Our foundation is our strength…. “Have we skimped on the cement put into the foundation?” Big Book pg 75. ... I am sure we are all familiar with the story of the 3 Little Pigs and the Big Bad Wolf. The moral of the story is that we need to have a strong foundation and not take shortcuts or fall victim to poor influences when building our lives. We are faced with subtle challenges daily that can actually undermine our foundation if we do not pay attention. It’s not our place to judge or convict others, but it is our job to love others AS THEY ARE as God loves us AS WE ARE. Allowing yourself to believe anything other than this will weaken your foundation and leave you spiritually bankrupt. How is your foundation? Are the bricks of faith, truth, love, and hope in place firmly? ... Check your experience…. “Let your roots flow down into him and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught and you will overflow with thankfulness.” Colossians 2:7 Lord, let us be blanketed by your Word, covered in Your Truth, and love others as You continue to love us, AMEN. Have a blessed day y’all! Start your day on a positive note! Daily devotions from the Big Book and Bible combined! Paperback and Kindle versions are now available!! Every penny goes to support Faith Through Works Fellowship ministries including our beloved Furniture Bank! Please order yours today and help us help others!https://smile.amazon.com/s?k=pastor+mark+farley&crid=14NTE20XGC0O1&sprefix=pastor+mark+%2Caps%2C201&ref=nb_sb_ss_i_1_12

Got enough "stuff"? ... Years ago I was asked to help a man who had some personal life issues. I was still kind of new to the ministry and was a bit confused from my initial meeting with him. I met a man who was obviously very wealthy and powerful. He owned a very public and successful business, had money and was surrounded by more material wealth than I had ever seen. He had what seemed to me at the time, an army of assistants and employees catering to his every need. In my initial first 30 second assessment, this man had it all! Despite all this, I was sent to help and was amazed at what I learned as I got to know this man. He was filled with anger and loneliness. Even though he was surrounded by people, along with enough material wealth and possessions to make anyone envious, HE WAS MISERABLE! He had no personal relationships and had estranged most of his family over the years. I learned that money had become his God and that material things were his mistress. He had no real relationship with anyone. Long story short, I spent some time with him but it was obvious he was not having any of what I offered in my "Jesus bag and sobriety kit" as he came to call it during the few months I tried to help him. I was replaced by more senior ministers so I lost track of his progress but I never forgot how miserable this extremely wealthy man was. I felt sorry for him because despite his power and wealth he was morally bankrupt and spiritually poor. ... How about you? How is your spiritual bank account and net worth!... Check your experience. .. "He is the Father, we are His children." Big Book pg 62 Lord let our true wealth come from the richness our Spirit gains from you and our relationships with those around us, AMEN. "We came into this world with nothing. For sure, when we die, we will take nothing with us.” 1 Timothy 6:7 Have a blessed day y’all! Start your day on a positive note! Daily devotions from the Big Book and Bible combined! Paperback and Kindle versions are now available!! Every penny goes to support Faith Through Works Fellowship ministries including our beloved Furniture Bank! Please order yours today and help us help others! https://smile.amazon.com/s?k=pastor+mark+farley&crid=14NTE20XGC0O1&sprefix=pastor+mark+%2Caps%2C201&ref=nb_sb_ss_i_1_12   

Take time to listen before waiting to speak… Have you ever caught yourself on “auto-pilot” in a conversation? For me, it usually happens when 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!! Check out my NEW WORKBOOK! Start your day on a positive note! Daily devotions from the Big Book and Bible combined! Paperback and Kindle versions are now available!! Every penny goes to support Faith Through Works Fellowship ministries including our beloved Furniture Bank! Please order yours today and help us help others! https://smile.amazon.com/s?k=pastor+mark+farley&crid=14NTE20XGC0O1&sprefix=pastor+mark+%2Caps%2C201&ref=nb_sb_ss_i_1_12   

