.” It ought to stun you: the Father looks upon you as though you have never sinned! But you cannot, forever cannot, continue living in sin (Rom. 6:1-14)!
Therefore, it’s the same as saying that Christ has given every human being the gift of salvation “in Himself.” It’s time to appreciate what He has done for us. Isn’t it a sin to remain babes in understanding forever? May His love constrain us to live “henceforth” for the One who died for us and rose again (2 Cor. 5:14, 15), so we can have some little part in crowning Him King of kings and Lord of lords. It’s a joy to forget self.
Be sure to check your e-mail for "Dial Daily Bread" again tomorrow.
Intervarsity Press publishes these two complementary books, Why I Am Not a Calvinist, and Why I am Not an Arminian.
Both Calvin and Arminius were honest men living up to the light they had for their day, and the Wesleys, too. And their respective followers today we believe to be sincere. But what is “the truth of the gospel” that so fired the apostle Paul to write Romans, Galatians (2:5), Ephesians, etc.? The love of Christ, agape, which constrained him to follow the Lord Jesus in total devotion. What he knew was beyond both Calvinism and Arminianism.
Neither can grasp that agape, because both even today hold the non-biblical idea of natural immortality. The Bible is clear: Christ died for us! Yes, the Son of God, the Savior of the world, died! When He “tasted death for every man” (Heb. 2:9), the death He “tasted” was what the Bible calls the second death.
This profound truth opens up a new world of gospel understanding—what Paul means when he says that Christ “emptied Himself”(Phil. 2:7). He “tasted,” that is, experienced the horror of soul that the lost will know as they face those at-last opened “books” and the lake of fire. He was “made to be sin for us who knew no sin” (2 Cor. 5:21), endured the most dreadful “curse of God” (Matt. 27:46; Deut. 21:22, 23), “poured out His soul unto death” (Isa. 53:12). “Herein is love [agape], not that we loved God but that He loved us, and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (1 John 4:10). Oh, joy!
When Christ died for the world, He died the world’s second death and therefore achieved a “verdict of acquittal” for every sinner on earth. At the same time He achieved, purchased, won, secured, obtained, a real justification for every sinner—real but not recognized by the world as real. That “verdict of acquittal” satisfies the broken law of God because Christ died as the last or second Adam, the new Head of the human race; it was a perfectly valid legal “verdict of acquittal.” It ought to stun you: the Father looks upon you as though you have never sinned! But you cannot, forever cannot, continue living in sin (Rom. 6:1-14)!
Therefore, it’s the same as saying that Christ has given every human being the gift of salvation “in Himself.” It’s time to appreciate what He has done for us. Isn’t it a sin to remain babes in understanding forever? May His love constrain us to live “henceforth” for the One who died for us and rose again (2 Cor. 5:14, 15), so we can have some little part in crowning Him King of kings and Lord of lords. It’s a joy to forget self.
Be sure to check your e-mail for "Dial Daily Bread" again tomorrow.
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Dial Daily Bread
Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread":
You must think and study in order to follow Jesus faithfully, for He has warned us that there will be “false Christs, and false prophets” who will show “signs and wonders ... [to] deceive the very elect” if possible (Matt. 24:24). There are some very good things, once pure truth, that are perplexing and confusing, but now are contradictory.
Intervarsity Press publishes two complementary books, Why I Am Not an Arminian and Why I Am Not a Calvinist. They are like Eugene Field’s famous gingham dog and calico cat that had a row and ate each other up so nothing was left; when you finish the two books you have no gospel left.
Both Calvin and Arminius were sincere, good men doing the best they could with what they had: they just lived too early to grasp the “time of the end” truth of the Day of Atonement and the cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary.
Calvin saw that what Christ started He had to finish or He would be disgraced before the universe; He had to save the world! But Calvin felt he had to define the “world” as that special group of people known as “the elect” whom God predestined to be saved; and of course, all others must then be predestined to be lost. Solved the problem: why there are so many bad people still in the world.
Arminius said, No, that’s not fair. “All men” must have an equal chance. Christ must die for all, but His death does no one any good unless first he believes and obeys. It’s just a provisional offer (unless you think of the physical life we all have, but the animals have that, too!). But the problem with Arminianism is that it leaves one’s personal salvation dependent on his own initiative: and therein we have the hidden, secret source of world-church lukewarmness. That inevitable touch of self-dependence eats away beneath the surface.
Finally in the late 19th century two young men broke through the clouds to recover what Paul saw: Christ did accomplish something beyond a provisional offer—He did save the world, He did give the gift of salvation to “every man” (Romans 5:15-18 is clear as sunlight) as surely as Esau had the birthright which he despised and sold. The lost throw away what Christ gave them. Yes, He is “the Savior of the world” (John 4:42),”the Savior of all men” (1 Tim. 4:10) in a very real sense. But the gift can be refused. You can despise, reject, and crucify Him afresh; don’t do it!
Be sure to check your e-mail for "Dial Daily Bread" again tomorrow.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please forward these messages to your friends and encourage them to subscribe. The "Dial Daily Bread" web page resides at: http://1888message.org/dailybread/
To subscribe send an e-mail message with "subscribe" in the body of the message to:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Robert J. Wieland's inspirational "Dial Daily Bread" phone message is available via e-mail to anyone who wishes to receive a daily portion of uplifting Good News. "Dial Daily Bread" is FREE. Due to travel or other circumstances, there may be intervals when "Dial Daily Bread" will not be sent.
You must think and study in order to follow Jesus faithfully, for He has warned us that there will be “false Christs, and false prophets” who will show “signs and wonders ... [to] deceive the very elect” if possible (Matt. 24:24). There are some very good things, once pure truth, that are perplexing and confusing, but now are contradictory.
Intervarsity Press publishes two complementary books, Why I Am Not an Arminian and Why I Am Not a Calvinist. They are like Eugene Field’s famous gingham dog and calico cat that had a row and ate each other up so nothing was left; when you finish the two books you have no gospel left.
Both Calvin and Arminius were sincere, good men doing the best they could with what they had: they just lived too early to grasp the “time of the end” truth of the Day of Atonement and the cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary.
Calvin saw that what Christ started He had to finish or He would be disgraced before the universe; He had to save the world! But Calvin felt he had to define the “world” as that special group of people known as “the elect” whom God predestined to be saved; and of course, all others must then be predestined to be lost. Solved the problem: why there are so many bad people still in the world.
Arminius said, No, that’s not fair. “All men” must have an equal chance. Christ must die for all, but His death does no one any good unless first he believes and obeys. It’s just a provisional offer (unless you think of the physical life we all have, but the animals have that, too!). But the problem with Arminianism is that it leaves one’s personal salvation dependent on his own initiative: and therein we have the hidden, secret source of world-church lukewarmness. That inevitable touch of self-dependence eats away beneath the surface.
Finally in the late 19th century two young men broke through the clouds to recover what Paul saw: Christ did accomplish something beyond a provisional offer—He did save the world, He did give the gift of salvation to “every man” (Romans 5:15-18 is clear as sunlight) as surely as Esau had the birthright which he despised and sold. The lost throw away what Christ gave them. Yes, He is “the Savior of the world” (John 4:42),”the Savior of all men” (1 Tim. 4:10) in a very real sense. But the gift can be refused. You can despise, reject, and crucify Him afresh; don’t do it!
Be sure to check your e-mail for "Dial Daily Bread" again tomorrow.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please forward these messages to your friends and encourage them to subscribe. The "Dial Daily Bread" web page resides at: http://1888message.org/dailybread/
To subscribe send an e-mail message with "subscribe" in the body of the message to:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Robert J. Wieland's inspirational "Dial Daily Bread" phone message is available via e-mail to anyone who wishes to receive a daily portion of uplifting Good News. "Dial Daily Bread" is FREE. Due to travel or other circumstances, there may be intervals when "Dial Daily Bread" will not be sent.
Monday, June 25, 2007
Dial Daily Bread
Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread":
What does it mean in these last days to become a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ?
(1) You believe God is, and that He rewards your devotion and hears your prayers; that He is your heavenly Father, that He loves you so much He gave His dearest treasure to become your Savior—His only Son; and that He stays with you forever through the on-going gift of the Holy Spirit.
(2) You have begun an eternity-filled and growing heart appreciation of the love that led Jesus Christ to die your second death on His cross; that love has begun to “constrain” you to live “henceforth” unto Him and not for “self.”
(3) Your baptism is a sign to the world that you turn away from its ways and sinful pleasures; you have now taken up your cross to follow Jesus.
(4) You believe that the One who died for you was resurrected and now lives forever as your personal High Priest in the heavenly sanctuary, your Attorney on your side, defending you from the attacks of Satan.
(5) You have begun to love the Bible as God’s personal word to you; and you ask Him to deepen that love and confidence from now on forever.
(6) You have begun to love God’s law, His ten commandments as ten promises of victory over temptation Satan may bring against you; you love obedience to the fourth, keeping holy His blessed seventh-day Sabbath as a precious gift from Him.
(7) The “blessed hope” you cherish is the imminent personal, literal, visible second coming of Jesus and you want to help others also to get ready.
(8) You thank the Lord for the “gifts” He has given to His “body” on earth, the church—one of which is the living gift of prophecy, evidence of His on-going love.
(9) Since His church is His “body” on earth, you want to remain forever one of its loyal members, supporting it with tithes and offerings returned to the Lord.
(10) You believe that your physical body is the “temple” the Holy Spirit dwells in; you choose to keep it in health and purity, for it was purchased by the sacrifice of Christ.
(11) You ask to be baptized by being buried in the water as a declaration to the world that you are now “crucified with Christ” and you are risen with Him to a new life.
(12) You seek fellowship in that “church” that Revelation singles out as “the remnant” which “keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.”
(13) You are happy forever “in Christ” living under His new covenant of grace.
Be sure to check your e-mail for "Dial Daily Bread" again tomorrow.
