Dial Daily Bread: Healing in Looking--How Does It Work?

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Imagine a host of people coming out of Egypt, walking through the wilderness to a fabulous Promised Land, their trek under the direct leadership of God Himself, a loving, kind Savior. He has just delivered them from slavery as real as any from which President Abraham Lincoln emancipated slaves in our Civil War.

Can you imagine the slaves who were emancipated by Lincoln complaining bitterly against him? No, but the people of Israel complained against their Great Emancipator and Deliverer! Not because He hated them but because He loved them, their Savior permitted poisonous snakes to attack them, to teach them the gospel. All they had to do to be healed was to look to a Savior symbolized by a bronze poisonous snake lifted up high on a pole. The story is in Numbers 21:5-9.

Jesus told Nicodemus that the snake represented Himself (John 3:14). Christ "who knew no sin [was made] to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him" (2 Cor. 5:21). It's the same as what John the Baptist said, "Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!" (John 1:29). There is healing, there is salvation, in looking. How does it work?

The sin of the Israelites was the same as our sin--"the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be" (Rom. 8:7). It's alienation from God, bitterness against Him. (You say you don't have it by nature? Think again!) If you're human, you need healing! And the sin is deep: "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?" Or, "Deep is a man's mind, deeper than all else, on evil bent; who can fathom it?" (Jer. 17:9, NKJV, Moffatt). This alienation from God goes down to one's toes, embedded in every cell of one's being, it's nature itself that you were born with.

The Lamb of God whom you and I are to "behold," look at earnestly, was "made to be" just that for us! If it wasn't in the Bible, some "Christians" would stone people who say that Jesus is represented as a snake lifted up on a pole! Why didn't God tell Moses to make a lamb of brass and put it up on a pole so the people bitten by snakes could look at it? Ponder that, for there is saving truth there--somewhere.

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: November 29, 1998.
Copyright © 2016 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: The Greatest Election the Universe Has Ever Known

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

All along the road that leads to death there are pains and penalties, sorrows and disappointments, and warnings not to go on, but God's agape has made it hard for the heedless and headstrong to destroy themselves. More than this, by the Holy Spirit the Savior is sitting beside each of us as we travel down that Freeway in the wrong direction, constantly nudging us to get into the right lane and take that blessed exit ramp to life eternal. His job is to be a parakletos, "one called to the side of" us and to constantly "convict" us of "sin and righteousness and judgment" (John 16:8, NIV). He will never tire of His job or leave us to our perverse ways unless we beat Him off.

An old song says something true:

And once again the scene was changed,
new earth there seemed to be; ...
I saw the Holy City beside the tideless sea.

The light of God was on its streets,
its gates were opened wide,
And all who would might enter,
and no one was denied.

In other words, God is voting for you. He has elected us all to be saved. Our job is to say, Yes, to believe, to let our hearts be softened by the sweet influence of the Holy Spirit, to show appreciation for the love by which we were redeemed.

Remember, the Lord is a Divine Gentleman. He will not force Himself on anyone who doesn't like Him and doesn't want Him around. He cannot use coercion. If He forced all to be saved, many would be miserable in an environment where the prevailing spirit is heartfelt gratitude to the Lamb for His sacrifice. If by accident one rebel found himself in the City, he would head for the nearest exit.

When you see what happened at the cross, the kind of love that pushed Christ to do what He did, all this talk about it being hard to obey, hard to give all to Him, hard to surrender, hard to persevere, becomes silly. It's only our pathetic blindness in the face of the greatest Light that ever shown in all eternity that makes us imagine for a moment that we are sacrificing anything when we give all for Christ. For one who accepts God's Good News, obedience that once may have seemed impossible becomes now a joyous principle.

Something will be accomplished that has never been done since time began: a people from all over the world will be prepared to be ready for Christ's glorious appearing. There will be no faces downcast with shame in that vast throng. To have let the Lord do something for them, and in them, will be looked upon as their greatest joy.

--Robert J. Wieland

From: The Good News Is Better Than You Think, 2002.
Copyright © 2016 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: The Best-Known Bible Verse That's Widely Misread

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

The best known verse in the Bible is widely misread. It's John 3:16, which says: "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." Let's see what it actually says, not what we may think it says.

(1) God loved a bad, sinful world. That means His love is different from our love. We love nice people; God loves bad people, selfish, mean people. That doesn't mean He loves their meanness, their selfishness; no, He loves them. And when they learn of His love, many of those bad people with become changed.

(2) He gave His Son--not lent Him. There's an eternity of truth in that world "gave." He gave Him even to hell. The price that Jesus paid for our salvation was infinite. He did not measure His gift and say, thus far and no further. There was no stopping place in His giving of His Son. And the gift is eternal--Christ is forever our elder brother, a member of our human race. He has joined divinity to humanity.

(3) That whoever believes in Him … There is one thing only that God asks us to do--believe. Some people get upset about that, but there it is in John 3:16. God didn't say, "that whoever does a lot of things," no, He said, "whoever believes in Him." It is clear therefore that to believe means to appreciate God's love for a bad world, and to appreciate His giving of His Son, not merely lending Him. Isaac Watts said, "When I survey …" When one believes in that true sense, his heart is changed and he is reconciled to God. His enmity is gone. And when one is reconciled to God, he is also reconciled to God's holy law. And so obedience is the natural result of true faith.