We are only as sick as our secrets… Sometimes withholding information is good to do, like when it is not needed for the situation at hand, or could overwhelm or overload someone due to their current circumstances. Most of the time it pays to be transparent and not keep secrets because they have a way of coming to light, especially in this day and age with Facebook, Snap Chat, Instagram, and all the other ways we socialize and communicate. The spiritual fact is that no matter what is on our hearts or in our minds, the Lord knows through the Holy Spirit dwelling within us. So maybe this doesn’t apply to you , but why is it that there are times when I think I can “pull one over” on the Lord, or feel that if I don’t look at it or pray about it He won’t know? I chalk it up to my weak self-will fueled by either pride or fear, depending on the motivator, but the truth is the longer I hold off from bringing it to the Lord, the harder it is for me to gain grace and be free. How’s this working out for you?.. Check your experience… . “…we soon became as open minded on spiritual matters as we had tried to be on other questions.” Big Book pg 48 Lord, let us open our hearts and minds to Your grace and guidance, AMEN. “For there is nothing covered up that will not be seen. There is nothing hidden that will not be known.” Luke 12:2 Have a blessed day y’all! Hey friends please check out Servants Hearts! It’s a free site to help connect folks with volunteer and helping opportunities! Furniture Bank, Spiritual Solutions Group, and Advocate Phoenix are please to share the newest free service from Faith Through Works Fellowship! Its Phoenix based for now. Pray for its growth to provide helping hearts and willing hands to our organizations that need help! http://aservantsheart.us/

7 loaves and a few fish….. Sometimes when worldly needs and demands pile up we can begin to feel overwhelmed with responsibilities and requests that our minds have a hard time wrapping our heads around. When our heads do the math, it doesn’t always add up causing fear and anxiety. Just remember, if it is God’s will, it will happen, perhaps not the way we imagine, but it will happen. Just look at the 4000 Jesus fed with 7 loaves and few fish! … “Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.” Philippians 4:6 Lord, let us bring our needs, wants, and desires to You in prayer and pray to WANT what we get and not to GET what we think we want! AMEN. "Our ideas did not work, but the God idea did." Big Book pg 52 Have a blessed day y’all! …. MAKE A DIFFERENCE! Furniture Bank is in the hand-UP business and not the HANDOUT GAME! You can donate any amount for a tax deduction and tax receipt, even $20 a month helps, because $100 provides a new twin bed and bedding to make a house into a home for our clients and families escaping homelessness and hopelessness. We usually send 2 or 3 of these to every family we assist. Furniture Bank is a 501c3 public charity and every penny donated goes toward helping our families, veterans, and individuals in need. Visit our website www.FurnitureBank.us and click on the PayPal button for a secure transaction and tax receipt that will follow within 48 hours. Please help us help others! http://www.furniturebank.us

We gotta put it on... Have you ever noticed that we have to make many choices daily? We decide what clothes to wear, what foods to eat and even the routes to take to get us from place to place. Some requires a lot of thought and some very little, but either way we have to give it our thoughts and make our choice. It's the same in our Spiritual life. Even though we are saved and promised eternal life when we take Jesus as our Lord and Savior, He still gives us the free will to choose our Spiritual walk daily. So how is that working out for you? Are you choosing to put on your Spiritual Armor daily and walk in His path? ... Check your experience. ... "walk day by day in the path of spiritual progress." Big Book pg 100 Lord, let us put on Your Spiritual Armor daily and walk covered and protected, AMEN. "..and you must put on the new self, which is created in God's likeness and reveals itself in the true life that is upright and holy.” Ephesians 4:24 Have a blessed day y’all! Hey friends please check out Servants Hearts! It’s a free site to help connect folks with volunteer and helping opportunities! Furniture Bank, Spiritual Solutions Group, and Advocate Phoenix are pleased to share the newest free service from Faith Through Works Fellowship! Its Phoenix based for now. Pray for its growth to provide helping hearts and willing hands to our organizations that need help! http://aservantsheart.us/

