Posts with the tag “pastor-gene-beck”

It is hard to imagine where this whole year has gone.  It doesn’t seem possible that this week we will celebrate Thanksgiving.  I am looking forward to spending time with family.  I am sure you have f...  Read More

This year as we come to the month of November, I want to set aside more time to reflect on God’s goodness in my life and to be thankful.  In the United States, we have set aside the fourth Thursday of...  Read More

One of the things I enjoy doing in the early morning is going out into our subdivision for a walk.  Now I will be honest, I started walking for exercise because I wanted to improve my physical health....  Read More

This past July, I had the privilege of traveling with Pastor Jim and Karon to Israel.  It was my first time to see and experience the Holy Land.  The time we spent at the Sea of Galilee impacted my li...  Read More

Through the years, I have traveled to many places where I was unfamiliar with the roads.  As in typical male fashion, I often would not ask for directions.  I figured we were close to our destination ...  Read More

All of us have gone through times when we have wondered where God was or if He had time to care for us.  With over 8 billion people on our planet, we might feel that we are rather insignificant to the...  Read More

The Psalms often remind us that we are to praise the Lord for He is actively at work all around us.  Sometimes He is working in very visible ways, and it is obvious what God is doing.  At other times ...  Read More

We live today in rather uncertain times.  There is a huge political divide, and it seems that the forces of evil are trying to destroy what is good.  People have ideas of how the problems we face shou...  Read More

The last five Psalms of the Book of Psalms are glorious worship hymns that exhort us to praise our God.  They bring into focus the reality that our lives are to bring glory to God, and that we should ...  Read More

Today we live in a world that is constantly changing.  Lynette’s grandfather would say, “Travel in my lifetime has gone from horse and buggy to cars, to airplanes, to landing a man on the moon.”  Havi...  Read More

Some of you know that I come from a farming background, and I grew up about 18 miles north of Chico, CA in the Sacramento Valley. Both sides of my family were farmers for a number of generations.  My ...  Read More

This morning, as I write this devotional, an old hymn from my childhood, keeps going through my mind.  “What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. What can make me whole again? Nothing...  Read More

I am very thankful for God’s forgiveness of sins.  How many of us have needed God’s forgiveness this past month… week… or even today.  Without that forgiveness, past, present, and future, we would be ...  Read More

I have been thinking about how important it is that Jesus is seated at the Father’s right hand, continually interceding for us. Prayer was a key component of Jesus’ ministry to His disciples.  He cont...  Read More

In June of 1980, my family and I moved to Montana.  Little did we know what great adventure and ministry were waiting for us there.  After getting settled in, on a beautiful Montana summer day, we dro...  Read More

Through the years I have often quoted Philippians 3:10, agreeing with the Apostle Paul that I want to know the Lord on a deeper level.  Suffering and a full understanding of Christ’s death on our beha...  Read More

This past week we reflected on the sufferings of Christ and celebrated His resurrection that first Easter morning.  Now almost 2000 years removed from the events, I want to remind us of how significan...  Read More

Religious groups of Jesus’ day often openly questioned Him.  The Sadducees were one of these groups.  They accepted only the first five Books of Moses, did not believe in angels, spirits or the resurr...  Read More

As an act of worship, it is important for us to take time on a regular basis to tell God of our love for Him.  When we think of God’s working in our lives, He demonstrates repeatedly His love for us. ...  Read More

God has uniquely fashioned each of us to serve and live for Him.  We all have different personalities, abilities, and spiritual giftedness.  When God combines these things together, we all have specia...  Read More

Each day God desires for us to press on toward His goals for our life.  The word “press” expresses an intense endeavor.  We are to move intently toward God’s desires for our lives and make this a patt...  Read More

Each New Year brings its challenges.  Challenges like remembering to write 2023 on my checks, following a new budget, or maybe making life changes.  Some of these are easy once we get into the flow of...  Read More

As we begin this New Year, my thoughts turn toward God’s care in my life.  There are many times that I feel all alone.  I may even feel that God is distant when I am dealing with life’s difficulties. ...  Read More

The theme of the Psalm is expressed in verse 1.  David’s soul waited in silence and found rest in God alone.  God was his complete source of calmness when his world was falling apart.  He emphasizes t...  Read More

God desires that I cultivate an attitude of thankfulness in my life.  Every day I should stop and reflect on God’s goodness.   In fact, it is God’s will for me to be thankful.  Sometimes with all the ...  Read More

As we go through life, everyone’s journey is different. God has set before us, as it were a race to run. This race will be difficult at times.  The temptation is to look at the race others are running...  Read More

God not only has fashioned us and put us together the way we are, but He also designs us to acomplish particular things for Him.  We are, “created in Christ Jesus for good works…”   God has planned fo...  Read More

I am finding that I need the peace of God more and more as I live each day.  My mind needs to learn to rest in the person and character of our Lord.  Difficult and stressful times are not anything new...  Read More

Consider the Lord’s thoughts of love toward each of us today. A love that values us with the very life of God’s Son that was given for us. A love that unconditionally accepts us as a result of this sa...  Read More

We as humans are strange creatures.  We run faster when we lose our way.  Instead of pausing to regroup, we ricochet from place to place.  We do not pause to orient ourselves.  We usually refuse to as...  Read More

The Apostle Paul was a man of great spiritual stature, but not without faults.  He wanted his readers to know that he had not attained to full maturity in Christ.  Paul saw himself as the worst of sin...  Read More

As Christians we are God’s unique creation.  God has made us what we are. We are an important part of the “new creation,” the body of Christ.  At the moment of salvation we were placed in this body an...  Read More

The people’s lives that are recorded in biblical history are people just like us. They struggledwith many of the same daily pressures that we deal with today. They worked hard to provide fortheir fami...  Read More

Today we are living in troubling times. I don’t think anyone would disagree with that statement. The Apostle Paul in writing to his son in the faith Timothy, said that the last days would be character...  Read More

This past week I have been reflecting on God’s grace.  I am realizing in a deeper way how God’s unmerited favor not only brought me to Christ but also is in the process of changing my life to be more ...  Read More

When we came to know Jesus Christ as our Savior, we were qualified by God’s grace to receive every spiritual blessing.  As we recognize the depth of what God has done for us it should cause us to be t...  Read More

Once we came to know Christ as Savior and Lord, we were designed to grow in our relationship with Him.  This spiritual growth is possible because…We are rooted in Christ.Paul had instructed the believ...  Read More

David begins this psalm with the statement, “I will love You…”  This is the only time in the Old Testament that this Hebrew word for “love” is used to express man’s love for the Lord.  David is respon...  Read More

As I look back over decades of ministry, I am thankful for the godly people who have helped shape my life and my ministry.  Their impact was felt as they lived out in practical ways their faith, love,...  Read More

Each day this week we are releasing a video devotional from one of our pastors related to the Passion Week designed to help you meditate on the events of Jesus' final week.We invite you to go through ...  Read More