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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 (REB). A pastor whose prolific writings spanned six decades.
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, time, and talent by not using without their permission. We are grateful for their artistic gifts, 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.
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MORE THAN WE CAN ASK OR THINK
It’s not that we expect too much of God,
It’s that we expect much too little.
We’re afraid of disappointment.
We “don’t want to be presumptuous.”
The truth is, we’re afraid to believe his unambiguous promise.
“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)
“Therefore, if any one is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, behold the new has come.” (2 Cor 5:17)
Forget about believing Jesus’ promises about the future if you’re unwilling to take seriously his promises about the here and now.
If any one is in Christ he is a new creation—now, today.
The old has passed away, the new is already here.
Question: Are you allowing this to happen in your life?
I am a new creation when I am filled with “the light of life” which Jesus promised.
I am a new creation when the Spirit of God rules my heart in place of my old sin-sick ego.
I am a new creation when the living God is able to accomplish his redemptive will through me, here on earth.
I am a new creation when I am crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.
I am a new creation when the life I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me, gave himself for me, and now lives in me.
Ask, and it will be given you. Seek and you will find.
Matthew 7:7
Prayer: Father, we ask that we do receive all that you have for us now. We seek to have the life you call us to now, in this world. Help us to rise up as new creations today. May we have the vision, the faith to know that you are real, close to us, and ready to truly cleanse and pour heaven into us now. Fill us with the light of life, rule our hearts with your tender love and compassion, may your redemptive will flow through us …so we may live in the power of your presence each new day as the new creations you call us to be. Amen.
Message: Richard E. Bieber 2004 Printable/Shareable Copy
Featured Artist: Jonathan Allan Farrell Website: etsy/JonathanFarrell
#MoreThanWeCouldAsk #WeExpectTooLittleFromGod #ANewCreationToday #TheNewIsAlreadyHere #NewLifeNow #HisPresenceNow #JonathanAllanFarrellArt
IF GOD IS OMNIPOTENT, WHY DOES HE ALLOW IT?
If God is omnipotent, why does he allow it?
Deceivers prosper.
The mean-spirited hold sway.
The innocent suffer.
The powerless are exploited.
Is there no justice in the universe?
When will the evildoers be called to account?
The Good News:
There is justice in the universe.
Every wrong will be paid for and righted.
The exploited and abused of all time will have their day.
And there is also mercy.
The God of the universe has taken on himself our guilt.
He has redeemed us at the price of his own suffering….
…if we will but receive his mercy and live in it.
All we like sheep have gone astray. We have turned very one to his own way, And the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. Isaiah 53:6
You were predestined to salvation.
You are given the gift of free will….
….to receive it and walk in it,
…or to reject it.
Surely he has borne our sicknesses And carried our pains….Yet he bore the sin of many, And made intercession for the transgressors.
Isaiah 53:4 &12
Prayer: Thank you Lord that there is justice in the universe. Thank you that every injustice will be righted. Thank you for bearing our sickness and carrying our pains…and for bringing us true peace in the midst of crisis and sorrow. Lord, we also thank that there is mercy in the universe, so much mercy. Thank you for offering mercy to us in the sight of the injustices we ourselves have committed. Help us to accept and live in the mercy that you suffered so much to bring us. Thank you for your intercession and your offering which brings us life and the ability to stand before the Holy of Holies …clean without spot. We open ourselves even now to draw close and be covered by your mercy and love. Amen.
Message: Richard E. Bieber 2010 Printable/Shareable Copy
Featured Artist: Chris Powers Website: Full of Eyes
#OmnipotentGod#WhyDoesGodAllowSuffering #PowerlessExploited #NoJustice #ThereIsJusticeInTheUniverse #ThereIsMercyInTheUniverse #ChrisPowersArt
BE STILL
AND KNOW THAT I AM GOD
“Be still, and know that I am God.
I am exalted among the nations,
I am exalted in the earth!”
The LORD of hosts is with us;
the God of Jacob is our refuge.
Psalm 46
Those who are unaware of God have good reason to panic.
Nothing is stable.
Nothing makes sense.
Fires of conflict are smoldering across the earth.
But if we follow the Lord, our focus is clear.
The nations rage, the kingdoms totter;
he utters his voice, the earth melts.
The LORD of hosts is with us;
the God of Jacob is our refuge.
