Dial Daily Bread: Has God Been Experimenting?

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

In my copy of the Holy Bible, 944 pages are called "the Old Testament," and 285 pages are called "the New Testament." The word "testament" is the same as "covenant." So 77 percent of the Holy Bible is called "The Old Covenant" and 23 percent is called "the New Covenant." Why this difference?

Are these two "dispensations" in God's plan of saving the world? Many hold to that view. They understand that the New Covenant began with the crucifixion of the Son of God.

But does it make sense that God has been experimenting, that He tried for 4000 years the Old Covenant method and finally decided that it didn't work, and now He is trying a new method? If so, can we really trust Him that He knows what He's doing?

Instead, the Bible is clear that God has always had only one method of saving people. It's called "the everlasting gospel" or "the everlasting covenant" (Rev. 14:6; Heb. 13:20). No, God is infinitely wise; He has not been poking around with trial-and-error experiments. Ever since the Garden of Eden He has had only one plan of salvation--"by grace through faith" (Eph. 2:9). Christ is the "Lamb slain from the foundation of the world" (Rev. 13:8).

Then why the two Covenants?

They are not two methods of salvation; they are two understandings of God's people through the ages, two opposite perceptions of God's plan of salvation, not two "dispensations" that He has used as experiments. The Old Covenant was a "faulty" understanding of His people at Mt. Sinai--God was not to blame for it. He tried His best to get them to understand His glorious "New Covenant" as Abraham understood it and was "justified by faith." But no, they were perverse; they themselves chose the Old Covenant idea. It led them to "bondage" and finally to torture and crucify our Savior (cf. Gal. 4:24). A kindergarten child can easily understand--that it's not really good, is it? (Read Galatians 3 and 4.)

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: November 12, 2002.
Copyright © 2010 by Robert J. Wieland.

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Dial Daily Bread: A Personal Anonymous "Diary"

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

If you found somebody's lost diary (which was anonymous), and you wanted to return it, you would search for clues in it that could help you, some little details that could narrow it down to identifying the right author.

Well, we have a very personal "diary" in the Bible that appears to be anonymous. It is intensely personal, revealing secrets that people don't usually divulge to anyone, like secret battles with temptation, or anguish and distress at midnight, or anxieties that get you up before dawn. It seems to be written by some very unusual person.

(1) A clue gives it away as a teenager (vs. 9): "Wherewithal shall a young man (nah'or) cleanse his way?" "A 'nah'or' is someone between infancy and adolescence," says Strong's lexicon, pretty well narrowing down our clue to teenage.

(2) Another clue: this teen, whoever he is, has "more understanding" than all the University professors of his day (vs. 99).

(3) Another clue: he even knows more than the Supreme Court justices of his day (vs. 100).

(4) Further, he tells us that he has never set his feet in a path that leads to a sin (vs. 101). I don't know of anyone who could say that except One person.

(5) He is unusual as a boy in that "princes also did sit and speak against me" (vs. 23). He seemed to have a knack for getting "princes" all stirred up against him (vs. 161).

(6) Young as he was, he had lots of "afflictions" (vss. 67, 75, 107). Boys don't usually cry tears that young, but this one did--rivers of them (vss. 136, 145). Which must have meant--he was unusually human, as well as whatever else he was.

(7) Rather than the village handsome athlete, he says he was "small and despised" (vs. 141).

(8) People who loved truth seemed attracted to him (vs. 63), so he was never utterly alone until at the very end of his life when everybody forsook him (Isa. 63:3).

Many artists have tried to picture Jesus as a boy; it will do your soul good to ponder this portrait of Him in Psalm 119.

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: June 22, 2003.
Copyright © 2010 by Robert J. Wieland.

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Dial Daily Bread: The Keys of the Kingdom

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Jesus said something both wonderful and terrible when he said to His disciples, "Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained" (John 20:23). It was a parallel statement with the one in Matthew, "I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven" (16:19).

As authority figures to other people (that is, parents, teachers, preachers/pastors), can we actually open or lock the gates of heaven to people? Jesus says YES! If in a fit of temper a parent tells a child, "You are lazy! You'll never amount to anything!" that child will have to carry that burden all his life unless somehow he finds the true gospel that gives him relief from that "burden." If a preacher/pastor tells his congregation similar Bad News, he can close the gates of heaven against children and youth. We may wonder why they drop out of the "family" when they reach their teens, but that was the reason. In a fit of anger, a husband/wife can tell his/her spouse words that wound forever: "There is that speaketh like the piercings of a sword" (Prov. 12:18). Sometimes the words are so painful that they are like a barb--it hurts even to draw them out in repentance. You are indeed an authority figure even to your spouse!

But there's another half to that verse: "But the tongue of the wise is health." Yes, don't forget the Good News side to what Jesus said: we can say Good News to children and youth, yes to spouses, words that will be the opening of the gates of the New Jerusalem to their souls. Let us thank God for a new Today wherein we can apply some healing balm to the wounds we have made, and we can tell someone some precious Good News. There is nothing to thank God for more earnestly than that we have another day in which to receive His precious gift of repentance with another opportunity to use those "keys" the right way.

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: August 18, 1998.
Copyright © 2010 by Robert J. Wieland.

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Dial Daily Bread: A Precious Morsel of Good News in Galatians

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

One of the most precious morsels of Good News "bread" in Galatians is almost hidden there. It's a message from heaven to encourage your tempted soul. It's Galatians 5:17 (GNB): "What our human nature wants [KJV = "flesh"] is opposed to what the [Holy] Spirit wants, and what the [Holy] Spirit wants is opposed to what our human nature ["flesh"] wants. These two are enemies, and this means that you cannot do what you want to do."

The Bible is inspired by the Holy Spirit, but if we read it backwards from what it says, it can be made to tell us Bad News. And that's what has happened with this text. People read it as though it says you cannot do the GOOD things you would like to do because of this constant enmity of the flesh against the Holy Spirit. So they feel doomed to endless defeat, and sincerely believe the Bible agrees with them. "I've been smoking two packs a day for years and I want to quit but I can't! The 'flesh' is too strong!" Or, "I'm an alcoholic; my 'flesh' craves another drink, and the craving is so great I can't help giving in!" Or, "My sexual lust is so strong I can't keep clean! The 'flesh' is master of my life!"

