Dial Daily Bread

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread":

The word “stress” appears nowhere in the Bible. Does that mean that God never foresaw the No. 1 problem that modern human beings have to contend with? No, for the idea of stress permeates the Bible and it is full of remedies for it.

#1 is the invitation of the Son of God who says, “Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy-laden, and I will give you rest” (Matt. 11:28). Being “heavy-laden” is the precise idea of stress as we know it! But how do we “come” to Him? The very problem itself of our weariness and unending pressures so distracts us that we are so jittery that we cannot “come” to Him—so we feel. And the pressure becomes so bad that we crack.

Now the Bible suggests a way of relief:

(a) We have to eat or we would die of starvation. But we don’t usually have to eat as much as we do; skip a meal and devote that time to “coming to Him.” Yes, that does make sense: we are invited to “fast and pray” when we face difficult problems. Does it take you 30 minutes to eat? Devote 30 minutes on your knees and talk to the Divine Psychiatrist, the Savior whose full-time job is doing what He promised—giving you “rest.”

(b) You have to take some time to sleep; turn off your computer and TV and go to bed early; then get up in the morning early and devote another 30 minutes to “coming to Him.” Psalm 27:8 has a precious insight into what happens behind the scenes: “When You said, ‘Seek My face,’ my heart said to you, ‘Your face, Lord, I will seek.’” This dialogue between the Lord and you is going on; it’s for real. He is knocking on your door.

Remedy # 2 is the holy Sabbath day. For 6000 years the Lord has known that six days of stress is all that any human can endure at any time; the seventh day is permeated with His presence; in the beginning He made that day “holy.” You don’t make the Sabbath holy, He did; your job is only to “keep it holy.” And the rest from stress that is in the holy Sabbath day is diffused throughout the busy week, because for the “six working days” (Ezek. 46:1) we “remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy” (Ex. 20:8). That very remembrance itself brings a renewed promise of “rest” that soothes our frayed nerves throughout the week.

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Dial Daily Bread

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread":

Has there been some mystery in your life that has always perplexed you? Like the untimely loss and death of a loved one; of the crushing disappointment of a love lost, or betrayed, that you had hoped would lead to a happy marriage?

When Jesus told us how to pray (to “our Father which art in heaven”), He told us of the only way we can find peace and reconciliation with God after such bitter disappointment.

Our heavenly Father is infinite; at first thought, this truth may tempt us to wonder if the comfort He can give us is real and effective; how can it be if the Father is an infinite being?

Don’t forget that He was also the “our Father which art in heaven” to Jesus during His 33-1/2 years of sojourn with us in this human life. Whatever the Father was to Jesus, He is the same to us. His being infinite does not in the least lessen the personal attention He gives to us each one.

Take for example, the way that the Father in heaven manifested Himself to Jesus (as a teenager?) when He awakened Him from sleep early in the mornings.

The story is in Isaiah 50:4, 5: “The Lord God hath give Me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to him that is weary: He wakeneth morning by morning, He wakeneth Mine ear to hear as the learned.”

As a Teenager or as a Youth (Jesus was a Youth all His life among us here!), He loved to sleep in each morning; teens are proverbially difficult to awaken in the morning!

But the heavenly Father (the same as your Heavenly Father!) persisted in waking Jesus up to start each new day.

Jesus had to go to school! He had to learn how to “speak a word in season” to the weary crowds, or to the solitary inquirer like Nicodemus who “came to Jesus by night” long after office doors should be closed! (John 3:2, 3). Those early morning awakenings and “schoolings” taught Jesus the wisdom He needed so desperately, which is why He said, “I can of Mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge; ... because I seek not Mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent Me” (5:30).

That same “our Father which art in heaven” will awaken us and teach us, day by day!

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Dial Daily Bread

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread":

It’s a joy to pray to “our Father which art in heaven”:

(a) The tender memories enter in of what a father should be to a child.

(b) Even if your earthly father was not what he should be, the Holy Spirit works overtime to bring that emotional sense.

(c) You know that the heavenly Father is infinite; which means, his phone is never off the hook.

(d) He has time to listen to you, patiently.

(e) You don’t need to think you must share Him with others; He is all yours, forever!

(f) He sees if a little sparrow falls on the forest floor (Matt. 10:29); therefore think how much more He cares about YOU, and the problems you are having.

(g) Your heavenly Father is especially described as One who “seeth in secret (Matt. 6:4).

(h) This is emphasized by the command to “enter into thy closet, and ... shut thy door”(vs. 6). Jesus couldn’t make His assurance of confidentiality plainer!

(i) The promise that the One who “seeth in secret” will “reward thee openly” must mean that He acts on every sincere prayer you offer to Him “in secret.”

(j) You and He will have secrets to share between you and Him! He invites your intimacy.

(k) You will hold your head high forever after; no great social leader from the world’s highest families will have an edge on you!

(l) Adopted into the “family of God,” you already live in what is in reality a “mansion.”

(m) The Father “has made us accepted in the Beloved,” and has adopted us (Eph. 1:5, 6).

(n) You are actually living with your heavenly Father; He resides with you,—yes! Now remember that: your housemates may not cherish your faith, but you are living “in secret” with your heavenly Father. You and He have a secret life.

(o) “Abide in Me, and I in you,” says Jesus in John 15:4. The Father and the Son are One. One’s promise is the same as the other’s.

(p) Paul says that the Father “was [is] in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation” (2 Cor. 5:19). This is the “in secret” job that you share with your Father; from now on you and He work together “in secret.”

(q) You feel like you have failed? Talk all about it “in secret” with your heavenly Father; oh joy! He hears you and He saves you! He will “in no wise cast you out” (see John 6:37).

