Home
Powerful messages that encourage, inspire, and convict “People of the Way” to enter into the presence of the Living God and to mirror the image of the precious Lord Jesus, bringing his life to this hurt and broken world. The messages were written by Richard E. Bieber. A pastor whose prolific writings spanned six decades.
Navigate the menu to learn about Maranatha Mirror and to access hundreds of free downloadable messages.
Follow us on Facebook. Or click on envelope to subscribe. We never market to or solicit our subscribers for funds. Link to Contact Us.
Artwork: The beautiful art featured here enhances the power, depth and visual appeal of the messages. It is by the gracious and kind permission of the artists. Please respect their hard work, their time, and their talent by not using without their permission. We are grateful for their artistic gifts, their kindness, and generosity. The art is linked to their websites where you can learn about them and view more of their art. When visiting their websites, you will need to use the back key to return to this website.
Most Recent Shorts
KITCHEN CRUSADES
Martha was distracted with much serving; and she went to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.” (Luke 10)
True, Martha was distracted.
If she only knew how lucky she was!
All she had to do was come up with lunch.
Today we’re the ones in the kitchen, while Jesus is in the living room with Mary.
But we’re not just making lunch.
We’re trying to figure out who likes or dislikes our causes, who is being misled, who supports or opposes our favored candidate, what to do about deviants, protesters, twisted beliefs, and misled Christians.
And we’re being persecuted. They call us racists and bigots and all kinds of unsavory names.
There’s so much more to worry about now than in Martha’s day!
The only place we feel safe is in this kitchen with other believers who know the scriptures.
But when we complain to Jesus he tells us the same thing he told Martha!
“Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things; one thing is needful. Mary has chosen the good portion, which shall not be taken away from her.”
Mary has chosen the good portion?
What is the “good portion”?
What is the “one thing needful”?
The one thing needful is the thing Jesus always focuses on:
The kingdom of God.
Jesus is undistracted by Martha or Herod or Pilate of Caesar or the Pharisees or Democrats or Republicans.
Jesus seeks to please only his Father.
He keeps it simple.
He never wastes a word.
The kingdom is his only focus.
That’s where Mary was.
Mary had found the treasure, the one thing needful.
She was destined to bear fruit that all the righteous fuming of the distracted will never produce.
Five minutes actually paying attention to the Master…
… accomplishes more than a thousand kitchen-generated Christian Crusades.
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he/she who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 7)
Prayer: Lord, help us to choose the good portion, keeping our hearts, minds, and eyes focused on you and your Kingdom. Help us to leave our kitchen crusades with our self-righteous fuming. Help us to stop being anxious and troubled about all these things we disagree with or are alarmed by. Help us to see the attitudes and mindsets that keep us fuming in the kitchen, distracted from sitting at your feet and doing the Father’s will. Oh, bring us again to the one needful thing. Amen.
Message: Richard E. Bieber September 2021 aka Marta Was Lucky Printable/Shareable Copy
Featured Artist: Diego Velázquez 1559-1660 Website: N/A
#ChristianCrusades #Martha #TheGoodPortion #DiegoVelázquez
WHO ARE YOU REALLY FOLLOWING?
You say you’re a follower of Jesus.
You’re working for the Lord.
You’re fighting his battles.
With guns?
With threats?
With anger and malice?
Wait a minute!
When’s the last time you actually checked in with Jesus?
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5)
Jesus does not need us to fight his battles.
He is Lord of Lords and King of Kings.
The Lord is at your right hand;
He will crush kings on the day of his wrath.
He will judge the nations, heaping up the dead and crushing the rulers of the whole earth… (Psalm 110)
Jesus is simply waiting for us to follow him.
All the way to a cross!
As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.”
He said to another man, “Follow me.” But he replied, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.” Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.”
Still another said, “I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say goodbye to my family.” Jesus replied, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.” (Luke 9)
Prayer: Lord, help us to stop fighting battles you never called us to fight. May we be appalled and alarmed by the call to join battles that are spurred by the Deceiver, the Serpent… whose true objective is to strike at your feet because their words, their calls are underpinned with anger, malice, intimidation, vengeance, threats, retaliation. Open our eyes to see the serpent behind their leading. Oh Lord, help us to refuse to follow any leader, any movement, any call to hurt others and take up the sword…turning our backs on all that you have taught us. Lord help us continue moving in, breathing in, and pouring out your mercy for the lost… even if it means we are shunned and scorned by the so-called Christian majority who aren’t really willing to follow you wherever you go, who’ve let go of the plow to pick up the sword. Keep our hand from slipping from the plow and help us to lovingly, willingly embrace your upside down kingdom of peacemaking, of reconciliation, of forgiveness, of mercy, of love for our enemies…Keep us embracing your beautiful, beloved cross. Keep us fit for true service to your kingdom. Keep us following you. Amen.
