Daily Bread

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Two Kinds of "Weariness"

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

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

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

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

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

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

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: March 4, 2000.

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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.

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Entrusted With an Unusual Gift

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Are you one of God's special "elite"? Has He entrusted you with an unusual gift, which is fellowship with Christ in His sufferings--the most weighty trust and highest honor God can give to a human being? An example of someone who was so "entrusted" with honor is John the Baptist who perished alone in a dungeon; he now stands higher even than Elijah or Enoch, both of whom were translated without tasting death. If you have been called of God to suffer for Jesus' sake, "rejoice," says Jesus Himself, "for great is your reward in heaven" (Matt. 5:12). This is backward from normal worldly (or even church) thinking, but it is truth illustrated all through the Bible.

Think of Paul the apostle. The Lord told Ananias that he "is a chosen vessel unto Me, ... for I will shew him how great things he must suffer for My name's sake" (Acts 9:15, 16). Saul became Paul, who details for us his almost endless sufferings for Christ in 2 Corinthians 11:23-28. You wonder why the Lord let Paul suffer such an unusually heavy portion of suffering; the reason must be that he had persecuted the church in a most unusual frenzy of hatred. Someday in the earth made new you will be walking down one of those delightful paths and you will meet him face to face. He will give you a handshake with a smile and tell you who he is and who he was, and he'll recite that list of agonies he endured and then he will ask you, Tell me, what sufferings did you endure for Christ's sake? Oh how happy you will be if you can engage in a genuine tit for tat conversation with him, and realize your fellowship with Paul!

Then, think of Jeremiah. Before he was "formed in the womb," the Lord "knew" him and "sanctified" him; that is, set him apart for a special life of suffering, chose him to endure a life of tears all the way down to death. Others who have suffered for the Lord such as Joseph oppressed by his ten brothers, or David hunted like a wild beast by King Saul ("the Lord's anointed"!), saw their dreams fulfilled within their lifetimes; but not Jeremiah. The anguish of rejection by the perverse people of the Lord went on and on until the poor man perished alone somewhere in Egypt. He lies in some unmarked grave.

Yet after his death, the thoughtful Jews began to think, and decided he was "the greatest of the prophets." That's why a sizable group began to wonder if Jesus of Nazareth was Jeremiah come back from the dead (Matt. 16:13, 14). Yet Jesus was only in His early 30s! They recognized in Jesus the "Suffering Servant," a likeness in spirit to the weeping prophet. (Jesus was always cheerful but He was not always grinning and joking. People saw tears in His eyes.) Whoever you are, whatever your burden, "rejoice."

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: September 11, 2003.

Monday, July 18, 2011

Put Yourself in Peter's Place

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Wouldn't it be great if we could discover (maybe in the ancient sands of Egypt) a true, pure, honest, genuine "gospel" that told us a story about Jesus that we had never seen before? The Lord has seen fit to give us Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John--four authentic ones. We don't want any apocryphal legend to confuse us; but there is a delightful little story totally authentic that doesn't come across in our modern Bibles; it's a vivid little picture of Jesus that gets lost.

It's in John 21:15-17. It's buried out of sight because we have only one word for "love" in our modern languages. But the Greek had more than one word, and here in the original story there are two contrasting words that Jesus and Peter both used. It's like a black and white picture suddenly becoming full color.

Jesus has been resurrected; now for the third time He meets with His disciples. He has especially invited Peter to come along (Mark 16:7), knowing that he is crushed and humiliated for having denied Christ three times. He feels so unworthy that he is ready to abandon all thought of being an apostle and go back to his fishing business (John 21:3). Never again can he preach! (A good experience for many preachers to go through! You can never minister at "Pentecost" like he did, without it.)

Jesus asks him pointedly, "Simon, son of Jonas, do you love Me with that special kind of love known in Greek as agape, the kind that says 'God is agape'? [That's the totally selfless kind, the kind I have exemplified before you all]?"

Peter's answer is empty unless you see what he said: "Lord, You know that my love for you is not agape, but philos." Philos is ordinary human family affection, the kind of love that everybody has by nature. (A heathen mother loves her baby with philos--not bad but it's not what Jesus had in mind. Peter seems to have learned a healthy lesson in self-distrust.) But Jesus isn't done.

