Daily Bread

Friday, July 20, 2012

The Power of "Much More Abounding Grace"

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Who is stronger--Christ, or the angel who fell from heaven--Satan?

Which is stronger, light or darkness?

Which is stronger, love (agape), or hatred? Which is stronger, that "much more abounding grace" of the Lord Jesus (Rom. 5:20, 21), or the power of our evil appetites and habits and obsessions and addictions?

Which is stronger: the power of death (that held Jesus Christ captive in the tomb of Joseph of Arimathaea), or the resurrection power of the Father that raised Him up after three days?

We can't say it often enough: that much more abounding grace is stronger than all the power of sin the devil can invent. In fact, there is in that grace "much more" power! "Where sin abounded, grace did much more abound."

Let's not try to serve God with anything less than that full power of that much more abounding grace that is revealed in Christ. That grace of Christ is the enemy of sin; it condemns it, defeats it, conquers it, annihilates it, so that we might be free indeed. Then the grace of God will be manifested in us in "newness of life" (6:4). That grace "reigns through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord."

Then we discover something precious: it is easy to be saved and it is hard to be lost, when we begin to appreciate that much more abounding grace! We must not conclude that the upward path is the "hard path" and the downward path is the "easy one;" it's the opposite. All the way that leads to hell there are impediments and obstacles to hinder us in that way; God is constantly trying to tell us this. It's like we are driving on the freeway, you're at the wheel (because you are the boss), but the Holy Spirit is sitting beside you in the front seat. He is saying, Don't stay on this freeway to hell; take this exit to the kingdom of God! That's what Jesus promised that the Holy Spirit would do when He gave Him the name "Parakletos," the One called to sit down beside you and never leave you (John 16:7, 8; "para" = beside you; "kletos" = called).

Don't misunderstand. You DO have something to do: it's to make the constant choice to let the Holy Spirit guide you. But please remember, you are not your Savior yourself: you let the Lord save you. It is you who turns the wheel on to the blessed Exit coming up that leads to eternal life. But He guided you to do it; and you praise the Lord forever and ever.

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: December 27, 2007.

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Thursday, July 19, 2012

Remembering Brings Joy

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

The Lord loves to "turn the captivity" of people who have suffered, and bring them out of the painful shadows of rejection into the bright sunlight of His favor.

Take Joseph for example. We think of the text that says "Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth; and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth" (Eccl. 11:9). Boys should be full of fun. But Joseph at the age of 17 or maybe 18 is crying his eyes out one night in an agony worse almost than death--he has just been sold as a slave to some hard-hearted Midianites. A life of torture is before him, when he had thought that God's favor was on him.

And those who sold him? His fellow church-members, his ten brothers in the faith. No, they are more than that--they are the church leadership of his day, for they were all older than he, the heirs of the glorious promises God made to Abraham's descendants. Condemned to Egyptian slavery, Joseph appears to be God-forsaken, and he feels like it except for the little glimmer of faith he has.

His slavery goes from bad to worse and he ends up in a dark Egyptian prison. At least 12 or 13 years of this “chastisement” discipline go on; the Lord must have loved him enormously, for "whom the Lord loves He chastens, and scourges every son whom He receives" (Heb. 12:5-9).

The Lord gave Joseph a little sunlight when he was made prime minister of the realm of Egypt and he realized that his painful suffering had prepared him to become the famine "savior" of the Middle East civilization of his day.

But still the years of soul captivity dragged on; his constant temptation was to think that the prophetic dreams of his boyhood were a deception; no one can suffer a deep, private pain more agonizing than the fear that the Lord truly has betrayed your trust. You can’t talk to anyone about it. Not until his ten brothers come and kneel before him in fulfillment of his prophetic childhood dream is Joseph finally led out into the bright sunshine of the heavenly Father's vindication.

