Faith It and You Will Make It

Mark Farley September 16, 2022 0 Likes 182 Views

**Faith it till you make it…**

Most things in life are learned by experience.

From learning to ride a bike to all the responsibilities that come with being an adult, ..

**It seems we learn best from experiencing the task, action, or responsibility at hand.**

Then there are those times when we enter into a new thing or unfamiliar area.

**That’s when we must rely on our faith.**

***Relying on our previous experiences with the unfamiliar should have taught us that having faith quiets the fear within us and allows God to do what He needs.***

**Are you able to faith it until you make it?..**

Check your experience…

***“We finally saw that faith in some kind of God was a part of our make-up, just as much as the feeling we have for a friend.***
***Sometimes we had to search fearlessly, but He was there.” Big Book pg 55***

***Lord, let us rely on the faith that lives in our hearts in times of uncertainty, AMEN.***

***“For we live by faith, not by sight.” 2 Corinthians 5:7***

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?***

Men: Don’t Neglect These 4 Key Spiritual Disciplines

Wade September 15, 2022 0 Likes 209 Views

Based on Disciplines of a Godly Man by R. Kent Hughes:

Prayer and Mental Discipline

You need to set the time aside for prayer. You need to carry a prayer list like I have, perhaps in your pocket or put it on your smartphone. Pray regularly, pray for your nearest and dearest. Begin by worshipping God and then pray for those that are closest to you, then your family, then the body of Christ, and then for the world. Just that easily, pray things that come to mind—but do it on a regular basis.

Next to prayer is the discipline of the mind. In our culture today, we are assaulted 24/7 with all kinds of sounds and media all around us. We become distracted men. We need to discipline our minds: what we read, and what goes into it.

Relationships and the Church

Thirdly, if you’re a married man, you need discipline in your relationships—which is very pleasant discipline. Love your wife as Christ loved the church and gave himself for her (and all those implications) and love her as you love your own body. Engage in a sublimely ordained narcissism by loving your wife.

Along with that is loving your church and participating in the body of Christ. You cannot be what you need to be as a godly man apart from the fellowship of the church. The early church understood that to have God as a father implies having the church for your mother to nurse you, take care of you, fellowship in the body of Christ, and enter into its fellowship. You cannot grow to be what you want to be apart from regular tenets, upon the organized services of the church, sitting at the Lord’s table, and being under the godly discipline of the elders who care for and will answer for your soul.

Transformed Thinking

Mark Farley September 15, 2022 0 Likes 153 Views

**Be transformed…..**

Maybe it’s different for you, but I get these pictures in my head of the way my head thinks life is supposed to work.

**When these expectations dominate my thinking and fail to match real life then feelings of confusion and frustration attempt to dominate my mind.**

The thing I have learned over the years is that I have no right to set expectations on others.

***People are human, just like me, and will be prone to faults, fears, and forgetfulness.***

**When I block the expectations and just stay in the moment, I have found that not only do things go well, but also my day and my life goes better.**

***The blessing is that I get to turn my will and my day over to God every day and just focus on being of service to those He puts in my path.***

**Are you allowing expectations to cloud your thinking?..**

Check your experience… .

***“Before we begin, we ask God to direct our thinking, especially asking that it be divorced from self-pity, dishonest or self-seeking motives.” Big Book pg 86***

*Lord, let us trade our expectations of others into You for grace and acceptance, AMEN.*

“Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.” Romans 12:2

Have a blessed day y’all!

Looking to volunteer or plug into an existing helping opportunity in the Greater Phoenix AZ area?

**Visit Servants Hearts!**

It’s a free site to help connect folks with volunteer and helping opportunities!

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Who is Driving the Bus?

Mark Farley September 14, 2022 0 Likes 206 Views

Where There’s a Will There is a Way

Mark Farley September 13, 2022 0 Likes 149 Views

**Where there is a will**…
***there’s a way….***

I am sure at some point we have heard the phrase, **“the devil made me do it.”**

I know in the past I have used it as a cheap excuse for my behaviors or actions that brought trouble, or caused issues for others.

**The problem is that there really is a nugget of truth attached to this phrase.**

***Because God loves us unconditionally, HE lets us keep our free will.***

**It’s on us to choose to either use our will or seek His will.**

So in my case when I act on self-will and it causes issues for myself and others, it truly is the devil manipulating me through my selfish and self-centered will.

Please understand, it’s not the devil’s fault for my actions, its mine to own because I made the choice to follow my will instead of seeking God’s will for the situation.