They have Galatians 5:17 exactly backwards! Look at verse 16: "Let the [Holy] Spirit direct your lives, and you will not satisfy the desires of the human nature." Or better still, the KJV: "This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the desires of the flesh." It's as if Paul says, "Go for a walk letting the Holy Spirit hold you by the hand and I guarantee you will not give in to those sinful desires of the flesh, because the Holy Spirit, the mighty Third Person of the Godhead, is stronger than your flesh!"

If you see what Paul is telling you in Galatians about what it cost the Son of God to save you from eternal hell, how He died your second death and condemned sin in your flesh (and mine!), even though your flesh tries to entice you to sin, you can't do it, because the Holy Spirit is stronger! Now, THAT'S Good News!

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: June 17, 1998.
Copyright © 2010 by Robert J. Wieland.

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Dial Daily Bread: The Prince of Sufferers from Depression

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

No matter where we turn in the Bible, we meet someone who suffers what we moderns call "depression." The Psalms of David are a prime example. There is one entitled, "Out of the depths I have cried to You, O LORD" (130:1); that's the powerful name that just saying it humbles one's heart. Then in verse 2, David begs, "Lord, hear my voice! Let Your ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications." He does not get immediate relief for he adds, "I wait for the LORD, my soul waits" (vs. 5).

David's problem that makes his depression painful is guilt: "If You, LORD, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand?" (vs. 3). The Holy Spirit has been speaking to him, whose first work on David's heart is the conviction of sin, and it's painful. If we trace that conviction to its source, we come to Calvary--where Jesus prays the Father to forgive those who crucify Him. Then we realize that it's us He is praying for! Not the Jews or Romans.

We have two wonders unfolding here: (a) the wonder of God's redeeming love, and (b) David's deep unworthiness that now he realizes. Therefore, "there is forgiveness with You," he says, "that You may be feared" (vs. 4).

The Prince of sufferers from depression is the Lord Jesus Christ; see Him in Gethsemane. His disciples, even Peter, James, John, couldn't even give Him an hour of their precious human time without going to sleep on Him (Matt. 26:36-40). He "began to be sorrowful and deeply depressed" (the KJV says "very heavy"). How "heavy"? "My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death." Have you ever been near there?

And we know that Jesus never sinned; therefore we must conclude--to be "depressed" is not of itself sin. It's human, and Jesus the Son of God became human, the Son of man. He took into His soul all the depression that all humans have suffered, cumulative, corporate, and bore it, "even unto death," the final God-forsaken kind of hopeless death when He cried out in those "depths," "My God, why have You forsaken Me?"

Kneel with Him in Gethsemane; but you can't endure that death. Even suicide isn't close; He won't let you suffer the second death! Not even share or taste it ever so tiny--without you sharing also with Him His resurrection.

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: May 24, 2006.
Copyright © 2010 by Robert J. Wieland.

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Dial Daily Bread: One of the Most Dramatic Moments in the Gospel Story

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Nine of Christ's disciples had failed miserably, and in full view of the crowd. It was severely embarrassing, and the episode as told in Mark 9 is one of the most dramatic moments in the gospel story. We identify with those nine for often we too have failed to help people in distress as we have wanted to do; our prayers have appeared to be unanswered. We have fasted and prayed in behalf of people dying of cancer ... and they have died. We have prayed for alcoholics, and ... they have gone on drinking. We have pleaded for wayward youth, and they have ... still wandered.

Jesus has been glorified on the Mount of Transfiguration--wonderful mini-vacation, visiting with Moses and Elijah. Heavenly light. But now He returns to His daily life of ministry for suffering people. The nine disciples He had left in the valley have prayed for the demon to be cast out of a suffering boy, and to their acute shame, nothing has happened. Jesus told them that their problem was their "unbelief," and that "this kind" of demon problem can be healed only by "prayer and fasting" (vs. 29). We empathize with them. The demons in effect tell us as they told "the seven sons of Sceva," "Jesus I know, and Paul I know, but who are you?" (Acts 19:14, 15).

A very thoughtful writer has suggested that their "unbelief" was actually a lack of "sympathy" with Jesus in His work. Their faith was not childlike, it was childish. And the question arises: are we today mature enough in our thinking to "sympathize" with Jesus in His heart-burdened work He is doing on this grand Day of Atonement? Or are we infants still absorbed in our natural spiritual egoism, concerned just for our "reward"?

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: May 16, 2005B.
Copyright © 2010 by Robert J. Wieland.

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Dial Daily Bread: Are We to "Wait" and "Occupy" until Jesus Comes?

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

A thousand times "yes!" Let's agree that when the Savior of the world died on His cross and proclaimed "It is finished!" He won the great controversy all by Himself.

Yes, yes, He died "instead" of us. Yes, salvation is assured. Yes, He opened the gates of Paradise. Yes, it was all done even before we were born. Yes, yes, we contribute nothing to our own salvation.

But does all that mean that we His people, being "covered" by this celestial Insurance Policy, now have only to "wait" and "occupy until [He] comes"? (Cf. Luke 19:13; that word "occupy" has come to mean make lots of money, enjoy the world, don't lose out, have our fun as though there were no solemn Day of Atonement for us to live in.) Does Christ's dying "instead" of us mean that we have no cross to "share" with Him? He dies 100 percent only "instead" of us? From now on are we simply so many childish digits in the credit column in God's heavenly computer, and we "wait" for the call of the first resurrection? Or is there some serious business before us about getting ready to meet Jesus at His second coming?

