Dial Daily Bread: "Good" King Hezekiah's Mistake

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Bad king Ahaz, father of good king Hezekiah, closed Solomon's Temple and turned the people of God to pagan worship. When he was 25, Hezekiah cleaned up the Temple inside and out, opened its closed doors, and re-instituted the worship of the God of heaven. He even revived the joyous celebration of the Passover, and did his best to lead the confused descendants of Abraham back to obedience to God.

And God honored him: two of Hezekiah's desperate prayers were miraculously answered: (1) God turned away Sennacherib and the Assyrian army, which saved Jerusalem from conquest and destruction; and (2) Hezekiah prayed for healing at the age of 39 from a fatal disease. God had told him clearly that his time had come: "'Set your house in order, for you shall die and not live.'" But God listened and Hezekiah "turned his face toward the wall, and … wept bitterly; 'remember' all the good things I have done and 'have walked before You in truth and with a loyal heart, and have done what is good in Your sight'" (Isa. 38:1-3). It's not fair for me to die at 39! So God sent Isaiah to tell him, "I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears," you will have 15 years more (vs. 5). At 39, 15 years more seems like eternity; Hezekiah was happy. He thanked God publicly.

But there was a problem. The king had been mistaken about that "truth" and his "perfect heart." He didn't know it! Buried therein was unknown sin. If he had humbly submitted to God and died at 39, he would have exited his "office" with a glorious place in history, and his labors at revival and reformation could well have been successful and permanent. He could have "sat" with Abraham, Moses, and David, for his reign would have saved the cause of God from ruin.

But he loved life too exuberantly, being over-confident of his own righteousness. His pride in the divine healing led to the eventual conquest of his kingdom by Babylon; and in those 15 extra years he sired the worst king ever to sit on David's throne--Manasseh (he shed rivers of innocent blood). Jeremiah was later forced to say that the unspeakable horror that overtook the kingdom, the throne, and the people, was "because of Manasseh the son of Hezekiah, king of Judah" (Jer. 15:4).

Sometimes it's better to die than to live.

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: February 25, 2001.

Copyright © 2015 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: The Most Newsworthy Event Happening Today

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Every morning when you log on to Yahoo! or Google, you get a glimpse of what they consider to be the most important news story of the day (or maybe it's the biggest headline in your morning paper). But what does our heavenly Father, the God who says He is "love" (agape), tell us is the great News behind the news? It's the central message of the Book of Revelation: "the everlasting gospel" being proclaimed to "every nation, tribe, tongue, and people" (14:6, 7). The purpose of this most highly acclaimed activity is to prepare people for the most climactic event of all history--the second coming of Jesus (vss. 15, 16).

Is this message getting through to the people of the world, or is it being buried under an overwhelming mass of confusion published by the media, or even by a similar mass of confusion known as "organized religion"?

The answer does not depend on mere human observation, for Jesus said, "The kingdom of God does not come with observation" (Luke 17:20). In His day, what served as "the media" tried to ignore the greatest News of all time, but the Holy Spirit was working quietly, surely, in what Jesus was doing. So today, the "everlasting gospel" proclaimed by those three angels of Revelation 14 is getting through in different ways.

The best way to know for sure is to consider the character of God Himself--He is "love" (agape); that is, He will not permit the final, cataclysmic events of earth's history ("the seven last plagues" of Revelation 16) to come until people have had a reasonable chance to prepare. And that means, they must hear the message of Good News, of His "much more abounding grace." You can't believe that "God is love" (agape) if you think He has gone to sleep. You must recognize that every angel in heaven is intensely active, moving upon the hearts of human beings everywhere.

God's "office" in heaven is the central command post of the vast worldwide war between Christ and Satan, as real as the war between them when Jesus was here on earth 2000 years ago. It will not be recognized "with observation," but it's the most newsworthy event happening today. Read about it in Revelation 14-19; let the same Holy Spirit that inspired the Book speak to your heart in its pages.

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: March 20, 2005.
Copyright © 2015 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: Have You Dreamed of Doing Some Great Work for the Lord?

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

You may have dreamed of doing some great work for the Lord. He has put that vision in your heart. If you have had success, thank Him in humility. It was all due to His blessing.

But if you feel that you have accomplished little of what you had hoped to do, please do not wound your Lord by doubting His love and faithfulness for you. He has heard your prayers, and there is still opportunity for Him to bless the meager offering you have to give Him.

The little boy in the big crowd of more than 5000 men, women, and children had only his two fish and five barley buns his mother had baked for his lunch--but in love and boyish faith he gave them all to the disciples to give to Jesus (Matt. 14:15-19; John 6:9-11; did you know that John is the only one of the four Gospel writers to give the “lad” credit for his loving offering? You know how the Lord Jesus blessed that humble gift!

Now ask the dear Lord to show you what little thing you can do to bring some truth or blessing in another way, to someone. The angels keep the record books; never think about a reward for yourself. But pray that the Lord will bless your little offering; and trust Him that He will for the good of someone, somewhere. There will come a time when that person will walk up to you and thank you for what you gave or what you did today.

