Daily Bread: April 2013

Tuesday, April 30, 2013

A Friend in the Judgment

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Have you ever been summoned with a subpoena to court? With not one but a battery of prosecuting attorneys inquiring into intimate details of your life?

The word "subpoena" doesn't appear in the Bible but the idea is in 2 Corinthians 5:10: "We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad." The next verse speaks of "the terror of the Lord." Rather frightening!

Dial Daily Bread is devoted to telling Good News, but this sounds like Bad News. Jesus says, "There is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; and hid, that shall not be known" (Matt. 10:26). But that verse itself is Good News, for He adds, "Fear them not therefore," that is, don't be afraid of your prosecutors (or your persecutors!). Why? Because in that appearance before "the judgment seat of Christ" He will be your Friend, not your Enemy if today you will simply LET Him.

The Father Himself refuses to condemn you (see John 5:22). Jesus also refused to condemn anyone in that day (see John 12:47, 48). Therefore the only "condemnation" will come from what is written of "the things done in the body," a record that is indisputable, recorded not only in the "books" of heaven, but in your own soul as well. Jesus won't have to say a word; the "book" will be open. Paul says, "Some men's sins are open beforehand, going before to judgment; and some men they follow after" (1 Tim. 5:24).

The Good News is: even though there are shameful things you don't want opened up, you can "send them on beforehand to judgment." You can get on your knees and confess them to your Savior, you can even let bitter tears fall; the Holy Spirit can teach your sinful heart to hate those sins; your heart can be truly converted; you can be a new person; you can believe the promise, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9).

Good News? Yes!

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: August 13, 1998.

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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.

Monday, April 29, 2013

Jesus--The Greatest Story Ever Told

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

The story of Jesus is the greatest story ever told. It is moving: that is, the story itself will propel you toward salvation of your soul if you will simply let it be told, let it speak, and listen to it.

When Jesus was to be born, there was no room for Mary in the inn; and that tells us that there is no room for Jesus ever in this dark world of sin. We are all by nature the "innkeeper." Our hearts are by nature like the heart of the innkeeper in the story; we must repent even at the very beginning of our contact with Jesus.

Romans 8:7 says our natural human hearts everywhere are "enmity against God"; no one on earth by nature has room for Jesus--He is the Unwelcome One everywhere.

Not one of us fallen humans has ever sought after Jesus; "there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, .. no, not one" (Rom. 3:10-12). But we are lost apart from Him for only He is the Source of life ("In Him was life; and the life was the [only] light of men," John 1:4). Therefore Jesus as the Son of God has taken the initiative to seek after us. That is because He alone is love [agape]; for agape is the love that does not wait for us to seek it (we would never seek Him!) but He humbles Himself to be the Seeker of our souls.

Jesus represents Himself as standing at the door of our hearts, knocking; our job is to listen to His knocking: "Behold, I stand at the door, and knock," He says (Rev. 3:20). If you check the margin of the old King James Version Bibles, you will see that it directs you to the Song of Solomon 5:2, for that is where the "knocking" is quoted from; the story of Jesus is a love story of disappointed, rejected love. Its import cannot be grasped apart from the pain that the One who "knocks" must feel when being thrust outside. Such love as His is a quiet love--the Suitor cannot force His way in; but in the end, the Suitor with His unrequited love will win in the drama; long despised and rejected, He will at last become Judge because "God is agape" (1 John 4:8), and the Judge of the vast Universe must do what is right.

His love speaks now with a quiet voice; but in Revelation 20:11-14 that love will speak like thunder and lightning to the rejecters of His much more abounding grace: "I saw a great white throne, and Him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; ... and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books."

Those who have spent their lives rejecting the Lord's much more abounding grace will want to jump into the lake of fire; since "God is love" He will give each man what he really wants.

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: December 18, 2008.

Friday, April 26, 2013

Proclaiming the Sabbath "More Fully"

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

There is a view of the Sabbath which lifts it far above the legalistic idea in which it has been viewed for so long. This view is that the Sabbath is closely related to the idea of justification by faith. It's the experience of realizing that you can't save yourself by any good work you can do, not even one percent; it's the realization of heart that your salvation is totally a gift of the Saviour of the world (John 4:42), "not of works, lest any one should boast" (Eph. 2:8, 9).