A second time He quizzes the disciple in front of all the others who knew he had denied Christ: "Do you love Me with agape?" Again Peter won't dare make such a claim: "my love for You is only philos." In other words, I have begun at last to understand how weak and unworthy I am. Now I can see that my goodness is no better than that of any of my fellow disciples!

But then "the third time" Jesus presses the thorn in deeper: "Simon, son of Jonas, do you even love Me with philos?" Now Peter bursts into tears. Lord, You know the emptiness of my heart. Never thereafter, they tell us, were his eyes dry until he asked not to be crucified as Jesus was, but upside down.

It seems that some scholarship insists that Jesus and Peter conversed in Aramaic which has only one word for love, so all this gets washed down the drain. But if true, then we really do have a problem: someone in translating all this into Greek "added" these details that were never in the original conversation. That would be a terrible "no-no" according to John's own command in Revelation 22:18. We know that Jesus grew up in Nazareth, a little town only 6 miles from the Greek city of Sepphoris; of course He knew Greek. And so did John, who told us the story in Greek. The biblical text rings true.

Don't despise the repentant Peter; put yourself in his place. And be careful when you profess to love the same as God does, and as He is (1 John 4:8). Peter is a good teacher.

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: Robert J. Wieland.

Sunday, July 17, 2011

Called From "the Plow"

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

The Bible specializes in Good News which is "the power of God unto salvation" (Rom. 1:16). There is power in the word itself, as there is in the seed that sprouts. Those who wait for the second coming of Christ will demonstrate that power so fully that their message will "lighten the earth with glory." The message itself, not their personalities nor any goodness in themselves, will call believers to "come out of Babylon, My people," and honest-hearted people will respond to the "voice" from heaven (see Rev. 18:1-4). Nothing will be able to hold them back from stepping out boldly to honor Christ in the closing work of the gospel.

The message will be proclaimed not just by one or two super-gurus, but by a multitude of voices all over the earth. God can use people trained in literary institutions provided self is humbled and crucified with Christ so their ministry draws listeners to Jesus and not to themselves, but often self has gotten in the way and marred the picture. Baal worship has delayed the finishing of God's work in the earth--the worship of self disguised as the worship of Christ. In the last great work as the truth is proclaimed powerfully, God will use humble people who are called from "the plow" as Elisha was called (1 Kings 19:19).

What will bring about this great development? The Bible is clear: the experience of justification by faith, which is the same as the experience of righteousness by faith. The faith itself will "work by love," the love of Christ (Gal. 5:6), not our own love. There will be no self-righteousness in this wonderful work that lightens the earth with glory. When self is laid aside, gets out of the way, the cross of Christ can be uplifted clearly, because self will be "crucified with Him." Then He will "draw all unto [Himself]" (John 12:32).

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: March 12, 2005.

Saturday, July 16, 2011

A Word He "Will Make Known" to Us

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

God has inspired His holy word, the Bible, for "all Scripture is given by inspiration of God" (2 Tim. 3:16). But He has not made the Bible difficult to understand! He has promised, "Turn you at My reproof, ... I will make known My words unto you" (Prov. 1:23).

One of those "words" that He "will make known" unto us is "justification." Ask Him to! The root idea is to make something that was crooked become straight. On the sixth day of creation week God ended that work; when sin entered planet earth, He turned His infinite power into re-creating sinful human hearts. Justification by faith is the sinner receiving this mighty power of re-creation, that is, the new birth. The sinner's faith is awakened by his "beholding" the love of Christ revealed in His cross, just as the stricken Israelite bitten by poisonous snakes was healed by beholding, looking at, the brass serpent lifted on the pole.

You watch a hero or heroine in a movie; now spend your time more wisely by "watching" Jesus Christ. "Eat" the Bible story of the cross; turn off your radio, TV, everything; just kneel and patiently, in prayer, read about Jesus straight from Scripture. Wait before Him. God wants to hear a sincere, honest, unhurried prayer. I know; I am as unworthy as anyone, but I know He responds. He loves you as much as He loves me! I have never heard the literal voice of God, but I want to encourage those people who also must confess they haven't either; the Holy Spirit imparts spiritual life through the word, the Bible. He wants your faith to be established on the solid rock of Bible truth, not on dreams or impressions or "voices."