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: December 10, 2005.
Copyright © 2015 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: Letting Pure Gospel Sunlight Get Through

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

For hundreds of years reverent-minded Bible scholars have recognized that Revelation 9 presents the story of Islam. It is "the smoke out of the bottomless pit" (vss. 2, 3). It has darkened the bright sunshine of the pure gospel of Christ. But professed Christianity has also not let much more of the pure gospel sunlight get through. The Crusades were not a proud chapter in our history.

The coming of the Messiah to Israel and to the world was to be the world's best good news; the truth of the gospel of Christ was to lighten the earth with glory. The coming of Christianity was to "go forth conquering and to conquer," symbolized by the rider on the white horse of 6:2. The pure gospel of Christ was so clear, so powerful, that it would sweep through the world and demonstrate its character as what Paul says, "the power of God unto salvation to all who believe" (Rom. 1:16). The Messiah was to save the world, and devout Jews for many years had looked forward to this glorious climax of all human history.

But then the prophet Daniel was given a vision in which he saw an evil power arise that would pervert that pure gospel of Christ, and to his amazement and horror it would become a greater curse to the world than paganism had been. The story is in chapter 8. The great cosmic controversy between Christ and Satan was won by Christ on His cross, assuring us of its final triumph; Satan knows that he is already a conquered foe. But he is fighting with mad desperation in his hatred of Christ, trying to keep people in deception, and thus keep them from being reconciled to God.

The enemy's masterpiece has been to introduce into Christianity the key doctrines of paganism, which Muslims have from their beginning seized upon as their cause célèbre to justify them in rejecting the gospel truths of the cross of Christ and of His atonement.

Still, it's not too late to seek, like a Good Shepherd seeking His lost sheep, for honest souls among Muslims who will respond to the pure gospel (what Paul says is "the truth of the gospel," Gal. 2:5, 14). Foremost among anti-evangelism obstacles are the mistruths of double predestination, idolatry and image veneration, justification by works, and all confusion regarding what Christ accomplished for the world. The cross of Christ is the focal point of Satan's subtle enmity.

God's promise is that in these last days the pure "truth of the gospel" will emerge from the darkness of misapprehension of God--and accomplish what the apostles did after Pentecost.

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: May 7, 2007.
Copyright © 2015 by "Dial Daily Bread.

Dial Daily Bread: Thanks to God for His "Unspeakable Gift"

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Too many of our celebrated holidays are of pagan origin and bear those marks even today; but one is free of it--Thanksgiving. But even this one last touch of national gratitude to God is marred now by the designation "Turkey Day," so the Day is marked by indulgence of appetite.

A popular Bible text for Thanksgiving Day sermons is, "Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable gift" (2 Cor. 9:15). The one gift above all gifts He has given us is this: "God so loved the world that He gave …" It was all that He had in the gift (not the loan, not the mere offer) of His Son (John 3:16). The Son of God is now the Son of man; He is eternally a member of our human race, but that wasn't far enough for the Father to "give." He went further in pouring out the "gift."

The Father gave Him to take seven steps in stepping down lower, itemized in Philippians 2:5-8: (1) He gave up His "equality" with God; (2) "emptied Himself," like you turn a bottle upside down to drain it; (3) gave up His "reputation"; (4) was "made in the likeness of men," lower than the angels; (5) "humbled Himself," became a slave washing people's feet (John 13); (6) "became obedient unto death," the only one in 6000 years to do so (this "death" that Christ was "obedient" to is the real thing--the "second death," the "curse of the law" (Gal. 3:13; Rev. 20:15); (7) He died "the death of the cross," the curse being "forsaken" by God forever; the most horrible death one could know.

"Thanks" for that, says Paul!

The death which Christ died was far more than the physical, social agony of His cross. "The second death" is the death in which there is no hope of a resurrection (the death that Christ saved us from!). He carried with Him all His life that hope of a resurrection, until the time when He was "made to be sin for us, who knew no sin" (2 Cor. 5:21), when He cried out in most bitter agony, "My God, why have You forsaken Me?" (Matt. 27:46). That point was where the "giving" was the greatest; it was a gift for eternity, an infinite gift.

Contemplating that gift of His love has a subduing effect upon the human soul; no one can be the same after his heart grasps that!

If the idea can be translated and the consciousness of its "breadth, and length, and depth, and height" can be understood, there is salvation in the very thanksgiving, as there is salvation in faith. Such thanksgiving is close to what faith is! The human heart is moved forever. Those heavenly beings who are still humans (the "24 elders," see Rev. 4:4; 5:9) never cease to give their thanks. Neither will you, once you comprehend what that "unspeakable gift" entails.

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: November 19, 2007.
Copyright © 2015 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: What It Means to Believe in Jesus

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

If you believe in Jesus, that means you have given Him all there is of you, which includes your mind. Your motivation is His love, not fear of punishment; you want to be one with Him just as a bride wants to be one with her husband. She doesn't look upon being one with him as a burden; rather, it's a priceless privilege.