Sabbath-keeping is almost infinitely beyond the idea of "Keep-the-Sabbath-or-God-will-zap you." There is not a trace of legalism in the Sabbath truth. It's John 3:16 repeated every day, reminding you that God so loved you that He already gave His only begotten Son, already redeemed you, already died your second death (Heb. 2:9), has already given you the gift of a verdict of acquittal "in Christ" (Rom. 5:15-18), reversing the condemnation that came upon you in Adam. The "rest" which the holy Sabbath brings you is rest from all your anxiety and fear.

True, the Sabbath comes only on the true seventh day (Ex. 20:8-11), but the Holy Spirit brings to you the remembrance of it every day throughout the week, for the word says, "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy." In an objective sense, the Sabbath is already holy, even if you don't keep it holy; but in a subjective sense, your keeping the Sabbath holy expresses your faith in the objective truth that it is holy. Thus, your heart appreciation of the objective truth that God so loved you that He gave His only Son for you becomes for you the thrilling subjective experience of justification by faith.

At the commencement of the time of trouble, we read that God's people will proclaim the Sabbath "more fully." The time is near when God's people around the world, delivered from the last vestige of legalism, will "delight themselves in the Lord" by that kind of Sabbath-keeping.

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: September 17, 1999.

Thursday, April 25, 2013

God's Substitute for an Anti-depressant Drug

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Can you think a moment and envision God in the way that Psalm 145 does? (The Book of Psalms is where our intimate closeness to the King of the Universe is emphasized; you and I may be the most lowly inhabitants of this globe, yet we remember that "the Lord thinketh on me," Psalm 40:17).

You are delighted when a friend tells you he or she has been thinking about you--with good will.

Well, it is solid truth that the Lord, infinite though He is, busy as He is keeping the Milky Way running smoothly, takes time to devote His thought processes to you and me individually, with good will (cf. Luke 2:14). "In Christ" the infinite Father is as close to you and me, unworthy as we are, as if we were the only inhabitants of this "desert island" of earth.

Yes, we must as the most rudimentary lesson of heaven's kindergarten, believe two magnificent things: "he that comes to God must believe (1) that He is, and (2) that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him" (Heb. 11:6). He has reconciled us who are in heart at "enmity against God" (Rom. 8:7), but at the same time we must let go this enmity we have: now "be ye reconciled to God" (2 Cor. 5:20).

Here is how Psalm 145 pictures God (it's like He puts pictures in His Bible like we put pictures in our books): here is the mighty God kneeling down like you kneel down with some food in your hand to entice a fawn or chipmunk to come and eat out of your hand. "The eyes of all look expectantly to You, and You give them their food in due season." The LORD opens "[His] hand and satisfies the desire of every living thing" (vss. 15, 16). This includes the squirrels and the birds, and the bears--all.

But that's not everything in this "picture." Read more: "The LORD upholds all who fall, and raises up all those who are bowed down" (vs. 14). "All," yes; if we will let Him do it.

Don't be ashamed to kneel before Him so the entire universe sees you; let everybody on earth and in heaven see that you are "bowed down." When He does that, He puts "a new song" in your soul, even "praise to our God: many will see it, and ... trust in the Lord" (Psalm 40:3).

That's His substitute for an anti-depressant drug, or the psychiatrist's couch.

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: October 27, 2007.

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.

Wednesday, April 24, 2013

The Next Event on the World's Agenda

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

John the Baptist had the great honor of introducing the Messiah to the Jewish nation: "Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!" he cried (John 1:29). The name "Lamb of God" means that Jesus must die for the world, in place of humanity dying. That death has to be the second death, the eternal one.

That's what Jesus meant when He said, "I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself. This He said, signifying by what death He would die" (John 12:32, 33). He is the Son of God, the Creator, the Redeemer; all of humanity will gather at His cross, "drawn" irresistibly to the amazing sight of the world's Creator enduring the curse of God in Himself, dying as One "despised and rejected of men," suffering the unspeakable horrors of hell itself.

It's a spectacle that even the angels of heaven and the inhabitants of the vast universe are also "drawn" to watch with wonder, for Christ is not only "the Savior of the world," He is also the Savior of the throne, the government, of God. The fate of the universe trembled in the balance as Jesus was dying on that cross. Let Him utter one angry, impatient word, and all is lost. Why was the event so vastly important?

