One of the Biggest "IF's" in the Bible

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

It's one of the biggest "IF's" in the Bible and it makes us wonder why the Lord let it get in there: "IF any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given him" (James 1:5, NKJV).

Have you ever met anyone who had all the wisdom he or she needs? It seems we all lack it, even the great King Solomon, said to have been the wisest man who ever lived. He so "lacked wisdom" that like a fool he fell into that awful "deep pit" of "the mouth of an immoral woman" whom the Lord never intended him to marry; "he who is abhorred of the Lord will fall there," he himself had said (Prov. 22:14). Those women led him to ruin.

The apostle James encourages you to receive this priceless gift of wisdom:

(1) If you have been delivered from arrogance and you realize your emptiness of wisdom, thank God for this clear evidence that the Lord does not "abhor" you. Remember, He can love you dearly and at the same time "abhor" your spiritual stupidity. A good dose of feeling how much the Lord "abhors" one can be a tremendous blessing.

(2) The call to "any of you" means that the Lord puts all of us, educated and not, on a level in His sight: work yourself almost to death getting a dozen doctoral degrees and you can still remain a fool. If you are someone who has never had the chance to get "higher education" (there are still such people in the world), please don't despair and think of yourself as handicapped. There's a story in our precious book of Ecclesiastes about a "poor ... man" who was nevertheless "wise" who saved a city from almost certain conquest (but nobody ever thought to thank him; yet he "lives" in genuine fame, 9:13-15).

(3) You wisdom-needing soul, be happy: the Lord does not bawl you out and make you feel like two cents because you "lack wisdom." He gives it to you "liberally and without reproach." Oh, I love that! No berating, no torrent of reproach. He respects you as well as loves you! His affection for you is not that of yours for your dog. He honors you! He is constantly trying to build your self-respect.

(4) He is training you to sing a beautiful solo: "I waited patiently for the Lord; and He inclined to me, and heard my cry. He also brought me up out of a horrible pit [if He has saved you from fornication or adultery, sing the Hallelujah chorus], out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my steps. And He has put a new song in my mouth" that "many" will rejoice to hear (Psalm 40:1-3).

Be happy! You are "blessed" (Matt. 5:3).

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: January 22, 2007.

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What John the Revelator "Saw"

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

There is a promise (or prophecy) tucked away in an obscure corner of the Bible that people don't seem to talk about, but nevertheless it's there awaiting the future.

It's about the last-days' events that will startle the world when God's people humble their hearts and lay self aside and let the Holy Spirit teach and guide them--that is, when the corporate "self" of the church is "crucified with Christ," and He only exalted.

The Lord doesn't dare let this prophecy be fulfilled so long as His church would become proud or arrogant because of it, for it is something that would startle the world more than anything else imaginable; so much so that thoughtful people just say it's impossible.

It's what John the Revelator "saw": "Something like a sea of glass mingled with fire, and those who have the victory [had gotten the victory, KJV] over the beast, over his image and over his mark and over the number of his name, standing on the sea of glass, having harps of God" (15:2).

Multitudes who love the Bible and "tremble at [the Lord's] word" (Isa. 66:2; "tremble" with excitement) recognize (a) that the "beast" of Revelation 13:1-8 is Romanism; and (b) "the mark of the beast" is its arrogant claim to have the authority to abolish and change the holy law of God that says "the seventh day" is the Lord's holy Sabbath, instituting the first day instead; and (c) that the "image" of the beast is that segment of professed Protestantism that has abandoned "protesting" and has adopted the essential nature of Romanism.

But (d)? "The number of his name"?

That is the Roman Catholic headquarters of Romanism, the heart of the papacy, the Curia. And the inspired prophecy declares that there will be some from this group who will respond positively to the "light" of that "other angel" of Revelation 18 whose message will "illuminate" the earth with "glory," a final message of justification by faith that will startle the world and will call every honest-hearted soul now in "Babylon" to "come out of her, My people" (vs. 4).