Will the one who is "justified by faith" live in obedience to God's word? Yes, obedience is the direct fruit of the experience of justification by faith. It has now become your joy.

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

Friday, July 15, 2011

Healing for a Crushed Spirit

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

The Lord permits all of us at some time or other to suffer the pain of being wounded physically. It's frequent in our childhoods; and all of us surely have known what a broken bone is, or a wounded knee, or whatever.

But when we are wounded in our spirit, in our heart, the bitterness is deeper than with any broken bone or lacerated flesh. David was a king, "a man after God's own heart," yet he was permitted to know the sorrow of a spiritual laceration: "I am poor and needy, and my heart is wounded within me. ... Help me, O Lord my God! ... [He] shall stand at the right hand of the poor, to save him from those who condemn him" (Psalm 109:22-31).

Is it really true that anyone who has suffered a "wounded spirit" can find healing? The answer has to be yes, if he/she will call unto the Lord as David did. A prayer puts God on the spot! He responds.

Solomon describes how serious the wound in a heart can be: "The spirit of a man will sustain him in sickness, but who can heal a broken spirit?" (Prov. 18:14). Peterson captures what's there in the Hebrew: "A healthy spirit conquers adversity, but what can you do when the spirit is crushed?"

That's the question! What can you do when the wound is deeper than a physical one?

It's interesting to note that the Hebrew word translated "wounded" in both of these texts is the same one that Isaiah uses when he describes the suffering of Jesus: "He was wounded for our transgressions" (53:5). The word (ehalal in Strong) means: to "break, defile, prostitute, slay, stain, wound." Whatever God's providence calls upon you to endure is part of what Christ endured.

Physical healings take time to be complete. And when one is old, they take longer. So with the heart; but healing is sure. Why? Because the Lord has promised it!

Now, our task is to believe His promise!

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: July 13, 2004.

The Passing of Elder Robert J. Wieland

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

It is with heavy heart that we report to you that Elder Robert J. Wieland, the author of these uplifting messages, went to his rest yesterday, July 13. He has joined his beloved wife, Grace, to await the Lord's return.

Recently he expressed his appreciation for the many 95th birthday wishes and other encouraging letters and e-mails you have sent over the years.

It would be his wish that "Dial Daily Bread" continue as usual, so please enjoy these Good News messages, share them with friends and family, and please encourage others to subscribe.

If you would like to share your personal remembrances or condolences with Elder Wieland's family, please write to this "Dial Daily Bread" e-mail address and your message will be conveyed to the family.

Sincerely,

The "Dial Daily Bread" Staff

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

A Bridge Called the Atonement

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

One of the most serious problems we have is what to do when we feel depressed. It's easy for some one to tell you, "Snap out of it!" But you can't. All kinds of remedies are suggested: some say, "Go take a drink of beer or some whisky"--we know that's not good! Or, "Take some drug"--that's not good. Or, "Get out and help somebody else in trouble"--always good advice, but when you're depressed, you don't have the energy to do so. "Go see a psychiatrist"?--Well, that depends on who the psychiatrist is. If you spell it with a capital P, your divine Psychiatrist, your Saviour, I say YES. But often we don't know how to talk with Him; does He listen or answer us? Let's be honest: we do need help.

Here's where it is--at the cross of Jesus, for without understanding His cross we can't understand His High Priestly ministry. No one has ever been so depressed as Jesus was as He hung there in the darkness, "made to be sin for us who knew no sin," feeling forsaken by His Father, without hope, seeing no light ahead. His broken heart cried out sincerely, "My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?"

If you are depressed, you need something more solid than a shot of pop psychology to stir your emotions. You need some rock-bottom truth to stand on, irrespective of your feelings. And here it is: when Jesus felt totally forsaken by His Father, the truth was that His Father was near, suffering with Him. His Father had never forsaken Him! Jesus only felt forsaken, because He had been "made to be sin for us."

A "broken relationship" does not mean that God has turned His back on you. There in the darkness Jesus chose to believe that His Father accepted Him when everything else, His feelings, the appearances, said the opposite. There in the darkness He built a bridge called the atonement, the reconciliation, on which you and I can walk into the light of eternal life. Jesus was "made to be sin" itself, yet He believed and trusted, while in the total darkness.

