Daily Bread

Friday, October 11, 2013

How Does God Proclaim His Love?

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Have you ever heard of a husband who "loves" his wife and children but never tells them so, never demonstrates it? Let's say he defends himself: he provides food, clothing, rent; shouldn't they get the point? Why should he say, "I love you"? Or act like he does?

God says in the Bible that He "so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son" (John 3:16). And Paul seems to say that thoughtful people should get the message simply because through nature "God hath shewed it unto them, ... so that they are without excuse" (Rom. 1:19, 20). Is that enough? If God expects a loving husband to demonstrate his love and say so, shouldn't He also tell the world about His love? Is it enough for Him to allow "nature" (whatever that is!) to tell it and then in the Judgment Day say, "You 'are without excuse' if you didn't understand! Too bad for you!"? Have the people gotten the message of His love in devastating hurricanes, floods, and earthquakes? And billions in their hunger and poverty?

You will probably agree that God wants to tell the world about His love in a clearer way than through "nature," that is, He wants to tell them through the proclamation of the gospel. But that raises the question, Why doesn't He send literal angels to tell it? Why entrust the message of His love to His church, which is all too often sleepy, worldly, "lukewarm"?

Fact: "the world is dark with misapprehension of God." It needs to understand what His love means, what happened on the cross, what it cost the Son of God to "save the world." Doing "good works" is wonderful--that's the duty of all Christians. But the Red Cross is also doing those good works! (Thank God! there's plenty of room for more.) Shouldn't there be a church, a "body" of Christ that is "lighting the earth with glory" (Revelation 18) in proclaiming the cross so clearly that every candid soul can sense the motivation that the love of Christ "constrains" in us? Or should we fold our hands and expect "nature" or the "angels" to do it?

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: December 1, 1998.

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Robert J. Wieland's inspirational "Dial Daily Bread" messages are availalbe via e-mail to anyone who wishes to receive a daily portion of uplifting Good News. "Dial Daily Bread" is FREE. Due to travel or other circumstances, there may be intervals when "Dial Daily Bread" will not be sent.

Thursday, October 10, 2013

The Gospel--A "Self-propelled Vehicle"

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Before Robert Fulton's invention of the steamboat in 1803 and Stephenson's railway engine in 1825, vehicles had to be pulled by horses, mules, oxen, or donkeys--all of which needed to be whipped, kicked, or prodded into action, or shouted at. The world of that day marveled when it came time to see a self-propelled vehicle!

Is the gospel a self-propelled vehicle? Or does its proclamation and propagation depend on church members (and pastors!) constantly being prodded by church leaders into action? "Lay Activities" leaders in churches can testify: to get much done it takes constant "promotion" (the polite word for prodding, kicking, or whipping reluctant "livestock" into action). The zealous "promoter" gets some publicity for his enthusiasm, until finally "evangelism fatigue" sets in. Then a new leader must be found, and new programs, methods, and systems must be devised.

The New Testament letters of the apostles reveal a strange lack of such works "promotion." They chronicle amazing activity, but seldom if ever were believers prodded or whipped into action. Their zealous activity was simply assumed, it was natural. Their gospel was a "self-propelled vehicle." Why?

Their message had the power built-in. Nobody needed to be whipped into action. The motivating force was greater than that of a steam engine, for the power was implicit in the News about the sacrifice of the Son of God. He burst upon everyone's consciousness as "the Lamb of God," a blood-sacrifice offered by God. Examples: "I determined to know nothing among you save Jesus Christ and Him crucified." "God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ." "Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world." "He is the propitiation ... for the sins of the whole world," etc. The power is not magic, certainly not mysteriously impossible for our day. The internal-combustion "engine" was the agape of Christ, which "constrained" them (2 Cor. 5:14, 15).

The Book of Revelation predicts that again such a self-propelling gospel will "lighten the earth with glory" (Rev. 18:1-4). And again the central Character of interest will be "the Lamb of God"--mentioned more than twenty-five times in that Book alone. Does anybody "hunger and thirst" to understand the News more clearly?

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: January 4, 1999.