Message: Richard E. Bieber October 2020 Printable/Shareable Copy
Featured Art: Ramone Romero Website: Weeping Jeremiah’s
#DontTreadOnMeIsAntiChrist #BlessedAreThePeacemakers #PutDownYourGuns #Don’tExchangeThePlowForASword #RamoneRomero
HOW CAN I RELIEVE YOU OF THAT BURDEN IF YOU WON’T LET GO OF IT?
It hangs like a cloud over everything,
saps away our joy,
poison’s our peace,
distorts our perceptions
cuts us off from people around us.
It’s a burden we carry seemingly against our will.
A resentment.
A regret.
A guilt that won’t depart.
A fear.
Suddenly, out of nowhere, words are spoken directly into our hearts:
“Come to me all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”
i.e. “I will lift that burden from you.”
Of course the Master can only lift that burden, if you let him have it.
Name it.
Lay it at his feet.
Let go of it.
Even if you have to do this a hundred times.
Keep doing it until it’s gone.
And then, in it’s place, pick up the burden which will never weigh you down. Commit yourself to the Master afresh, and start walking at his side.
“Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:29-30)
Prayer: Lord, we need relief from these burdens that load us down, that torment us. Help us to let them go. Help us to release our tight grip on them. Help us to release the fears, the attitudes, the resentments, the regrets, the criticisms that poison us and rob us of life and hinder our love for others. We lay them before you now, take them, take them. Exchange them for the light, wonderful burden you have for us. The burden of trusting you, of resting in your care, of loving you and of loving others like you do. What an easy, beautiful burden you give. Give us the faith and the desire to embrace your burden instead. Amen.
Message: Richard E. Bieber Unknown Date Printable/Shareable Copy
Featured Artists: Eugene Burnand and Matt Philleo Website: MattPhilleo.com
#Burdened #LetGoOfYourBurdens #LayItAtHisFeet #MattPhilleo #EugeneBurnand
CRISIS RELIGION
Nothing like a crisis to inspire folks to turn to religion.
When we feel powerless and bewildered….
“Maybe there is a God.”
“Perhaps if I get religion I won’t feel so lost.”
Of course when the crisis is over, we shift quickly back to “normal.”
After all, life goes on.
There are things to do, opportunities to seize.
Two facts:
1. The real Crisis never ends.
We live on the edge of the abyss every day of our lives.
Apart from the mercy of God we are all lost.
2. Religion is never the answer.
We can be religious in the extreme and never know God.
Jesus is not calling us to be religious.
He’s calling us to follow him.
“I am the light of the world; he who follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” (John 8:12 )
Following Jesus is not a religion.
It is a life lived in fellowship with him.
He speaks, we listen.
He commands, we obey.
He promises, we believe.
He calls, we answer.
He sends, we go.
“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me; and I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish, and no one shall snatch them out of my hand.” (John 10:27-28)
Prayer: Lord, as we face crisis, disappointment, and despair and we need real lasting help…we look to you. We want to hear your voice and to be held safely in your hand. We want you…not a religion…not a church. They cannot fill the void and bring us the healing we need. Only you can help us, only you can heal us, only you can lead us away from the pit and into the light. Help us to always look for you, listen to you, and obey your holy, beautiful call … and we know that we will never have to face any crisis, any loss, any despair alone again. Amen.
Message: Richard E. Bieber 2015 Printable/Shareable Copy
Featured Art: Elani Lubbe Website: Fine Art America
#CrisisReligion #ReligionIsNotTheAnswerJesusIs #FollowingJesusIsNotAReligion #ElaniLubbe
BE STILL AND KNOW……
How does a person really get to know God?
How can the puny human mind possibly connect with the Eternal One?
Jesus once made an awesome claim:
“All things have been delivered to me by my Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and any one to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.” (Matthew 11:27)
So if the Son chooses to reveal God, you’ll know him.
If the Son chooses not to reveal God, you won’t.
And what does it take to persuade the Son to reveal to us the living God?
To open our eyes to behold glory….
To open our ears to hear the voice of Truth…..
To bring our troubled spirits into communion with Holy Peace…
What do we have to do?
Nothing.
Nothing? What do you mean, nothing?
“Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.” (Mark 10:15)
The child does nothing.
It simply receives.
It trusts.
It doesn’t strive to get in.
It doesn’t worry its way in.
It simply opens its heart and believes.
