Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"
Suppose you have done something or said something that is wrong and you know it. You feel burdened; the joy of life is gone. Now it's a dark and cloudy day. What do you do?
Well, first of all, welcome to the worldwide club of people who know they are sinners. Maybe you didn't know you had the capability of doing or saying what you did that is wrong. The truth is, there is no end to our capability for sin. A wise writer says that when Jesus was hanging on His cross, He realized how bad a person can become. That is why He cried out, "My God, why have You forsaken Me?" If our Saviour were to let go of our hand, we could fall, fall, fall. There's no end to the depth we would go. Remember, your salvation does not depend on you holding on to His hand; it depends on your believing that He is holding on to your hand. So, what do you do now?
You find a chance as soon as possible to get on your knees before the Saviour (not some earthly priest, or psychiatrist please!), and you confess your sin to Him. The whole thing; with no attempt to justify yourself or any plea bargaining. Tell Him that you are Peter sinking in the waves in the storm on Galilee, and you join him in crying out, "Lord, save me or I perish!"
Secondly, you ask Him to forgive you your sin.
Thirdly, you believe what He says in 1 John 1:9, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins."
Fourth, you believe what else He says there, "and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." The true forgiveness kit comes complete with a brand-new attachment--a new hatred for the sin itself. That little gift that comes in the package is not based on fear, but heart-sorrow for wounding the Savior. It is a new evidence to you personally of a miracle. So, from now on, any doubt that He loves you personally is washed away by this new personal miracle--utterly impossible for "sinful you" unless the Holy Spirit has worked in your heart. You don't naturally hate sin; naturally, you love it; so this newly implanted hatred for the sin is personal evidence for you that Christ is risen from the dead, He's alive, and He is your High Priest in the heavenly sanctuary. Yes, that is Good News.
Copyright © 2009 by Robert J. Wieland.
Be sure to check your e-mail for "Dial Daily Bread" again tomorrow.
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Daily Bread - Readings about life and the Word of God.
Monday, November 23, 2009
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Dial Daily Bread: Assurance of Salvation (part 2)
Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"
How can we have a secure "assurance of salvation"? The apostle John likes to nail things down, to "know" this or that for sure. Some two dozen times in his First Letter he says we can "know" that we "know" the truth. Half of those times he uses the word ginosko, which means to be informed, to gain the knowledge of. The other half he uses the word eido which means to know by perception of truth, or shall we say, by common sense. He has "written unto you ... that ye may know (eido) that ye have eternal life" (5:13).
How can spiritual common sense give us this "assurance"? The answer is in verse 11: "God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in His Son." "God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son" (John 3:16), not merely offered to give Him. Some five or six times in Romans 5 Paul emphasizes that God has given us the "free gift" that has reversed the "condemnation" that came upon the human race "in Adam," and as John says, that gift is "in Christ." The Father gave Christ to the world, that He might already be "the Saviour of the world," "the Saviour of all men, specially of those that believe" (John 4:42; 1 Tim. 4:10).
What it boils down to is this: salvation is due to God's initiative; damnation can be due only to our own initiative in choosing not to "believe" the truth. As surely as Esau had the birthright, so surely you have eternal life in Christ. He gave Himself for you and to you. He not only offered to give you the gift of eternal life so that your salvation would depend on your own initiative; He actually gave you the gift so that in eternity you would never have any reason to "boast" that you took the initiative. It's 100% "by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God [there's that word again!]: not of works, lest any man should boast" (Eph. 2:8, 9).
Although Esau had the birthright, he chose to "despise" it and "sold" it for a trifle of worldly pleasure (Gen. 25:34: Heb. 12:16). "He that believeth not" takes the initiative in his being lost at last (John 3:18, 19), "despises" what God has given him "in Christ." Cherish your assurance in Christ, but don't be cocksure in yourself. You can trust Him but you can't trust yourself. You can very easily do something stupid. Look both ways before you cross the street.
Copyright © 2009 by Robert J. Wieland.
Be sure to check your e-mail for "Dial Daily Bread" again tomorrow.
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How can we have a secure "assurance of salvation"? The apostle John likes to nail things down, to "know" this or that for sure. Some two dozen times in his First Letter he says we can "know" that we "know" the truth. Half of those times he uses the word ginosko, which means to be informed, to gain the knowledge of. The other half he uses the word eido which means to know by perception of truth, or shall we say, by common sense. He has "written unto you ... that ye may know (eido) that ye have eternal life" (5:13).
How can spiritual common sense give us this "assurance"? The answer is in verse 11: "God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in His Son." "God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son" (John 3:16), not merely offered to give Him. Some five or six times in Romans 5 Paul emphasizes that God has given us the "free gift" that has reversed the "condemnation" that came upon the human race "in Adam," and as John says, that gift is "in Christ." The Father gave Christ to the world, that He might already be "the Saviour of the world," "the Saviour of all men, specially of those that believe" (John 4:42; 1 Tim. 4:10).
What it boils down to is this: salvation is due to God's initiative; damnation can be due only to our own initiative in choosing not to "believe" the truth. As surely as Esau had the birthright, so surely you have eternal life in Christ. He gave Himself for you and to you. He not only offered to give you the gift of eternal life so that your salvation would depend on your own initiative; He actually gave you the gift so that in eternity you would never have any reason to "boast" that you took the initiative. It's 100% "by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God [there's that word again!]: not of works, lest any man should boast" (Eph. 2:8, 9).
Although Esau had the birthright, he chose to "despise" it and "sold" it for a trifle of worldly pleasure (Gen. 25:34: Heb. 12:16). "He that believeth not" takes the initiative in his being lost at last (John 3:18, 19), "despises" what God has given him "in Christ." Cherish your assurance in Christ, but don't be cocksure in yourself. You can trust Him but you can't trust yourself. You can very easily do something stupid. Look both ways before you cross the street.
Copyright © 2009 by Robert J. Wieland.
Be sure to check your e-mail for "Dial Daily Bread" again tomorrow.
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Friday, November 20, 2009
Dial Daily Bread: Assurance of Salvation (part 1)
Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"
"Assurance of salvation" is a topic widely discussed. HOW can one have it? Or, CAN one really have it? What's the difference between a sober "assurance of salvation" and a "cocksureness of salvation"? (Webster's New World College Dictionary defines the latter as "self-confident in a stubborn or overbearing way.") Matthew reports Jesus at least twice warning us against "cocksureness of salvation": "Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not ... done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me." Those on His "left hand" will protest at last, "Lord, when ... did [we] not minister unto thee? ... These shall go away into everlasting punishment" (Matt. 7:22, 23; 25:41-46). They were self-confident, self-deceived up until the tragic last moment! So, should we forever be worrying about our personal eternal destiny?
On the other hand, John says, "These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life. ... We know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness" (1 John 5:13, 19). On the surface, this seems contradictory, doesn't it? If you are a student in school constantly getting D's or F's, you don't have much enthusiasm for doing better, do you? Many tell us that you can't be a happy Christian unless you have the "assurance of salvation." Yet Jesus Himself warns us, Don't be stubbornly self-confident, "cocksure." The stakes are high; Jesus is right. "Many," even multitudes, who profess to be His followers will end up bitterly disappointed when it's too late to change their self-confident "cocksureness" into a rock-solid, genuine "assurance of salvation."
Simple common sense would suggest that while we must have a sober confidence without which happiness is impossible, we must also "give diligence to make [our] calling and election sure" (see 2 Peter 1:10). To look both ways before you cross a busy city street is not being fear-ridden; it's healthy. Can we have a "healthy" assurance? Is Bible teaching self-consistent? Where is sanctified spiritual common sense? Let's search for it tomorrow.
Copyright © 2009 by Robert J. Wieland.
Be sure to check your e-mail for "Dial Daily Bread" again tomorrow.
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"Assurance of salvation" is a topic widely discussed. HOW can one have it? Or, CAN one really have it? What's the difference between a sober "assurance of salvation" and a "cocksureness of salvation"? (Webster's New World College Dictionary defines the latter as "self-confident in a stubborn or overbearing way.") Matthew reports Jesus at least twice warning us against "cocksureness of salvation": "Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not ... done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me." Those on His "left hand" will protest at last, "Lord, when ... did [we] not minister unto thee? ... These shall go away into everlasting punishment" (Matt. 7:22, 23; 25:41-46). They were self-confident, self-deceived up until the tragic last moment! So, should we forever be worrying about our personal eternal destiny?
On the other hand, John says, "These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life. ... We know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness" (1 John 5:13, 19). On the surface, this seems contradictory, doesn't it? If you are a student in school constantly getting D's or F's, you don't have much enthusiasm for doing better, do you? Many tell us that you can't be a happy Christian unless you have the "assurance of salvation." Yet Jesus Himself warns us, Don't be stubbornly self-confident, "cocksure." The stakes are high; Jesus is right. "Many," even multitudes, who profess to be His followers will end up bitterly disappointed when it's too late to change their self-confident "cocksureness" into a rock-solid, genuine "assurance of salvation."
Simple common sense would suggest that while we must have a sober confidence without which happiness is impossible, we must also "give diligence to make [our] calling and election sure" (see 2 Peter 1:10). To look both ways before you cross a busy city street is not being fear-ridden; it's healthy. Can we have a "healthy" assurance? Is Bible teaching self-consistent? Where is sanctified spiritual common sense? Let's search for it tomorrow.
Copyright © 2009 by Robert J. Wieland.
Be sure to check your e-mail for "Dial Daily Bread" again tomorrow.
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Dial Daily Bread: A Foundation for Faith in Christ's Second Coming
Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"
Although we are thankful for rain here in northern California, the clouds last night and early this morning obscured the predicted "strong showing" of the annual Leonid meteor shower. On November 13, 1833 it was wildly spectacular, so much so that many observers thought the Day of Judgment had come. They knew what Jesus had said in Matthew 24:29: "Immediately after the tribulation of those days [the horrid persecutions of the Dark Ages, fresh in memory] shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven." Revelation also tells of the same thing: "And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; ... and the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind" (6:12, 13).
Christian people of different churches saw the fulfillment of these prophecies: the worst earthquake of known history took place in Europe on November 1, 1755; people still living witnessed in New England the [to them] mysterious "Dark Day" of May 19, 1780; and people still living after that saw this "falling of the stars" in 1833--all in one generation. And, on top of all that excitement, a simultaneous interest aroused all over the world in the prophecies of Daniel and the Revelation.
