It’s amazing to think that King David in the Bible was considered a favorite of God when you read about some of the mistakes he made during his life and career. He was not exempt from similar temptations, shortcomings and pitfalls as others in the Bible and yet, he was considered “a man after God’s own heart.” I did some study of David and his life to see what would warrant such a magnificent label from God.

The main difference with David compared to others in the Bible was his quickness to repent when confronted. It was not that he didn’t NEED correction in his life. He made as many mistakes as others in the Bible but was a professional at turning back to God when he knew he had done wrong.

Many times in the church world, goodness is ranked on a scale of what you have or have not done good or bad in life. The fact is that we will all make mistakes but the more important observation is the correction after that issue. This is not justifying the things we do that make God sad but only saying that we will never be able to be free of mistakes until we get to heaven and are with God.

David was a textbook case to observe when it came to making a change in life when challenges occurred and correction was offered. So the real question is if you are spending the kind of time with God to know his heart and will recognize things in life that need correction. Also, are you putting yourself around people you trust and who are trying to help make you the best version of yourself that you can be?
 
All good thoughts to meditate on this week and as always, we are praying for you and the trajectory of your life. Have a great week!

I had a revelation the other day about all the powerful words in the Bible to encourage people going through painful situations in life. They are in there for a REASON! God knew that we would need EVERY SINGLE WORD in the Bible to help make it through the ups and downs of life. When you read the Bible and are encouraged in some way you can remember that those words were put in there because you were going to need help making it. 

Today, realize that God loves you so much that he not only sent Jesus to die on a cross to get you to heaven, but he also provided the Bible, the most amazing and thoughtful guidebook for life to help you on that journey!

Yolanda and I went to Rocky Mountain National Park this past weekend to enjoy some of the last days before it gets too cold and the snow starts to move into Estes Park.We had a great time exploring a few drives around Estes and inside the park. We have lived in the Denver area for over 15 years and have never seen such beauty from canyons to waterfalls to animals and just the sheer majesty all around us.

We were on one of our hikes the last day there and were passed by a couple of families with some blessed talkative kids. Now, working in ministry for over twenty years you get to hear all kinds of fun stuff about parents that you would never know unless you asked a kid.

The first family had a dad that was walking a bit further than the rest of the family with a nervous/anxious look on his face and a mom with two kids behind him on the trail. Yolanda and I overhead one of the kid’s say, “Mom, dad sure is getting nervous.” The mom replied, “Honey, we know that life is about the journey and not just the destination.” Yolanda and I passed the entire family and then started to chuckle about the family dynamic that was playing out before our eyes and then confirmed in the mouth of that kid.

The second family we passed had a mom further ahead and a dad with his son a few steps behind. We overheard that kid say, “Dad, I sure don't want to sit with mommy in the car again.” Yolanda and I again began to chuckle and said to each other that this was a very interesting hike with kids sharing some interesting truths about their families! Haha

The point I am making is that many times in life we get so wrapped up in what we are trying to DO that we just forget to BE. The mom and dad from each of those families were creating memories for their kids, the problem was that they were the WRONG kind of memories. They were more nervous about the process of hiking with the family than just slowing down and enjoying the journey.

Today, don't get caught up in the speed that life wants to propel you. Our vision statement for Rocky Mountain CTN is “Enjoy Life. Consider Eternity.” Take some time to enjoy your life today! We obviously need to filter everything through our eternal existence with Jesus and our decisions we make on this earth, but Jesus wants us to enjoy the earth he created for us and just relax and take our life one day at a time.

Have a great week and we are praying for each of you! 
Rocky Mountain CTN Staff

Our lives and the world around us have always naturally been, and probably forever will be, about promoting ourselves, our needs and our desires. If you think about it, Jesus only really promoted what God the Father told him and did not try to bring glory on himself. He was all about giving and doing things for others including a master plan to leave the responsibility of growing the church through a pack of screwballs known as the disciples. If ever Jesus showed faith in man to continue what he started, it was picking those normal guys that made mistakes just like we do even today!
 
When we think of our daily lives, twenty four hours in a day is not enough time to promote ourselves and God equally. When we focus on making God more popular than ourselves, we operate on a level of grace and power that can never be understood until the decision is made to actually live a life of surrender. Surrender is related to weakness and not pushing or propelling yourself forward in our culture and considered living a life of regression and not advancement. Maybe that was the unsaid meaning of the verses in 1 Corinthians 1:27-29:
            "But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak 
             things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and
             the despised things–and the things that are not–to nullify the things that are, so that
             no one may boast before him."
 
Learning to live in the world while reflecting the teachings of the Bible is not easy at first. Things can even seem backwards at times with actions that seem contrary to the culture we are immersed in everyday.
 
I cannot say that I have all of the principles down to a science, but that I am trying everyday to be the man that God wants me to be. To be kind to the angry. To listen to those who feel like they have no one to hear them. To provide love to those who live in confusion in their mind everyday.
Jesus was all about having compassion on people and that only came from putting the needs of others before himself. The least I can do in this life is admire his example and then try to emulate his actions that were louder than any word he ever spoke on this earth.

Have a great week and know that when you give your all to God you will be able to operate on a level that this world cannot understand with power that they will want to be a part of! 

This week we have added a couple of new programs to our line up.

The first happens tonight (Tuesday's) at 5pm MST with World Impact- This is a wonderful, informative program, teaching us life lessons and how to apply them personally.  

Also, We have a program called American Heritage Series with David Barton that highlights what our country was founded on and how we need to pray to get back to that foundation. This program is very timely for where we are in our country.  You Won't Want To Miss It! 
This program airs Wednesday and Sunday nights at 8:30pm MST.

 Don't forget you can also stream us by going to ​www.RockyMountainCTN.com

Proverbs 4:23 - Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.
 
The Bible is very clear when it comes to the heart and what it controls. The heart is the life-giving source of everything else in a person's life, literally and figuratively. If your heart was to stop, no matter how healthy all other parts of your body might be, you would die. The Spiritual realm is exactly the same. You can have a wonderful Bible reading plan that you read every day and check off your list or you can even be able to say all the right things when it comes to spiritual matters in life. But if your heart is not right then all those things mean nothing. Now, I am not saying that any of the previous things are bad in and of themselves but if they are not done with a right heart then they are just actions without an anchor in life.

The verse Proverbs 4:23 states "Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life." (NLT) If you want to find the physical destination of people just look at where their heart is already is located. This is not based on judgement but on making sure we ALL examine our hearts in all situations.
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Today, ask God to examine your heart and make a commitment to let Jesus shine through all areas of your life whether they be words or actions. You can do it!!