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Messages: These powerful short messages 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) 1927-2021. 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 permission of the artists. We are grateful for their kindness and generosity and blessed and amazed by their talent. Please respect their hard work and time by not using without their permission. The art is linked to their websites where you can learn about them and view more of their moving art.
Recently Formatted Shorts
PREPARING THE HEART
When we wish to commune with God, we often find that our heart is not “up to it.”
God seems distant.
We feel like we’re “acting a part.”
Our faith is shaky.
So how can I commune with the living God when my heart feels empty?
Start giving thanks.
Regardless of your circumstances….
Regardless of how you feel, just start thanking God….
For your life.
For a body and mind that can function.
For food and water.
For air to breathe.
For Jesus, crucified and risen.
For the promise of the Holy Spirit.
For God himself.
Thanksgiving opens the heart to the Spirit of God.
Thanksgiving brings you into the Presence.
Enter his gates with thanksgiving; go into his courts with praise. Give thanks to him and praise his name.
Psalm 100
Just keep thanking God until you find yourself in his presence.
Prayer: Lord, we admit that we are stumbling through this troubled life. Our hearts are troubled, disappointed, afraid, and we can’t sense your presence with us. Despite our faults and weaknesses, may we be like the prophets and saints who said “yet will I praise you.” Bring to our hearts and minds your perfect goodness, your omnipotence, and all the reasons you are worthy of our praise and adoration. We think of all you have done for us. We think of life itself. We think of creation. We think of all you offer us, and especially that you, Father, are with us even now. What gifts, what goodness. How amazing you are. We are filled with awe and gratefulness that you love us and desire us. May our hearts open to your Spirit and bring us into your Holy presence. Amen. .
Message: Richard E. Bieber 2005 Printable/Shareable Copy
Featured Artist: Signe Flink
Website: deviantart.com/signeflinkart
JESUS’ VOCABULARY
Philosophers pass him by with their eyes glazed over.
Jesus’ vocabulary is so limited.
So elementary.
How does Jesus expect to reach the thinkers of this world if he uses so few words?
Life in this world is complex.
The war between good and evil is a tangled web.
The nature and destiny of mankind can’t be summed up in a paragraph.
But Jesus keeps it simple.
“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 the merciful, for they shall be shown mercy.”
No wonder Nietzsche and all those great philosophers scoff!
Truth is not hidden beneath lofty concepts.
Truth does not need to be propped up with mountains of words.
Truth can take care of itself.
Truth will still be here when all fancy words have blown away in the wind.
Ultimate truth…. is God himself.
Truth that we can grasp is found in Jesus, the Incarnate Word.
His words are few.
But those words are all we need …..
…..to escape this world of empty talk….and enter God’s World.
“If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples. And you will know the truth. And the truth will make you free.”
Prayer: Yes, Lord may we continue in your words, your simple vocabulary that draws us into profound truth. Thank you that you speak such deep truths to us in ways that we can grasp, without special training, without education, without expert interpretation. As we hear the truth that is alive in your simple words, may it resound with power in our lives, drawing us to your very heart, where we are set free by your wonderful truth. Amen.
Message: Richard E. Bieber March 2021 Printable/Shareable Copy
Featured Artist: Debbie Chavers Turner
Website: debbiechaversblogspot
SEARCHING THE WORLD FOR WHAT LIES AT OUR FEET
Why chase down a thousand roads to nowhere?
When one step, and you’re there!
All the fun, fame, and fortune in the world will never satisfy that emptiness within.
Not even the “perfect romance” will do it.
One thing alone will transform that inner “black hole”:
The Spirit of God…
…for whom you were created,
…to whom you belong.
One step, and you’re there.
Step down from your pedestal.
Humble yourself, and ask.
“For every one who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.
If you the, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”
Once you’ve tasted this gift, your feet are planted on a new path.
Follow it, and the blessings will never end.
Prayer: Lord, help us to fill this emptiness within us. Stop our wandering. Entertainment, pleasure, things, money, and knowledge just leave us empty. Fill this need in us with you. Help us to find the home we need, the belonging we need. Help us to experience your holy presence which is ever before us. Hear us, open the door to us and fill us with your Spirit so we can live our lives knowing we have everything we need right before us as we look to you. Amen.
Message: Richard E. Bieber 2010 Printable/Shareable Copy
Featured Artist: Michael Cook
Website: Hallowedart.co.uk
WHAT AM I DOING HERE?
When the prodigal son ran out of money, he scratched his head and said,
“What am I doing here?”
When he ended up feeding pigs, it became a cry of panic.
“What am I doing here?!”
Sometimes it’s a prayer.
Sometimes it’s a cry of despair.
For most of us it’s a wake-up moment.
“But when he came to himself he said, `How many of my father’s hired servants have bread enough and to spare, but I perish here with hunger! I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me as one of your hired servants.”‘
For those of us who once walked in the light but are now stumbling in the shadows, it’s the most profound question we can ask.
What am I doing here?
What am I waiting for?
“And he arose and came to his father. But while he was yet at a distance, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. And the son said to him, `Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ But the father said to his servants, `Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet; and bring the fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat and make merry; for this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’ And they began to make merry.”
Luke 15
So why are we wasting time?
We know what to do.
The mercy of God;
The cleansing blood of the Lamb;
The restoring power of the Spirit;
It’s all closer than our breath.
All we have to do is turn around, and head for the Father’s House.
“Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.”