Psalm 46
There is only one King.
There is only one Lord.
There is only one God.
And there is only one path that makes sense.
This path not only leads to glory, it is glory!
This path begins where our fretting ends.
Be still, and know that I am God.
Prayer: Yes, loving Father…our king, our Lord, our God…as the nations rage, as things spin out of control…. help us not to spin out of control with them, help us to find your peace. May our faith stay strong because the outcome is in your hands, and you have promised to be with us, to be our refuge. What a gift this is, may we not squander it. Help us to still ourselves to the point where we don’t even need to ask for help, where we can stop quaking and fretting because we know you, we trust you. Help us to continue choosing the path of seeking your presence, where everything else melts away in the truth of your eternal holiness and unfathomable love for us, where we dwell in your glory, where we find joy, true joy even in the midst of terror and sorrow Amen.
Message: Richard E. Bieber November 2020 Printable/Shareable Copy
Featured Art: Rolf Jannson Website: via Good Salt license
#BeStill #Don’tBeAfraid #TheNationsRage #CGodIsOurRefuge #RolfJannsonArt
HARDBALL POLITICS AND SOFTBALL FAITH
The Lord said unto my Lord, “Sit thou at my right hand until I make thine enemies thy footstool. Psalm 110
As the Messiah sits at the right hand of glory and watches us fighting to restore Christian Values, he must shake his head in wonder.
The anger, the screams, the shouts.
Our zeal is unmistakable.
It’s a modern Christian Crusade.
We really know how to play hardball, and we’re definitely shaking things up.
“But what about your faith?” says the Master.
“What happened to the hardball?
You’re into softball now?
You sing and pray and praise God.
You give me a seat of honor and then forget me as your Crusade proceeds.”
But the focus on the Kingdom is softened.
God knows how to play hardball too.
It’s called judgment.
When God judges, he starts with the household of faith, with us Christians.
He calls us to account.
He calls our crusades to account.
His revealing light exposes our hearts.
How can we restore the world around us, when our hearts are tainted with malice, anger, suspicion and pride?
How can we proclaim the kingdom of God when we are so deeply enmeshed in the dubious tactics of this world?
Heaven’s call to repent is now visiting the earth with burning urgency.
And that call to repent is coming first to us.
How could we clean up this messy world…
… until our own hearts are restored to child-like faith?
Create in me a clean heart, O God! And renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from thy presence, And take not thy Holy Spirit from me. Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation, And uphold me with thy free Spirit. Psalm 51
Prayer: Lord, have mercy on us, forgive us for wanting Christian values so badly that we stop living like Christians. Forgive us for crusading, for taking up the sword instead of the cross. Help us to trust you, to step away from hardball politics and softball faith, and instead trust in you to defeat the evil one… while we sit at your right hand, in your presence. We do admit our hearts are tainted with malice, anger, suspicion, and pride. These are not of you; with them we can’t sit in your presence. Rescue us from them. Restore our childlike faith and trust in you. Create in us clean hearts, renew a right spirit within us, keep us in your presence… filled with your Holy Spirit, uphold us, and restore us with the joy of your salvation again Amen.
Message: Richard E. Bieber July 2021 Printable/Shareable Copy
Featured Art: Luis G Rendon Website: luisgrendon.com
#ChristianNationalism #PoliticsIsWorldly #ModernDayCrusades #CreateInMeACleanHeart #MichaelCookArt
THE MISSING INGREDIENT
Why is God holding out on us?
We’ve been praying up a storm.
We’ve been looking up in expectation.
What more are we supposed to do?
Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them.”
Matthew 18
If two of you agree.
Where two or three are gathered in my name.
The missing ingredient in our corporate prayers:
Unity around Jesus.
Around his Name.
All barriers removed.
A spirit of repentance.
Until there is genuine unity among us—
—around Jesus alone—
—we are powerless—
Prayer: Oh Lord, bring us again to the missing ingredient in our prayers, to the missing ingredient in our hearts, to the missing ingredient among us…unity, genuine unity between us…. and genuine unity around you. We repent of the barriers we have put up that make us weak and powerless. Come into our midst, let us experience your loving presence as one again, and empower us to bring your healing to those in need. Amen.
