Daily Bread: February 2012

Monday, February 27, 2012

Why Hasn't Jesus Come Back?

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Thoughtful Christians of all churches have one common question: "What is Jesus Christ doing? He promised to come back; why doesn't He come?"

Yes, He promised, "As the lightning ... so shall the coming of the Son of man be. ... But of that day and hour knoweth no man. ... As the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. ... They ... knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be" (Matt. 24:27-39). The angels promised the disciples, "This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner" (Acts 1:11). That literal, personal return of Christ has not yet taken place.

The only answer as to why He hasn't come back yet that can possibly make sense is that His people are not yet ready for Him to come. The harvest is not yet ripe (see Mark 4:26-29). And what special ministry can make a people to be ready? Only the ministry of Christ as High Priest in the heavenly sanctuary (see Heb. 8-10). There was an earthly high priest in the ancient sanctuary--so there is a divine High Priest in the heavenly; there was an earthly lamb offered in the ancient sanctuary--Christ is the "Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world" (John 1:29). As there was an annual day of atonement in the earthly sanctuary, so there is a cosmic Day of Atonement in the heavenly when the High Priest ministers in the Most Holy Apartment, the second apartment, of the heavenly sanctuary. The specific purpose of that ministry is to prepare a people for the second coming of Jesus.

Daniel understood there is a heavenly sanctuary--all the Israelites who were true to God understood it; it is natural then that when the angel in Daniel 8:14 answered the question "how long ...?" by saying "unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed," it's natural that Daniel understood it was the heavenly sanctuary.

That great Day of Atonement ministry is the most important activity going on today in the heavenly universe. Keep in tune with it.

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: July 16, 2003.

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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.

Sunday, February 26, 2012

The "Shaking"

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

The "shaking" is a Bible doctrine as verily as the other established doctrines. An early mention of it is when the reformer Nehemiah "shook [his] lap and said, 'So God shake out every man ... who does not perform'" his vow of "obedience" (5:13). The reformer wanted to see some "works" that would validate the people's professed faith.

God will "arise to shake terribly the earth" (Isa. 2:19), He "will shake the heavens, and the earth shall remove out of her place, in the wrath of the LORD of hosts, and in the day of His fierce anger" (13:13). However this may come as a natural cataclysm we shall wait and see; but the basic idea of a "shaking" among God's people is that the LORD is fed up with the hypocrisy of professed faith that is not validated by appropriate works.

The world itself is tottering in rotting immorality, with the collapse taking place before our eyes of simple, basic decency. Before the "shaking" is complete, everything that can be shaken will be shaken. But there will be some truths that will remain unshaken.

And each of us is a microcosm of the world and the church being "shaken." We watch astonished as some we knew who once professed a firm faith in biblical inspiration now cast doubts on it and spew ideas rooted in mysticism, so desperate are they in trying to endure the spiritual famine that is raging in church after church.

Side by side with the "shaking" that comes on the church will be that famine: "Says the Lord God, … 'I will send a famine on the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD. … In that day shall the fair virgins and young men faint for thirst'" (Amos 8:11-13).

We are there now. Someone wisely said that the time will come when we must gather warmth from others' coldness; yes! That's where we are now.

The warmth of the genuine Holy Spirit is given to us, through the Word (John 14:16, 17); He will not leave one hungry, thirsty soul to perish. So, on your knees! Tell the Lord that you believe (but please help your unbelief!) to receive into your hungry soul those new covenant promises the Lord made to Abraham (yes, you are Abraham's descendant if you believe the gospel; Gen. 12:2, 3). Then keep on believing what "the Spirit of truth" says, and enjoy your victory.

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: September 14, 2007.

Saturday, February 25, 2012

Does Heaven Have an Agenda for Planet Earth?

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Does Heaven have an agenda for planet earth today? Is there something special that God is determined shall take place? Or is He content for the world to go on endlessly making further progress as it has supposedly been making for thousands of years?