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Dial Daily Bread

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread":

The Samaritans were right—Jesus has saved the world. “They said to the woman, ‘Now we believe, not because of what you said, for we have heard for ourselves and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world’” (John 4:42). But they were not believing the falsehood of Universalism—the false doctrine that everybody will eventually be saved. They knew that “all men” will not open their hearts to receive Him. Those who reject Jesus reject a real flesh-and-blood Savior, not merely a potential, maybe, perhaps, “would-like-to-be” Savior.

Yet how can it be that Jesus is “the Savior of the world” and yet most people do not receive Him?

There will come a “Great White Throne” at the end of the 1000 years of Revelation 20, before which will be gathered all the lost souls from all time; they will be facing what the Bible calls “the second death,” the death from final judgment (Rev. 20:11-15). The great book of record will be opened; every lost person will see his own life-record, his heart opened fully to his own view and the view of the universe in judgment; it will be realistic. They will all at last see everything as it really has been.

At last they will see that the sin they have life-long selfishly indulged is in reality a re-crucifixion of Christ. The One who sits on the throne is the Savior Himself; each one of the lost will look in His eyes and realize too late that He was always their Best Friend, and yet their sin they clung to was the same as that of those who 2000years ago cried out: “Crucify Him!”

A wise writer says that the lost will at that time “welcome destruction” that they might be hidden from His face (The Great Controversy, p. 543).

How much better will it be if we realize that truth today, when we can do something about it?

You and I may try to evade the truth and say, we could never do that! But don’t let yourself be proud; wait on your knees, alone with the Father, in prayer; ask Him to please tell you the truth about yourself. Let me assure you—He will NEVER discourage you, or condemn you! He will tell the truth, yes, but at the same time the truth will include the conviction of the Saviour’s love (agape), the love that died your “second death.” “We see Jesus ... crowned with glory and honour; that He by the grace of God should taste death for every man” (Heb. 2:9); that was the second death, and “every man” is you.

People who want to be saved eternally appreciate what He did; the lost do not, like Esau who “despised” and “sold” his birthright (Gen. 25:33, 34; Heb. 12:17).

He never stopped crying thereafter.

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Dial Daily Bread

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread":

When Jesus gave us permission to address His Father as “our Father which art in heaven,” He gave us complete confidentiality with Him.

He emphasized secrecy (Matt. 6:1-15):

(a) We are not to make our acts or gifts of worship to be “seen of men”

(b) We are not to seek “glory of men.”

(c) We are not to let our left hand know what our right hand does—here again is ultimate secrecy.

(d) Thy “ Father ... seeth in secret.”

(e) When we pray to Him, we are to “enter into thy closet, ... shut thy door, [and] pray to thy Father which is in secret.”

(f) Then “thy Father which seeth in secret ... shall reward thee openly.”

The word “Father” brings up the most tender memories of our childhood, yes, babyhood. The first syllable we could utter as a baby was “ba”—which became our “Ba-ba.”

We revered our earthly father; as children he stood to us in the place of God. Yes, his task was to reveal the heavenly Father to us, and to interpret to us aright His love, His fidelity.

This is the idea in Romans 8 where we read, “Ye have not received the spirit of bondage ... to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Ab-ba, Father” (vs .15).

Our first cry as a baby is not “abba, Father,” but “abba, father.” We don’t know yet to cry to God; our earthly father interprets God to us.

If he is a God-reverencing person, kind, unselfish, loving, then he is interpreting the love (agape) of the heavenly Father to us. Rejoice and be exceeding glad; you are very fortunate.

Sometimes an earthly father does not know how to interpret to the child the love (agape) of the heavenly Father. In those cases it can become emotionally difficult for the person to learn to be happy “in Christ;” but don’t turn away, never, not for a moment. Let the heavenly Father intervene: He is much, much greater than your earthly father; His influence in your life is out of all bounds far greater than the influence your earthly father was to you; yes, let Him into your life.

Share with Him alone (that’s what it means that Jesus said, “shut your door to your closet”), open your heart with all your shame and guilt. Your heavenly “Father seeth in secret.” He alone is your true “Father-Confessor.” Pour it all out to Him “in secret;” He will reward thee “openly,” that is, with full salvation, healing, in Christ.

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Dial Daily Bread

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread":

Can we lowly, unworthy mortals do anything that can have an effect on the Lord, the Ruler of the universe, to make Him happy or unhappy?

We read that when King David, the anointed ruler of God’s people Israel had committed a double crime of adultery and then murder to cover it up, that “the thing that David had done displeased the Lord” (2 Sam. 11:27).

When we read the entire story we see how the displeasure of the Lord was realized in the terrible disasters that befell David’s house; not that God did them all directly, but He was forced to withdraw His former blessings on David.

But the fact that God was “displeased” with David did not mean that now God hated him or cursed him forever. David had plenty of troubles thereafter, but the Lord still loved the poor sinner.

David’s two penitential psalms make clear that he knew that he had come within a tiny fraction of losing his soul forever: “Take not Thy Holy Spirit from me,” David pleads with anguished tears (Psalm 51:11). Also, David’s 32 is the prayer that every one of us sinners can pray over and over again when we remember that a wise writer has said that the books of heaven record the sins that we would commit if we had had the opportunity.

That means that it is our privilege to pray the Lord to forgive that long, long list of sins that we would have committed if we had had the opportunity! That is “corporate repentance,” repenting of sins that we may not have actually done in the flesh but which we would have done if the Lord had not held us by the hand and kept us from diving into that deep, bottomless hole (cf. Prov. 22:14).

No matter how you or any of us looks back onto his life, we can humbly thank the Savior that He has held us by the hand in times of peril. For myself, I look back to my teenage years and just humbly thank the Lord for saving me from utter ruin. I could never have become a minister of the gospel if He had not saved me. I think over and over of Isaiah 54:17: “This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of Me, saith the Lord.”Yes! Whatever “righteousness” there ever was at any time, it was “of the Lord”! Just the mercy and much more abounding grace of the Lord Jesus (cf. Rom. 5:20).