Everything in the universe that makes life possible, the cohesion of atoms, the basic principle of life itself, was in jeopardy. God had an Enemy who had been the highest angel, the highest created being, who had rebelled against His government and its fundamental principle of agape. Sin was a challenge to the very foundation of God's existence and thus to the existence of His realm. Now the Son of God was to meet that Enemy on the battlefield and wrestle hand to hand. He was to "die to sin" (Rom. 6:10), to be exposed naked to the gaze of the world and of the universe (the Romans always crucified their victims naked). Now the mysterious foundation pillars of God's government must be exposed. Jesus doesn't want to die the second death any more than you do; going to eternal hell was no more fun for Him than for anyone. "God with us" is now both human and divine, finite and infinite both. As one of His seven steps of condescension (Phil. 2:5-8), He must "empty Himself."

He must not die alone, unseen, uncomprehended. If He must "taste death [the second] for every man" (Heb. 2:9), "every man" must see Him do it--the grandest, most terrible sight possible for any intelligent being to "behold." And there we have the next event on the world's agenda--"Christ and Him crucified" proclaimed, which is the message of Revelation 18 that must and will "lighten the earth with glory."

And that is Good News.

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: March 6, 2004.

Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Seeking to Be "One"

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Is "uncivil war" in the very air we breathe? Are there "two" anywhere who can "walk together, except they be agreed" as Amos 3:3 asks? Is there a church anywhere in the world that is not riven with disagreements, even strife? Is there any group anywhere that believes for sure just what is the truth? For several hundred years "we" have talked about "the signs of the times" that herald the coming of Christ; will the "signs" be getting more serious now?

Could it be that "men's hearts [will be] failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth"? Will we soon be watching "the powers of heaven ... shaken"? (Luke 21:25, 26). Is God's patience beginning to wear thin with modern "Babylon"? How close are we to Belshazzar's Feast? Let's be awake!

On the last night of the existence of Babylon as a world empire the national comedians had great fun and the government leaders rejoiced in their military and political supremacy. Likewise on Sodom and Gomorrah's last night the elite reveled in their pleasurable but sinful luxury, but God couldn't find even "ten" there whose hearts were right (Gen. 18:32). (Ezekiel tells us there must have been a slum section where the slaves of the wealthy had to live in squalor [16:49]).

The Bible warns us that the world will experience another last night as did Sodom (Jude 7, 8). It's time for God's people to do some serious heart-searching. Shouldn't those who seek to "follow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth" begin seeking to be "one"?

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: October 30, 2004.

Monday, April 22, 2013

God's Honor Is at Stake

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Solomon, the great king of Israel who built the world's most magnificent building, the Jerusalem temple, was reputed to be the wisest man in the world. Under his royal administration, the kingdom of Israel reached the apex of its glory; it came near to fulfilling the promise that God made to Israel's "father" Abraham, that "in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed" (Gen. 12:3).

Just before the second coming of Christ, God will send a full-orbed gospel message that will "lighten the earth with glory" and everyone on earth whose heart begins to respond to God's love will "come out of Babylon" and be a part of modern "Israel" (Rev. 18:1-4). Solomon's glorious reign prefigured that final victory for God's gospel. From that Solomonic dizzying height of national prestige, Israel would have a thousand years to traverse in history before they hit their nadir in shameful apostasy--so low that they murdered their Messiah. Israel's story is the tragic saga of all time.

Solomon himself encapsulated it in his own life; he fell to an abysmal low and nearly brought the kingdom to disaster before he died. His last royal successor, Zedekiah, died in painful, blinded humiliation as a captive in jail in Babylon--the last sight he ever saw with his eyes being the murder of his sons (Jer. 52:10). Never has the world known such a dynasty tragedy--from such grandeur to such ignominy. Read Jeremiah 52 and Matthew 27!

What went wrong?

The seeds of failure began anciently, just as Israel was coming out of Egypt: in a national vote they rejected God's new covenant and instituted the old covenant (Ex. 19:1-8). From then on, it was old covenant all the way to Calvary. Solomon's prayer of dedication at the temple (1 Kings 8) was a litany, begging God to "hear from heaven and forgive" the continual, repeated apostasy of Israel. Failure was expected because it was built-in!

Must the same pattern be repeated by the church in these last days? Yes, unless the new covenant can be permitted to replace the old (see Gal. 4:24). But God's Good News promise is that He will give to His church the repentance of the ages, which will restore the new covenant (Zech. 12:10-13:1; Jer. 31:31-34; Heb. 8). In this issue, God's honor is at stake!