Does the Lord Jesus Christ Himself personally want this glorious denouement of Bible prophecy to take place now in "this generation"? Yes!

When the collective or corporate "self" of "the remnant church" (Rev. 12:17) has received the "atonement" and is reconciled to Him, the earth will be "lightened." God will know how to grip the world's attention!

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: September 30, 2007.

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A Grand Paradigm Shift in Our Thinking

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

The climax of the book of Revelation is not the reward that the saints will receive for their self-sacrifice in following Jesus, but the reward that Christ will receive for His great sacrifice.

It is a grand paradigm shift in thinking for us to get our minds off praying about our reward ("Lord, please be sure to save me and my loved ones"), and begin to think of Christ and the reward that He deserves.

Isaiah speaks of Him, "He shall see of the travail of His soul, and shall be satisfied" (53:11). It's like little children finally growing up so they can be mature and think of the "travail" of their mother in bearing them and of their parents in caring for them.

God's people cannot remain children forever. "Let us go on to full growth," to "maturity" (Heb. 6:1, 2), to the possibility, yes, to the blessing of being able to think of Him rather than always thinking of ourselves. This is the interesting turn that the story in Song of Solomon 5:2ff takes when the bride-to-be, warm and snug in bed on this cold rainy night can change her thinking from how much fun it is to snuggle under the covers, and begins to be able to think of her true Lover out there in the rain "knocking" on her door.

The famous "Laodicean message" that we have all memorized by now has its setting in that little story, for Jesus concludes His last days' message with a quotation from that story: "Behold, I stand at the door and knock" (Rev. 3:20; taken from the LXX). The original story tells how she finally repents and gets up to let Him in; how long she left Him out there "knocking" it doesn't say; but when she got to her side of the door, she found him "gone." (In our case it's well over a century.)

We cannot always serve as the flower girl at the wedding, "the marriage of the Lamb" (cf. Rev. 19:7, 8). God's people in a corporate sense must become the "wife" at the wedding.

And that must be the ability to appreciate "the travail" that the Bridegroom has gone through. With no trace of extremism, the remnant will learn to proclaim "nothing ... except Jesus Christ and Him crucified" (1 Cor. 2:2).

All that the little flower girl at the wedding cares about is the refreshments; the bride has begun to enter into the Bridegroom's thinking and to feel for him (at least, let's hope so; else there can not be a happy marriage!). Those who have never learned to appreciate "the travail" of the Savior cannot be happy in His personal presence. Which is the practical truth of shutting oneself out of heaven by one's unfitness for its companionship. Let's use our last few moments of time in learning to understand.

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: October 9, 2007.

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The Book of Hebrews--A Precious Treasure

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

One of the most precious treasures possessed by the believer in Christ is the Book of Hebrews, yet often neglected. It's like a casket of jewels. Seven of the most prominent are:

(1) Chapter one details how Christ is eternally pre-existent, one with the Father, equal, the Source of all life, as is said, "original, unborrowed, underived."

(2) Chapter two details His real humanity, "made like unto His brethren," "in all points tempted like as we are yet without sin" (2:17, 18; 4:15).

(3) Chapter three introduces Him, in consequence of His identification with us in chapter 2, as our great High Priest, our attention to Him being invited ("consider Him").

(4) Chapters four to six detail the tragic results of hard-hearted unbelief (the terrible danger all of us face).

(5) Chapters seven and eight develop further the core idea of "Christian perfection of character" which like a silver thread runs throughout the Book of Hebrews. Ministering the Good News of such "perfection" is the work of the High Priest, who is "able to save to the uttermost (perfectly) those who come unto God by Him." Warnings are seen all through the book to us to cooperate with Him, but we cannot save or perfect ourselves. (Cleansing the Hebrew sanctuary was always the work of the high priest, never the work of the people; but they were to let him do it, to cooperate with him to gather around the sanctuary on the day of atonement.)