Science and history now debunk those miraculous events: there have been other great earthquakes; the "dark day" was caused by forest fires; and the falling of the stars was merely the cosmic debris of a comet that whacks us every 33 years. Those people were naive, says science. But wait a moment: those events were spectacular. The seven seals of Revelation did make sense; to those people in their context those events did fulfill the prophecies in a remarkable way; the result was not fanaticism, but sober, disciplined study of the Bible and reformation of life, and a phenomenal worldwide interest in the second coming of Christ. God used an almost incredible succession of natural events to arouse multitudes to serious spiritual revival.
Now today, we don't need a meteor shower or an earthquake to wake us up. Any sober person can realize that the end of the world must be near. But the history of those "signs" laid the foundation for faith in the second coming of Christ. It makes sense.
Copyright © 2009 by Robert J. Wieland.
Be sure to check your e-mail for "Dial Daily Bread" again tomorrow.
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Although we are thankful for rain here in northern California, the clouds last night and early this morning obscured the predicted "strong showing" of the annual Leonid meteor shower. On November 13, 1833 it was wildly spectacular, so much so that many observers thought the Day of Judgment had come. They knew what Jesus had said in Matthew 24:29: "Immediately after the tribulation of those days [the horrid persecutions of the Dark Ages, fresh in memory] shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven." Revelation also tells of the same thing: "And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; ... and the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind" (6:12, 13).
Christian people of different churches saw the fulfillment of these prophecies: the worst earthquake of known history took place in Europe on November 1, 1755; people still living witnessed in New England the [to them] mysterious "Dark Day" of May 19, 1780; and people still living after that saw this "falling of the stars" in 1833--all in one generation. And, on top of all that excitement, a simultaneous interest aroused all over the world in the prophecies of Daniel and the Revelation.
Science and history now debunk those miraculous events: there have been other great earthquakes; the "dark day" was caused by forest fires; and the falling of the stars was merely the cosmic debris of a comet that whacks us every 33 years. Those people were naive, says science. But wait a moment: those events were spectacular. The seven seals of Revelation did make sense; to those people in their context those events did fulfill the prophecies in a remarkable way; the result was not fanaticism, but sober, disciplined study of the Bible and reformation of life, and a phenomenal worldwide interest in the second coming of Christ. God used an almost incredible succession of natural events to arouse multitudes to serious spiritual revival.
Now today, we don't need a meteor shower or an earthquake to wake us up. Any sober person can realize that the end of the world must be near. But the history of those "signs" laid the foundation for faith in the second coming of Christ. It makes sense.
Copyright © 2009 by Robert J. Wieland.
Be sure to check your e-mail for "Dial Daily Bread" again tomorrow.
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Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Dial Daily Bread: Satan and John 3:16
Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"
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We've all heard how sly, cunning, and evil Satan is. Have you known how he has tried to suck the life out of the greatest verse in the Bible? John 3:16 has enough dynamite truth in it to save any sinner, but if its meaning is devalued, its effect on the human heart is weakened.
What kind of a sacrifice did the Father make when He "so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son"? There is a time-honored doctrine often labeled as "orthodox" that denies that God ever had a Son before Jesus was born in Bethlehem, that He became a "Father" only at that time. The idea is that God simply agreed for a Twin, or a fellow Committee Member, to come to earth and be sacrificed. Gracious, yes, generous even; but ... a sacrifice?
When it comes to thinking about the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, the "Godhead" is so great that my brain is like a little pea in trying to understand it. But God is trying to say something to me. According to John 3:16, Christ was always the Son of God, even from all eternity: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. ... And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father" (John 1:1, 2, 14).
There was never a "time" in eternity when the Son of God was not! The Muslims say we teach that God had a "wife" of some sorts; No. God has tried to tell us something beyond words: Christ was not "begotten" as we beget children--the word in the Bible does not mean that. It means only beloved One. The Father's love for His Son was the infinite Antitype of our human love for a child, and God has permitted us unworthy humans to have the experience of parenthood in order that we might understand just a trifle the heart-rending agony in the infinite Father's heart when it came time to "give His only begotten Son." The sacrifice was made in eternity, and it was and is infinite. John 3:16 does make sense; and a pea-size brain and heart like mine can at least begin to appreciate it.
Copyright © 2009 by Robert J. Wieland.
Be sure to check your e-mail for "Dial Daily Bread" again tomorrow.------------------------------
Dial Daily Bread: What Can We Say to Help Discouraged Youth?
Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"
We read in Psalm 14:1, "The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God." Christian teachers are surprised that sometimes they meet discouraged youth reared in good homes who say they wonder if there is a God, who are not sure of His existence. In other words, such a youth is tempted to be a fool. But is it always his fault? There are many who say they are atheists, or agnostics (those who just don't know). What can we say to help them?
Some, doubtless, are just wickedly rebellious against everything about God; they are determined to be finally-choosing adherents of God's enemy, Satan. But there must also be others, perhaps many, whose atheism or agnosticism is the result of being taught a false conception of God. They are not rebelling against God Himself, but against a distortion of His character. For example, the so-called "Christian" doctrine of an eternal burning hell in which God roasts and tortures lost human souls in eternal, conscious torment, has caused many people to say, "If God is a sadist more relentlessly cruel than Hitler or Stalin, then I want nothing to do with Him! How could a decent person want to torture even an animal like that?" People who have been so misled need our sympathy, and prayer that somehow we might be given wisdom and an opportunity to tell them the truth about God's character of love. He will not save everybody against his will, but He will not torture the lost endlessly.
But what about those who in deep disappointment at apparently unanswered prayers can't understand why God seems so unconcerned about their suffering? If you're in that category, then you too have been TEMPTED to be a fool! Remember, temptation is not itself sin. What you need is the Atonement-reconciliation with God, the ABC's of the gospel. Don't be offended to realize that you, a wonderful Christian, still need MORE of the atonement! In this great antitypical Day of Atonement, you and I need a "Final" atonement, or reconciliation. The Good News? There is a great High Priest administering it--now. Don't hinder Him!
[If you would like to receive a little four-page paper by Robert J. Wieland entitled, "The A-B-C's of the Gospel," please reply to this message with "ABCs" in the header or body of the message.]
Copyright © 2009 by Robert J. Wieland.
Be sure to check your e-mail for "Dial Daily Bread" again tomorrow.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
We read in Psalm 14:1, "The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God." Christian teachers are surprised that sometimes they meet discouraged youth reared in good homes who say they wonder if there is a God, who are not sure of His existence. In other words, such a youth is tempted to be a fool. But is it always his fault? There are many who say they are atheists, or agnostics (those who just don't know). What can we say to help them?
Some, doubtless, are just wickedly rebellious against everything about God; they are determined to be finally-choosing adherents of God's enemy, Satan. But there must also be others, perhaps many, whose atheism or agnosticism is the result of being taught a false conception of God. They are not rebelling against God Himself, but against a distortion of His character. For example, the so-called "Christian" doctrine of an eternal burning hell in which God roasts and tortures lost human souls in eternal, conscious torment, has caused many people to say, "If God is a sadist more relentlessly cruel than Hitler or Stalin, then I want nothing to do with Him! How could a decent person want to torture even an animal like that?" People who have been so misled need our sympathy, and prayer that somehow we might be given wisdom and an opportunity to tell them the truth about God's character of love. He will not save everybody against his will, but He will not torture the lost endlessly.
But what about those who in deep disappointment at apparently unanswered prayers can't understand why God seems so unconcerned about their suffering? If you're in that category, then you too have been TEMPTED to be a fool! Remember, temptation is not itself sin. What you need is the Atonement-reconciliation with God, the ABC's of the gospel. Don't be offended to realize that you, a wonderful Christian, still need MORE of the atonement! In this great antitypical Day of Atonement, you and I need a "Final" atonement, or reconciliation. The Good News? There is a great High Priest administering it--now. Don't hinder Him!
[If you would like to receive a little four-page paper by Robert J. Wieland entitled, "The A-B-C's of the Gospel," please reply to this message with "ABCs" in the header or body of the message.]
Copyright © 2009 by Robert J. Wieland.
Be sure to check your e-mail for "Dial Daily Bread" again tomorrow.
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Monday, November 16, 2009
Dial Daily Bread: A Titanic War Between Two "Spirits"
Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"
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When we wake up each new morning, we face bewilderment and confusion all over the earth. We humans cover the earth like little ants running around when you disturb them, and yet we humans are the family of God. We are created in His image; the glorious Creator of the vast universe left His high and holy place and became one of us. We are not "ants," we are sons and daughters of God "in Him." We are fellow-saints with Him engaged in the greatest struggle that has ever been waged in the universe--the controversy between Christ and Satan. We are not spectators at the arena; we are players on the field.
What's happening around us is the closing scene of this titanic war between two "spirits"--the One designated in the Bible as "Holy," and "the spirit that now works in the children of disobedience" who is inspired by "the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world" (Eph. 2:2; Rev. 12:9).
How can "the whole world" be deceived? Jesus says that so terrible will be the deception that it will come "on the face of the whole earth" like "a snare" (Luke 21:35). It's happening now. But thank God, not everyone will be deceived.
Think what it was like when Jesus was born; the masses knew the inspired prophecies of the Old Testament or at least had ready access to them if they didn't want to be deceived, yet how many recognized the Messiah when He came as a humble Baby in Bethlehem? Some did, but only a few.
So today; there is for sure "a remnant" (Rom. 9:27); "few that be saved" (Luke 13:23), who have learned the lesson of Bethlehem, who "walk softly" (1 Kings 21:27), who respond to "the still small voice" (1 Kings 19:12), that calls them in God's word, who choose to believe every truth that the Holy Spirit teaches as "He guides you into all truth" (John 16:13), who "follow the Lamb [the crucified Christ] wherever He goes" (Rev. 14:4, 5), who are "with Him" as He takes His final stand in the struggle of the nations of earth (Rev. 17:14) , who identify with "the Lamb" so closely that they penetrate His thinking and His feelings as a bride penetrates her husband's deepest yearnings.
Amid earth's clash of arms and the din of its endless traffic, LISTEN.
Copyright © 2009 by Robert J. Wieland.
Be sure to check your e-mail for "Dial Daily Bread" again tomorrow.------------------------------
Dial Daily Bread: The Greatest "Evangelism" of All Time
Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"
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The greatest "evangelism" of all time was what happened at Pentecost. It was not emotionalism, and what brought the deep conviction of truth on people's hearts was not the miracle of the apostles' speaking foreign languages--a "sign and wonder" indeed, but not the real thing that did it: the apostles proclaimed what had happened when the Son of God died on His cross.