Eternity will not be long enough for me to praise Him!

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Dial Daily Bread

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread":

What do you suppose was the greatest temptation Jesus had to face? You know of course He was tempted—the Bible says “in all points like as we are.”

His temptations were real—they bored in to His inmost soul. Well, the greatest temptation He had to face was the temptation to doubt who He was. And if the truth were known, that’s the greatest temptation you have to face also—to doubt who you are.

For example, think back to Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness after His baptism. Three times the wily old enemy, Satan, zeroed in on Him at the deepest core of His being—”if Thou be the Son of God,” command these stones to be bread; “if Thou be the Son of God,” do a hang-glide from the top of the temple tower; “if Thou be the Son of God,” claim the empires of the world as Yours and I’ll give them to You, for they are mine, the devil said; just play ball with me, be reasonable, let’s cooperate. Do you think that was a temptation? “If You are who You think You are”—You have delusions of grandeur like a mental patient who thinks he is Napoleon. Yes, Jesus gained a victory then, but remember that the enemy came back again and again on this point of doubting His real identity as the Son of God.

Finally, at the very end, something happened that helped to crystallize it all in Jesus’ mind and heart when Mary washed His feet with tears. He realized that He was the only person in all of world history to be so honored; no one, not even Alexander the Great, had ever had his feet washed with human tears. Yes, Jesus realized, He was the King of kings and Lord of lords. Now He was ready for John 13. At that last supper, He got up, stretched Himself to His full height, laid aside His expensive robe, and knowing fully that He had come from God and went to God, He humbled Himself to wash His disciples’ feet. He could not have done that until He had known for sure, and felt for sure, who He was. He could never have faced the cross until He had that assurance; and even on the cross that last temptation was flung at Him—“if Thou be the Son of God come down from the cross”!

Who are you? Do you know? You cannot be truly humble until you realize your true identity in Christ, redeemed by His blood.

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Dial Daily Bread

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread":

Have you ever been close to losing your life, either from sickness or
an accident? And you have realized that your life has been an
undeserved bonus?

The faith of Jesus in God’s plan of justification teaches that lesson

in its truest dimension: “The love [agape] of Christ constrains us;
because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died” (2
Cor.
5:14). It’s so obvious that you wonder you didn’t see it long ago:

(1) Christ died for the world, for everyone (1 Cor. 15:3). That’s
true.

(2) It’s equivalent to saying that if He had not “died for all,”
then
all would themselves have had to die.

(3) In other words, death would have been the inevitable end of
everyone, “all,” because “the wages of sin is death” (Rom.
6:23).  Sin
kills; the poison sting is in the sin itself. The end has always been
wrapped up in the sinning. It’s not an arbitrary, malicious
condemnation on the part of God.

(4) That “death” is what Jesus described in our beloved text of
John
3:16--to “perish.” As 2 + 2 = 4, the logic is inescapable:  if
“One”
“perished” in place of all perishing, then He saved “all” from
perishing, and “all” can see themselves in a new light: they have
escaped that terrible fate because of how He “perished” for them.

(5) The death that Jesus died is the “perishing” kind--what the
Bible
says is “the second death” (Rev. 2:11; 20:14). You came within a
hair’s
breadth of suffering it yourself, except that Christ “perished” in
it
for you. That’s the death He died.

(6) Now you are “constrained” to deny self and to live only for
Him.
Now “easy” to be saved and “hard” to be lost make sense--all
because of
that “love” (agape).

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Dial Daily Bread

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread":

Justification is the best good news anyone will ever hear, for it is
the proclamation from God Himself that sets you free from condemnation
forever. It’s the news that you walk out of prison (imagine you’ve
been on Death Row in your state prison, and you are at last vindicated or
acquitted! You’d be quite happy, wouldn’t you? Now, be happier
“in Christ”!)

Some are perplexed by what they assume is a contradiction in Romans 5.
In verse 1 we read that we are “justified by faith,” that is, by
the believing that we do here and now today, experientially. It seems to
say that nothing happens until we believe, and that the initiative is
up to us. But in verse 9 we read that we are “justified by [Christ’s]
blood,” and that blood was something that happened and was shed 2000
years ago when He died on His cross.

When we are “justified by faith,” there are seven blessings we
experience according to Romans 5: (1) “we have peace with God,” (2)
“we have access . . . into this grace wherein we stand,” (3) we
“rejoice,” (4) “we glory in tribulations,” (5) we are no longer “ashamed,”
(6) “the love [agape] of God is shed abroad in our hearts,” (7) “the
Holy Spirit . . . is given unto us.”

Now the big question: are all these blessings the result of OUR doing
something? Do we trigger all this? Have we taken this initiative? Or is
all this the consequence of something that Christ accomplished on His
cross, and now at last we have heard of it and we believe it?

It is ONE justification, accomplished totally by the Savior of the
world. But appreciated, believed, experienced, by the repentant sinner,
who lets it change his heart and his life. At last he lets the Holy
Spirit change him; he stops resisting Him. Let that blessed one be you
and me!

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Dial Daily Bread

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread":

All during this week, around the world millions of Christians are
focusing attention on the biblical idea of “justification.” What
the Bible teaches is clear as sunlight, but “the little horn” of
Daniel’s prophecies has sought to confuse this truth. It had been God’s
intention that “the faith of Jesus” should lighten the earth with
glory. But the great “falling away” (apostasy) that Paul predicted
in 2 Thessalonians 2 (based on Daniel!) was the work of “the man of sin”

(vss. 3-7). He has stirred up debate and confusion about
“justification.” These have darkened this glorious truth for many
sincere people. (Maybe you, too!).