Begin by asking the Spirit of God to show you what this means:
Be still and know that I am God
Prayer: Yes Lord, show us what it means to be still and know that you are God. We need you. Help us to open our hearts and believe. And yes, open our eyes so we can truly behold your glory, open our ears so we can hear your truth, and yes, yes, bring our troubled spirits into communion with your Holy peace. Reveal yourself to us…we want to experience your loving, eternal, holy presence…surrounding, filling, and embracing us. Amen.
Message: Richard E. Bieber September 2005 Printable/Shareable Copy
Featured Artist: Christopher Marion Thomas Website: Fine Art America
#BeStill #HolyPeace #OpenYourHeartAndBeleive #ChristopherMarionThomas
MEGA CHURCH-MINI CHURCH-
AND THE BODY OF CHRIST
“Lord, I know you want me to be in an authentic fellowship with other struggling saints.
But where?
I feel dislocated.
Do I melt into the crowd at a Mega Church?
Do I join a House Church?”
If you’re convinced, before the Lord, that you no longer belong where you are, search for this:
When I came to you, brethren, I did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God in lofty words or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in much fear and trembling; and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and power, that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God. (I Corinthians 2:1-5)
Look for a place where Jesus Christ and him crucified is the focus of all that is said and done.
Look for a place where people’s hearts are set to hear the word of God and keep it. 
Be certain of this:
The Spirit of the Lord will guide you.
Prayer: Yes Lord, guide those of us who are trying to find a church. Guide us to a place where we can see, hear, and experience you crucified. Bring us to a place where we can join our hearts with others who are determined to listen to you, follow you, and bring your healing not only to the broken…but to each other. Bring us to a place where redemption, kindness, mercy and grace thrive between brothers and sisters…Bring us to a place where light and love are shining from the faces of the people. Bring us to a place where people are freed from bondage and repent as they are touched with heaven. Bring us to a place where your love moves like ripples through the congregation and beyond the doors in ways you can only know. Guide us, bring us whether it’s a mega church, mini church, home church, or even a Bible Study. Lord, oh how we want authentic fellowship, how we want our participation to be meaningful, beautiful, and driven by your Spirit. And for those who are staying in a church…help us be all these things to others in that church. Amen.
Message: Richard E. Bieber 2010 Printable/Shareable Copy
Featured Art: Ramone Romero Website: Weeping Jeremiah’s
#MegaChurch #WhereToGoToChurch #LookForAChurchWhereJesusIsTheFocus
GOD HELPS THOSE WHO WHAT??
Help themselves?
How do you help yourself to healing?
How do you help yourself to peace within?
How do you help yourself to forgiveness?
…. or life from God? or true wisdom? or courage?
For such things God helps those who have reached the end of themselves.
Sure, God expects us to do the things that are within our power.
But we need to quit trying to “help ourselves” in areas that are beyond our power.
Consider the prayer of Jehoshaphat:
“O Lord, God of our fathers, are you not God in heaven? You rule over all the kingdoms of the nations. In your hand are power and might, so that none is able to withstand you….
For we are powerless against this great horde that is coming against us.
We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.”
2 Chronicles 20: 6&12
This prayer was answered.
Such prayers are always answered.
“And (Jesus) told them a parable, to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart.”
God helps those who take Jesus at his word, and act on it.
So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But he said to me,
“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.
II Corinthians 12:7-9
Prayer: Holy, all powerful Lord…help us to call out to you in situations in which we are powerless, in which we cannot help ourselves or others…especially in desperate, hopeless circumstances when we don’t see any way out, when the horde is too big. Only you can handle this, only you. Help us to not lose heart, help us to trust in your power, your will, and your gracious help. And yes, Lord, use our weakness so that we let go of our pride, our vanity, our self sufficiency and instead trust in how you and only you can rescue. And Lord, we look forward to seeing your perfect power at work, to be amazed by your interventions, and to fall on our knees in awe of your power and grace. Amen.
Message: Richard E. Bieber September 2003 Printable/Shareable Copy
Featured Artist: Courtesy of Mary Beth Stafford Website: Instagram
#GodHelpsThoseWho #SufficientGrace #WeArePowerlessJehoshaphat
THE ANSWER MACHINE?
After all these centuries, believers have finally discovered the guaranteed way to get clear, quick, answers from God for any question they may have.
Should I take the Job?
Should I leave this church?
I lost my i-phone; could you tell me where it is?
What you do is, write the question on a piece of paper. Lay it before God in prayer. Sit in silence for five minutes. Then write on the same piece of paper, the first thought that comes into your mind.
There it is! A straight line of communication between heaven and earth. Why didn’t Job think of that?
Of course there are many versions of THE ANSWER MACHINE floating around Christendom these days. But they arrive at the same place: a clear, quick way to get answers from God.