(4) The one who believes should not perish. Millions of people have not seen that little word "not," and they believe that the lost will be tortured in conscious agony for all eternity. But that is a false doctrine, not taught in the Bible. Jesus plainly said that those who do not believe will perish at last. Sin and sinners will be no more, and the entire universe will be clean forever.

(5) But have everlasting life. You were not born to perish--you were born to inherit everlasting life. That everlasting life has already begun for you in Christ. The Lord has already given you that gift in the gift of His Son. He is given to you, not merely offered to you.

It's time for us to say, Thank You, Lord, for saving my soul! Believing that simple Good News will turn your entire life around in the right direction.

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: 1994 Phone Message.
Copyright © 2016 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: The Best-Known Bible Verse That's Widely Misread

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

The best known verse in the Bible is widely misread. It's John 3:16, which says: "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." Let's see what it actually says, not what we may think it says.

(1) God loved a bad, sinful world. That means His love is different from our love. We love nice people; God loves bad people, selfish, mean people. That doesn't mean He loves their meanness, their selfishness; no, He loves them. And when they learn of His love, many of those bad people with become changed.

(2) He gave His Son--not lent Him. There's an eternity of truth in that world "gave." He gave Him even to hell. The price that Jesus paid for our salvation was infinite. He did not measure His gift and say, thus far and no further. There was no stopping place in His giving of His Son. And the gift is eternal--Christ is forever our elder brother, a member of our human race. He has joined divinity to humanity.

(3) That whoever believes in Him … There is one thing only that God asks us to do--believe. Some people get upset about that, but there it is in John 3:16. God didn't say, "that whoever does a lot of things," no, He said, "whoever believes in Him." It is clear therefore that to believe means to appreciate God's love for a bad world, and to appreciate His giving of His Son, not merely lending Him. Isaac Watts said, "When I survey …" When one believes in that true sense, his heart is changed and he is reconciled to God. His enmity is gone. And when one is reconciled to God, he is also reconciled to God's holy law. And so obedience is the natural result of true faith.

(4) The one who believes should not perish. Millions of people have not seen that little word "not," and they believe that the lost will be tortured in conscious agony for all eternity. But that is a false doctrine, not taught in the Bible. Jesus plainly said that those who do not believe will perish at last. Sin and sinners will be no more, and the entire universe will be clean forever.

(5) But have everlasting life. You were not born to perish--you were born to inherit everlasting life. That everlasting life has already begun for you in Christ. The Lord has already given you that gift in the gift of His Son. He is given to you, not merely offered to you.

It's time for us to say, Thank You, Lord, for saving my soul! Believing that simple Good News will turn your entire life around in the right direction.

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: 1994 Phone Message.
Copyright © 2016 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: Encouragement for Those Who Suffer in "Sibling Rivalry"

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

There is comfort and encouragement in an unlikely Bible story for those who suffer in "sibling rivalry." In fact, this individual's story is usually neglected. It's Jeremiah. People actually turn away from his story, because he has been dubbed "the weeping prophet."

Depressing! Why read a story so sad that the author wishes he had rivers of water in his head so he could cry endlessly! (Jer. 9:1; Lam. 2:11). Jeremiah belongs in the "tragedy" category of drama. Leave his musty book in the attic.

But the man is so important that people thought that Jesus was Jeremiah (Matt. 16:14). God permitted an avalanche of persecution to fall on him, not just 10 years or so of it such as Joseph and David endured, after which both were exalted to glorious honor. No, poor Jeremiah gets no reprieve from endless physical and spiritual torture.

He was dumped into a deep mud hole and left there to die had not an African gentleman at the court taken pity on him and saved his life (Jer. 38:6-13).

He was locked up in the stocks where common criminals are displayed publicly (20:2, 3). Yet he was God's chosen prophet from his pre-natal experience in his mother's womb (1:5). It seemed as though the God who called him had now abandoned him!

The king himself had contemptuously cut up and burned the book that the Holy Spirit had inspired Jeremiah to write (36:21-23). How can an author be humiliated any more shamefully?

But the most cruel blow the prophet is called to suffer is the "treachery" inflicted by his own personal family who should have been loyal. His brothers knew him, that he was sincere and genuine; but they organized a bitter campaign against him, complete with flattery to his face and a knife in his back (12:6).

But no, it's not dramatic tragedy; Jeremiah is now revered as the greatest of the prophets, and he shares his life story with Jesus. If you are called to suffer, rejoice with Him.

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: May 14, 2001.
Copyright © 2016 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: Some Refreshing News in Peter's Sermon

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

There is some refreshing news in Peter's sermon at Pentecost: "It shall come to pass in the last days, says God, that I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh. ... Whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved" (Acts 2:17, 21). That sounds like Good News, but is it too good?

The words "all flesh" surely mean everybody in the world. How can it be true? Note that Peter does not say that everybody will receive the Holy Spirit; he only says that God will give the gift to everybody. Jesus can help us understand. He says that "when He [the Holy Spirit] has come, He will convict the world of sin, ... because they do not believe in Me" (John 16:7-9). The Father "so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son" (3:16). Christ is "the true Light which gives light to every man who comes into the world" (1:9).