Wednesday, October 09, 2013

Absalom and the Oak Tree

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Have you ever wondered why Joab (the general of King David's army) never hesitated a moment to kill the rebel Absalom when he saw him caught in an oak tree? (2 Sam. 18:9). Joab did not call a council of the other generals, nor ask advice of anyone. The moment he saw Absalom in that tree, he made a split-second decision that this man doesn't deserve life in prison or exile; he deserves death. Hence the three arrows through Absalom's heart (vs. 14). King David had begged him not to harm his son, but no matter. Joab knew his duty.

I asked a group of children if they could tell me why Joab did that. "He hated him." "He didn't want Absalom to become king." "He acted hastily." No one had the real answer.

It's found in Deuteronomy 21:22, 23--a law of Moses. "He who is hanged is accursed of God." Paul understood it clearly: "Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree" (Gal. 3:13). Everybody believed it.

So when Joab saw Absalom swinging in that oak tree helpless, he knew that he was witnessing a judgment of God, not only on Absalom's political rebellion against the crown, but on himself. He had continually and persistently resisted every conviction of the Holy Spirit. He had done what Jesus called the "sin against the Holy Spirit."

I asked the children if they knew of anyone else who was "cursed of God." One little boy said, "Yes, Jesus!" That's what made His death so terrible. It was more than the physical pain of the wounds. It was the descent into the never-ending horror of eternal separation from God. It was the second death, which you and I would otherwise have had to experience.

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: October 29, 2002.

Tuesday, October 08, 2013

What Will Mark the End of Christ's High Priestly Ministry?

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

The Day of Pentecost marked the glorious beginning of the proclamation of Christ's life, death, and resurrection, and the inauguration of His High Priestly ministry. Paul says the message went to all the world in that first generation of Christ's followers (see Col. 1:6; 1 Thess. 1:8).

What will now mark the ending of that ministry? If the proclamation of the message marked its beginning, it is reasonable to conclude that again the proclamation of the message will mark its ending.

Since all the time prophecies of both Daniel and the Revelation have already been fulfilled, we are living in Daniel's "time of the end" when we can see that the final proclamation of the saving message is due now. Jesus said that just before the "end," "this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations" (Matt. 24:14). The word "witness" means that not everyone is going to believe the message, but God will see to it that everyone has had the completely fair opportunity to hear and respond to the life-or-death message.

The message says "the hour of His judgment is come" (Rev. 14:7), that is, the "hour" of the great Day of Atonement which was prefigured in the Hebrew annual "cleansing of the sanctuary" (Dan. 8:14; Lev. 16). Life today is more solemn than ever in the past.

Revelation says that the proclamation of "the hour of His judgment is come" will grow to "lighten the earth with glory" (18:1-4). It's due now--to penetrate Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, all Christian faiths; taking part in that great movement will make life worth living!

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: October 8, 2005.

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Robert J. Wieland's inspirational "Dial Daily Bread" messages are availalbe via e-mail to anyone who wishes to receive a daily portion of uplifting Good News. "Dial Daily Bread" is FREE. Due to travel or other circumstances, there may be intervals when "Dial Daily Bread" will not be sent.

Monday, October 07, 2013

Spiritual Discouragement--Jesus Clears It Away

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

A haze of confusion perplexed the minds of the Jews in the days of Christ. Their man-made ideas were contradictory and created only spiritual discouragement in the minds of the common people. Jesus cleared it away.

Today there are also man-made ideas which create confusion in the minds of sincere people. They wonder if the time will ever come when God's people can be united in faith and can speak to the world with one voice. Jesus made a promise that's encouraging: "Every plant which My heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted" (Matt. 15:13). All false ideas will be "uprooted." Oh what a joy that will be--when all of the ministers, teachers, leaders, and theologians see the truth alike in sunlit clarity!

If you are perplexed today as to what you can believe out of all the conflicting confusion, take heart. Jesus made another promise that is 100 percent true (sincere Jews were perplexed as to whether this upstart young Rabbi from Galilee was right, or whether the venerable elders from the headquarters offices were right): "If anyone wants to do His will [the Father's], he shall know concerning the doctrine, whether it is from God or whether I speak on My own authority" (John 7:17). If the common people would follow the leading of the Holy Spirit, saying a willing "amen" to each new ray of light flashed upon their pathway, their thinking would become clear. And there you have the Light flashing on your pathway today!