You will want to think the thoughts of the Son of God, not trying to figure out how to get ahead, or to protect yourself during the "time of trouble" that the Bible speaks of. You will be heart and soul wrapped up in what Christ wants to do for the world. You will be obsessed with wanting to help somebody else, just as He has helped you.

In particular, your concern will be to "feed" the world with "the bread of life" that comes through Christ. He says He is "the truth" (John 14:6); and He is also "the bread of life" (6:35). Your personal happiness will be found in your longing for that; it will be your "hunger for righteousness" (Matt. 5:6). You will want to understand the Bible. That may seem like a miracle to you, because at present you may find it boring. But be honest--that's the only way to get to "first base."

It's impossible for us to "love Jesus" any more than we actually love the Bible, for He is the Word of God. So be careful about parading your "love for Jesus." The point is this! Every new day we are reminded that we need what Jesus told Nicodemus: "You must be born again." It's good news that you will learn to hunger for the Word of God more than you hunger for breakfast (Jer. 15:16), or for the entertainment that the world loves. When that happy time comes (and it can be today!) you will have "passed from death into life" (John 5:24).

Don't forget, love for the Word of God will include a hunger to understand both Daniel and Revelation; and remember, your Teacher, the Holy Spirit, is full of common sense. He doesn't teach fanatical ideas of those important books!

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: January 6, 2003.
Copyright © 2015 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: Does God Ever Get Tired?

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Does God ever get tired? Two Bible texts appear on the surface to give totally contradictory answers: “The everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, neither faints nor is weary” (Isa. 40:28). The answer appears to be No. But listen again: He says to His people, “You have burdened Me with your sins, you have wearied Me with your iniquities” (43:24); and “You have wearied the Lord with your words” (Mal. 2:17). Now the answer is Yes.

It’s two kinds of “weariness”: physically, the Creator is not tired; He holds up the universe in His hands. But in heart, God is wearied with human sin, and all the misery that it has produced: “Like as a father pities his children, so the Lord pities those who fear [reverence] Him. For He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust” (Psalm 103:13, 14). Speaking of those whose human hearts are sensitive to suffering, Isaiah says: “He became their Savior. In all their affliction He was afflicted ... In His love and in His pity He redeemed them; and He bore them and carried them all the days of old” (63:8, 9). God is indeed a personal Heavenly Father to all whose hearts cry “Abba, Father!” (Rom. 8:15).

A child who suffers does not feel the agony as keenly as the sympathizing parent. When Isaiah says, “He redeemed them,” it’s the entire human race whom He redeemed, as our second Adam, the new Head of the race, suffering with us and dying our second death (Heb. 2:9). God feels the pain, the tears, the despair of millions.

Can you and I share a bit of that suffering? Imagine yourself on Death Row when you know for sure in your heart that you are the innocent party. Imagine yourself guilty, you did make a tragic mistake, and now you are locked up for life. God shares all that pain and agony. Add to that, all who are hopelessly ill, the captives held in the grip of addictions, the broken homes and disappointed marriages, the tears of parents weeping for their children; yes, imagine yourself with your helpless little ones clinging to the branches of a tree in a flood in Africa.

Jesus wants to come and put an end to all the suffering in this world. We speak of His coming as our “blessed hope.” Have we ever thought about how it is His “blessed hope”? The clock of the universe has ticked away for thousands of years of sin history; it’s time now for God’s people to begin to view matters in the same light in which He views them. Then we will be able to pray intelligently, “Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven.”

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: March 4, 2000.
Copyright © 2015 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: A Double Negative That Makes a Powerful Positive

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

So fully has the Son of God identified Himself with our fallen humanity, that it's difficult to take a scalpel and separate the heart cries of Jesus in the Psalms from the heart cries of king David. For example, in Psalm 22:1 David cries out, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken me?" But then we discover that Jesus cries the same dereliction as He hangs on His cross (Matt. 27:46). Then as we read further in Psalm 22, lo and behold, we find that the entire psalm records the heart cries of Jesus up to the moment of His death when He cried out, "It is finished" (asah, the last word in the Hebrew, which means "it's done!").

But how could Jesus Christ, the sinless One, pray the same words that the guilty, bloodstained sinner David prayed? Wasn't Jesus "holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners" (Heb. 7:26)? He should be as far away from feeling like the despicable sinner, David, as day is from night!

But wait a moment: isn't His "name Immanuel, which is translated, 'God with us'" (Matt. 1:23)? Isn't it "unto us" that this "Child is born, unto us a Son is given" (Isa. 9:6)? Didn't the Father "so love the world that He gave" Him to us forever? Don't we "see Jesus ... made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death" (Heb. 2:9)? How could He "suffer death" unless He came inside our skin, as it were? He is "not ashamed to call [us] brethren" (vs. 11)! He had to be "[made] perfect through sufferings" (vs. 10). But wasn't He "perfect" all along? In holiness, yes; but He had to go through a process of education for 33 years in order to qualify to cry out sincerely from a broken human heart every word of Psalm 22!