Another type of "Book Learnin'"... We go to school for 12 or more years to get our education. Most of us get some sort of on the job training from our employers. A lot of us get many educational lessons from the school of hard knocks. And a few of us get on going education from our Big Book and its daily 12 Step practices. But what about Spiritual learning? I have yet to see it on any applications in the working world. The lessons I am finally learning on life come from the Bible and being in God's will and Word daily. Maybe it's different for you, but my wisdom comes from applying the words in God's Book to my life. ... Check your experience. ... . "There had been a humble willingness to have Him with me and He came. But soon the sense of His presence had been blotted out by worldly clamors mostly those within myself. And so it had been ever since. How blind I had been." Big Book pg 12&13 Lord let us walk daily in Your Will and Word to gain the wisdom we need, AMEN. "But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure and full of quiet gentleness. Then it is peace-loving and courteous. It allows discussion and is willing to yield to others; it is full of mercy and good deeds. It is wholehearted and straightforward and sincere." James 3:17 Have a blessed day y’all! …. MAKE A DIFFERENCE! Furniture Bank is in the hand-UP business and not the HANDOUT GAME! You can donate any amount for a tax deduction and tax receipt, even $20 a month helps, because $100 provides a new twin bed and bedding to make a house into a home for our clients and families escaping homelessness and hopelessness. We usually send 2 or 3 of these to every family we assist. Furniture Bank is a 501c3 public charity and every penny donated goes toward helping our families, veterans, and individuals in need. Visit our website www.FurnitureBank.us and click on the PayPal button for a secure transaction and tax receipt that will follow within 48 hours. Please help us help others! http://www.furniturebank.us

Static noise…Back in the day before technology advanced to what we have today, we used to dial the radio to find a station and suffer through the static noise as we searched for the station we wanted. Over the years I have noticed that static noise has taken on a new approach with technological advances. Have you experienced a pop up ad on your computer or television? How about the ads that interrupts the “free” Pandora Radio that we don’t want to pay subscription prices for? It seems static is all around us in the form of unneeded and unwanted sights and sounds. I have learned to tune it out by focusing on what I am trying to hear or see. We have the same challenge with our spiritual development too. Now maybe it’s different for you, but it seems that when I am trying to pray, study, or spend time in the Word, the worldly clamors of sights and sounds try to get my attention. I have to truly focus my heart, mind, and soul in order to allow the Holy Spirit to fill me. How’s it working out for you?.. Check your experience… . “But soon the sense of His presence had been blotted out by worldly clamors, mostly those within myself.” Big Book pg 13 Lord, let us tune our hearts, minds, and souls into Your Word and Your will, AMEN. “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind,” Romans 12:2 Have a blessed day y’all! Start your day on a positive note! Daily devotions from the Big Book and Bible combined! Paperback and Kindle versions are now available!! Every penny goes to support Faith Through Works Fellowship ministries including our beloved Furniture Bank! Please order yours today and help us help others! https://smile.amazon.com/s?k=pastor+mark+farley&crid=14NTE20XGC0O1&sprefix=pastor+mark+%2Caps%2C201&ref=nb_sb_ss_i_1_12

Actions or Intentions … Perhaps you are free of this, or have no issues with it, but it’s an age old twist on our thinking that causes a lot of us to become resentful, jealous, envious, or even bitter. We want people to judge us by our intentions while we choose to judge others by their actions. It’s another condition of being human. The solution is pretty simple. We must own this twist of thinking and correct it through our own actions and efforts and not our intentions. Think about it; are we able to see the results of others or our own intentions? I INTENDED to lose weight…. I INTENDED to get my college degree…. I INTENDED to be a better husband and father….. It carries no lasting effects. Only actions on our part bring the desired and needed results. … Check your experience. … “It is easy to let up on the spiritual program of action and rest on our laurels.” Big Book pg 85 Lord let us put actions behind our efforts to be better people, seeking Your will and not our own, AMEN. "let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.” 1 John 3:18 Have a blessed day y’all! Start your day on a positive note! Daily devotions from the Big Book and Bible combined! Paperback and Kindle versions are now available!! Every penny goes to support Faith Through Works Fellowship ministries including our beloved Furniture Bank! Please order yours today and help us help others! https://smile.amazon.com/s?k=pastor+mark+farley&crid=14NTE20XGC0O1&sprefix=pastor+mark+%2Caps%2C201&ref=nb_sb_ss_i_1_12