The ancient Jews wouldn't believe this, for they thought that only they are "lighted." But Gentiles are also included! The Holy Spirit sheds light on every human heart; that person may not receive the light, but in the last great judgment day, no one can accuse God of not letting some light shine upon his pathway, some evidence on which that soul could make a choice. In every human heart the Holy Spirit has brought a conviction of sin, a sense of right and wrong. And blessed are those who respond to that conviction the Holy Spirit gives.

But there's another statement in Peter's sermon that arrests our attention: "whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved." Of course, that must mean, "in sincerity" (Eph. 6:24). God pays attention to "all who in every place call on the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours" (1 Cor. 1:2). Here is His "much more abounding grace": "the same Lord ... is rich to all who call upon Him" (Rom. 10:12). David says, "This poor man cried out, and the Lord heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles" (Psalm 34:6).

Do you feel sinful and unworthy? Call upon the Lord, and believe that in His mercy He will hear you. Yes, He will convict you of sin; but thank Him for that with all your heart!

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: February 23, 1999.
Copyright © 2016 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: When God Says "No"

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

What do you do when you pray … and pray … and pray … and you don't get an answer? Or at least, you don't get a "Yes" answer? Did you say that you have never had that experience, that all your prayers get a "Yes" answer? If so, you are most unusual. Many people, especially children, are disturbed and confused when they hear stories of other people getting wonderful miraculous answers to prayer, and they don't seem to get them.

Even the apostle Paul had to suffer the disappointment of not getting the "Yes" answer to his prayers. He tells us of his experience in 2 Corinthians 12:7-10. He had a painful physical problem, and three times he earnestly prayed, "Lord, take this away--set me free from this." And the Lord said, "No," "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness."

Paul's response was: "Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong."

We need to understand, and children need to understand, that sometimes the Lord says "No," but if He says "No," it does not mean He does not love us. We know positively that every heart-felt prayer is heard, and even when the Lord cannot say "Yes" because He loves us too much to give us something that would in the long run hurt us, one thing we can know for sure: He will always give us enough grace to endure the trial that we wanted Him to take away from us. And that grace is often much better than having the trial taken away. Why? Because His wonderful power is strongest when you and I are the weakest.

When God says "No" today, it means that in the long run, that "No" was better than the "Yes."  And that's good news to remember.

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: 1994 Phone Message.
Copyright © 2016 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: It Happened 172 Years Ago!

Dear Friends of “Dial Daily Bread,”

It happened 172 years ago. A group of people joined a New York Baptist farmer, William Miller, in expecting the Lord Jesus Christ to return in fulfillment of His promise, "I will come again" on a certain date, October 22, 1844.

Of course, they were mistaken and their experience became known as the "Great Disappointment," for it was widely publicized. Their belief grew out of the study of Daniel 8:14, "Unto two thousand and three hundred days [which they correctly understood as literal years]; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed" (KJV). It was the general assumption in the churches that "the sanctuary" is this earth to be cleansed with fire at the second coming. The assumption was wrong but they had the date right: "the sanctuary" is the heavenly one to be cleansed by the heart preparation of a people ready to meet Jesus when He does return.

Does the genuine Holy Spirit ever permit people to be "disappointed" if they haven't studied? Yes! He permitted the Lord's disciples to suffer a terrible disappointment in His crucifixion, because they misunderstood the event. The true Holy Spirit was working in that 1844 movement for it heralded the beginning of Christ's closing ministry as High Priest in the Most Holy Apartment ministry of the heavenly sanctuary, just as Pentecost heralded the beginning of His ministry in the first apartment.

But the ridicule heaped on William Miller has burgeoned into a dislike to think of anyone living to see Jesus return. "Everybody will die" is freely said repeatedly; but the apostle Paul boldly says the opposite: "Listen! I will unfold a mystery: we shall not all die, but we shall all be changed in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet-call. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will rise immortal, and we shall be changed" (1 Cor. 15:50-52, The New English Bible).

Now the question faces us: is the second coming of Christ near? Can we still cherish what Paul also said is the "blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and our Savior Jesus Christ"? (Titus 2:11-14).

In our zeal to ridicule that sincere and godly Baptist minister of long ago let's not sacrifice a fundamental Bible truth for today. Jesus is coming again--soon. And He intends that people now living will see Him come.

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: March 29, 2007.
Copyright © 2016 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: Lessons From the Book of Job (Part 3)

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Could you be as important a person in God's great universe as Job was? You may say, "I don't want Job's job! Give me an easier witness assignment!" But you may already have that important witnessing assignment. Both Job and Jesus chose to be loyal to God, to hold on to their faith when there seemed to be no hope whatever; and that was wonderful. They both honored God.

But there must be another development in the great controversy between Christ and Satan before the end can come. There must be a people, a corporate body of "saints," who before the world and the universe demonstrate that they "keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus" (Rev. 14:12). The same chapter identifies them as "144,000" who "follow the Lamb wherever He goes" (vss. 1-5). They are a distinct group who are new on the stage of the world in view of the universe who have been watching this grand drama unfold, because they "sang as it were a new song … [that] no one could learn … except the 144,000" (vs. 3).

That means that they will have a new experience, because no one in the Bible sings a song carelessly or thoughtlessly; each is sung out of deep experience. And if they sing from a new experience, they must have a new comprehension of what it cost "the Lamb" to save them. They have identified with Him experientially more closely and deeply than any other corporate body of God's people through all time. Revelation says that they will grow up to a maturity that qualifies them for a unique place in the plan of salvation: "the Lamb's wife."