Then another wonderful promise of Jesus will be fulfilled: "I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own. ... And other sheep I have which are not of this fold [untold numbers still in "Babylon"]; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd" (John 10:14, 16). No one will get the "bighead" on top of everyone else. It'll be a little heaven on earth for God's people.

Come, today; and be a part of Christ's solution, not a part of His problem. Get in full unity with His truth, and you'll be one with Him.

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: February 25, 2004.

Thursday, October 03, 2013

Is Paul's All-Out Devotion Possible for Us?

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Have you ever marveled at the devotion and self-sacrifice we see in the life of the apostle Paul? He said, "For me to live is Christ" (Phil. 1:21). But he was not a fanatic and he was not a masochist; he loved life as much as anybody, but still he rejoiced that he was permitted to suffer for the sake of Christ who had suffered so much for him. On and on he went through life, scorning retirement, motivated by the love [agape] of Christ in his ministry to people, finally laying his head down on the block while the Roman soldier severed it.

Has Paul earned a first class ticket to heaven while the rest of us must be content with third class passage (if we get there!)? Will he enjoy a mansion in the earth made new while we will be content with a shack if we can squeeze through the pearly gates, or maybe just sleep on the grass? Is the all-out devotion such as Paul's possible for us whose lot is cast in the First World's economy of comfort and for many, luxury? It's not our fault we are heirs to the life-style we enjoy! In the final Judgment, will we step shamefully aside while Paul gets his very special reward? Or is his devotion possible for us?

In these last days it will be repeated in that mystic number of "144,000" of Revelation 14:1-5, who "follow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth." It wasn't some special trait of character in Paul; he was a selfish sinner like we are, by nature. He simply saw something we have not as yet clearly seen: Jesus poured out His life (precious to Him as it can be to us!), "poured out His soul unto death" (Isa. 53:12)--the second death. Paul was able to "comprehend" what we haven't yet clearly seen--"the breadth, and length, and depth, and height" of this "love [agape] of Christ which passeth knowledge" (Eph. 3:18, 19).

God will see to it that we "comprehend" it; will you welcome the revelation?

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: September 19, 2005.

Wednesday, October 02, 2013

A Mystery Unraveled

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

A mystery comes unraveled as we compare Hebrews with Exodus. The problem has been to find out what God actually said to Israel when they were at Mount Sinai in Exodus 19. The scholars have wrestled over this for centuries. Now it comes clear, with the help of that New Testament book.

In that confrontation just before God wrote the Ten Commandments on stone, He made a generous proposition to His people. But the King James Version makes it sound like He told them, "If you will first get a perfect record in obedience to all My commandments, then I'll bless you." And of course, the people wanted that blessing, so they promised, "All that the Lord hath spoken we will do" (vss. 4-8). The bottom line idea that many have had is that the Lord Himself was to blame for starting the Old Covenant with all the misery and ruin it brought on ancient Israel.

But investigation reveals that God had nothing to do with forming the Old Covenant. It was the people's idea 100 percent. The mysterious word translated "obey" in verse 5 is shamea in the original language, but it doesn't mean "obey" as its primary meaning. It means, "listen to My voice" (the word "voice" gives it away, so "we" should have seen this centuries ago).

Here's where the New Testament book of Hebrews comes in to help us. We see where and why the Old Covenant was a failure from the word go: "the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it" (4:2). It was useless hearing, without faith "mixed in"!

This insight makes the Hebrew verb shamea in Exodus 19 come alive: what God proposed to Israel at Sinai was, "If you will listen to My voice and not at the same time brace yourselves against what I am saying, if you will listen with faith 'mixed in' with your listening, I promise you that you will be the most wonderful people on earth, etc., etc."

Thus it is clear that what the Lord was wanting to do at Mount Sinai was to renew to Israel the same NEW Covenant He had promised to Abraham! He listened to God's "voice" with faith "mixed in." The legalism problem was all Israel's fault from beginning to end.