They didn't "mince words," or say it daintily; "YOU murdered the Prince of life, the Son of God!" They laid the guilt of the ages upon the souls of those Jews and Gentiles. There was no political making friends and influencing people, no attempt to make the message palatable, to "win" the top leaders by psychology. It was the most direct super-confrontation that has ever been between lowly people and religious society leadership (read it in Acts 2:23, 36; 4:10; 5:30, etc.).
Ordinary people like the apostles could never have galvanized themselves to tell it like they did had it not been for the 10 days of repentance they spent beforehand. They had knelt very low in self-humiliation; what fools they had been! The Holy Spirit had 11 men in whom self had been "crucified with Christ." This made it possible for the Son of God to be exalted in them.
Why was it the prototype of all genuine "evangelism"? What Jesus had said a short time earlier happened: "On the last and most important day of the festival [Feast of Tabernacles] Jesus stood up and said in a loud voice, 'Whoever is thirsty should come to Me and drink. As the scripture says [S.S. 4:15] "Whoever believes in Me, streams of life-giving water will pour out from his heart." Jesus said this about the [Holy] Spirit" (John 7:37-39). That was the "former rain."
The "latter rain" (which is still future) will be a re-play.
Copyright © 2009 by Robert J. Wieland.
Be sure to check your e-mail for "Dial Daily Bread" again tomorrow.------------------------------
Friday, November 13, 2009
Dial Daily Bread: The Unpardonable Sin
Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"
The fear of the unpardonable sin has distressed many sincere people. It discourages some and keeps them away from the joyous eternal life that the Lord wants them to experience.
They are told repeatedly that the unpardonable sin is continued, persistent sinning, to the point that they can no longer hear the Voice of the Holy Spirit. But almost everybody in the world can realize that he/she has indeed sinned in one way or another, persistently, continually.
We must look again at the context of what Jesus Himself said about the unpardonable sin; it's in Matthew 12:22-37:
(a) Jesus healed someone demon-possessed. "All the multitudes were amazed" and wondered positively if Jesus might be the long-awaited Messiah (as we today wonder if our long-awaited "Elijah" may have already begun his work of "turning hearts"). But "the Pharisees … said, 'This fellow … casts out demons ... by the ruler of the demons,'" Satan himself. They reacted negatively to the nth degree.
(b) This had already happened earlier, in 9:34; these leaders of the one true church of that day had already attributed the work of Jesus to Satan (which is the unpardonable sin) but now Jesus has given them another chance to repent; but they have repeated that awful sin. Jesus then goes on to tell the Pharisees that "if I cast out devils by the [Holy] Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you" and you didn't know it, or recognize the blessing!
(c) These church leaders went on and on in their way until they felt driven to cry out in Pilate's presence "Crucify Him"! (It makes one want to hesitate before accepting any job as church pastor or leader--it's a frightfully dangerous place to be in unless we walk "softly" as King Ahab did when he repented, 1 Kings 21:27-29.)
(d) The way Matthew (ch. 12) and Luke (ch. 11) tell the story about the Pharisees, the people would have been willing to believe the truth and repent, but their church leaders hindered them and "in a great degree" blocked the way.
(e) This action of the Pharisees was the Unpardonable Sin. Let's not repeat it. But if you fear and tremble, there's hope! Thank God.
Copyright © 2009 by Robert J. Wieland.
Be sure to check your e-mail for "Dial Daily Bread" again tomorrow.
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The fear of the unpardonable sin has distressed many sincere people. It discourages some and keeps them away from the joyous eternal life that the Lord wants them to experience.
They are told repeatedly that the unpardonable sin is continued, persistent sinning, to the point that they can no longer hear the Voice of the Holy Spirit. But almost everybody in the world can realize that he/she has indeed sinned in one way or another, persistently, continually.
We must look again at the context of what Jesus Himself said about the unpardonable sin; it's in Matthew 12:22-37:
(a) Jesus healed someone demon-possessed. "All the multitudes were amazed" and wondered positively if Jesus might be the long-awaited Messiah (as we today wonder if our long-awaited "Elijah" may have already begun his work of "turning hearts"). But "the Pharisees … said, 'This fellow … casts out demons ... by the ruler of the demons,'" Satan himself. They reacted negatively to the nth degree.
(b) This had already happened earlier, in 9:34; these leaders of the one true church of that day had already attributed the work of Jesus to Satan (which is the unpardonable sin) but now Jesus has given them another chance to repent; but they have repeated that awful sin. Jesus then goes on to tell the Pharisees that "if I cast out devils by the [Holy] Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you" and you didn't know it, or recognize the blessing!
(c) These church leaders went on and on in their way until they felt driven to cry out in Pilate's presence "Crucify Him"! (It makes one want to hesitate before accepting any job as church pastor or leader--it's a frightfully dangerous place to be in unless we walk "softly" as King Ahab did when he repented, 1 Kings 21:27-29.)
(d) The way Matthew (ch. 12) and Luke (ch. 11) tell the story about the Pharisees, the people would have been willing to believe the truth and repent, but their church leaders hindered them and "in a great degree" blocked the way.
(e) This action of the Pharisees was the Unpardonable Sin. Let's not repeat it. But if you fear and tremble, there's hope! Thank God.
Copyright © 2009 by Robert J. Wieland.
Be sure to check your e-mail for "Dial Daily Bread" again tomorrow.
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Thursday, November 12, 2009
Dial Daily Bread: Get Under the New Covenant
Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"
Sometimes the most wonderful gift can be wrapped unattractively. That is true of certain "Bible doctrines" that outwardly appear boring or even burdensome, but which are marvelous blessings. One is the Bible doctrine of the Sabbath; in His mercy God asks us to "remember" it, to keep it holy (that's all, to keep holy what He has already made holy!). And Satan wants to make that blessed "remembrance" to appear burdensome.
Another "doctrine" that appears dry as dust (it used to be that way to me!) is the Two Covenants, an idea that only high-tech theologians wrangle about in their ivory towers. And the Bible Commentaries were no help. It seemed that God was experimenting on Israel, trying this or that method to save them, and since the old covenant was one of His experiments that went bad, He had to think up another method, the new covenant. But that created a REAL problem: if God Himself has not been sure what to do to save us, how can I be sure of anything?
Then the light broke through the clouds, when I read a little book entitled The Glad Tidings, a verse-by-verse study of Galatians. To me it was intensely interesting. God always has had only one way of saving people; He was not experimenting with different ways; the new covenant was always His way; but the people are the ones who tried to invent a different way to get to heaven--they came up with the old covenant idea. The simple, sunlight truth is that God is too wise ever to try to make bargains with sinners (don't forget, "saints" are sinners by nature) because He knows they cannot fulfill their part of the bargain. His new covenant is not a "contract" wherein both parties, God and the sinner, strike a bargain agreement. It's always His own simple, straight-forward promise to save the sinner by the sacrifice of Himself; and the sinner's proper response is not to promise to DO this or that, but to believe, appreciate, God's promise--just as Abraham believed.
And there is where the trouble lies: Abraham's descendants at Mount Sinai did not have his faith. So they contrived a different response to God's new covenant promise: they promised to obey (which promise they broke in a matter of days; Ex. 19:8; 32:1-8). So, get under the new covenant today! Believe God's promises to you, and that faith will produce the obedience that has worried you, as it did Abraham.
Copyright © 2009 by Robert J. Wieland.
Be sure to check your e-mail for "Dial Daily Bread" again tomorrow.
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Sometimes the most wonderful gift can be wrapped unattractively. That is true of certain "Bible doctrines" that outwardly appear boring or even burdensome, but which are marvelous blessings. One is the Bible doctrine of the Sabbath; in His mercy God asks us to "remember" it, to keep it holy (that's all, to keep holy what He has already made holy!). And Satan wants to make that blessed "remembrance" to appear burdensome.
Another "doctrine" that appears dry as dust (it used to be that way to me!) is the Two Covenants, an idea that only high-tech theologians wrangle about in their ivory towers. And the Bible Commentaries were no help. It seemed that God was experimenting on Israel, trying this or that method to save them, and since the old covenant was one of His experiments that went bad, He had to think up another method, the new covenant. But that created a REAL problem: if God Himself has not been sure what to do to save us, how can I be sure of anything?
Then the light broke through the clouds, when I read a little book entitled The Glad Tidings, a verse-by-verse study of Galatians. To me it was intensely interesting. God always has had only one way of saving people; He was not experimenting with different ways; the new covenant was always His way; but the people are the ones who tried to invent a different way to get to heaven--they came up with the old covenant idea. The simple, sunlight truth is that God is too wise ever to try to make bargains with sinners (don't forget, "saints" are sinners by nature) because He knows they cannot fulfill their part of the bargain. His new covenant is not a "contract" wherein both parties, God and the sinner, strike a bargain agreement. It's always His own simple, straight-forward promise to save the sinner by the sacrifice of Himself; and the sinner's proper response is not to promise to DO this or that, but to believe, appreciate, God's promise--just as Abraham believed.
And there is where the trouble lies: Abraham's descendants at Mount Sinai did not have his faith. So they contrived a different response to God's new covenant promise: they promised to obey (which promise they broke in a matter of days; Ex. 19:8; 32:1-8). So, get under the new covenant today! Believe God's promises to you, and that faith will produce the obedience that has worried you, as it did Abraham.
Copyright © 2009 by Robert J. Wieland.
Be sure to check your e-mail for "Dial Daily Bread" again tomorrow.
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Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Dial Daily Bread: King Asa's "Perfect Heart" (part 2)
Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"
How could "good" King Asa have a "perfect heart" and still lose his temper, throw God's true prophet into jail, oppress his people, and end up rebelling against God in his old age? Kind of scary for anyone who thinks he/she is okay (story is in 2 Chron. 15, 16).
But the Bible makes the problem clear. There were two main words for "perfect" in Hebrew as our Bibles translate them. King Asa's heart was shalem (the root related to "Jerusalem," city of peace). The idea in the word is to be at peace, no inner conflict, live in good conscience, not going contrary to your own sense of duty. Asa's "perfect heart" was totally dedicated to Old Covenant ideas inherited from Mount Sinai.
