Dial Daily Bread: A Spiritual Disease of the Last Days' Church

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

The lukewarmness Jesus describes in His letter to the angel (leadership) of the church of Laodicea (Rev. 3:14-22) is halfway between being cold in devotion to Christ and being hot. It is a spiritual disease in the last days' church that is the most difficult problem God has ever had to deal with. It makes Christ nauseated, because He knows what it cost Him to save us. As the last-days' church is positioned on the very verge of the final crisis in the controversy with Satan, for us to be unenthusiastic in our response to Him is like someone being an adult with the mind of a child. It's like a bride coming to the wedding when her heart is divided about her love for the prospective bridegroom, and says "yes" half-heartedly.

If the heavenly Bridegroom were to go on with "the marriage of the Lamb" with only that half-hearted "I do" from His people, that would be keen embarrassment for Him for eternity! So, what can He do?

Whip them into shape? That won't work any more than for a bridegroom to force his bride to say "I do." Increase His offers of great reward? That would be like marrying a man for his money; Jesus won't stoop to encourage that. Fear of hell or hope of reward in heaven--these two motivations have failed.

There is only one possible solution: win the heart-felt love of His people that will forever deliver them from lukewarmness. Appreciating His agape-love at His cross, realizing what it cost Him to save us--this alone can heal this terrible disease. Satan will try to prevent such a revelation of agapeas long as possible; but Zechariah 12:10-13:1 tells us that the revelation will come.

The latter rain of the Holy Spirit, so long anticipated and prayed for, will be a repentance deeper than any other in history. Heaven will "pour upon the house of David ["the angel of the church of the Laodiceans"] and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem [the people], the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon Me whom they have pierced" at the cross, and they shall experience the repentance that heals lukewarmness forever. Good News!

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: September 8, 2000.
Copyright © 2020 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: Is It a Sin to Be Afraid?

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Is it a sin to be afraid? You say No. Okay. Let me ask another question: Can fear deprive you of the protection God would like to give you?

Two men delivered the same God-given message to wicked King Jehoiakim and his court. God protected one man from the death the princes threatened; but He did not intervene to protect the other prophet from being slain by Jehoiakim's sword. Why the difference? Was God showing partiality?

"Urijah the son of Shemaiah" proclaimed the same message faithfully "in the name of the Lord." "When Jehoiakim the king, with all his mighty men and all the princes, heard his words, the king sought to put him to death." Then Urijah did what you and I would feel like doing. "He was afraid and fled, and went to Egypt." Surely God would have wanted to protect him from that murderous hatred; but something made it impossible: Urijah "was afraid" (Jer. 26:20, 21).

In contrast, when Jeremiah proclaimed the same message and the "priests and the prophets [and] princes" threatened to kill him (mind you, these are all God's people, members of His true church!), Jeremiah stood his ground boldly. "The Lord sent me to prophesy against this house and against this city with all the words that you have heard. ... Know for certain that if you put me to death, you will surely bring innocent blood on yourselves, on this city, and on its inhabitants" (vss. 10-15).

Jeremiah's holy boldness made it possible for God to impress the "princes and all the people" to protect Jeremiah (vss. 16-19). Agapeis the kind of "love divine, all loves excelling" that casts out fear. The Holy Spirit wants to "pour it out in our hearts" (Rom. 5:5; 1 John 4:18). Let Him do so!

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: June 11, 2001.
Copyright © 2020 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: Come Into the Sunshine of the New Covenant

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

The essence of that "most precious message" which "the Lord in His great mercy sent" to us long ago was the New Covenant. The idea which the "messengers" had was that the New Covenant is the promises that God makes in transforming the Ten Commandments from stern commands and prohibitions written in stone into most precious promises of righteousness in Christ. Conversely, the Old Covenant is the promises that we make to God to keep those Ten Commandments, which promises we break.

The New Covenant makes life to be a joyous walking on air; "delight yourself also in the Lord [believe His promises!]; and He shall give you the desires of your heart" (Psalm 37:4, for example). Overnight? You know how that may not be reality because you see that Abraham is "[your] father" in believing the New Covenant, and how long did he wait before the Lord's promise to him of Isaac, the child of promise, was fulfilled? Yes, many years--but the apparently impossible fulfillment came!

The Lord gave Abraham "the desires of [his] heart"! And the long wait was worth it because of the immensity of the promise--he became "the father of the faithful" (Rom. 4:11, 12) of all generations! Everyone who at last will walk through the gates of the New Jerusalem will do so as a "child of Abraham."

God's timing will be just right for you as it was just right for Abraham. It may be a dream from your youth; the holy desire of your heart is His desire for you! "Grow up" "into Christ." Come into the sunshine of the New Covenant.

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: March 29, 2006.
Copyright © 2020 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: This World Will Become Very Wicked in the Last Days

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

The Bible says that this world will become very wicked in the last days just before the second coming of Jesus. He Himself asks, "When the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?" (Luke 18:8), implying that it will be very rare.

Paul says, "In the last days perilous times will come." Then he lists many evil things that people will do, even those who profess to worship God. "For men will be ... unthankful, unholy, ... From such people turn away!" (2 Tim. 3:1-5).

But if you are willing to turn from the Old Covenant and welcome the New, you will see that God has not yet withdrawn completely the Holy Spirit from the world. He is still "the true Light which gives light to every man who comes into the world" (John 1:9).

The Bible is clear as sunlight on two realities of human life: (1) "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, [and (2) all are] being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus" (Rom. 3:23, 24).

You may be discouraged by the evil that is in the world. We hear tragic stories of the hatred of people who give their hearts and minds to Satan; but the Bible is equally clear that "where sin abounded, grace abounded much more" (Rom. 5:20). That means that whatever evil Satan has invented, the Lord Jesus Christ is the Source of even greater love and compassion manifested in grace.

That's because He drained the exceedingly bitter cup as He hung on His cross in the darkness and cried out to His Father, "My God, why have You forsaken Me?" (Matt. 27:46). The Lord Jesus actually went to hell in order to save the human race. There was no evil that He did not taste, for our sake: "we see Jesus, ... that He, by the grace of God, might taste death for everyone" (Heb. 2:9), that is "the second death" (see Rev. 2:11; 20:14). These eternal facts of truth underlie life on this planet, which Jesus came to save; He saved us although it cost Him the last drop in total consecration of His all.

The entire world is gathered at His cross: many will curse Him as did the leaders of the true church of that day. The Jews did; but there will be those who like the pagan Roman centurion will permit their worldly hearts to melt in repentance. Don't forget, it was he who gave the order to his soldiers to "Crucify Him" and it was he who confessed, "Truly this Man was the Son of God!" (Mark 15:39).

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: December 11, 2007.
Copyright © 2020 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: Great Theologians May Wrangle Over What the Prophet Daniel Meant by the "Increase of Knowledge"

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

The great theologians may wrangle over what the prophet Daniel meant, but an ordinary person is impressed with the literal fulfillment of one of his prophecies: "[In] the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase" (12:4).

Merge into traffic on any city freeway, or visit any electronics store, and consider the intense explosions of travel and scientific "knowledge." Or "visit" the Internet! All the angels in heaven couldn't drum it into your consciousness more vividly: we are living in the closing hours of "the time of the end."