And the Good News to us is this: if we are struggling with sin and selfishness (who isn't?), the remedy is to LISTEN to what the Lord says and stop at the same time resisting what He says. Listen with faith. Listen and believe. Then will come all the obedience we're so concerned about.

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: May 7, 2003.

Monday, September 30, 2013

Sabbath School quarterly on "The Sanctuary,"

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

For those of you studying the new Sabbath School quarterly on "The Sanctuary," we would like to invite you to subscribe to "Sabbath School Today," weekly essays on the lessons which may be received via e-mail. Some of the lesson essays will be prepared from the writings of Robert J. Wieland, author of "Dial Daily Bread."

To begin a new subscription please send us an e-mail with the words "Subscribe SST" in the body of the e-mail or in the heading. If you are already receiving "Sabbath School Today" there is no need to resubscribe; your subscription will continue.

Obedience From the Heart

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

We don't know who it was but somebody once asked Jesus the really hard question: "Lord, are there few who are saved?" He gave an honest answer: "Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I say to you, will seek to enter and will not be able." He will at last be forced to inform the "many," "I tell you I do not know you, where you are from. … There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." In the last judgment they will argue with Him vociferously, "We ate and drank in your presence, and You taught in our streets" (Luke 13:23, 24, 27, 28). Sorry, He says; "I do not know you." "Few are chosen," "the laborers are few," etc. (Matt. 9:37; 22:14).

But wait a moment; get the full picture. The "144,000" of Revelation 7:1-4 seems like a tiny number from earth's billions, yet when John views them through a zoom lens they turn out to be "a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, ... clothed with white robes" (vs. 9). "In their mouth was found no guile [falsehood]" (14:5).

The Good News Bible (Today's English Version) says "they have never been known to tell lies." Their being "without fault" in the judgment does not mean they never have sinned; they are a pretty sorry lot down at the end of the sinful human race where "the love [agape] of many [has grown] cold" (Matt. 24:12), but they have been "justified by faith." That means, like Abraham, sinful as he was, when he "believed" his faith was "counted to him for righteousness" (Rom. 4:3) and he stood before the throne as though he had never sinned! The sins of those who believe are cast into the ocean deeper than the Titanic and can never be retrieved.

Don't worry whether you are one of the "few" or "many." Thank the Father that His Son whom He "gave" died yoursecond death, and rejoice every moment of your life from now on. You will then obey from the heart!

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: January 21, 2006.

Friday, September 27, 2013

The Voice That Embraced Humanity

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

To whom did Jesus preach His Sermon on the Mount--to His disciples or to the multitude?

Some say that God is NOT the Father of "all humanity" but only of those who are converted. All the rest are children of the devil. But Matthew 5:1 says that when Jesus saw "the multitudes, He went up into a mountain" and preached, about "your Father which is in heaven," and "after this manner pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven," etc. (chapters 6, 7).

The Muslim is told that he must make himself pure before he can come to Allah. But Jesus says, Come, and I will make you pure. He became one of us so that He might invite us to regard His Father as our Father. True, there are many who are unconverted; but why ...? Is it because they have finally, irrevocably, determinedly rejected Christ, or for many is it because they have never understood the gospel? Are they wolves, or could they be lost sheep who haven't been "found" yet?

We know that Jesus said, "Other sheep I have which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear My voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd" (John 10:16). In those words He describes the soul-winning work of that fourth angel who "comes down from heaven, having great power; and the earth [is] lightened with his glory" (Rev. 18:1-4). That "voice" will call to those "lost sheep," "Come out of [Babylon], My people, ... that ye receive not of her plagues."

A wise writer says that when Jesus was baptized and a voice was heard from heaven declaring, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased," that Voice embraced humanity (Matt. 3:17, The Desire of Ages, p. 113). If you have felt like you are an orphan outside the "family," please accept the Good News: The Father has "adopted" you "in Christ" (Eph. 1:5, 6), and He invites you to pray, "Our Father ..." You are as precious as that discouraged five-times-loser at Jacob's well when Jesus told her, "True worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship Him" (John 4:23).