More especially, does God intend us to see mankind saving itself by creating a happy heaven here on earth? Are the prophecies in Revelation about "a new heaven and a new earth" to be realized by acts of Congress and the United Nations? Henry Ford wanted to better mankind by putting everyone behind the wheel of a Model T; he almost succeeded. Now will God fulfill His prophecies by putting everyone on earth behind the wheel of a new luxury car, abolishing poverty and cancer, all to be accomplished without the benefit of a literal Second Coming?

To answer the questions we have raised, we must consider two often neglected messages from God: (1) What Jesus said about the last days (this is found in Matthew 24, Mark 13, and Luke 21), and (2) What He said in the last book of the Bible that He especially directs us to "read" and "hear" and "keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand" (Rev. 1:1-3).

The pivotal chapter is Revelation 14, where we read of the special message of three angels that is decidedly NOT "business as usual" but SPECIAL business that prepares a people for the Second Coming. The message of chapter 14 is set in the context of a "great controversy" theme portrayed in the previous chapters 10-13.

Yes, let's lift up the trumpet and loud let it ring--Heaven does have an agenda for planet earth--preparing a people to be gathered out of "every nation, kindred, tongue" who will "follow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth," and who will stand "without fault before the throne of God" (vss. 4, 5). They will demonstrate that "the everlasting gospel" of "the Lamb" has power to transform human character into the bona fide likeness of the character of Christ. They will be the ones who overcome "even as [He] overcame" (3:20).

Do you choose to cooperate with Heaven's agenda?

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: May 29, 1999.

Thursday, February 23, 2012

Believe the Preamble (by Herbert E. Douglass)

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

"A prudent man foresees evil and hides himself, But the simple pass on and are punished" (Proverbs 22:3, NKJV).

The thought came to me this morning that all of us often run ahead of even our best thoughts. And too often forget simple truths that could save us from real heartaches!

It is one thing to have our heads full of knowledge, even precious knowledge of "last-day events," but what shall it profit us if we lose our focus on the One who really matters! Sometimes, it is easier to think about Him in our heads but forget about Him in our hearts!

If you are like I am, almost unconsciously, we can go for hours, or days, or longer, wrapped up in our neat understanding of "end-time" issues--and act out as if all this knowledge doesn't really make any difference in the way we spend our money or our time--or how often we neglect the ache in the hearts of those nearest us.

Every once in awhile I am reminded of those precious insights that my life-long friend, Bob Wieland, wrote regarding those precious Ten Commandments. He said that if you memorize the Ten Commandments but omit the Preamble, you have a stern code of law, that is, Old Covenant in nature. But If you keep the Preamble where it belongs, you have a "New Covenant set of ten delightful promises." In the Hebrew, "Thou shalt nots" are the simple future tense indicatives: Believe the Preamble and "you will never steal!" Or, "you will never commit adultery"! (That's really Good News!)

What does the Preamble say (Ex. 20:1, 2)? It's New Testament, New Covenant, Good News: "I am the LORD …" That holy name of infinite mystery--we know Him today as "our Father in heaven" (Matt. 6:9), your intimate best Friend who's on your side. Your Creator God, your Powerful Savior … He's yours; He actually gave Himself to you. But there is more ...

"Who brought [past tense] you out of the land of Egypt"--in other words, "REMEMBER THE RED SEA! For us today, REMEMBER the darkness of discouragement or shame THAT HE BROUGHT YOU OUT OF. He brought you into the Light; He ALEADY has saved you from hell, having taken Himself in His own experience the darkness of your second death; and REMEMBER THAT THE SAME blessed Holy Spirit THAT BROUGHT COURAGE TO THOSE ISRAELITES is today ministering the sunshine of grace upon your soul 24/7.

Keep reading the Preamble: "Out of the house of bondage" He is leading you today! "Sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace" (Rom. 6:14; sums up the Ten Commandments!). Christ redeemed you before you were born; don't throw your birthright away as Esau did! The Holy Spirit is telling your heart about it right now--don't despise or sell it! NOW, BELIEVE THE PREAMBLE as the Israelites did and remember the Red Sea and what kind of God is asking for your trust!