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!! Check out my NEW WORKBOOK! Start your day on a positive note! Daily devotions from the Big Book and Bible combined! Paperback and Kindle versions are now available!! Every penny goes to support Faith Through Works Fellowship ministries including our beloved Furniture Bank! Please order yours today and help us help others! https://smile.amazon.com/s?k=pastor+mark+farley&crid=14NTE20XGC0O1&sprefix=pastor+mark+%2Caps%2C201&ref=nb_sb_ss_i_1_12    

"For wherever your treasure is, there will your heart be also." Luke 12:34 I enjoy this verse because it brings me instant perspective along with a truthful reminder to watch my motives and efforts. When I am struggling, frustrated, stressed, and just plain mad reflecting on this verse gives me the path I need to take to find happiness and let go of whatever it is that is causing these negative emotions and feelings inside of me. Do I WANT to look at myself at times like this? Heck no! I like to sit in anger and resentment and focus on the wrongs that I perceive being done to me! I have learned that I must look in order to restore order to my mind and peace to my soul. I look at my motives first. I ask myself what I am trying to gain, get, or avoid through my actions, attitudes, desires, and behaviors. I next look at my efforts. Am I sitting in the negativity of the situation? Am I refusing to see the other side? Am I willing to accept this person, place, thing, or situation exactly as it is for this moment and refocus my mind toward the positive attitude I need to move on? This is when I learn firsthand where my “treasure” is. When I look at my motives and efforts, I can see where my heart is! Lord let us fill our hearts with the treasures of Your Truth, Grace, and Love, AMEN. “As we felt new power flow in, as we enjoyed peace of mind, as we discovered we could face life successfully, as we became conscious of His presence, we began to lose our fear of today, tomorrow or the hereafter.” Big Book pg 63 Have a blessed day y’all! Hey friends please check out Servants Hearts! It’s a free site to help connect folks with volunteer and helping opportunities! Furniture Bank, Spiritual Solutions Group, and Advocate Phoenix are please to share the newest free service from Faith Through Works Fellowship! Its Phoenix based for now. Pray for its growth to provide helping hearts and willing hands to our organizations that need help! http://aservantsheart.us/

Just ask... It's a fact of life that things don't happen unless we provide the efforts and actions. We have to work to support ourselves and our loved ones. We have to put the right foods in our bodies in order to be healthy. It's the same in our Spiritual life and growth. We have to provide the actions in the forms of prayer, grace, and humble motives so the Lord can see that we are freely providing our own efforts to meet His will. ...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 come to you in prayer with open hearts and minds, AMEN. “And when you pray, .your Father in heaven knows what you need before you ask him." Matthew 6:7-8 Have a blessed day y’all! …. MAKE A DIFFERENCE! Furniture Bank is in the hand-UP business and not the HANDOUT GAME! You can donate any amount for a tax deduction and tax receipt, but please know that $100 provides a new twin bed and bedding to make a house into a home for our clients and families escaping homelessness and hopelessness. We usually send 2 or 3 of these to every family we assist. Furniture Bank is a 501c3 public charity and every penny donated goes toward helping our families, veterans, and individuals in need. Visit our website www.FurnitureBank.us and click on the PayPal button for a secure transaction and tax receipt that will follow within 48 hours. Please help us help others! http://www.furniturebank.us

When we mind what matters, what matters will be on our mind… It’s pretty easy to see what matters 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 indictor 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 which 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! Hey friends please check out Servants Hearts! It’s a free site to help connect folks with volunteer and helping opportunities! Furniture Bank, Spiritual Solutions Group, and Advocate Phoenix are pleased to share the newest free service from Faith Through Works Fellowship! Its Phoenix based for now. Pray for its growth to provide helping hearts and willing hands to our organizations that need help! http://aservantsheart.us/ 