That word "made" has enormous meaning: "In all things He had to be made like His brethren. ... In that He Himself has suffered being tempted, He is able to aid those who are tempted" (vss. 17, 18). He was "made of a woman, made under the law" (Gal. 4:4, KJV). He was "made in the likeness of men" (Phil 2:7, KJV), He became truly a man "in the [same] likeness of sinful flesh" (Rom. 8:3), "made ... to be sin for us," who "knew no sin" (2 Cor. 5:21).

What does this all add up to?

Jesus Christ is the Son of God who became "the Son of man," your Savior "in the flesh." He knows 100 percent empathy with you. Here's a double negative that makes a powerful positive: "We do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin" (Heb. 4:15). Don't turn your back on Him even for a day!

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: October 24, 2004.
Copyright © 2015 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: Paul's Two "Big Ideas"

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Two great "big ideas" permeate Paul's Letter to the Romans. It's a New Testament "epistle" that most of us shy away from. Deep, confusing, boring. Yet Luther hailed it as "the clearest gospel of all." There is something in Romans that explodes like dynamite in human hearts when those two ideas are grasped, and great movements result like the Protestant Reformation.

The Number One "big idea" hits us like Bad News. It dominates most of chapters 1, 2, and half of 3. Depressing reading. Paul details the horrible sins that are the nature of humanity, whether of pagan nations, or of God's chosen people, the Jews. "All alike have sinned," says 3:23 (New English Bible; it's correct here).

The "big idea" is inescapable: every human being by nature took part in the crucifixion of the Son of God. There's no way that we can honestly "confess our sins" unless we confess that terrible sin of sins as being ours by right. And that upsets the "Laodicean" lukewarm churchgoers! Paul walks all over their toes with this "big idea." Why? This humbles the pride of man and woman in the dust! We are no better than anyone else! The sin of someone else would be our sin but for the grace of Christ. If God lets go of us, there is no telling where we would end up. Say "goodbye" to self-importance, and "pour contempt" on all our pride. "We" crucified the Prince of glory!

The Number Two "big idea" in Romans also upsets the saints. As the new Head of our human race, the Son of God asked His Father to forgive that unspeakably terrible sin--and He did. The same "all" who sinned have been forgiven, "justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus" (3:24). He died the second death of those same "all" men. "Much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace ... hath abounded" unto the same "all" men (5:15).

Paul's "big idea" explains the mystery why the Father treats those "all" men as though they had never sinned--His sunshine and rain come on "all" alike! That's what "justified by His grace" means! To despise that grace is the fatal age-old sin of unbelief.

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: September 18, 2002.
Copyright © 2015 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: Understanding What the Son of God Has Accomplished For Us

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Exuberance and joy are the way we live when we understand what the Son of God has accomplished for us; in other words, when we grasp the "truth of the gospel" (Gal. 2:5): "The death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, ... but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead" (Rom. 6:10-13; "dead" equals the second death).

How joyous we are when we realize that we've been delivered from some disaster. The more clearly you realize how you've escaped disaster through the merciful intervention of the Lord, the more ready you are to consecrate your all to Him. Now, "our beloved brother Paul" (cf. 2 Peter 3:15) is reminding us here that we have escaped hell, the second death. The fact that you live proves that. In such joy, "present yourselves to God." You will hold nothing back.

I read somewhere in an old, old book that every newborn baby is in fact "resurrected" as from eternal death--by virtue of Christ's giving of Himself. That's what He means when He says, "The bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world. ... The bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world" (John 6:33, 51). That's gospel truth. The newborn baby doesn't realize it; many go all the way through life into old age and never realize it. Sometimes it may be because no one told them "the truth of the gospel."

Where is all this supposed pain, sorrow, and sacrifice in giving ourselves to the Lord Jesus instead of to the world?

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: August 21, 2006.
Copyright © 2015 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: A Little Book the Lord Knew We Would Need

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

It's a tiny little book tucked away in the Old Testament with a title that is actually rather forbidding: "The Lamentations of Jeremiah." Few ever read it, but it's good bedtime reading, full of encouragement and comfort.

Israel had just suffered the most awful devastation, and the Lord Himself had permitted it! The sufferings of Israel and Jerusalem would have significance for the church down to the end of time. We today are not genetically better people than the Israelites of Jeremiah's time; and we need to realize our need of repentance. The Israelites were tempted to think of the Lord as their "enemy," and when everything seems to go against us today we are tempted likewise; but He pities us and loves us.

Chapter three is in poetry: "Through the Lord's mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness" (vss. 22, 23).

"Our beloved brother Paul" (cf. 2 Peter 3:15) tells us that our "carnal mind is enmity against God" (Rom. 8:7). Don't run out the door in discouragement: the truth never hurts when it's "in Christ." Yes, all the evil apostasy that ancient Israel exemplified in Jeremiah's day could be ours today, but for the grace of Christ, our Savior. If He were to relax His hold on us, we could repeat the apostasy of Jeremiah's day.

The Lord knew that we would need this little book. Therefore, in great thanksgiving of heart let us say with Jeremiah, "Through the Lord's mercies we are not consumed; Great is Your faithfulness," O Lord!

