Don’t Judge

Mark Farley November 16, 2024 0 Likes 31 Views

Don’t judge a book by its cover…

Looks can be deceiving, especially when we allow our judgment to be based solely on what we initially see.

Perhaps it’s different for you, but I have shared before how my magic magnifying mind likes to trick me into trusting the ideas it generates on its own just for me.

It pays to learn more of the story before we pass judgments.

Years ago when I was living, recovering, and working at the Salvation Army in Sacramento, we had this very small man named Joe who also lived there.

Because of a stroke he suffered, he walked funny and had a hard time speaking so it was easy to pass him by as another needy and hopeless cause.

However, I got to know Joe.

As our friendship grew, I learned that he was a powerlifter in the gym and before he had a stroke in his mid 20’s, he was a college graduate with a promising career in engineering.

Different choices he made around drugs and alcohol led to difficult twists, and turns in his life, like many of us encountered before we wound up at the Salvation Army for help.

Joe helped teach me and others to weight lift and use the gym safely.

He was very encouraging to me to get my college education and pursue God’s calling on my life.

I am glad I took the time to get to know Joe before he went home to the Lord.

His encouragement and influence helped me a lot during that season of my life.

Are there any “Joe’s” in your life where you don’t know their story?..

Check your experience….

“We let God be the final judge.” Big Book pg. 70

Lord open the eyes of our hearts so the we can see those You send to help us, AMEN.

“Do not judge according to appearance” John 7:24

Have a blessed day Y’all!

Did you know that Mentorship can help you grow and achieve your goals and dreams?

Inspired 365 Mentorship with Mark Farley!!

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Clear Vision

Mark Farley November 15, 2024 0 Likes 29 Views

Clearing our vision…

Those of us who wear eyeglasses know that we must frequently clean them in order to have clear vision.

Most of us enjoy a clean windshield free of debris as we drive our cars.

It’s even beneficial to clean our tablet, laptop, and computer screens, in order to see images clearly.

So why is it we allow our internal vision to be clouded like a pair of dark sunglasses?

Think about it. Perhaps it’s different for you, but there have been times in my life where I have allowed the influences of people, places, and things to cloud my visions and not see the truth.

Unfortunately, consequences followed because of my inability to see clearly.

I have learned over time through the 12 Steps and in having a daily relationship with Jesus in my life that I can keep the eyes of my heart free and clear of external negative influences along with my own selfish self-centered pride filled wishes by constantly seeking and doing God’s will.

What helps me the best to keep the eyes of my heart clear is to have folks in my life that also seek God’s will over their own…

Check your experience…

“See to it that your relationship with Him is right, and great events will come to pass for you and countless others.” Big Book pg. 164

Lord, let us open the eyes of our heart and clean away anything that clouds or blocks our vision and relationship with You, AMEN.

“First get rid of the log in your own eye; then you will see well enough to deal with the speck in your friend’s eye.” Luke 6:42

Have a blessed day Y’all!

Join me in looking at the things we face daily with passages from both the Big Book and Bible!

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What Controls You?

Mark Farley November 14, 2024 0 Likes 29 Views

Who’s in control?..

The need for control is part of our human nature.

The extremes we take it to and the illusions that we and others feel we have are usually where we have our struggles.

For instance, Miss Tami, Miss Kai and our 2 cats allow me to think I am in control in our home.

Luckily for me, I have seen through this illusion and get to enjoy my quiet corner of the living room, or as I call it my “command center”!

Another example I love to share is to challenge folks to try and herd cats!

How’s that control working out for you?!?

The fact I have learned the hard way over the years is that there are only 3 things I am in absolute control of; my attitude, my thoughts, and my behavior.

All of the rest are driven by people, places, and things.

The good news is that when I learned that I could turn it over to God, I no longer needed to allow the chaos of people, places, and things to affect my thoughts and behaviors…

Check your experience…

“All of us felt at times that we were regaining control, but such intervals — usually brief — were inevitably followed by still less control, which led in time to pitiful and incomprehensible demoralization.” Big Book pg 30

Lord, let us give up the need to control things outside of our attitudes, thoughts, and behaviors, AMEN.

“For you are a slave to whatever controls you.” 2 Peter 2:19

Have a blessed day y’all!

Did you know that Mentorship can help you grow and achieve your goals and dreams?

Inspired 365 Mentorship with Mark Farley!!

https://www.faiththroughworksfellowship.org/inspired-365-life-coaching

Email today and let’s chat to see if we can make up a plan for you to get you to where you want to be!

[email protected]

Watch Your Tongue!

Mark Farley November 13, 2024 0 Likes 29 Views

Watch your tongue…

It’s that time of year when we gather together with family, friends, and others to fellowship, celebrate, and spend time with others that we may not see that often.

Hopefully these times are full of fun, love, and create more warm memories.

This can also be a time where our petty differences, resentments, and unchecked emotions can try to take the stage in front of the captive audience gathered.

Please take this as a suggestion and guard your words!