The other Hebrew word for "perfect" is tawmim, meaning absolutely complete, right (related to tawmid, "continual," perpetual," "daily"). Thus tawmim meant morally perfect, not just living up to all the light you have or according to your own conscience (which can be enlightened or not). It really means perfect. Abraham's faith vs Mount Sinai.
King Asa's heart was not tawmim, but shalem. He did all the Old Covenant good he could think of. He did not violate his conscience. He followed his own inner sense of duty. Thus he could reason that God blesses the kingdom if they obey His laws perfectly. Therefore, you people, line up, promise to obey, toe the mark; anyone who doesn't join our "revival and reformation" gets killed (2 Chron. 15:13). And yes, the Lord blessed. Yes, He rewards you if you pay tithe; but what's your motivation--Old or New Covenant?
Asa's "perfect heart" meant that he lived up to Israel's Old Covenant ideas right to the letter. A wise writer says the Old Covenant was "obey and live." The New Covenant is "believe and live." How many more decades must we be confused about the two?
Copyright © 2009 by Robert J. Wieland.
Be sure to check your e-mail for "Dial Daily Bread" again tomorrow.
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How could "good" King Asa have a "perfect heart" and still lose his temper, throw God's true prophet into jail, oppress his people, and end up rebelling against God in his old age? Kind of scary for anyone who thinks he/she is okay (story is in 2 Chron. 15, 16).
But the Bible makes the problem clear. There were two main words for "perfect" in Hebrew as our Bibles translate them. King Asa's heart was shalem (the root related to "Jerusalem," city of peace). The idea in the word is to be at peace, no inner conflict, live in good conscience, not going contrary to your own sense of duty. Asa's "perfect heart" was totally dedicated to Old Covenant ideas inherited from Mount Sinai.
The other Hebrew word for "perfect" is tawmim, meaning absolutely complete, right (related to tawmid, "continual," perpetual," "daily"). Thus tawmim meant morally perfect, not just living up to all the light you have or according to your own conscience (which can be enlightened or not). It really means perfect. Abraham's faith vs Mount Sinai.
King Asa's heart was not tawmim, but shalem. He did all the Old Covenant good he could think of. He did not violate his conscience. He followed his own inner sense of duty. Thus he could reason that God blesses the kingdom if they obey His laws perfectly. Therefore, you people, line up, promise to obey, toe the mark; anyone who doesn't join our "revival and reformation" gets killed (2 Chron. 15:13). And yes, the Lord blessed. Yes, He rewards you if you pay tithe; but what's your motivation--Old or New Covenant?
Asa's "perfect heart" meant that he lived up to Israel's Old Covenant ideas right to the letter. A wise writer says the Old Covenant was "obey and live." The New Covenant is "believe and live." How many more decades must we be confused about the two?
Copyright © 2009 by Robert J. Wieland.
Be sure to check your e-mail for "Dial Daily Bread" again tomorrow.
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Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Dial Daily Bread: King Asa's "Perfect Heart" (part 1)
Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"
Have you ever read the intensely interesting story of King Asa? He gets lost in the hoopla of David and Solomon. What's unique about his story is that on the surface he appears to contradict the Bible truth of righteousness by faith. His reign appears to prove the doctrine of salvation by works; it's the Old Covenant glorified, salvation by obedience. It appears on the surface to prove that Laodicea is right and the True Witness is wrong. The story appears to support the widely popular doctrine of salvation by obedience under the terms of the Old Covenant--it's right here in the Bible! Mount Sinai supremely successful.
Read it: 2 Chronicles 15, 16. The nation enjoyed wonderful security and prosperity. But did you notice that Asa and the people were so strongly committed to the Old Covenant that they decreed "death, whether small or great, whether man or woman," to anyone who didn't join in? Yes, for sure that secured "obedience," right to the letter (15:12, 13)!
This wonderful Old Covenant rule brought blessings for 35 years (vs. 19). Then "perfect" King Asa did "foolishly" and forsook the Lord (16:9). Hanani, an inspired prophet, rightly rebuked him; then good King Asa lost his temper and threw him into prison, and began oppressing his people (vss. 7-10). He ended his reign stubbornly refusing to humble his heart before the Lord when affliction came on him (vs. 12). "Perfect heart"?
Our problem comes in 15:17: "Nevertheless the heart of Asa was perfect all his days." How can you have a "perfect heart," then lose your temper at the Spirit of Prophecy, jail the Lord's true prophet, "oppress" your people, then turn your back on the Lord in your old age? Is it really true that righteousness is not by faith? That you can have faith and still go on sinning? Many worldwide believe so, and here's proof, they say. How can we understand this? Our time's up. Maybe we can look at it tomorrow.
Copyright © 2009 by Robert J. Wieland.
Be sure to check your e-mail for "Dial Daily Bread" again tomorrow.
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Have you ever read the intensely interesting story of King Asa? He gets lost in the hoopla of David and Solomon. What's unique about his story is that on the surface he appears to contradict the Bible truth of righteousness by faith. His reign appears to prove the doctrine of salvation by works; it's the Old Covenant glorified, salvation by obedience. It appears on the surface to prove that Laodicea is right and the True Witness is wrong. The story appears to support the widely popular doctrine of salvation by obedience under the terms of the Old Covenant--it's right here in the Bible! Mount Sinai supremely successful.
Read it: 2 Chronicles 15, 16. The nation enjoyed wonderful security and prosperity. But did you notice that Asa and the people were so strongly committed to the Old Covenant that they decreed "death, whether small or great, whether man or woman," to anyone who didn't join in? Yes, for sure that secured "obedience," right to the letter (15:12, 13)!
This wonderful Old Covenant rule brought blessings for 35 years (vs. 19). Then "perfect" King Asa did "foolishly" and forsook the Lord (16:9). Hanani, an inspired prophet, rightly rebuked him; then good King Asa lost his temper and threw him into prison, and began oppressing his people (vss. 7-10). He ended his reign stubbornly refusing to humble his heart before the Lord when affliction came on him (vs. 12). "Perfect heart"?
Our problem comes in 15:17: "Nevertheless the heart of Asa was perfect all his days." How can you have a "perfect heart," then lose your temper at the Spirit of Prophecy, jail the Lord's true prophet, "oppress" your people, then turn your back on the Lord in your old age? Is it really true that righteousness is not by faith? That you can have faith and still go on sinning? Many worldwide believe so, and here's proof, they say. How can we understand this? Our time's up. Maybe we can look at it tomorrow.
Copyright © 2009 by Robert J. Wieland.
Be sure to check your e-mail for "Dial Daily Bread" again tomorrow.
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Monday, November 09, 2009
Dial Daily Bread: A New Day
Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"
A new day is before you. You are tired of being selfish, world-loving, absorbed in your own pleasure. Night after night you go to bed feeling vaguely condemned for not having accomplished anything that God can be pleased about. You hate yourself for wasting precious time on TV, or reading novels, or wandering aimlessly in the mall. What's happening to you?
The Lord Himself is being merciful to you for He is giving you your own personal taste of what Isaiah had in his chapter 6 epiphany. You are realizing, "Woe is me! For I am undone; because I am a [person] of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips" (vs. 5). This vague feeling of unease is not without meaning. The Holy Spirit of God is interacting with you. Heaven has come down to you; you are important in God's sight. He actually loves you as an individual so much that He will not permit you to be content in alienation from Him, and in alienation from your fellow human beings.
What's happening to you is the direct fulfillment of what Jesus promised: He would pray to the Father for you, and the Father is answering His prayer by sending you "another Helper, ... even the [Holy] Spirit of truth" (John 14:16, 17). You have first-hand evidence of His personal interest in you; Heaven has stopped to look at you, to notice you! He is fulfilling His first work: "And when He is come, He will convict the world of sin ... : of sin, because they do not believe in Me" (16:8, 9). To be worldly, to live for self, is sin!
You are worried because you do not see "fruit" in your life; there are no "works" that prove that you are useful in God's "economy."
Turn to Isaiah 50:4, 5. And when you read the personal pronoun "Me," believe that it is YOU whom the Lord "awakens ... morning by morning, ... to hear as the learned." "… that [YOU] should know how to speak a word in season to him who is weary." You have no idea who that "weary one" is whom you will meet somewhere today. Suddenly, life has become interesting, challenging, thrilling, yes, you are on an adventure with the Holy Spirit. Knowing full well that you are "undone," that you don't know how to speak that "word in season" to anyone, you simply cast yourself on the mercy of the Lord. And you go forth.
Then tonight, kneel by your bedside and ask Him how the day went. I think you will be praising Him.
Copyright © 2009 by Robert J. Wieland.
Be sure to check your e-mail for "Dial Daily Bread" again tomorrow.
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A new day is before you. You are tired of being selfish, world-loving, absorbed in your own pleasure. Night after night you go to bed feeling vaguely condemned for not having accomplished anything that God can be pleased about. You hate yourself for wasting precious time on TV, or reading novels, or wandering aimlessly in the mall. What's happening to you?
The Lord Himself is being merciful to you for He is giving you your own personal taste of what Isaiah had in his chapter 6 epiphany. You are realizing, "Woe is me! For I am undone; because I am a [person] of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips" (vs. 5). This vague feeling of unease is not without meaning. The Holy Spirit of God is interacting with you. Heaven has come down to you; you are important in God's sight. He actually loves you as an individual so much that He will not permit you to be content in alienation from Him, and in alienation from your fellow human beings.
What's happening to you is the direct fulfillment of what Jesus promised: He would pray to the Father for you, and the Father is answering His prayer by sending you "another Helper, ... even the [Holy] Spirit of truth" (John 14:16, 17). You have first-hand evidence of His personal interest in you; Heaven has stopped to look at you, to notice you! He is fulfilling His first work: "And when He is come, He will convict the world of sin ... : of sin, because they do not believe in Me" (16:8, 9). To be worldly, to live for self, is sin!
You are worried because you do not see "fruit" in your life; there are no "works" that prove that you are useful in God's "economy."
Turn to Isaiah 50:4, 5. And when you read the personal pronoun "Me," believe that it is YOU whom the Lord "awakens ... morning by morning, ... to hear as the learned." "… that [YOU] should know how to speak a word in season to him who is weary." You have no idea who that "weary one" is whom you will meet somewhere today. Suddenly, life has become interesting, challenging, thrilling, yes, you are on an adventure with the Holy Spirit. Knowing full well that you are "undone," that you don't know how to speak that "word in season" to anyone, you simply cast yourself on the mercy of the Lord. And you go forth.