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: February 11, 2001.

Friday, April 19, 2013

The Sure Leading of the Holy Spirit

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Inspired by the Holy Spirit, Daniel said that in the time of the end "many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased" (12:4). For many years our forefather evangelists explained this prophecy as fulfilled with Model T's running almost everywhere; today, we cite space travel, computers, and iPhones.

But while scientific and technical knowledge keeps quadrupling, the "knowledge" that God's people have of the gospel of justification is also being "increased" through the blessing of the Holy Spirit. In the days of the Waldenses, they understood as much as they could; Luther and Calvin were agents for greater light; then the Wesleys and Arminianism pressed in with greater light; then came the great Second Advent Awakening followed by the "present truth" of the sanctuary and the great cosmic Day of Atonement.

Those who were preparing to "follow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth" (Rev. 14:4, 5) gladly welcomed each new glimpse of truth the Holy Spirit gave them.

But no new truth will contradict truth previously known; "the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day" (Prov. 4:18). If at any point as truth unfolds like a rose bud unfolds, we reject the new revelation of truth, we in fact reject Christ at that point, for He says, "I am the ... truth" (John 14:6). Therefore it is impossible to reject any truth without rejecting Him!

A massive problem rises with the story of the "angel of the church of the Laodiceans," the last great church just before the return of Jesus. It knows no "hunger and thirst after righteousness" (cf. Matt. 5:6), for it asserts of itself, I am "rich and increased with goods, and have need of nothing" (Rev. 3:17). If you had lived in the days of Luther and had rejected the message God sent by him, you would very likely have severed your connection with the true Holy Spirit. It would have been very dangerous to do so. The same with the Wesleys.

And now today? The great "present truth" is that message which is to "lighten the earth with glory." The new light will not cancel or contradict any light that has shone in the past; but it will be to the message of Luther's and Calvin's day what a sleek Lexus is to a Model T--or ox-cart.

Beware that you don't separate yourself from the sure leading of the Holy Spirit. It still involves bearing a cross.

--Robert J. Wieland

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

Thursday, April 18, 2013

The News Behind the News

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Does the Bible say anything relevant beyond what we have always said for 150 years, "The end is near!"?

Yes, the end IS near, "the nations ARE angry" (Rev. 11:18). Careful Bible students have quoted that text ever since the crisis in Europe in 1848. Like King Zedekiah asked of Jeremiah, "Is there any word from the Lord?" (37:17), we ask, does the Bible have some "present truth" for us? Yes, here are a few very clear truths:

(1) The gap between the rich and the poor will get wider, no matter what Congress does about tax cuts (James 5:1-7).

(2) The fear of terrorism will continue, even increase, no matter who is President (Luke 21:26).

(3) Entertainment and sports industries will prosper more and more (Matt. 24:38, 39; Luke 17:26-32; 2 Tim. 3:1, 4).

(4) Natural and man-made disasters will increase (Matt. 24:6-8).

(5) Family values will steadily erode and faithful sexual love become almost extinct (Matt. 24:12; 2 Tim. 3:3).

(6) The godless millions and billions will be brought to a critical decision for or against the Gospel (Joel 3:9-14).

(7) This will require an unprecedented, powerful proclamation of the true Gospel that God in His wisdom (which He still has!) will enable to penetrate somehow to all of humanity (Matt. 24:14; Rev. 18:1-4).

Meanwhile, Revelation 13 continues to outline fantastic success for the two-horned beast/nation who began by speaking "like a lamb" but ends up "speaking as a dragon" (vs. 11). All this nation's military involvements will strengthen its position. But the Good News will be proclaimed "mightily": "Come out of [Babylon], My people" (18:4).

The News behind the news: The Holy Spirit is busy preparing a responsive people. Are you listening to Him?

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: January 29, 2003.

Wednesday, April 17, 2013

The Spiritual Disease of Fanaticism

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

To be a fanatic is almost worse than being a sinner. It's easier and more respectable to pray, "God, be merciful to me a sinner!" than to have to pray, "God, be merciful to me, a fool!" The Bible holds out little hope for a fool, but every hope for a sinner.