So can you; and so will you as you appreciate what it cost the Son of God to save you from the darkest hell. Say Thank You, even though it's dark outside and inside. "Be ye reconciled to God" (2 Cor. 5:20).

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: September 23, 1997-2.

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Was Jesus Ever Broken-Hearted?

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

At the heathen or pagan court of the kings of ancient Persia, if you appeared sad, you could be put in prison. You were required to keep a frozen smile on your face continually, and obviously jokes and comedy were the way of life. The Bible tells how Nehemiah, serving in the presence of the king, was afraid because he was too honest to try to wipe that frozen smile off his face, because he was broken-hearted for the honor of God involved in the ruin of Jerusalem (Neh. 2:1-3).

God loves honesty, even if it means that a broken heart must express itself. We read in Psalm 34:18, "The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and sayeth such as be of a contrite spirit." Sounds very strange for these times, doesn't it? We suppose He is very "nigh" unto the smiling, happy people--if you're not singing for joy there must be something wrong with your so-called "relationship with Jesus." Many assume that it's virtually a sin to be broken-hearted. But by the use of a poetic double negative we are assured in Psalm 51:17 of the Lord's special favor to the broken-hearted: "The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise."

Was Jesus ever broken-hearted? Not in the sense that He yielded to sinful unbelief, no; but we read that He took upon His happy heart our broken-heartedness. For example, we read that He was "despised and rejected of men" and it hurt Him, for He was "a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief" (Isa. 53:3). You can't talk about having "a relationship with Jesus" without relating to that aspect of His character. The closer you come to Him the more you will appreciate that truth. And because He was very sorrowful on His cross, we read that the human race despised Him for it: "We did esteem Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted" (vs. 4).

"We" wanted an always smiling Messiah, not a broken-hearted One. How about His great heart of love today? Does He sympathize with all the sorrowing, pain-ridden people on earth? Yes! He longs to put an end to sin and the sorrow it brings. And the closer we come to Him, the more we will share His concern.

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: January 25, 1998.

Monday, July 11, 2011

Gladly Receive the Seal of God

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

The Bible speaks of the great battle of Armageddon in Revelation 16; also, it speaks of a time of trouble coming on the world like the world has never seen before (see Daniel 12). Please note: it is not God who brings that trouble on the earth, and it is not God who provokes the battle of Armageddon. God does not bring disaster--wicked people bring such troubles on the earth. A good example was the tragedy in Rwanda--which was entirely man-made.

The same seeds of rebellion and hatred which produced that strife have been sown in all the world. And it is this spiritual rebellion against the law of God that will eventually lead the world into the time of trouble and the battle of Armageddon.

But in the meantime, there is another spiritual power at work in the world to bring peace and harmony, to make life livable. That is the power of the gospel, the good news, of Christ. Whenever and wherever it is permitted to be proclaimed, there come the peaceable fruits of righteousness, and nations are blessed.

In Revelation 7:1-4 we see a vivid picture of what is happening behind the scenes--the news behind the headlines. Four terrible winds of human passion are about to burst loose like a wild tornado, but God sends four special angels to hold back those four winds until a special work is performed among mankind. Another angel is seen with the seal of God, and God tells the four angels, Hold those terrible four winds until we have sealed the servants of God in their foreheads. That seal of God is what prepares sinners like you and me to be ready for the second coming of Christ, to be ready to stand for the Lord through earth's last time of trouble.

That sealing work is going forward today. A vast number from every nation, kindred, tongue, and people will gladly receive the seal of God and they will refuse the mark of the beast. You are invited to be one of them!

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: 1994 Phone Message.

Sunday, July 10, 2011

Jesus and John--Together in Ministry

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Jesus taught us to visit people who are unjustly persecuted and imprisoned (Matt. 25:34-46). But there is no record that He visited His faithful but persecuted forerunner, John the Baptist, whom King Herod had unjustly imprisoned in a dungeon (Mark 6:17).

