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Short Messages/Tracts

YOU WILL KNOW THE TRUTH

“If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” (John 8)

Until we know the truth we are slaves to the Lie.

Slaves to our fears.

To opinions.

To attitudes.

To the devil himself.

We are only free when we know the truth.

And we only come into the truth by living our lives in the light of the Master’s words.

You will know the truth.

As opposed to the lies that surround us.

As opposed to the lies that we swallow, even though we know better.

Rumors.

Conspiracy theories.

Slander about a friend, enemy, or public figure.

Accusations from the devil himself.

You will know the truth.

About who we are.

God’s forgiveness.

The power of the cross.

The resurrection life we can now live.

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: Lord, there is so much swirling around us… disparity, depravity, injustice, lies, anger, unbelievable human suffering, wars, natural disasters, economic uncertainty, and political upheaval… So much dissension in this world with some of it even coming from the church. We have become ensnared by our fears, tangled up in our opinions and interpretations of these times. Lord, we are so bound up that we are losing hope, we are losing vision, we are losing sight of you. Bring us back to you. Bring us back to your truth. Free us. Free us. Help us to let go of our opinions and interpretations. Help us to embrace your words again, help us to follow them without veering away. We long, we so long to be your disciples, walking with your light shining from us, to be in awe of who you are, what you have done, and how much you love us. We ask for the hope, the vision, the faith to know your truth in every fiber of our beings and to experience the freedom and joy you promise us…even in these uncertain times. Amen.

Message: Richard E. Bieber May 2021 Printable/Shareable Copy
Featured Artists: Ramone Romero Website: Weeping Jeremiah’s

#YouWillKnowTheTruth #RamoneRomeroArt #

HE CAN HANDLE IT

Why are you trying to take over God’s department?

Don’t you think he can handle it?
Are you afraid he’ll make a mistake?
Does it upset you, not to be in control?

God’s department is to provide, if you will concentrate on your department:

To seek his kingdom above everything else.

If you must worry, worry about something worthwhile.

Worry about your pursuit of God’s kingdom.

Stir it up.
Strengthen it.

Clear away the clutter so you can see the real picture.

And then get on with the life you were born to live:

The life of answering God’s call.

“Here I am, Lord. Show me the next step.”

Fear not, you will be provided for.

Better still, you will be guided.

You will end up where you’re supposed to be.

“But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O men of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek all these things; and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things shall be yours as well.” (Matthew 6:30-33)

Prayer: Lord, here we are. Show us what to do. We need your help as we face our troubles, fears, disappointments, and all the unknowns that we have no control over. Help us to let go of these and entrust them to you. Yes, yes you can handle them. In your hands our troubles become a song of your goodness. Help us to see this, to trust you, and to dearly love you amidst them. Strengthen us, revive us. Give us the resolution, the faith, the confidence to rise up even as our troubles, fears, and the unknown swirl around us… and to live the wonderful lives you have for us…lives of hearing and answering your call… as your capable hands guide us to wherever we are supposed to be.
Amen.

Message: Richard E. Bieber 2014 Printable/Shareable Copy
Featured Artist: Courtesy of Colleen Briggs
Website: colleenbriggs.com

#HeCanHandleIt #ColleenBriggsArt

VICTORY OVER EVIL

“But I say to you that hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you….. Do good and lend, expecting nothing in return.” (Luke 6)

“Do not take revenge on someone who wrongs you. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, let him slap your left cheek too.” (Matthew 5)

Let’s face it, how many good Christians actually believe this stuff? Maybe they talk like that in church, but when Monday morning comes, they’re out there fighting to survive like everyone else.

Was Jesus out of touch with the real world? Or are we?

Jesus gives us this teaching, not so we can be little museum specimens of namby pamby Christianity, but because, once we have been redeemed by his cross….

….This is the only kind of life that works.

It’s in harmony with the spiritual laws of God’s universe.