Our self-will can override our spiritual connection during times of stress and anxiety leading to all sorts of words and actions that we later regret.

Hopefully you can direct those nasty words to stay inside your head and not come rolling off your tongue.

Remember the Holy Spirit lives within you and can give you grace, peace, and comfort during these times IF you let Him…

Check your experience…

“Patience, tolerance, understanding and love are the watchwords.” Big Book pg 118

Lord, let our words be driven from love and kindness and not from motives of hurt and pain, AMEN.

“So also the tongue is a small thing, but what enormous damage it can do, but no human being can tame the tongue. It is always ready to pour out its deadly poison. Sometimes it praises our heavenly Father, and sometimes it breaks out into curses against men…” James 3:5-9

Have a blessed day y’all!

Join us in prayer and with your financial support as we tackle the challenge of helping families, veterans, and motivated adults escaping homelessness and helplessness through the Furniture Bank
as well as mentoring young adults aging out of the Foster Care System with Homes From Heaven
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Humility not Humiliation

Mark Farley November 12, 2024 0 Likes 29 Views

Humility is way different than humiliation….

Humility is a good virtue that allows us to acknowledge others and respect their dignity, talents, and opinions.

Humility is not weakness; it’s a spirit of self-examination that through seeking and doing God’s will prevents us from becoming selfish and arrogant.

Humiliation is a painful emotion that we feel when we’ve been shamed.

It’s a negative response that usually comes as a consequence of our own selfish actions.

I used to confuse the 2 words, I think a lot of corporate America still does.

I have learned that a humble person is a powerful person who has a firm relationship with God, self, and others.

A humiliated person tends to be isolated and suffer from their own actions based on self-centered fears, greed, and pride.

How do you see yourself?..
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Check your experience…

“Belief in the power of God, plus enough willingness, honesty and humility to establish and maintain the new order of things, were the essential requirements.” Big Book pg 13

Lord, let us humble ourselves to be strengthened and fortified by our Word, grace, and promises. AMEN.

“If you are wise and understand God’s ways, prove it by living an honorable life, doing good works with the humility that comes from wisdom. But if you are bitterly jealous and there is selfish ambition in your heart, For jealousy and selfishness are not God’s kind of wisdom. For wherever there is jealousy and selfish ambition, there you will find disorder and evil of every kind.” James 3: 13-16

Have a blessed day Y’all!

Did you know that Mentorship can help you grow and achieve your goals and dreams?

Inspired 365 Mentorship with Mark Farley!!

https://www.faiththroughworksfellowship.org/inspired-365-life-coaching

Email today and let’s chat to see if we can make up a plan for you to get you to where you want to be!

[email protected]

Take Time to Listen

Mark Farley November 11, 2024 0 Likes 33 Views

Take time to listen before waiting to speak…

Have you ever caught yourself on “auto-pilot” in a conversation?

For me, it usually happens during a familiar conversation or recurring situation.

My mind tells me the answer before the other person even asks or finishes!

Now maybe it’s different for you, but I catch myself going into auto- pilot mode when I start deciding what must be done even before I have really listened and or HEARD what the other person is trying to say.

OK, so this is part of standard fare for raising kids under 5 when it comes to junk food and unsafe toys, we DO know the answers before they form the question,

but this type of listening hurts us in all other aspects of our lives.

Think about it.

We like to be listened to, heard, and feel that we have been understood.

It’s a spiritual principle that we need to treat others in the same way that we wish to be treated.

So maybe this is the 3rd time Aunt Mabel has told you the story about her trip to the grocery with the wrong coupons.

Perhaps by actively listening to her and building conversation around her story, she may finally feel heard and stop telling you the same story.

How do you listen?

Does the solution noise in your head drown out what the other person is trying to say? …

Check your own experience and…

Take time to listen instead of waiting to speak.

“We never gave the spiritual side of life a fair hearing.” Big Book pg 50

Lord, let us listen with our hearts and hear with You Holy Spirit that resides in us all, AMEN.

“To answer before listening– that is folly and shame. Proverbs 18:13

Have a blessed day Y’all!!

Inspired 365 Mentorship with Mark Farley!!

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Want Mentorship to get you out of where you are?

Email today and let’s chat to see if we can make up a plan for you to get you to where you want to be!

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Looking Away or Looking to Help?

Mark Farley November 10, 2024 0 Likes 29 Views

Looking away or looking to help…..

Sometimes when we see uncomfortable or unpleasant things, we divert our eyes away so our mind won’t focus and our hearts won’t feel the situation.

I used to do this every time I walked by my teenager’s room.

I am sure it’s a well-organized myriad of clothing, books, and life pertinent items to her, but it looked like remnants of a hurricane to her mother and me.

It’s easier to just look away and move on.

What about those times when we are at work or out and about with a group of friends and we see someone noticeably upset or hurting.

Hopefully it’s our natural reaction to seek to learn the situation, offer comfort, and help if possible.