There are little Josephs all over the world today, people whose faith is tried to the utmost (it seems to them) when everything seems to shout at them that God has forgotten them. In some cases as in the life of the prophet Jeremiah, the pain goes on and on until death is the final release from it (then the Jews realized that he had been the prince of prophets).

If you must look through tears, remember that "God is love"--your "Abba, Father" (Rom. 8:15-17) who has adopted you into His family. Remembering brings joy.

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: June 12, 2007.

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Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Christ--A Divine-Human Bridge

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

If you have ever been in despair, be encouraged, the apostle Paul himself was there too. It was in Romans 7 when he cried out, "'O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from this body of death?'"

Then imagine his delight when he gets into the joy of Romans 8: "The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death."

"No condemnation" means release from what the fallen Adam left to us--our inner sense of a verdict of divine judgment which has hung over us all our lives. Although these feelings of psychic wrong and maladjustment were deep and penetrating, "the law of the Spirit of life" has gone even deeper and is therefore more far reaching. A new principle delivers from the craven sense of fear. Guilt and moral disorder have enslaved us even from infancy.

No psychiatrist can accomplish such a catharsis of the human soul. It heals. Wrongs and anxieties that even our parents were helpless to relieve find inner cleansing. David speaks of the process: "When my father and my mother forsake me [that is, where they must leave off], then the Lord will take me up" (Psalm 27:10).

Here's a breathtaking bit of good news: "he who takes God for the portion of his inheritance, has a power working in him for righteousness as much stronger than the power of inherited tendencies to evil, as our heavenly Father is greater than our earthly parents" (E. J. Waggoner).

God the Father solved our problems by "sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit" (Rom. 8:3, 4).

The word "likeness" means identical, the same as. Christ who was fully God now became fully man. He built a divine-human bridge that spanned the gulf of alienation that sin had made between us and God. Its foundations reach all the way to the deepest root within us of sinful alienation.

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: November 26, 2007.

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Tuesday, July 17, 2012

God's Promise Is Always Solid

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

One of the strangest anomalies of history is the fate of Israel held in Egyptian slavery. That was something that was not supposed to be! How could it ever have happened?

The Lord told Abraham that his descendants "shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years; … and afterward shall they come out with great substance" (Gen. 15:13, 14). Yes, they were to be slaves all that time! But was it the Lord's will for them?

The Lord had made those seven glorious New Covenant promises to Abraham (Gen. 12:2, 3) which applied not only to him, but to his descendants after him ("Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. ... The covenant that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it should make the promise of none effect," Gal. 4:16, 17). God's promise is always firm and solid!

Why then should Israel be slaves in Egypt? Jeremiah was shown that it should never have been: "Is Israel a servant? Is he a home-born slave? Why is he plundered?" (Jer. 2:14; the Good News Bible renders it, "Israel is not a slave, he was not born into slavery"!).

There can be only one answer: Abraham's descendants forgot the New Covenant promises that God had made to their father Abraham. Even the patriarch had had trouble believing how good the Good News is when he agreed to take that second wife, Hagar, and thus to doubt and disbelieve the Lord's promises that "in Isaac shall thy seed be called"!

Have you forgotten them? Then confess that you are in that distraught father's place when he begged Jesus, "Lord, I believe; help Thou mine unbelief" (Mark 9:24). That should have been Israel's prayer all during those 430 years! Let it be yours now.

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: July 8, 2006.

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Monday, July 16, 2012

Lukewarmness and Old Covenant Thinking

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Most Christian church members will admit that the church as an institution is "lukewarm." Jesus Himself says so in Revelation 3:14-21; and we can't argue otherwise. The joyous abandon of devotion to Christ that characterized the apostolic church seems lacking. The more luxurious and imposing are the church buildings, cathedrals, or institutions we build, the less there seems to be of that fervent yet humble zeal.

As we study into what the Bible says about the New Covenant versus the Old, the question pops up: is there a relationship between this widespread lukewarmness and the Old Covenant kind of Christian thinking?