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: March 20, 2009.

Copyright © 2015 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: Psalm 91's Anti-terrorism Promises

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Depending on how you count them, in Psalm 91 there are nineteen firm promises to save you from terrorism. With people angry all over the world, the threat of terrorism looms over our future. But the final terror, says Revelation, will come from apostate Christianity in the invention and enforcement of the "mark of the beast" (13:11-17). This chapter has been "unrolling" before our very eyes.

Psalm 91 becomes very precious, but is it fair that just anyone can claim these anti-terrorism promises? One of them reads, "Only with your eyes shall you look, and see the reward of the wicked" (vs. 8). This might not be so bad, but what we really don't want to "look and see" is the innocent also suffering the horrors that Psalm 91 describes. Surely there must be some reasonable conditions laid down in this Psalm:

(1) It's "he who dwells in the secret place of the Most High" (vs. 1) who can claim these promises. The idea of "dwell" is similar to Jesus' idea of, "if you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you shall ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you" (John 15:7).

(2) "Because you have made the Lord ... your habitation" (Psalm 91:9). Same idea; you habitually abide in the Lord, not just 10 minutes a day. As with Paul, "For to me, to live is Christ" (Phil. 1:21).

(3) "Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him" (Psalm 91:14). Makes sense; you have given your heart to Him--not motivated by fear in an emergency, but constant, steady abiding in Him. Yes, you have learned to love prayer and reading the Word.

(4) "He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him" (vs. 15). You're in the habit of doing just that--praying continually.

Thank God, it's not too late to start "dwelling" and "abiding."

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: March 23, 2003.

Copyright © 2015 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: God Grant Us to Think and Feel as Jesus Does

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Jesus has never forgotten that He identified Himself with humanity. If there is war, according to Isaiah 63:9, in all the "affliction" multitudes will suffer, and Jesus will "identify." "In all their affliction He was afflicted, and the Angel of His Presence saved them."

How does Jesus look upon this world with violent acts of terrorism taking place in various parts of the world? How does He look upon those who believe in Him scattered in "every nation, kindred, tongue, and people"? Or upon those who don't yet know how to believe in Him?

Well, "the Angel of His Presence [will] save them." He promises that "Bread will be given him, his water will be sure" (Isa 33:16). Likewise, when the world was crumbling around him, God promised the faithful Baruch: "'Do you seek great things for yourself? Do not seek them; for behold I will bring adversity on all flesh,' says the Lord. 'But I will give your life to you as a prize in all places, wherever you go'" (Jer. 45:5). Something to be profoundly thankful for if we can humble ourselves to understand the truth as it is today.

When He was with us in the flesh, Jesus said, "The Son of Man has no where to lay His head" (Matt. 8:20). If we will "see" what the New Testament apostles sensed, we will "identify" with Him today. Share His concern for human suffering. Never eat a meal without a prayer for those who are hungry. Be thankful for a warm bath, a drink of clean water.

Most of all, fulfill His anointing "to preach good tidings [the gospel] to the poor; … to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives" (Isa. 61:1). Yes, go "about doing good and healing all who [are] oppressed by the devil" (Acts 10:38). Whatever comes, God grant us to think and feel as Jesus does, to be one with Him, to cooperate, to identify.

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: October 27, 2002.

Copyright © 2015 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: A Key We Need to Discover

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

We're told to love our enemies (Luke 6:35), but how can we love someone who is difficult, and unpleasant to be around? Maybe a better way to ask the question is, How can we learn to like such a person? Or does God expect us to?

We don't want empty pretense. Acting nice to someone's face when deep inside you dislike the person isn't being like Jesus.

A good example is Mary Magdalene--possessed by "seven devils" (Mark 16:9). We know that Jesus understood the secret irritant that she had experienced. Therefore He knew that her being mean and bitter was not what she really wanted to be deep down. In fact, she had lost control and was actually saying and doing things that she herself detested. That's what it means to be "possessed." The devil--no, seven devils--had made her a captive.

You probably would have a hard time finding anyone more difficult to be near than Mary Magdalene. When Jesus met her, He understood that someone had treated her unfairly, had driven her to desperation, and had overwhelmed her with the temptation to be resentful, which she could not handle. Jesus actually put Himself in her place (that's what He has done for each of us). In fact, when He had been baptized by John the Baptist He truly took our guilt upon Himself, took the experience of repentance in our behalf.

In this simple process of becoming one of us, Jesus found the key to unlock Mary's prison door. And in so doing He transformed her into a lovable person! Maybe that's a key we need to discover.

--Robert J. Wieland

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

Copyright © 2015 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Sabbath School Lesson 7 | "The Crisis Continues" | Pastor Paul Penno

Dial Daily Bread: How Jesus Wins Sin-alienated Hearts

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

A five-times divorcee with a heart like stone comes casually, flippantly, to Jacob's ancient well. Casting only a side glance at the Jewish Stranger, she makes sure she won't notice Him.