Please note: there are four glorious "Hallelujah Choruses" in Revelation 19:1-7 that say something must happen that at last makes possible that "the Lord God omnipotent reigns"! And that something not having happened yet has delayed His "reign" for many, many years, even though He finished His dying "instead" of us. What finally must happen is that "the Lamb's wife" "make herself ready" for the intimacy of the "marriage of the Lamb." What happened on the cross was wonderful indeed, but nobody can (or will) be happy in heaven until those Hallelujah Choruses can be sung, proclaiming a hitherto elusive victory.

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: March 25, 2005.
Copyright © 2010 by Robert J. Wieland.

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Dial Daily Bread: The Root of All Fear

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

We've come to a time when human armaments no longer can assuage deep fear.

1 John 4:18 says that "perfect love casts out fear," but how does "perfect agape" cast out its root? Mouthing empty words, "Jesus will take care of you!" doesn't satisfy children. They fall asleep at night worrying still. They know many believers in Christ perished.

We fear the economy may collapse, but that's not the root of fear. We fear diseases, like cancer, but again, that's not it. We in the western United States worry about wildfires every summer, but again that's not it. The bottom-line root is the fear of eternal hell, separation forever from light, love, and God. One may not know how to articulate it, but all other fears derive from that one.

The Bible calls its horror the "second death." Unspeakable, unmatched by earthly terrorism, if one could go through it just once and come out the other side, he could be done with that root of fear forever. He could tell the devil, "I've been through it already; nothing can faze me now. I'm immune to fear of any kind because I have already suffered the quintessential fear and survived. No lesser fear can touch that one!" But the problem is, you can't do that and survive.

The Bible is clear: (1) Christ died the equivalent of that "second death," endured 100 percent the torture and horror of hell itself, drained the cup dry.

(2) He is your Substitute--but therein lies a problem: if He is only a vicarious Substitute (the popular variety), the root of fear still gnaws away at your insides. What's true is a shared substitution, where you personally identify with Him. "I am crucified with Christ" (Gal. 2:20). "If One died for all, then all died" (2 Cor. 5:14). That's more than signing the Insurance Policy kind of faith; this time, unlike Peter, James, and John, you don't go to sleep while Jesus prays in Gethsemane.

You appreciate what He went through. You identify with Him.

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: September 25, 2001.
Copyright © 2010 by Robert J. Wieland.

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Dial Daily Bread: The Society of Unanswered Pray-ers

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Have you been praying for a certain blessing, and the answer seems never to have come? You have been persistent in prayer, as Jesus tells us to do (we "ought always to pray, and not to faint," Luke 18:1), and still the answer has not come. You have asked Him to show you what might be wrong, what might he hindering your prayers (Peter says that if a man doesn't treat his wife right his prayers will be "hindered," 1 Peter 3:7), and God has not told you of anything wrong that might be "hindering" the answer. The Holy Spirit does not convict you of failure to do any known duty, even though you kneel before God and beg Him to notice you and to instruct you. Still you ask Him for that special blessing and it doesn't come.

Welcome to Job's "Club," the Society of Unanswered Pray-ers. You are not alone. The Prime Member is Jesus Himself. He prayed "with strong crying and tears unto Him that was able to save Him from death, and was heard in that He feared," but still He had to go to the cross and die (cf Heb. 5:7). The next verse reminds us that "Though He were a Son," yet He had to learn the lessons of life as we do "by the things which He suffered." But for sure He does not want you to duplicate the agony He suffered on the cross, nor even the agony which Job suffered.

There is an answer to your perplexity and disappointment. Let's notice several possibilities: (a) God may be working hard to give you a "yes" answer but He cannot force the will of some person who may be "withstanding" Him; that's what happened about one of Daniel's earnest prayers (cf. 10:13). If that's what's happening, you can be sure that the dear Lord is as merciful to you as He was to Daniel, and He will impress your heart with the conviction of truth. He will save you from discouragement. (b) The answer may be in process. and it just takes more time. This could be true if you are praying for a loved one.

Remember that on the cross Christ accomplished something for "every man," which makes it possible for Him to treat "every man" as though that person has never sinned (see Matt. 5:45)--Christ has already died that person's second death, and therefore He treats him/her just as though that person is going to be saved. This is the meaning of that interesting phrase "legal justification." Now, you do the same; treat that person as though you fully expect that your prayers are already answered, and that person is going to be saved just as you are. Draw a "circle" that includes that person inside. Don't say, "Oh, that person is far from being ready!" The closer you come to Jesus the more of His skill and wisdom you will share, because you will have "the mind of Christ" (Phil. 2:5).

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: January 20, 2001.
Copyright © 2010 by Robert J. Wieland.

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Dial Daily Bread: A Radical Idea About the Bible

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

If you were weak and hungry, it would be ridiculous to think that a teaspoonful of soup would suffice to give you physical energy to live for a day. But if you were sick with the kind of hepatitis I had once (delicious food tasted like sawdust, I had no appetite), you would appreciate a bite of something that tasted so good that it aroused hunger to eat more. That's the purpose of "Dial Daily Bread" e-mails: not to sustain anyone with spiritual energy (two or three minutes couldn't do that!), but it comes with a prayer that it might make someone "hungry."

Jesus was right when He said, "Except you eat, ... you have no life in you," and He was talking about "the bread of life" (John 6:48-53). But multitudes have no "appetite" for the Bible; it's boring, like eating sawdust, and God knows it may not be their fault. The teaching they have heard may often represent the Bible as Bad News, a dose of legalism, a program of works they must do they don't feel they have the strength to do; thus reading the Bible tastes like sawdust. They can't wait until it's over and they can flip to something "interesting" (I know I'm a part of mankind!).

Our heavenly Father is well aware of this problem. He has no end of people in His "hospital" ward who are being kept barely alive by a spiritual intravenous "drip," and He longs to give them a taste of some spiritual food so delicious that they will learn to "hunger and thirst after righteousness" (Matt. 5:6). Then it will become their passion to "eat" and "drink" Christ in the sense that they will yearn for more of His Word. "I am the bread of life," says Jesus. "This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man [or woman] may eat thereof, and not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man shall eat of this bread, he shall live forever" (John 6:50, 51).