With all this "increase of knowledge" is it reasonable that we should understand more clearly what happened on the cross when the Son of God died for the world? Should the Holy Spirit impart a greater appreciation of what it means to say, "God forbid that I should glory except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world"? Would we be less inclined to think someone a fanatic if he is "determined not to know anything among [his congregation] except Jesus Christ and Him crucified" (Gal. 6:14; 1 Cor. 2:2)?

Luther, Calvin, Arminius, and the Wesleys were great in their day; God was with them. But this "time of the end" is the "hour of [God's] judgment," the world's grand cosmic Day of Atonement. What is due now is not a proud triumphalism to "glory in the cross," but a self-humbling appreciation for the agapelove seen there. Now is the time to "comprehend" what Christ accomplished on His cross (Rev. 14:6, 7; Eph. 3:14-21).

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: March 2, 2005.
Copyright © 2020 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: How Precious to a Teenager Is the Bible Truth of the New Covenant?

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Have you ever thought how precious to a teenager is the Bible truth of the New Covenant? In accepting baptism, he begins to realize that he is a child of Abraham--provided of course that he has been correctly instructed about the New Covenant promises God made to "our father Abraham."

Teenagers generally are the most worried segment of humanity. They are just becoming aware that life stretches out before them; what to do, what to be, perplexes them. They often agonize about which way to go. It's impossible to overestimate the encouragement that a conscious awareness of God's New Covenant promises can give to them. First, of course, the youth must clearly see himself as the "heir" to all the promises God has made to Abraham and his "seed" (Gen. 12:2, 3; Rom. 4:13-16), which are:

(1) "I will make you a great nation." In other words: I will make you to be a very important person. (Says the teen, "Wow!")

(2) "I will bless you," which means, I will make you to be a happy person all your life. (Girls, if you're thinking of marriage, grab that one, and hold on to it. Keep yourself until you know for sure that God, not selfish desire, has led you. Believing the New Covenant will save you from untold agony.)

(3) "And make your name great." In other words, you will not merely be somebody great but you'll always be known as such (in the way you really want to be).

(4) "And you shall be a blessing." Every healthy teen wants to become someone useful to society; not to live only for self. Here's the Good News about it; believe it and you've got purpose from now on.

(5) "I will bless those who bless you." You'll be surrounded by people who love and trust you, and they will realize that their happiness is bound up with yours.

(6) "I will curse him who curses you." The New Covenant-educated teen will fear no enemies. (That's a direct parallel to Psalm 23, "You prepare a [banquet] table before me in the presence of my enemies.") You walk through life as a prince or princess, head held high (and yet always gifted with appropriate common-sense humility; Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Oxford, Cambridge, can never give you that sense of poise).

(7) "In you all the families of the earth shall be blessed." Not that you will be as famous as Abraham, "the father of the faithful," but when you come to the end of life you will know that wherever your steps have taken you, you have left behind a trail of happiness for people you've touched. In other words, "your cup runs over."

Warning: The Old Covenant can do none of this for you.

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: April 7, 2004.
Copyright © 2020 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: The Holy Spirit is a Person Who Keeps Convicting Us of "Sin, …”; Be Careful: Don't Drown Out His Voice

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

How does the Good Shepherd who is seeking and finding His lost sheep translate into practical day-by-day living? If the Savior gives us a good faith-relationship with Himself, shouldn't it be fair for us now to "maintain" that "relationship" by (1) Bible study, (2) prayer, and (3) witnessing? If the Lord gives you a new car, isn't it fair that you "maintain" it by changing the oil, renewing the brake pads, paying the insurance, etc.?

Yes, it's fair, but a lot of cars fall into disrepair by not being "maintained." The new car thrill wears off; as also many people lose their "relationship with the Lord" by neglect and forgetfulness. So we have "revival" campaigns at various intervals. And of course, all that is good.

It sounds like reasonable good sense that millions know no other way to be Christians. But when you think it through, isn't this the essence of the "by faith plus by works" idea? We're afraid of any Good News that's better than that, because making the Good News too good might lull us to sleep and we'll forget to keep the law. The "faith plus works" idea becomes immensely popular because it seems to be the only way people can stay "faithful."

If the Good Shepherd has risked His own life to save the lost sheep, doesn't it make sense that He require the sheep to walk its way home? Yes, that's fair; but that's not what the parable says: "When He has found it, He lays it on His shoulders, rejoicing" (Luke 15:5). Paul says in Philippians: "He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until [it is finished on] the Day of Jesus Christ" (1:6).

What does that mean? Lazy, do-nothing religion? No; it means that through the Holy Spirit the Good Shepherd who initiated this good "relationship" now seeks to maintain it. His love is not only a finding love, it's also a keeping love. The Holy Spirit is a Person who keeps convicting us of "sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment" (John 16:8). Be careful: don't drown out His voice. That's where our problem starts.

Even Jesus, when he was with us in the flesh, needed His Father to wake Him up "morning by morning ... to hear as the learned." (Does the Father love you less? It seems fair to say No, He loves His Son more; but the amazing truth is He loves us just as much!) But Jesus did not resist His Father's awakening calls--as we do so often: "I was not rebellious, nor did I turn away" (Isa. 50:4, 5).

You can't save yourself even one percent. But you can let Christ save you, you can "let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus," you can "let the word of Christ dwell in you richly," etc. (Phil. 2:5; Col. 3:16). You can stop resisting Him.

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: December 12, 2003.
Copyright © 2020 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: Daniel and Revelation Point to a Corporate Body of Believers Preparing for the Second Coming of Jesus

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Some of the best good news the Bible has for us is found where we read that the Lord wants us to understand that last book of the Bible, and yet many think it's impossible. Here's the promise of God: "Happy is the one who reads this book, and happy are those who listen to the words of this prophetic message and obey [that is, cherish] what is written in this book!" (Rev. 1:3, Good News Bible).

The book of Revelation has never been sealed as was Daniel; and even Daniel was un-sealed as we entered "the time of the end" as defined in 11:35, 12:4, and 7:25. Interest in both Daniel and Revelation was widely aroused in the first half of the 1800s.

But who can we trust as capable and reliable teachers of those key prophecies? Today there is a multitude of voices saying they have the right knowledge, but they disagree with one another. That tells us to look again at what Peter says, "No prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation" (2 Peter 1:19-21). In other words, don't follow any "solo" interpreter; "By the mouth of two or three witnesses every word shall be established" (2 Cor. 13:1; Deut. 19:15). Truth will attract more than one supporter! A reliable student of Bible prophecy must be a person in whom self is crucified with Christ, someone who is courageous to stand for Him against the crowd, yet who recognizes that God leads others, too.

At the first church council in Acts 15, the elders spoke of those faithful servants of God "who have risked their lives in the service of our Lord Jesus Christ" (vs. 26, GNB).

Such were those pioneers of the early 1800s who not only championed the fresh message of Daniel and Revelation, but also the dangerous public defense of the slaves in the South. Many listened to these godly men, among whom were J. N. Loughborough, Joseph Bates, J. N. Andrews, and Uriah Smith with his monumental Daniel and the Revelation, a 700+ page book that has become a treasure to many worldwide, and has stood the test of time. It may be written in Victorian English but it is solid truth. This is not to say it's perfection--no book is, aside from the Bible; we need common sense and God gives it.