But He notices her. Tired, hot, and thirsty as He is from His long journey, He does not sit in silence; He is ready to win a soul. He knows precisely the right way to arouse this worldly person whose prejudice has already closed all doors--she thinks. And look what happens: in the space of a few minutes she is in tears, her cold heart melted, ready to receive joyous Good News and start a genuine new life as a missionary.

How can Jesus have such phenomenal, insightful power to win sin-alienated hearts? We can answer, "He was divine, and had something we don't have!" But He tells us, "Greater works than these [you] will do also, because I go to My Father" (John 14:12). We have come to the time when those "greater works" must be done.

Jesus wants a soul-winning evangelism explosion that will outdo anything our denominational committees have dreamed of: a worldwide network of humble church members as at the well of Sychar. His secret? We suggest: He had experienced corporate repentance.

Without approving of the lady's sins, He understands the inner pain of her beaten-down heart and thus has found an avenue of entrance, touching a chord of music that has been silent even through four or five marriages.

But was it really mysterious, what Jesus knew? Or can we learn from Him? Yes! If we will humble our proud hearts, to follow Jesus!

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: September 28, 1997.

Copyright © 2015 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: Faith and Works--A 50/50 Deal?

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Conservative Christians for hundreds of years have discussed (even argued) the relationship between faith and works. Their favorite word used to describe it is "balance." The popular idea is that one must hold faith and works in "balance." If you talk about faith for ten minutes then you must also talk about works for ten minutes. However, a check of the concordance reveals that nowhere in the Bible is the word "balance" used to describe this relationship. In inspired writings, there is practically nothing to suggest the use of that word as being appropriate.

Scripture and inspired writings are clear "beyond question" that salvation is totally by grace through faith, and Paul even goes out of his way to add, "Not of works, lest anyone should boast" (Eph. 2:8, 9). The "balance" idea strongly suggests that salvation is by faith and by works, a 50/50 deal. Which if true, would certainly give the saved ones something to boast about: "yes, Jesus saved me, but look, I did my part too!"

One popular little book is entitled Faith And Works, the title having been added by editors long after the author's death. Yet inside the covers, the original author repeatedly speaks of the correct formula as being "faith which works."

Yes, the Bible is true; there is only one Savior, Jesus; none of us is a co-savior. It's not a 50/50 salvation trip; it's 100% salvation by Christ, received by faith. But the faith is not the "dead faith" that the apostle James decries (James 2:20). A "dead faith" can produce nothing except self-righteousness (which doesn't have a very nice fragrance!). A living faith works; it has to work; it will work; it always works. ("Works" here is a verb and not a noun.)

What is faith? How does the Bible define it? It is not a synonym for works! The devil hates the idea of salvation by faith alone, by faith which works. If in any way he can inject into our thinking the idea that faith is itself works, then he has us deceived. John 3:16 has it: "God loved," "God gave," and we "believe." Faith is a human heart response to God's loving and giving. "With the heart one believes to righteousness" (Rom. 10:10). "Beware, ... lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief" (Heb. 3:12).

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: November 6, 2007.

Copyright © 2015 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: Faith and Works--A 50/50 Deal?

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Conservative Christians for hundreds of years have discussed (even argued) the relationship between faith and works. Their favorite word used to describe it is "balance." The popular idea is that one must hold faith and works in "balance." If you talk about faith for ten minutes then you must also talk about works for ten minutes. However, a check of the concordance reveals that nowhere in the Bible is the word "balance" used to describe this relationship. In inspired writings, there is practically nothing to suggest the use of that word as being appropriate.

Scripture and inspired writings are clear "beyond question" that salvation is totally by grace through faith, and Paul even goes out of his way to add, "Not of works, lest anyone should boast" (Eph. 2:8, 9). The "balance" idea strongly suggests that salvation is by faith and by works, a 50/50 deal. Which if true, would certainly give the saved ones something to boast about: "yes, Jesus saved me, but look, I did my part too!"

One popular little book is entitled Faith And Works, the title having been added by editors long after the author's death. Yet inside the covers, the original author repeatedly speaks of the correct formula as being "faith which works."

Yes, the Bible is true; there is only one Savior, Jesus; none of us is a co-savior. It's not a 50/50 salvation trip; it's 100% salvation by Christ, received by faith. But the faith is not the "dead faith" that the apostle James decries (James 2:20). A "dead faith" can produce nothing except self-righteousness (which doesn't have a very nice fragrance!). A living faith works; it has to work; it will work; it always works. ("Works" here is a verb and not a noun.)

What is faith? How does the Bible define it? It is not a synonym for works! The devil hates the idea of salvation by faith alone, by faith which works. If in any way he can inject into our thinking the idea that faith is itself works, then he has us deceived. John 3:16 has it: "God loved," "God gave," and we "believe." Faith is a human heart response to God's loving and giving. "With the heart one believes to righteousness" (Rom. 10:10). "Beware, ... lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief" (Heb. 3:12).

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: November 6, 2007.

Copyright © 2015 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: Can We Be Sure That Jesus Is Coming Again?

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

How can we know for sure that Jesus Christ is coming again, in person, literally? Someone says, "The Bible says so!" But different people interpret the Bible in different ways. Many say that the second coming of Christ has been happening all through history in the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost and thereafter.