These people must not come from only one culture or language or society; they are expressly said to be from "every nation, tongue," every tribe on earth. Each must demonstrate that the grace of Christ has been "sufficient" for one from the most sinful, depraved culture on earth, who believes, to "overcome even as [Christ] overcame."

If only "143,999" overcome, the line will be broken. That last one must hold the line. He or she is tremendously important. That one is you!

--Robert J. Wieland

From the Archive: January 16, 2001.
Copyright © 2016 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: Lessons From the Book of Job (Part 3)

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Could you be as important a person in God's great universe as Job was? You may say, "I don't want Job's job! Give me an easier witness assignment!" But you may already have that important witnessing assignment. Both Job and Jesus chose to be loyal to God, to hold on to their faith when there seemed to be no hope whatever; and that was wonderful. They both honored God.

But there must be another development in the great controversy between Christ and Satan before the end can come. There must be a people, a corporate body of "saints," who before the world and the universe demonstrate that they "keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus" (Rev. 14:12). The same chapter identifies them as "144,000" who "follow the Lamb wherever He goes" (vss. 1-5). They are a distinct group who are new on the stage of the world in view of the universe who have been watching this grand drama unfold, because they "sang as it were a new song … [that] no one could learn … except the 144,000" (vs. 3).

That means that they will have a new experience, because no one in the Bible sings a song carelessly or thoughtlessly; each is sung out of deep experience. And if they sing from a new experience, they must have a new comprehension of what it cost "the Lamb" to save them. They have identified with Him experientially more closely and deeply than any other corporate body of God's people through all time. Revelation says that they will grow up to a maturity that qualifies them for a unique place in the plan of salvation: "the Lamb's wife."

These people must not come from only one culture or language or society; they are expressly said to be from "every nation, tongue," every tribe on earth. Each must demonstrate that the grace of Christ has been "sufficient" for one from the most sinful, depraved culture on earth, who believes, to "overcome even as [Christ] overcame."

If only "143,999" overcome, the line will be broken. That last one must hold the line. He or she is tremendously important. That one is you!

--Robert J. Wieland

From the Archive: January 16, 2001.
Copyright © 2016 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: Lessons From the Book of Job (Part 2)

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

There are many links that bind Job on his dung heap with Christ on His cross, and yes, links that bind him to God's people today.

Job had to endure his trial alone. Even his wife told him to "curse God and die." His three best friends turned against him because they couldn't understand him, and in their supposedly orthodox "Christian" way tortured him even further.

So Christ was alone in His agony on the cross. His closest friends, His mother and His eleven disciples (one had betrayed Him), couldn't understand Him and fled.

So will His people in these last days stand alone, each one. From of "every nation, tribe, tongue, and people" will each be placed in circumstances where his or her faith will be tried as each is forced to stand alone as a witness for Christ.

Job maintained his loyalty to God. In total darkness, with Heaven closed against him, no answers to his prayers, bereft, apparently forsaken by God and by loved ones on earth, Job remained loyal to God.

So Christ with everything against Him, enduring what He knew was the "curse" of God, remained loyal all by Himself.

So will those "144,000" "follow the Lamb wherever He goes" in their darkest hour of trial when again Heaven seems closed against them and no visible or perceived answer to their prayers comes.

The honor of God, the stability of His throne, His credibility, depended on Job choosing to be loyal in his total darkness and despair. As an individual, Job was God's last hope. If he had taken his wife's advice and cursed God and died, God would have been proved a liar and a failure, and Satan would have won the great controversy. Job was supremely important.

More tomorrow about how important you are.

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: January 15, 2001.
Copyright © 2016 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: Lessons From the Book of Job (Part 1)

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Of all the sixty-six books in the Bible, Job is the one that most vividly reveals the problem all of us face in life: how to understand suffering. And that problem always resolves itself finally into one great, perplexing, painful question: who is this who hates me? Who is bringing on me this undeserved calamity? Is it God, or is it Satan?

Your mind may have the correct answer, but what about your heart? Our heart in its natural, unconverted state is "enmity against God" (Rom. 8:7), and you're only kidding yourself if you think you are an exception. "Why me?" is the universal question we ask when calamity strikes us, whether by an accident, or sickness, or loss of a human love, or bereavement. Job is us; he is standing in for us. He couldn't figure out what "sin" he was guilty of that provoked God to curse him so terribly with the loss of everything he held dear, even his basic health.

Job is the first Christian book ever written; there are links that bind him on his dung heap wailing out in despair, "Why?" with Christ on His cross in total darkness wailing the same "Why?" God was forced to stake His throne and the stability of the universe itself on this one poor, weak, human man, Job. God had claimed that Job was true and righteous. Satan ridiculed the idea; he wagered that if God were to permit enormous affliction to come on Job, he would turn traitor and "curse God." And God couldn't back out; one human being in supreme wretchedness was holding the line in this great conflict with Satan, and the universe had to hold their breath in anticipation of what Job would do.

Today there are"144,000" individuals of "every nation, kindred, tongue, and people," each of whom is so important that he or she is holding that same line all alone, like Job did. And, as with Job, there is a link that binds each one to Christ on His cross asking, "Why Me?"

—Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: January 13, 2001.
Copyright © 2016 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: Why Has God Permitted You to Suffer?

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Have you wondered why God permitted you to suffer a keen and painful disappointment? Perhaps an illness, a bereavement, perhaps a love betrayed and lost?

The biggest, most painful "Why?" ever screamed was on the cross by the Son of God Himself: "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?" Everything came apart; His life and His mission totally disintegrated; He drank to the full the bitter cup of purest disappointing agony that you have had just a brief taste of; and He drank it to the full so that He could comfort and encourage you now in your experience of pain.

And He permitted you to have this taste of it so that you might share with Him the joy of ministering comfort to someone else who is going through it.

Here is the divine anatomy of comfort: "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the all-merciful Father, the God whose consolation never fails us! He comforts us in all our troubles, so that we in turn may be able to comfort others in any trouble of theirs and to share with them the consolation we ourselves receive from God" (2 Cor. 1:3, 4, The New English Bible).

To become a pipe through which flows the healing water of life to people who suffer is a little taste of the joy that the Lord Himself knows! We can't fully appreciate what the Son of God went through for us, but this is a little heavenly gift of joy--to become "consolers" who minister the consolation He ministers!

Think of that outstanding example of suffering: Job. He and his wife suffered enormously, but what he was doing was to defend the plan of salvation before the rebel forces of the universe; he was loyal to the character of God; he proved Satan was dead wrong and that God is totally right--a magnificent achievement that will make him happy forever, and maybe better still, has "comforted" billions in our here and now before final judgment.

Find somebody (you won't have to look far) who needs a living word of salvation to come from some human lips; and take your place in God's great providence of comfort ministered.

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: February 4, 2008.
Copyright © 2016 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: The Greatest Court Case of All History

Dear Friends of “Dial Daily Bread,”

The idea of God being on trial is something that only the Bible could come up with. The Islamic Koran has no such idea; the Muslim's Allah requires the worshiper to prostrate himself in a mindless, blind submission to His capricious will, which rides roughshod over humanity's feelings. Could some Christians think of God that way? If so, they could be closer to Islam than to biblical revelation. The God of the Bible says, "Come now, and let us reason together" (Isa. 1:18). In other words, He welcomes His own trial and is ready to take on questions and charges. The last thing He wants is mindless devotion.

Paul saw that God will have to go in the dock, and was confident "that You may be justified in Your words, and may overcome when You are judged" (Rom. 3:4). The New English Bible says, "And win the verdict when Thou art on trial." Goodspeed says, "And win your case."

Job makes bold charges against God: "He crushes me with a tempest, and multiplies my wounds without cause. ... Who will appoint my day in court? ... He destroys the blameless and the wicked. ... If it is not He, who else could it be? ... For He is not a man, as I am, that I may answer Him, and that we should go to court together" (Job 9:17, 19, 22, 24, 32). Deep in their hearts, many sincere people echo Job's complaint and would join him in a class action suit against the Almighty.

Now at the very end of time comes the first angel's startling announcement that Job and billions of others will get their chance to confront God in court and cross-examine Him. He must meet the accumulated charges of the ages. If His case can't secure the attention of earth's billions who now "dwell" on earthly matters, what could?

If all that's important is their own case, people might go blithely on, unconcerned about their appearance in court, nonchalant, indifferent to their own personal fate. But they will sit up and take notice when God goes on trial. They will realize that they are character witnesses in His trial, the greatest court case of all history. Thus an entirely new motivation will transcend the hitherto supreme concern they have felt for their own personal security (the root cause of lukewarmness). They actually find it possible to be concerned for Him. That would be a miracle!

--Robert J. Wieland

From: "The Greatest Court Case in History: God ... on Trial!," 1998.
Copyright © 2016 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: Let's Make the New Covenant Clear to Our Children

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

A parent who believes "the everlasting gospel," doesn't want to be misled into "the mark of the beast." She sincerely wants to "follow the Lamb wherever He goes," longs to receive the "seal of God," and is burdened for her near-teen daughter who loves to read. They've been reading the Bible. Yes, also books about the Bible, but they've been reading the Book itself, and that includes the Old Testament.

The child is curious, she doesn't want anything held back. But they're confused: sometimes the true God comes through as kind and merciful, forgiving, and loving; but there are also times where He seems hard, threatening severe punishment on His people who seem bent on rebelling against Him. Much in the books of the Old Testament prophets seems frankly difficult reading for a sensitive child.

But how can one understand the way God so often threatens His people of old? Why that seemingly endless conflict? Why the almost constant unpleasant tension between God and His people? Actually, you don't see it until you come to Exodus 19. In Genesis there's a pleasant relationship between God and His people, for example, God making those fantastic promises of "blessings" to Abraham and his descendants, and His tender dealings with Isaac and Jacob. He writes His holy law on their hearts.

Then suddenly, a change: He must write it on tables of stone amid thunder, lightning, trumpet blowing, earthquakes, and a fearful death boundary around Mount Sinai. And almost from then on, rebellious people slipping back into pagan worldliness right into the Book of Malachi, until finally we get to Matthew where they crucify their Lord of glory.