The New English Bible aptly defines that big word “justification”
as simply God’s “verdict of acquittal” (Rom. 5:16, NEB). Our enemy,
Satan, condemns us in God’s law court; he himself is shut out of heaven, and
charges that we should be, too. But God steps in and vindicates,
“acquits” us, as though we had never sinned. Now He can send His
rain and sunshine on all alike as though we were innocent. He gives “all
men” this “free gift . . . unto justification of life” (vs. 18,
KJV; Matt. 5:45). But how can the Father pronounce this “acquittal” that
Satan hates? Is it fair? Muslims say, “No!” But what’s the Bible
answer?

The Son of God has become “the second Adam,” the new corporate Head
of our human race, has taken all our guilt in upon Himself (“the Lord
hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all,” Isa. 53:6), accepted our
condemnation, died our second death both “for us” and “as us,”
and thus has “acquitted” us. We are “justified by His blood,” says Paul
(Rom. 5:9), which was shed at the cross of Jesus. Six times Paul says the
“acquittal” is a “gift” given to “all men.” “Many” reject the “gift,”
throw it away, “sell the birthright.” But if you clasp it to your
heart, cherish it, keep it, appreciate it, that is, “believe”--you
cannot be lost.

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Dial Daily Bread

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread":

A thoughtful subscriber writes a question: “Is it possible that some
people might believe and yet not obey the truth? James says ‘the
devils believe and tremble.’ Is that word ‘believe’ the same one?”

Yes, it is. But the problem with the devils’ “believing” is that
they “tremble” (“shudder,” Greek). Their motivation is fear or
horror or hatred. The “love” (agape) which they have seen does not
“constrain” them to selfless living (2 Cor. 5:14, 15) but they dread the final
judgment and hate those who do appreciate agape. That’s why James
says their “faith” is “without works”--they have gone the utter
length of hard-heartedness. Isaac Watts describes faith: “When I survey the
wondrous cross / On which the Prince of glory died, / My richest gain I
count but loss, / And pour contempt on all my pride.” The devils
“believe” their doom is coming but they “pour” hatred on
Christ. They don’t “survey” the cross with appreciation but with bitterness.

Is it possible for us humans for whom the Son of God died (please
remember, He did NOT die for the fallen angels!)--is it possible for us
to “believe” and not obey? No. That’s the point of John 3:16,
Romans 1:16, Galatians 5:6, etc. One can’t “believe” and continue in
sin. Those who at last enforce “the mark of the beast” and seek to
destroy God’s true people will claim that they “believe,” but at that
time “Babylon” will have “become the habitation of devils,” and thus
the epitome of a presumption that has replaced biblical faith (Rev. 18:3).
Today, let’s look l-o-n-g at that cross!

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Dial Daily Bread

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread":

There are about a billion Muslims who are turned off by what many of
them regard as two obstacles against their becoming Christians: (1) the

Crusades of the 11th to 13th centuries demonstrate openly for all time
that “Christianity” is a cruel and unjust religion (they say); and
(2)the doctrine that one man’s righteousness can substitute morally for
another man’s unrighteousness. In fact, their theologians connect the

Crusades to that doctrine of vicarious moral substitution. It’s
unjust, and unfair, they say.

We know first: the Crusades were not true, biblical Christianity.
Second, could the doctrine of a vicarious substitution be explained to
Muslims more clearly? Does the Bible also teach the truth of a shared
substitution?

In His first lesson on the cross Jesus told us, “If anyone desires to

come after Me, let him . . . take up his cross, and follow Me. . . .
Whoever loses his life for My sake will find it” (Matt. 16:24, 25).
Paul understood this idea of shared substitution: “I am crucified
with Christ” (Gal. 2:20). “As many of us as were baptized into Christ
were baptized into His death. . . . We were buried with Him through baptism
into death. . . . We have been united together in the likeness of His
death. . . . Our old man [the love of self] was crucified with Him. . .

. If we died with Christ we believe we shall also live with Him”
(Rom. 6:3-8--but not otherwise!). If “our” Crusaders had understood this,
world history would have been different! Praying for the Muslims is
good, but not good enough: we must tell them the gospel clearly,
truthfully.

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Robert J. Wieland's inspirational "Dial Daily Bread" phone message is
available 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.

Dial Daily Bread

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread":

One of the tabloids in our supermarket has lurid pictures of a monstrous meteor that
it says is fated to strike the world soon. The article contains a pre-written prayer
by a Roman Catholic priest or if you prefer, one written by the Rev. for God to
protect you when it strikes. The expensive price of the tabloid becomes cheap if
either prayer turns out to be effective.

If our “soul-winning” ministry is likewise based on a fear motivation, Jesus asks a
pointed question: “What do ye more than others?” The other side of that motivation
coin is hope for a reward we get for making sacrifices to follow Jesus. He asks,
“Do not even the publicans the same?” (Matt. 5:47, 46). If a thinly disguised love of
self is the reason for our Christianity, how is it practically better than Buddhism
or Hinduism? If skillfully manipulated, preaching an egocentric motivation may result
in large accessions in church membership, but is this appropriate for the great Day
of Atonement in which we live--this “time of the end” that Daniel emphasizes
(8:14; 11:35, 12:4)?

In His work as our great High Priest, the Son of God is seeking to separate our
character from an Old to a New Covenant motivation. The appropriate one is not so
much our love for Christ as a growing heart appreciation of His love for us. It
alone “casts out fear” (1 John 4:18). When we “survey the wondrous cross on which the
Prince of glory died,” His love (agape) expels from the heart our native
self-centeredness (2 Cor. 5:14, 15). 

Be sure to check your e-mail for "Dial Daily Bread" again tomorrow.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please forward these messages to your friends and encourage them to
subscribe.
The "Dial Daily Bread" web page resides at:
http://1888message.org/dailybread/

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Robert J. Wieland's inspirational "Dial Daily Bread" phone message is
available 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.