Check your motives and efforts..... Have you ever been in a situation where the harder you try the further behind you get? It's frustrating not only because you are wasting tons of effort, but also it is not very enjoyable. Have you ever considered that perhaps your motives for doing this may be based on the wrong things and that is why the efforts are not bringing results? My best example is trying to lose weight but never changing my diet. Sure…I go longer at the gym, yet I continue to eat more carbs and junk. Perhaps it's different for you, but I have learned to check my motives to make sure they are good and then see that my efforts match up. ... Check your experience. ... "We ask God to direct our thinking, especially asking that it be divorced from self-pity, dishonest or self-seeking motives." Big Book pg 85. Lord, let us check our motives to make sure they align with Your will for us and not our selfish wants, AMEN. "and as long as he sought the Lord, God made him prosper." 2 Chronicles 26: 5 Have a blessed day y’all! …. MAKE A DIFFERENCE! Furniture Bank is in the hand-UP business and not the HANDOUT GAME! You can donate any amount for a tax deduction and tax receipt, even $20 a month helps, because $100 provides a new twin bed and bedding to make a house into a home for our clients and families escaping homelessness and hopelessness. We usually send 2 or 3 of these to every family we assist. Furniture Bank is a 501c3 public charity and every penny donated goes toward helping our families, veterans, and individuals in need. Visit our website www.FurnitureBank.us and click on the PayPal button for a secure transaction and tax receipt that will follow within 48 hours. Please help us help others! http://www.furniturebank.us

The blame game... It's because of them, or they made this happen, 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! Start your day on a positive note! Daily devotions from the Big Book and Bible combined! Paperback and Kindle versions are now available!! Every penny goes to support Faith Through Works Fellowship ministries including our beloved Furniture Bank! Please order yours today and help us help others! https://smile.amazon.com/s?k=pastor+mark+farley&crid=14NTE20XGC0O1&sprefix=pastor+mark+%2Caps%2C201&ref=nb_sb_ss_i_1_12

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 our lives 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! Start your day on a positive note! Daily devotions from the Big Book and Bible combined! Paperback and Kindle versions are now available!! Every penny goes to support Faith Through Works Fellowship ministries including our beloved Furniture Bank! Please order yours today and help us help others! https://smile.amazon.com/s?k=pastor+mark+farley&crid=14NTE20XGC0O1&sprefix=pastor+mark+%2Caps%2C201&ref=nb_sb_ss_i_1_12

Inward peace… Have you ever noticed how many products out there that are marketed to us to either provide a solution or bring comfort to help us with our stress, pains, and general discomfort? There are a few products that I use that help me. I have a special brand of shoes I wear for my duck feet. I have a special pillow for my weird neck, and even ergonomic office products to help me with my posture. These items bring my body peace but how do we find that inward peace? Like most of us I have sought my inner peace through a myriad of outer solutions including, but the only thing I have found that works and continues to work no matter what is my relationship with Jesus and the peace He brings me through His Holy Spirit in me. Worldly clamors will continue but I can always look inward and know that there is peace in my heart if I seek it… Check your experience… “We will comprehend the word serenity and we will know peace.” Big Book pg 84 Lord, let us know that the peace of mind and heart You have given us remains in us as long as we seek it, AMEN. “I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid.” John 14:27 Have a blessed day y'all!! Check out my NEW WORKBOOK! Start your day on a positive note! Daily devotions from the Big Book and Bible combined! Paperback and Kindle versions are now available!! Every penny goes to support Faith Through Works Fellowship ministries including our beloved Furniture Bank! Please order yours today and help us help others! https://smile.amazon.com/s?k=pastor+mark+farley&crid=14NTE20XGC0O1&sprefix=pastor+mark+%2Caps%2C201&ref=nb_sb_ss_i_1_12