______________________________
Please forward these messages to your friends and encourage them to subscribe. The "Dial Daily Bread" web page resides at: http://1888message.org/dailybread/
To subscribe send an e-mail message with "subscribe" in the body of the message to:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Robert J. Wieland's inspirational "Dial Daily Bread" phone message is available via e-mail to anyone who wishes to receive a daily portion of uplifting Good News. "Dial Daily Bread" is FREE. Due to travel or other circumstances, there may be intervals when "Dial Daily Bread" will not be sent.
What does it mean in these last days to become a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ?
(1) You believe God is, and that He rewards your devotion and hears your prayers; that He is your heavenly Father, that He loves you so much He gave His dearest treasure to become your Savior—His only Son; and that He stays with you forever through the on-going gift of the Holy Spirit.
(2) You have begun an eternity-filled and growing heart appreciation of the love that led Jesus Christ to die your second death on His cross; that love has begun to “constrain” you to live “henceforth” unto Him and not for “self.”
(3) Your baptism is a sign to the world that you turn away from its ways and sinful pleasures; you have now taken up your cross to follow Jesus.
(4) You believe that the One who died for you was resurrected and now lives forever as your personal High Priest in the heavenly sanctuary, your Attorney on your side, defending you from the attacks of Satan.
(5) You have begun to love the Bible as God’s personal word to you; and you ask Him to deepen that love and confidence from now on forever.
(6) You have begun to love God’s law, His ten commandments as ten promises of victory over temptation Satan may bring against you; you love obedience to the fourth, keeping holy His blessed seventh-day Sabbath as a precious gift from Him.
(7) The “blessed hope” you cherish is the imminent personal, literal, visible second coming of Jesus and you want to help others also to get ready.
(8) You thank the Lord for the “gifts” He has given to His “body” on earth, the church—one of which is the living gift of prophecy, evidence of His on-going love.
(9) Since His church is His “body” on earth, you want to remain forever one of its loyal members, supporting it with tithes and offerings returned to the Lord.
(10) You believe that your physical body is the “temple” the Holy Spirit dwells in; you choose to keep it in health and purity, for it was purchased by the sacrifice of Christ.
(11) You ask to be baptized by being buried in the water as a declaration to the world that you are now “crucified with Christ” and you are risen with Him to a new life.
(12) You seek fellowship in that “church” that Revelation singles out as “the remnant” which “keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.”
(13) You are happy forever “in Christ” living under His new covenant of grace.
Be sure to check your e-mail for "Dial Daily Bread" again tomorrow.
______________________________
Please forward these messages to your friends and encourage them to subscribe. The "Dial Daily Bread" web page resides at: http://1888message.org/dailybread/
To subscribe send an e-mail message with "subscribe" in the body of the message to:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Robert J. Wieland's inspirational "Dial Daily Bread" phone message is available via e-mail to anyone who wishes to receive a daily portion of uplifting Good News. "Dial Daily Bread" is FREE. Due to travel or other circumstances, there may be intervals when "Dial Daily Bread" will not be sent.
Sunday, June 24, 2007
Dial Daily Bread
Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread":
It’s so easy for us naive humans to conceive of the Lord as drawing a circle that shuts out bad people. But He draws a bigger circle to include them—at least until they shut Him out by never-ending resistance.
The Lord looks upon lost people not as wolves to be shot down as soon as possible, but as sheep who have wandered away—as potential heirs to His estate. His grace persists in seeking some way to intrude. What a pity that so many church people don’t yet understand this concept and consequently treat “unsaved” people as if they were wolves! The church has hardly begun to love as God loves! That idea of agape is slow to grasp, it seems.
Being “justified by faith” is something that nearly staggers one’s mind just to realize how wonderful it is. It makes you want to get up on the housetop and shout the news to everybody. Christ’s death on the cross is for every sinner—it’s a sacrifice for his or her salvation. God has no chip on His shoulder against anyone. And this “gift” is “out of all proportion” to sin, which is “vastly exceeded by the grace of God” (Rom. 5:15, NEB). Thus there is no reason why “everyone” should not be saved except that they refuse Christ’s grace and spurn the “gift” of salvation.
In his same letter Paul goes a step further and says that “God has dealt to each one a measure of faith” (Rom. 12:3). So, (a) God has brought justification for “everyone” by the sacrifice of His Son, and (b) He has given “each one a measure of faith” to appropriate that justification. Would that everyone said Yes and exercised the faith already given him!
It all adds up to the conclusion that, if anyone is lost at last, it will be because of his or her own persistent rejection of what God has already done to save him. And if anyone is saved, it will be because he stopped resisting God’s initiative in saving him!
[From The Good News Is Better Than You Think, by the author of “Dial Daily Bread.”]
Be sure to check your e-mail for "Dial Daily Bread" again tomorrow.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please forward these messages to your friends and encourage them to subscribe. The "Dial Daily Bread" web page resides at: http://1888message.org/dailybread/
To subscribe send an e-mail message with "subscribe" in the body of the message to:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Robert J. Wieland's inspirational "Dial Daily Bread" phone message is available via e-mail to anyone who wishes to receive a daily portion of uplifting Good News. "Dial Daily Bread" is FREE. Due to travel or other circumstances, there may be intervals when "Dial Daily Bread" will not be sent.
It’s so easy for us naive humans to conceive of the Lord as drawing a circle that shuts out bad people. But He draws a bigger circle to include them—at least until they shut Him out by never-ending resistance.
The Lord looks upon lost people not as wolves to be shot down as soon as possible, but as sheep who have wandered away—as potential heirs to His estate. His grace persists in seeking some way to intrude. What a pity that so many church people don’t yet understand this concept and consequently treat “unsaved” people as if they were wolves! The church has hardly begun to love as God loves! That idea of agape is slow to grasp, it seems.
Being “justified by faith” is something that nearly staggers one’s mind just to realize how wonderful it is. It makes you want to get up on the housetop and shout the news to everybody. Christ’s death on the cross is for every sinner—it’s a sacrifice for his or her salvation. God has no chip on His shoulder against anyone. And this “gift” is “out of all proportion” to sin, which is “vastly exceeded by the grace of God” (Rom. 5:15, NEB). Thus there is no reason why “everyone” should not be saved except that they refuse Christ’s grace and spurn the “gift” of salvation.
In his same letter Paul goes a step further and says that “God has dealt to each one a measure of faith” (Rom. 12:3). So, (a) God has brought justification for “everyone” by the sacrifice of His Son, and (b) He has given “each one a measure of faith” to appropriate that justification. Would that everyone said Yes and exercised the faith already given him!
It all adds up to the conclusion that, if anyone is lost at last, it will be because of his or her own persistent rejection of what God has already done to save him. And if anyone is saved, it will be because he stopped resisting God’s initiative in saving him!
[From The Good News Is Better Than You Think, by the author of “Dial Daily Bread.”]
Be sure to check your e-mail for "Dial Daily Bread" again tomorrow.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please forward these messages to your friends and encourage them to subscribe. The "Dial Daily Bread" web page resides at: http://1888message.org/dailybread/
To subscribe send an e-mail message with "subscribe" in the body of the message to:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Robert J. Wieland's inspirational "Dial Daily Bread" phone message is available via e-mail to anyone who wishes to receive a daily portion of uplifting Good News. "Dial Daily Bread" is FREE. Due to travel or other circumstances, there may be intervals when "Dial Daily Bread" will not be sent.
Saturday, June 23, 2007
Dial Daily Bread
Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread":
For hundreds of years reverent-minded Bible scholars have recognized that Revelation 9 presents the story of Islam. It is “the smoke out of the bottomless pit” (vss. 2, 3). It has darkened the bright sunshine of the pure gospel of Christ.
But professed Christianity has also not let much more of the pure gospel sunlight get through. The Crusades were not a proud chapter in our history.
The coming of the Messiah to Israel and to the world was to be the world’s best good news; the truth of the gospel of Christ was to lighten the earth with glory. The coming of Christianity was to “go forth conquering and to conquer, symbolized by the rider on the white horse of 6:2. The pure gospel of Christ was so clear, so powerful, that it would sweep through the world and demonstrate its character as what Paul says, the power of God unto salvation to all who believe” (Rom. 1:16). The Messiah was to save the world, and devout Jews for many years had looked forward to this glorious climax of all human history.
But then the prophet Daniel was given a vision in which he saw an evil power arise that would pervert that pure gospel of Christ, and to his amazement and horror it would become a greater curse to the world than paganism had been. The story is in chapter 8. The great cosmic controversy between Christ and Satan was won by Christ on His cross in a legal sense, assuring us of its final triumph; Satan knows that he is already a conquered foe. But he is fighting with mad desperation in his hatred of Christ, trying to keep people in deception, and thus keep them from being reconciled to God.
The enemy’s masterpiece has been to introduce into Christianity the key doctrines of paganism, which Muslims have from their beginning seized upon as their cause celebre to justify them in rejecting the gospel truths of the cross of Christ and of His atonement.
Still, it’s not too late to seek like a Good Shepherd seeking His lost sheep, for honest souls among Muslims who will respond to the pure gospel (what Paul says is “the truth of the gospel,” Gal. 2:5, 14). Foremost among anti-evangelism obstacles are the mistruths of double predestination, idolatry and image veneration, and justification by works, and all confusion regarding what Christ accomplished for the world. The cross of Christ is the focal point of Satan’s subtle enmity. God’s promise is that in these last days the pure “truth of the gospel” will emerge from the darkness of misapprehension of God—and accomplish what the apostles did after Pentecost.
Be sure to check your e-mail for "Dial Daily Bread" again tomorrow.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please forward these messages to your friends and encourage them to subscribe. The "Dial Daily Bread" web page resides at: http://1888message.org/dailybread/
To subscribe send an e-mail message with "subscribe" in the body of the message to:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Robert J. Wieland's inspirational "Dial Daily Bread" phone message is available via e-mail to anyone who wishes to receive a daily portion of uplifting Good News. "Dial Daily Bread" is FREE. Due to travel or other circumstances, there may be intervals when "Dial Daily Bread" will not be sent.