Upright, non-adulterous King Saul confesses, "Behold, I have played the fool, and have erred exceedingly" (1 Sam. 26:21), but he died in despair. David confessed his deep, dark sin of adultery-murder, and was saved (Psalm 51). The spiritual disease of fanaticism is all but incurable because "vain imaginations" crowd out common-sense truth (Rom. 1:21). We never read that King Saul prayed, "God, be merciful to me, a fool!" But that "little hope" is there for the fool if he can bring himself to be honest and lowly enough to pray that almost-unheard-of prayer, because the promise is clear: "Whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be delivered" (Joel 2:32).

Can you imagine someone who was mightily tempted to think that he was a fool? And probably prayed, "Lord save me from being a fool!" Abraham (when he was Abram) had heard the Lord tell him he would become "the father of many nations," would have children in number as the stars, would be a blessing to all the world, etc., etc. And what happened to confirm those grand dreams? Nothing, nothing, decade after decade. Do you suppose he ever wondered if his memory had played him false, that all he had was delusions of grandeur?

A Boy at the age of 12 dreamed of being the Lamb of God, the world's Savior, who heard a Voice from heaven declare Him "My beloved Son." But He ended up after all those dreams of glory apparently like a common criminal--worse than the two thieves crucified with Him--they were just simple sinners; no one scorned them for having delusions of grandeur. But His ridiculers "cast the same in His teeth" (Matt. 27:44).

If you are "a child of Abraham" (Jesus was!) you will be tempted to think that God's promises to unworthy you of answered prayers are delusions of grandeur. Abraham avoided fanaticism because he saw the cross of Christ (John 8:56). That was the twig on El Capitan that he hung on to. No one can be moved by Calvary and end up a fanatic.

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: February 20, 2003.

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/
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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, April 16, 2013

Must We Still "Take Up Our Cross"?

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

All through Bible history and through the history of Christianity, those who seek to follow Jesus have been opposed, ridiculed, persecuted. Always, the believer who would be faithful must "take up his cross" in order to follow the true Christ (Luke 9:23).

Elijah was opposed by the government of the Israelite nation; the opposition of the king and the queen was so terrible that he was denounced as Public Enemy #1. The same persecution was seen in King Saul's bitter hatred of David, the youth whom the Lord had "anointed" to replace him as future king. Then Jeremiah had to spend his entire lifetime enduring the persecution inflicted on him by the successive kings and leaders of Judah following the death of good king Josiah.

At first the official leadership of the nation of Israel was favorable to the message of John the Baptist, but later what they considered objective evidence made them conclude they were forced to criticize, then oppose, then reject, and finally crucify, the Man whom God had sent as their Messiah. It was the popular thing to do--shout "crucify Him!" (John 19:15).

Must we still today "take up [our] cross" in order to be faithful to Him? Yes!

But does that mean that life must be a dreary enduring of sadness and loneliness? No, the promise of Jesus has particular reference to life today. He said: "I am with you always, even unto the end of the world" (Matt. 28:20). As He walked with the three Hebrews in the fiery furnace (Dan. 3:25), so He has pledged Himself to suffer and endure with His faithful disciples today.

In every confrontation with Satanic falsehood, Jesus wins the victory.

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: March 23, 2005.

Monday, April 15, 2013

Agape Never Fails--Tell Someone!

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Billions cry out, "What must I do to be saved?" The Bible answer is, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ ..." (Acts 16:30, 31).

You cannot tell someone who is "without strength" (Rom 5:6) to "DO something." Salvation by works is useless. What you can do is to tell someone something to "believe." Believe what? That "Christ died for the ungodly."

On His cross Christ identified fully with the sinner. Darkness enveloped His soul. He was terrified of the second death that He faced. He was within a millimeter of coming "unglued" (see Psalm 22:14, 15). The cable that bound Him to sanity was only a hair's breadth. But through that cable there flowed a millivolt of faith: "Why have You forsaken Me?" was His despairing cry; He did ask the question. And He waited in the darkness for the answer. He did not curse God, which Job's wife told him to do. And don't you ever do it!

Jesus doesn't ask us to DO what He DID; He asks us to BELIEVE what HE did, that is, to appreciate it. In that total darkness of human despair, He built a bridge over our dark chasm--"the atonement." The Father did not reconcile the Son to Himself; the Son reconciled Himself to the Father. "You can forsake Me," cries Christ, "but I will not forsake You!"