Then tonight, kneel by your bedside and ask Him how the day went. I think you will be praising Him.
Copyright © 2009 by Robert J. Wieland.
Be sure to check your e-mail for "Dial Daily Bread" again tomorrow.
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Dial Daily Bread: Does God Answer When We "Dial" His "Office"?
Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"
What do you do when you dial a number and you hear it ring and ring, and no one answers? Hang up. That's what's natural for us to do when we "dial" God's "office" in prayer, and no one seems to answer.
The Bible is replete with stories of people who have "dialed" His "office" and said no one answered. And in every case they were tempted to hang up. Job immediately comes to mind. He said: "Why won't God give me what I ask? Why won't He answer my prayer?" (6:8, GNB). "If He lets me speak, I can't believe He would listen to me" (9:16). "There was a time when God answered my prayers. ...Why do You avoid me? Why do You treat me like an enemy? ... I want God to see my tears and hear my prayer" (12:4, 13:24, 16:20). Not only did it seem that God "avoided" him; but the more he prayed the more it seemed that God was getting angry with him; his troubles were getting worse. His dear wife of many years even advised him to forget about God; stop praying, and give up and die (2:9).
Then we remember Jeremiah. At one time he even resigned his job as prophet: "Lord, You have deceived me, and I was deceived. ... 'I will forget the Lord, and no longer speak in His name'" (20:7, 9). David was "the Lord's anointed" but often it seemed that God had forgotten him. Then we come to the best Man who ever walked this earth, the One who was sinless, and we hear Him cry in His dense darkness of soul while on the cross: "My God, why did You abandon Me?"
Yes, every one who "follows the Lamb wherever He goes" (Rev. 14:4) has to go through that same experience sometime of feeling forsaken, but nevertheless choosing to believe and trust in the darkness. Faith ultimately must rest, not on sight, but on confidence in God's character. Only then will it be possible to "enter into the joy of your Lord," and feel comfortable sitting with Him on His throne (Rev. 3:21).
Don't hang up. Believe Him in the dark.
Copyright © 2009 by Robert J. Wieland.
Be sure to check your e-mail for "Dial Daily Bread" again tomorrow.
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What do you do when you dial a number and you hear it ring and ring, and no one answers? Hang up. That's what's natural for us to do when we "dial" God's "office" in prayer, and no one seems to answer.
The Bible is replete with stories of people who have "dialed" His "office" and said no one answered. And in every case they were tempted to hang up. Job immediately comes to mind. He said: "Why won't God give me what I ask? Why won't He answer my prayer?" (6:8, GNB). "If He lets me speak, I can't believe He would listen to me" (9:16). "There was a time when God answered my prayers. ...Why do You avoid me? Why do You treat me like an enemy? ... I want God to see my tears and hear my prayer" (12:4, 13:24, 16:20). Not only did it seem that God "avoided" him; but the more he prayed the more it seemed that God was getting angry with him; his troubles were getting worse. His dear wife of many years even advised him to forget about God; stop praying, and give up and die (2:9).
Then we remember Jeremiah. At one time he even resigned his job as prophet: "Lord, You have deceived me, and I was deceived. ... 'I will forget the Lord, and no longer speak in His name'" (20:7, 9). David was "the Lord's anointed" but often it seemed that God had forgotten him. Then we come to the best Man who ever walked this earth, the One who was sinless, and we hear Him cry in His dense darkness of soul while on the cross: "My God, why did You abandon Me?"
Yes, every one who "follows the Lamb wherever He goes" (Rev. 14:4) has to go through that same experience sometime of feeling forsaken, but nevertheless choosing to believe and trust in the darkness. Faith ultimately must rest, not on sight, but on confidence in God's character. Only then will it be possible to "enter into the joy of your Lord," and feel comfortable sitting with Him on His throne (Rev. 3:21).
Don't hang up. Believe Him in the dark.
Copyright © 2009 by Robert J. Wieland.
Be sure to check your e-mail for "Dial Daily Bread" again tomorrow.
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Sunday, November 08, 2009
Dial Daily Bread: Now's the Time to Pray the Lord's Prayer
Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"
Suppose you don't know what to do, you don't even know how to pray. You can kneel, but you don't even know what words to use.
Now's the time to pray the Lord's Prayer. It's just inside the New Testament. Put it into the first person singular:
"My Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name" (Matt. 6:9; Jesus said, "In this manner, ... pray." No matter who you are, or how unworthy you are, you are given the right to walk in past all the holy angels to the throne of God with these words). Save me from bringing disgrace on Your name.
"Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven" (vs. 10; let me do or say something today that is right).
"Give me this day my daily bread" (vs. 11; and the inexpressible joy of being satisfied with what my portion is of either the temporal or spiritual kind. Thank You for my portion!)
"And forgive me my debts," (vs. 12a; that is—my sins). This credit card debt is a constant load I can't carry; oh, to breathe free again! Please teach me to say no next time I go to the mall; and yes, to say no to self all day.
"As I forgive my debtors" (vs. 12b; that means I practice self-denial until I pay my credit card balance; at the same time I pay my debt of forgiveness to those who have wronged me personally and painfully. It hurts, but yes, I do).
"And do not lead me into temptation, but deliver me from the evil one" (vs. 13a; any temptation to any sin is greater than I have the strength to endure, of myself. Thanks that at last I know the truth).
"For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen" (vs. 13b; thanks that at last I realize it's not mine).
Copyright © 2009 by Robert J. Wieland.
Be sure to check your e-mail for "Dial Daily Bread" again tomorrow.
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Suppose you don't know what to do, you don't even know how to pray. You can kneel, but you don't even know what words to use.
Now's the time to pray the Lord's Prayer. It's just inside the New Testament. Put it into the first person singular:
"My Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name" (Matt. 6:9; Jesus said, "In this manner, ... pray." No matter who you are, or how unworthy you are, you are given the right to walk in past all the holy angels to the throne of God with these words). Save me from bringing disgrace on Your name.
"Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven" (vs. 10; let me do or say something today that is right).
"Give me this day my daily bread" (vs. 11; and the inexpressible joy of being satisfied with what my portion is of either the temporal or spiritual kind. Thank You for my portion!)
"And forgive me my debts," (vs. 12a; that is—my sins). This credit card debt is a constant load I can't carry; oh, to breathe free again! Please teach me to say no next time I go to the mall; and yes, to say no to self all day.
"As I forgive my debtors" (vs. 12b; that means I practice self-denial until I pay my credit card balance; at the same time I pay my debt of forgiveness to those who have wronged me personally and painfully. It hurts, but yes, I do).
"And do not lead me into temptation, but deliver me from the evil one" (vs. 13a; any temptation to any sin is greater than I have the strength to endure, of myself. Thanks that at last I know the truth).
"For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen" (vs. 13b; thanks that at last I realize it's not mine).
Copyright © 2009 by Robert J. Wieland.
Be sure to check your e-mail for "Dial Daily Bread" again tomorrow.
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Dial Daily Bread: Justification by Faith--Simple!
Ordinary people like you and me get stumped by big biblical words like "justification by faith." "Can't you make it simple?" someone asks. Well, it's in the Bible, and therefore God must want us to understand. Don't throw up your hands in despair, "It's beyond me! Might as well flip on the TV, that's easier than trying to study." But in fact, it's all as simple as 2 + 2 = 4 if you want to understand what God is saying, enough to ask Him in sincerity to teach you. He welcomes pray-ers (people who ask Him!) who don't have doctoral degrees! And there's good reason to want to understand because the final test of the mark of the beast versus the seal of God may well center in some issue like this.
(1) This has to do with the simple understandings of the heart, not intricate head-knowledge: "With the heart man believeth unto righteousness" (Rom. 10:10).
(2) It is healing the heart-alienation from God that is natural to all of us ("the carnal mind is enmity against God," Rom. 8:7). Healing that human enmity is the greatest problem God has ever faced. He can create worlds and fling Milky Ways into space easier than changing cold, worldly, self-loving human hearts to be at-one-with Him.
(3) What the Bible is saying is that nothing but the sight of blood can melt that icy hardness of the human heart: "We were reconciled to God by the death of His Son" (Rom. 5:10).
(4) That means simply "justification by faith": "much more then, being now justified by his blood, ..." (vs. 9).
(5) We alienated humans must see Somebody's blood flowing and realize that it was we who shed it. Whose blood? Of the Son of God!
(6) If there's an ounce of honesty in our souls, the result is in verse 11: "We also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the at-one-ment."
(7) We "survey the wondrous cross /On which the Prince of glory died, / [and] My richest gain I count but loss / And pour contempt on all my pride." That's justification by faith. Simple.
Copyright © 2009 by Robert J. Wieland.
Be sure to check your e-mail for "Dial Daily Bread" again tomorrow.
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(1) This has to do with the simple understandings of the heart, not intricate head-knowledge: "With the heart man believeth unto righteousness" (Rom. 10:10).
(2) It is healing the heart-alienation from God that is natural to all of us ("the carnal mind is enmity against God," Rom. 8:7). Healing that human enmity is the greatest problem God has ever faced. He can create worlds and fling Milky Ways into space easier than changing cold, worldly, self-loving human hearts to be at-one-with Him.
(3) What the Bible is saying is that nothing but the sight of blood can melt that icy hardness of the human heart: "We were reconciled to God by the death of His Son" (Rom. 5:10).
(4) That means simply "justification by faith": "much more then, being now justified by his blood, ..." (vs. 9).
(5) We alienated humans must see Somebody's blood flowing and realize that it was we who shed it. Whose blood? Of the Son of God!
(6) If there's an ounce of honesty in our souls, the result is in verse 11: "We also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the at-one-ment."
(7) We "survey the wondrous cross /On which the Prince of glory died, / [and] My richest gain I count but loss / And pour contempt on all my pride." That's justification by faith. Simple.
Copyright © 2009 by Robert J. Wieland.
Be sure to check your e-mail for "Dial Daily Bread" again tomorrow.
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Friday, November 06, 2009
Dial Daily Bread: Can We Learn From the Past?
Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"
Have you ever wished you had had the courage to speak up for truth when you didn't? What's written in the Bible is there "for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come" (1 Cor. 10:11). Can we learn from those who in the past failed?
* Do you repent for letting Eve cajole you into eating the forbidden fruit when you knew better (she didn't!)? (Gen. 3:6; are you better than Adam?)