Dial Daily Bread

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread":

A thoughtful person writes: please explain the contrast between
Calvinism and Arminianism. What practical effect does it have on our
daily happiness?

Both were great blessings on the pathway of God’s people through the
centuries, successive steps out of the 1260 years of papal darkness.
Both have been taught up until our present time by dedicated pastors
who did the best they could with the ministry of preparing souls for
the resurrection.

But in God’s agenda for His church, there is growth in grace and in
understanding. We “follow” Jesus--never stand still. He is leading
His
people to get ready for His second coming. “The path of the just is
as
the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day”
(Prov. 4:18). “The everlasting gospel” of Revelation 14:6-15
prepares a
people for that time when John saw “a white cloud, and upon the cloud

one sat like unto the Son of man, . . . the harvest of the earth is
ripe.” The second coming of Christ!

Arminianism tried to correct a misapprehension that grew out of
Calvinism. Christ died for everybody and He wants everybody to be
saved. Very true! Calvinism had drifted into the idea that some are
predestinated to be lost. But Arminianism also said that the sacrifice
of Christ does no one any good unless he believes. Sounds good, but
“the everlasting gospel” is better news than that. When understood
by
the church, it delivers from the most perplexing spiritual disease of
all time--lukewarmness (Rev. 3:14-21). On His cross Christ actually
redeemed the world, died “every man’s” second death, gave him
every
blessing he has ever had including sunshine and rain and the gift of
salvation. None will be lost who does not resist or disbelieve the
truth.

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Dial Daily Bread

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread":

The great theologians may wrangle over what the prophet Daniel meant, but an ordinary person is impressed with the literal fulfillment of one of his prophecies: “O Daniel, . . . [in] the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased” (12:4). Merge into the traffic on any urban freeway, or visit any electronics mart; consider these intense explosions of travel and scientific “knowledge.” Or visit any bookstore.

All the angels in heaven couldn’t drum it into your consciousness more vividly: we are living in the closing hours of “the time of the end.”

With all this “increase of knowledge, is it reasonable that we should understand more clearly what happened on the cross when the Son of God died for the world? Should the Holy Spirit impart a greater appreciation of what it means to say, “God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world”? Would we be less inclined to think someone a fanatic if he is “determined to know nothing among [his congregation] save Jesus Christ and Him crucified”? (Gal. 6:14; 1 Cor.
2:2)? Luther, Calvin, Arminius, the Wesleys, did great for their day; God was with them. But this “time of the end” is the “hour of God’s judgment . . . come,” the world’s grand cosmic Day of Atonement. What is due now is not a proud triumphalism to “glory in the cross,” but a self-humbling appreciation for the agape love seen there. Now is the time to “comprehend” what Christ accomplished on His cross (Rev. 14:6, 7; Eph. 3:14-21). Be sure to check your e-mail for "Dial Daily Bread" again tomorrow.
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Dial Daily Bread

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread":

A powerful “Good News” text is 1 Timothy 4:10:

“We trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, especially of those that believe.”

There are two ways that Christ is the “Saviour of all men”:

(1) He is literally and effectively “the Saviour” of those who “believe.”

(a) Their faith in Him is the kind that Galatians 5:6 describes as “faith which worketh by love.”

(b) That faith itself produces obedience to the holy law of God, because faith is a heart-appreciation of that love (agape) of God.

(c) Such faith melts a hard heart and reconciles the soul to God.

(d) We humans can’t duplicate what Christ did; but we can let our small, shriveled up hearts “enlarge” so we can appreciate what He has done for us (see Psalm 119:32).

(e) Then the love (agape) of Christ will “constrain” us “henceforth” to live only for Him.

(2) The second way that Christ is already “the Saviour of all men” is seen when we look at Romans 5:15-18:

(a) The “offence” our father Adam passed on down to us is the heritage of sin we all inherit from him.

(b) But the grace of Christ is much greater than all the sin the devil has tempted us to do.

(c) Christ has therefore reversed that curse that Adam brought upon us; he is the new Adam, our new father of the human race.

(d) What He did was to pay the penalty of our sin so that the Father could pronounce on the whole human race a “judicial verdict of acquittal” (Rom. 5:16-18, NEB).

(e) Therefore the Father has no chip on His shoulder against you or anyone; He makes “His sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust” (Matt. 5:45).

(f) Note: this is a judicial verdict of acquittal; now we must take action: be reconciled to God and to His holy law and let Him save us from sin.

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Robert J. Wieland's inspirational "Dial Daily Bread" phone message is available 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.

Dial Daily Bread

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread":

Ask any group of Christians, “Why did Jesus die on His cross?” and they will tell you, “He died as our Substitute.” And that’s 100% true.
But what does it mean? How does that truth make any difference in the way we live?

We say, “He died instead of us,” and that’s true; He did. If you had been drafted in the American Civil War of 1861-65, you could hire a
substitute to take your place and die instead of you; now you can enjoy life while he suffers and his loved ones mourn. “My substitute has
taken my place!” It’s a vicarious substitution. And you can think of the sacrifice of Christ in that same way. He died instead of you.

But is it a childish way of thinking of His cross? Is it basically egocentric?

The Bible goes far deeper: Christ’s sacrifice is also a shared substitution. “I am crucified with Christ,” says Galatians 2:20.
“We were baptized into Jesus Christ, . . . baptized into His death, . . .buried with Him by baptism into death, . . . planted together with Him
in the likeness of His death, . . . our old man [the love of self] crucified with Him, . . . dead with Christ.” If all this is true,
then “we shall also live with Him” (Rom. 6:3-8). But only IF.