Message: Richard E. Bieber 2015 Printable/Shareable Copy
Featured Artist: Patrick Marrin Website: No website
#Unity #WhyIsGodHoldingOut #UnansweredPrayers #CorporatePrayer #WhereTwoOrThreeAre #PatrickMarrinArt
YOU MEAN I’M NOT THE CENTER OF THE UNIVERSE?
Infants take it for granted.
Spoiled brats drag it a step farther.
Adolescents do their best to keep the illusion alive.
But when we grow up it’s time to face the shocking truth:
I am not the center of the universe.
Many people know this intellectually.
But in their hearts they cannot accept it.
Why shouldn’t things go my way?
I’m a decent human being!
I have rights!
Every disappointment, every setback, every devastating blast that invades my “space,” is a sign pointing to…
…the One who is in fact…. the Center of the Universe:
Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations. Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God. (Psalm 90)
Our Lord Jesus taught us a prayer that puts us in touch with the Center of the Universe, even while it helps us to assume our proper place on this troubled planet.
Pray it.
Live it.
And the Spirit of God will deliver you from all illusions.
Our Father, who art in heaven. Hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven…...
Prayer: Our Father in heaven, Lord, we turn our hearts to you, the center of the universe, the creator, the eternal and infinite one. Help us to be still and focus all we have on your real, holy omnipresence. Help us to open this most wondrous gift, that you the everlasting one can be our dwelling place. Help us to let go of our self-focus, our finite concerns, thoughts and opinions. Help us to release them, to release the cares of this world, to release the cycle of bad news, to release concerns about the future…so that we can dwell with you, embrace you, hallow you, love you with all that we have. Help us to trust you with our finite, troubled lives and our finite troubled world. And in the midst of our lives on this earth, may we continue to seek your kingdom and to bring your heavenly divine will into our own hearts and lives and into the lives around us. Amen.
Message: Richard E. Bieber August 2005 Printable/Shareable Copy
Featured Art: Gertrud Deppe Website: getrud-deppe-art-de
#FiniteLives #Omnipresence #Omnipotent #IAmNotTheCenter #GertrudDeppeArt
DIVINE SHOCK TREATMENT
Sometimes it takes a jolt.
You could call it a divine shock treatment.
Somebody hurts your feelings, causing you to take another look at how you treat people.
A sudden disappointment.
Or a jolt that comes straight out of heaven—a word that hauls you up short and forces you to face reality.
The result?
Suddenly you see that your heart is in no shape to be exposed to the light of day.
Yet now it’s humble enough to listen to the truth.
God has your attention.
God is not a sadist, he’s your Father.
He loves you like no one on earth ever could or did. But he will do whatever it takes to bring us from darkness to light.
Hence, after the shock treatment, comes the call—always.
God never gives you a jolt without following with a call to a far better life in his kingdom.
Example:
“Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!” cried Peter. Jesus answered, “Don’t be afraid, from now on you will be drawing people into the kingdom of God.”
If you have had a divine shock treatment….
….be sure that you are also under a divine call.
It happened to Isaiah, to Mary, to Peter, to Paul.
It could be happening to you right now.
“And he fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?’ And he said, ‘Who are you, Lord,?’ And he said, ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting; but rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.'” (Acts 9:4-6)
Prayer: Lord, Father…. tell us what to do now that you have our attention again, now that you have jolted us back to reality. We haven’t been listening. We’ve been bent on going our own way. Help us to hear your divine call, to follow your divine direction once again. Thank you that you love us enough to stop us from veering off the divine course you have for us. And thank you that you don’t leave us floundering and stunned after the shock. Thank you for the call that follows. Oh Lord may we honor both the shock and the call by turning from the darkness we were headed for and following your light once again. Amen.
Message: Richard E. Bieber 2006 Printable/Shareable Copy
Featured Artist: Berna Lopez Website: evangil-et-peinture
#DivineShockTreatment #SometimesItTakesAJolt #GodGetsYourAttention #DivineCall #BernaLopezArt
I KNOW I’M RIGHT!
It’s written on their faces.
You can hear it in their shouts.
Those people have no doubts.
They know they’re right!
And we shake our heads in disgust.
“They’re idiots!” we say, and turn away.
We, of course, are more circumspect.
We have an enlightened grasp of scripture. Of Jesus. Of God.
Yet beneath our self-proclaimed integrity, we are strangely similar to those rednecks out there.
We too are quite certain that we are more right than that self-righteous herd!