* ... for not standing up alone and publicly defending Noah when he was persecuted while he was building the ark alone? We're being tested today! (7:1; Matt. 24:37-39).
* ... for not believing and defending the inspired Joseph when his ten brothers hated him? (Joseph did have some real faults, hooks on which to hang doubts; Gen. 37:5-8).
* ... for not standing with Caleb and Joshua when "all the congregation bade stone them with stones"? Were you ready to be stoned with the two? (cf. Num. 14:10).
* ... for not standing up for David, telling King Saul "you're wrong for hunting David like you do. He's a prophet!"? (1 Sam. 23:9-15; the court were loyal to Saul).
* ... for not supporting Jeremiah in his dungeon when Kings Jehoiakim and Zedekiah "shut him up" and the national leaders wanted to kill him? (38:1-13).
* ... for not confessing publicly you too believe in Jesus of Nazareth when the Jewish national leaders "took up stones to cast at Him"? (John 8:59).
* ... for being a believing "chief ruler" too cowardly to confess Jesus publicly when "the Pharisees" said anybody who does "should be put out of the synagogue"? (John 12:42).
* ... for not speaking up for Jesus when you wanted to warm yourself by the fire, and this girl was taunting you; it's so hard to take ridicule from her, isn't it? (Matt. 26:69-75).
Thank God He gives us a new day today, a new opportunity to repent and overcome!
Copyright © 2009 by Robert J. Wieland.
Be sure to check your e-mail for "Dial Daily Bread" again tomorrow.
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Have you ever wished you had had the courage to speak up for truth when you didn't? What's written in the Bible is there "for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come" (1 Cor. 10:11). Can we learn from those who in the past failed?
* Do you repent for letting Eve cajole you into eating the forbidden fruit when you knew better (she didn't!)? (Gen. 3:6; are you better than Adam?)
* ... for not standing up alone and publicly defending Noah when he was persecuted while he was building the ark alone? We're being tested today! (7:1; Matt. 24:37-39).
* ... for not believing and defending the inspired Joseph when his ten brothers hated him? (Joseph did have some real faults, hooks on which to hang doubts; Gen. 37:5-8).
* ... for not standing with Caleb and Joshua when "all the congregation bade stone them with stones"? Were you ready to be stoned with the two? (cf. Num. 14:10).
* ... for not standing up for David, telling King Saul "you're wrong for hunting David like you do. He's a prophet!"? (1 Sam. 23:9-15; the court were loyal to Saul).
* ... for not supporting Jeremiah in his dungeon when Kings Jehoiakim and Zedekiah "shut him up" and the national leaders wanted to kill him? (38:1-13).
* ... for not confessing publicly you too believe in Jesus of Nazareth when the Jewish national leaders "took up stones to cast at Him"? (John 8:59).
* ... for being a believing "chief ruler" too cowardly to confess Jesus publicly when "the Pharisees" said anybody who does "should be put out of the synagogue"? (John 12:42).
* ... for not speaking up for Jesus when you wanted to warm yourself by the fire, and this girl was taunting you; it's so hard to take ridicule from her, isn't it? (Matt. 26:69-75).
Thank God He gives us a new day today, a new opportunity to repent and overcome!
Copyright © 2009 by Robert J. Wieland.
Be sure to check your e-mail for "Dial Daily Bread" again tomorrow.
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Dial Daily Bread: Behold the Lamb of God
Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"
Really good people keep asking the same question the Pharisees asked long ago, "What shall we DO, that we might work the works of God?" (John 6:28). Israel were obsessed with that idea for they promised God, "All that the Lord hath spoken we will DO" (Ex. 19:8). That promise at Mount Sinai was the "old covenant," and it bound Israel to legalism through most of their history until finally they crucified their Messiah.
But God has always had a better way--the "new covenant," which is not the promise of the people but the one-sided promise of God, not a contract, or a "bargain" He makes with us. He promises to write His law in our hearts, and our part is to believe His promise. But the old covenant/new covenant tension still exists today, and the inherent legalism in the immensely popular old covenant discourages and perplexes multitudes, both in and out of the church.
Instead of our concentrating on what we must DO, God asks us to look and see what He has done and is doing. He taught this lesson to the people in the wilderness--"when he [the one bitten by a serpent] beheld the serpent of brass, he lived" (Num. 21:9). Jesus said that "serpent" represented Himself (exactly backward, we would think!), and our continual "perishing" will come to an end if we "behold" Him as a "serpent lifted up" (John 3:14, 15)--a Savior "made to be sin for us" (2 Cor. 5:21).
"Look unto Me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth," He says (Isa. 45:22). John the Baptist agrees, "Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world" (John 1:29). Jesus says, "If I be lifted up [for all people to see Me] ... I will draw all unto Me" (12:32). Paul saw his mission, to turn people's ears into eyes and "to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery" (Eph. 3:9). John says, "Behold what manner of agape" (1 John 3:1--that's a refreshing sight to see!). Even Pontius Pilate preaches one unforgettable sermon: "Behold the man!" (John 19:5).
Here's Good News: "a great reformatory movement" is coming, for God "will pour upon [His people and leaders] ... the spirit of grace and supplications: and they shall look upon Me whom they have pierced" (Zech. 12:10). Behold that sight and you can never be the same lukewarm person!
Copyright © 2009 by Robert J. Wieland.
Be sure to check your e-mail for "Dial Daily Bread" again tomorrow.
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Really good people keep asking the same question the Pharisees asked long ago, "What shall we DO, that we might work the works of God?" (John 6:28). Israel were obsessed with that idea for they promised God, "All that the Lord hath spoken we will DO" (Ex. 19:8). That promise at Mount Sinai was the "old covenant," and it bound Israel to legalism through most of their history until finally they crucified their Messiah.
But God has always had a better way--the "new covenant," which is not the promise of the people but the one-sided promise of God, not a contract, or a "bargain" He makes with us. He promises to write His law in our hearts, and our part is to believe His promise. But the old covenant/new covenant tension still exists today, and the inherent legalism in the immensely popular old covenant discourages and perplexes multitudes, both in and out of the church.
Instead of our concentrating on what we must DO, God asks us to look and see what He has done and is doing. He taught this lesson to the people in the wilderness--"when he [the one bitten by a serpent] beheld the serpent of brass, he lived" (Num. 21:9). Jesus said that "serpent" represented Himself (exactly backward, we would think!), and our continual "perishing" will come to an end if we "behold" Him as a "serpent lifted up" (John 3:14, 15)--a Savior "made to be sin for us" (2 Cor. 5:21).
"Look unto Me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth," He says (Isa. 45:22). John the Baptist agrees, "Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world" (John 1:29). Jesus says, "If I be lifted up [for all people to see Me] ... I will draw all unto Me" (12:32). Paul saw his mission, to turn people's ears into eyes and "to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery" (Eph. 3:9). John says, "Behold what manner of agape" (1 John 3:1--that's a refreshing sight to see!). Even Pontius Pilate preaches one unforgettable sermon: "Behold the man!" (John 19:5).
Here's Good News: "a great reformatory movement" is coming, for God "will pour upon [His people and leaders] ... the spirit of grace and supplications: and they shall look upon Me whom they have pierced" (Zech. 12:10). Behold that sight and you can never be the same lukewarm person!
Copyright © 2009 by Robert J. Wieland.
Be sure to check your e-mail for "Dial Daily Bread" again tomorrow.
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Thursday, November 05, 2009
Dial Daily Bread: Feeling Incompetent as a Witness for Jesus?
Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"
"I'd love to help somebody else but I don't know what to say!" If you bewail your incompetence as a "witness" for Jesus, welcome to the many who yearn to live for a purpose. They dread meeting Jesus at last with empty arms, a useless life. Let me try to encourage you:
(1) There is a prayer that Jesus HAS to answer, HAS to respond to; He can never say no. It's that of the man in Luke 11 who wakes his neighbor in the middle of the night banging on his door, "Lend me three loaves; for a friend of mine in his journey has come to me, and I have nothing to set before him" (vss. 5-13). That's the prayer of the empty pantry, "asking to give" to someone else. You're not asking the Lord to give YOU something; you're asking Him to give you bread for somebody else. That prayer goes priority to the throne, and is always answered.
(2) It's the idea that permeates the "cry" of Jesus in John 7:37-39: "He who believes on Me, as the Scripture has said [Song of Solomon, that is], 'Out of his inmost soul will flow rivers of living water.'" If that "living water" is not flowing out of my own heart to refresh somebody else, it must mean that I don't "believe" on Him! Everyone who "believes" has the well of living water. Is unbelief the problem?
(3) Well, welcome again to the special "club" of fortunate people if you have begun to realize that your basic problem is that of ancient Israel--unbelief. Now you're ready to pray the prayer that can NEVER be denied: "Lord, I believe; help Thou mine unbelief." Go kneel down beside the anxious father whose child is devil possessed (Mark 9:24). You can NEVER perish if you pray that prayer!
(4) You must FEEL, must realize, must confess, must know forever, your weakness before you CAN be "strong" (2 Cor. 12:8-10). Under heaven there is no substitute for the "broken and contrite heart" which God, fortunately different than we are, "will not despise" (Psalm 51:17).
(5) Yes, this means much less TV and novel-reading, and more hungering and thirsting for "righteousness." Kneel and tell the Lord your plate is empty; wait before Him, "wait, I say, on the Lord" (Psalm 27:13, 14). Don't rush off in a spin; give Him a chance. WAIT. Unbelief drains out of one's soul in a tiny drip. WAIT.
Copyright © 2009 by Robert J. Wieland.
Be sure to check your e-mail for "Dial Daily Bread" again tomorrow.
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"I'd love to help somebody else but I don't know what to say!" If you bewail your incompetence as a "witness" for Jesus, welcome to the many who yearn to live for a purpose. They dread meeting Jesus at last with empty arms, a useless life. Let me try to encourage you:
(1) There is a prayer that Jesus HAS to answer, HAS to respond to; He can never say no. It's that of the man in Luke 11 who wakes his neighbor in the middle of the night banging on his door, "Lend me three loaves; for a friend of mine in his journey has come to me, and I have nothing to set before him" (vss. 5-13). That's the prayer of the empty pantry, "asking to give" to someone else. You're not asking the Lord to give YOU something; you're asking Him to give you bread for somebody else. That prayer goes priority to the throne, and is always answered.