Is it possible for any church in any age of history, anywhere in the world, to be "lukewarm" and at the same time be living under the New Covenant? Is this what Christ died to accomplish--to raise up a professed Christian church that is half and half in its devotion to its Savior?

You can't read very far in the New Testament without being confronted by a painful truth: spiritual lukewarmness is inconsistent with understanding and believing the New Covenant. Wherever we see such half-and-half devotion, we can know we are in an area of spiritual experience dominated by Old Covenant ideas. They may have their roots beneath the surface of our consciousness, but still our lukewarmness is an embarrassment to Jesus, two thousand years past Pentecost. And it's the height of arrogance for us to boast that we are "rich and increased with goods" in our understanding of the gospel when Old Covenant principles still bedevil our thinking.

Old Covenant "Christian" living is highly popular, but it's difficult for Jesus to explain to the holy angels how His people can be content to go on generation after generation, century after century, so spiritually naive, so self-satisfied. In His message to the leadership of His church in the last days, He confesses that this lukewarmness perpetuated so long makes Him feel like throwing up (see Rev. 3:16, 17). He is suffering the pain of acute nausea; should not our concern be, not for self, but for His healing?

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: January 21, 2003.

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Saturday, July 14, 2012

Fellowship With the Prophets

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Jesus told us not only to be glad, but rejoice with exultation when people lie about us and ridicule us and malign us, for His sake (Matt. 5:11, 12). Why? He gives two reasons: (1) We have (present tense) a great reward in heaven, and (2) we have fellowship with the prophets of old who were persecuted. But how can that be? They are dead! How can you fellowship with someone who's dead?

Not through Spiritualism, no! But you can appreciate the experiences that the prophets like Jeremiah or John the Baptist went through. In a very real sense, through the Bible you develop a rapport with them, you identify with them. You actually make their acquaintance in such a way that when you do finally enter the gates of the New Jerusalem, they will seem to you like old friends. And better still, when they meet you, they will look in your face and see the development of character that will cause them to say to you, "Oh, YOU understand! YOU know what I went through! Let's sit down and talk, for we have something in common!" You will feel like you are a prince in the kingdom of heaven, and when Jesus gives out the awards to those who have suffered for His sake, you will be standing right there side by side with Jeremiah or John the Baptist, or Paul, and you will feel right at home like you belong there, as one of the inner circle. What a thrill!

That "great reward" that Jesus spoke of is not only a thing of the future; He made plain that it is present tense. You have that consciousness of fellowship even now, that you belong in their company, that you are "accepted" in such truly high society! Condemned on this earth, but honored by heaven! And that gives you a deep sense of humbleness, yes; but also a holy joy at the realization that you are not entering heaven like a dog with its tail between its legs, merely surviving, merely existing there; but as a prince and princess of the Realm! Take heart for all this Good News!

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: June 7, 1998.

Thursday, July 12, 2012

The Only Hope the World Has Ever Had

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Did the early apostles expect the second coming of Christ in their lifetime, as we expect it today? If the answer is "Yes," then how can we be sure that our "blessed hope" in His soon return is not another 2000 years too early, as was theirs?

Paul's First Letter to the Thessalonians gives the impression that he expected Christ's return in his lifetime. And that's what the people got from it. But Paul immediately writes back to straighten them out. No, he says, he didn't mean that; they misunderstood him (Paul did not apologize for misleading them!). He made himself clear in his Second Letter: "We beseech you, ... that ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand" (2 Thess. 2:1, 2). Thank God we have his reply to them, so it can straighten us out, too.

Paul goes on to tell them that Christ cannot return until the prophecies of Daniel have been fulfilled in history when "that man of sin" (Daniel's little horn) has done his evil work. He reminds them that when he was with them he had taught them about that "man of sin." This does not mean that Paul had a clear understanding of all of Daniel's prophecies; but he knew enough to know that the great controversy between Christ and Satan must run its course, or the end could not come. A far-off mountain on a very clear day looks close.