In the total darkness of being "made sin," suffering the ultimate hell of God-forsakenness (2 Cor. 5:21), being "made" us, bearing the total weight of our guilt, selfishness, despair, our hell, He is "poured out like water, ... [His] heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of [His] soul. [His] strength is dried up" [He is "without strength"],--in all this horror He chooses to believe a morsel of Good News: "Thou hast heard Me from the last utter extremity of being tossed on the horns of the vicious wild buffalo" (see Psalm 22:21).

That millivolt of faith triumphed: "He hath not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; ... but when he cried unto Him, He heard" (vs. 24). He chose to believe without an iota of outward evidence. Thus "agape never faileth" (1 Cor. 13:8). Tell someone!

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: February 9, 1999.

Friday, April 12, 2013

Does Jesus Understand Modern Teenagers?

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Was Jesus at one time a teenager? Does He really understand modern teenagers? Or is He from a far-past generation and out of touch?

In reality, Jesus is tomorrow's up-to-date teenager, the teenager who has common sense, who is not afraid of his or her peers, who has true joy deep in His heart, who is free from this terrible prison that most teenagers are locked into--the awful fear of being alone, standing alone, being "different." Jesus was not afraid of anyone--and you don't need to be afraid of anyone, either.

You see, Jesus is not revealed merely in one little tiny segment of 18 years between His age of 12 ands His later age of 30. The question is: why doesn't the Bible tell us more about Jesus during those 18 years, especially his teenage years. The answer is that Jesus has revealed Himself all through history, and we read of Him revealing Himself throughout the Bible--in teenagers.

First, there is Abel, not afraid to reason with his brother Cain about the meaning of the cross. Jesus was revealed in him. Then there is the teenager Abram, refusing to go with his dad to worship the moon-god in Ur of the Chaldees; again, there you see Jesus at work. Then there is the teenager Moses, refusing to be called the son of Pharoah's daughter, unafraid to be different at the royal court. Then there is, well, who? David, of course, the teenager who killed Goliath. He could never have done that unless the Spirit of Jesus was in his heart that day. And that must be why David wrote Psalm 119, Jesus' diary as a teenager. Read it please, with that idea in mind.

I could go on--the teenager Jeremiah for example--lucky guy, can I say that?? With all the sufferings he went through?? Yes, Jeremiah had the peace of God in his heart--and there are millions of teenagers who want just that more than anything else. If you have it, by the grace of God, help somebody else.

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: August 6, 1996.

Thursday, April 11, 2013

Why Would Jesus Need to Trust Us?

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

We think it’s a grand achievement when we can learn to have faith in Jesus; we “have passed from death unto life,” etc.

But what about Jesus Himself having faith in human beings? That’s backward thinking! We trust Him, yes! But does He trust us? What is there trustworthy about us? And why would He need to trust us, even if we were trustworthy? He has everything, billions of angels at His beck and call, infinite resources.

To answer, the Bible does say that He believes in us and trusts us, in fact, He has to if He is ever to win the great controversy with Satan. Paul asks, “What if some [Israelites] did not believe? Shall their unbelief [non-faith] make the faith of God without effect?” (Rom. 3:3). When the heavenly Father sent His only begotten Son into the world as a baby, did He not trust human beings to care for Him, especially while He was an infant? Did He not trust the virgin Mary to be a faithful mother to Jesus? Did God not trust friends to care for Jesus during the years that He lived with us on this planet? (Yes, people did crucify Him, but we read of women who prepared food for Him, took care of His laundry, and friends who invited Him to be a Guest in their homes, like Lazarus and Zaccheus of Jericho).

And we read of how “the faith of Jesus” comes into focus in the last days: “Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus” (Rev. 14:12). In fact, it is the “faith of Jesus” that saves us, for He is “the author … of our faith” (Heb. 12:2). When He died on the cross and He felt forsaken by His Father, His faith triumphed. For at the last just before He cried out, “Father, into Thy hands I commend My Spirit,” He chose to believe and to trust that there would be a multitude of human beings around the world who would respond to the truth of His sacrifice, and who would believe and be loyal to Him: “All the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the Lord: and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before Thee. For the kingdom is the Lord’s. ... A seed shall serve Him” (Psalm 22:25-30).

He forgot about His own reward; what made Him happy in those last moments was the confidence that He had won the battle, the contest was decided, and WE will live forever in God’s kingdom now made forever sure. Here was His total emptying of self! When He “tasted death for every man” (Heb. 2:9), it was the real thing; He died our second death. But He was happy in the confidence that He had saved us from it.

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: January 1, 2000.