(2) It's the idea that permeates the "cry" of Jesus in John 7:37-39: "He who believes on Me, as the Scripture has said [Song of Solomon, that is], 'Out of his inmost soul will flow rivers of living water.'" If that "living water" is not flowing out of my own heart to refresh somebody else, it must mean that I don't "believe" on Him! Everyone who "believes" has the well of living water. Is unbelief the problem?
(3) Well, welcome again to the special "club" of fortunate people if you have begun to realize that your basic problem is that of ancient Israel--unbelief. Now you're ready to pray the prayer that can NEVER be denied: "Lord, I believe; help Thou mine unbelief." Go kneel down beside the anxious father whose child is devil possessed (Mark 9:24). You can NEVER perish if you pray that prayer!
(4) You must FEEL, must realize, must confess, must know forever, your weakness before you CAN be "strong" (2 Cor. 12:8-10). Under heaven there is no substitute for the "broken and contrite heart" which God, fortunately different than we are, "will not despise" (Psalm 51:17).
(5) Yes, this means much less TV and novel-reading, and more hungering and thirsting for "righteousness." Kneel and tell the Lord your plate is empty; wait before Him, "wait, I say, on the Lord" (Psalm 27:13, 14). Don't rush off in a spin; give Him a chance. WAIT. Unbelief drains out of one's soul in a tiny drip. WAIT.
Copyright © 2009 by Robert J. Wieland.
Be sure to check your e-mail for "Dial Daily Bread" again tomorrow.
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Dial Daily Bread: Can Anything Good Be Said for Halloween?
Can anything good be said for Halloween?
Not really, except to confess the honest truth that it is purest paganism that has wormed its way into the supposedly Christian faith of many millions.
So the question resolves itself into a simpler one: can anything good be said for paganism itself? The Bible offers the repeated comment that paganism imported into the supposedly Christian church is "Babylon" from which the sincere follower of Jesus Christ is sternly commanded forthwith to "come out!" (Rev. 14:8; 18:1-4).
But let's use sanctified common sense in the process: just to come down hard on Halloween alone and neglect the real significance of paganism entrenched in professed Christian thought is to repeat the whole sad apostasy from its beginning.
The story takes us to Daniel, the one book of the Old Testament that Jesus earnestly urges us to "read" and "understand" (Matt. 24:15). In chapters 8:11-13; 11:31, and 12:11, 12 paganism figures as impacting itself on the captive people of God taken to a 70-year exile in ancient Babylon.
As one who spent years in a missionary "exile" in eastern Uganda, this writer can testify: the endless night-time pagan singing and dancing and drum-beating are a continual harassment when you have to be a next-door neighbor. There is evidence in Daniel that the Israelites in captivity in literal Babylon had an idiom for what endlessly surrounded them: "the continual in transgression."
The literal Hebrew is: ha tamid be pesha, the word tamid being translated as "daily," and ha as the article, "the." It occurs those five times in Daniel, and nowhere else in Scripture in that way.
The Hebrew verb in 8:11-13 is rum, which does not mean primarily "take away" but "lift up," "exalt." The Catholic and Protestant Christians who lived through the end of the 1260 years of papal oppression in 1798 A.D. recognized "the daily" as paganism which became exalted in the early apostasy of much professed Christianity. The result has been described as "baptized paganism." The classic volume, The Great Controversy Between Christ and Satan, describes the process as "paganism incorporated" into Christianity (p. 50).
For interested readers, Dial Daily Bread has a little paper on the subject, "Have We Followed Cunningly Devised Fables?" which can be obtained by e-mail. Hit your reply button, and ask for "Fables."
Copyright © 2009 by Robert J. Wieland.
Be sure to check your e-mail for "Dial Daily Bread" again tomorrow.
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Not really, except to confess the honest truth that it is purest paganism that has wormed its way into the supposedly Christian faith of many millions.
So the question resolves itself into a simpler one: can anything good be said for paganism itself? The Bible offers the repeated comment that paganism imported into the supposedly Christian church is "Babylon" from which the sincere follower of Jesus Christ is sternly commanded forthwith to "come out!" (Rev. 14:8; 18:1-4).
But let's use sanctified common sense in the process: just to come down hard on Halloween alone and neglect the real significance of paganism entrenched in professed Christian thought is to repeat the whole sad apostasy from its beginning.
The story takes us to Daniel, the one book of the Old Testament that Jesus earnestly urges us to "read" and "understand" (Matt. 24:15). In chapters 8:11-13; 11:31, and 12:11, 12 paganism figures as impacting itself on the captive people of God taken to a 70-year exile in ancient Babylon.
As one who spent years in a missionary "exile" in eastern Uganda, this writer can testify: the endless night-time pagan singing and dancing and drum-beating are a continual harassment when you have to be a next-door neighbor. There is evidence in Daniel that the Israelites in captivity in literal Babylon had an idiom for what endlessly surrounded them: "the continual in transgression."
The literal Hebrew is: ha tamid be pesha, the word tamid being translated as "daily," and ha as the article, "the." It occurs those five times in Daniel, and nowhere else in Scripture in that way.
The Hebrew verb in 8:11-13 is rum, which does not mean primarily "take away" but "lift up," "exalt." The Catholic and Protestant Christians who lived through the end of the 1260 years of papal oppression in 1798 A.D. recognized "the daily" as paganism which became exalted in the early apostasy of much professed Christianity. The result has been described as "baptized paganism." The classic volume, The Great Controversy Between Christ and Satan, describes the process as "paganism incorporated" into Christianity (p. 50).
For interested readers, Dial Daily Bread has a little paper on the subject, "Have We Followed Cunningly Devised Fables?" which can be obtained by e-mail. Hit your reply button, and ask for "Fables."
Copyright © 2009 by Robert J. Wieland.
Be sure to check your e-mail for "Dial Daily Bread" again tomorrow.
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Wednesday, November 04, 2009
Dial Daily Bread: My Shepherd Leads Me
Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"
David says "my Shepherd … leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake" (Psalm 23:3). "Leads" young people in their choice of a college, or training for a career? Yes! Leads you in your choice of a job, or where to live? Yes! Does He also "lead you in a path of righteousness" concerning whom to marry? The answer has to be Yes, or the psalm is a fake. (Of course you must accept His leading!)
And to all of us at some time comes that journey through "the valley of the shadow," whether we are teens or in our 90s, and we need a Shepherd or divine "Pastor" with us. Please note: the relief from fear in the Shepherd Psalm is the result of a choice: "I WILL [to] fear no evil." The choice can be made today, long before the shadowed journey begins. And it is not merely an adjustment of emotions through psychology; it is a rational, logical, reasoned choice arrived at through careful thought.
The reason why "I WILL [to] fear no evil" is because I believe the Good Shepherd is "with" me; I believe I have a Companion in my journey through either sunshine or shadow. And how can I bring myself to believe such Good News? Because I appreciate that the Son of God became our Second Adam, the new Head of the human race, the Father adopted me "in Christ," I am "in Him" as He went through the agony of "hell" (Psalm 16:10), I identified with Him when He cried out "My God, why have You forsaken Me?" Having by faith "in Him" and with Him conquered that greatest of all fears, no lesser fear can now assail me. From now on His "rod and staff" no longer annoy me; tribulations and chastisement "comfort me," says David, even though I may feel like I am "punished" "every morning" (Psalm 73:14, TEV). "Whom He loveth He chasteneth, and scourgeth every SON whom He receiveth" (Heb. 12:6).
Now by His grace nothing but joy lies before you, "goodness and mercy" all your "days." And best of all, you really WANT to "dwell in the house of the Lord forever" instead of in the movie theater or at the mall. A new motivation now transcends fear of being lost or hope of reward, and even for teens "the world is crucified unto [you]" (Gal. 6:14).
Copyright © 2009 by Robert J. Wieland.
Be sure to check your e-mail for "Dial Daily Bread" again tomorrow.
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David says "my Shepherd … leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake" (Psalm 23:3). "Leads" young people in their choice of a college, or training for a career? Yes! Leads you in your choice of a job, or where to live? Yes! Does He also "lead you in a path of righteousness" concerning whom to marry? The answer has to be Yes, or the psalm is a fake. (Of course you must accept His leading!)
And to all of us at some time comes that journey through "the valley of the shadow," whether we are teens or in our 90s, and we need a Shepherd or divine "Pastor" with us. Please note: the relief from fear in the Shepherd Psalm is the result of a choice: "I WILL [to] fear no evil." The choice can be made today, long before the shadowed journey begins. And it is not merely an adjustment of emotions through psychology; it is a rational, logical, reasoned choice arrived at through careful thought.
The reason why "I WILL [to] fear no evil" is because I believe the Good Shepherd is "with" me; I believe I have a Companion in my journey through either sunshine or shadow. And how can I bring myself to believe such Good News? Because I appreciate that the Son of God became our Second Adam, the new Head of the human race, the Father adopted me "in Christ," I am "in Him" as He went through the agony of "hell" (Psalm 16:10), I identified with Him when He cried out "My God, why have You forsaken Me?" Having by faith "in Him" and with Him conquered that greatest of all fears, no lesser fear can now assail me. From now on His "rod and staff" no longer annoy me; tribulations and chastisement "comfort me," says David, even though I may feel like I am "punished" "every morning" (Psalm 73:14, TEV). "Whom He loveth He chasteneth, and scourgeth every SON whom He receiveth" (Heb. 12:6).
Now by His grace nothing but joy lies before you, "goodness and mercy" all your "days." And best of all, you really WANT to "dwell in the house of the Lord forever" instead of in the movie theater or at the mall. A new motivation now transcends fear of being lost or hope of reward, and even for teens "the world is crucified unto [you]" (Gal. 6:14).
Copyright © 2009 by Robert J. Wieland.
Be sure to check your e-mail for "Dial Daily Bread" again tomorrow.
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Dial Daily Bread: God's Receptionist Says, "Come In!"
Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"
Important people like executives, doctors, lawyers, have "receptionists" outside their office doors to keep you out, to administer non-reception. But there are two passages in the Bible that represent God as having His office door open to you all the time with a Receptionist or Secretary saying "Come in!" One is Christ's model prayer that instructs us to call God "our Father." You are invited; you are adopted; you are "family." Sinful and unworthy though you be? Yes! When the Father welcomed the wet, dripping Jesus as He came out of the water from John's baptism, He said of YOU, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased" (Matt. 3:17; Eph. 1:6). The other passage is Psalm 23.