For hundreds of years reverent-minded Bible scholars have recognized that Revelation 9 presents the story of Islam. It is “the smoke out of the bottomless pit” (vss. 2, 3). It has darkened the bright sunshine of the pure gospel of Christ.
But professed Christianity has also not let much more of the pure gospel sunlight get through. The Crusades were not a proud chapter in our history.
The coming of the Messiah to Israel and to the world was to be the world’s best good news; the truth of the gospel of Christ was to lighten the earth with glory. The coming of Christianity was to “go forth conquering and to conquer, symbolized by the rider on the white horse of 6:2. The pure gospel of Christ was so clear, so powerful, that it would sweep through the world and demonstrate its character as what Paul says, the power of God unto salvation to all who believe” (Rom. 1:16). The Messiah was to save the world, and devout Jews for many years had looked forward to this glorious climax of all human history.
But then the prophet Daniel was given a vision in which he saw an evil power arise that would pervert that pure gospel of Christ, and to his amazement and horror it would become a greater curse to the world than paganism had been. The story is in chapter 8. The great cosmic controversy between Christ and Satan was won by Christ on His cross in a legal sense, assuring us of its final triumph; Satan knows that he is already a conquered foe. But he is fighting with mad desperation in his hatred of Christ, trying to keep people in deception, and thus keep them from being reconciled to God.
The enemy’s masterpiece has been to introduce into Christianity the key doctrines of paganism, which Muslims have from their beginning seized upon as their cause celebre to justify them in rejecting the gospel truths of the cross of Christ and of His atonement.
Still, it’s not too late to seek like a Good Shepherd seeking His lost sheep, for honest souls among Muslims who will respond to the pure gospel (what Paul says is “the truth of the gospel,” Gal. 2:5, 14). Foremost among anti-evangelism obstacles are the mistruths of double predestination, idolatry and image veneration, and justification by works, and all confusion regarding what Christ accomplished for the world. The cross of Christ is the focal point of Satan’s subtle enmity. God’s promise is that in these last days the pure “truth of the gospel” will emerge from the darkness of misapprehension of God—and accomplish what the apostles did after Pentecost.
Be sure to check your e-mail for "Dial Daily Bread" again tomorrow.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please forward these messages to your friends and encourage them to subscribe. The "Dial Daily Bread" web page resides at: http://1888message.org/dailybread/
To subscribe send an e-mail message with "subscribe" in the body of the message to:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Robert J. Wieland's inspirational "Dial Daily Bread" phone message is available via e-mail to anyone who wishes to receive a daily portion of uplifting Good News. "Dial Daily Bread" is FREE. Due to travel or other circumstances, there may be intervals when "Dial Daily Bread" will not be sent.
Friday, June 22, 2007
Dial Daily Bread
Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread":
In his excellent book, A READY DEFENSE, Josh McDowell writes his chapter 29 on “Islam.” His explanation of what Islam believes is something every one of us can read with profit. We must remember that in the Arabic language, the word for “God” is Allah. Josh rightly recognizes that much of the Quran has been derived from the Bible.
But Islam denies who Jesus Christ really is. Thus Muslims have closed the door of their hearts to that gospel that Paul said is “the power of God unto salvation” (Rom. 1:16). Among other tragedies, “Baghdad” must suffer.
But have we as Christians who have tried to win Muslms to the gospel correctly understood the gospel ourselves? Could it be that we have unconsciously erected barriers that have barricaded Muslim hearts against the pure, true gospel which does have the power to break through many centuries of unnecessary prejudice?
What we know for sure is that the God of heaven and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who manifests Himself through the Holy Spirit, loves Muslims just as He loves everybody else. When John 4:42 describes Jesus as “the Savior of the world,” it means “the Savior of Muslms” just as surely as it means the Savior of you and me. But they must believe!
And they can’t “believe” unless they hear the pure truth! Josh ends his chapter 29 with these words: “The Islamic God of strict judgment, Allah, cannot offer the mercy, love, or intimate sacrifice on mankind’s behalf that the Christian God, incarnate in Jesus Christ, offers to each individual even today.” Note: the two uses of “offer.”
And of course we use the word “offer” in respect of what Christ accomplished on His cross; but the word is not found in the Bible presentations of what Christ accomplished for the human race. It’s not a bad word, of course not; but misunderstood in a limited way, it can close human hearts against an appreciation of the love of Christ. The reason we use the word “offer” when the Bible plainly uses the word “gift” or “give” (and repeatedly!), is that we don’t want to give the impression that the “verdict of acquittal” that Christ accomplished in behalf of the human race, and for each of us, is forced upon us to receive.
Let us renew our love for the pure biblical gospel, getting back to what the apostles taught, so we can give Islam a clearer, more powerful version of what Christ commanded us to “proclaim to all the world”—“the everlasting gospel” in purity (Rev. 14:6, 7).
Be sure to check your e-mail for "Dial Daily Bread" again tomorrow.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please forward these messages to your friends and encourage them to subscribe. The "Dial Daily Bread" web page resides at: http://1888message.org/dailybread/
To subscribe send an e-mail message with "subscribe" in the body of the message to:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Robert J. Wieland's inspirational "Dial Daily Bread" phone message is available via e-mail to anyone who wishes to receive a daily portion of uplifting Good News. "Dial Daily Bread" is FREE. Due to travel or other circumstances, there may be intervals when "Dial Daily Bread" will not be sent.
In his excellent book, A READY DEFENSE, Josh McDowell writes his chapter 29 on “Islam.” His explanation of what Islam believes is something every one of us can read with profit. We must remember that in the Arabic language, the word for “God” is Allah. Josh rightly recognizes that much of the Quran has been derived from the Bible.
But Islam denies who Jesus Christ really is. Thus Muslims have closed the door of their hearts to that gospel that Paul said is “the power of God unto salvation” (Rom. 1:16). Among other tragedies, “Baghdad” must suffer.
But have we as Christians who have tried to win Muslms to the gospel correctly understood the gospel ourselves? Could it be that we have unconsciously erected barriers that have barricaded Muslim hearts against the pure, true gospel which does have the power to break through many centuries of unnecessary prejudice?
What we know for sure is that the God of heaven and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who manifests Himself through the Holy Spirit, loves Muslims just as He loves everybody else. When John 4:42 describes Jesus as “the Savior of the world,” it means “the Savior of Muslms” just as surely as it means the Savior of you and me. But they must believe!
And they can’t “believe” unless they hear the pure truth! Josh ends his chapter 29 with these words: “The Islamic God of strict judgment, Allah, cannot offer the mercy, love, or intimate sacrifice on mankind’s behalf that the Christian God, incarnate in Jesus Christ, offers to each individual even today.” Note: the two uses of “offer.”
And of course we use the word “offer” in respect of what Christ accomplished on His cross; but the word is not found in the Bible presentations of what Christ accomplished for the human race. It’s not a bad word, of course not; but misunderstood in a limited way, it can close human hearts against an appreciation of the love of Christ. The reason we use the word “offer” when the Bible plainly uses the word “gift” or “give” (and repeatedly!), is that we don’t want to give the impression that the “verdict of acquittal” that Christ accomplished in behalf of the human race, and for each of us, is forced upon us to receive.
Let us renew our love for the pure biblical gospel, getting back to what the apostles taught, so we can give Islam a clearer, more powerful version of what Christ commanded us to “proclaim to all the world”—“the everlasting gospel” in purity (Rev. 14:6, 7).
Be sure to check your e-mail for "Dial Daily Bread" again tomorrow.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please forward these messages to your friends and encourage them to subscribe. The "Dial Daily Bread" web page resides at: http://1888message.org/dailybread/
To subscribe send an e-mail message with "subscribe" in the body of the message to:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Robert J. Wieland's inspirational "Dial Daily Bread" phone message is available via e-mail to anyone who wishes to receive a daily portion of uplifting Good News. "Dial Daily Bread" is FREE. Due to travel or other circumstances, there may be intervals when "Dial Daily Bread" will not be sent.
Thursday, June 21, 2007
Dial Daily Bread
ear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread":
Pornography is the mouth of hell, and it is yawning all around us in our modern post-Christian culture. There are disturbing statistics gathered somehow of the number even of pastors who indulge.
Bathsheba has been vindicated, but King David is not; he fell into that pit of hell that his son later wrote about: “The mouth of strange women is a deep pit: he that is abhorred of the Lord shall fall therein” (Prov. 22:14, KJV). The allurement of illicit sex splashes its tragedies across our newspaper headlines and TVs, as honorable career after career is shattered by exposure.
But to be “abhorred of the Lord” does not mean that He hates you or that He has forsaken you forever; He can love somebody’s soul whose character He “abhors.” He loved King David’s soul throughout his painful ordeal, but He hated, abhorred, the pain and disgrace and death that the sexual sin entailed.
And although we “justify” Bathsheba in this prominent case history, we cannot say that only men are sinners in the eyes of God (Rom. 3:9, etc.). It would be spiritually healthful for us all to taste the evil of what it means for “self” to be un-crucified—what it means to be “abhorred” in the eyes of God because we all are really wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked in His sight (cf. Rev. 3:14-18). If it weren’t so sad it would be funny, strutting self-confidently and always smiling on the stage of the world and of the universe like the Emperor in his new “clothes.” Reality is what the true Holy Spirit ministers to us (John 16:8-11), both personally and corporately.
For the earth to be lightened with the glory of God’s last message of mercy (Rev. 18) is wonderful; but for that to happen, the Holy Spirit will have to perform His ministry of the ages in the most profound repentance the world has ever seen (see Acts 5:31). It will take us (or whoever takes our place if we insist that it must be a future generation) to the cross of Jesus, where at last self will be “crucified with Him,” both personally and corporately.
The “woman” of Song of Solomon 5 deeply wronged the only Man in the world who truly loved her; but the Song plays out in the drama before she repents appropriately; she never finds Him in the Song. That has to come in the last pages of the Holy Bible.