Yes, He is seeking YOU! Come.

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: December 6, 1998.

Thursday, September 26, 2013

Another Opportunity for Repentance

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

We don't have to wait until the Last Day for judgment; it's a do-it-ourselves project, today. Jesus made it plain in John 3:18: "He that believeth not is condemned [judged] already, because he hath not believed .. " Not "will someday be condemned," but "is condemned already." And the previous verse, to the consternation of many church people, makes clear that it's not a vengeful Christ who condemns the lost, "for God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved." And He enlarges on this assurance in chapter 12, verses 47 and 48: "If anyone hear my words and believe not, I judge [condemn, Greek] him not: for I came not to judge [condemn] the world, but to save the world."

How then is the one who rejects the Gospel "condemned" or judged? The next verse explains: "He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day." The "word" is the gospel of what it cost the Son of God to "save" us; and the unbeliever performs his own do-it-yourself judgment by recording in his own soul his responsibility for "receiving not" [rejecting] that "word" of the Good News. When the woman taken in adultery faced her accusers, Jesus made no accusatory tirade against them. Each who looked in His eyes slunk away self-condemned, a preview of the final judgment (8:9).

Some will say, "No, in the parables of the sheep/goats and talents/pounds, Jesus harshly berates the down-and-outers" (Matt. 25:26-30, 41-43). But Revelation 14:10 explains the apparent self-contradiction: before the world and the universe, the lost will be forced to look into the eyes of "the Lamb of God" whom they have persistently "crucified to themselves afresh, and put to an open shame" (Heb 6:6). They will be forced to see their part in the crucifixion and re-crucifixion of the Son of God. Fire and brimstone will feel great compared to that agony.

Do you have a new day? Thank God for it. It's another opportunity for repentance.

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: January 14, 1999.

Wednesday, September 25, 2013

Something Jesus Said That's Difficult to Believe

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Jesus said something He obviously wants us to believe, but of all the things He said, this seems the most difficult to believe: "My yoke is easy, and My burden is light" (Matt. 11:30). Everyone who has been serious about following Jesus has discovered that "in the world ye shall have tribulation" (John 16:33). It's also painfully true that "the world hath hated them [those who believe in Jesus], because they are not of the world, even as I [Jesus] am not of the world" (17:14).

The problem is that there are "children of light" in the world, and there are "children of disobedience" or "children of wrath" who instinctively feel toward the "children of light" as the world felt toward Jesus. "If they have persecuted Me, they will persecute you," He says.

But you and I cannot be sure who is who! When Stephen was being stoned, he would naturally have thought that Saul of Tarsus (holding the coats of those throwing stones to kill him) was a "child of the devil" like the others (Acts 7:59-8:1). But Steven's Christlike spirit witnessed to Saul, and that man "consenting unto his death" became wonderfully converted to Christ. (Imagine how Stephen will feel in the first resurrection when he meets the apostle!)

So Jesus encourages us to cherish hope in our hearts toward those who "despitefully use you," and to pray for them (Matt. 5:44). Even our "tribulation" then becomes the joyful experience of soul-winning! As we endure our pain, we are buoyed up by the constant hope that "our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory" (2 Cor. 4:17) just as Stephen's stoning-affliction has "worked" for him. We actually learn to know by experience what it means to identify with Jesus when He said, "In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world" (John 16:33).

"In Him" we too "overcome the world." Joy fills our hearts. The unthinkable becomes real, and wonder of wonders, we selfish, worldly people ourselves (that's what we all are by nature) discover that we can actually pray for those who harm us. Miracle!

And then we're on top forever after, for "we walk in the light, as He is in the light, [and] we have fellowship one with another" (1 John 1:7). We are never left alone.

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: May 10, 2002.

Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Mary's Soul-Bursting Joy

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Imagine the joy you would feel if you were saved from death either by drowning, or illness, or an accident; you are ever after elated. Can you even begin to imagine the infinitely greater joy you would feel if you could realize you have been saved from what the Bible calls "the second death"?