The Bible is a reasonable Book that can be understood using reasonable common sense. Jesus promised, "I will come again" (John 14:3). He promised to come literally and visibly (Matt. 24:23-27). The doctrine of His second coming is taught throughout the New Testament, in harmony and consistency.

Peter says that we are re-living the days that were before the Flood of Noah (2 Peter 3:3-14). The people in Noah's day said that it had never rained as yet, so a flood was impossible, and Noah was a foolish man to build a boat on dry land. What evidence did the Holy Spirit give the people that his message was true during those 120 years of his ministry? There were no physical signs like premature scattered rain showers to convince the unbelieving people; the sky was dry until the final storm came.

But there was one deeply convincing evidence that Noah was sent by God: the Holy Spirit gave him an understanding of "righteousness by faith" which he preached (see Heb. 11:7). It was "by faith" that Noah "prepared an ark to the saving of his household" and "condemned the world." God did not condescend to give that "world" any proof other than the gospel message, which Noah was permitted to understand and preach.

We are tempted to look for miraculous physical evidence of the certainty of Christ's return, but none of the unbelieving scientists or evolutionists can account for the miracle of agape-love, the biblical revelation of the character of God in genuine righteousness by faith. God will not "blast" people out of their self-complacency; you hear His "still small voice" speaking in the message of "the everlasting gospel" which the three angels (and a fourth!) proclaim (Rev. 14:6-15; 18:1-4). The clarity and power of this message are beyond doubt!

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: April 17, 2000.

Copyright © 2015 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: Was Jesus a Truly Historical Figure?

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

The question continues to be asked about Jesus: Was He a truly historical figure? Or was He an invention of some overzealous enthusiasts? Was He a simple Jewish rabbi whose students exaggerated Him out of proportion to become a divine person? There are scholars who trust only a tiny fraction of what the New Testament says about Him; they think that "Jesus" is a manufactured product of the Christian church.

But let's ask a few common-sense questions: His early disciples were all Jews whose greatest doctrine was that "God is One." How could the idea of Jesus being the Son of God have ever flourished as it did were it not for the reality that He was the Son of God? And why would disciples conjure up a story in which they all emerged seriously discredited?

The story they allegedly invented says they all forsook Him and fled. One betrayed Him, another denied Him with cursing and swearing, and they frequently deserved rebuke from their Master. They are represented as sometimes doing Satan's work. They all come through the story as being slow-witted and sometimes just plain fools. When in history has a group of men made up such a story about themselves and then been willing to die for its authenticity knowing it was false?

If the disciples wanted to raise a mere man to the level of the Son of God, why would they select one whose death was that of a common criminal executed in the way that unmistakably identified Him as being "cursed of God"? How can one account for this religion spreading like wildfire throughout the Roman Empire, if there was not solid truth underlying all its claims?

We face truths that are as ridiculed now as the claims of Jesus have been throughout history. It can encourage us to rethink the obstacles that the apostles had to meet as they fanned out across the Roman Empire preaching salvation in a crucified Man. We also face obstacles today. But the proclamation of the cross of Christ will vanquish hard-hearted unbelief, as it did over 2000 years ago.

In the solemn events of this cosmic Day of Atonement, the Holy Spirit is ready to bring home to the conscience the reality of the unparalleled love revealed at that cross. And Christ will be honored by the response from honest hearts the world around.

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: December 5, 1999.

Copyright © 2015 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: A Sabbath Prayer

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

What does the Bible mean when it says that God gave us the Sabbath as a sign that He sanctifies us? (Ezek. 20:12). It's something He does for us, and in us, Sabbath by Sabbath. Have you ever devoted one to fast and pray, to "wait" before the Lord--a day of personal communicating with Him? Here is a suggested prayer for such a Sabbath.

__________________________

Father in heaven, thank You for inviting me to open my heart to You. And thank You for giving me this day as a special time to learn how You are "sanctifying" me.

Thank You for saving my soul, for giving Your Son to die my second death. Thank You that He did it, that He bore all my iniquities, and has set me free! Thank you for a love that is far greater than my little soul can appreciate--as yet. Please teach my heart to grow in understanding.

As I come to you, I choose to believe two great truths: (1) You are--You are real; and (2) You reward those who come to You by Christ (Heb. 11:6). Yes, I believe; but please "help Thou mine unbelief" (Mark 9:24). You have promised that anyone who prays that prayer can never perish.

I lay out my fears and my problems before You. I choose to wait to "listen" to what the Holy Spirit may speak to me through the avenue of Your Word, the Bible. I choose not to "faint" if You rebuke me (Heb. 12:5-11).

And I thank you in advance that You will pay attention to my prayer, and grant me the peace of heart and the confidence that I long for so much. In Jesus' name, Amen.

__________________________

Such a Sabbath will be memorable in your life. You will begin to learn to know the Lord.

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: July 25, 2001.