--Herbert E. Douglass

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Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Seeking to Save Us From Ourselves

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

In case any of us has difficulty understanding how the Good Shepherd "seeks" us "until [He] finds [us]," we have these illustrations in the entire Bible: God sends Nathan the prophet to rebuke King David for his horrible crime, sin of adultery and murder, that's the Good Shepherd seeking him; He sends Jeremiah to rebuke King Zedekiah for his rebellion against God and King Nebuchadnezzar (God's temporary servant); and all the prophets and apostles were His agents in seeking to save us from ourselves.

Today the same dear Lord "seeks" the soul of the cigarette smoker, using all the warnings published against smoking; the alcoholic, through the almost daily horror stories of the evils of drinking; and of us, from the sin of abusing our health and shortening our lives through intemperance of many kinds.

The Lord Jesus sought the soul of Saul of Tarsus while he was "persecuting" Him; all the while the Lord made his way "hard" like kicking against goads (Acts 26:12-15). Every time you go to the refrigerator when you shouldn't, He is seeking for you like the Good Shepherd seeking His lost sheep to save you from ending your life and health too soon.

The illustration fits, except that Jesus did not tell of a sheep fighting the Shepherd when He came to rescue it. Hard to imagine! But that's what we have all done, time and again (or at least, I have). That's what it means, to be a sinner--resisting the grace of God.

Saul of Tarsus learned, however, and he tells us, "I do not frustrate the grace of God" (Gal. 2:21). He is, at last, "crucified with Christ" (vs. 20). The Good Shepherd seeking His lost sheep and all these prophets and apostles rebuking us for our sin, even giving their lives in being "crucified with Christ" in order to be faithful, are identical with the ministry of that much more abounding grace of God (cf. Rom. 5:21).

We had some friends who adopted a cat that was headed for the pound and early death; they cared for it, fed it, and bought an expensive cage to transport it in comfort when they went on long trips; but it snarled and hit at them when they tried to put him in the cage. The ungrateful pet "frustrated" their "grace" but didn't know what it was doing.

The Lord says to us, "Thou … knowest not" what we are doing (Rev. 3:17). It's time to become conscious.

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: April 9, 2007.

Monday, February 20, 2012

A High Honor in the Lord's Coming Kingdom

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

There are some things that the Lord does that to Him are just pure "fun." For example, if He sees someone who is down and out, someone whom the world despises or has rejected, discouraged, brokenhearted--what the Lord loves to do is to come to that person and show special kindness or "much more abounding grace" to him (cf. Rom. 5:20).

One class of people in ancient Israel were on a one-way street going nowhere--no future before them; their present life was thought to be the end of the road; they had no future to look forward to; God had apparently forgotten them. (The Lord loves to help such people extravagantly!) But otherwise, they were hopeless.

So, people thought.

But we find that the Lord God Himself waxes eloquent in His assurances of rich blessings to this particular group of hopeless people--they were the "eunuchs" in that society. On that one-way street going nowhere. But look:

Isaiah 56 is a long list of extravagant blessings the Lord will pour on "the eunuchs who keep My Sabbaths, who choose to do My will and hold fast to My covenant, shall receive something [from Me] better than sons and daughters [can you imagine that!], a memorial and a name in My own house and within My walls, ... an everlasting name, … imperishable for all time" (vss. 4-5, NEB).

Nobody can have a higher place of honor than that in the Lord's coming kingdom!

Perhaps you are a "eunuch" in a spiritual sense: you feel that your life has no point, no purpose, no future; read of these great blessings in Isaiah 56 that the Lord promises you, and appropriate them to yourself, and then thank Him for giving you such a high honor in His kingdom now and forever.

Your service to the Lord will be that which His love [agape] constrains you to do (cf. 2 Cor. 5:14-19). No "self" in it; from now on, "self" is "crucified with Christ" (cf. Gal. 2:20).

Oh, joy of life!

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: August 2008.

Sunday, February 19, 2012

Don't Be Ashamed to Be Poor

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Abraham Lincoln used to say that God must love the common poor people, He made so many of them. God also loves the rich people, but they need to be reminded that all they have is given them by His grace.