The dear Lord is leading His people in these last days, not just a stray soul here and there. Everything in Daniel and the Revelation points to a corporate bodyof believers preparing for the second coming of Jesus, a world "church" in unity and harmony in Christ.

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: May 4, 2007.
Copyright © 2020 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: A Dramatic Miracle of Awakening

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

The books of Daniel and the Revelation are an integral part of the Holy Bible: Jesus expressly charged us with the duty of "reading" and "understanding" Daniel (Matt. 24:15), and Revelation is obviously the fulfillment of His promise to the disciples that "the [Holy] Spirit of truth ... will tell you things to come" (John 16:13; Rev. 1:1-3).

We need a rock-solid understanding of those prophecies as valid as the original inspiration that gave them to us. Daniel was "sealed" until it was opened when "the time of the end" came at the end of the 1260 years of the Dark Ages (Dan. 7:25; 11:35; 12:4; Rev. 12:6, 14, etc.). That unsealing was a dramatic miracle of awakening that occurred simultaneously in many lands among many Christian churches in the early decades of the 19th century.

Foremost among the early pioneers of prophetic study was a little group who were united in a common hatred of slavery in the United States of America. They risked their lives in publishing their abhorrence of that devilish traffic in the souls of men and women and children; these students of the prophecies were in "at-one-ment" with Jesus Himself, for He too has always hated the slavery cruelty of man to man. They actively opposed the terrible injustice of the Fugitive Slave Law and helped runaway slaves to freedom at the risk of their own lives (would you do that today?).

Several of these noble men were led by the Holy Spirit to pursue a study of all the prophecies of those two inspired books. They may not have had every tiny detail perfectly understood, but they were united in the same basic convictions; people far and wide became convinced that the Spirit of God was leading; it wasn't emotional miracles based on shallow understanding--these were solid, reasonable dissertations on Daniel and Revelation that appealed to and convinced highly intelligent, honorable, reasonable men and women.

The little group developed until they became a leading movement of 19th century Christian reformation that also led the world in health reform, building the finest health institution of the day in Battle Creek, Michigan, to which came kings across the Atlantic.

The point of this little soliloquy: the understanding those pioneers gained from Bible prophecy was taught by God; none was of the "private interpretation" that the apostle decries in 2 Peter 1:19-21. These pioneers were led by a loving fellowship in Christ to lay aside their private views and recognize together the leading of the Lord. The Holy Spirit led the community, and His leading has stood the test of these centuries of time.

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: May 3, 2007.
Copyright © 2020 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: The “Little Horn” Story Must Be Understood

Dear Friends of “Dial Daily Bread,”

Billions of people on earth are deeply prejudiced against Jesus and His faith. That prejudice has been there in their culture going back for hundreds of years. Yet Jesus assured “us,” “Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (see Matt. 28:20). If His presence has been “with” us these 2000 years, why are such huge portions of the human family alienated from Him, opposed to His gospel?

For example: in Japan the masses are Buddhist, innately opposed. In India where the masses are Hindu, they are also deeply resistant. And the billion plus people who are Muslim, whose contempt for Christianity is so well known today. Why? Why could God permit this to happen?

The answer is in Daniel chapters 7, 8, and 9 where we read of “the little horn,” the apostate power that would arise out of the ruins of the ancient pagan Roman empire. This “little horn” would be “granted” to “make war with the saints and to overcome them” (Rev. 13:7). This power has pretended to be Christian while in reality alienating multitudes from Christ through gross misrepresentation of His truth.

The Jesuits are an organization that has taken the name of Jesus, yet has so misrepresented Him that they have been expelled from nation after nation for centuries, creating behind them abhorrence for anything having to do with “Jesus.” They were expelled from Japan in 1587, thus cementing in Buddhism this abhorrence of Christianity. They were expelled from Japan again in 1613, from India and China in 1623, from Abyssinia in 1632.

In England’s imperialist rule over India, Christianity (this time Protestant) was likewise in the minds of the people a representation of the religion of “Jesus,” and there were many good missionaries. Yet Mahatma Gandhi had a real point when he said that all India would bow at the feet of Jesus if His professed people were like Him.

Jesus said of the book of Daniel: “Whoever reads, let him understand” (Matt. 24:15). We can’t understand the world in which we live unless we do. This “little horn” story must be understood!

--Robert J. Wieland

From the “Dial Daily Bread” Archive: August 30, 2004.
Copyright © 2020 by “Dial Daily Bread.”

Dial Daily Bread: Daniel 8 and 9--Two of the Most Profound Chapters in the Bible

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

The resurrected Christ commands us, "Go into all the world and proclaim the Glad Tidings to everyone!" (see Matt. 28:19, 20; Mark 16:15). It was a joyous ministry for the apostles as they fanned out over their known world, because the foundations of ancient paganism collapsed before their proclamation of Christ the Son of God and Savior of the world. People everywhere welcomed the precious message. This same joyous work is our ministry that we have today, two millennia afterwards.

But there are great non-Christian religions resistant to the Christian gospel, such as Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, and of course, Judaism. They teach non-Christian doctrines, and they seem to have an enormous control over their peoples' prejudiced thinking. Is this the will of the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ? Is the gospel of Christ comparatively impotent as it confronts non-Christian religions? Must the great masses of world population always remain resistant?

Daniel 8 and 9 are two of the most profound chapters in the Christian Bible (and Jewish Old Testament). A personal devil is at war with a personal Christ; the enemy learned that bloody persecution could not destroy Christ's church--the gospel was too strong in capturing human hearts. Therefore, the enemy devised a massive apostasy or "falling away" from the original purity of the gospel (cf. 2 Thess. 2:3-7 where Daniel 8 and 9 are explained).

A distorted, confused "caricature" of Christianity took over the church, misrepresenting the love of Christ. In Daniel, this deception is seen as a "little horn" at war with the God of heaven. It alienated the masses from Christ and His plan of salvation, creating this constant resistance to the gospel.

Revelation 18 describes how this process must and will be reversed before the end so that again a church in full possession of the original pure, true gospel proclaims the "fall of Babylon." Once more and at last, the honest in heart all over the world will respond.

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: August 28, 2004.
Copyright © 2020 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: The Book of Daniel Will Reward You With Eternal Starlit Glory

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Studying the book of Daniel is an opportunity, for Jesus Christ promised that those who "read" that particular book will be given "understanding." That's something precious! The exact wording of His promise is, "Whoever reads, let him understand" (Matt. 24:15). The word "let" implies that the Holy Spirit will release the "reader" from the deadly grip of his love of ignorance of holy truth that is so common to all humanity--"the darkness of this age" (Eph. 6:12).

In other words, the lethal spell of neglecting Bible study will be broken; the captivity to worldly pleasure will be released. "Reading" the book of Daniel will be the key that sets the soul free from the prison of this world's spiritual slavery.

The special blessing comes in a corporate sense--when people together hunger for this understanding, it becomes greater than when one in lonely solitude prays.

The word that Jesus used for "read" is itself a little stick of mental dynamite. It means much more than glancing at the news headlines. It is ana-ginoskoin the original language, which means "again and again" seeking to know, repeated pondering, continued efforts to satisfy mental and spiritual hunger and thirst.

The idea in that word is a cherishing of written truth which comes from "hungering and thirsting for righteousness" (Matt. 5:6). That is wisdom! Such attention to the book of Daniel will reward you with eternal starlit glory: "Those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the firmament, ... like the stars forever and ever" (Dan. 12:3). That "shine" begins now, in this present life, and it will never end.