This e-mail "Dial Daily Bread" has a fundamentally radical idea that every page of the Bible has Good News locked in it, if only we can "see" that One who also said that He is the water of life. "If any man thirst, let him come unto Me, and drink." The person who believes on Him becomes a drinking fountain, "as the Scripture has said, Out of his inmost soul will flow rivers of living water" to refresh some other thirsty soul (7:37, 38). If you have "tasted," you're bound to want more; and thus everlasting life begins with blessed eternal hunger and thirst.

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: March 9, 2001.
Copyright © 2010 by Robert J. Wieland.

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Dial Daily Bread: Who's Doing the Holding?

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Are you holding on to God's hand? Or is He holding on to your hand? When Jesus says, "As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can you, unless you abide in Me" (John 15:4), does He mean that the "Vine" (which is Himself) does nothing to maintain the connection but leaves that "abiding" to the initiative of the branch? In other words, does your salvation depend on you holding on to God ("abiding in Him"), or to your believing that He is holding on to you?

Or, to put it in even more simple language, does your salvation really depend on your own works? Jesus says something here in John 15 that needs closer attention: "Abide in Me, and I in you." For us to abide in Him requires our own initiative; He will not force us; but He also says, "I abide in you." Does the branch do the abiding in the vine, or does the vine do the abiding in the branch?

Well, the answer is obvious: all the sap and nutriments for the branch come from the vine and its root. The branch cannot live on its own. Life comes from the vine, not vice versa! A little later in John 15, Jesus explains what it means for Him to abide in us: "If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you shall ask what you desire" (vs. 7). What He says is Good News all the way through. He is the Vine, we are the branches; only our own perverse choice can separate us from Him. The sap is constantly flowing from the root through the Vine to the branch--don't stop it! Don't cut it off.

The missing link of Good News truth is found in Colossians 3:16: "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom." Jesus had already promised us in John 14:26 that He is giving us the GIFT of the Holy Spirit who will "bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you" (John 14:26). In your darkest moment when you cry out "My God, why have You forsaken me?" that Holy Spirit is pressing upon your conscience, your memory, the "word of Christ." Welcome it! Cherish it! Choose to receive it! "Let it abide in you"! Thank God for that "word"! He says, "I the Lord God will hold your right hand" (Isa. 41:13). It's tremendously important to know who is who here--Who does the holding?

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive:
Copyright © 2010 by Robert J. Wieland.

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Dial Daily Bread: Romans 3:23, 24--What does It Say?

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

There is something that the Bible says that is so clear it seems impossible that anyone could misread it: "All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus" (Rom. 3:23, 24, KJV). Says the NIV: "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus." Says the NEB: "All alike have sinned, and are deprived of the divine splendour, and all are justified by God's free grace alone, through His act of liberation in the person of Christ Jesus." What does it say? Or mean?

The Good News therein is clear:

(1) The same "all" who have sinned (that has to be absolutely everybody, with the sole exception of Jesus), that same "all" who have sinned have also been "justified freely by His grace." NOTE: It does NOT say all are "justified by faith"! The only ones who experience justification by faith are those who believe the Good News.

(2) But "grace" is never merited; it is ALWAYS "free." No way can we limit that "grace" to certain people and exclude others. Therefore all are "justified freely."

(3) This work of justifying "all" has been done "through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus." "We have redemption through His blood" (Eph. 1:7). The blood was shed for all, not just for some. "Our Saviour Jesus Christ ... gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from all iniquity" (Titus 2:13, 14). We cannot limit "the redemption ... in Christ" to some and not allow it for "all." Paul often says that "all are justified freely."

(4) We are "justified by His blood" (Rom. 5:9). The blood was shed for all, for "all we like sheep have gone astray, ... and the Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all" (Isa. 53:6). As "He bare the sin of many" [all] so He is said to "justify many" (vss. 12, 11).

Then will everybody automatically be saved eternally in heaven? No, for some (sadly, many!) resist and reject what Christ has already GIVEN them, just like Esau HAD the birthright but he rejected it, sold it, despised it (Gen. 25:34; Heb. 12:16, 17).

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: March 30, 2002.
Copyright © 2010 by Robert J. Wieland.

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Dial Daily Bread: How Jesus Abolished the Second Death

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Are there contradictions in the Bible? Some people think so; I don't think there are. But sometimes what APPEARS to be a contradiction opens up a vast field of Good News truth that warms the heart. One such apparent contradiction is found in 2 Timothy 1:10 where "our beloved brother Paul" says something that sounds absurd. He says that "our Saviour Jesus Christ ... has abolished death." Past tense, not future tense. At the same time, Paul says, Christ has "brought life and immortality to light through the gospel." Also past tense, not future tense.

So, here's our apparent contradiction, a whopper! How can there be a "second death" in the lake of fire if Jesus has "abolished" it? Here's where the reality of the Good News of the gospel shines bright: When "God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son," He sent Him to die every man's second death (John 3:16-19). Hebrews 2:9 says, "We see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death [obviously, the second], … that He, by the grace of God, might taste death for everyone."

That is how He abolished the second death. You and I don't have to die that second death! Jesus died it; only if you resist and reject and choose to disbelieve, only then will it be necessary for you to die that death! Don't you want to tell somebody? What a load that News will lift from someone's discouraged heart!

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: May 23, 1998.
Copyright © 2010 by Robert J. Wieland.

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Dial Daily Bread: The Elijah Message for Us (Part 4)

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Is there Biblical evidence that Elijah understood and preached the grace of God, that is, righteousness by faith? Or was he stern, hard, lacking compassion? We know this:

1. God sent him (1 Kings 17; 18), and "God is love" (1 John 4:8).

2. His message was preeminently reconciliation of alienated hearts in home and national life (Mal. 4:5, 6). That took "grace unlimited."

3. His prayer on Mt. Carmel was calm, simple, heart-felt, gracious.

4. The people's "heart" was "turned ... back again" (1 Kings 18:37).

5. What did it was God's acceptance of the blood sacrifice that clearly prefigured Christ's sacrifice on His cross (vs. 33). It's not too much to say: Elijah preached to the nation a great sermon on the cross that day.