(6) Chapters nine and ten make clear that there are two phases of our great High Priest's heavenly ministry: (a) the antitypical ministry in the first apartment of the sanctuary (ta hagia in the Greek) where He began to minister at His ascension, and (b) His closing ministry in the second apartment, the Most Holy (hagia hagion, Greek) on the antitypical Day of Atonement. It seems obvious even to a child that Christ's ministry in the first apartment is to prepare His people to die--a wonderful work indeed; but His ministry in the second apartment is intended to prepare a people to meet the final tests of the mark of the beast, the seal of God, the final time of trouble, and translation at the second coming of Christ--all of which the Bible has much to say.

(7) Finally, Hebrews leaves us with the assurance that all the power of the Father who brought Jesus from the dead is directed now to the unprecedented work of preparing a people, to "make you perfect in every good work to do His will, working in you that which is well-pleasing in His sight" (13:21). Good News!
 

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: March 13, 2000.

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"Seventy Times Seven"

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

A question that perplexed the disciples of Jesus perplexes us today: Peter asked, "Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?" The "sin" obviously was not an ordinary one: it was "against" Peter, something that wounded him personally. The apostle was mature enough spiritually to realize that "seven" is a complete number; it must be the limit for this difficult task.

The sin "against" him was so hurtful that Peter felt it threatened his personhood. Already he was beginning to sense dimly that Jesus was a "Forgiver": little inklings of what led Him later to pray for His murderers, "Father, forgive them!" were showing through. Peter understood that it was his duty to forgive; but it was difficult to do! Nurturing resentment was so sweet to indulge in.

When Jesus enlarged the limit to "seventy times seven" He told about the enormously guilty yet forgiven thief who couldn't forgive his debtor his trifling debt. He ended the little session with the blunt warning that His heavenly Father will not forgive us our "trespasses" "if [we] do not forgive from [our] heart [our] brother his trespasses," obviously those we feel are so "against" us (Matt. 18:21-35).

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: April 26, 2005.

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A Gift the Church Neglects to Receive

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Over a century ago, in a British magazine, The Present Truth, a thoughtful writer wrote something that is still "present truth" today (sadly so). The almost unknown author (Ellet J. Waggoner) had been discussing how God had promised Abraham that his descendants would be the greatest nation on earth (Gen. 12:2, 3). And that promise had been fulfilled to Israel in the "dominion" of David and his descendants.

But the last to sit on his throne was one King Zedekiah who had tragically abandoned the promise to Abraham, had disgraced the name of God before the world by "abominable idolatry," and "broke a solemn oath" in the Lord's holy name before international attention. Ezekiel had said that God will "overturn, overturn, overturn" that "dominion" which had been given to Israel, "and it shall be no more, until He come whose right it is; and I will give it Him," thus pointing to the second coming of Christ (21:19-27).

Then the author reviewed the "three great revolutions" that had come as a consequence of Israel's tragic apostasy from her high calling--the rise of Babylon as a world empire, Medo-Persia, then Grecia, and lastly, the world dominion of Rome. None of these "dominions" would have been necessary in history had it not been for Israel's terrible failure.

Then came this obscure author's provocative statement: "It is not for us to know the times and the seasons which the Father has put in His own power; but we know that when all the professed church of Christ shall consent to be filled with His Spirit, the whole world will soon hear the Gospel message in the fulness of its power, and the end will come, when the groaning creation itself will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glory of the liberty of the children of God" (Rom. 8:21; The Present Truth, Feb. 25, 1897).

Backwards from current popular thought, which has the church begging God to give His consent to give the Holy Spirit; instead, it has God begging His church on earth to "consent to be filled with His Spirit." Revolutionary insight! God trying His best to give the gift while the church neglects her "consent" to receive it.

This particular author has long since gone to his rest. Could he have dreamed that over a century later that "consent" would still be pending?

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: August 15, 2003.

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Everyone's New "Parents"

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Is it hard work to be "born again"? We know that we need to be changed from the inside out. Years of being what we are have made us set in our ways, we feel. Our problems are a part of us, through and through, whether it's lust, appetite, jealousy, or whatever vice has a hold on us. How can we become really different than what we just are?