Roots and all… Weeds have the amazing ability to grow anywhere. Even here in Arizona, weeds find places to take root and thrive. I particularly enjoyed watching a root grow on an overpass I use many times weekly. Over the year the city crews would come and do the landscaping and gardening but even though the weed was cut, it continued to grow back taller and thicker. I am sure I will be cut back again and unless the root is removed, it will continue to grow and thrive. We also have weeds that take root in our hearts and like other weeds; they will continue to grow as character defects until we remove the root. Think about it, bitterness, jealousy, and fear take root in us and from them weeds of anger, pride, greed, lust, and all kinds of negativity grow from them. If these are left to grow then they influence not only our attitudes, but then spread to our behavior and characters. When this happens the weed grows stronger and is harder to remove. However, we do have a great weed killer that is environmentally friendly! When we ask the Holy Spirit to help us look at our character defects and then ask Him to remove them root and all, we become free for these weeds!.. Check your experience… . “I ruthlessly faced my sins and became willing to have my new-found Friend take them away, root and branch.” Big Book pg 13 “Watch out that no poisonous root of bitterness grows up to trouble you, corrupting many.” Hebrews 12:15 Have a blessed day y’all! Hey friends please check out Servants Hearts! It’s a free site to help connect folks with volunteer and helping opportunities! Furniture Bank, Spiritual Solutions Group, and Advocate Phoenix are please to share the newest free service from Faith Through Works Fellowship! Its Phoenix based for now. Pray for its growth to provide helping hearts and willing hands to our organizations that need help! http://aservantsheart.us/

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. Body builders 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 main stream media of folks doing super human feats to save another or help someone in danger. I bet if you take a look at the events in your lifetime there has been a few times where 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 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! …. MAKE A DIFFERENCE! Furniture Bank is in the hand-UP business and not the HANDOUT GAME! You can donate any amount for a tax deduction and tax receipt, but please know that $100 provides a new twin bed and bedding to make a house into a home for our clients and families escaping homelessness and hopelessness. We usually send 2 or 3 of these to every family we assist. Furniture Bank is a 501c3 public charity and every penny donated goes toward helping our families, veterans, and individuals in need. Visit our website www.FurnitureBank.us and click on the PayPal button for a secure transaction and tax receipt that will follow within 48 hours. Please help us help others! http://www.furniturebank.us

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 or 449 old school! 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! Hey friends please check out Servants Hearts! It’s a free site to help connect folks with volunteer and helping opportunities! Furniture Bank, Spiritual Solutions Group, and Advocate Phoenix are pleased to share the newest free service from Faith Through Works Fellowship! Its Phoenix based for now. Pray for its growth to provide helping hearts and willing hands to our organizations that need help! http://aservantsheart.us/

Where is all the good news at? ….We hear stories about road rage and other examples of incidents that 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 news worthy. Our media loves to show the negative side of life. You Tube 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 broadcast on the news or to be in the limelight for it because we are receiving our unasked for reward from 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! …. MAKE A DIFFERENCE! Furniture Bank is in the hand-UP business and not the HANDOUT GAME! You can donate any amount for a tax deduction and tax receipt, but please know that $100 provides a new twin bed and bedding to make a house into a home for our clients and families escaping homelessness and hopelessness. We usually send 2 or 3 of these to every family we assist. Furniture Bank is a 501c3 public charity and every penny donated goes toward helping our families, veterans, and individuals in need. Visit our website www.FurnitureBank.us and click on the PayPal button for a secure transaction and tax receipt that will follow within 48 hours. Please help us help others! http://www.furniturebank.us