Luke 15
Prayer: Lord we keep choosing loneliness, hunger, despair when instead we could be embraced in your loving arms. What are we doing here? What are we waiting for? Why are we wasting precious time? Help us to wake up, turn around, and head towards your house, to your loving arms where we will find the joy of complete welcome. Amen.
Message: Richard E. Bieber February 2021 Printable/Shareable Copy
Featured Artist: D
Website: d
SUPERIOR HUMILITY
Sometimes our “humility mask” slips a bit, and to our own horror an ugly arrogance shows itself.
We hope nobody noticed.
But they did.
They saw the ugly reality behind the mask, and were stunned.
What do we do now?
We can replace the mask, and hope for the best.
Or we can get over ourselves and repent in dust and ashes.
Living behind a mask of “superior humility” never lasts.
Sooner or later we are exposed.
And there are simple souls who see right through us, even when the mask is on tight.
The only one who is deceived by the mask of “superior humility” is the one who wears it.
“Nothing is covered up that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known.” (Luke 12)
Prayer: Lord, uncover our masks of superior humility so that we can stop deceiving ourselves and repent of our misplaced arrogance and come before you as we truly are for the healing we desperately need. Amen.
Message: Richard E. Bieber 2018 Printable/Shareable Copy
Featured Artist: Georges Rouault
Audio Version: Website: rouault.org/en
IF I BELIEVED A LIE
If I sincerely believed what my teacher told me, and it turns out to be a lie, am I accountable?
Who was your teacher?
If your teacher was Jesus, he would never have taught you to believe a lie.
If your teacher was Jesus, you would have discerned that lie a mile away.
But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all brethren.
And call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven. Neither be called masters, for you have one master, the Christ. (Matthew 23)
If we were taught to believe a lie, we were taught by the wrong teacher.
If a hundred thousand believers were taught to believe a lie, they were not taught by the Lord Jesus.
Liars always claim to be speaking the truth.
Liars always wrap themselves in sheep’s clothing.
Liars rise to high positions in this world….
….For this world (including Christendom) is still in the grip of the Father of Lies.
If I discover that I was misled, I have no choice but to face the truth.
And to turn to the one Teacher who never lies.
He waits for me with open arms.
Those the Father has given me will come to me, and I will never reject them. (John 6:37)
Prayer: Lord, we grieve the grip the Father of lies has on this world…the conspiracy theories, the ugly insinuations, the slander of the innocent, the lies that turn us from mercy and compassion, the lies that justify and excuse human suffering. Save us from these lies wrapped in packaging that are making even those who claim your name accept them. Lord, wake us up, help us to stop believing these lies from the pit of hell. Help us to draw so close to you, to embrace what you have taught us so closely, that we can once again easily discern lies from a mile away. And thank you, Lord, that despite our tendency to be easily misled that you don’t reject us, you don’t cast us out, and that you are waiting for us with open arms once we are ready to face the truth and make you and only our master again. Amen.
Message: Richard E. Bieber January 2021 Printable/Shareable Copy
Featured Artist: Georges Rouault
Website: rouault.org/en
Introducing the newest booklet Probably written by Pastor Bieber in 2017 or 2018. It features art from several artists.
Recently formatted Short Postings by month
February 2026
DON’T JUST SAY YOUR PRAYERS…LIVE THEM
January 2026
Several post in January were excerpts from the newly released booklet : I Am The True Vine
DIVINE COURAGE A Message for the New Year
FLEETING GLIMPSE OR SUSTAINING VISION?
I AM THE TRUE VINE ( Pamphlet Excerpt 2)
December 2025
Rather than posting mostly shorts this December, we focused on sharing Christmas sermons from over the years, preparing for an Advent booklet called His Birth in Us.
A GOOD WORD (CHRISTMAS 1980) Audio Version
HE SHALL STAND AND FEED HIS FLOCK (December 2009)
HIS BIRTH IN US (Christmas Eve 1983) Audio Version
FINDING OUR IDENITY BY LOSING IT (Advent 1980) Audio Version
THE HOPES AND FEARS OF ALL THE YEARS (Christmas 2009)
THE WAY IN (Christmas 1973) Audio Version
WHEN VISION COMES aka JACOB’S STAIRWAY (Christmas 1983) Audio Version
WHAT AM I DOING HERE? (2021 Version)
November 2025
HOLY IMPATIENCE AND THE CYNICAL HEART
SEARCHING THE WORLD FOR WHAT LIES AT YOUR FEET
October 2025
UNCONDITIONAL LOVE….CONDITIONAL FRIENDSHIP
September 2025
AWAKE, O SLEEPER AND RISE FROM THE DEAD
SATAN’S DELIGHT….A WANDERING MIND
SOUR ATTITUDE IN A SWEET VINEYARD
WILL YOUR HOUSE STILL BE STANDING?
August 2025
July 2025
SWAGGERING TO THE THRONE OF FIRE
THE SELF DECEPTION OF A LAZY MIND
WHY WAS GOD SO HARD ON ANANAIS AND SAPHIRA?
June 2025
May 2025
IN THE DEPTHS OF OUR HEARTS aka GOD DOESN’T NEED OUR HELP
MAYBE IT’S TIME aka CAN GOD GET ALONG WITHOUT MY HELP
April 2025
March 2025
HOW ABOUT A LITTLE SYMPATHY aka TIME TO GET OVER YOURSELF
IF YOU WANT ME TO FLY GIVE ME WINGS
WHOEVER IS OF THE TRUTH HEARS MY VOICE (2020)
February 2025
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