One is the kindergarten, flower-girl-at-the-wedding idea of substitution--very, very true; but the other is the bride “growing up
unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ” (Eph. 4:13), prepared to stand with Him side by side in the “marriage of the
Lamb.” It’s a time for divine-human intimacy never before realized by the body of His church.

Apparently the Bridegroom believes the time has come for His people to “grow up.” The long delay must weary Him. Does it weary you?

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Dial Daily Bread

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread":

For centuries two great systems of thought have contended for the soul of the Christian Church--Calvinism and Arminianism. Each has viewed what Paul calls “the truth of the gospel” from a different perspective, and for sure, each has been blessed by the Lord for each sees truth
that is important to understand when the earth is to be at last lightened with the glory of the final message (Rev. 18:1-4). There are sincere people who are seeking to build a bridge between the two communions of understanding.

If devotees of either regard themselves as “rich and increased with goods, in need of nothing,” they will be like the ancient scribes and Pharisees of whom Jesus said that the kingdom of God had swept over them unawares (Matt. 12:28; Luke 11:20; Rev. 3:17). Only the humble in
heart who “hunger and thirst after righteousness” can be “filled.” The history of the ancient people of God has lessons that we must learn.

Paul’s “truth of the gospel” (Gal. 2:5, 14) transcends both Calvinism and Arminianism as commonly understood. God has not predestined any to be lost; He has elected “all men” to be saved in that Christ died for “all men,” but any man can reject the gift already given to him.
And the idea that although He died for “all,” none reap any benefits from His sacrifice, unless they believe is likewise far short of that “truth of the gospel.” Jesus says that because of the cross of Christ, the Father sends His rain and sunshine on the just and the unjust (Matt.
5:45), and He has “given,” not merely offered, the “birthright” to “every man.” But one can “despise” it and “sell” it. Don’t!

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Dial Daily Bread

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread":

Imagine the joy you would feel if you were saved from death either from

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
1:34, 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.

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Dial Daily Bread

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread":

You want the Holy Spirit to help you win some soul to conversion in Christ. Note how Jesus won souls: He always gave them Good News. Take for instance, the crucified thief on the cross (Luke 23:34-43): Jesus’ last chance to win somebody before He had to die! What did He tell the thief? “You will be with Me in Paradise!” simply because
the ex-cursing, hate-filled man asked to be “remembered.” Jesus gave the poor wretch Good News.

Consider again the woman taken in adultery in John 8:1-11 (don’t cut the story out of your Bible!). Did He tell her, “Lady, if you will keep straight from now on, God will forgive your sins and then He will accept you”? He gave her Good News: “I do not condemn you! Go and sin no more.” I take your condemnation upon Myself; I am paying the price for your sin; I lift from you this burden of guilt, because as the Lamb
of God I bear your guilt Myself. His command to “sin no more” was more a promise than a stricture. With this message, she was able to “go and sin no more.” She never fell again! Jesus saved her right then and there.

Consider Cleopas and his friend on the path to Emmaus. They were so overwhelmed with discouragement that they would have given up their faith in Jesus as “the Savior of the world” if they had not gotten help just then. He gave them a Bible study incognito that was full of Good News. He saved them. Go thou and do likewise with some soul who needs Good News.

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uplifting Good News. "Dial Daily Bread" is FREE. Due to travel or other
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Dial Daily Bread

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread":

Somebody writes us a thoughtful question: Are we sure that the Bible teaches that God’s “church” is a visible organization, and not an invisible number of scattered believers?

The only times we read that Jesus mentioned His “church” were twice--Matthew 16:18 and 18:17. He used the word ECCLESIA, which means “called out,” a people designated and separated from the world, defined and denominated in a form that the world could recognize as an entity. The apostles called ancient Israel a “church in the wilderness” (Acts 7:38), and we read that Israel was a visible organization that the
world could see as God’s denominated people. In Matthew 18 Jesus outlined what should be done if a member in the church disgraces its name--he should be disciplined. Unless the church is organized, this cannot be done.

Paul thought of a beautiful illustration of what the church is--it’s a
“body.” “Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular . . .
in the church” (1 Cor. 12:12-28).

Possibly the reason for this person’s question is the problem of apostasy and worldliness in the church, which is discouraging to a thoughtful, sincere Christian. Please think about Jesus: He is even more pained by this than you are. Be joined to Him by faith, share His heart burden for His church. It’s the great crisis of the ages. He wants to lead her to repentance, not to ruin.

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uplifting Good News. "Dial Daily Bread" is FREE. Due to travel or other
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Dial Daily Bread

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread":

When Jesus called His Twelve and ordained them, He called them to a solemn privilege:
they were to take “bread” from His hands and fan out through the crowd of hungry
people and feed them. The bread was never their own; they had never baked it. It was
always second-hand bread. They were only the passers-on of bread that had been miraculously
multiplied by Jesus.

The same Savior has called you to be His servant to pass on “bread” to some hungry
person. This is what it means to follow Jesus. You are never an originator of saving
truth, you are never a smart theologian.  The less smart it is obvious that you are
of yourself, the more the Lord can be honored by your ministry. The people need to
know that the “bread” you are passing on is not yours, but His. “Bread” is Good News
that nourishes a famished soul.

When Jesus fed the 5000 in John 6:9-13, apparently He Himself didn’t serve anyone;
“He distributed to the disciples, and the disciples to” the people. No angel was
permitted to touch that bread, as the one who fed Elijah in the desert--this job is s
pecial now for the Twelve. They are to be intermediaries between the Savior and the
people. Their job is fun! The people smile at them and thank them profusely for what
they don’t deserve thanks for. (They must remember that and never take an ounce of
credit for themselves.)

And do you suppose the Twelve sneaked a bite themselves now and then, to taste if it
was good? (there was always plenty, and they were hungry too). Their first-hand
testimony, “It’s delicious!” was also fun to give.

Our “bread” to share today is “the everlasting gospel” (Rev. 14:6, 7).