Helping others a’int a chance for a photo op….Years ago when I was working at the Salvation Army in Sacramento, it used to make me angry on those few occasions where a few people merely came just so they could be seen helping a homeless person. While I was glad to have groups of volunteers come to help us to feed the homeless, I guess what made me so angry, and still does to this day, is that their heart was not in it and their motive in being there was purely selfish. That is why to this very day I qualify ALL of my volunteers, to make sure they are there to help others and are not just there for a “photo op” to be seen helping another. I am not judging them, but I am dedicated to making sure that those I organize to volunteer are doing so because they want to help another. I get it, not all of us are comfortable with this type of volunteering. Heck, I have no mechanical skills and I am honest enough with myself and others not to try to help fix a car or anything requiring tools. Experience has shown me and others that I am merely in the way and not being of service to anyone. We all have gifts of service, but not in every category. What are / where are your gifts of service best used? … Check your experience. …“Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.” Mathew 6:1 Lord let us use our gifts and talents in areas that can benefit others and not for gaining attention, AMEN. “Helping others is the foundation stone” Big Book pg 97. Have a blessed day y’all! Start your day on a positive note! Daily devotions from the Big Book and Bible combined! Paperback and Kindle versions are now available!! Every penny goes to support Faith Through Works Fellowship ministries including our beloved Furniture Bank! Please order yours today and help us help others! https://smile.amazon.com/s?k=pastor+mark+farley&crid=14NTE20XGC0O1&sprefix=pastor+mark+%2Caps%2C201&ref=nb_sb_ss_i_1_12

Let’s clean our side of the street first…. I hope it’s different for you, but I sure had to do a lot of work before I could escape this type of automatic thinking. I am talking about the type of thinking that naturally looks to find the bad or faults in others and then find another person or 2 to share it with. I remember that false sense of superiority I seemed to get when I took another person’s inventory and automatically found myself to be in a better condition. But wait, I forgot to look at my own shortcomings, faults, and character defects. I wish I could say I am completely free of this type of thinking, but I can’t. What I can share is that when I do find myself entertaining thoughts of comparing myself to another only looking for the negative, I can now stop this thinking with a simple prayer and ask God to direct my thinking to find the good in others. … Check your experience. … “The only condition is that he trust in God and clean house.” Big Book pg 98 Lord let us look to improve ourselves and work on our own faults and shortcomings before we begin finding the faults and shortcomings in others, AMEN. “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?” Matthew 7:3 Have a blessed day y’all! Start your day on a positive note! Daily devotions from the Big Book and Bible combined! Paperback and Kindle versions are now available!! Every penny goes to support Faith Through Works Fellowship ministries including our beloved Furniture Bank! Please order yours today and help us help others! https://smile.amazon.com/s?k=pastor+mark+farley&crid=14NTE20XGC0O1&sprefix=pastor+mark+%2Caps%2C201&ref=nb_sb_ss_i_1_12

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!! Check out my NEW WORKBOOK! Start your day on a positive note! Daily devotions from the Big Book and Bible combined! Paperback and Kindle versions are now available!! Every penny goes to support Faith Through Works Fellowship ministries including our beloved Furniture Bank! Please order yours today and help us help others! https://smile.amazon.com/s?k=pastor+mark+farley&crid=14NTE20XGC0O1&sprefix=pastor+mark+%2Caps%2C201&ref=nb_sb_ss_i_1_12

I have these “rights” …..Have you ever had one of those days where nothing seems to go right? Maybe even a week or longer where things just are not working out? I have a few friends right now that are in the hospital longer than expected and it’s no picnic for them. It’s frustrating when we are going through these times. Now maybe it’s different for you but, when things don’t go my way or the way I expect them to, my “rights” move in and try to convince me that my way is the only way and the best way. This crowds out not only reality, but also the ability for God to work in me and through me to show me what is meant to be. I have learned through these times and over the years to look for the good and hold fast to my knowledge and experience that my faith will see me through and my hopes will keep me looking for the positive. … Check your experience. …. . “I can watch my serenity level rise when I discard my expectations. But then my “rights” try to move in, and they too can force my serenity level down. I have to discard my “rights,” as well as my expectations,” Big Book pg 420. Lord, remind our hearts in times of struggle and discomfort that this will pass and to look for the good and not focus on the bad, AMEN. “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” John 16:33 Have a blessed day y’all! Hey friends please check out Servants Hearts! It’s a free site to help connect folks with volunteer and helping opportunities! Furniture Bank, Spiritual Solutions Group, and Advocate Phoenix are please to share the newest free service from Faith Through Works Fellowship! Its Phoenix based for now. Pray for its growth to provide helping hearts and willing hands to our organizations that need help! http://aservantsheart.us/

