Category: Guys With God

Blog

Blame Game

The blame game… 


 It’s because of them, or they made this happen, which leads to the famous, ‘it’s not MY FAULT’. 


Think about it, we all tend to have these feelings from time to time and it’s very easy to garner support from others when we share this thinking. 


Now while it is true we cannot control what other people, places, situations, or things do or say,..


 we CAN control how we allow it to affect us in our actions and attitudes. 


This is why God allows us to keep our free will even after we turn it over to Him. 


He wants us to have the ability to use our gifts and grace to not become “sheeple” getting caught up in the emotions of the moment blaming them and they. 


Rather, He wants us to look inside ourselves and choose how we respond… 


Check your experience… 


“That is how we react so long as we keep in fit spiritual condition.” Big Book pg. 85 


Lord, let us control how we react and respond using the grace You have given us, AMEN. 


 “There is nothing that enters a man from outside which can defile him; but the things which come out of him, those are the things that defile a man.” Mark 7:15 


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 


 How about a daily dose of hope and inspired thought? 

Bad Moments

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


Have you ever noticed that what you focus on influences how you feel and act? 


For instance, playing with children can make some older folks feel young and more alive. 


How about the feeling of accomplishment after completing a work out at the gym? 


What about the uncomfortable and unpleasant parts of our day that we all have? 


Have you ever noticed what happens when we focus on that? 


It tends to drag us into the negative mindset and brings us down. 


Now maybe it’s different for you, but I have found that when I enter into the unpleasant moments of my day, instead of focusing on the anticipation of the impending doom or negativity, I remind myself of all the good in my life and that this is just a moment in my day that will eventually pass. 


I find that when I greet negative times with cheerfulness, the negativity has a hard time taking me hostage. 


How’s that working out for you?.. 


Check your experience… 


“We were prepared to look at it from an entirely different angle.” Big Book pg 66 


Lord, let us walk through the negative times knowing this is but a moment but You are in our heart forever and that we have blessings awaiting us, AMEN. 


 “Do everything without complaining and arguing, so that no one can criticize you. Live clean, innocent lives as children of God, shining like bright lights in a world full of crooked and perverse people.” Philippians 2:14-15 


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.

https://homesfromheaven.org/ 

New Attitude

New day, fresh start, new attitude… 


Sometimes we get into the routine of our daily lives and what used to be exciting or fresh in our hearts becomes dulled by the daily monotony of habit and comfortable routine. 


Over time, if not checked and renewed, these tasks, routines, and even relationships can suffer from our being taken hostage by monotony. 


There is a solution. 


Even when our tasks and routines need to contain the same things, we can renew our spirits daily by simply turning our will and our lives over to the Lord daily! 

Come on.. Give it a try… and as always… Check your experience… 


“This means a new attitude and spirit all around.” Big Book pg. 99


Lord thank You for allowing us to refresh ourselves and our lives through renewing ourselves daily with your Spirit, AMEN. 


“Let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes.” Ephesians 4:23 


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.

https://homesfromheaven.org/ 

Focus

Focus… 


It’s amazing to me how elite athletes stay focused on their game despite the distractions all around them, or how actors and artists keep their focus on their craft and avoid distractions. 


It’s a great testimony to how focus leads to the end result. 


Spiritually speaking, we have the same opportunity with our focus. 


Practice in prayer over the years has taught me that when I focus my prayer life on being in tune with God’s will for the person, place, or thing I am praying for…


I get the blessing to be free from praying to GET what I WANT


 ….and instead….


 I have the Spirit, heart, and mind to WANT what I GET from my prayers. 


How’s this working out for you? 


Check your experience… 


“praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.” Big Book pg. 59 


Lord. Let us pray to want what we get instead of praying to get what we want, AMEN. 


“Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion.” Ephesians 6:18 


Have a blessed day Y’all! 


What if you had a person who coached and mentored you in building a better life?  


Inspired 365 Life Coaching with Mark Farley!! 