The second coming of Christ is the only hope the world has ever had. Only then can the dead be resurrected to eternal life. Naturally, God's people through the ages have always cherished this "blessed hope." But now we know that the prophecies about the 1260, and the 2300, years, and many details, have been fulfilled. The signs of Christ's soon return have almost been fulfilled. Thus we know that His return is "even at the doors" (Matt. 24:33, 34). "Even so, come, Lord Jesus!" Yes, but not for our sakes alone--many are suffering.

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: December 9, 2002.

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Wednesday, July 11, 2012

The Bible Is Clear--How Close He Has Come

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

The Bible is clear that the divine Son of God, whom the Father gave to the world, became a man. His name is "Immanuel, … 'God with us'" (Matt. 1:23, NKJV).

But we humans have not as yet been clear in our understanding of how close He has come. He came "in the flesh" (1 John 4:2), which means "closer than a brother" (Prov. 18:24), "in all points tempted as we are [tried, tested]" (Heb. 4:15, Rotherham, 20th Century).

What "we" as the fallen human race have been slow to grasp is that His taking our fallen sinful nature upon His holy, sinless nature meant that He became a "man," the Greek word that means a male. And a "man" loves a "woman" and wants to be one with her; the "woman" whom Jesus loves in His humanity is more than a woman--she is the church (cf. Eph. 5:25). What we can't seem to grasp is how He loves her as a man loves the one woman out of billions whom his heart is devoted to with conjugal love. "Many waters cannot quench" such love; it's "strong as death" (S. of S. 8:6, 7). But "she" has been unfaithful!

If a woman loves a man who forsakes her, it is painful for her; but if a pure man loves a woman who forsakes him, there is a special lonely pain there that our Savior can understand in a unique way. He has suffered the same pain in an enormously greater way. Nowhere does the Bible say that it's not good for a woman to be alone; but the Lord said, "It is not good that the man should be alone" (Gen. 2:18, KJV).

The story of Hosea (1:2) gives us a tiny glimpse into reality: it's clear that he loved Gomer as a good man finds it in his heart to love one woman only; read the story in the book of his heartbreak. Then try to understand Jesus as He is today. (And don't forget Revelation 19:7, 8.)

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: December 4, 2005.

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

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

A "Blessed Hope" to Be Cherished

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

The Bible tells of "last things" that simple-minded people around the world can understand (Lincoln said that God must love common people, He made so many of them):

"The Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God" (1 Thess. 4:16; that's the second coming of Christ that He promised in John 14:1-3--personal, visible, literal).

There will be a mortal people living on earth who will welcome Him: "Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air" (vs. 17).

Then and only then will this "mortality" be exchanged for "immortality," because "we shall not all sleep but we shall all be changed, in a moment in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet ... This mortal must put on immortality" (1 Cor. 15: 51-53). Clear, simple!

Those who at that day are "alive and remain" will be "the harvest of the earth." Jesus Christ, as an eager Bridegroom longing to come to claim His Bride will be straining at the leash for the command that lets Him come but He must wait until "another angel [who comes] out of the temple ... [cries] with a loud voice, 'Thrust in Your sickle and reap: for the time is come for You to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe'" (Rev. 14:14, 15). Jesus must follow directions! The timing of the permission depends on His people on earth.

The context tells what "ripe" means: a group in mystic number "144,000" have "overcome even as [Christ] overcame and sat down with [His] Father on His throne" "without fault ... in whose mouth there is no guile" (3:21; 14:5). Impossible? No! It's true.

Being "ripe" means they have outgrown their former status of mere flower-girl at the "marriage of the Lamb," now grown up to share with Him executive authority in bringing to a belated end the great controversy between Christ and Satan. Due to His people overcoming, He now can be acclaimed "King of kings and Lord of lords."

Nobody dares be arrogant and say who will be in that mystic "144,000." The Bible says there will be such a people who like Christ have "condemned sin" while living in the same "sinful flesh" He "took" in which He "condemned sin" and rendered it forever defeated (Rom. 8:3, 4; Heb. 2:14-17). The idea is a "blessed hope" to be cherished by all who have begun to appreciate the grace of God (Titus 2:11-13).