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Dial Daily Bread

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread":

Sinful, pain-laden time will not go on and on for eternity. There will be an “end of the world” and a return of Jesus as He promised, “I will come again” (Matt. 24:3; John 14:1-3). It is commonly understood that the last “sign” of His coming will be the “gospel . . . preached in all the world . . . and then shall the end come” (Matt. 24:14). Is that a physical task completed--the printing press turning out a sufficient number of books or tracts, or electronic broadcasts reaching a sufficient concentration?

A parallel “sign” is when the Lamb’s “wife hath made herself ready” for “the marriage of the Lamb” (Rev. 19:7, 8). We’ve been through the childish stage of thinking that means a material city, the New Jerusalem, spontaneously erects itself; now it appears we understand that by “city” the Lord means its inhabitants. An unusual word is used there--the “righteousness” that becomes the bride’s wedding dress is “the righteousness of saints” (dikaiomata in the Greek instead of dikaiosune, Christ’s righteousness!). For once in the history of the world, hallelujah choruses proclaim in heaven, “His wife has made herself ready.” And we lay aside our joking and our levity and our self-righteousness. At last Christ’s righteousness becomes more than merely legal, imputed objectively, and it becomes subjectively imparted. He will have a people who honor Him and glorify Him before the world and before the universe. As Isaiah says, their
“righteousness is of [Him]” (54:11-17), but now there is the intimacy of a wedding night; both the Bridegroom and the bride contribute to the union.

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Dial Daily Bread

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread":

My friend had just given me the little book that he hoped would find a treasured spot in my library. It had the price sticker still on it—97 cents. It was entitled “Seeking the Savior.”

The author was faithful to his title: the book went on to tell the many things I must do in order to find Jesus. The basic idea of the book is that the Savior of the world is hiding somewhere, and one must diligently search Him out.

My friend meant well; he wanted to help me. Thanks to him. And thanks to the author of the book who sincerely wanted to help his reader. I appreciated all the good intentions.

But the idea of Jesus hiding and waiting for us to find Him through diligent search is an Old Covenant idea, and Old Covenant thinking “genders to bondage” (Gal. 4:24).

The faith of Jesus is not another shop set up alongside Buddhism, Islam, Shintoism, etc. where you come to buy salvation. Jesus has given Himself to us; the Father “so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son,” that whoever believes in Him should not go on perishing within himself (the original has this idea). But may have (now, present tense) eternal life.

The Bible idea is just what hungry, lonely hearts yearn to understand:

The Father is infinite, which means that He gives His full attention to every person on earth. He faithfully, meticulously watched over you when you were an embryo in your mother’s womb. “You have formed my inward parts; You have covered me in my mother’s womb. ... My frame was not hidden from You, when I was made in secret, and skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth [that is, the secret realities beyond our knowledge]. Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, the days fashioned for me [that includes today!], when as yet there were none of them” (Psalm 139:13-16, NKJV).

Kneel before Him, and let each word penetrate; you’ve come to where you need to “enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly” (Matt. 6:6, KJV). Just wait, wait; let Him say to you what He yearns for you to receive in your heart. The Lord Jesus is your Savior, He has given Himself to you. It’s not your job to go and dig Him out somehow, somewhere.

It’s your job to let the Holy Spirit melt your hard, worldly heart with the truth of His nearness.

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Dial Daily Bread

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread":

Behold the compassion of the resurrected Jesus! One might think that in
the enthusiasm of His newly resurrected life He is eager to be off on
His new assignment in the heavenly sanctuary, but no, His heart is with
His disappointed, discouraged ones here. His name is still “Emmanuel,
which being interpreted is, God with us” (Matt. 1:23).

Two men who have believed He was the true Messiah are on the path in
their walk to Emmaus that afternoon of the “first day of the week” of
the resurrection. Never have they known such crushing heart pain. It
goes deeper than any humans can fathom for it is the pain of defeat in
the great controversy with Satan; the death of the Christ means the
ultimate victory of Satan. These two men feel they must conclude this.
They are not mourning the loss of their own personal salvation so much
as they mourn the grand defeat of God. The world (yes, the universe) is
now to be plunged into hopeless despair! “We were hoping that [Jesus of
Nazareth] would redeem Israel” (Luke 24:21)--and to them “Israel” was
the only hope of the world.

The heart of the resurrected Jesus is with them as they trudge
disconsolately toward Emmaus. He now teaches us that His heart is with
all disappointed people all over the world, in all time. He joins these
two men incognito and gently encourages them with Bible truth.
“Beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all
the Scriptures the things concerning Himself” (vs. 27). He is already
doing His work as our High Priest! And so He ministers to you today--if
you will let Him join you in your “walk.”

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Dial Daily Bread

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread":

With One Grand Exception since Eden, every human soul has been born
with a heart empty of love (agape). Only Jesus in the stable in
Bethlehem was agape in human flesh because He was God in human flesh,
and “God is agape” (1 John 4:8). We all need our empty, naturally
self-loving hearts to be filled with agape. “The love of God [agape]
has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to
us” (Rom. 5:5). There is nothing the Holy Spirit likes to do more than
“pour” agape into empty human hearts!

In 1 John 4 the righteous and the wicked are the one who “knows God”
and “he that is not of God” and “does not know God” (vss. 6, 8). It’s
clear: our final exam when we “appear before the judgment seat of
Christ” will consist of one question--have you learned to love with
agape? (2 Cor. 5:10; 1 John 4:7).

It’s interesting that on the eve of Valentine’s Day the media reported
the recent scientific findings that a broken heart can kill. The usual
cause of a broken heart is love betrayed, leaving a person bereft,
forsaken, and hopeless. It was His broken heart that killed Jesus on
His cross when He cried out, “My God, why have You forsaken Me?” (Matt.
27:46). We know well the stories of suicides caused by abandonment in
forsaken marriages. The police report may not be able to tell the
truth; God’s record book will record “murder.”

