Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"
Imagine the joy you would feel if you were saved from death either by drowning, or illness, or an accident; you are ever after elated. Can you even begin to imagine the infinitely greater joy you would feel if you could realize you have been saved from what the Bible calls "the second death"?
When old Simeon "blessed" Mary the mother of Baby Jesus in the Temple, he told her that "a sword shall pierce through thy own soul" (Luke 2:34, 35). The word he used was the Greek one for Goliath's enormous sword, thus describing the pain that she would know at the crucifixion of her Son. Probably no other human has felt quite the extent of that pain: she knew that His conception and birth were that of a virgin; she knew the angel had announced it all to her; she knew His righteous, loving character as no one else could know; and yet now He is stripped naked, crucified like a common criminal before her eyes. Greater than her concern for her own salvation was the anxiety she felt for the world and the very universe of God--is the plan of salvation a failure? Is the great controversy lost? How she agonized! Has any other human been so stricken with any "sword" that pierces the "soul"?
She must have been in such pain through the long weekend Jesus lay in His tomb. Now imagine her soul-bursting joy when He is risen! That is the same joy God wants us to know. But we must not remain infants spiritually: we must grow up "unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ" (Eph. 4:13), so our heart can be stretched outsize enough to savor what has happened, to appreciate what He has done for us.
From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: February 27, 2005.Copyright © 2010 by Robert J. Wieland.
Be sure to check your e-mail for "Dial Daily Bread" again tomorrow.
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Please forward these messages to your friends and encourage them to subscribe. The "Dial Daily Bread" Web site resides at: http://1888message.org/
To subscribe send an e-mail message with "subscribe" in the body of the message to: dailybread@1888message.org
------------------------------
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.
Imagine the joy you would feel if you were saved from death either by drowning, or illness, or an accident; you are ever after elated. Can you even begin to imagine the infinitely greater joy you would feel if you could realize you have been saved from what the Bible calls "the second death"?
When old Simeon "blessed" Mary the mother of Baby Jesus in the Temple, he told her that "a sword shall pierce through thy own soul" (Luke 2:34, 35). The word he used was the Greek one for Goliath's enormous sword, thus describing the pain that she would know at the crucifixion of her Son. Probably no other human has felt quite the extent of that pain: she knew that His conception and birth were that of a virgin; she knew the angel had announced it all to her; she knew His righteous, loving character as no one else could know; and yet now He is stripped naked, crucified like a common criminal before her eyes. Greater than her concern for her own salvation was the anxiety she felt for the world and the very universe of God--is the plan of salvation a failure? Is the great controversy lost? How she agonized! Has any other human been so stricken with any "sword" that pierces the "soul"?
She must have been in such pain through the long weekend Jesus lay in His tomb. Now imagine her soul-bursting joy when He is risen! That is the same joy God wants us to know. But we must not remain infants spiritually: we must grow up "unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ" (Eph. 4:13), so our heart can be stretched outsize enough to savor what has happened, to appreciate what He has done for us.
From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: February 27, 2005.Copyright © 2010 by Robert J. Wieland.
Be sure to check your e-mail for "Dial Daily Bread" again tomorrow.
------------------------------
Please forward these messages to your friends and encourage them to subscribe. The "Dial Daily Bread" Web site resides at: http://1888message.org/
To subscribe send an e-mail message with "subscribe" in the body of the message to: dailybread@1888message.org
------------------------------
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.