It rides through storms.

It comes through fire.

It’s a life, not of weakness, but of unspeakable power.

“Love your enemies”

“Do good to those who hate you”

“Do not take revenge on someone who wrongs you”

Jesus isn’t laying down rigid laws….

He’s showing the way to victory over evil…

…. over evil spirits, evil men, an evil culture.

“Don’t Let evil conquer you, but conquer evil with good”

This is the kind of life his Spirit empowers us to live.

A life so rooted and grounded in God’s love that it doesn’t get bent out of shape over every wrong done against it.

Walk this road of mercy, and Salvation will no longer be an empty word.

It will be Christ’s life…. burning inside you like a flame, flowing from you like a river…..

….spreading healing everywhere you go.

Prayer: Oh Lord, how we so need victory over all that is evil. So many times we allow ourselves to be overcome by evil by playing right into Satan’s schemes and taking matters into our own hands and avenging ourselves. May we be repulsed by the need to take revenge. Open our hearts to your way of confronting evil….with goodness, with mercy, with love. Empower us to choose to love our enemies, to do good to those who wrong and hate us, to bless them and not to curse them, and to conquer evil with good. Oh, that we would grasp this enormous weapon, this truth that releases your beautiful, holy, redemptive power into the ugliness around us. And yes, when confronted with wrongs, hurts, and injustices that we would be so rooted in your mercy and your love that your goodness burns within us and flows from us spreading healing wherever we go. Amen.

Message: Richard E. Bieber 2003 Printable/Shareable Copy
Featured Artists: Jane Spencer and Melani Pyke Website:

#l #JaneSpencerArt #MelaniPykeArt

WHERE IS YOUR FAITH?

When the disciples panicked in the boat, Jesus rebuked them.

“Where is your faith.”

When the disciples could not heal the epileptic boy, Jesus sighed with impatience.

“O faithless and perverse generation, how long am I to be with you?

How long am I to bear with you? Bring him here to me.”

When we have doubts, we get no sympathy from the Master.

He never coddles our doubts.

According to Jesus….

Faith in God is normal.

Doubting God is perverse.

Jesus expects those who follow him to have faith in him.

“Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God. Believe also in me.”

There is a faith that’s paper thin. It says all the right words, but nothing ever comes of it.

That kind of faith never connects with God.

There is a faith that rises up in a crisis, cries to the Lord for help, and receives it. But when the crisis is past, it melts into the air.

That kind of faith is but a reed blowing in the wind.

And there is a faith that leaps into the arms of God, burning all bridges behind it.

Day by day it abandons itself to the Master.

It defies its fears and keeps following his light.

It stays focused on the “one thing needful”.

This kind of faith….

….is not a feeling.

….is not a trick of the mind.

….. It is an act of the will.

Now faith is being sure of things hoped for, confident of things not seen.

Hebrews 11

Of all the voices that beckon me to trust them, only one rings true.

I choose to trust this one voice.

To believe what it says.

To do what it commands.

To walk in its light.

“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

Prayer: Yes Lord, in the middle of all the things that are troubling us…help us to leap into your arms, abandoning all our fears, concerns, sadness, disappointments, and troubles to you. Day after day help us to choose to believe in your omnipotence, choose to trust you, choose to do what you command, choose to seek and walk in your light, and choose to embrace the freedom from fear and the comfort you offer us as we follow you and focus on the most needful thing…. listening to your dear, lovely, tender, perfect voice. Amen.

Message: Richard E. Bieber 2021 Printable/Shareable Copy
Featured Artist: Courtesy of Neil Breebaart
Website: Artrefined.co.za

# #NeilBreebaartArtRefined

LET ME NOT BE ASHAMED

Unto thee, O Lord, do I lift up my soul, O my God, I trust in thee: Let me not be ashamed. (Psalm 25)

Ashamed.

Exposed to the Light.

With all pretenses gone….revealed as a person quite different from the one I have always pretended to be.