Be sure to check your e-mail for "Dial Daily Bread" again tomorrow.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please forward these messages to your friends and encourage them to subscribe. The "Dial Daily Bread" web page resides at: http://1888message.org/dailybread/
To subscribe send an e-mail message with "subscribe" in the body of the message to:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Robert J. Wieland's inspirational "Dial Daily Bread" phone message is available via e-mail to anyone who wishes to receive a daily portion of uplifting Good News. "Dial Daily Bread" is FREE. Due to travel or other circumstances, there may be intervals when "Dial Daily Bread" will not be sent.
Pornography is the mouth of hell, and it is yawning all around us in our modern post-Christian culture. There are disturbing statistics gathered somehow of the number even of pastors who indulge.
Bathsheba has been vindicated, but King David is not; he fell into that pit of hell that his son later wrote about: “The mouth of strange women is a deep pit: he that is abhorred of the Lord shall fall therein” (Prov. 22:14, KJV). The allurement of illicit sex splashes its tragedies across our newspaper headlines and TVs, as honorable career after career is shattered by exposure.
But to be “abhorred of the Lord” does not mean that He hates you or that He has forsaken you forever; He can love somebody’s soul whose character He “abhors.” He loved King David’s soul throughout his painful ordeal, but He hated, abhorred, the pain and disgrace and death that the sexual sin entailed.
And although we “justify” Bathsheba in this prominent case history, we cannot say that only men are sinners in the eyes of God (Rom. 3:9, etc.). It would be spiritually healthful for us all to taste the evil of what it means for “self” to be un-crucified—what it means to be “abhorred” in the eyes of God because we all are really wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked in His sight (cf. Rev. 3:14-18). If it weren’t so sad it would be funny, strutting self-confidently and always smiling on the stage of the world and of the universe like the Emperor in his new “clothes.” Reality is what the true Holy Spirit ministers to us (John 16:8-11), both personally and corporately.
For the earth to be lightened with the glory of God’s last message of mercy (Rev. 18) is wonderful; but for that to happen, the Holy Spirit will have to perform His ministry of the ages in the most profound repentance the world has ever seen (see Acts 5:31). It will take us (or whoever takes our place if we insist that it must be a future generation) to the cross of Jesus, where at last self will be “crucified with Him,” both personally and corporately.
The “woman” of Song of Solomon 5 deeply wronged the only Man in the world who truly loved her; but the Song plays out in the drama before she repents appropriately; she never finds Him in the Song. That has to come in the last pages of the Holy Bible.
Be sure to check your e-mail for "Dial Daily Bread" again tomorrow.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please forward these messages to your friends and encourage them to subscribe. The "Dial Daily Bread" web page resides at: http://1888message.org/dailybread/
To subscribe send an e-mail message with "subscribe" in the body of the message to:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Robert J. Wieland's inspirational "Dial Daily Bread" phone message is available via e-mail to anyone who wishes to receive a daily portion of uplifting Good News. "Dial Daily Bread" is FREE. Due to travel or other circumstances, there may be intervals when "Dial Daily Bread" will not be sent.
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
Dial Daily Bread
Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread":
Meet Mr. Bezaleel, someone you probably don’t remember. He stands as one of the worthy members of the cast of heroes in the Bible story, but he gets neglected. He didn’t kill a Goliath as David did or tame lions in their den as Daniel did, but he was as blessed as they were with a special gift of the Holy Spirit that needs recognition today.
Mr. Bezaleel was gifted by the Holy Spirit in ways that we don’t normally recognize as His gifts: he gets a significant write-up in the Bible with his genealogy as a craftsman working in gold, silver, bronze, wood-carving and the like. But he is designated as being “filled with the Spirit of God” (Ex. 35:30-36:2). We have been naïve in assuming that the Holy Spirit blesses only (or mainly) with spiritual knowledge—that it’s on a higher plane of living. “Every wise hearted man in whose heart the LORD hath put wisdom” is on the same level (36:2).
Mr. Bezaleel can be the patron saint of all who have developed a special intricate expertise in a profession that is a blessing to life on planet earth, the “knowledge [that] shall be increased” promised to Daniel (12:4).
So, the gentleman who takes my crumpled Passat and makes it look new again (in Nairobi we call such, “panel beaters”), who has given him that skill? Exodus 35, 36 says, “the Holy Spirit.”
The physician spends long years memorizing all the little bones and nerves in your body, studying how diseases work, that he might be a blessing to you; the Holy Spirit gives him that skill. The rich man is not to “glory in his riches” (Jer. 9:23), neither is the physician to glory in his skill, but that he “understands and knows Me,” says the Lord, that I am “love” manifested in constant “lovingkindness.” Thank God when you are healed; it was really “the Great Physician” working through His servant (who may not even know who he is).
Be sure to check your e-mail for "Dial Daily Bread" again tomorrow.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please forward these messages to your friends and encourage them to subscribe. The "Dial Daily Bread" web page resides at: http://1888message.org/dailybread/
To subscribe send an e-mail message with "subscribe" in the body of the message to:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Robert J. Wieland's inspirational "Dial Daily Bread" phone message is available via e-mail to anyone who wishes to receive a daily portion of uplifting Good News. "Dial Daily Bread" is FREE. Due to travel or other circumstances, there may be intervals when "Dial Daily Bread" will not be sent.
Meet Mr. Bezaleel, someone you probably don’t remember. He stands as one of the worthy members of the cast of heroes in the Bible story, but he gets neglected. He didn’t kill a Goliath as David did or tame lions in their den as Daniel did, but he was as blessed as they were with a special gift of the Holy Spirit that needs recognition today.
Mr. Bezaleel was gifted by the Holy Spirit in ways that we don’t normally recognize as His gifts: he gets a significant write-up in the Bible with his genealogy as a craftsman working in gold, silver, bronze, wood-carving and the like. But he is designated as being “filled with the Spirit of God” (Ex. 35:30-36:2). We have been naïve in assuming that the Holy Spirit blesses only (or mainly) with spiritual knowledge—that it’s on a higher plane of living. “Every wise hearted man in whose heart the LORD hath put wisdom” is on the same level (36:2).
Mr. Bezaleel can be the patron saint of all who have developed a special intricate expertise in a profession that is a blessing to life on planet earth, the “knowledge [that] shall be increased” promised to Daniel (12:4).
So, the gentleman who takes my crumpled Passat and makes it look new again (in Nairobi we call such, “panel beaters”), who has given him that skill? Exodus 35, 36 says, “the Holy Spirit.”
The physician spends long years memorizing all the little bones and nerves in your body, studying how diseases work, that he might be a blessing to you; the Holy Spirit gives him that skill. The rich man is not to “glory in his riches” (Jer. 9:23), neither is the physician to glory in his skill, but that he “understands and knows Me,” says the Lord, that I am “love” manifested in constant “lovingkindness.” Thank God when you are healed; it was really “the Great Physician” working through His servant (who may not even know who he is).
Be sure to check your e-mail for "Dial Daily Bread" again tomorrow.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please forward these messages to your friends and encourage them to subscribe. The "Dial Daily Bread" web page resides at: http://1888message.org/dailybread/
To subscribe send an e-mail message with "subscribe" in the body of the message to:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Robert J. Wieland's inspirational "Dial Daily Bread" phone message is available via e-mail to anyone who wishes to receive a daily portion of uplifting Good News. "Dial Daily Bread" is FREE. Due to travel or other circumstances, there may be intervals when "Dial Daily Bread" will not be sent.
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Dial Daily Bread
Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread":
All this talk about “old/new covenant” may be perplexing to someone who honestly wonders what it’s all about, what’s the difference. We could apologize for bringing it up, but then we can’t—it’s in the Bible almost everywhere.
Nicodemus comes to Jesus “by night” (old covenant people love the dark) with some old covenant flattery (“we know You are a teacher come from God”) and gets a stark new covenant response: “The son of man must be lifted up so that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:1-15).
The fear-laden jailer in Philippi asks an old covenant question, “What MUST I DO to be saved?” and gets a new covenant answer: “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you shall be saved” (Acts 16:30 , 31). (No obeying the law? “Believe” and there will be no end to your law-obedience.)
The 23rd psalm is probably the most new-covenantish chapter in the entire Bible (forgive me for coining a word!). Nothing about “the law”? Not a word about “doing” anything except following where the Good Shepherd “leads”? The old covenanter (again, forgive me!) would probably re-write it, “The Lord is my Dog who DRIVES me home” ( no, that’s not the idea). The Shepherd psalm is the “Come unto Me and I will give you rest” idea (cf. Matt. 11:28-30).
The LORD who is your Shepherd is the special name for the “our Father which art in heaven” who loves to hear us cry, “Abba, Father!” when we are in distress (Matt. 6:9, KJV; Rom. 8:15, 16). The very fact that your perplexed heart cries out those words is proof that He has “adopted” you into the family of God (a 23rd psalm idea). Read Romans 8 carefully, to see who you are.
The new covenant truth: you are not a “wolf” to be shot down; you are a “lamb” (a prodigal son) who has gone astray. That same LORD is the “father” who welcomes the prodigal home and puts the best robe on him (Luke 15:22). Flee where you wish but you can’t escape that new covenant love that pursues you (Psalm 139:9-12).
Be sure to check your e-mail for "Dial Daily Bread" again tomorrow.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please forward these messages to your friends and encourage them to subscribe. The "Dial Daily Bread" web page resides at: http://1888message.org/dailybread/
To subscribe send an e-mail message with "subscribe" in the body of the message to:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Robert J. Wieland's inspirational "Dial Daily Bread" phone message is available via e-mail to anyone who wishes to receive a daily portion of uplifting Good News. "Dial Daily Bread" is FREE. Due to travel or other circumstances, there may be intervals when "Dial Daily Bread" will not be sent.
All this talk about “old/new covenant” may be perplexing to someone who honestly wonders what it’s all about, what’s the difference. We could apologize for bringing it up, but then we can’t—it’s in the Bible almost everywhere.
Nicodemus comes to Jesus “by night” (old covenant people love the dark) with some old covenant flattery (“we know You are a teacher come from God”) and gets a stark new covenant response: “The son of man must be lifted up so that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:1-15).