We can change the color of our hair but how can we change the color of our eyes? If we were born to be short how can we become tall? For a selfish person to become unselfish seems as impossible. And most poignantly, for a lustful, sexually impure person (a rapist? an abuser?) to become pure in heart seems totally impossible--so say our courts of law.

And now here comes Jesus telling us that "except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God" (John 3:3). To many people it sounds like a death-knell. "I am what I am, and there's no way I can be different! If only blue-eyed people can enter heaven, I'm sunk for I have brown eyes!"

Sit down and read the whole of John 3. Nicodemus asked precisely the same questions. You'll be surprised how much better is Jesus' Good News of the new birth than what we have thought it is:

(1) Because of what Jesus accomplished on His cross, the Holy Spirit has become everyone's new "parents." When He impregnated the Virgin Mary to bring Jesus to birth, He impregnated everyone with a divine seed of a new life to be formed within. The new birth is not you "born-ing" yourself anew (excuse me; we need a new verb); "the wind bloweth where it listeth," says Jesus; "so is everyone that is born of the [Holy] Spirit." He is constantly casting seeds into human hearts, for Christ is the "Light which lighteth every man that cometh into the world" (1:9). The "seed" is the Light of Good News in Christ.

(2) Now, don't practice abortion on the new life that the Holy Spirit is constantly begetting within you. Stop resisting Him. If you choose darkness, you set yourself up for judgment.

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: February 17, 2002.

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Agape Love "Never Fails"

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

St. Valentines Day is a pagan festival imported into Christianity. But therein lies an important insight into living real life.

The original pagan gods involved were Eros (Greek) and Cupid (Latin). To this day Cupid is often pictured as a cherub shooting arrows from his bow, the idea being that if he strikes a couple, they are programmed to fall in love. Very nice.

The "love" with which they fall in love is of course eros, which is love based on the goodness or the beauty of its object. It is said that all the world loves a couple who are in love. But the eros-love that Cupid shoots in his arrow is not a lasting love unless the other love, agape, takes its place. Only agape love "never fails" (1 Cor. 13:8, NKJV).

Cupid may do very well shooting his arrows to lead couples to fall in love, but the problem is that he can also shoot arrows to cause them to fall out of love again. Broken hearts and bitter lives can follow.

Through Satan's deceptive wiles, youth imagine that the love that is agape spoils all the fun, and they instinctively shy away. "Falling in love is MY business!" they say. But let's not forget that if the Son of God, the Savior, gave Himself for us, He bought us and redeemed us from the kind of death that is eternal; His utterly self-sacrificing love deserves His having what He paid for--your affections.

When youth recognize that eternal truth that shines in the cross of Christ, they will outwit Cupid. Their love will be purified from selfishness--that bitter enemy of love. Their love will be incomparably delightful. The love they will know together will be a fabric woven stronger than any loom on earth can weave. Their love will be that described in the Song of Solomon: "Love is powerful as death; … no flood can drown it" (8:6, 7, GNB).

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: February 14, 2006.

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The Light Flashing on Your Pathway

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 that 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% 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 where God's people can go.

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 26, 2004.

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You Can't Run Away From Divine Love

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Sometimes divorce occurs in our sin-cursed world, and somebody is hurt deeply. When one is disappointed thus in love, the wound is profound and lasting--sometimes for an entire life.

Does Jesus care? Does the Holy Spirit, who is infinite, notice the loss? He sees when a little bird falls to the forest floor and He cares (Matt. 10:29, 30). Yes, the Lord cares about the pain that the denial of love can bring. The loss due to death is grievous, but the pain that comes when a loved one turns on you in bitterness and hatred is even more painful to endure. But there is no earthly pain that the "much more abounding grace" of the Lord Jesus (see Rom. 5:20) does not relieve with everlasting comfort.

The Lord has not promised us that we will never have such pain to endure, but He has promised that He will substitute for it the goodness of His personal presence, in deep soul comfort. And no earthly fellowship is so soul enriching; for the One who is both your Creator and your Redeemer knows every single and intensely personal aspect of your individual soul.