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: May 23, 2007.

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

Monday, July 09, 2012

An Expensive Object Lesson

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Jesus said something very strange that has puzzled many people since the day He said it: "Whosoever shall fall on this Stone [Himself, His history as Saviour of the world] shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder" (Matt. 21:44).

The leaders of the nation were planning to kill Him; Caiaphas, the high priest, hated Him; Pilate the Roman governor would deliver Him to death, knowing He was innocent; and King Herod would agree to His death. The greatest judicial travesty in all history! Jesus had just reminded them of the well-known story of building Solomon's temple. One large stone had baffled the workmen--they couldn't figure out where to put it and they abandoned it in the weeds, to the heat of summer and the storms and frost of winter. Finally they discovered that it was the "head stone of the corner," where it proved to be an exact fit. So, said Jesus, He is the "head stone which the builders rejected" (vs. 42).

So far, it is clear. But why the idea of anyone "falling on the Stone and being broken"? Well, Peter was an example of such a person. Arrogant and proud, he was sure he would never give in to pressure and deny his Lord, but before the rooster crowed in the morning he had denied Jesus three times. Peter wept bitterly when he realized the sinfulness of his own heart. His repentance was deep. He "fell upon the Stone and was broken." The love of self was broken up; his heart was broken. It was reported in early times that ever afterward there was a tear glistening in his eyes. On the other hand, look at Caiaphas, Pilate, Herod: all they have is the final judgment. Christ will not grind them to powder--what will do it is their own history. He will not say a word to condemn them in that final judgment; they will do it themselves. They will salvage nothing for eternity.

A wise writer has used this text about the "Stone" in appealing to church members to let the Holy Spirit melt their proud hearts, and to teachers in Christian schools whose self-centered pride hides Jesus from the view of their students, and to ministers and church leaders who repeat Peter's denial of Christ. It's an "either/or" judgment we all face: self must be humbled eventually. Either by our own voluntary choice to take up the cross on which self is crucified, or to go on making self the center of our heart's devotion.

The former calls for tears of melted-heart repentance now; the latter points to "powder" being blown away like dust in a windstorm, an eternal record of nothingness. Herod, Caiaphas, and Pilate have given us an expensive object lesson.

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: February 5, 2000.

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Saturday, July 07, 2012

Psalm 139--A Direct Conversation With God

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

It's easy to say, "Oh yes, I believe John 3:16, that 'God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, etc.,' but my problem is I can't believe He notices me out of the six or seven billion people He has to love! Divide that love into a fraction of one-seventh billion--how much am I getting?"

And so many people go through life to their bitter end with human hearts bereft of that spine-tingling divine love. And if their human loves have failed them, they are all the more forlorn. If you would like to realize the close connection you have missed, take a good look at Psalm 139, word by word. It's something good to read while you are on your knees. It's a direct conversation with God, hand touching Hand. A few highlights:

(1) Fly to Timbuktu to get away from His love, but it follows you there (vss. 5-10).

(2) He took the time to create YOU bone by bone, sinew by sinew, nerve by nerve; yes, even every one of your brain cells designed to appreciate His concern for YOU. No scientist working with his electronic microscope could be more fastidious (vss. 13-16).

(3) All your foolish wanderings, your sins, your blindness, He has noted and forgiven in advance because He persists in loving you (vss. 14-16).

(4) There's a "secret" between you and Him that no other human on earth can penetrate (vs. 15). He treasures that individual secret touch. When at last you look into the eyes of the Son of God you will recognize that although He knows all your guilty secrets He still loves and respects YOU.

(5) God never sends you a printed birthday card--He thinks specifically of YOU personally, and has a billion private good-will thoughts toward you as an individual (vss. 17, 18).