When old Simeon "blessed" Mary the mother of Baby Jesus in the Temple, he told her that "a sword shall pierce through thy own soul" (Luke 2:34, 35). The word he used was the Greek one for Goliath's enormous sword, thus describing the pain that she would know at the crucifixion of her Son.

Probably no other human has felt quite the extent of that pain: she knew that His conception and birth were that of a virgin; she knew the angel had announced it all to her; she knew His righteous, loving character as no one else could know; and yet now He is stripped naked, crucified like a common criminal before her eyes. Greater than her concern for her own salvation was the anxiety she felt for the world and the very universe of God--is the plan of salvation a failure? Is the great controversy lost? How she agonized! Has any other human been so stricken with any "sword" that pierces the "soul"?

She must have been in such pain through the long weekend Jesus lay in His tomb. Now imagine her soul-bursting joy when He is risen! That is the same joy God wants us to know. But we must not remain infants spiritually: we must grow up "unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ" (Eph. 4:13), so our heart can be stretched outsize enough to savor what has happened, to appreciate what He has done for us.

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: February 27, 2005.

Monday, September 23, 2013

Why Do People Who Love Truth Feel Motivated to Tell It?

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Abel told his brother Cain the truth in kind, loving words; the latter rose up and murdered him. For six millennia (and more), unnumbered Abels have told unnumbered Cains the truth in the same kind, loving words, and have been hated for it. For nearly 1260 years of the Dark Ages, millions of Christians who loved truth were persecuted by millions more professed Christians who were Cain redivivus.

Why do people who love truth feel motivated to tell it? The Holy Spirit impels those who love truth to "cry aloud, spare not, ... and shew [God's true] people their transgression, and ... their sins" (Isa. 58:1). Until now, those who thus respond to the Spirit are resented. And we are all either Abels or Cains at heart.

Imagine yourself in Jerusalem in the mid-first century A.D. The most "spiritual" members of your "church" are "the devout and honourable women," the "good works" people (history says they gave pain killers to the crucified wretches, works of motherly kindness). But they oppose Paul's preaching about their "despised and rejected" Messiah and "expel" him (Acts 13:49, 50). Paul proclaims Christ with kind, loving words, tears in his voice, but he can't help bringing in "Christ and Him crucified."

Would you in sanctified common sense tell him, "Say less on that disturbing aspect of our message and tell it to these 'devout and honourable' people in a more palatable way. Paul, be a little more 'serpent-wise, but harmless as a dove.' Maybe you could win more that way; the cross is offensive. Why make these 'devout' ones so uncomfortable?" Would you?

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: February 11, 2005.

Sunday, September 22, 2013

Have You Ever Lost Your Temper?

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Have you ever lost your temper in a momentary trial of your patience? Well, poor Moses did. And it wasn't when he was a young man. The tragic mistake came in his old age. Now Moses may not have felt "old age" like people do today for we read that at the time of his death at the age of 120 "his eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated" (Deut. 34:7).

But it was at the end, not the beginning, of Israel's 40 years of wandering for their unbelief that Moses' patience gave way. Maybe his physical and mental stamina was a bit weakened by then. The "straw that broke the camel's back" in his case was the cynical cry of the rebellious people, blaming him for lack of water. "Listen, you rebels!" he cried out. "Must we fetch you water out of this rock?" (Num. 20:10). Then in his fit of temper, he struck the rock twice with his rod instead of once, thus destroying the accuracy of the ceremony which symbolized the death of Christ.

What Moses had done was to teach that Christ must die twice for the sins of the world, and he took to himself (Moses did) the glory for producing water out of a dry rock. God loved Moses; the man was very special. But his public sin of losing his temper made it impossible for Moses to lead Israel at last into their Promised Land. "Because ye believed me not, ... ye shall not bring this congregation into the land which I have given them" (vss. 10-12).

It's not only old people, but young people too have this same test of impatience. It seems severe for the Lord to sentence Moses to die for such an apparently "innocent" sin of momentary impatience. But Moses must be a teacher for succeeding generations as well; no matter how high we have been in the favor of God, a sin of impatience is serious. But the root of their sin was not merely being angry (even God sometimes is angry, and several times Moses experienced "righteous indignation"). The problem, said the Lord, was Moses' unbelief. "Because ye believed Me not, to sanctify Me in the eyes of the children of Israel, ..." the Lord said to both Moses and Aaron.