Poor people seem to be especially dear to the heart of God, according to the Bible. They are usually happier, says Jesus: "Blessed [happy] are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven" (Matt. 5:3). "The needy shall not always be forgotten: the expectation of the poor shall not perish for ever" (Psalm 9:18). "The poor committeth himself unto Thee; Thou art the helper of the fatherless" (10:14).

David was once a poor person; he tells us about it: "This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles" (Psalm 34:6). He "deliverest the poor from him that is too strong for him, yea, the poor and the needy from him that spoileth him" (35:10).

Don't be ashamed to be poor, for there is a special privilege that you enjoy. David says, "I am poor and needy; yet the Lord thinketh upon me" (40:17), and all kinds of blessings He has "prepared of [His] goodness for the poor" (68:10). If in addition to being poor, you are "sorrowful," you have the thrill of being "set ... up on high," and He "heareth" you in a special way (69:29, 33). For those who are "poor and needy," He is in a special sense their "help and ... deliverer" (70:5). It seems almost as though God is partial to poor people!

For sure, Jesus knows how to sympathize with them, for when He was on earth, He was poor--all His life. A carpenter accustomed to building houses for other people, He says He "hath not where to lay His head" (Matt. 8:20). If He had left temporal heirs, they would have gotten nothing in the courts except His clothes--and the soldiers beat them to that.

Conclusion: if you are poor, lift up your head and rejoice: you have something in common with Jesus. Remember, He hears your prayer, and He will answer.

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: July 15, 2001.

Friday, February 17, 2012

The Lesson of the Cross

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Why do good people have to suffer? What was Adam's and Eve's sin in Eden? What did Jesus give up when he became our Savior? And, why did He have to die? These are questions we can't answer in this short message, but we can note that the answers are important to understand if we are to have a happy life following Jesus.

The reason He died? People murdered Him! And they included you and me. "Were you there when they crucified my Lord?" The answer is yes. Why did He allow humans to murder Him? No other way could they understand the depth of their sin and rebellion against God, but to let them do it. And only through the cross could they be "drawn" to repentance and reconciliation with God (John 12:31, 32).

Yes, He died as our Substitute to satisfy the legal claims of the broken law; but unless your heart appreciates what it cost Him to save you, unless you identify with Him, unless you are "crucified with Christ," your heart remains alienated and cold.

And what did He give up for us? Philippians 2:5-9 answers: it cost Him everything, and that includes the reality of His surrendering Himself to die our second death. He "poured out His soul unto death" (Isa. 53:12) like you empty a watering can to the last drop. You will never be the same after you realize what that last drop meant.

Faith becomes the white-hot heat of a welding process that welds your heart to Him forever; thus we become "one" with Him like two pieces of steel welded.

Adam and Eve's sin was far deeper than reaching for a delicious dessert. They chose to dis-believe God, the active voice of the verb for which the noun is "unbelief." They chose alienation from God--the very problem Jesus came to solve by the sacrifice of Himself. For us now to learn to trust God involves for us to take up our cross on which self is crucified--with Christ. The reason? Up to the point where we join Him on His cross in sacrificing even our hope for immortality, there will remain deep within us a residual layer of doubt that will manifest itself openly in the final test of the mark of the beast. Now is a good time for us to learn well the lesson of the cross.

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: March 23, 1999.

Thursday, February 16, 2012

The Gift of the Sabbath

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Millions this week are studying about the "Lord of the Sabbath," and no matter who you are or where you are, the Sabbath is a blessing that God does not merely offer you, but gives you. You may be sick in the hospital, or a prisoner on Death Row, but no one can deprive you of the holy hours of the true Lord's Day, the Sabbath.

You don't have to be converted, or be a good person, to receive this "gift" of the Sabbath. It's like the "gift" of justification that Romans 5 says five times God has given to the world "in Christ," not just offered us. You may have spent your whole life in disregarding this gift of the Sabbath; if so, you have deprived yourself of blessings you could have enjoyed immensely. The one who disregards the holy Sabbath day is like Esau, the man to whom God gave the inestimable blessing of the birthright but "despised" it and "sold" it for a trifle of worldly pleasure (Gen. 25:34; Heb. 12:16, 17).