6. The people responded, believed, humbled their hearts before this divine revelation of the abounding grace and forgiveness of God. But the priests of Baal hardened their hearts against it; in hopeless rejection, they would crucify Christ a thousand times over. This demonstration was in miniature the judgment at the end of the millennium (Rev. 20:11-15). To execute the priests of Baal was the people's choice, their unanimous will. It was clear: their sin was the unpardonable one.

7. The fruit of Elijah's ministry? Genuine reformation and revival. And God translated him! (2 Kings 2:11). Pretty good evidence of grace.

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: January 25, 2005.
Copyright © 2010 by Robert J. Wieland.

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Dial Daily Bread: The Elijah Message for Us (Part 3)

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

The last two verses of the Old Testament tell us of the only hope this strife-torn human race has: the coming of "Elijah." God says, "I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord [Jehovah or Yahweh]. And he will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers" (Mal. 4:5, 6).

That will be the most far-reaching reconciliation we have seen since Pentecost. (Think how much the Middle East needs "Elijah"!)

They're not idle words. God has made this promise. The sacrifice of Jesus Christ on His cross is the only reconciling agency in existence; therefore it follows that the coming of "Elijah" must be proclaiming the message of Jesus Christ in all His reconciling power. It will be what unbelieving hearts find almost inconceivable: a proclamation of what the Bible calls "the atonement" that will work miracles of grace worldwide. The mention of "fathers" and "children" means the entire human race in all our multi-ethnic, multi-cultural alienations. A blessed unity will be realized as people kneel together at the cross of the Son of God, at last "beholding" or perceiving its full significance.

No, it will not be 100 percent successful. It would be, except for one anti-Elijah-message factor that will intrude: the Battle of Armageddon. Side by side, two movements will develop--on the one hand, a blessed reconciliation ("at-one-ment") of human hearts with each other and with the heavenly Father, and simultaneously on the other hand, the exacerbation of enmity between humans and God (Rom. 8:7): it will be the ultimate polarization of the human race, "the hour of His judgment" (Rev. 14:6, 7). No one will be neutral.

A big job for one "prophet" to accomplish! The already-translated Elijah (2 Kings 2:1, 11) will be "sent" to do the work worldwide as he was sent personally to encourage Christ at His Transfiguration (Matt. 17:1-3). (That was a work of reconciliation!) Elijah will have "144,000" to help him (Rev. 14:1-5).

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: January 24, 2005.
Copyright © 2010 by Robert J. Wieland.

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Dial Daily Bread: The Elijah Message for Us (Part 2)

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

There may be a little treasure of truth buried in the story of Elijah that illustrates the kindness and compassion of the Lord. The faithful but lonely prophet has been directed to seek shelter in the home of the widow of Zarepath. He appreciates her hospitality and her faith. But a terrible sickness suddenly takes the life of her young son (1 Kings 17:17, 18).

At first Elijah has brought sunshine and gladness into her widowed life. But now the bereaved mother imagines that the man of God has ministered this grief to her in that his holy presence in her home has brought all her sins into memory and judgment. (Evidently she has had a checkered past--well, who hasn't!) She wails in her anguish, "Have you come to me to bring my sin to remembrance, and to kill my son?" (vs. 18).

Elijah takes it personally; he knows he is hated in Israel and Phoenicia, everybody everywhere blames him for this famine. Now it seems that God has humiliated him by bringing this bereavement on this widow. When he takes the dead son from her, he doesn't pray a quiet, unimpassioned prayer as he did later on Carmel; he agonizes his distress. "He cried out to the Lord, 'O Lord my God, have You also brought tragedy on the widow with whom I lodge, by killing her son?'" (vs. 20). A prayer from a broken heart!

In mercy, the Lord answered his prayer of distress and resurrected the child.

Do you suppose that the Lord granted this precious interlude blessing as a way to strengthen the faith of Elijah when he stood alone and friendless before the king, the priests of Baal, and the multitude, on Mt. Carmel? He remembers: the Lord has honored his prayer by raising a dead child to life. Wouldn't that recent memory nerve his spirit and encourage him? Since he had been hidden from the murderous hatred of Israel, no one on Carmel knew of this recent happening in Sidon; Elijah shared this little secret with the Lord. That should be enough to fortify his faith: yes, the fire will fall!

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: January 23, 2005.
Copyright © 2010 by Robert J. Wieland.

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Dial Daily Bread: The Elijah Message for Us (Part 1)

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Elijah the prophet is often misunderstood and unappreciated. It is true that he was a humble man from the mountains of Gilead with no official endorsement. But he was a deep and keen thinker on a level far beyond that of the leadership of Israel. As he saw the horrible effects of the national apostasy, he thought of its cosmic consequences. The great controversy between Christ and Satan was involved. The honor of the very name of the true God was in jeopardy. If God could not save Israel, how could the Messiah save the world? This was a portentous crisis.

We need to understand Elijah better. God has promised to send him again "before the great and terrible day of the Lord" (Mal. 4:5, 6). Unless we understand correctly, there is danger that we may follow ancient Israel in their national apostasy from the truth of God.

Elijah shares with one other man in the Old Testament a profound understanding of God's character of love (agape). In Exodus 32 we read of Israel worshipping a golden calf within days of their forming the grand Old Covenant at Sinai. God purposed to be done with them, but Moses changed God's mind in his plea: if You can't forgive and save Israel, "blot [my name] out of Your book which You have written" (vs. 32). Rather than see Israel lost, he says, I choose to relinquish my own eternal salvation. In the exercise of such faith, Moses found a link that bound him to the cross of Christ, for that is what Jesus did in His love for us--the "width, and length, and depth, and height of the love (agape) of Christ which passes knowledge" (Eph. 3:18, 19).

Now, in his love for apostate Israel, Elijah finds a link that binds him in faith to Moses. Could this be the reason why heaven sent Moses and Elijah to visit with Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration? Only they could encourage Him in His self-sacrifice on His cross, when He died our second death to save us!