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: September 27, 2004.
Copyright © 2020 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: Living in the Time of the Cleansing of the Heavenly Sanctuary

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

In Matthew 24, Jesus speaks extensively about the end of the world and of His second coming (see, for example, verses 12-15, 24, 29-31). Of all the books of the Bible, He selected one which He urged us to "read" and "understand"--Daniel. Yet seldom do pastors or teachers study this book. People go to church for years and hear no sermon explaining it.

Daniel's key prophecy says: "Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed" (8:14). In Bible prophecy, a day is a year. In the early 19th century Bible-loving Christians awakened as from a centuries-long sleep to realize that those 2300 years would end in 1844, on October 22. The Holy Spirit impressed many with this stupendous conviction; to this day, millions around the world recognize how history and Bible prophecy converge to render that point of time significant in God's plan for salvation.

We are living in the time of the cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary; in simple language that means we are living in the time when Christ as our great High Priest is preparing a people to be ready for His second coming--a greater work than preparing His people to die and come up in the first resurrection, wonderful as that work has been. It means that His people must live on earth during the cataclysmic last days when they will meet head-on the last temptations of Satan, but will overcome "even as [Christ] also overcame" (Rev. 3:21, King James Version). They will honor Him, and share with Him His throne. They will demonstrate His righteousness.

But Revelation also discloses that Christ's last great struggle is with the blindness and lukewarmness of His own people who can't seem to grasp the seriousness of the time in which they live (3:15-19). Urgent as never before He says, "Watch therefore" (Matt. 24:42).

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: October 20, 2005.
Copyright © 2020 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: How Long Will It Be Until Jesus Keeps His Promise to "Come Again"?

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

The question, How old is the earth?, is a fascinating study. And how long will it be until Jesus keeps His promise, "I will come again" (John 14:3)?

What the Bible says is squarely against the theory of macro-evolution: by adding up the life-spans of the antediluvian patriarchs (from Adam to Noah), and the subsequent Bible history so there is a total picture from Creation to the first coming of Christ, the sum comes to 4000 years--plus or minus a little according to interpretations of minor details by various scholars. This has been the view of most Bible students for several hundred years. Adding the years since Anno Domini, the birth of Christ, the Savior of the world, the total is about 2000, in fact, a bit more, making roughly a grand total of 6000 years since the Bible story of Creation.

Yes, scientists laugh; but there are the stark realities--either you believe the Bible or you believe the theory of evolution. There are competent scientists in all the fields of natural science who do believe the Bible record of God's creation in a literal six days and its subsequent history; add to this the fact that Jesus believed it as well as His apostles; then add the fact that millions of kind-hearted, unselfish, loving people believe the Bible and cherish "the blessed hope" of Jesus' second coming just like the Bible says. Add all this together and you have plenty of evidence on which to base a reasonable faith. The alternative: a despairing worldview.

One highly respected Christian writer, Ellen G. White, has written 40 or more times that the second coming of Christ will come within this period of 6000 years, implying that the "millennium" of Revelation 20 will be a "sabbath" of "rest" for a weary and worn-out planet before the joyous re-creation of a "new heaven and a new earth" of Revelation 21, 22. But the 6000 years are already up! Are we living in the biblical "millennium" now, or will we be when the next New Year rolls around?

Obviously, no. The best answer to such questions is: (1) God's word predicts a trial of faith known as a "tarrying time" (Hab. 2:3; Matt. 25:5 (King James Version); Heb. 10:37). Be patient! (2) Remember that whenever Jesus comes and "the door [for saving more people] is shut," you and I will wish we had done more to give people the Good News (Matt. 25:10). (3) Be thankful you have one more day in which to prepare, and to share with somebody somewhere a morsel of the Bread of Life. May this tidbit be a blessing to someone!

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: August 3, 1999.
Copyright © 2020 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: The Story of "Pleasant" Turned "Bitter"

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Let's pay a visit to Naomi (whose name means "Pleasant"), who repented in sorrow for her husband's Old Covenant unbelief. Elimelech was fortunate to be born an Israelite, which meant he was heir to all the promises God had made to their father Abraham. Best of all, his inheritance was in the most favored spot of all the twelve tribes--Bethlehem, "the House of Bread." Elimelech should have remembered how Abraham's faith was tested during a temporary famine in the "land that [God said] I will show you" (Gen. 12:1). Surely, Abraham's God would not permit Elimelech's family to suffer if they hung on by faith in Bethlehem until the economic recession was over!

But no, Elimelech heard there was prosperity in the heathen land of Moab. Let's provide for our children better than we've had for ourselves, he told Naomi; and the dear, sweet "pleasant" lady went along with his plans. Taking their two young sons, Mahlon and Chilion, they packed up and moved. She probably cheerfully told everybody goodbye; no more hard times for us! They would never give up the message, etc., etc., you know.

Well, Naomi's dear husband died, which was a terrible blow to her faith. But she still had her two fine young Israelite sons. And then the inevitable: growing up in worldly schools, they fell in love with worldly girls, and married Orpah and Ruth, pagan girls. Oh yes, they were good upright girls, but "aliens from the commonwealth of Israel" (Eph. 2:12). The boys had "married out of the truth."

And then they both took sick, and--horror of horrors--they died! Naomi was devastated. All the wealth they had accumulated was now a painful burden to her. She gave herself a new name--Mara, "Bitter." "The Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. I went out full, and the Lord has brought me home again empty. ... The Lord has testified against me, and the Almighty has afflicted me" (Ruth 1:20, 21).

But the dear Lord is not harsh. "Let us search out and examine our ways, and turn back to the Lord" says another man (Jeremiah) who repented bitterly for his people's Old Covenant unbelief (Lam. 3:40). God had simply been forced to leave Elimelech to have what he had chosen--a pagan culture, and Naomi, one with him, had to suffer.

But read the story in the Book of Ruth to the end, and behold the goodness of the Lord. She "came back to the church," and did the Lord ever receive her!

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: January 10, 2003.
Copyright © 2020 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: God's New Covenant Promises

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

When Jesus cried out on His cross, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?" (Matt. 27:46), had the Father truly forsaken Him? It seemed so to Him. All His feelings told Him so. Everything was against Him; His "church," His nation, had turned totally against Him. The supposed guardian of civil justice, the government of Rome through Pilate had abandoned Him to mob injustice. Little things that He had said, like, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up" (John 2:19), were being misquoted, distorted, and used against Him, condemning Him as both a fool and a blasphemer.

His entire lifework and career were a monumental failure, it seemed to Him now. He was suffering the quintessence of an experience many Christians have come to know personally as "the Great Disappointment." The very bottom falls out of your "Christian experience" and you start descending into a bottomless pit of darkness and despair. The rent rocks in the earthquake that accompanied the darkness of Calvary were a fit emblem of the state of the mind of the incarnate Son of God--Psalm 22 tells us that He was on the verge of a final collapse of soul, a nervous breakdown (vss. 11-19).