Save me from this, O Lord!

Unto thee, O Lord, do I lift up my soul, O my God, I trust in thee!

Cover me with your mercy.

Cleanse me with your holy fire.

Cause me to hear your loving-kindness in the morning.

Teach me to do your will.

Hold me firm in your purpose.

So that…..

….Instead of being preoccupied with myself,

I may begin to see your will, Lord, as the only thing that matters and enter into it with all my heart.

Thy kingdom come,

Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven!

Prayer: Amen.

Message: Richard E. Bieber 2010 Printable/Shareable Copy
Featured Artists: Elizabeth Wang Website: radiantlight.org.uk

#LetMeNotBeAshamed #ElizabethWangArt #Psalm25

CHOSEN

“You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide; so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you.” (John 15)

You did not volunteer.

You were chosen.

Why were you chosen?

Was it your intelligence and good looks?

Or the Lord’s sheer mercy?

Chosen for what?

…”that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide.”

And what kind of fruit is the Lord talking about?

Love, joy, and peace?

Or fruit from seed sown on good soil—kingdom fruit?

Fruit that lasts.

Disciples. Women, men, children who are drawn into the kingdom by watching what you do and hearing what you say.

“But Lord, I don’t even know how to begin.”

….“so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you.”

The Lord who chose you keeps telling you to pray.

So do it!

“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)

Prayer: Lord how beautiful and humbling that you chose us. You choose us, you appoint us to bear this abiding fruit. Lord, help us to keep our hearts ever open to you, to truly abide in you, and to keep your words so alive in us that, yes, others can’t help but be drawn into the kingdom as they watch us and listen to us. We admit we cannot do this without you, without your mercy, so we ask you in the name of your beloved son, Jesus, to help us to glorify you, to bear fruit, and prove to be your loving disciples. Amen.

Message: Richard E. Bieber April 2021 Printable/Shareable Copy
Featured Artist: Courtesy of Rex Deloney
Website: www.rexdeloney.com

#Chosen #IfYouAbideInMe #RexDeloneyArt

START GIVING THANKS

Even if you’re not sure where all those mercies come from…

…start giving thanks.

Once it dawns on you that it’s more than “coincidence” that you’re still alive and sane….

…. start giving thanks,

Even if you’re unclear about the source.

Because….

….A thankful heart sees beyond the visible.

….A thankful heart has its “receivers” open to heaven.

….A thankful heart connects with God.

And as he entered a village, he was met by ten lepers, who stood at a distance and lifted up their voices and said, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.” When he saw them he said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went they were cleansed. Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice; and he fell on his face at Jesus’ feet, giving him thanks. Now he was a Samaritan. Then said Jesus, “Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine? Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” And he said to him, “Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well.” (Luke 17:12-19)

Ten lepers were cleansed—without strings.

But only the Samaritan with a thankful heart became truly whole.

Thankfulness is not a mood, it’s an act of the will.

If you’re having trouble being thankful, start with this:

Let all that I am praise the Lord; with my whole heart, I will praise his holy name. Let all that I am praise the Lord; may I never forget the good things he does for me.

He forgives all my sins and heals all my diseases.

He redeems me from death and crowns me with love and tender mercies.

He fills my life with good things.

My youth is renewed like the eagle’s!

Psalm 103

Prayer: Lord, again and again throughout our lives we have cried out to you, “Lord, master have mercy on us”. And you always answer our cries. You rescue us again and again. You are so good to us and we just take our healing and go on our way. Instead, Lord, may we fall on our knees at your mercy to us. May we deeply comprehend all that you have done for us…and may the wonder of it bring a song of thankfulness to our hearts. May such thankfulness well up within us, that we connect with you like we never have before. We lift our voices to your goodness, to your tender mercy, to your forgiveness, to your steadfast love. We thank you for your miraculous redemptive power in our lives, for bringing us out of darkness, for calling us out of our own bitterness and despair. We thank you for not counting our sins against us. We thank you for every healing, for every answered prayer, for your divine protection, for bringing us to life, for renewing us. May every cell in our bodies say thank you, thank you for all you have done. Bless you Lord. Bless you in every way. Amen.