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


Want a one-on-one coach to help you achieve your goals?  

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]

Mind What Matters

When we mind what matters, what matters will be on our mind… 


It’s pretty easy to see what matters to us. 


Just look at who we associate with and what we tend to do. 


The things that we focus on as well as the people, places, things, and situations we seek are a great indicator of what matters to us. 
 



It’s a spiritual principle that what we allow to influence us shapes our attitudes, thoughts, behaviors, and ultimately our life. 

I learned long ago and it’s still shared in AA and most 12-step meetings to this day that when we mind what matters, what matters will be on our mind… 


Check your experience… 


“Here was something at work in a human heart that had done the impossible.” Big Book pg. 11 


 Lord, let us fill our hearts with the things that matter most to us, AMEN. 


“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Matthew 6:21 


Have a blessed day Y’all! 


What if you had a person who coached and mentored you in building a better life?  


Inspired 365 Life Coaching with Mark Farley!! 


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


Want a one-on-one coach to help motivate and guide you to achieve your goals and dreams??  

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]

Good Deeds

He sees everything… 


I love watching people. 


I learn so much from others. 


It’s interesting to me to watch folks as they interact with others. 


My experience has been that different situations bring different actions and behaviors. 


For instance, at the drive the focus is on the order, as both the attendant and the customer are trying to purchase a pre-established menu item, pretty much a no-brainer. 


Then there is the grocery store and the need to be in the shortest line. 


The type A personality versus the passive is fun to watch. 


The Type A will go all out directly to the short line and heck with whomever has the misfortune of being in their way, 


while the passive personality will be aware of others and see the type A and clear out of the way letting them go first. 


My favorite is the unexpected assist. 


Recently I observed a mom with a toddler attempting to fit all her bagged purchases into one hand while deftly grabbing car keys and freeing the other arm to hold the baby because the cart would not go outside of the store, 


all the while shoppers moved around her as they exited the store. 


She almost went into shock when I asked her if I could help. 


After the shock wore off, she saw my smiling wife near me and figured out quickly I was not a psycho stalker, but she politely refused and gave us a heartfelt thank you for caring enough to ask. 


Remember folks, keep the eyes of your hearts open to see who the Lord puts in your path. 


It’s always good to offer assistance for the right reasons… 


Check your experience… 


 “In the same way, the good deeds of some people are obvious.  And the good deeds done in secret will someday come to light.” 1 Timothy 5: 24-25 


Lord, let us perform good deeds with the only motive of being of service to others and not for personal gain, AMEN. 


“It depends on us and on our motives.” Big Book pg. 70 


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 


 How about a daily dose of hope and inspired thought? 

What is Your Power Source?

What is your power source?.


Red Bull, coffee, Protein shakes, Power Bars, and all sorts of other products promise us energy. 


Many other products promise to enhance our power. 


Bodybuilders and folks into fitness and exercise routines gain physical strength and stamina, but, ….


WHERE do we really get our POWER from? 


We see stories from time to time in the mainstream media of folks doing superhuman feats to save another or help someone in danger. 


I bet if you take a look at the events in your lifetime there have been a few times when you have had to “dig deep” to find that extra needed effort to complete a task or endure an unpleasant situation. 


Where did that power come from? 


Honestly, I know I am lying to myself if I try to claim it came only from me. 


I know for a fact that through my faith in God and my walk with Jesus, that God equips me with the power I need. 


 How about you?..


Where does your power come from?..


Check your experience…


“We had to find a power by which we could live, and it had to be a Power greater than ourselves.” Big Book pg. 45 


Lord thank you for giving us the power we need to not only accomplish the task or endure the situation but also to allow You to work through us to help others, AMEN. 


“With God’s power working in us, God can do much, much more than anything we can ask or imagine.” Ephesians 3:20 


Have a blessed day Y’all! 


What if you had a person who coached and mentored you in building a better life?  


Inspired 365 Life Coaching with Mark Farley!! 