Worse yet, Jesus felt to the core of His being the pain of being forsaken by His own intimate circle. He had called them "My friends" (Luke 12:4). The lovable Peter had cursed and denied Him, and then they all had left Him--alone. Even His faithful mother was suffering her "Great Disappointment" when that giant sword had pierced her soul as Simeon had predicted (Luke 2:34, 35). She was in the greatest shock any woman has ever had to endure. Her whole life was in ruin--the very foundations of her faith in God were shattered; it seemed that she had been deluded from the beginning.

Then on His cross Jesus remembered that He was "a child of Abraham," and He chose to cling to His faith in the New Covenant promises God had made to Him as Abraham's "Seed" (Gal. 3:16). Now, thank God, you can, too.

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: October 6, 2004.
Copyright © 2020 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: Being "Justified by Faith" Is Something That Nearly Staggers One's Mind

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

It's so easy for us naive humans to conceive of the Lord as drawing a circle that shuts out bad people. But He draws a bigger circle to include them--at least until they shut Him out by never-ending resistance.

The Lord looks upon lost people not as wolves to be shot down as soon as possible, but as sheep who have wandered away--as potential heirs to His estate. His grace persists in seeking some way to intrude. What a pity that so many church people don't yet understand this concept and consequently treat "unsaved" people as if they were wolves! The church has hardly begun to love as God loves! That idea of agapeis slow to grasp, it seems.

Being "justified by faith" is something that nearly staggers one's mind just to realize how wonderful it is. It makes you want to get up on the housetop and shout the news to everybody. Christ's death on the cross is for every sinner--it's a sacrifice for his or her salvation. God has no chip on His shoulder against anyone. And this "gift" is "out of all proportion" to sin, which is "vastly exceeded by the grace of God" (Rom. 5:15, New English Bible). Thus there is no reason why "everyone" should not be saved except that they refuse Christ's grace and spurn the "gift" of salvation.

In his same letter Paul goes a step further and says that "God has dealt to each one a measure of faith" (Rom. 12:3). So, (a) God has brought justification for "everyone" by the sacrifice of His Son, and (b) He has given "each one a measure of faith" to appropriate that justification. Would that everyone said Yes and exercised the faith already given him!

It all adds up to the conclusion that, if anyone is lost at last, it will be because of his or her own persistent rejection of what God has already done to save him. And if anyone is saved, it will be because he stopped resisting God's initiative in saving him!

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: May 9, 2007.
Copyright © 2020 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: Is the Devil Asleep? What Will Wake Him Up?

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Some times it seems hard to believe in God when you think of all the wrong that's going on. There seem to be so few good people. How could anyone doubt that there is a personal devil when you think of all the evil in the world.

I would like to ask you a question. Is the devil asleep? You may say, "How could you ask that question when you see so much of his activity everywhere?" But I ask again, is the devil asleep? Or at least partly so?

Things could be so much worse than they are; for example, take the matter of liberty. Here in the U.S. we have the freedom to worship God according to the dictates of our conscience. It could be much worse--in fact, the Bible says that the time is coming when the beast will enforce the worship of his mark, and all who will not receive the mark must be killed.

And take the matter of food--most of us seem to get enough to eat; but still, there are many people all over the world who are starving. But things could be much worse than they are now. Compared to what the devil is yet to do according to Bible prophecy, he is asleep today--comparatively speaking.

What will wake him up? Revelation 12:17 tells us that "the dragon [devil] was wroth with the woman [church] and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ." What will wake the devil up will be a deep and true revival in the church of Christ, so that every member becomes on fire for God and His truth. When Christian people are filled with the Spirit, Satan will become enraged; and then will come the final events that will happen just before the coming of the Lord.

"Well," someone may say, "why not just let him sleep--why stir him up?" We are living in a kind of twilight zone, enchanted land, just now; but we dare not compromise with evil in order to make peace with the devil. All who love the Lord Jesus and appreciate what He has done for them, will want to proclaim His Good News of the gospel, regardless of how it may annoy Satan.

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: Phone message, 1973.
Copyright © 2012 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: Does Evil Need to Flourish in the World?

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Has God made the world in such a way that evil has to flourish in it? Many Christian people have all but resigned themselves to believe that the devil just has to have his way in this sinful earth. Wars have to come, and all we can do is pick up the pieces by massive humanitarian relief efforts.

But maybe this fatalistic idea is not biblical. In Genesis 12, 13, and 15, God made promises to Abraham that in his descendants, that is, in Israel, "all the families of the earth shall be blessed" (Gen. 12:3). And the New Testament makes clear that Abraham's true descendants are those who believe in the Messiah, in Christ, the church (Gal. 3:29). And in the Book of Deuteronomy, Moses makes equally clear that God's plan for Israel was that they be the greatest nation on earth, "the head and not the tail" (Deut. 28:13).

There was to be no need in God's plan for the rise of such cruel world empires as Assyria, Babylon, Medo-Persia, Grecia, and Rome, no need for World Wars. The influence emanating from God's people through the Holy Spirit would restrain the evil that is in the world. "The remnant of Jacob shall be among the Gentiles, in the midst of many peoples, ... like dew from the Lord, like showers on the grass," Micah said, and even Israel would be a disciplinary force among the nations--not because of political or military superiority but because of a genuine, highly respected moral authority (see Micah 5:7-9). To some extent this vision was realized in the time of Kings David and Solomon, and even afterward occasionally in the reign of Hezekiah or Josiah.

Let's not give in to the terrible conclusion that Heaven is content for all this massive human suffering to continue! Revelation 7:1-4 indicates that if God's people were to awaken and humble their hearts and proclaim the sealing message, "four angels" could restrain these evil passions let loose in the "four winds."

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: June 1, 1999.
Copyright © 2020s by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: What Does the Name of "Jesus" Mean, and Not Mean?

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

What does the name of "Jesus" mean? We are told in Acts 4:12 that there is salvation in no other name; Philippians 2:10 says that at last "every knee" shall bow to that name; Acts 3:6 says that name caused the man born lame to walk. Says the poet, "The name of Jesus is so sweet, I love its music to repeat." But isn't it time that we should learn what the name means? It's more than mere emotion or tradition. There is dynamite locked in the very Hebrew name itself.

First, what does it not mean? It does not mean "Jesus would like to save," or "perhaps He will save," and it does not mean "He offers to save." The simple Hebrew meaning within the word is "Jehovah saves." Here's what He is, not what He would like to be: He is a Savior. His proper title was recognized by the believing Samaritans (they got there before the Jews did!): "the Savior of the world" (John 4:42). He gives, not merely offers, His flesh "for the life of the world" (6:51).

Furthermore, He is not a co-Savior, sharing the job with any one else, least of all us. You and I can't share the honor! He "is able to save to the uttermost," that is, not part way and then leaving us to finish the job (Heb. 7:25).

This makes some people nervous; they're afraid that if we say He saves completely that we're going to get lazy and not do "good works." But they don't realize that when one appreciates what it cost the Savior to save us, when the dimensions of His sacrifice are realized, the human heart is so moved, so "constrained" (2 Cor. 5:14, 15), that the result is total dedication to the One "who died for [us] and rose again." There is no end to the "good works" that His agape love will forever "constrain" us to do.

While Jesus saves, we have something to do, but it's better to say we have something to believe. John 3:16 does not mention a part we have to play in effecting our salvation other than to believe, which means "with the heart one believes to righteousness" (Rom 10:10). We let Him save us; we stop resisting Him. You are drowning in the ocean and the lifeguard saves you completely, at the risk of his life. Do you cooperate with him? Yes, otherwise you drown. Do you help save yourself? No. You don't give him a dollar tip and walk off proud of yourself; you thank him for the rest of your life, and you walk humbly ever after.