Message: Richard E. Bieber 2007 Printable/Shareable Copy
Featured Artists: Francisco Borboa Valenzuela “Pancho” Website: N/A

#Psalm103 #StartGivingThanks #TheGratefulLeper #FranciscoBorboaValenzuelaArt

FROM THE RAT RACE

“Late and soon, getting and spending, we lay waste our powers.”

William Wordsworth

We’re scared to death to leave the treadmill.

Even our times of “relaxation” are filled with stress

Without a deliberate decision to take time out to meet with God daily, we are consumed by the pressures and distractions that flood our minds and bombard our souls.

There is no other way to “humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God” than to become still before him.

Jesus promises that if you ask the Father for the Holy Spirit, your prayer will be answered.

But it is impossible even to pray this prayer, much less to receive the answer as long as your mind is distracted.

Take time to draw back…and think….and wait…

….and open your soul to the living God.

“But I cannot afford to take the time,” you say.

Listen………you cannot afford not to take the time.

“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you shall eat or what you shall drink, nor about your body, what you shall put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither snow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?……Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek all these things; and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things shall be yours as well.”

Matthew 6:25

Prayer: Holy Lord, we continue to be distracted, our minds bombarded with worries, sadness, petty concerns and bad news. Help us to take ourselves off these treadmills, to remove ourselves from these rat races of futility, from this hopelessness. Lord, help us not be satisfied until our biggest concern, our greatest comfort is being still before you, seeking your presence, your righteousness, your nature, your kingdom above all else. Starting now, help us to stop, to take time to wait, to open ourselves in every way to you, to absorb you into every fiber of our beings, and to breathe in the joy of who you are. Amen.

Message: Richard E. Bieber 2014 Printable/Shareable Copy
Featured Artist: Courtesy of Deborah Nell
Website: deborahnellart.net

#DistractedMinds #BeStill #SeekFirst #FromTheRatRace #DeborahNellArt

AM I A DISCIPLE OR A HYPOCRITE?

It’s a question hypocrites never ask.

It’s a question disciples ask all the time.

Am I a disciple or a hypocrite?

If we ask the Lord, his answer could be something like this:

“The teachers of religious law and the Pharisees are the official interpreters of the law of Moses. So practice and obey whatever they tell you, but don’t follow their example. For they don’t practice what they teach.

They crush people with unbearable religious demands and never lift a finger to ease the burden.

“Everything they do is for show. On their arms they wear extra wide prayer boxes with Scripture verses inside, and they wear robes with extra long tassels. And they love to sit at the head table at banquets and in the seats of honor in the synagogues.

They love to receive respectful greetings as they walk in the marketplaces, and to be called ‘Rabbi.’ “Don’t let anyone call you ‘Rabbi,’ for you have only one teacher, and all of you are equal as brothers and sisters. And don’t address anyone here on earth as ‘Father,’ for only God in heaven is your Father. And don’t let anyone call you ‘Teacher,’ for you have only one teacher, the Messiah.

The greatest among you must be a servant. But those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.

Matthew 23:2-12 (NLT)

Jesus tells us how to order our lives.

No fancy titles.

No seats of honor.

No celebrity status.

We are low-profile servants.

The greatest among us is the least.

Our job is to humble ourselves.

God will exalt us if and when he chooses.

That’s how the kingdom works.

That’s how the true Body of Christ works.

When we ignore these instructions, Jesus has the same words for us he had for the scribes and Pharisees.

“What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you shut the door of the Kingdom of Heaven in people’s faces. You won’t go in yourselves, and you don’t let others enter either.