What happened in Exodus 19? The people themselves formed the Old Covenant (vss. 4-8), whereas Abraham had believed the New Covenant. The New one is the one-sided promise of God; the Old is the "faulty" promise of the people. That's why a major portion of the Bible is the "Old Testament" (or covenant), leading us back to where Abraham was to be "justified by faith" under the New Covenant (Gal. 3:24). Let's make the New Covenant clear to our children!

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: May 1, 2001.
Copyright © 2016 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: Yom Kippur and the Cosmic Day of Atonement

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

What does it mean to live while that great "seventh angel" of Revelation 11 blows his "trumpet" (vss. 15-19)? What is "Day of Atonement" living? And what's so different about it than living on any ordinary "day"?

The Day of Atonement for Israel of old was what Jews today regard as "Yom Kippur," a day just observed by Jews around the world. This is a solemn "day," different than any other of the year (Lev. 23:27-32). It was a kindergarten lesson of the cosmic Day of Atonement in which we live today, a time of being completely reconciled to God (the word "atonement" means "at-one-with"). It's the opposite of being afraid of God; it's living totally, fearlessly, in harmony with Him.

It's not wearing hairshirts or walking on hot coals or starving yourself (Hinduism has been specially designed as a gross counterfeit of it). It's not being ascetic, going off in the desert to be a nun or a monk (the Dark Ages idea was a total distortion of it). It's not the karma idea of piling up "good works" to make up for all the bad things you've done. It's not fear-motivated living; it is love-motivated living. It's totally being at-one with Jesus, of living in heart-union with Him. It's not fanaticism or dour self-torture. It's not singing sad hymns all the time.

So, what is Day of Atonement living? It's "growing up" out of spiritual infancy "to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ" (Eph. 4:13), and loving every moment of it! It's a mature "comprehension" of His thinking, His feelings, His aspirations (3:14-21). It's identifying with Him to the point of being "in Him," of looking at the world as He looks at the world and being supremely happy in that identity.

Yes, since time began there have always been "some few in every generation" who have "grown up" out of the kindergarten idea of worshiping God and have been at-one with Him, like Enoch who "walked with God," and Moses, whose heart was so in tune with Him that he was willing to have his name blotted out of the Book of Life rather than see Israel go down the drain (cf. Heb. 11:5; Ex. 32:31, 32).

But now on this cosmic Day of Atonement, this "antitypical" one, God has a worldwide corporate "body" of people so "at-one" with Him that they become a Bride to Christ who "has made herself ready" for "the marriage of the Lamb" (Rev. 19:7). Every moment of every day becomes an exciting adventure "with Him."

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: April 7, 2001.
Copyright © 2016 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: A Phenomenon of History

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

There seems to have been a little "glitch" when this was sent out Monday night, and several people on the mailing list did not receive it. It's being resent to hopefully get to everyone. If you have already gotten this, we apologize for the inconvenience.

Sincerely,

The DDB Staff

_____________________________

It sounds like a stupid question to ask, but here it is: is it difficult to tell the difference between Christ and Satan?

Conventional wisdom says No; it's like distinguishing between night and day, or plus and minus, or between love and hatred. But conventional wisdom is dead wrong here; being fooled is easy.

Another question: How can you distinguish between the genuine Holy Spirit, the true Vicar of the true Christ of the Bible, and the counterfeit "holy spirit" developed by "the great dragon, ... that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world"? Be careful, for "he performs great signs" (cf. Rev. 12:9; 13:13).

Conventional wisdom is blind when it assumes that all that is called "the holy spirit" is a spirit from heaven. As we come closer to the end, the masses will call light darkness and vice versa. The Enemy has nearly perfected the art of deception "to deceive, if possible, even the elect" of God. "False christs will arise," says Jesus (Matt. 24:24).

If clever deceivers can make a counterfeit Rolex that fools you, can Christ's Enemy create a false "holy spirit," "so that he even makes fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men" (Rev. 13:13)? A counterfeit Rolex probably keeps time fairly well, and a counterfeit "holy spirit" revival will say and do some nice things so we can shout "Hallelujah," but if the second coming of Jesus catches us being fooled by Satan, we will be mortally embarrassed--literally.

It's a phenomenon of history that God's true people, ancient Israel, were deceived by the clever counterfeit of Baal worship. They had actually come sincerely to believe that the one who had brought them out of Egypt was Baal! Only a handful saw the truth (1 Kings 18).

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: July 8, 2002.
Copyright © 2016 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: Learning the Way of the Cross

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread."

How were you born? A sinner, a selfish person by nature? Or were you born neutral? Or perhaps, were you born righteous and unselfish? (I have known some people who seem so beautifully unselfish that I have been tempted to think they were born that way!)

We know of one man who was born selfish, and that fact is rather disturbing, because no one is going to get into heaven at last except as one of his "children." According to Genesis 25:22, while he was in the womb of his mother Rebecca, Jacob was already busy at strife: "the children struggled together within her" (KJV), "pressed hard on each other" (NEB), "jostled each other" (NIV), "struggled against each other" (GNB). And when in verse 26 Esau was born a few minutes earlier than Jacob, Jacob grabbed Esau's heel as if to pull him back, "wait, I want to be first!" Isaiah reports God saying, "O house of Jacob, … [you] were called a transgressor from the womb" (48:1, 8). Hosea says, "The Lord ... will punish Jacob, ... he took his brother by the heel in the womb" (12:2, 3).

Bad beginning!