Not one person eternally saved will talk about his own accomplishment. There is a song the redeemed will sing that we can begin to sing now (Rev. 5:11-13).

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: October 26, 1999.
Copyright © 2020 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: How Could Jesus Pray the Same Words That David Prayed?

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

So fully has the Son of God identified Himself with our fallen humanity, that it's difficult to take a scalpel and separate the heart cries of Jesus in the Psalms from the heart cries of king David. For example, in Psalm 22:1 David cries out, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken me?" But then we discover that Jesus cries the same dereliction as He hangs on His cross (Matt. 27:46). Then as we read further in Psalm 22, lo and behold, we find that the entire psalm records the heart cries of Jesus up to the moment of His death when He cried out, "It is finished" (asah, the last word in the Hebrew, which means "it's done!").

But how could Jesus Christ, the sinless One, pray the same words that the guilty, bloodstained sinner David prayed? Wasn't Jesus "holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners" (Heb. 7:26)? He should be as far away from feeling like the despicable sinner, David, as day is from night!

But wait a moment: isn't His "name Immanuel, which is translated, 'God with us'" (Matt. 1:23)? Isn't it "unto us" that this "Child is born, unto us a Son is given" (Isa. 9:6)? Didn't the Father "so love the world that He gave" Him to us forever? Don't we "see Jesus ... made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death" (Heb. 2:9)? How could He "suffer death" unless He came inside our skin, as it were? He is "not ashamed to call [us] brethren" (vs. 11)! He had to be "[made] perfect through sufferings" (vs. 10). But wasn't He "perfect" all along? In holiness, yes; but He had to go through a process of education for 33 years in order to qualify to cry out sincerely from a broken human heart every word of Psalm 22!

That word "made" has enormous meaning: "In all things He had to be made like His brethren. ... In that He Himself has suffered being tempted, He is able to aid those who are tempted" (Heb. 2:17, 18). He was "made of a woman, made under the law" (Gal. 4:4, King James Version). He was "made  in the likeness of men" (Phil 2:7, KJV), He became truly a man "in the [same] likeness of sinful flesh" (Rom. 8:3), "made... to be sin for us," who "knew no sin" (2 Cor. 5:21).

What does this all add up to?

Jesus Christ is the Son of God who became "the Son of man," your Savior "in the flesh." He knows 100 percent empathy with you. Here's a double negative that makes a powerful positive: "We do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin" (Heb. 4:15). Don't turn your back on Him even for a day!

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: October 24, 2004.
Copyright © 2020 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: The Good Shepherd--A Companion Through Sunshine or Shadow

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

David says "my Shepherd ... leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake" (Psalm 23:3). "Leads" young people in their choice of a college, or training for a career? Yes! Leads you in your choice of a job, or where to live? Yes! Does He also "lead you in a path of righteousness" concerning whom to marry? The answer has to be Yes, or the psalm is a fake. (Of course you must accept His leading!)

And to all of us at some time comes that journey through "the valley of the shadow," whether we are teens or in our 90s, and we need a Shepherd or divine "Pastor" with us. Please note: the relief from fear in the Shepherd Psalm is the result of a choice: "I will [to] fear no evil" (vs. 4). The choice can be made today, long before the shadowed journey begins. And it is not merely an adjustment of emotions through psychology; it is a rational, logical, reasoned choice arrived at through careful thought.

The reason why "I will [to] fear no evil" is because I believe the Good Shepherd is "with" me; I believe I have a Companion in my journey through either sunshine or shadow. And how can I bring myself to believe such Good News? Because I appreciate that the Son of God became our Second Adam, the new Head of the human race, that the Father adopted me "in Christ," and I am "in Him" as He went through the agony of "hell" (Psalm 16:10). I identified with Him when He cried out, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?" (Psalm 22:1; Matt. 27:46).

Having by faith "in Him" and with Him conquered that greatest of all fears, no lesser fear can now assail me. From now on His "rod and staff" no longer annoy me; tribulations and chastisement "comfort me," says David, even though I may feel like I am "punished" "every morning" (Psalm 73:14, Good News Bible). "Whom the Lord loves He chastens, and scourges every sonwhom He receives" (Heb. 12:6).

Now by His grace nothing but joy lies before you, "goodness and mercy" all your "days." And best of all, you really wantto "dwell in the house of the Lord forever" instead of in the movie theater or at the mall. A new motivation now transcends fear of being lost or hope of reward, and even for teens "the world has been crucified to [you]" (Gal. 6:14).

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: August 21, 2000.
Copyright © 2020 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: God's Receptionist Says, "Come In!"

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Important people like executives, doctors, and lawyers, have "receptionists" outside their office doors to keep you out, to administer non-reception. But there are two passages in the Bible that represent God as having His office door open to you all the time with a Receptionist or Secretary saying "Come in!" One is Christ's model prayer that instructs us to call God "our Father." You are invited; you are adopted; you are "family." Sinful and unworthy though you be? Yes! When the Father welcomed the wet, dripping Jesus as He came out of the water from John's baptism, He said of you, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased" (Matt. 3:17; Eph. 1:6). The other passage is Psalm 23.

There is no fine print that warns the reader, "Beware! This psalm is only for good people who do everything right; only they can say that 'the Lord is [their] Shepherd.'" The last page of the Bible says "'Come!' And let him who hears say, 'Come!' And let him who thirsts come" (Rev. 22:17).

There is nothing you have to doin order to make Christ become your Shepherd; He already is. You'll be a thousand times happier when you believe what is already truth.

You "shall not want" because "my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus" (Phil. 4:19). Rightly translated Psalm 23:1 says, "Your Shepherd is your Social Security."

The "still waters" that refresh your soul even now come from the water of life (Rev. 22:17).

David probably wrote "He restores my soul" in his teenage years not knowing that he would some day pray with agonizing tears, "Restore to me the joy of Your salvation" (Psalm 51:12) after his quadruple sin of adultery with Bathsheba and cover-up murder. It's present tense for you; the "restoration" goes on, otherwise you'd be dead.

The Shepherd "leads [you] in the paths of righteousness" because "your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, 'This is the way, walk ye in it,' whenever you turn to the right hand, or whenever you turn to the left" (Isa. 30:21). Unerring guidance!

By God's grace, there will be a tomorrow for another glimpse of Christ as "my Shepherd."

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: August 20, 2000.
Copyright © 2020 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: Why Would Jesus Need to Trust Us?

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

We think it's a grand achievement when we can learn to have faith in Jesus; we "have passed from death into life" (John 5:24). But what about Jesus Himself having faith in human beings? That's backward thinking! We trust Him, but does He trust us? What's trustworthy about us? And why would He need to trust us?

He has everything, a countless number of angels at His beck and call, infinite resources. But the Bible does say that He believes in us and trusts us, in fact, He has to if He is ever to win the great controversy with Satan. Paul asks, "What if some [Israelites] did not believe? Will their unbelief make the faithfulness of God without effect?" (Rom 3:3).