The fear-laden jailer in Philippi asks an old covenant question, “What MUST I DO to be saved?” and gets a new covenant answer: “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you shall be saved” (Acts 16:30 , 31). (No obeying the law? “Believe” and there will be no end to your law-obedience.)
The 23rd psalm is probably the most new-covenantish chapter in the entire Bible (forgive me for coining a word!). Nothing about “the law”? Not a word about “doing” anything except following where the Good Shepherd “leads”? The old covenanter (again, forgive me!) would probably re-write it, “The Lord is my Dog who DRIVES me home” ( no, that’s not the idea). The Shepherd psalm is the “Come unto Me and I will give you rest” idea (cf. Matt. 11:28-30).
The LORD who is your Shepherd is the special name for the “our Father which art in heaven” who loves to hear us cry, “Abba, Father!” when we are in distress (Matt. 6:9, KJV; Rom. 8:15, 16). The very fact that your perplexed heart cries out those words is proof that He has “adopted” you into the family of God (a 23rd psalm idea). Read Romans 8 carefully, to see who you are.
The new covenant truth: you are not a “wolf” to be shot down; you are a “lamb” (a prodigal son) who has gone astray. That same LORD is the “father” who welcomes the prodigal home and puts the best robe on him (Luke 15:22). Flee where you wish but you can’t escape that new covenant love that pursues you (Psalm 139:9-12).
Be sure to check your e-mail for "Dial Daily Bread" again tomorrow.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please forward these messages to your friends and encourage them to subscribe. The "Dial Daily Bread" web page resides at: http://1888message.org/dailybread/
To subscribe send an e-mail message with "subscribe" in the body of the message to:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Robert J. Wieland's inspirational "Dial Daily Bread" phone message is available via e-mail to anyone who wishes to receive a daily portion of uplifting Good News. "Dial Daily Bread" is FREE. Due to travel or other circumstances, there may be intervals when "Dial Daily Bread" will not be sent.
Sunday, June 17, 2007
Dial Daily Bread
Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread":
You are praying for someone, a loved one; your heart is drawn out for that person. It’s the real thing, for you find yourself willing to be “accursed from Christ” for the sake of that person (cf. Rom. 9:1). That’s the genuine article that the Bible says is agape.
Moses had that kind of love, for he begged the Lord to remove his name from the Book of Life if He could not save rebellious Israel (Ex. 32:31-33).
The very intensity of your agape praying for your loved one is evidence that the Lord hears your prayers; He will not deceive you! And now you have something in common with the Lord Jesus, for He loves that person more than you have ever loved him/her. Now you two are working together!
Very likely your beloved has somewhere become alienated from “the commonwealth of Israel ” (Eph. 2:12) because he/she has been inoculated with the virus of the old covenant, possibly in a “Christian” school or church. The “old covenant” “genders to bondage” (Gal. 4:24). There are probably millions around the world in various stages of spiritual bondage because of the machinations of old covenant thinking.
But do not give in to despair; you may be part (or a great deal) of the problem and not realize it, but now that you realize you have something in common with the Lord Jesus, you are on the way to recovery. If the agape of Christ leads you to experience the love that the apostle Paul or Moses had for Israel, that means that you have begun (maybe only begun!) to sense that the great controversy between Christ and Satan is an issue of greater importance than your own personal salvation. You are “growing up into Christ” (Eph. 4:15). Now your supreme concern is not (a) your own salvation, but (b) the salvation of someone else, and (c) the honor, the vindication, the reward that the Lord Jesus deserves for His great sacrifice of dying the world’s second death (Rev. 20:14). “Big idea”!
Be sure to check your e-mail for "Dial Daily Bread" again tomorrow.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please forward these messages to your friends and encourage them to subscribe. The "Dial Daily Bread" web page resides at: http://1888message.org/dailybread/
To subscribe send an e-mail message with "subscribe" in the body of the message to:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Robert J. Wieland's inspirational "Dial Daily Bread" phone message is available via e-mail to anyone who wishes to receive a daily portion of uplifting Good News. "Dial Daily Bread" is FREE. Due to travel or other circumstances, there may be intervals when "Dial Daily Bread" will not be sent.
You are praying for someone, a loved one; your heart is drawn out for that person. It’s the real thing, for you find yourself willing to be “accursed from Christ” for the sake of that person (cf. Rom. 9:1). That’s the genuine article that the Bible says is agape.
Moses had that kind of love, for he begged the Lord to remove his name from the Book of Life if He could not save rebellious Israel (Ex. 32:31-33).
The very intensity of your agape praying for your loved one is evidence that the Lord hears your prayers; He will not deceive you! And now you have something in common with the Lord Jesus, for He loves that person more than you have ever loved him/her. Now you two are working together!
Very likely your beloved has somewhere become alienated from “the commonwealth of Israel ” (Eph. 2:12) because he/she has been inoculated with the virus of the old covenant, possibly in a “Christian” school or church. The “old covenant” “genders to bondage” (Gal. 4:24). There are probably millions around the world in various stages of spiritual bondage because of the machinations of old covenant thinking.
But do not give in to despair; you may be part (or a great deal) of the problem and not realize it, but now that you realize you have something in common with the Lord Jesus, you are on the way to recovery. If the agape of Christ leads you to experience the love that the apostle Paul or Moses had for Israel, that means that you have begun (maybe only begun!) to sense that the great controversy between Christ and Satan is an issue of greater importance than your own personal salvation. You are “growing up into Christ” (Eph. 4:15). Now your supreme concern is not (a) your own salvation, but (b) the salvation of someone else, and (c) the honor, the vindication, the reward that the Lord Jesus deserves for His great sacrifice of dying the world’s second death (Rev. 20:14). “Big idea”!
Be sure to check your e-mail for "Dial Daily Bread" again tomorrow.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please forward these messages to your friends and encourage them to subscribe. The "Dial Daily Bread" web page resides at: http://1888message.org/dailybread/
To subscribe send an e-mail message with "subscribe" in the body of the message to:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Robert J. Wieland's inspirational "Dial Daily Bread" phone message is available via e-mail to anyone who wishes to receive a daily portion of uplifting Good News. "Dial Daily Bread" is FREE. Due to travel or other circumstances, there may be intervals when "Dial Daily Bread" will not be sent.
Friday, June 15, 2007
Dial Daily Bread
Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread":
Some of the best good news the Bible has for us is found where we read that the Lord wants us to understand that last book of the Bible, and yet many think it’s impossible. Here’s the promise of God: “Happy is the one who reads this book, and happy are those who listen to the words of this prophetic message and obey [that is, cherish] what is written in this book!” (1:3).
The book of Revelation has never been sealed as was Daniel; and even Daniel was un-sealed as we entered “the time of the end” which time is defined in 11:35, 12:4, and 7:25. Interest in both Daniel and Revelation was widely aroused in the first half of the 1800’s.
But who can we trust as capable and reliable teachers of those key prophecies? Today there is a multitude of voices saying they have the right knowledge, but they disagree with one another. That tells us to look again at what Peter says, “No prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation” (2 Peter 1:19-21). In other words, don’t follow any “solo” interpreter; “in the mouth of two or three witnesses [at least] every word shall be established”(Deut. 17:6). Truth will attract more than one supporter! A reliable student of Bible prophecy must be a person in whom self is crucified with Christ, someone who is courageous to stand for Him against the crowd, yet who recognizes God leads others, too.
At the first church council in Acts 15, the elders spoke of those faithful servants of God “who have risked their lives in the service of our Lord Jesus Christ” (vs. 26, GNB).
Such were those pioneers of the early 1800’s who not only championed the fresh message of Daniel and Revelation, but also the dangerous public defense of the slaves in the South. Many listened to these godly men, among whom were J. N. Lougborough, Joseph Bates, J. N. Andrews, and there was Uriah Smith with his monumental Thoughts on Daniel and the Revelation, a 600 page book that has become a treasure to many worldwide, and has stood the credulity-test of time. It may be Victorian English but it is solid truth. This is not to say it’s perfection—no book is, aside from the Bible; we need common sense and God gives it.
The dear Lord is leading His people in these last days, not just a stray soul here and there.
Everything in Daniel and the Revelation points to a corporate body of believers preparing for the second coming of Jesus, a world “church” in unity and harmony in Christ.
Be sure to check your e-mail for "Dial Daily Bread" again tomorrow.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please forward these messages to your friends and encourage them to subscribe. The "Dial Daily Bread" web page resides at: http://1888message.org/dailybread/
To subscribe send an e-mail message with "subscribe" in the body of the message to:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Robert J. Wieland's inspirational "Dial Daily Bread" phone message is available via e-mail to anyone who wishes to receive a daily portion of uplifting Good News. "Dial Daily Bread" is FREE. Due to travel or other circumstances, there may be intervals when "Dial Daily Bread" will not be sent.
Some of the best good news the Bible has for us is found where we read that the Lord wants us to understand that last book of the Bible, and yet many think it’s impossible. Here’s the promise of God: “Happy is the one who reads this book, and happy are those who listen to the words of this prophetic message and obey [that is, cherish] what is written in this book!” (1:3).
The book of Revelation has never been sealed as was Daniel; and even Daniel was un-sealed as we entered “the time of the end” which time is defined in 11:35, 12:4, and 7:25. Interest in both Daniel and Revelation was widely aroused in the first half of the 1800’s.
But who can we trust as capable and reliable teachers of those key prophecies? Today there is a multitude of voices saying they have the right knowledge, but they disagree with one another. That tells us to look again at what Peter says, “No prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation” (2 Peter 1:19-21). In other words, don’t follow any “solo” interpreter; “in the mouth of two or three witnesses [at least] every word shall be established”(Deut. 17:6). Truth will attract more than one supporter! A reliable student of Bible prophecy must be a person in whom self is crucified with Christ, someone who is courageous to stand for Him against the crowd, yet who recognizes God leads others, too.
At the first church council in Acts 15, the elders spoke of those faithful servants of God “who have risked their lives in the service of our Lord Jesus Christ” (vs. 26, GNB).