So why doesn’t the Lord give us a thumb’s up?
Surely we are closer to the truth than those hypocrites!
And the Master sighs and says,
“Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye?
You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.” (Matthew 7)
Maybe it’s time to leave those hypocrites to the mercy of God.
And start dealing with our own hypocrisy.
Lord, have mercy!
Prayer: Yes Lord, have mercy. Open our eyes to our own hypocrisy, our own self-righteousness. Forgive us for the disdain and the disgust in our hearts. Remove the logs that blind us to our own hardness of heart. Lord we are all in need of your mercy, we all stand equally in need of your enlightenment. Amen.
Message: Richard E. Bieber August 2021 Printable/Shareable Copy
Featured Art: Wayne Forte Website: Wayneforte.com
#Hypocrisy #SelfRighteousness #TakeTheLogOut #ImKnowImRight #WayneForteArt
IT’S IN GOD’S HANDS
You laid it before God.
That burden, that problem, that fear.
“Lord it’s beyond my power. I put it all in your hands!”
So leave it there.
There’s nothing wrong with laying it before the Lord every day, as long as you keep your hands off it.
There’s nothing wrong with giving God thanks.
Beyond that, you back off and leave it with God.
How the kingdom works.
“The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed upon the ground, and should sleep and rise night and day, and the seed should sprout and grow, he knows not how.
The earth produces of itself, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear.
But when the grain is ripe, at once he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.” (Mark 4)
The farmer does not dig up the seed to see if it’s sprouting.
He allows the seed to be hidden in God.
He lets God run the show.
In God’s time the farmer has a crop.
Once I put my problem in God’s hands, God does things his way.
He does not need my help.
He does not need my advice.
He wants only my faith.
We spare ourselves tons of grief, when we back off and give God room to do things his way.
“Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.
And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against any one.” (Mark 11)
God will take care of his part.
All you have to do is take care of yours.
Believe
Whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.
Obey
“And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against any one.”
Prayer: Lord we admit that the burdens, problems and fears that trouble us are beyond our control. We can’t solve them, we can’t see beyond them. Lord we give them to you, we place them in your capable and loving hands, Lord help us to leave them to you, to keep from interfering, from advising you and from manipulating situations to our will. We trust you. We trust your sovereign will. We trust your love. And as we lift our hearts to you seeking relief from our distress may your tender mercy strike us to the heart… to extend the same tender mercy and forgiveness to all in our circle.
Message: Richard E. Bieber July 2021 Printable/Shareable Copy
Featured Artist: Rebecca Brogan Website: jtbartworks.com
#Problems #Burdens #ItsInGodsHands #ForgiveAndObey #Leave It WithGod #RebeccaBroganArt
DEEP ROOTS
The storm is gone, and so is the forest.
Only three trees are left standing.
How did they survive?
Their roots went deep.
….that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have power to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge. (Ephesians 3:17-19)
To be rooted and grounded in love is to be rooted and grounded in God—
—via the True Vine.
“If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you will, and it will be done for you. By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.” (John 15:7-8)
The Vine is rooted in the earth, and the branch is rooted in the Vine. If the branch is truly rooted in the Vine everything else will take care of itself.
To be rooted in the Vine is to be immersed in his words.
Immersed to the point where his words…. color, control, cleanse, and confirm everything we do.
This can happen only through constant exposure to his words.
And constant obedience.
If Jesus is my Lord, and I am his servant,
I check in with him daily.
I pick up my cross daily.
I carry out his orders daily.
I thank God for him daily.
Until I am so rooted and grounded in the Vine that no storm can tear me loose.
And now my branch begins to bear fruit.
“If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you will, and it will be done for you. By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be my disciples.”
Prayer: Lord, give us deep roots. Roots that are so immersed in you that everything we do is colored by you. Roots that can truly comprehend and absorb the depth, width, height, and length of your love. Roots that are so deep and grounded in you that we can survive any storm. Roots that are so moved by your love that somehow we are able to glorify you and that we prove to be your disciples and bear fruit. Amen.
Message: Richard E. Bieber 2019 Printable/Shareable Copy
Featured Art: Karen Harkema Website: Facebook and Instagram
#DeepRoots #GroundedInLove #RootedInGod # #ImmeresedInHisWords #CKarenHarkemaArt