We can be sure this kind of love is implicit in whatever message "Elijah" will bring us when he comes back.

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: January 22, 2005.
Copyright © 2010 by Robert J. Wieland.

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Dial Daily Bread: Those Bad Dreams--Where Do They Come From?

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Why do we have bad dreams in which we do things that horrify us when we wake up? When we regain consciousness, our whole soul revolts against the doing of the thing that we have just dreamed that we did! Sometimes we pray, "Lord, don't let me again have a bad dream like that!" And then we have one. What's going on?

Perhaps an inspired apostle may help us, Paul in Galatians 5. The bad things we do in our dreams are an illustration of "the works of the flesh" being "manifest, which are these: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, seditions," etc., etc. A synonym of "the flesh" is "sinful nature," which we all have by birth from Adam. Don't be deceived into thinking that you have "holy flesh" when you are converted; you have no natural righteousness of your own, not even 1%. You are wholly dependent on the righteousness of Christ.

"The flesh" has a reservoir of evil things it can do and which you and I would do but for the grace of Christ. Peter never dreamed that it was possible for him to deny Christ with cursing; and he was an ordained apostle! It was "the flesh" that motivated him to do what he did. King David had never dreamed that it was possible for him to commit the double sin of adultery and murder; it was "the flesh" that took over control. You and I have no idea of the evil that we could do if the Savior were to abandon us. So, thank Him from the depths of your heart that it was "only a dream," and choose again to "go for a walk with the [Holy] Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh" (see vss. 16-19).

Yes, the flesh will tempt you, and try to allure you; but remember Peter and remember how weak you are of yourself. The Lord has promised to "hold your right hand" (Isa. 41:10, 13), and that is the only reason you don't fall. Now, don't wriggle your hand out of His hand like a rebellious child crossing a busy street. Let Him hold you by the hand; respond to His constant promptings. And when your race is over at last, you will thank Him for saving you 100%.

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: May 30, 2000.
Copyright © 2010 by Robert J. Wieland.

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Dial Daily Bread: The Second Death--For the Righteous Only?

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

We read that when Christ was crucified, the two thieves wrestled and fought with the soldiers who nailed them to the bars. In the final judgment when the lost face the second death, will they also fight against the justice of their fate?

We read in Revelation 15:3 that in the end all will confess, "Just and true are Thy ways, Thou King of saints." All will kneel before Him (Phil 2:10). The final judgment will include an awakening to the full truth of their guilt before Heaven. Not one will have an excuse to plead. Not one will be able to shake his fist at God and charge Him with injustice, that He did less for them than He did for those who are saved inside the Holy City.

For those who will be saved at last, it will be true that Christ died for them, took their iniquity upon Himself, and died their second death as their Substitute. Did He do less for those who will be lost? Can they charge God with being unfair? Or do the lost pay for their sins themselves, as in the Hindu doctrine of karma, balancing their own books, paying up their debt themselves? They cannot charge God with any semblance of injustice; therefore it must follow, that Christ died the second death of the wicked as surely as He died the second death of the righteous as Hebrews 2:9 says, He "tasted death for every man." "The Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all" (Isa. 53:6).

But the lost will realize at last that they have deliberately despised and thrown away that which God had given them "in Christ." A wise writer has said, "The wicked see what they have forfeited by their life of rebellion. The far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory was despised when offered them; but how desirable it now appears. 'All this,' cries the lost soul, 'I might have had; but I chose to put these things far from me ... I have exchanged peace, happiness, and honor for wretchedness, infamy, and despair.' All see that their exclusion from heaven is just" (The Great Controversy, p. 668).

It will help us all today if we can anticipate that last judgment and also realize that Christ as the Second Adam has died our second death, has paid the full penalty for our sins. Then an appropriate gratitude and praise will fill our hearts, motivating us to live for the One who died for us. This is how we shall discover that Jesus' "yoke is easy, and [His] burden is light."

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: February 11, 2000.
Copyright © 2010 by Robert J. Wieland.

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Dial Daily Bread: If Jesus Were to Invite You to Dinner

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Like everybody else in the world, you and I have to eat food every day in order to survive physically. It takes time to do this, and also some effort to dig the food from the ground or pick it from vines or trees. No one has successfully made a pill or capsule to take, in place of eating food itself.

Likewise, our souls need spiritual food if we are to survive spiritually. Jesus said, "Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness; for they shall be filled" (Matt. 5:6). A good appetite is a marvelous "blessing," to be able to feel hungry and thirsty--ah, what delight, to sit down then to a good square meal!

But a sick person feels no such appetite. I remember once when I had severe hepatitis, ordinarily delicious mashed potatoes and gravy tasted like sawdust with engine oil poured on them. I had to be healed before I could enjoy food again. If you are not hungry for spiritual food from the Bible itself, if you prefer reading light religious novels, you are feasting on cotton candy instead of whole-wheat bread. And spiritual weakness or even paralysis will be the sure result.

If you do feel hungry, rejoice; come and eat. If you are sensitive enough and honest enough to realize that you don't have an appetite, that you are actually starving spiritually, then here's what you must do: get on your knees, humble your heart before the God of heaven, and beg Him to give you an appetite. Be sincere and straightforward enough to let Him do it--turn off your TV and radio and CDs, and stay on your knees and "listen" for His "voice." Get serious. If Jesus were to invite you to dinner and set an empty plate before you with a knife and fork, say "Thank You!" immediately. Likewise, even though your Bible seems as dull and unpromising as an empty plate at dinner time, tell the Lord "Thank You," and believe that He is faithful to keep His promise and give you some delicious "bread of life." He Himself, not I, has promised He will not give you a stone! (Matt. 7:7-11).

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: April 5, 1998.
Copyright © 2010 by Robert J. Wieland.

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Dial Daily Bread: A Study in the Song of Solomon (Part 3)

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Most of the Song of Solomon is joyous, upbeat love. How could two people be more deliriously happy with each other?