That is what Psalm 139 has been telling us all along: "Thou understandest my thought afar off ... and art acquainted with all my ways. .. If I take the wings of the morning, ... even there shall Thy hand lead me. ... Even the night shall be light about me."

Divine love like that (agape) you can't run away from!

"How precious also are [His] thoughts unto [all of us], O God! .. When I awake, I am still with Thee. ... Search me, O God, ... try me, .. and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting."

Amen and amen!

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: August 27, 2008.

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Your "Lord," but Also Your Friend

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Are you a person who feels harassed and burdened with all the things you have to do? You may be young enough to carry on without collapsing, and you may feel that you simply must have a pill now and then or you can't get through the day. And yes, you do try to squeeze in some Bible reading or something from "the Lord's messenger," but then, the more you read the more guilty you feel for not getting everything done that is "duty."

Well, here's a little tidbit from the Lord Jesus Himself that's different: "To you I say, and to the rest in Thyatira, ... who have not known the depths of Satan, ... I will put upon you no other burden" (Rev. 2:24). This shows that the Lord Jesus knows what it's like to be human and heavily laden. I don't understand too well the particular context in "Thyatira" that called forth this compassionate little remark, but you have the full right to think of Jesus as being sympathetic to you. You may have thought of the Holy Spirit as constantly convicting you of sin (John 16:8--that's true! But it's also "comfort," 14:16!), prodding you always to work harder, to do more, to pray more, to study your Bible more, to pray more, to pay more tithe, give more offerings, go on more missionary journeys, get up earlier, diet more, and you feel exhausted spiritually as well as physically. Is it the Lord's will for you?

Stop and think a moment: the Lord Jesus promises He will put a limit on the "burdens" HE will lay upon you. He even insists that HIS "burden is light." And the closer you let Him get to you, His yoke becomes more "easy" (Matt. 11:28-30). Your lifelong entanglement with a works program may incline you to think this is heresy; but it's a side of Jesus you need to realize. He's your "Lord," yes; but He's also your Friend.

--Robert J. Wieland

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

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True Unity Within the Church

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

When there is discussion about disunity in the church, many say that only "Christian love" can heal those divisions. But what is "Christian love"? Just being nice? Many Buddhists, Hindus, and Muslims are "nice." What is uniquely "Christian" about "love"?

The Holy Spirit has injected into the New Testament word for "love" a meaning that non-Christian ideas of love do not, cannot, realize. The reason is that the ordinary idea of "love" presupposes a doctrine held in common by Catholics, Lutherans, Buddhists, Muslims, and Hindus--that is, the natural immortality of the human soul. The ultimate source of that doctrine is paganism. Well, it actually came from the Garden of Eden when "the serpent" told our first parent Eve the lie, "Ye shall not surely die" (Gen. 3:4).

This doctrine makes it impossible to "comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; and to know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge" (Eph. 3:17-19). It's different than any other idea of love in this world; it is "agape," a love that Jesus was willing to sacrifice eternal life so that we might have eternal life.

His cross was more than physical pain followed by a weekend "vacation." He died the death in which there is no hope, no future, a surrender to eternal darkness of being "forsaken" by God, of enduring what Paul calls "the curse" of God, a "goodbye" forever. It was the death of the cumulative, total guilt of all the world's sins. It was on His part the conscious choice to experience hell itself. "For every man," He "tasted death," the real thing, the anguish the lost will feel at last when they stand before the judgment bar of God.

As our "last Adam," the second Adam, Christ died the second death of "every man" (see Heb. 2:9; Rev. 2:11; 20:14). Isaiah says He "poured out His soul unto death" (53:12). A "love which passeth knowledge"? Yes! But the pagan doctrine of natural immortality makes it impossible for us even to begin to appreciate its dimensions. The idea of agape is being recovered; the Good News is that it will bring true unity within the church.

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: October 30, 1999.