At this time Jesus was free to travel about Galilee and preach; in fact, he was enjoying halcyon days with crowds following Him. Poor John, whom Christ had designated as the greatest of the prophets (Matt. 11:11), at this time was languishing in his dungeon, alone, virtually living on the meager reports his disciples were able to bring him of the work Jesus was doing. John longed for Jesus to assert His Messiahship. When it should happen of course would also mean John's release and he would join the Messiah in the grand work to be done. Don't blame him if he day-dreamed a bit. He was quite human.

But the weary days dragged by without a visit from Jesus, not even a letter. Was the Messiah oblivious of the lonely suffering of His servant?

No, but John was still cooperating with Jesus, though he didn't realize just how he shared that honor. Jesus thought of the unnumbered believers in Him who in centuries to come would suffer alone in prisons, tempted likewise to think themselves forsaken and hopeless. Surely He thought also of those who would lie on beds of illness tempted to think themselves forgotten by Heaven.

The truth was that while Jesus was enjoying those bright days of ministry in Galilee before "the shadow of a cross arose upon that lonely hill," He did think of John suffering in his dungeon; He appreciated his loyalty. The lonely prophet has been a comfort to all the apparently forsaken sufferers ever since. Behold them--Jesus and John standing hand in hand together in ministry! Now may you and I accept gladly our fellowship with Him in ministry!

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: May 2, 2005.

Friday, July 08, 2011

Could God Be Wrong (Or Appear to Be)?

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Is it possible that a sinful man could be right and God could be wrong (or at least appear to be wrong)? Could a man be reverent and rebuke God? Or correct Him? If that were to happen, would God be angry with him?

If God were like the Islamic Allah, the answer would be yes, God would be very angry with such a man.

But there was once such a man and God was pleased with him--Job.

He did not know about the altercation in chapters one and two between God and Satan over him. God told the truth about him, he was indeed a "perfect and an upright man, one that fear[ed] God, and eschew[ed] evil" (1:8; 2:3). In Job's innocence, he could not understand why it appeared that God had treated him unjustly; his three friends pressed this thorn deeply into Job's heart, telling him that God had not punished him as much as he deserved--Job was a terribly evil man, or all these calamities could never have come upon him.

Job knew positively that was not true, about him; he knew that he had been "a perfect and upright man, one that feared God and eschewed evil." That was plain, solid truth. To him in his innocent honesty, God was going back on His true character of righteousness and justice.

So Job did what any honest person should do under that circumstance: he called on God to repent and return to His true character of love and righteousness!

And God loved to hear him say it. Job proved that God was right when He told Satan that Job was "perfect and upright." In the end God vindicated Job and honored him as a man who anticipated the people in Revelation 17:14 as the group who are "with" "the Lamb of God" [openly and bravely on His side in the great controversy!] and "are called, and chosen, and faithful."

The Lord Jesus is even now calling His "144,000" out of "every nation, kindred, tongue, and people" (Rev. 14:6). The story of Job is a great blessing, for it helps us understand that immense developments are happening behind the heavenly scenes when it appears to us on the surface that God has abandoned the great controversy with Satan. When probation closes, there will be a people who will "taste" of the "cup" that Jesus drank down when He cried on His cross, "My God, why have You forsaken Me?" Their hearts will be knit with His in eternal union!

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: August 10, 2007.

Thursday, July 07, 2011

"Led by the Holy Spirit"

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

After making a fantastic promise that the Holy Spirit is stronger than our sinful flesh with its lusts, Paul tells us in Galatians 5:18, "Moreover, if you are led by the Holy Spirit, you are not under the law." He has told us in verse 1 to "stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free, and don't be entangled again with a yoke of bondage." He has told us in chapter 3:10-13 that disobedience to the holy law of God is bondage, but obedience is freedom. So, if we are led by the Holy Spirit, we "walk at liberty," we are free from the accusations of a broken law of God, we are not in prison, the glorious liberty of the children of God is ours. Wouldn't you rather be free today, free to go where you wish and do what you wish, instead of being locked up in the penitentiary?

But what does it mean to be "led by the Holy Spirit"? The Good News is that He is a Leader! He knows the way through the maze and pitfalls of your life, He will never lead you on a false path. If you are climbing Mt. Everest, you need a leader! Day by day, the Holy Spirit will direct your path. David says, "Where is the man who reverences the Lord? He will teach him in the way that he shall choose" (Psalm 25:12). "All the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth, to such as cherish His covenant [His promise] and His testimonies" (vs. 10).