***So the devil is not really “making me do it”, rather he is using my choice of self will to help me self-destruct.***

**How are you allowing the devil to “make you do it”? …**

check your experience…

***“So our troubles, we think, are basically of our own making. They arise out of … self-will run riot,” Big Book pg 62.***

*Lord, let us look into our hearts in times of great temptation to match the desires of our own will against Your will that lives in the Holy Spirit inside of us, AMEN.*

“…for indeed I would not have known what it means to desire something belonging to someone else if the law had not said, “Do not covet.” But sin, seizing the opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of wrong desires.” Romans 7: 7-8

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?***

Does Your Walk Match Your Talk?

Mark Farley September 12, 2022 0 Likes 196 Views

**Do what you say and say what you do…**

***Have you ever noticed that the people you tend to trust the most are the ones whose walk matches their talk?***

Heck, we are all human and I am as guilty as the next person when it comes falling into the trap of saying one thing and doing another, but …

***When I stop and consider how I feel when I see others doing this, it helps me to stop from entering that slippery territory.***

**How’s it working out for you?..**

Check your experience…

***“We feel we are on the Broad Highway, walking hand in hand with the Spirit of the Universe.” Big Book pg 75***

*Lord let our words match our actions and deeds, AMEN.*

***“Set an example for other followers by what you say and do, as well as by your love, faith, and purity.” 1 Timothy 4:12***

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 in?**

[email protected]

Remembering 911

Mark Farley September 11, 2022 0 Likes 241 Views

Hope and Focus

Mark Farley September 10, 2022 0 Likes 164 Views

**Looking for the good in all situations. …**

Perhaps it’s different for you, but I have this magic magnifying glass in my mind that automatically tries to find the negative in everything and make it bigger than it is.

Over the years I have learned to recognize this and turn it off before it gets a chance to twist my thinking. I now look for the good in everything and everyone, even when I am facing challenges and bad news. I am FREE to do this because I am God’s kid and His Spirit resides in me.

**I know that no matter what, I will survive the situation and either learn or benefit in some way from it…**

Check your experience…

“When I focus on what’s good today, I have a good day, and when I focus on what’s bad, I have a bad day. If I focus on a problem, the problem increases; if I focus on the answer, the answer increases.” Big Book pg 417.

*Lord remind our hearts to quiet our minds in difficult times so that we may feel Your Spirit and know this too shall pass, AMEN.*

“We can rejoice too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.” Romans 5:3

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 in?**

[email protected]

It’s Our Choice

Mark Farley September 9, 2022 0 Likes 151 Views

**What is our choice going to be?…**

We are confronted daily with many situations calling for us to make a choice.

What roads to take to get to our destination, what to eat, what to wear, how to respond to questions, and so on.

Most of the time we know the choice to make based on our experience and knowledge, so it does not require much thought or extra effort on our part.

**But what about those times when we must make a choice between what’s in our head versus what’s in our heart?**

*You know, those times when temptation of the moment attempts to entice you into going against what you know to be right.*

In my case the temptation to gorge myself on food I should not be eating has now caused me to have to make some life changes.

***These are the choices that require not only thoughts to think it through, but also help from the Holy Spirit living within us.***

***How are you dealing with those times?..***

**Remember, isolation only fuels the temptation…**

Check your experience…

**If tempted, we recoil from it as if from a hot flame.” Big Book pg. 84**

*Lord, let us look temptation square in the eye and know that You will show us the way around it and away from it, AMEN.*

“The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure.” 1 Corinthians 10:13

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 Motive?

Mark Farley September 8, 2022 0 Likes 297 Views

What’s your motive?…
This was given to me years ago as I was learning how to pray and I still use it to this very day.

The suggestion is to pray to WANT what I GET and not to GET what I WANT.
I can’t tell you how many times over the years I have become confused and have prayed

TELLING God about a desired specific outcome with great detail, based on my thoughts, emotions, and motives on getting that specific result
instead of becoming open and willing to learn God’s will for me and the lesson I need to learn for the situation causing me to pray.

When I pray for understanding and wisdom, things go well.
When I pray for specific things focusing only on how those things will make me feel, well,…
I am still waiting…
Think about that for a moment and please… 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 understand Your will for us in the requests we make instead of demanding our own way, AMEN.

“When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.” James 4:3
Have a blessed day Y’all!
Looking to volunteer or plug into an existing helping opportunity in the Greater Phoenix AZ area?
Visit Servants Hearts!
It’s a free site to help connect folks with volunteer and helping opportunities! http://aservantsheart.us