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A Message That Will Zero in to the Inner Heart

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Christ IS the "Savior of the world" (John 4:42), which means that He has given Himself to be your Savior even if you feel so sinful that you don't deserve to have Him. It was "before the foundation of the world" that the Father did so, "chose" you, "predestined [you] to adoption as [children] by Jesus Christ to Himself, ... made [you] accepted in the Beloved" (Eph. 1:4-6).

But a very sincere question comes up: If we tell people this, won't they simply go on sinning all the more? Won't they say, "God is taking me to heaven with all my sins, so what's the point in obedience to His law? 'Soul, ... take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry' (Luke 12:19)"? If we tell people such "good news" as Ephesians and Romans seem to tell us, aren't we defeating the purpose of all evangelism preaching? Shouldn't we arouse people to DO something about their soul's salvation?

If craven fear is the motive we are seeking to arouse, our preaching is Old Covenant in nature, in spite of all the bright lights and pictures we may use. We'll get "results" that look nice on paper, the photos will be impressive.

If we tell people what Christ actually accomplished on His cross, the message will zero in precisely to the inner heart of every honest soul who listens. Fear will not be the basic motivation aroused; "the love of Christ constrains." There is a mighty power in that love that does what all the preachers in the world are powerless of themselves to do--truthfully presented it motivates the sinful heart of man to renounce self to be crucified with Christ.

When the sinner finally knows what to believe, he can't help but "judge ... that if One died for all, then all died." The logic appeals. He sees that he would be dead at this moment (in a second death) if that "One" had not died for him; therefore as surely as day follows night, he will refuse "[henceforth to live for himself], but for Him who died for [him] and rose again" (2 Cor. 5:14, 15).

It's an idea that will prepare a people for the second coming of Christ. You can't get closer to Him than to be crucified with Him.

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: February 18, 2007.

Copyright © 2013 by "Dial Daily Bread."

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Idolizing Sports Heroes

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.

Cell phones are a phenomenon: you can be in touch at almost any time with anyone anywhere on the globe. But 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 movie or TV screen, but through the Holy Spirit you enter into 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).

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: February 7, 2005.

Copyright © 2013 by "Dial Daily Bread."

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The New Covenant--Honest Truth

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

It’s a very widespread malady--depression. Even many who sincerely want to follow the Lord Jesus Christ suffer from it. Physicians are trained to treat it, books are written about it, institutions exist where sufferers can be treated, huge economic losses come because of it, and the wealthy endure equally with the poor--perhaps more so. Even little children are given medications to correct it.

How does the Holy Spirit relate to it? Medical scientists who do not recognize His existence can rely on drugs and psychology in efforts to treat it. Even in the church there is widespread depression that pastors are at a loss to relieve. Many people find that funny stories and entertainment are helpless band-aids.

Depression is the condition that Jesus describes in Matthew 11:28-30: “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” But often the way seems blocked, and we wrestle with nagging doubts about whether “coming” can really help. Aren’t committed Christians also “heavy laden”? Doubts plunge us back into the pit.

Depression afflicts multitudes, and right here is an acid test of “the faith of Jesus.” The shadows are dark and heavy; can we let in a ray of sunlight?

(1) The first work of the Holy Spirit is to “convict of sin” (John 16:8). When He is resisted, depression is created--unless we cut our spiritual vagus nerve and create a soul-lobotomy (the final sin against the Holy Spirit). Some then find endless carefree abandon, because He is gone.

(2) The one truly sinless Man in history suffered the most enormous depression of any human--crying in an ultimate heart agony, “My God, why have You forsaken Me?” (Matt. 27:46). Yet that depression was not personal sin on His part. There have been faithful followers of Jesus who have suffered depression--Joseph sold as a slave into Egypt, David persecuted by King Saul (his psalms are healing medications), the prophet Jeremiah, and others. It could be a hidden blessing.

(3) The faith of Jesus gets slighted (as relief from depression) because many pastors cannot distinguish between the Old Covenant and the New. The New Covenant is not mere psychology; it’s honest truth.

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: May 19, 2006.

Copyright © 2013 by "Dial Daily Bread."

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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.