But before we say, "Too bad, Jacob! You were worse than the rest of us!," let's remember Romans 3:10, "There is none righteous, no, not one." Even my wonderfully unselfish friends weren't born that way; they had to learn it. And the Good News is that we can learn it from the Savior of the world!

Recognizing that Jacob was born selfish and a sinner in fact does not support the traditional doctrine of "original sin," which says that the guilt of sin is transmitted genetically by the genes. It simply means that Jacob like all of us was born self-centered; and if you don't know about the principle of the cross, inevitably you do the only thing you know to do--be selfish. But we can learn the way of the cross. And that's the wonderful Good News!

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: June 27, 1998.
Copyright © 2016 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: Learning the Way of the Cross

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread."

How were you born? A sinner, a selfish person by nature? Or were you born neutral? Or perhaps, were you born righteous and unselfish? (I have known some people who seem so beautifully unselfish that I have been tempted to think they were born that way!)

We know of one man who was born selfish, and that fact is rather disturbing, because no one is going to get into heaven at last except as one of his "children." According to Genesis 25:22, while he was in the womb of his mother Rebecca, Jacob was already busy at strife: "the children struggled together within her" (KJV), "pressed hard on each other" (NEB), "jostled each other" (NIV), "struggled against each other" (GNB). And when in verse 26 Esau was born a few minutes earlier than Jacob, Jacob grabbed Esau's heel as if to pull him back, "wait, I want to be first!" Isaiah reports God saying, "O house of Jacob, … [you] were called a transgressor from the womb" (48:1, 8). Hosea says, "The Lord ... will punish Jacob, ... he took his brother by the heel in the womb" (12:2, 3).

Bad beginning!

But before we say, "Too bad, Jacob! You were worse than the rest of us!," let's remember Romans 3:10, "There is none righteous, no, not one." Even my wonderfully unselfish friends weren't born that way; they had to learn it. And the Good News is that we can learn it from the Savior of the world!

Recognizing that Jacob was born selfish and a sinner in fact does not support the traditional doctrine of "original sin," which says that the guilt of sin is transmitted genetically by the genes. It simply means that Jacob like all of us was born self-centered; and if you don't know about the principle of the cross, inevitably you do the only thing you know to do--be selfish. But we can learn the way of the cross. And that's the wonderful Good News!

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: June 27, 1998.
Copyright © 2016 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: A "Do-It-Yourself" Condemnation

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Is there a biblical basis for the idea of a pre-Advent judgment? When we confess our sins, doesn't the Lord Jesus forgive us our sins, and hasn't He promised to cast them into the depths of the sea? Why then would He drag up out of the sea bottom that Titanic of shameful sin that He promised should be left there? Isn't this entire idea of a pre-Advent judgment something contrary to gospel common sense?

There are two biblical statements, both unquestionably inspired because they came from the lips of Jesus. and they are not out of context:

(1) He said to the Sadducees, "They which shall be accounted worthy to obtain that [eternal] world, and the resurrection from the dead ... [cannot] die any more" (Luke 20:35, 36, KJV). He had already taught the reality of two resurrections--"they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life" (John 5:28, 29), which obviously can take place only at His second Advent (1 Thess. 4:15-18), and that of those "that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation." Revelation 20 quite clearly says it takes place at the close of the thousand-year post-Advent judgment (Rev. 20:4-7).

Before Jesus returns again as He promised and resurrects those "that have done good," somehow it must be determined, or "judged," who to resurrect in that first resurrection and who to leave sleeping on until the second. It's hardly common sense to say that God Himself (who presides at the Judgment) needs this investigative knowledge; He knows everything. But the "court" composed of the intelligences of the universe needs to know (and so do we!).

(2) Jesus spoke of "judgment" as of two kinds: condemnation and vindication. In this pre-Advent judgment Jesus leaves that Titanic of confessed and forsaken sin and guilt submerged where it is. The only people He agrees to judge are those who believe in Him, and He will vindicate them. The rest will judge themselves. It will be for them a "do-it-yourself" condemnation (John 12:47, 48).

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: May 24, 2000-1.
Copyright © 2016 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: The Gospel Shines in Daniel

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

There's a chapter in the Bible that no one seems to know for sure how to understand (fully), and yet it's as much a part of the Bible as is John 3:16. And moreover, it's in the book that Jesus singled out as the one we should "read" and "understand"--Daniel (Matt. 24:15). The contested chapter: eleven.

Why would the Holy Spirit inspire words that create such widespread speculation and guessing? Paul prayed that we might not be "tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness by which they lie in wait to deceive" (Eph. 4:14). It's not our job to "shut up the words and seal the book" of Daniel because we are now living in "the time of the end" when "knowledge" about what it means "shall increase" (Dan. 12:4). God did "seal the book" once, but only temporarily until "the time of the end." And that's where we are. Now the book is "open."

Daniel 11 is full of wars and strife, but in the middle comes the "Prince of the covenant" who is crucified (vs. 22). When the "end" comes, He ceases His High Priestly ministry, to "stand up," which is an idiom for "begin to reign" as King (11:2; 12:1, KJV). "And at that time," said the angel, "Thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book" (the same book that John saw as "the Book of Life," Rev. 13:8). Daniel is in perfect sync with Revelation, which also carries a special promise to any one who "reads" it, or even listens to it being read (1:3).