Tarot cards and clairvoyance are demonic; but this method of getting answers is “Christian”?
God is not an Answer Machine.
He is our heavenly Father, who loves us with unspeakable love, but who refuses to be manipulated.
We keep forgetting that God is HOLY.
He never fits into our schemes. He is unpredictable.
The best thing we can do, when we have needs and questions, is listen carefully to our Master, and trust no other “guidance” but his.
Ask and it will be given you. Seek and you will find. Knock and it will be opened to you.
If we ask the Father, we will receive—
—in his time and in his way.
If we approach the throne of heaven with a truly seeking heart, we will find—
—in heaven’s time and in heaven’s way.
If we knock on heaven’s door, and keep knocking, with our focus on heaven (not on ourselves), that door will open—-
—in heaven’s time and in heaven’s way.
For this reason our Lord Jesus teaches us to pray,
“Our Father who art in heaven Hallowed be thy name.”
If we are to hallow God’s name as holy, we will take off our shoes and bow in awe.
We will approach the Throne of Light in fear and trembling.
We will wait upon God, and never, never treat the holy God as if he were the waiter.
“Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, On earth as it is in heaven.”
When we truly line up our hearts with the will of God—to the point of simple obedience—we will get all the answers we need, at the moment we need them.
Prayer: Lord, as we approach you with our needs and desires…may we never forget that you are holy, that you are not a machine, that you are not to be manipulated to give us what we want. We seek for answers in your time, in your perfect way. We hallow you, honor you and your divine will. We are in awe of you. May your kingdom come, your perfect will be done….on earth, in our lives. Amen.
Message: Richard E. Bieber 2016 Printable/Shareable Copy
Photos: Unsplash Website: Unsplash
#ManipulatingPrayer #GodIsNotAnAnswerMachine #InHisTime #InHisWay
HIGHLY GIFTED…
…PITIFULLY PETTY
Satan has a favorite technique for undermining those who are highly gifted by the Spirit of God:
He inspires them with the most absurd pettiness.
Instead of allowing slights and insults to wash over them in the Holy Mercy of the Spirit,
They become indignant, irritated…
…allowing vanity to drain them of the Spirit’s power.
For by the grace given to me I bid every one among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith which God has assigned him.
Romans 12
If I am crucified with Christ….
If my name is hidden in his….
….what does it matter if I am demeaned, misunderstood, ignored?
He must increase.
I must decrease.
For the more I decrease, the more his redemptive power can work through me.
To the glory of God alone.
Prayer: Merciful Lord, we bring our pettiness before you. Help us to let it go. Bring us to the point that when we are slighted, insulted, unappreciated, forgotten, misunderstood, demeaned…that we stop obsessing on it. Yes, help all these to wash over us, drawing us into your redemptive love and power instead. Keep our hearts soft and not bitter towards those who look down on and demean us. We confess that our self-focus, our bitterness, our defensiveness take up too much space in our minds and hearts …. pushing you aside, separating us from your comfort, from your mercy, and from your very presence. We confess that they keep us from pouring forgiveness and blessing on those who hurt us. Oh, help us to stop drawing defensive lines. Help us to continue loving those who insult us as you love them. Help us to allow your goodness, your mercy, your comfort to occupy the spaces in our hearts and minds taken up by pettiness. Amen.
Message: Richard E. Bieber September 2013 Printable/Shareable Copy
Featured Artist: Julia Stankova Website: juliastankova.com
#Petty #Slights #Vanity #ThinkWithSoberJudgment #IMustDecrease
A VICTIM OF CIRCUMSTANCE?
Many of us feel trapped.
We aren’t happy with the life we’re living.
But we see no way out.
And every time we try to make a change for the better, our circumstances close in on us like prison guards.
“No you don’t!” they shout and block the way.
Some of us have given up.
“I’m a victim of circumstances. There’s nothing I can ever do to change them.”
If you feel that you are a victim of circumstances, and if you’ve been giving up hope, consider this:
If you remain a prisoner of your circumstances it’s only because you are choosing to stay in that prison.
Because…..There is a Helper who is offering to open a door for you and lead you to freedom.
This Helper is closer to you now than the air you breathe as you read these words, He has been in the business of setting the captives free for 2000 years.
No one who has ever listened to this Helper…and trusted him … and followed him has ever failed.
If you listen to him, trust him, follow him, you will not fail!
You will not fail!
You may have your opinions about Jesus.
We’re asking you to lay them aside and get to know Jesus.
“Do not be afraid—I am with you! I am your God—let nothing terrify you!
I will make you strong and help you; I will protect you and save you.