Now what about when we see that out of place person trying to deal with something that is obviously unfamiliar for them?

I know that it’s easier to look away and pretend we don’t see that older person in the store trying to figure out how to lift that case of water.

Or it’s “better to ignore” the dirty looking person on the street with the shopping cart full of weird stuff.

I am not suggesting we stop and try to change their whole life, but what about looking them in the eye and saying hello?

What would Jesus do?

Check your experience…

“Helping others is the foundation stone of our recovery.” Big Book pg. 97

Lord, let us open the eyes of our heart to see where You would have us offer compassion and help, AMEN.

“Seeing the people, He felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd. Then He said to His disciples, “Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too.” Philippians 2:4

Have a blessed day y’all!

Join me in looking at the things we face daily with passages from both the Big Book and Bible!

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Bad Moment

Mark Farley November 8, 2024 0 Likes 35 Views

Don’t turn a bad moment into a bad day...

It was in hearing and learning the St. Francis prayer in AA that I first learned that in order to be forgiven, I must first forgive others.

Back then, and even sometimes today, it was a tall order and I had a very hard time finding the willingness to open my heart and mind to become forgiving.

Over the years I have learned from my own experiences as well as from watching and working with others that we tend to hang on to negative feelings and experiences longer than we should and if not addressed, these feeling and experiences can take on a life of their own and begin influencing our thoughts, actions and over time behaviors over other people, places, and things.

With Thanksgiving coming next week, all sorts of resentments, anger, hurts, and ill feelings will come rushing to the front of folk’s minds as family and friends gather together.

Jesus forgave us for our sins and continues to forgive me daily because of His unconditional love.

It is a spiritual principle that HE can’t forgive us until we are able to forgive others…

Check your experience…

“We go to him in a helpful and forgiving spirit, “Big Book pg. 77

Lord let us open our hearts to become forgiving of others so that we can be forgiven ourselves, AMEN.

“Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you.” Ephesians 4:32

Have a blessed day y’all!

Join me in looking at the things we face daily with passages from both the Big Book and Bible!

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=pastor+mark+farley&ref=nb_sb_noss

Traffic Jam

Mark Farley November 7, 2024 0 Likes 34 Views

Navigating through traffic…..

It seems we encounter traffic in just about everything we do these days.

The freeways are full of commuters, the Starbucks and Dutch Bros lines are long at times, there is usually a wait time for scheduled doctor appointments.

Most of us become aware of these patterns and we adjust our schedules to either accommodate or avoid these situations as best we can so we can continue with our day.

What about the things that can clog our hearts at times?

The “rush hour traffic” of fear and worry, or being taken hostage by worldly clamors of self-willed perceived wants and materialistic desires can derail a good day if we let it.

There is a plan and a solution to avoid this clutter and traffic in our hearts.

Turning our will and our lives over to the care of God clears this traffic of our heart and allows us to focus on the important things and enjoy peace and grace…

Check your experience…

“But soon the sense of His presence had been blotted out by worldly clamors, mostly those within myself. And so, it has been ever since.” Big Book pgs. 12-13

Lord, let us give You the things in our heart that block us off from your grace and Spirit, AMEN

“Let us put everything out of our lives that keeps us from doing what we should. Let us keep running in the race that God has planned for us.” Hebrews 12:1

Have a blessed day y’all!

Did you know that Mentorship can help you grow and achieve your goals and dreams?

Inspired 365 Mentorship with Mark Farley!!

https://www.faiththroughworksfellowship.org/inspired-365-life-coaching

Email today and let’s chat to see if we can make up a plan for you to get you to where you want to be!

[email protected]

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Look for the Helpers

Mark Farley November 6, 2024 0 Likes 35 Views

Look for the helpers…

Tragic events have hopefully shown us that we are capable of caring for, praying for, and helping others in need.

It’s sad that it takes enormous tragedy to spotlight this, but this is our culture and socially acceptable.

The good news is that there are many of us who don’t wait for a tragedy to strike but set out daily to look for the good and ways to plug in to be helpful and supportive.

A few have shared a timely quote from Mr. Rogers; “When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, “Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.”

It’s easy to focus on the bad in times of trouble, but spiritually speaking, the Lord through His Holy Spirit can help us see the good when we look for the helpers…

Check your experience….

“Take away my difficulties, that victory over them may bear witness to those I would help of Thy Power, Thy Love, and Thy Way of life.” Big Book pg. 63

Lord, let us look past the hurt and pain and find the helpers and the hope that You bring to every situation, AMEN.

“Finally, all of you should be of one mind. Sympathize with each other. Love each other as brothers and sisters. Be tenderhearted and keep a humble attitude.” 1 Peter 3:8

Have a blessed day Y’all!

Join us in prayer and with your financial support as we tackle the challenge of helping and mentoring young adults aging out of the Foster Care System as well as those escaping homelessness and helplessness through the Furniture Bank

https://homesfromheaven.org

AZ Charitable TAX CREDIT!

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