Copyright © 2015 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: David's "Psalm of Psalms"

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

The Book of Psalms is everybody's favorite devotional reading. Those songs say things to God and about Him that we wish we could say, but we don't dare. They are openly honest, laying bare the very deepest emotions in our hearts. No matter how much we cleverly put on the appearance that "all is well," inside we are wrestling with the same problems David had.

"Why have You forsaken me?" we ask when we are going through our valley of shadows. We read of other people's miraculous answers to prayer, but "O my God, I cry in the daytime, but You do not hear; and in the night season ..." (22:1, 2). "Our fathers trusted in You; they trusted, and You delivered them. They cried to You, and were delivered; they trusted in You, and were not ashamed. But I ..." And then David says what we don't dare say even though we sometimes feel this way, "But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people" (vss. 4-6).

But the Psalm of Psalms that defies our understanding most is the one (the only one!) that ends in despair--Psalm 88. It says the most painful things about God of any of the Psalms. It's the near-death and near-hell category of prayer. Not the death of some elderly person who might welcome silent rest, but it's the death of a very aware young person whose bitterness is the most distressing because it is the most deeply felt: "Loved one and friend, You have put far from me, and my acquaintances into darkness" (vs. 18). (Teenagers need to read the Psalms; they are one of the groups most prone to depression today.)

David has put into words of prayer thoughts that seethe beneath the surface in hearts: "Lord, You are to blame for my divorce! You turned this person against me when he or she had told me, 'I love you!' and I believed it. There is no bitterness in life so painful to endure as 'Loved one, You have put far from me'"! ... The psychiatrists and counselors can work overtime to heal, but the wound still festers even years or decades later. "God did it, not me! It feels like He hates me!"

Read Psalm 88 again: David is not bitter, and neither do we need to be. Don't miss the huge comfort that is here: David is a type of Christ who drank a cup of hatred more bitter than any of us can taste. Through David we learn to know Him--as He is.

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: August 31, 2002.

Copyright © 2015 by "Dial Daily Bread.

Dial Daily Bread: God's "Special Angel" and Symbolic Language

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Revelation does make "eminent good sense." Its origin was in the Father, who "gave" the inspired message of prophecy to Jesus Christ, who in turn processed it through "His angel" who "signified it" (that is, put it into symbolic language). This task was not intended to hide it from us or confuse us; just the opposite.

Apparently this special angel has a unique job in the processes of inspiration--to take the messages of God (that would be difficult for us humans to grasp) and present them to the various inspired Bible prophets in symbolic form--that is, language that reaches the inner thinking and feeling of hungry humans. Even children can grasp what would stump philosophers or historians.

If it had not been for this special "angel," the message contained in the book of Revelation would fill a thousand volumes. But with that special angel's help in "signifying" it, we can grasp what the Father wants us to understand. The process of revelation does not end with John putting what he saw in words onto parchment--he who "reads" or "hears" "the words of this prophecy" becomes "blessed" (Rev. 1:1-3), that is, happy for life and for eternity.

A simple, sincere prayer on your part for the same Holy Spirit who inspired the books of Daniel and Revelation to guide you in understanding them, will be answered by the One who is more than willing for you to be "blessed." Remember, it's all a "revelation of Jesus Christ," the Son of God, the world's Savior, "the Lamb of God." Let the "everlasting gospel" of righteousness by faith be interwoven with your understanding the prophecies of these two books, and your life will be forever enriched. Yes! Even in heaven to come!

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: July 14, 2002.

Copyright © 2015 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: "Bent on Backsliding"?

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

What is the cause of "backsliding"? From time immemorial it has been the problem of God's true people. Jeremiah says they have been "slidden back, ... in a perpetual backsliding" (Jer. 8:5). God says through Hosea, "My people are bent on backsliding from Me" (Hos. 11:7).

Their backsliding was apparent as early as the time of the Judges, just after the time of Moses--the story is up and down continually, mostly down, right on through the major and minor prophets of the Old Testament. Finally in 586 B.C. the kingdom of Judah (God's true people) suffered massive destruction. But even in Babylon and ever afterward, the "backsliding" went on until they rejected and murdered the Son of God.

God continually has invited His people to "return" to Him (Jer. 3:12, 14), and He has promised to "heal your backslidings" (3:22). The word does not occur in the New Testament, but the word "lukewarm" is there, just as bad, maybe worse, describing God's true people in these last days (Rev. 3:17).

Why is it that so often after we have had a wonderful series of "revival meetings" and our hearts have been stirred, that after a few weeks we find we have begun backsliding again? The world has crept in; we have gotten too busy to keep our promise to give the Lord quality time in Bible study and prayer and witnessing, and again we lose that plateau experience. Is it possible that there is a fundamental reason why this problem has gone on for thousands of years?

The problem began at Mount Sinai, from the time of Moses. From that truly "mountain-top" experience in meeting the Lord and hearing Him speak His holy law with His own voice with fire and thunder and earthquakes, in only a few weeks the people had backslidden to worshipping idols (Ex. 32:1-6). The problem: they had fastened themselves under the Old Covenant (19:8). We need the New!

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: November 14, 2004.

Copyright © 2015 by "Dial Daily Bread."