It is impossible for you and me to lose our temper so long as we believe the word of the Lord! Whatever the trial that tempts you to impatience, a choice to believe the promises of God will every time deliver you from sin.

--Robert J. Wieland

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

Saturday, September 21, 2013

Joy That's Free, Just for the Believing

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Have you learned to appreciate, to enjoy, to welcome, the holy Sabbath day each week? If so, you have also begun to appreciate the Lord Jesus Christ, because His presence is in the holy Sabbath. And that's Good News! To love the Sabbath, not only because it is a day of physical rest from the week's hard work and stress, but because--well, let's look at a beautiful hymn that crystallizes the joy of the Sabbath: "O day of rest and gladness, O day of joy and light." Yes, one day in the hectic week of cares, of pure joy!

"O balm of care and sadness, most beautiful most bright." Here we have a metaphor--the Sabbath is like soothing ointment for a wound. "Thou art a port protected from storms that round us rise." Have you ever been in a wild storm at sea with the ship tossing dangerously, and then felt the unutterable joy of gliding into a quiet harbor? "Thou art ... a garden intersected with streams of paradise," says the poet Christopher Wordsworth, further. And then, "Thou art a cooling fountain in life's dry, dreary sand; [and] from thee, like Pisgah's mountain, we view our promised land."

That's a reference to the lofty top of what is also spoken of in the Bible as Mt. Nebo, where the Lord led Moses to view the glories of the Promised Land before he went to sleep in the arms of God. From Mt. Pisgah today you can see far south to the Dead Sea as far as En-geddi, to the north as far as the snow-covered peak of Mt. Hermon, and to the west to encompass what was in Moses' day the land the Lord gave to Israel. And so, on each holy Sabbath day it is yours and my privilege to catch a glimpse of brighter scenes to come, another poet says, to feel the thrill deep in our souls of a joyous eternal life "in Christ" our Life-giver.

Don't miss out on this joy; it's free, just for the believing. "Remember" it all through the week!

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: March 29, 1998.

Thursday, September 19, 2013

An Alternative to Being "Under the Law"

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

A man wrote of his experience as a youth when he would read the Bible every day simply because he enjoyed it. He had a Good News Bible, and was attracted to it. Then he went away to college and got in with a group of earnest-minded people who emphasized discipline. "Have you had your 'quiet time' with the Lord?" they would ask him frequently. "Are you maintaining your devotions?"

He got so he dreaded to hear the questions. Now, reading the Bible and praying had passed from a pleasant experience to a burden, an obligation imposed upon him with dreaded consequences if he slipped up. Now his "Christian" experience had become a list of "shoulds": you "should" pray more, you "should" read your Bible more, you "should" do this or do that more.

What happened? He tried to think it through and concluded that he was in the spiritual condition that Paul describes as "under the law" (Rom. 6:14, 15). He was trying to do all the right things for the wrong reason. The joy was gone.

The "world" is much with us; we are enmeshed in countless activities and it seems the busy days fly by and we drop exhausted into bed at night and remember, "Oh, I forgot to pray, or I forgot to read my Bible, today! Now what's going to happen to me?!" That's what it's like to be "under the law," under the gun, if you please.

Yes, you're busy; but when you drop into bed at night do you suddenly reproach yourself, "Oh, I forgot to eat breakfast this morning! I've been too busy to eat lunch! And there was no time to eat supper! And I haven't even had a snack for a week!"? I doubt it; you have a built-in device called "hunger" that pretty well makes that impossible, at least for very long.

There's an alternative to being "under the law"--being "under grace" (6:14), under a new motivation imposed upon you by a heart-appreciation of God's loving and His giving that you might not "perish" (John 3:16). And THAT produces a "hunger and thirst for righteousness" that simply will NOT go unsatisfied for long! (Matt. 5:6).

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: August 27, 1998.