But there is one of the "songs" that is sung in the minor key. It has been said that the path of true love is never smooth. The love of these two is strained to near the breaking point in the drama of chapter five. (As we study we must remember that the "two" are Christ and His bride-to-be; their path to the "marriage of the Lamb" has been rocky!)

It's not the Bridegroom who has been fickle; sorry, it's the "girl." He has "chosen" her, "elected" her; His love has been steady. Their courtship has led them to the point of commitment, what we would call "the engagement." He is "ready" for "the marriage," long delayed. In chapter five He has come to her in a time of world history when He especially needs her to stand by His side as a "help meet." There is a denouement to the crisis of the ages when the Lamb of God who rides His white horse into the final battle of time needs His bride, His one true church, to cooperate with Him as only nuptial love can do. But is her love nuptial? Sadly, no; the story tells how she callously enjoys her selfish comfort, leaving Him knocking, knocking, vainly on her door.

The story is told in chapter 5:2-7. Finally she realizes she has repulsed Him and belatedly gets up to let Him in, only to discover that His divine patience after years of delay, has been strained too far; and He is "gone." The story of her search for Him in the dark streets of the city is pathetic. Decades of prayer and fasting for a renewal of "the latter rain" and "the loud cry" power have not as yet healed the wound in the relationship.

But … He still loves "her." Why not choose a new "bride"? Revelation 19 says the same one will repent and "make herself ready," because His love is not fickle. That, incidentally, is our only hope.

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: February 18, 2006.
Copyright © 2010 by Robert J. Wieland.

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Dial Daily Bread: A Study in the Song of Solomon (Part 2)

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

It's something that Jesus didn't just "say" quietly to the Twelve. He "stood and cried in a loud voice" that everyone attending that "last and greatest day of the Feast" could hear, a message that was bursting forth from His soul. And it was a quotation from the Song of Solomon that said what He wanted to say, which He dignified by calling "THE Scripture."

If you're thirsty, He said, "come to Me and drink. Whoever believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him" (John 7:37, 38; S. S. 4:15; NIV, KJV). This is not a mere profession of "accepting Christ" like you enroll in an insurance policy; this is a thirsty soul famishing of inward dryness eagerly drinking every drop of spiritual moisture in a clearer grasp of gospel truth than he has ever before understood. The dry "gospel" has become life itself. Thus "believing" is defined: it's not head knowledge, but the yearning in Jesus' soul now transplanted into your soul. You now actually love the Bible with the enthusiasm of your former worldly addictions--sports, dress, money, pleasure, appetite. You, poor little uneducated, untrained soul that you are, you have become a bubbling spring of fresh water of life. Everyone who rubs up against you in life is refreshed somehow by something you have said about "the truth of the gospel" (Gal. 2:5, 14). Your heart has become a treasure store of gospel truth. You have become one of those "144,000" whose passion is to "follow the Lamb wherever He goes" (Rev. 14:4).

This becomes a clearer definition of what it means to "believe." It's self-humbling; you want to pray that although "I believe," yet "help my unbelief" (Mark 9:24). You're hesitant now to boast of your so-called "faith." Like Moses, you're not even aware that your face is shining (cf. Ex. 34:29).

This is "evangelism" in God's design. It's ordinary people not necessarily "trained in literary institutions" who bubble over humbly with pure gospel truth that has satisfied their own soul thirst.

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: February 17, 2006.
Copyright © 2010 by Robert J. Wieland.

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Dial Daily Bread: A Study in the Song of Solomon (Part 1)

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Many who study a strange, unlikely book in the Bible, the Song of Solomon, are discovering, for one thing, that it's quoted extensively in the New Testament, especially by Jesus! This removes the lingering doubts that maybe its sexual content slipped into the Bible by mistake. Yes, the book is to be read reverently!

Its alluring glimpses of a Paradise of sexual love are not bad to imagine because the message gets across unmistakably that it's Jesus Himself who is the Lover yearning to become fully one with His Bride in a "consummation."

Paul cites the Song of Solomon when he speaks of Christ's goal for the church that it be "without spot" (Eph. 5:27; S. S. 4:7; we have a ways to go!).

Jesus quotes the Greek version (the Septuagint) in His message to the leadership of the last of the seven churches when He tells of knocking, knocking, "at the door" (Rev. 3:20). But the source in the Song of Solomon turns out to be a sad vignette. It describes the young woman who is loved so dearly as selfishly snuggling warm in bed on a cold rainy night while her poor Lover is barred at her door, forced to keep knocking while He remains outside, lonely, cold, hungry, wet, and obviously the One whose disappointment is beyond description (S. S. 5:2-6).

But Christ's most delightful quote is in John 7:37, 38 where He frankly identifies the Song of Solomon as "THE Scripture" and clarifies forever what true "evangelism" means according to His view. "Evangelism" is the accepted name for doing what Jesus commanded when He said "Go ye to all the world and proclaim the gospel." It's interesting to see what the Song of Solomon says about that (4:15). More tomorrow.

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: February 16, 2006.
Copyright © 2010 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 Writer with "Heavenly Credentials"

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

If you were carefully observant, you noticed at the end of yesterday's mini-message a little signature, "EJW." We had taken that one in toto from E. J. Waggoner,* a writer of over a century ago, who was especially gifted by the Lord with deep insights into how good the Good News is. One very observant and responsible church leader described him as having "heavenly credentials."

We introduce him to our readers for several reasons. He broke through the fog of centuries to re-discover Gospel truths that have been contended and misunderstood. For example, he bridged the chasm between Calvinism and Arminianism: Calvinism had said that God has "elected" some to be saved, and consigned others to be lost. They called this "Unconditional Election." Arminianism strongly opposed this idea, affirming that Christ died for everybody; but His sacrifice is ineffective, accomplishes nothing for the sinner unless he believes.