But being forsaken in human love is not really the problem: it’s the
awful fear of being forsaken by God also (it’s very real!). If you have
suffered a disappointment in love, stay close to the cross of Jesus.

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Dial Daily Bread

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread":

What can we do to help people who are depressed? They are many!

Wise counselors suggest, “Get professional help.” Physicians can often
treat clinical depression successfully. If a depressed person can get
such professional help, let him/her do so.

However, the number of people who can afford to pay for such
professional help or even have access to it, is comparatively small.
Even in America, there are large numbers of sufferers who cannot have
these privileges. Who can help them?

God calls upon those who serve Him to minister to others in need. He
told Abraham that his descendants would be a blessing to the world:
“Thou shalt be a blessing, . . . and in thee shall all families of the
earth be blessed” (Gen. 12:2, 3). Jesus saw that His mission was to
help depressed people: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he
hath anointed me to preach the gospel [good news, glad tidings] to the
poor [those who can’t afford medical treatment]; he hath sent me to
heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and
recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are
bruised” (Luke 4:18). These “poor” may be in India, Africa, South
America, Mexico, yes, in our inner cities, perhaps among our teens in
high school, who knows, maybe your next-door neighbor whose tears you
cannot understand.

Each of us who realizes his/her debt to the “Savior of the world” will
want to be ready to “know how to speak a word in season to him that is
weary” (Isa. 50:4), because the Lord has sent us to do the work that He
would do if He were here in person. As Paul says, “How beautiful are
the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, that bring glad
tidings of good things!” (Rom. 10:15). Do it for somebody!

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Dial Daily Bread

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread":

All the wonderful promises that Jesus made before His death must and
will be fulfilled. But there is one GREAT promise that has not yet been
fulfilled, and many Christians think it never will be. They are wrong!
He will not fail.

That great promise is in John 16:13: “When He, the Spirit of truth, is
come, He will guide you into all truth.” We usually think of the Holy
Spirit as giving us happy feelings or of giving great power in
witnessing and producing baptisms; we think that understanding “all
truth” is of lesser importance. But over 200 times the Bible speaks of
the importance of truth. In ordinary life, law courts, juries, judges,
seek constantly to know the truth. Jesus says that it is so important
that “the truth shall make you free” (8:32).

In His same promise that the Holy Spirit will guide us “into all truth”
Jesus promised, “He will show you things to come.” The wording is very
similar to the opening of the Book of Revelation, “the revelation . . .
of things which must shortly come to pass” (1:1). The Book of
Revelation was the fulfillment of Jesus’ promise! And yet Christian
people go in all different directions in understanding what Revelation
is saying!

Likewise, there is confusion in understanding Daniel’s prophecies; yet
God commanded the angel, “Gabriel, make this man to understand the
vision,” and later the angel said to him, “I will show thee the truth”
(8:16; 11:2). Paul spoke of his message as “the truth of the gospel”
(Gal. 2:5). There is as much division in understanding that as there is
in understanding Daniel and the Revelation!

What can bring about a unity and clarity of understanding these
important truths? Surely when that great fourth angel of Revelation
18:1-4 begins to “lighten the earth with glory,” the message that calls
every sincere person “out of Babylon” will be a message of pure,
unadulterated truth. We pray daily for the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
An excellent place to begin finding the answer to that prayer is in
honest, sincere, and humble listening to the Bible to permit it to tell
us what the truth is in all these controverted areas. Jesus did not
promise, “The Holy Spirit will TRY to lead you into all truth,” or “He
wishes He could lead you into all truth.” No, He said He WILL do so. As
surely as I write and you read this, so surely is the Holy Spirit right
now “leading” us into the truth that will bind us together in loving
harmony of belief. Let’s listen to Him!

Be sure to check your e-mail for "Dial Daily Bread" again tomorrow.
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The "Dial Daily Bread" web page resides at:
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Robert J. Wieland's inspirational "Dial Daily Bread" phone message is
available 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.

Dial Daily Bread

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread":

Reading stories of human heroism is a popular pastime. And the world is
full of such. But contemplating human heroes doesn’t change one’s heart
or transform a sinner into a saint. Witness: idolizing sports heroes is
vanity.

But here’s a miracle known and experienced worldwide in any culture or
language: reading Bible stories does change the heart; in the process
it makes a bad person become a good one. It’s proof of biblical
inspiration.

Modern cell phones are a phenomenon: with the right one and the right
service, you’re in touch with almost anyone anywhere in the globe. With
the Bible in your hands and in your heart, you’re in touch constantly
with the noblest and best people of the human race of all time. No,
it’s not through Spiritualist séances; you don’t communicate with dead
people--the Bible condemns that as contact with evil angels who fell
from heaven with Lucifer, the devil. What happens instead is that
through your reading the Bible with a heart that believes in Christ you
experience actual identity-fellowship with those Bible characters of
all ages--through the work of the Holy Spirit. You identify with them
in their experiences of learning to know God. Not through the cinema
screen, but through the Holy Spirit you enter into their knowing Him.
It’s beyond the realm of normal fellowship with humans, but through the
Bible “he that walketh with wise men shall be wise” (Prov. 13:20). By a
heavenly osmosis more real than any earthly science, you receive the
life of Christ through the Bible. Cherish that hunger and thirst for
righteousness; the Lord promises that you shall be filled (Matt. 5:6).

Be sure to check your e-mail for "Dial Daily Bread" again tomorrow.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please forward these messages to your friends and encourage them to
subscribe.
The "Dial Daily Bread" web page resides at:
http://1888message.org/dailybread/
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Robert J. Wieland's inspirational "Dial Daily Bread" phone message is
available 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.