(1) There is no fine print that warns the reader, "Beware! This psalm is only for good people who do everything right; only they can say that 'the Lord is [their] Shepherd.'" The last page of the Bible says "Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come" (Rev. 22:17).
(2) There is nothing you have to DO in order to make Christ become your Shepherd; He already is. You'll be a thousand times happier when you believe what is already truth.
(3) You "shall not want" because "my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus" (Phil. 4:19). Rightly translated Psalm 23:1 says, "Your Shepherd is your Social Security."
(4) The "still waters" that refresh your soul even now come from the River of Life (Rev. 22:17).
(5) David probably wrote "He restoreth my soul" in his teenage years not knowing that he would some day pray with agonizing tears, "Restore unto me the joy of Thy salvation" (51:12) after his quadruple sin of adultery with Bathsheba and cover-up murder. It's present tense for you; the "restoration" goes on, otherwise you'd be dead.
(6) The Shepherd "leadeth [you] in paths of righteousness" because "thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left" (Isa. 30:21). Unerring guidance!
(7) By God's grace, there will be a tomorrow for another glimpse of Christ as "my Shepherd."
Copyright © 2009 by Robert J. Wieland.
Be sure to check your e-mail for "Dial Daily Bread" again tomorrow.
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Important people like executives, doctors, lawyers, have "receptionists" outside their office doors to keep you out, to administer non-reception. But there are two passages in the Bible that represent God as having His office door open to you all the time with a Receptionist or Secretary saying "Come in!" One is Christ's model prayer that instructs us to call God "our Father." You are invited; you are adopted; you are "family." Sinful and unworthy though you be? Yes! When the Father welcomed the wet, dripping Jesus as He came out of the water from John's baptism, He said of YOU, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased" (Matt. 3:17; Eph. 1:6). The other passage is Psalm 23.
(1) There is no fine print that warns the reader, "Beware! This psalm is only for good people who do everything right; only they can say that 'the Lord is [their] Shepherd.'" The last page of the Bible says "Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come" (Rev. 22:17).
(2) There is nothing you have to DO in order to make Christ become your Shepherd; He already is. You'll be a thousand times happier when you believe what is already truth.
(3) You "shall not want" because "my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus" (Phil. 4:19). Rightly translated Psalm 23:1 says, "Your Shepherd is your Social Security."
(4) The "still waters" that refresh your soul even now come from the River of Life (Rev. 22:17).
(5) David probably wrote "He restoreth my soul" in his teenage years not knowing that he would some day pray with agonizing tears, "Restore unto me the joy of Thy salvation" (51:12) after his quadruple sin of adultery with Bathsheba and cover-up murder. It's present tense for you; the "restoration" goes on, otherwise you'd be dead.
(6) The Shepherd "leadeth [you] in paths of righteousness" because "thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left" (Isa. 30:21). Unerring guidance!
(7) By God's grace, there will be a tomorrow for another glimpse of Christ as "my Shepherd."
Copyright © 2009 by Robert J. Wieland.
Be sure to check your e-mail for "Dial Daily Bread" again tomorrow.
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Monday, November 02, 2009
Dial Daily Bread: In a Whirlwind of Duties?
Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"
Is anybody out there who gets caught up unavoidably in a whirlwind of duties, work, appointments, obligations, so demanding and so pressing that you just couldn't find time for prayer and Bible study between crawling out of bed wearily in the morning and falling asleep exhausted late at night? And all these heavy burdens are not because we are trying to make payments on a boat or a new Lexus or ranch house, but simple duties that decency has imposed on us. We have a family to take care of, righteous obligations that a person of good character must perform. And while we are being thus driven ragged, God keeps sitting on His throne serene, never too much to do, never knows what it is to be in a hurry, plenty of secretaries and aides surrounding Him to do and go at His beck and call, while He frowns and scolds because we haven't "taken time" to pray and study. And so the guilt builds up, and that is added to all the other burdens that stern duty has laid on us, burdens we cannot avoid if we are to function as husbands, fathers, wives, mothers, employees, yes, as church leaders. Sigh!
Can we find somewhere some Good News that may help us endure? Especially regarding the guilt problem. (If you are one who sits serene, untroubled, unhurried, finishing your day's work at 4:30, with a bevy of secretaries and aides, tune out; you don't need this.)
Let's begin at the end first: Our heavenly Father is not frowning and scolding us because we are (or think we are) unavoidably busy. He has sent His Son to save us, not to condemn us (John 3:17; 12:47). Busy as we are, the Good Shepherd doesn't lose patience with us; He keeps seeking us (Luke 15:1-5). Unless we believe this, our hearts get hardened and we find ourselves alienated from Him. Next, in the midst of our most busy busyness, the Holy Spirit gets through with conviction, for He is "the light which lighteth every man that cometh into the world" (John 1:9).
Say Yes to His every conviction, to every ray of light that shines through the worldly gloom; in other words, welcome Him. Guaranteed: He will show you a way and a nook of time to get a meal of nourishing spiritual food for your soul. (The test will come to see if you really want it, or are just playing games.) Lastly, "Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy" (Ex. 20:8). Remember it all week long, and then rest spiritually.
Copyright © 2009 by Robert J. Wieland.
Be sure to check your e-mail for "Dial Daily Bread" again tomorrow.
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Is anybody out there who gets caught up unavoidably in a whirlwind of duties, work, appointments, obligations, so demanding and so pressing that you just couldn't find time for prayer and Bible study between crawling out of bed wearily in the morning and falling asleep exhausted late at night? And all these heavy burdens are not because we are trying to make payments on a boat or a new Lexus or ranch house, but simple duties that decency has imposed on us. We have a family to take care of, righteous obligations that a person of good character must perform. And while we are being thus driven ragged, God keeps sitting on His throne serene, never too much to do, never knows what it is to be in a hurry, plenty of secretaries and aides surrounding Him to do and go at His beck and call, while He frowns and scolds because we haven't "taken time" to pray and study. And so the guilt builds up, and that is added to all the other burdens that stern duty has laid on us, burdens we cannot avoid if we are to function as husbands, fathers, wives, mothers, employees, yes, as church leaders. Sigh!
Can we find somewhere some Good News that may help us endure? Especially regarding the guilt problem. (If you are one who sits serene, untroubled, unhurried, finishing your day's work at 4:30, with a bevy of secretaries and aides, tune out; you don't need this.)
Let's begin at the end first: Our heavenly Father is not frowning and scolding us because we are (or think we are) unavoidably busy. He has sent His Son to save us, not to condemn us (John 3:17; 12:47). Busy as we are, the Good Shepherd doesn't lose patience with us; He keeps seeking us (Luke 15:1-5). Unless we believe this, our hearts get hardened and we find ourselves alienated from Him. Next, in the midst of our most busy busyness, the Holy Spirit gets through with conviction, for He is "the light which lighteth every man that cometh into the world" (John 1:9).
Say Yes to His every conviction, to every ray of light that shines through the worldly gloom; in other words, welcome Him. Guaranteed: He will show you a way and a nook of time to get a meal of nourishing spiritual food for your soul. (The test will come to see if you really want it, or are just playing games.) Lastly, "Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy" (Ex. 20:8). Remember it all week long, and then rest spiritually.
Copyright © 2009 by Robert J. Wieland.
Be sure to check your e-mail for "Dial Daily Bread" again tomorrow.
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Dial Daily Bread: The Faith of Jesus in God's Plan of Justification
Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"
Have you ever been close to losing your life, either from sickness or an accident? And you have realized that your life has been an undeserved bonus?
The faith of Jesus in God's plan of justification teaches that lesson in its truest dimension: "The love [agape] of Christ constrains us; because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died" (2 Cor. 5:14). It's so obvious that you wonder why you didn't see it long ago:
(1) Christ died for the world, for everyone (1 Cor. 15:3). That's true.
(2) It's equivalent to saying that if He had not "died for all," then all would themselves have had to die.
(3) In other words, death would have been the inevitable end of everyone, "all," because "the wages of sin is death" (Rom. 6:23). Sin kills; the poison sting is in the sin itself. The end has always been wrapped up in the sinning. It's not an arbitrary, malicious condemnation on the part of God.
(4) That "death" is what Jesus described in our beloved text of John 3:16--to "perish." As 2 + 2 = 4, the logic is inescapable: if "One" "perished" in place of all perishing, then He saved "all" from perishing, and "all" can see themselves in a new light: they have escaped that terrible fate because of how He "perished" for them.
(5) The death that Jesus died is the "perishing" kind--what the Bible says is "the second death" (Rev. 2:11; 20:14). You came within a hair's breadth of suffering it yourself, except that Christ "perished" in it for you. That's the death He died.
(6) Now you are "constrained" to deny self and to live only for Him. Now "easy" to be saved and "hard" to be lost make sense--all because of that "love" (agape).
Copyright © 2009 by Robert J. Wieland.
Be sure to check your e-mail for "Dial Daily Bread" again tomorrow.
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Have you ever been close to losing your life, either from sickness or an accident? And you have realized that your life has been an undeserved bonus?
The faith of Jesus in God's plan of justification teaches that lesson in its truest dimension: "The love [agape] of Christ constrains us; because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died" (2 Cor. 5:14). It's so obvious that you wonder why you didn't see it long ago:
(1) Christ died for the world, for everyone (1 Cor. 15:3). That's true.
(2) It's equivalent to saying that if He had not "died for all," then all would themselves have had to die.
(3) In other words, death would have been the inevitable end of everyone, "all," because "the wages of sin is death" (Rom. 6:23). Sin kills; the poison sting is in the sin itself. The end has always been wrapped up in the sinning. It's not an arbitrary, malicious condemnation on the part of God.
(4) That "death" is what Jesus described in our beloved text of John 3:16--to "perish." As 2 + 2 = 4, the logic is inescapable: if "One" "perished" in place of all perishing, then He saved "all" from perishing, and "all" can see themselves in a new light: they have escaped that terrible fate because of how He "perished" for them.
(5) The death that Jesus died is the "perishing" kind--what the Bible says is "the second death" (Rev. 2:11; 20:14). You came within a hair's breadth of suffering it yourself, except that Christ "perished" in it for you. That's the death He died.
(6) Now you are "constrained" to deny self and to live only for Him. Now "easy" to be saved and "hard" to be lost make sense--all because of that "love" (agape).
Copyright © 2009 by Robert J. Wieland.
Be sure to check your e-mail for "Dial Daily Bread" again tomorrow.
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