Such were those pioneers of the early 1800’s who not only championed the fresh message of Daniel and Revelation, but also the dangerous public defense of the slaves in the South. Many listened to these godly men, among whom were J. N. Lougborough, Joseph Bates, J. N. Andrews, and there was Uriah Smith with his monumental Thoughts on Daniel and the Revelation, a 600 page book that has become a treasure to many worldwide, and has stood the credulity-test of time. It may be Victorian English but it is solid truth. This is not to say it’s perfection—no book is, aside from the Bible; we need common sense and God gives it.
The dear Lord is leading His people in these last days, not just a stray soul here and there.
Everything in Daniel and the Revelation points to a corporate body of believers preparing for the second coming of Jesus, a world “church” in unity and harmony in Christ.
Be sure to check your e-mail for "Dial Daily Bread" again tomorrow.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please forward these messages to your friends and encourage them to subscribe. The "Dial Daily Bread" web page resides at: http://1888message.org/dailybread/
To subscribe send an e-mail message with "subscribe" in the body of the message to:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Robert J. Wieland's inspirational "Dial Daily Bread" phone message is available via e-mail to anyone who wishes to receive a daily portion of uplifting Good News. "Dial Daily Bread" is FREE. Due to travel or other circumstances, there may be intervals when "Dial Daily Bread" will not be sent.
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread":
The books of Daniel and the Revelation are an integral part of the Holy Bible: Jesus expressly charged upon us the duty of “reading” and “understanding” Daniel (Matt. 24:15), and Revelation is obviously the fulfillment of His promise to the disciples that “the Comforter [the Holy Spirit] ... will shew you things to come” (John 16:13; Rev. 1:1-3).
We need a rock-solid understanding of those prophecies as valid as the original inspiration that gave them to us. Daniel was “sealed” until it was opened when “the time of the end” came at the end of the 1260 years of the Dark Ages (Dan. 7:25;11:35; 12:4; Rev. 12:6, 14, etc.). That unsealing was a dramatic miracle of awakening that occurred simultaneously in many lands among many Christian churches in the early decades of the 19th century.
Foremost among the early pioneers of prophetic study was a little group who were united in a common hatred of slavery in the United States of America. They risked their lives in publishing their abhorrence of that devilish traffic in the souls of men and women and children; these students of the prophecies were in at-one-ment with Jesus Himself for He too has always hated the slavery cruelty of man to man. They actively opposed the terrible injustice of the Fugitive Slave Law and helped runaway slaves to freedom at the risk of their own lives (would you do that today?).
Several of these noble men were led by the Holy Spirit to pursue a study of all the prophecies of those two inspired books. They may not have had every tiny detail perfectly understood, but they were united in the same basic convictions; people far and wide became convinced that the Spirit of God was leading; it wasn’t emotional miracles based on shallow understanding—these were solid, reasonable dissertations on Daniel and Revelation that appealed to and convinced highly intelligent, honorable, reasonable men and women.
The little group developed until they became a leading movement of 19th century Christian reformation that also led the world in health reform, building the finest health institution of the day in Battle Creek, Michigan, to which came kings across the Atlantic.
The point of this little soliloquy: the understanding those pioneers gained of Bible prophecy was taught of God; none was of the “private interpretation” that the apostle decries in 2 Peter 1:19-21. These pioneers were led by a loving fellowship in Christ to lay aside their private views and recognize together the leading of the Lord. The Holy Spirit led the community, and His leading has stood the test of these centuries of time. (If the Lord wills, more tomorrow).
Be sure to check your e-mail for "Dial Daily Bread" again tomorrow.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please forward these messages to your friends and encourage them to subscribe. The "Dial Daily Bread" web page resides at: http://1888message.org/dailybread/
To subscribe send an e-mail message with "subscribe" in the body of the message to:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Robert J. Wieland's inspirational "Dial Daily Bread" phone message is available via e-mail to anyone who wishes to receive a daily portion of uplifting Good News. "Dial Daily Bread" is FREE. Due to travel or other circumstances, there may be intervals when "Dial Daily Bread" will not be sent.
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The books of Daniel and the Revelation are an integral part of the Holy Bible: Jesus expressly charged upon us the duty of “reading” and “understanding” Daniel (Matt. 24:15), and Revelation is obviously the fulfillment of His promise to the disciples that “the Comforter [the Holy Spirit] ... will shew you things to come” (John 16:13; Rev. 1:1-3).
We need a rock-solid understanding of those prophecies as valid as the original inspiration that gave them to us. Daniel was “sealed” until it was opened when “the time of the end” came at the end of the 1260 years of the Dark Ages (Dan. 7:25;11:35; 12:4; Rev. 12:6, 14, etc.). That unsealing was a dramatic miracle of awakening that occurred simultaneously in many lands among many Christian churches in the early decades of the 19th century.
Foremost among the early pioneers of prophetic study was a little group who were united in a common hatred of slavery in the United States of America. They risked their lives in publishing their abhorrence of that devilish traffic in the souls of men and women and children; these students of the prophecies were in at-one-ment with Jesus Himself for He too has always hated the slavery cruelty of man to man. They actively opposed the terrible injustice of the Fugitive Slave Law and helped runaway slaves to freedom at the risk of their own lives (would you do that today?).
Several of these noble men were led by the Holy Spirit to pursue a study of all the prophecies of those two inspired books. They may not have had every tiny detail perfectly understood, but they were united in the same basic convictions; people far and wide became convinced that the Spirit of God was leading; it wasn’t emotional miracles based on shallow understanding—these were solid, reasonable dissertations on Daniel and Revelation that appealed to and convinced highly intelligent, honorable, reasonable men and women.
The little group developed until they became a leading movement of 19th century Christian reformation that also led the world in health reform, building the finest health institution of the day in Battle Creek, Michigan, to which came kings across the Atlantic.
The point of this little soliloquy: the understanding those pioneers gained of Bible prophecy was taught of God; none was of the “private interpretation” that the apostle decries in 2 Peter 1:19-21. These pioneers were led by a loving fellowship in Christ to lay aside their private views and recognize together the leading of the Lord. The Holy Spirit led the community, and His leading has stood the test of these centuries of time. (If the Lord wills, more tomorrow).
Be sure to check your e-mail for "Dial Daily Bread" again tomorrow.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please forward these messages to your friends and encourage them to subscribe. The "Dial Daily Bread" web page resides at: http://1888message.org/dailybread/
To subscribe send an e-mail message with "subscribe" in the body of the message to:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Robert J. Wieland's inspirational "Dial Daily Bread" phone message is available via e-mail to anyone who wishes to receive a daily portion of uplifting Good News. "Dial Daily Bread" is FREE. Due to travel or other circumstances, there may be intervals when "Dial Daily Bread" will not be sent.
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Friday, June 08, 2007
Dial Daily Bread
Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread":
Now comes something welcome and refreshing, long overdue: a scholarly, credible defense attorney’s vindication of poor Bathsheba in her affair with king David. No stone has been left unturned; every logical, reasonable, and linguistic detail has been uncovered: King David turns out to be guilty of what we call rape! She is declared innocent. (We are indebted to Dr. Richard Davidson, Journal, Adventist Theological Society, Autumn 2006):
She was upright and pure throughout the ordeal. We may have wondered what business she had in taking a bath out in the open in the privacy of her house in Jerusalem: she was engaged in Levitical ritual bathing following her monthly period (2 Sam 11:4; Lev 15:19, 28. This was duty).
We may have wondered whether there was some coquetry, some “come hither” attitude on her part that took advantage of a healthy man in his prime: David should have been with his army fighting, not relaxing, walking around ogling houses below the palace (vs 11).
We may have wondered if when the king “sent” for her she rejoiced at the prospect of an “affaire royale,” because honestly, many would have: she did not try to stay in the palace but went home to renew her lowly status as Uriah’s wife (vs 4).
We may have thought her husband Uriah the Hittite, being a convert to Israel and apparently over-zealous in fanatical devotion to the king and his many battles, was a strict-to -extreme legalist, unbending, severe, whose rigidity drove a healthy woman to desperation. We have assumed that when he died suddenly, her period of mourning was the minimum required after which she rushed into the arms of the king, her new lover: her mourning for her slain husband is described in Hebrew as “wails/laments with loud cries” (vs 26). She loved him and was loyal to him!
We may have thought that the king was suddenly overcome by an orchestrated exhibition of live pornography, more than any man should be expected to weather: the prophet Nathan’s rebuke targets the king alone in this affair for rape (12:1-4).
We may have thought that whatever was the nature of his moral lapse, David’s sin was forgiven by a sweet and indulgent heavenly Father who knows we can’t help being what we are: David came close to losing his soul eternally over this sin (Ps 51:4, 11). David gives no excuse for moral lapses today.
Be sure to check your e-mail for "Dial Daily Bread" again tomorrow.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please forward these messages to your friends and encourage them to subscribe. The "Dial Daily Bread" web page resides at: http://1888message.org/dailybread/
To subscribe send an e-mail message with "subscribe" in the body of the message to:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Robert J. Wieland's inspirational "Dial Daily Bread" phone message is available via e-mail to anyone who wishes to receive a daily portion of uplifting Good News. "Dial Daily Bread" is FREE. Due to travel or other circumstances, there may be intervals when "Dial Daily Bread" will not be sent.
Now comes something welcome and refreshing, long overdue: a scholarly, credible defense attorney’s vindication of poor Bathsheba in her affair with king David. No stone has been left unturned; every logical, reasonable, and linguistic detail has been uncovered: King David turns out to be guilty of what we call rape! She is declared innocent. (We are indebted to Dr. Richard Davidson, Journal, Adventist Theological Society, Autumn 2006):
She was upright and pure throughout the ordeal. We may have wondered what business she had in taking a bath out in the open in the privacy of her house in Jerusalem: she was engaged in Levitical ritual bathing following her monthly period (2 Sam 11:4; Lev 15:19, 28. This was duty).