Waggoner's breakthrough idea affirmed that Christ has "predestined" "all men" to be saved, and contrary to the Arminian idea, His sacrifice is effectual for "all." Christ has actually done something for the whole of humanity: He has GIVEN humanity salvation "in Himself," and if the sinner does not resist and reject and despise, disbelieve, and "sell" what Christ has actually GIVEN him, he will be saved.

Further, Waggoner had the idea that Calvinism needed correction in saying that those whom the Lord has predestined to be saved cannot be lost. In dying for the human race Christ has given each person freedom of choice. And many choose to reject what He has given them, as Esau did long ago (Gen. 25:33, 34).

Waggoner also discovered in the Bible a clear understanding of the difference between the Old and the New Covenants--insights that would be a great blessing to all if they could be considered.

Waggoner also rediscovered the New Testament idea of how close Christ in His incarnation has come to the human race, how He "took" on His sinless nature our sinful nature, that He might not save us IN sin but that He might save us now FROM sin. It was "most precious" truth that has within it the power to prepare a people for the coming of Christ.

As we come nearer to the second coming of Jesus, the Gospel will be seen as better Good News than it has been seen to be in the past. If you would like to read a sampling of Waggoner's writings, please visit: http://www.1888mpm.org

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* "Cry for Help," The Present Truth, June 19, 1902.

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: April 9, 2004.
Copyright © 2010 by Robert J. Wieland.

Be sure to check your e-mail for "Dial Daily Bread" again tomorrow.
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Robert J. Wieland's inspirational "Dial Daily Bread" messages are availalbe via e-mail to anyone who wishes to receive a daily portion of uplifting Good News. "Dial Daily Bread" is FREE. Due to travel or other circumstances, there may be intervals when "Dial Daily Bread" will not be sent.

Dial Daily Bread: Trusting in Whose Promises?

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Someone in distress has written: “I go on my knees and implore God’s forgiveness. I realize that He has forgiven me, and I promise Him that I will never do it again; but alas, after a few days the temptation comes again, and again I yield.”

Your experience is that of many thousands of sincere Christians, but it is not real Christian experience, because it is not the experience of Christ. He “was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.” It was not because He was of a different nature from us, for inasmuch as the children were partakers of flesh and blood, “He also Himself likewise took part of the same” (Heb. 4:15; 2:14), and in all things was “made like unto His brethren” (vs. 17). Like you He, “in the days of His flesh,” “offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto Him that was able to save Him from death,” and He “was heard in that He feared” (5:7). He trusted in God, not in Himself. His words were, “I have set the Lord always before Me; because He is at My right hand, I shall not be moved” (Psalm 16:8).

Instead of promising the Lord that you will not yield again, you must take His promise that you shall not. Your mistake has been in trusting your own promises instead of the Lord’s promise. It is by the “exceeding great and precious promises” of the Lord that we are made “partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust” (2 Peter 1:4). “He is faithful that promised” (Heb. 10:23), for “all the promises of God in Him are yea, and in Him Amen, and to the glory of God by us” (2 Cor. 1:20). Our promises can add nothing to God’s promise; they are not only wholly unnecessary, but they are a hindrance. We promise that we will not do the evil thing any more, but that very promise implies the supposition of strength on our part, whereas power belongs only to God, and our strength is in recognizing that. (EJW)

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: April 8, 2004.
Copyright © 2010 by Robert J. Wieland.

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Dial Daily Bread: The Story of the Bitter Lady

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

One of the most encouraging stories of all time is the one about the Bitter Lady who held in her heart the success or failure of the great plan of salvation. Her decision to go one way or the other was pivotal for the world. No, it was not the Virgin Mary, for she was never bitter. It was Sarah, the wife of Abraham; she indeed was bitter at one time, as only a woman could be in her circumstance. She and Abraham were one flesh, as is true of all genuine marriages. It would have been impossible for God's promises to Abraham to be fulfilled if his wife had chosen to block the way through unbelief (those promises in Gen. 12:1-3 included the coming of the Messiah through whom "all families of the earth [should] be blessed").

Both Abraham and Sarah were old and childless, and everybody thought the problem was Sarah--she was incapable of becoming pregnant--a shameful thing for a woman in those days. As the years and decades ground by slowly with no pregnancy in sight, Sarah felt the blame keenly. Undoubtedly she had prayed and prayed, yet nothing happened. When you believe that God is Almighty and you pray and pray about a problem and nothing happens, what do you do? Sarah blamed God. She vented her bitterness on her husband: "See now, the Lord has restrained me from bearing children" (Gen. 16:2). She realizes that she is standing in the way of God's fulfillment of His promises to Abraham, and it's not her fault! God is to blame! The entire affair of Hagar, the slave-girl turned second wife, is programmed by Sarah's bitterness.

Meanwhile, there is no way that "all families of the earth [can] be blessed" except that Abraham must have a "child of promise." When Hagar bore Ishmael, Sarah's bitterness only got worse. Hagar lorded it over her in subtle ways (women are sometimes capable of treating women that way!) until Sarah couldn't stand it any longer. She blew up in her husband's face: "My wrong be upon you! ... The Lord judge between you and me" (vs. 5). If there were any doors in their tent, she probably slammed them as she walked out. But then the story changes and becomes beautiful. Sarah did some thinking. Hebrews 11:11 says that she reconsidered and "she judged that He who had promised would keep faith," and so "by faith even Sarah herself received strength to conceive, though she was past age" (NEB).

The blessed result: "Therefore from one man, and one as good as dead [Sarah?], there sprang descendants numerous as the stars or as the countless grains of sand on the sea-shore" (vs. 12). Among them: One who "saved the world." It's time for you and me to "judge that He who has promised will keep faith."

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: February 28, 2000.
Copyright © 2010 by Robert J. Wieland.

Be sure to check your e-mail for "Dial Daily Bread" again tomorrow.
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Robert J. Wieland's inspirational "Dial Daily Bread" messages are availalbe via e-mail to anyone who wishes to receive a daily portion of uplifting Good News. "Dial Daily Bread" is FREE. Due to travel or other circumstances, there may be intervals when "Dial Daily Bread" will not be sent.