(6) Such love enlists you as a co-worker with Him in the great controversy raging between Christ and Satan. You cease being an empty cipher in this conflict, and share with Him the battle and the victory (vss. 19-22).

(7) Now you welcome His searching investigative-judgment of your inner heart (vss. 23, 24).

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: November 16, 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.

Friday, July 06, 2012

King Solomon's Thinking--Old Covenant or New?

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

We all know that King Solomon was the wisest man in the world, and probably the richest; but was his thinking dominated by the Old Covenant, or the New? There were many good, faithful Israelites who did many good works, under the Old. In ancient times, it was better than paganism (Old Covenant "Christian" living is better today than being in "Babylon"; we can be proud that we've "come out").

Solomon's Ecclesiastes is certainly not gospel-oriented, although by much searching we can find a little good news hope therein; but Solomon's enormous ego dominates. God gave him the wisdom that he requested when a youth, but he later came to see it as his acquirement. His message in Ecclesiastes is basically egocentric: do what's right and you'll reap a great reward. "Wisdom"!

(The "good news" is that after his descending to the level of paganism and even offering a child as a burnt offering, and tragically mis-feeding his people with theological poison that eventually ruined the kingdom, God forgave the foolish old king and restored him personally, drooping with contrition, to salvation-favor--giving hope to any sinner today who has gone the length in rebellion against the Lord.)

But was it really Solomon's fault totally that he fell? Reality is that he inherited Old Covenant thinking all the way from Mt. Sinai. Jeremiah later saw it clearly--the New Covenant in that day remained the one that the Lord "will make [future tense] with the house of Israel; after those days, says the LORD" (31:33, emphasis supplied). Revival after revival under "good kings" was only temporary in nature (the Northern Kingdom never had even one!), until the Old Covenant finally drove Israel into captivity in Babylon, and then in the end to crucify their Messiah.

Moral: it's time for us to grow up out of the Old into the New!

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: October 12, 2006.

Be sure to check your e-mail for "Dial Daily Bread" again tomorrow.

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

Thursday, July 05, 2012

That Invitation on the Last Page of God's Book

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Can you know for sure that God has chosen YOU to be saved? Many sincere Christians believe that He has chosen some to be saved and left others to be lost. What does He say to us in the Bible?

On its very last page, He makes it clear that no one has been left out of God's gift of eternal life, so He says once more as His parting word, just to be doubly sure: "The Spirit and the Bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely" (Rev. 22:17). And then immediately the Holy Spirit warns us not to "add" to what He has just said, nor lessen in any degree that "whosoever will" invitation (vss. 18, 19).

If we have even an ounce of common sense, we must get the message: "God [is] our Saviour; [and] will have all men to be saved" (1 Tim. 2:3, 4). The only ones therefore who can possibly be lost will be those who "will" not to be saved; they have chosen not to be "athirst"; they have resisted everyone who has ever said to them, "Come," maybe, yes probably, thousands of times. Each new morning that the sun arose gave them a new opportunity to say "Yes," and "come." They have made a deliberate choice to reject that invitation written on the last page of God's Book, and furthermore, because the Holy Spirit is so persistent in pressing the invitation upon us each new sunrise, they have reiterated that fateful choice, all the way from childhood to the last bitter days in the nursing home. They have chosen "darkness rather than light" so often that at last they have grown to "love" it (John 3:19).

Jesus explains the entire phenomenon with one simple, single word: UNBELIEF, which is disbelief, a perverse refusal to appreciate the truth of God's love (agape) (vs. 18). Does God tell them at last, "I don't like you; I don't want you in heaven; I'm locking the gate against you"? A wise writer has said, "They are shut out from heaven not because of any arbitrary decree on the part of God, but by their own unfitness for its companionship." They'd be miserable there, so God in love gives them what they have always wanted--darkness forever. Because "let him that heareth say, Come," Dial Daily Bread is a tiny voice that says, "Believe." Please "hear," and therefore tell someone else to "come."