“What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you cross land and sea to make one convert, and then you turn that person into twice the child of hell you yourselves are!….

“What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are careful to tithe even the tiniest income from your herb gardens, but you ignore the more important aspects of the law—justice, mercy, and faith. You should tithe, yes, but do not neglect the more important things. Blind guides! You strain your water so you won’t accidentally swallow a gnat, but you swallow a camel!

“What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are so careful to clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside you are filthy—full of greed and self-indulgence! You blind Pharisee! First wash the inside of the cup and the dish, and then the outside will become clean, too.

“What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs—beautiful on the outside but filled on the inside with dead people’s bones and all sorts of impurity. Outwardly you look like righteous people, but inwardly your hearts are filled with hypocrisy and lawlessness.

Matthew 23:13-15, 23-28(NLT)

With these words, Jesus prepares us for the approaching turbulence.

If I’m a hypocrite, I will be exposed by events of the days ahead.

If I’m a disciple, I will be sustained as I deny myself, take up my cross daily and follow the Master.

As long as we are in these bodies we keep asking the question.

Am I a disciple or a hypocrite?

Meanwhile, the crowds grew until thousands were milling about and stepping on each other. Jesus turned first to his disciples and warned them, “Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees—their hypocrisy.

The time is coming when everything that is covered up will be revealed, and all that is secret will be made known to all. Whatever you have said in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have whispered behind closed doors will be shouted from the housetops for all to hear!

Luke 12:1-3

Prayer: Dear Lord, keep us ever aware of the danger of becoming so religious and self important that we forget the lives of mercy and compassion you call us to. Forgive us for stepping on each other, for what we say in the dark, for the yeast we allow to poison our thoughts. When we veer, keep us asking, am I a disciple or a hypocrite? For your sake, for the sake of the Kingdom…. help us to humble ourselves and choose low profile servanthood. Help us to be ever willing to lay down our pride, our need for celebrity and recognition, and to take on the yoke of insignificance where your power, your compassion, your mercy, and your life can do their work through us. Amen.

Message: Richard E. Bieber July 2021 Printable/Shareable Copy
Featured Artists: Karl Schmidt-Rottluff (1884-1976) Fair use policy Website: N/A

#Karl SchmidtRottluffArt #AmIADiscipleOrAHypocrite #PhariseeAttitude #HumnleOurselves

THE CALL OF ELIJAH

He wasn’t the Pied Piper.

He never even came to town.

He lingered out there in the wilderness, waiting on God.

One day they started coming.

They closed their shops in Jerusalem.

They left their orchards and vineyards.

They gathered by the thousands at a lonely clearing on the banks of the Jordan.

To hear a wild man rake them over the coals and call them hypocrites.

“You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?

Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.”

Luke 3:7-9

And they just kept coming.

Never, in the history of Israel had there been such a stirring of hearts.

Such repentance.

Such fear and trembling before the God of Israel.

John the Baptist warned them to flee from the wrath to come.

So they went down into the water and repented!

When Jesus arrived, the stirring increased, until all Israel was flooded with news of the Kingdom of God.

But what was it that caused these people to drop everything and go to the Jordan?

They were drawn by the Elijah voice.

“See, I will send the prophet Elijah to you before that great and dreadful day of the Lord comes. He will turn the hearts of the parents to their children, and the hearts of the children to their parents; or else I will come and strike the land with total destruction.”

Malachi 4:5-6

At this hour the voice of Elijah is calling again.

People are being drawn…..

To hear the Word of God, with no fancy frills.

To be moved by a spirit of repentance.

“You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.”

Wherever the voice of Elijah is heard, repentance floods the land.

No more playing games.

It’s either follow Jesus—all the way—or forget it!

Christendom digs in, and goes its own way.

But the Body of Christ rises with a unity this earth has never seen.

“I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one—I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me”.

John 17:22-23

When the followers of Jesus are truly one,

the gospel of the Kingdom will flood the earth.