Don’t Judge a Book by Its Cover

Mark Farley November 26, 2022 0 Likes 389 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!

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]

Greed Friday

Mark Farley November 25, 2022 0 Likes 327 Views

GREED Friday?…..

Black Friday…

COME EARLY and BUY THIS NOW, SAVE NOW, THE FIRST SHOPPERS GET THE DEAL!

I saw this a few years ago… A Car Dealer offering $2000 off to the first few customers that show up tomorrow!

WOW!

I know it’s great to save money and get deals but why are we allowing this need to override our time with family, friends and cloud the reason for the season?..

Check your experience…

“Is it not evident to all the rest of the players that these are the things he wants?” Big Book pg. 61

Lord, let us know in our hearts that stuff comes and goes, but our relationship with You lasts forever, AMEN.

“Then he said to them, watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.” Luke 12:15

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?

We Only Keep What We Give

Mark Farley November 24, 2022 0 Likes 403 Views

There are many things that I am grateful for.

Too many to list here, but most of all I am grateful for my salvation, sobriety, and serenity.

I am thankful for my family, friends, and ministry.

It’s a spiritual principle that I try to live daily…

We cannot keep it unless we give it away….

“We thank God from the bottom of our heart” Big Book pg. 75

Thank you Lord for my family, my friends, and the bounty of blessings You allow them to bring in my life AMEN.

“I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.” Philippians 4:11-12

Happy Thanksgiving!

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

Watch Your Tongue!

Mark Farley November 23, 2022 0 Likes 350 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!

Please help us help others!

http://www.furniturebank.us/arizona-tax-credit.html

Donate today!

We Harvest What We Plant

Mark Farley November 22, 2022 0 Likes 404 Views

Reaping and sowing….

It’s a fact of life, based on a solid spiritual principle that we GET what we GIVE.

I was grateful to learn this fact in the rooms of AA listening to others share.

I was also blessed to experience this as I walk with Jesus daily.

Now perhaps it’s a bit different for you,..

but I have learned from my own experiences, as well as from helping others in their walk that..

we only GET OUT of a person, place, things, or situation, what we are WILLING TO GIVE to it.

Negativity breeds negativity, and misery does love company.

However, supply some positive attitude, support, encouragement, and good effort and you will be amazed at what you get in return!..

Check your experience…

“Do not think of what you will get out of the occasion. Think of what you can bring to it.” Big Book pg 102

Lord, let us give our best to others and be a source of hope, grace, and love, just like You are for us, AMEN.

“Do not be deceived. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.” Galatians 6:7-8

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?

Humility not Humiliation

Mark Farley November 21, 2022 0 Likes 422 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?..
.
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!

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]

Taking Time to Listen

Mark Farley November 20, 2022 0 Likes 349 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!!

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?

Looking to Help

Mark Farley November 19, 2022 0 Likes 356 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!

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]

Examining Our Motives

Mark Farley November 18, 2022 0 Likes 384 Views

Motives and efforts….

Ever heard the saying you get OUT of it what you PUT IN to it?

Great examples of this are folks that run their first Triathlons, lose massive amounts or weight, win their first bodybuilding contest, or achieve some other life altering change for the good.

The secret to success in each of these examples is that while they were training and working to achieve their goal, they constantly made sure their efforts matched their motives daily.

We can use this “secret” in our everyday lives for ordinary things as well.

This is a biblical principle that never changes!

From being a better person, to overcoming an uncomfortable situation, if we measure our motives and match them to our efforts we will see change..

How well are your efforts matching your motives?…

Check your experience…

“Keep on the firing line of life with these motives and God will keep you unharmed.” Big Book pg 102

Lord, let us provide the efforts needed along with the right motives to bring healthy changes into our lives and strengthen our walk with you, AMEN.

“People may be pure in their own eyes, but the Lord examines their motives. Commit your actions to the Lord, and your plans will succeed.” Proverbs 16: 2-3

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?

Forgive First and Be Forgiven

Mark Farley November 17, 2022 0 Likes 335 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!

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

Copyright © 2024 Guys With God, LLC