Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"
Jesus Christ said that God is His Father; that's easy for us to believe.
But He also said that God is our Father, too; and that's our problem to believe. Can everybody in the world, the bad as well as the good, call God their Father? Or does He bear that relationship only to the righteous?
When you think you've been very good it's easy to pray the Lord's prayer which begins, "Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be Thy name ..." and you go on through it, "Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us … , ... and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil .." (Matt. 6:6ff.).
But when you have made a mess of your life, done wrong, and you know you are condemned as a selfish sinner, and as an "unprofitable servant," and you deserve to be "cast … into outer darkness" (25:30), can you pray the Lord's prayer? Can you say "My Father who is in heaven .."?
That is exactly what the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, came from heaven to teach us to say: He came as "the friend of ... sinners" (11:19), and He invites "all" of us to "come unto [Him]" and find the relief which is salvation from ourselves (11:28-30).
There is a cosmic Enemy who would deter us from coming and from praying the Lord's prayer; perhaps you are sitting somewhere handcuffed, you know why; you even sense the condemnation of all humanity. You know "they" would "cast [you] into outer darkness" and hope you stay there forever. Now you face the greatest battle of your life, your battle of eternity: will you believe that the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ is your Father, that "out of the depths [you] have cried unto [Him], O Lord. ... If Thou, Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who [could] stand? But there is forgiveness with Thee" (Psalm 130:1-4). Yes; and it's your job (and our job) to believe it!
Pray the Lord's prayer from your heart in your dungeon, and that will prove that you have been adopted as a child of God (read Rom. 8:15!).
From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: September 12, 2006.Copyright © 2011 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.
Jesus Christ said that God is His Father; that's easy for us to believe.
But He also said that God is our Father, too; and that's our problem to believe. Can everybody in the world, the bad as well as the good, call God their Father? Or does He bear that relationship only to the righteous?
When you think you've been very good it's easy to pray the Lord's prayer which begins, "Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be Thy name ..." and you go on through it, "Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us … , ... and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil .." (Matt. 6:6ff.).
But when you have made a mess of your life, done wrong, and you know you are condemned as a selfish sinner, and as an "unprofitable servant," and you deserve to be "cast … into outer darkness" (25:30), can you pray the Lord's prayer? Can you say "My Father who is in heaven .."?
That is exactly what the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, came from heaven to teach us to say: He came as "the friend of ... sinners" (11:19), and He invites "all" of us to "come unto [Him]" and find the relief which is salvation from ourselves (11:28-30).
There is a cosmic Enemy who would deter us from coming and from praying the Lord's prayer; perhaps you are sitting somewhere handcuffed, you know why; you even sense the condemnation of all humanity. You know "they" would "cast [you] into outer darkness" and hope you stay there forever. Now you face the greatest battle of your life, your battle of eternity: will you believe that the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ is your Father, that "out of the depths [you] have cried unto [Him], O Lord. ... If Thou, Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who [could] stand? But there is forgiveness with Thee" (Psalm 130:1-4). Yes; and it's your job (and our job) to believe it!
Pray the Lord's prayer from your heart in your dungeon, and that will prove that you have been adopted as a child of God (read Rom. 8:15!).
From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: September 12, 2006.Copyright © 2011 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.