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: October 27, 1999.

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

Wednesday, July 04, 2012

Can the Dream Be Recovered?

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

With the end of the papal Dark Ages in 1798, the world entered into a new and hopefully glorious era. Little Mary Jones walked her weary trek to London to buy her fabulous prize of a Holy Bible; and lo, the British and Foreign Bible Society was formed, soon followed by the American.

Inventions began pouring out of fertile minds. The horror of slavery began to be abolished; the little nation of ex-British colonies began to prosper in the New World; Christian people awakened as from a long sleep--the second coming of Christ was near. The world had embarked on what the Bible describes as "the time of the end." A preparation for the return of Jesus Christ became to intelligent people a reasonable "blessed hope." Through unmistakably divine leading, the message began to go worldwide.

Hearts responded and capable people did things. Clearly blessed by the Holy Spirit, a message joining together the gospel of Jesus with the ideals of healthful living worked wonders in tired, sickly people; the world's finest health institution (for then) was established in Battle Creek, Michigan, where even European royalty crossed the Atlantic to come. There the "West's" finest Christian publishing house was established. What the apostles after Pentecost longed for seemed to be on the verge. A solemn but joyous sense that the world had entered into the cosmic Day of Atonement gripped hearts worldwide. The "blessed hope" of the imminent return of Christ made life here below a taste of heaven.

Then it was discovered that Christ's message to the seventh church of history had become applicable: the church was "Laodicea," the one whose worldly lukewarmness made the Lord so nauseous that He felt like throwing up (Rev. 3:14-21). Now a battle rages in people's minds and hearts: is that last organization into a "body of Christ" doomed to eventual failure? Or is a corporate repentance possible (and sure)? Can the dream be recovered?

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: June 29, 2006.

Be sure to check your e-mail for "Dial Daily Bread" again tomorrow.
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Please forward these messages to your friends and encourage them to subscribe. The "Dial Daily Bread" Web site resides at: http://1888message.org/dailybread/
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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 03, 2012

Listen and Learn--From an Open Bible

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

The Bible story is magnificent:

The Son of God gave up His position in heaven as co-Ruler of the universe, became a human being as we are, born as a Baby in Bethlehem, suffered as we suffer, endured death--our death; gave up everything forever, entered the Dark Tunnel that had no light at the end, which is to say He died "the second death” which is "the wages of sin,” our sin, totally emptied Himself (Phil. 2:5-8).

All very wonderful. But now coming down to the needs of our little lives:

How shall I live my new day? I know I should pray; I slept late, I don't dare go out into the world unless I kneel first at least for a few moments (it's like renewing a life insurance policy); so I begin the day with a few moments of prayer. But I gotta go, let's hope I'm "covered” for today.

My prayer is like hitting the right key on my keyboard. Now I can face the world; I've had my little tête-à-tête with the Master--in capsule form. (He knows how busy I am! He's so sweet, kind, lovable, forgiving, isn't He?)

Or have I really visited with Him? He has heard what I have to say, but have I heard Him, what He has to say? This humble little ministry might pass on to you a crumb of "bread” or a drop of "living water,” but you don't get your daily "more abundant life” that way.

To talk to God is great, but we must "listen” in order to have a conversation. GIVE HIM TIME to tell you something. Wait and wait (Psalm 40:1)--listen!

And if you overslept this morning, yes, He knows how busy you are; but if you "hunger and thirst after righteousness” (if you're "alive,” you do!), first chance you get you'll turn off your amusements and you'll "wait on the Lord” (cf. Psalm 27). You'll hunger tolisten and to learn from an open Bible.

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: July 4, 2006.

Be sure to check your e-mail for "Dial Daily Bread" again tomorrow.
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Please forward these messages to your friends and encourage them to subscribe. The "Dial Daily Bread" Web site resides at: http://1888message.org/dailybread/
To subscribe send an e-mail message with "subscribe" in the body of the message to: dailybread@1888message.org

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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.