The Holy Spirit is sent to lead you individually in those paths of mercy and truth just as if you were the only person on earth. The Heavenly Father who notices when even a little bird flies into my office window and falls to the ground (Matt. 10:29) notices you a million times more. Your life, your happiness, is precious to Him; He will lead you.

Now your job is to follow. His word, the Bible, points out the path when it's dark and you can't see clearly: "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path" (Psalm 119:105). So, following the Bible and the constant convictions of the Holy Sprit, "the Spirit of truth" (John 16:13), you reach the top of Mt. Everest.

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: June 19, 1998.

Wednesday, July 06, 2011

Ingesting the Word

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

There is no need for intelligent people to doubt the miracles the Lord did in bringing Israel out of Egyptian slavery, including the pillar of fire by night and the crossing of the Red Sea. The Exodus story is a vital part of the Bible plan of salvation from sin. If God did not work those miracles to deliver Israel, then you have no assurance that He can work the miracles needed to deliver you from the power of sin now, and eventually, from eternal death.

There is no difference in the power of God, Himself; He has to be the same today as He was then, or there is no hope.

Please note that the Israelites were not commanded only to kill the Passover lamb, or to splash its blood on the door; they were actually to eat it, roasted. Thus they were taught a precious lesson: it is not enough for us to read the Bible in a desultory way, carelessly, like popping a medicine pill; we are to taste it, absorb it into our spiritual blood-stream. Jesus used the same illustration in speaking of His word in John 6: "I am the bread of life." "This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a person may eat thereof and not die. ... If any person eat of this bread, he shall live for ever ... Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink His blood ye have no life in you. Whoso eateth My flesh and drinketh My blood, hath eternal life ..." (vss. 35, 50-54).

What sense can we make of that? (The unbelieving Jews made no sense of it, and we are in danger of the same!) It's not a mechanical process; it's heart-humbling belief, a receiving of the truth of the Word that always involves and requires contrition--repentance for our life-long disbelieving it! Yes, forgive the frankness, it's a masticating of the Word, a breaking of it in the process, an entering and cherishing of its truth within the deepest recesses of the soul, so that--and here's where we take off our shoes for this is holy ground--"the word [becomes] flesh." What was bread today for your dinner is flesh and blood tomorrow, it's you walking around and talking. You ARE the food that you eat! Your physical being comes from no other source. So with your ingesting the Word. It becomes digested in you, a part of you.

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: January 12, 1999.

Tuesday, July 05, 2011

The Next Item on the Agenda

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

God's love for a lost, despairing world is seen in the message of three mighty angels who "fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach … to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people," telling [1] that "the hour of His judgment has come," [2] that "'Babylon' is fallen," that is, apostate, fallen Christianity that should lighten the earth with truth but instead has embraced self-worshipping paganism in its heart, and [3] don't "worship the beast and his image, [or] receive his mark" (Rev. 14:6-12).

The first message arose on time just after the end of the 1260 years that came in 1798, was given a first public presentation in 1831; a tragic rejection by the entrenched Protestant hierarchies made the "fall of Babylon" message relevant by 1844, and the identification of "the mark of the beast" has been proclaimed ever since.

But note: these three great angels can fly only "in the midst of heaven," like a helicopter flying over the treetops; better than travel by oxcart, yes, but severely limited in their effectiveness. They use all the marvelous "increase of knowledge" provided by modern technology, satellite preaching, for example; but straining their resources to the limit, they could preach on for hundreds of years more, frustrated in their best efforts unless "another angel," a fourth, comes "down from heaven, having great authority, and the earth [is] lightened with his glory, and he [cries] mightily with a loud voice ..." (18:1-4).

The most poignant drama of 6000 years is seen in modern "Israel's" disdaining that "most precious message" when its "beginning" came in the closing decades of the 19th century. Consequent on that tragic unbelief has been the loosening of the grip of those "four angels" of chapter 7 who had been commissioned to "hold the four winds of the earth" until the sealing angels "have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads" (vss. 1-3). In simple language, the Savior of the world has thereby been frustrated in His purpose to bring to a triumphant close His "great controversy" with Satan.

The next item on the agenda: repentance for God's own people.

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: September 15, 2006.

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