When the heavenly Father sent His only begotten Son into the world as a baby, did He not trust human beings to care for Him, especially while He was an infant? Did He not trust the virgin Mary to be a faithful mother to Jesus? Did God not trust friends to care for Jesus during the years that He lived with us on this planet? (Yes, people did crucify Him, but we read of women who prepared food for Him, took care of His laundry, and friends who invited Him to be a Guest in their homes, like Lazarus and Zacchaeus of Jericho.)

And we read of how "the faith of Jesus" comes into focus in the last days: "Here is the patience of the saints; here are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus" (Rev. 14:12). In fact, it is the "faith of Jesus" that saves us, for He is "the author ... of our faith" (Heb. 12:2).

When He died on the cross and felt forsaken by His Father, His faith triumphed. For just before He cried out, "Father, into Your hands I commend My spirit" (Luke 23:46). He chose to believe and to trust that there would be a multitude of human beings around the world who would respond to the truth of His sacrifice, and who would believe and be loyal to Him. "All the ends of the world shall remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations shall worship before You. For the kingdom is the Lord's. ... A posterity [seed] shall serve Him" (Psalm 22:27-30).

He forgot about His own reward. What made Him happy in those last moments was the confidence that He had won the battle, the contest was decided, and wewill live forever in God's kingdom now made forever sure. Here was His total emptying of self! When He "tasted death for everyone" (Heb 2:9), it was the real thing; He died our second death. But He was happy in the confidence that He had saved us from it.

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: December 31, 1999.
Copyright © 2020 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: A Prayer Jesus Prayed That We Can Pray

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

There's a prayer that Jesus prayed that we can pray, and we'll be happier for praying it. It was just before He worked the greatest miracle of His ministry--when He raised the dead Lazarus to life again. He wanted to be sure that the Father would hear Him, for everything depended on this prayer being heard and answered. "Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. And I know that You always hear Me" (John 11:41, 42). We can know this, too.

No "voice from heaven" came this time to reassure Him; the heavens were as silent as before. He staked His entire ministry on His publicly expressed confidence that the Heavenly Father would honor Him before the people and before the world by granting His request. He poured out His soul in that loud voice when He commanded the dead man inside the tomb: "Lazarus, come forth!" (vs. 43). And you know what happened: Lazarus did.

Whether Jesus in His human nature needed the personal encouragement that an answered prayer could bring Him we do not know; but you and I need the assurance that when we pray, the Father hears us. When He commanded the dead man to "come forth," He spoke as our Representative. "Most assuredly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in My name He will give you. ... Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full" (John 16:23, 24).

He is not making empty promises; obviously He intends that we know what He means when He says to "ask in My name." All egocentric motivation has become outgrown so that we are caught up in His motivation, not ours; we are "in Him." We have "overcome" our childish prayers for a crown and now are concerned that the Lamb receive His reward. We want "the Lamb's wife" to "make herself ready" so that "the marriage of the Lamb" may be no longer delayed century after century (cf. Rev. 19:7, 8).

What we now live for is to have a tiny part in crowning Him "King of kings and Lord of lords." Thus our "joy" becomes "full."

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: May 30, 2005.
Copyright © 2020 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: Climb Up on That Cross and Be Close to Him

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

There are people who suffer so much pain, have endured so many disappointments, been crushed so often, offered so many apparently unanswered prayers, that they are seriously tempted to conclude that God has forsaken them.People who have never suffered pain seem unable to comfort them. One wonders if even angels can comfort them-what pain have they endured? Even God Himself--what can He say to them? Has He endured the pain that His created beings have been forced to feel?

When pain becomes terribly severe, someone far wiser than I am says, "Don't try to think; rest in the love of God."

But what does it mean to do that? God has said something that we must grasp: He has promised that He will not permit any pain to become so bad that it blots out the possibility of our choosing to believe His love. In other words, no matter how dark the night, God will not permit the darkness to be so dark as to blot out the last candle flicker of light! On the cross, His Son felt to the full what it really means to be "forsaken of God," for He cried out, "My God, why have You forsaken Me?" (Matt. 27:46). Christ went through that for a great reason: no human soul need ever taste the fullness of that horror!

But where has God promised never to let us feel pain or suffering so bad that it becomes impossible for us to believe in His love? Here it is: "No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able" (1 Cor. 10:13). What does the word "tempt" mean? It means to suffer trial; and that includes the suffering of pain.

The Father did not exempt Himself from feeling our human pain. When Christ suffered the exquisite fullness of human pain, the Father fully suffered with Him. The Father and the Son were One; and the Son was "in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin" (Heb. 4:15, King James Version). That is, He would not give in to the tremendous urge to "curse God and die" as Job's wife urged him to do. On His cross, Christ struggled through the prayer of Psalm 22, and ended up choosing to believe that although absolutely everything told Him that God had forsaken Him, and suppose He has, He will not forsake His faith in the Father!

Before you pray for deliverance from the pain itself, pray for fellowship with Christ in His sufferings (cf. Phil. 3:10). Yes, climb up on that cross and be close to Him.

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: April 4, 2002.
Copyright © 2020 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: Do You Know How to Tell if You're a Child of God?

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Do you know how to tell if you are indeed a child of God and not a child of what John says is "the wicked one" (1 John 2:13, 14)? The right answer will spell either great happiness or despair.

The apostle Paul gives us a simple litmus test whereby we can tell. It's in Romans 8:15, 16: "You received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, 'Abba, Father.' The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God." That word "abba" is the Hebrew for "father," the simplest syllable a baby of any language utters, "ba-ba." You may never have uttered a formal prayer, but if in the depths of your heart your soul cries out in your distress or agony, "Father ... , Father ... please help me!" then you have the witness of the Holy Spirit that you are a child of God.

But you say, "How can that be? I'm a sinner! I have guilt!" Well, don't forget that the scribes and Pharisees accused Christ, "This man receives sinners!" (Luke 15:2). In fact, sinners are the only people that Jesus does "receive."

You may not yet be a perfect "child of God," but if your heart cries out "Father!" then this Heavenly Father simply cannot turn away from such a cry. "What man [father] is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? ... If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him?" (Matt. 7:9, 11). Did your father starve you if you didn't behave?

You may object, "Yes, my earthly father was mean, and I hate the word!" Never mind; dig down a little deeper and you will discover that when you were a baby, a child, your heart yearned for "abba, Father!" even if you did not realize the pleasure of fulfillment then.

Your heart is the same today. That's your deepest longing. Your heart is bursting to let those words come out. Let them come! Say them! Believe the Good News even if you don't feel like it. Choose to believe! There is the difference between happiness and despair. You will "overcome the wicked one."

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: October 21, 1998.
Copyright © 2020 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: What Does It Mean in These Last Days to Follow Christ?

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

What does it mean in these last days to follow the Lord Jesus Christ?

(1) You believe God is, and that He rewardsyour devotion and hears your prayers; that He is your heavenly Father, that He loves you so much He gave His dearest treasure to become your Savior--His only Son; and that He stays with you forever through the on-going gift of the Holy Spirit.

(2) You have begun an eternity-filled and growing heart-appreciation of the love that led Jesus Christ to die your second death on His cross; that love has begun to "constrain" you to live "henceforth" unto Him and not for "self" (2 Cor. 5:14, 15, King James Version).

(3) Your baptism is a sign to the world that you turn away from its ways and sinful pleasures; a declaration to the world that you are now "crucified with Christ" and you are risen with Him to a new life (Gal. 2:20).