We may have wondered whether there was some coquetry, some “come hither” attitude on her part that took advantage of a healthy man in his prime: David should have been with his army fighting, not relaxing, walking around ogling houses below the palace (vs 11).
We may have wondered if when the king “sent” for her she rejoiced at the prospect of an “affaire royale,” because honestly, many would have: she did not try to stay in the palace but went home to renew her lowly status as Uriah’s wife (vs 4).
We may have thought her husband Uriah the Hittite, being a convert to Israel and apparently over-zealous in fanatical devotion to the king and his many battles, was a strict-to -extreme legalist, unbending, severe, whose rigidity drove a healthy woman to desperation. We have assumed that when he died suddenly, her period of mourning was the minimum required after which she rushed into the arms of the king, her new lover: her mourning for her slain husband is described in Hebrew as “wails/laments with loud cries” (vs 26). She loved him and was loyal to him!
We may have thought that the king was suddenly overcome by an orchestrated exhibition of live pornography, more than any man should be expected to weather: the prophet Nathan’s rebuke targets the king alone in this affair for rape (12:1-4).
We may have thought that whatever was the nature of his moral lapse, David’s sin was forgiven by a sweet and indulgent heavenly Father who knows we can’t help being what we are: David came close to losing his soul eternally over this sin (Ps 51:4, 11). David gives no excuse for moral lapses today.
Be sure to check your e-mail for "Dial Daily Bread" again tomorrow.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please forward these messages to your friends and encourage them to subscribe. The "Dial Daily Bread" web page resides at: http://1888message.org/dailybread/
To subscribe send an e-mail message with "subscribe" in the body of the message to:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Robert J. Wieland's inspirational "Dial Daily Bread" phone message is available via e-mail to anyone who wishes to receive a daily portion of uplifting Good News. "Dial Daily Bread" is FREE. Due to travel or other circumstances, there may be intervals when "Dial Daily Bread" will not be sent.
Thursday, June 07, 2007
Dial Daily Bread
Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread":
Did the apostle Paul have something wrong with his emotional makeup that he was so obsessed with his weakness and unworthiness? He said he was “the chief of sinners” (1 Tim. 1:15), “less than the least of all sinners” (Eph. 3:8), “one born out of due time” (1 Cor. 15:8), “not worthy to be called an apostle” (vs. 9), etc.
Then he added that the weaker and more unworthy he saw himself in his own eyes the more the Lord was able to use him in helping others (15:9). Even though he was less than the least of all saints, yet the Lord had granted to him a most unusual measure of the grace of God, that his preaching to the Gentiles should be so blessed by the Holy Spirit with power (2:12, 13).
What should we think about ourselves?
Psychologists tell us to think big: if we think lowly thoughts about ourselves then automatically people will think lowly thoughts about us: the popular idea is that we should assert ourselves.
That’s the world’s way of thinking.
But when the Son of God became a man, the Savior of the world, He gave up His equality with God, made Himself of “no reputation,” that is, humbled Himself, took on Himself the role of a servant (slave Greek), was made in the likeness of lowly man, not Superman, and even further humbled Himself, and did something no other human in all the thousands of years of human history has ever done—He became “obedient unto death” (Phil. 2:5-8). But He didn’t stop there. He found that there is a notch down lower than “death.” Terrible as that is: “even the death of the cross,” that involved “the curse of God” and of the universe (Deut. 21:22, 23).
That grabbed Paul’s attention, obsessed him, charmed him forever; he could do nothing else than “glory in the cross”(Gal. 2:20). He felt he had no choice but to “live henceforth not unto” self, but unto the One who went to hell and died his second death for him (cf. 2 Cor. 5:14, 15). Right here we have the vast difference between the Bible and the Quran, and all the other “holy books” of Hinduism or whatever from anywhere.
Paul was mentally healthy!
Be sure to check your e-mail for "Dial Daily Bread" again tomorrow.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please forward these messages to your friends and encourage them to subscribe. The "Dial Daily Bread" web page resides at: http://1888message.org/dailybread/
To subscribe send an e-mail message with "subscribe" in the body of the message to:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Robert J. Wieland's inspirational "Dial Daily Bread" phone message is available via e-mail to anyone who wishes to receive a daily portion of uplifting Good News. "Dial Daily Bread" is FREE. Due to travel or other circumstances, there may be intervals when "Dial Daily Bread" will not be sent.
Did the apostle Paul have something wrong with his emotional makeup that he was so obsessed with his weakness and unworthiness? He said he was “the chief of sinners” (1 Tim. 1:15), “less than the least of all sinners” (Eph. 3:8), “one born out of due time” (1 Cor. 15:8), “not worthy to be called an apostle” (vs. 9), etc.
Then he added that the weaker and more unworthy he saw himself in his own eyes the more the Lord was able to use him in helping others (15:9). Even though he was less than the least of all saints, yet the Lord had granted to him a most unusual measure of the grace of God, that his preaching to the Gentiles should be so blessed by the Holy Spirit with power (2:12, 13).
What should we think about ourselves?
Psychologists tell us to think big: if we think lowly thoughts about ourselves then automatically people will think lowly thoughts about us: the popular idea is that we should assert ourselves.
That’s the world’s way of thinking.
But when the Son of God became a man, the Savior of the world, He gave up His equality with God, made Himself of “no reputation,” that is, humbled Himself, took on Himself the role of a servant (slave Greek), was made in the likeness of lowly man, not Superman, and even further humbled Himself, and did something no other human in all the thousands of years of human history has ever done—He became “obedient unto death” (Phil. 2:5-8). But He didn’t stop there. He found that there is a notch down lower than “death.” Terrible as that is: “even the death of the cross,” that involved “the curse of God” and of the universe (Deut. 21:22, 23).
That grabbed Paul’s attention, obsessed him, charmed him forever; he could do nothing else than “glory in the cross”(Gal. 2:20). He felt he had no choice but to “live henceforth not unto” self, but unto the One who went to hell and died his second death for him (cf. 2 Cor. 5:14, 15). Right here we have the vast difference between the Bible and the Quran, and all the other “holy books” of Hinduism or whatever from anywhere.
Paul was mentally healthy!
Be sure to check your e-mail for "Dial Daily Bread" again tomorrow.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please forward these messages to your friends and encourage them to subscribe. The "Dial Daily Bread" web page resides at: http://1888message.org/dailybread/
To subscribe send an e-mail message with "subscribe" in the body of the message to:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Robert J. Wieland's inspirational "Dial Daily Bread" phone message is available via e-mail to anyone who wishes to receive a daily portion of uplifting Good News. "Dial Daily Bread" is FREE. Due to travel or other circumstances, there may be intervals when "Dial Daily Bread" will not be sent.
Wednesday, June 06, 2007
Dial Daily Bread
Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread":
Over the weekend millions of Christians around the world were asked by their church leaders to memorize a prayer that Jesus prayed to His Father for us all: “Sanctify them through thy truth: Thy word is truth” (John 17:17).
What does “sanctify” mean? We all can agree that there is a difference between the character and the personality of someone who is “sanctified” and someone who is not. The difference will be evident between theologians also, even they, the best in the world, can be ornery (sorry!).
We want to live in Christian harmony: “Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren [and sisters] to dwell together in unity!” Day after day it’s a joy to live. It was possible to live like that as far back in history as King David’s time (Psalm 133). It would be heaven on earth to live that way today!
We of all kindreds, tongues, and people can agree that a “sanctified” person will be what 1 Corinthians 13 describes:
He/she suffers long, is kind, doesn’t envy, doesn’t parade him/herself, isn’t puffed up, doesn’t behave rudely, isn’t provoked [easily, KJV ], thinks no evil (that is, doesn’t impute evil motives ), bears all things patiently, doesn’t rejoice when someone falls, believes and hopes all good things, and endures all bad things (!?), never breaks down the endurance of being crucified daily (Luke 9:23). This is being “sanctified”!
All this, but not being a wimp or a doormat; Jesus confronted some people very directly even sharply, but always His was a Christlike spirit. Oh, He could stand firm for what He knew is right (read Matt. 23:23-39)! No Christlike, sanctified person can be a wimp.
Father, Father! Please listen to Jesus’ prayer in our behalf—“sanctify [us]”!
Be sure to check your e-mail for "Dial Daily Bread" again tomorrow.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please forward these messages to your friends and encourage them to subscribe. The "Dial Daily Bread" web page resides at: http://1888message.org/dailybread/
To subscribe send an e-mail message with "subscribe" in the body of the message to:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Robert J. Wieland's inspirational "Dial Daily Bread" phone message is available via e-mail to anyone who wishes to receive a daily portion of uplifting Good News. "Dial Daily Bread" is FREE. Due to travel or other circumstances, there may be intervals when "Dial Daily Bread" will not be sent.
Over the weekend millions of Christians around the world were asked by their church leaders to memorize a prayer that Jesus prayed to His Father for us all: “Sanctify them through thy truth: Thy word is truth” (John 17:17).
What does “sanctify” mean? We all can agree that there is a difference between the character and the personality of someone who is “sanctified” and someone who is not. The difference will be evident between theologians also, even they, the best in the world, can be ornery (sorry!).
We want to live in Christian harmony: “Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren [and sisters] to dwell together in unity!” Day after day it’s a joy to live. It was possible to live like that as far back in history as King David’s time (Psalm 133). It would be heaven on earth to live that way today!
We of all kindreds, tongues, and people can agree that a “sanctified” person will be what 1 Corinthians 13 describes:
He/she suffers long, is kind, doesn’t envy, doesn’t parade him/herself, isn’t puffed up, doesn’t behave rudely, isn’t provoked [easily, KJV ], thinks no evil (that is, doesn’t impute evil motives ), bears all things patiently, doesn’t rejoice when someone falls, believes and hopes all good things, and endures all bad things (!?), never breaks down the endurance of being crucified daily (Luke 9:23). This is being “sanctified”!
All this, but not being a wimp or a doormat; Jesus confronted some people very directly even sharply, but always His was a Christlike spirit. Oh, He could stand firm for what He knew is right (read Matt. 23:23-39)! No Christlike, sanctified person can be a wimp.