The Holy Spirit will teach us the full meaning of Daniel 11 when He is ready; meanwhile, 12:3 tells us what to do now rather than try to make a name for ourselves as new interpreters: "Those who turn many to righteousness [shall shine] like the stars forever and ever." Don't be afraid of Daniel 11; turn your attention to chapters 1-10, 12--they're clear.

The gospel shines in Daniel; help someone see it. Give Bible readings; the Holy Spirit will bless your effort. Trust Him.

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: September 9, 2004.
Copyright © 2016 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: What Believing Christ's Good News Can Do

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Is it really possible that believing Christ's Good News can change a bad person into a good one? The Bible says that is true; but how does it do so?

In fact, it is impossible for someone who believes the Good News that Christ proclaims to be a bad person; "I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes" (Rom. 1:16). That "salvation" is not merely beyond death; the best evidence that it will accomplish salvation after death is to see how it "saves" the bad person here and now.

The secret seems to be revealed in Hebrews 2:14, 15 where we read that Christ "took part of the same" "flesh and blood" that we "children" have, "that through death He might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage" (KJV). That lifelong "fear of death" drives bad people to become more bad.

What Christ has accomplished is not to "destroy" Satan (the translation here is not accurate); He paralyzed Satan. Satan still lives, still tempts and harasses, but his dominion is broken for the one who will choose to believe Christ's Good News. Hear and receive the true Good News, and your fear of death is gone; you are free as a bird flying over the mountains.

How is the "fear of death" taken away? By believing and understanding that the Savior took your second death--the unseen source of all the "bondage" you have known all your life.

It's like being let out of jail, your sentence of death has been lifted; like a prisoner who thought he was in for life, you are set free; like someone who thought that because of his sentence he must die, has been reprieved, so you sense the exhilaration. You will live! You appreciate what it cost the Savior to "deliver" you; now you want to serve Him; now you love your brethren; now your joy of life is serving others as the Savior has saved you.

Yes, believing Christ's Good News does change a bad person into a Christlike good one.

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: October 9, 2003.
Copyright © 2016 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: Was Job a Bad Man?

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Was Job a bad man? God said of him: "There is none like [My servant Job] on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil" (1:8). And God repeated that in 2:3. Yet we find Job wanting to take God into court and put Him on trial!

"If [God] lets me speak, I can't believe He would listen to me. He sends storms to batter and bruise me, without any reason at all. ... He has filled my life with bitterness. Should I try force? Try force on God? Should I take Him to court? Who would make Him go? I am innocent and faithful, but ... everything I say seems to condemn me. I am innocent, but I no longer care. ... Innocent or guilty, God will destroy us. When an innocent man suddenly dies, God laughs. God gave the world to the wicked. He made all the judges blind. And if God didn't do it, who did?" (Good News Bible, 9:16-24). And that was "a blameless and upright man"??

More: "You know that I am not guilty, that no one can save me from You. Your hands formed and shaped me, and now those same hands destroy me. Remember that You made me from clay; are You going to crush me back to dust? ... You hunt me down like a lion; to hurt me You even work miracles. ... Why, God, did You let me be born? ... Leave me alone! Let me enjoy the time I have left" (Job 10:7-20). "A blameless and upright man"?

Yes! God said so; and Job wanted to take God to court for trial!! But that pleased God. (At the end, He again upheld Job, 42:7-9.) God loves to be taken into "court" so justice can be done! Job's problem was not that he had rebelled against God; he had rebelled against Satan--and that's what made God proud of him. Job just hadn't known who was who; it was a simple case of mistaken identity. He really wanted to haul Satan into court; his whole soul was enlisted in "the great controversy between Christ and Satan" and he was totally on God's side.

There are billions today in Job's shoes; they don't know who's who in "the great controversy." They await that message and that Voice from heaven when the earth will be "lightened with the glory" of "the everlasting gospel" at last made totally clear (Rev 18:1-4).

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: June 28, 2000.
Copyright © 2016 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: Good News for Backsliders

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Have you ever heard of a backslider? It's when you make a decision to accept Christ and start off in the Christian walk, and then you get tired, or forgetful, and you fall back toward the world again. Your old habits take over and you get discouraged, and you ask, "What's the use in trying to be a genuine Christian?" That's what it means to backslide, and the world is full of backsliders.

Then comes a revival meeting, or some crisis in your life, something that arouses your fear, and you start again. "Better get my life in shape," you say to yourself, "I may die any time!" But then again, you get tired and backslide.

But look at Philippians chapter 1, verse 6. If we understand what it says, backsliding is impossible. It's not "normal" in the Christian life. Christ did not die in order to let us backslide!

Here is what the verse says: "[I am] confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ." Who is doing the work? Christ! Does He ever backslide? No! Your salvation is not your work; you cannot save yourself. You need a Savior! And it is He who has initiated this work of changing your heart and giving you victory over your bad habits and reconciling your alienated heart to the Father.

All this wonderful work is what He started, not you. And He never backslides, never gets tired, never gives up what He started. You must understand that if you are saved at last, it will be because Christ has taken the initiative. If you are lost at last, it will be only because of your initiative.

Let the Lord save you! Don't resist Him. You must share Paul's confidence--that He who has begun a good work in you will carry it forward until Jesus returns.

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: 1994 Phone Message.
Copyright © 2016 by "Dial Daily Bread."