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


Want a one-on-one coach to help you  build, set, meet, and achieve your goals?  

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]

Reality vs. My Head

Why can’t reality match the picture in my head? … 


Perhaps it’s different for you, but every now and then I get a picture of the way the world is supposed to be in my head and it does not match up with reality. 


These expectations come from my own self-centered wants, fears, and pride. 


 During my walk with Jesus and sobriety, 
I have learned that expectations can spring from a person’s thought process based on emotional wants. 


I have learned that expectations based on my human assumptions can cause me trouble. 


These days I try to catch myself when I am trying to set an expectation. 


Time, grace, and serenity have taught me that I need to make sure I examine all of the evidence and not just what I want to see or hear. 


I ask the Lord to help me let it go and allow my heart to accept people, places, and things as they are and for what they are right now. 

It saves me a lot of anger, grief, and wasted energy! 


How’s this working out for you?.. 


Check your experience… 


“And acceptance is the answer to all my problems today. When I am disturbed, it is because I find some person, place, thing or situation — some fact of my life — unacceptable to me, and I can find no serenity until I accept that person, place, thing or situation as being exactly the way it is supposed to be at this moment.” Big Book pg. 417


Lord, lets us trade our expectations in for acceptance and knowledge that You are in control, AMEN. 


 “The hopes of the godly result in happiness, but the expectations of the wicked come to nothing.” Proverbs 10:28 


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 


How about a daily dose of hope and inspired thought? 

Where is All the Good News?!?

Where is all the good news?.. 


We hear stories about road rage and other examples of incidents that are fueled by emotional reactions all the time. 


While it grabs our attention for a moment, much like fights in a hockey match, it really is not newsworthy. 


Our media loves to show the negative side of life. 


YouTube is full of fight and conflict-video clips. 


Why? 


Because it grabs our attention and gives us that momentary human feeling of entitlement based on the thinking; “well at least I am not THAT bad.” 


It’s hard to find stories about good works and good deeds, especially anonymous good deeds. 


 For whatever reason it doesn’t get ratings, viewers, or website clicks. 


However, when we do something good or helpful for someone else without expecting to be seen, caught, or recognized, our hearts gain this feeling of joy and happiness. 


Come on, you know you feel this! 


That is the Holy Spirit inside your heart jumping for joy! 

We don’t need it to be broadcast on the news or to be in the limelight for it because we are receiving our unasked-for reward for helping others…


Check your experience. … 


 “…asking each morning in meditation that our Creator show us the way of patience, tolerance, kindliness, and love.” Big Book pg. 83 


Lord, let us share encouragement and blessings with others in the same way You so freely share with us, AMEN. 


“May the patience and encouragement that come from God allow you to live in harmony with each other” Romans 15:5 


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.

https://homesfromheaven.org/ 


AZ Charitable TAX CREDIT! 

Treating Others Like We Wish to be Treated

Treat others like you want to be treated….. 


We all hear this and know this but are we able to naturally do this or does it take some work on our part? 


We want to be recognized for who we are and like to be known for what we do. 


That is natural pride and ownership of our actions. 


We come to expect others to know what or “who” we are. 


Now….Think about this for a moment… 


When was the last time you looked a service worker, like a cleaning person, yard person, or fast-food clerk directly in the eye and said a heartfelt, honest thank you? 


Did you know that Kurt Warner worked overnights in a grocery store stocking shelves to feed his family? 


Or that basketball legend Larry Bird worked on the trash truck with his dad to help his family make ends meet? 


We never know who we are encountering, or truly why they seem to be in a “dead end” job, so it’s a good idea to treat others with the same kindness and recognition that we want… 


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 look to be a friend to those around us, giving them the same grace that you so readily give to us, AMEN. 


“Agree with one another. Don’t be proud. Be willing to be a friend of people who aren’t considered important. Don’t think that you are better than others.” Romans 12:16 


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.

https://homesfromheaven.org/ 


AZ Charitable TAX CREDIT!