(4) You believe that the One who died for you was resurrected and now lives forever as your personal High Priest in the heavenly sanctuary, your Attorney on your side, defending you from the attacks of Satan (Heb. 2:17, 18).

(5) You have begun to love the Bible as God's personal word to you; and you ask Him to deepen that love and confidence from now on forever.

(6) You have begun to love God's law, His Ten Commandments as ten promises of victory over temptation Satan may bring against you; you love obedience to the fourth, keeping holy His blessed seventh-day Sabbath as a precious gift from Him (Ex. 20:1-17).

(7) The "blessed hope" (Titus 2:13) you cherish is the imminent personal, literal, visible second coming of Jesus and you want to help others also to get ready.

(8) You thank the Lord for the "gifts" He has given to His "body" on earth, the church--one of which is the living gift of prophecy, evidence of His on-going love (1 Cor. 13:2, 2 Peter 1:19-21).

(9) Since His church is His "body" on earth, you want to remain forever one of its loyal members, supporting it with tithes and offerings returned to the Lord.

(10) You believe that your physical body is the "temple" the Holy Spirit dwells in; you choose to keep it in health and purity, for it was purchased by the sacrifice of Christ (1 Cor. 6:19).

(11) You seek fellowship in that "church" that Revelation singles out as "the remnant" which "keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ" (Rev. 12:17, King James Version).

(12) You are happy forever "in Christ" living under His new covenant of grace.

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: May 10, 2007.
Copyright © 2020 by Dial Daily Bread.

Dial Daily Bread: Ask the Lord How You Can Bring Some Truth to Someone

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

You may have dreamed of doing some great work for the Lord. He has put that vision in your heart. If you have had success, thank Him in humility. It was all due to His blessing.

But if you feel that you have accomplished little of what you had hoped to do, please do not wound your Lord by doubting His love and faithfulness for you. He has heard your prayers, and there is still opportunity for Him to bless the meager offering you have to give Him.

The little boy in the big crowd of more than 5,000 men, women, and children had only his two fish and five barley buns his mother had baked for his lunch--but in love and boyish faith he gave them all to the disciples to give to Jesus (Matt. 14:15-19; John 6:9-11; did you know that John is the only one of the four Gospel writers to give the "lad" credit for his loving offering?) You know how the Lord Jesus blessed that humble gift!

Now ask the dear Lord to show you what little thing you can do to bring some truth or blessing in another way, to someone. The angels keep the record books; never think about a reward for yourself. But pray that the Lord will bless your little offering; and trust Him that He will for the good of someone, somewhere. There will come a time when that person will walk up to you and thank you for what you gave or what you did today.

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: December 10, 2005.
Copyright © 2020 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: Daniel and Revelation--"Light" Focused From Heaven

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Daniel is the one Old Testament book that Jesus specifically singles out as urgently requiring our attention (Matt. 24:15); and Revelation is the one New Testament book that Jesus likewise singles out (Rev. 1:1-3). We can't understand what's going on in the world around us without this "light" focused from heaven in these two special books!

The two are complementary, each explains the other. It's amazing how hundreds of millions of Christians blithely disregard both! But both are easy to understand--user-friendly, so much so that youth can understand with only a little careful thinking.

Both describe in detail how a great "falling away" (apostasy) would seek to hijack the world Christian church with an enormous counterfeit religious organization that "opposes and exalts [itself] above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. ... The mystery of lawlessness ... with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who ... did not receive the love of the truth, ... strong delusion, that they should believe the lie" (2 Thess. 2:3-12). It's the core issue of the great cosmic controversy.

The identity of this massive deception is not cloaked in foggy uncertainty: the Holy Spirit is clear and unequivocal in pinpointing this church power in history as the grand religious successor of the paganism of the ancient Roman Empire (Dan. 7:7, 8, 20-25)--the Papacy. Revelation 18 pictures its coming total exposé. "Come out of [Babylon], My people" (vs. 4). Be alert.

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: July 3, 2005.
Copyright © 2020 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: An Example of How the New Covenant Is a Blessing to Youth

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Joseph, the younger son of Jacob and his beloved Rachel, is an example of how the New Covenant is a blessing to youth. When his ten older brothers cruelly rejected him and sold him to be a slave to the Midianites, who then sold him to the Ishmaelites, who took him as a slave to Egypt, Joseph's New Covenant faith kept him from utter despair. Of course, the young lad cried and cried as he saw in the distance his father's home disappear; but also his heart thrilled through and through with a resolve to dedicate himself totally to the God of his fathers.

No youth could make such a resolve unless New Covenant faith was his; it wasn't some superior virtue that Joseph had--it was his faith that "worked." It was through that New Covenant faith that God was able to hold his hand and keep him from falling into the pit of despair that so many disappointed people fall in to.

The New Covenant does not consist of a "bargain" that God makes in agreement with His people; it consists of the Lord's out-and-out promises to bless them. Of course, they respond, but their response is not "works," it is faith--believing and appreciating His promises, being moved by them.

When Joseph was later tempted so alluringly by Potiphar's wife, again it was his New Covenant faith that preserved him from falling. God held him by the hand; it's not that Joseph did nothing and just let the Lord save him; he did something very important--he believed those promises. His heart was moved with a deep appreciation for the love of his Savior.

Although he lived in Old Testament times, he was experiencing the New Testament vision of being moved by the love (agape) of Christ. Joseph was in tune with Paul's idea of the agape of Christ moving his heart to the point where he dedicated all he had to the One who so loved him that He went to the cross and died there his (Joseph's) second death.

The Lord loves us no less than He loved Joseph.

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: March 2, 2008.
Copyright © 2020 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: Habakkuk's Question--Eternal in Its Significance

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Habakkuk is a tiny little book tucked away in an obscure spot in the Old Testament where few people ever see it. The prophet had a very serious question that he asked the Lord: Why do You protect and prosper the wicked (chapter 1, verses 1-4)?

The Lord did not answer him all at once--good lesson for us! The prophet said, "I will stand my watch and set myself on the rampart, and watch to see what He will say to me" (2:1).

The prophet's question was eternal in its significance; it is just as up-to-date now as ever. The Lord welcomes our questions that trouble us. Ask those questions of Him seriously; don't be like a child who asks for something today and then forgets tomorrow that he asked. Bring your serious questions regarding how the Lord has treated you in your life, why this or that disappointment may have come to you, why He permitted it; pour out your heart before Him, hold nothing back.

Habakkuk 2, verse 1: Note, he waited for an answer. He was not impatient with the Lord. See how often the Psalmist brings his "complaint" before the Lord (55:2; 102, title: "The Lord's Eternal Love"; 142:2.) Be honest and straightforward with the Lord (after all, isn't He your "heavenly Father"?).

Habakkuk 2, verse 2: "Then the Lord answered me ..." He will "answer" you, too. It may be by a "still, small voice," but He will not despise your sincere prayer! Remember David's lesson he learned in deep repentance: "A broken and a contrite heart--these, O God, You will not despise" (Psalm 51:17). So, "Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need" (Heb. 4:16).

"Boldly"? Even though you have sinned?

Yes, for His forgiveness is great, as is His love (agape).

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: July 26, 2008.
Copyright © 2020 by "Dial Daily Bread."