Father, Father! Please listen to Jesus’ prayer in our behalf—“sanctify [us]”!
Be sure to check your e-mail for "Dial Daily Bread" again tomorrow.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please forward these messages to your friends and encourage them to subscribe. The "Dial Daily Bread" web page resides at: http://1888message.org/dailybread/
To subscribe send an e-mail message with "subscribe" in the body of the message to:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Robert J. Wieland's inspirational "Dial Daily Bread" phone message is available via e-mail to anyone who wishes to receive a daily portion of uplifting Good News. "Dial Daily Bread" is FREE. Due to travel or other circumstances, there may be intervals when "Dial Daily Bread" will not be sent.
Monday, June 04, 2007
Dial Daily Bread
Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread":
Will the time ever come when the majority of the world’s inhabitants choose to honor and glorify Christ by believing “the everlasting gospel”?
The parable He told of the unjust judge and the importunate widow suggests the answer is No: Jesus asks, “When the Son of man comes, will He find faith on the earth?” (Luke 18:8). Abundant testimony in the Bible tells of Satan leading the world’s population into bitter rebellion against Christ with the enforcement of “the mark of the beast” (cf. Rev. 13, for example).
How then can the faithful followers of Christ honor Him and glorify Him in the close of the great Day of Atonement?
The great controversy between Christ and Satan will finally be victory for the Lamb of God, but it will not be settled by a majority vote of earth’s inhabitants, except as they vote to judge and condemn themselves. What will happen in the final events as we know them will presage the Judgment before the Great White Throne when the books at last are “opened” and all mankind are “judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works” (Rev. 20:12). Those who will have come up in the second resurrection at the end of the 1000 years will be “in number as the sand of the sea” (vs. 8).
But the total number of those who in the closing of the world’s history will be totally loyal to the Lamb will be only “144,000,” says Revelation 14:1-5, although 7:9, 10 gives encouragement for those who believe that it is a symbolic number and the zoom lens reveals an actual count of “a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues.” This sounds more like the fruitage that the sacrificed Lamb of God deserves to have!
All we know for sure is that the group who “follow the Lamb wherever He goes,” in whose mouth “is found no guile,” who are “without fault before the throne of God,” grants to Him to “see of the travail of His soul and be satisfied”(Isa. 53:11). He deserves that vindication! And those who finally choose to rebel will judge and condemn themselves; the final vote that will vindicate Christ in the great controversy will be totally unanimous—even Satan bowing and confessing that truth.
Be sure to check your e-mail for "Dial Daily Bread" again tomorrow.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please forward these messages to your friends and encourage them to subscribe. The "Dial Daily Bread" web page resides at: http://1888message.org/dailybread/
To subscribe send an e-mail message with "subscribe" in the body of the message to:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Robert J. Wieland's inspirational "Dial Daily Bread" phone message is available via e-mail to anyone who wishes to receive a daily portion of uplifting Good News. "Dial Daily Bread" is FREE. Due to travel or other circumstances, there may be intervals when "Dial Daily Bread" will not be sent.
Will the time ever come when the majority of the world’s inhabitants choose to honor and glorify Christ by believing “the everlasting gospel”?
The parable He told of the unjust judge and the importunate widow suggests the answer is No: Jesus asks, “When the Son of man comes, will He find faith on the earth?” (Luke 18:8). Abundant testimony in the Bible tells of Satan leading the world’s population into bitter rebellion against Christ with the enforcement of “the mark of the beast” (cf. Rev. 13, for example).
How then can the faithful followers of Christ honor Him and glorify Him in the close of the great Day of Atonement?
The great controversy between Christ and Satan will finally be victory for the Lamb of God, but it will not be settled by a majority vote of earth’s inhabitants, except as they vote to judge and condemn themselves. What will happen in the final events as we know them will presage the Judgment before the Great White Throne when the books at last are “opened” and all mankind are “judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works” (Rev. 20:12). Those who will have come up in the second resurrection at the end of the 1000 years will be “in number as the sand of the sea” (vs. 8).
But the total number of those who in the closing of the world’s history will be totally loyal to the Lamb will be only “144,000,” says Revelation 14:1-5, although 7:9, 10 gives encouragement for those who believe that it is a symbolic number and the zoom lens reveals an actual count of “a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues.” This sounds more like the fruitage that the sacrificed Lamb of God deserves to have!
All we know for sure is that the group who “follow the Lamb wherever He goes,” in whose mouth “is found no guile,” who are “without fault before the throne of God,” grants to Him to “see of the travail of His soul and be satisfied”(Isa. 53:11). He deserves that vindication! And those who finally choose to rebel will judge and condemn themselves; the final vote that will vindicate Christ in the great controversy will be totally unanimous—even Satan bowing and confessing that truth.
Be sure to check your e-mail for "Dial Daily Bread" again tomorrow.
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Please forward these messages to your friends and encourage them to subscribe. The "Dial Daily Bread" web page resides at: http://1888message.org/dailybread/
To subscribe send an e-mail message with "subscribe" in the body of the message to:
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Robert J. Wieland's inspirational "Dial Daily Bread" phone message is available via e-mail to anyone who wishes to receive a daily portion of uplifting Good News. "Dial Daily Bread" is FREE. Due to travel or other circumstances, there may be intervals when "Dial Daily Bread" will not be sent.
Saturday, June 02, 2007
Dial Daily Bread
Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread":
The closer we come to what the Bible speaks of as “the end of the world” (Matt. 24:3), the more intimate will the people of God become with Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Their acquaintance will become like that of a couple who meet, get slightly acquainted, then fall in love, become engaged, and finally marry; no woman on earth will become the “bride of Christ,” but there is a body of people known as “the church” who will “make herself ready” for that epochal “wedding” (cf. Rev. 19:7, 8; Eph. 5:23-27).
A “paradigm shift” in understanding is a mild term to describe the upheaval that will occur in the spiritual experience of God’s people as they near when Christ closes His High Priestly ministry in the Most Holy Apartment. The grand antitypical Day of Atonement will be a reconciliation with Him that can only be described as a bride yielding herself joyously at last to her long-loved but never yet “known” bridegroom.
The tremendous spiritual upheaval will be a new motivation supplanting our old egocentric one. We have always responded to the desire to be saved—a very wholesome one, indeed; a thousand times better than acquiring worldly wealth. But it’s still the desire for a reward; we have sung the ditty, “I Shall Wear a Crown in My Father’s House,” we have contemplated exchanging “the cross for a crown,” we have widely taught that “securing our own salvation is the highest duty of life.” Again, wonderfully true; but still puerile.
In the closing up of the Day of Atonement, a new motivation begins to take over: a concern for Christ that He receive His reward, that He be crowned King of kings and Lord of lords; our concern for Him eclipses that old one of egocentricity.
This won’t be righteousness by works; it will be a new chapter in righteousness by faith. At last, “perfect agape [will] cast out fear” (1 John 4:18). A new heart-appreciation of what it cost the Son of God to die for us will be grasped.
But this will not be the prized possession of the saints; it will be their communication to the world of “Christ and Him crucified” as the world has never before heard it in such clarity since Pentecost.
Be sure to check your e-mail for "Dial Daily Bread" again tomorrow.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please forward these messages to your friends and encourage them to subscribe. The "Dial Daily Bread" web page resides at: http://1888message.org/dailybread/
To subscribe send an e-mail message with "subscribe" in the body of the message to:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Robert J. Wieland's inspirational "Dial Daily Bread" phone message is available via e-mail to anyone who wishes to receive a daily portion of uplifting Good News. "Dial Daily Bread" is FREE. Due to travel or other circumstances, there may be intervals when "Dial Daily Bread" will not be sent.
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The closer we come to what the Bible speaks of as “the end of the world” (Matt. 24:3), the more intimate will the people of God become with Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Their acquaintance will become like that of a couple who meet, get slightly acquainted, then fall in love, become engaged, and finally marry; no woman on earth will become the “bride of Christ,” but there is a body of people known as “the church” who will “make herself ready” for that epochal “wedding” (cf. Rev. 19:7, 8; Eph. 5:23-27).
A “paradigm shift” in understanding is a mild term to describe the upheaval that will occur in the spiritual experience of God’s people as they near when Christ closes His High Priestly ministry in the Most Holy Apartment. The grand antitypical Day of Atonement will be a reconciliation with Him that can only be described as a bride yielding herself joyously at last to her long-loved but never yet “known” bridegroom.
The tremendous spiritual upheaval will be a new motivation supplanting our old egocentric one. We have always responded to the desire to be saved—a very wholesome one, indeed; a thousand times better than acquiring worldly wealth. But it’s still the desire for a reward; we have sung the ditty, “I Shall Wear a Crown in My Father’s House,” we have contemplated exchanging “the cross for a crown,” we have widely taught that “securing our own salvation is the highest duty of life.” Again, wonderfully true; but still puerile.
In the closing up of the Day of Atonement, a new motivation begins to take over: a concern for Christ that He receive His reward, that He be crowned King of kings and Lord of lords; our concern for Him eclipses that old one of egocentricity.
This won’t be righteousness by works; it will be a new chapter in righteousness by faith. At last, “perfect agape [will] cast out fear” (1 John 4:18). A new heart-appreciation of what it cost the Son of God to die for us will be grasped.
But this will not be the prized possession of the saints; it will be their communication to the world of “Christ and Him crucified” as the world has never before heard it in such clarity since Pentecost.
Be sure to check your e-mail for "Dial Daily Bread" again tomorrow.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please forward these messages to your friends and encourage them to subscribe. The "Dial Daily Bread" web page resides at: http://1888message.org/dailybread/
To subscribe send an e-mail message with "subscribe" in the body of the message to:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Robert J. Wieland's inspirational "Dial Daily Bread" phone message is available via e-mail to anyone who wishes to receive a daily portion of uplifting Good News. "Dial Daily Bread" is FREE. Due to travel or other circumstances, there may be intervals when "Dial Daily Bread" will not be sent.
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