When the Sabbath begins at sundown, welcome its holy hours. Kneel and thank its Giver for it. Turn off the voices of the world so you can hear the still small voice of the Holy Spirit. Don't reduplicate Esau in yourself--don't "sell" even a few moments of this holy time for a worldly indulgence of godless amusement, whether TV, CDs, DVDs, novels, newspapers, or what. Demonstrate that you cherish and treasure God's gift of the holy Sabbath--how else can you demonstrate that you cherish and treasure the sacrifice of the Son of God which Sabbath-keeping "signifies"? (That's how the Sabbath is a "sign" of sanctification, Ezek. 20:12.)

Of course, neither you nor I are the least bit worthy of this gift of the Sabbath. Our hearts are by nature carnal; the holy hours of the seventh day find us contaminated with worldly thoughts and desires. Hence, a sincere, honest, thoughtful prayer that the same "Lord of the Sabbath" who created the gift may hallow our soiled hearts, cleanse us, and grant us in these holy hours to be a student in the "school of Christ" for this one day.

You'll be sorry to see the Sabbath "go" when again the sun goes down and you'll immediately look forward to another Sabbath to come. We live the six days for this tête-à-tête with our Savior. Which is what it means to "remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy."

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: January 24, 2003.

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Does Jesus Really Care?

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

The general idea the human race has about God is that He is far away. Jesus seems elusive, and "believers" often feel alone. Prayer appears to be unanswered, and they wonder, Does the One who says He is our Savior really care?

There was a man and his wife who had this problem in a big way. They had worship in their home daily for months and years, yes, decades. But the critically important answer they had prayed for a thousand times seemed more impossible every day that passed.

Finally the wife gave up. "The Lord has it in for me," she told her husband; "I'm the problem. God will never answer our prayers as long as I pray. I'm too sinful for any prayer to be answered! It's hopeless. Count me out. This marriage just won't work."

The husband decided to do just that--ignore her, press on without her. No longer did the two kneeling join their hearts in earnest, soul-stretching, believing prayer together. They had always loved each other but now became so alienated that they together dis-believed that God had made them "one." The farness-away-from-God idea had destroyed their happiness, both of them.

It meant God had a problem on His hands because He had chosen this particular husband to be "the father of all who believe" in Him throughout all time; and here they were, two stumbling along in depressed unbelief. The wife was just as important a link in God's plan as he was. The husband could never overcome unbelief until the wife did also. (Her name, incidentally--Sarah).

If you are a true child of Abraham, make up your mind: you will be just as tempted to unbelief as he was; but by the grace of Christ you can overcome as he (and Sarah!) did.

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: June 11, 2002.

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/dailybread/
To subscribe send an e-mail message with "subscribe" in the body of the message to:dailybread@1888message.org

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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.

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

How Can Evil People Become Good People?

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

How can evil people become good people?

The problem of evil is with us worldwide; and we in all lands and in all cultures wrestle with it.

The common solution adopted in all time and in all cultures is the motivation of fear. What's constantly proclaimed is, Do what's right and you won't have to suffer. So we have policemen everywhere, and "the law." In some lands, including the U.S., the jails are full.

But the problem of evil and evil people continues. So people say, Let's be practical: fear has to be the motivation that works. Fill the prisons! But the gospel of Jesus Christ is based on a different motivation: the power of God's "much more abounding grace." That only can change human hearts from evil to righteousness.

John the Baptist told the people, "Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world" (John 1:29). John was right in what he said! Jesus does "take away" the sin of the world! By His sacrifice on His cross He has redeemed the entire world. The Father sent Him to "give life unto the world" (John 6:33). Even our daily bread which we eat is purchased for us by His sacrifice. Jesus accomplished something for every one, even though most people disregard Him!

But if we "eat" without acknowledging our indebtedness to Him, we "eat ... damnation" to our souls because of our unbelief (see 1 Cor. 11:29).

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: May 29, 2008.