There's book smarts, street smarts, and then there is wisdom. ..... Most of us can claim to be graduates of the School of Hard Knocks. Experience teaches us much and we learn from our mistakes and even from our victories. Some of us can even claim advanced degrees from our School of Hard Knocks, but the ones I have learned the most from are the students of God's Word. Some have their under graduate degrees from our alma mater, but ultimately their trust in the Lord and thirst for His Word gives them the wisdom we all naturally seek. Who and where are you gaining your wisdom? .... Check your experience. ... . "Our ideas did not work. But the God idea did." Big Book pg 50 Lord fill us with Your wisdom that comes from Your Spirit and Word, AMEN. "If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously" James 1:5 Have a blessed day y’all! Hey friends please check out Servants Hearts! It’s a free site to help connect folks with volunteer and helping opportunities! Furniture Bank, Spiritual Solutions Group, and Advocate Phoenix are pleased to share the newest free service from Faith Through Works Fellowship! Its Phoenix based for now. Pray for its growth to provide helping hearts and willing hands to our organizations that need help! http://aservantsheart.us/

In your mind’s eye… Have you ever noticed what your mind remembers in minute detail compared to other things that are foggy to the memory? Now maybe it’s different for you, but my magic magnifying mind likes to recall in exact detail the perceived wrongs it thinks I have experienced along with focusing on the faults in people, places, and things! Then on the other side it has trouble seeing my part in these matters as well as my part in wrongs I have caused! Luckily, my daily walk with Jesus, living the 12 Steps, and having a picket fence of friends who can keep me honest helps me to not let my warped mind fall into these illusions any longer. I am free of the shackles of self will and can now focus on the more important things in life – helping others, being of service, and seeking God’s will. How’s that working out for you? Is your mind constantly reminding you of its perceived wrongs you have incurred?.. Check your experience… “In this book you read again and again that faith did for us what we could not do for ourselves.” Big Book pg 70 Lord, let us break free from the shackles of our self-centered will to free our minds and hearts from the illusions fueled by our fears, pride, and insecurities, 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! …. MAKE A DIFFERENCE! Furniture Bank is in the hand-UP business and not the HANDOUT GAME! You can donate any amount for a tax deduction and tax receipt, but please know that $100 provides a new twin bed and bedding to make a house into a home for our clients and families escaping homelessness and hopelessness. We usually send 2 or 3 of these to every family we assist. Furniture Bank is a 501c3 public charity and every penny donated goes toward helping our families, veterans, and individuals in need. Visit our website www.FurnitureBank.us and click on the PayPal button for a secure transaction and tax receipt that will follow within 48 hours. Please help us help others! http://www.furniturebank.us

Give encouragement, catch someone doing something right.... It's all around us, no matter where we look or what the subject is, the fault finders, negativity breeders, and arm chair "experts" are there to quickly point out our faults, wrongs, and why we won't succeed. Sheesh, why even bother trying? We must keep trying because we can. The negativity can only affect us if we allow it to get a grip on us. We can change this by doing something rarely seen these days. We can CATCH someone doing something RIGHT and.... get ready... compliment and ENCOURGE them! Try looking for the good today. It will change your outlook especially if you encourage another. ... Check your experience. ... "...walk day by day in the path of spiritual progress. If you persist, remarkable things will happen." Big Book pg 100 Lord let us look for the good in people, places, and things today, AMEN "Encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing." 1 Thessalonians 5:11. Have a blessed day y’all! …. MAKE A DIFFERENCE! Furniture Bank is in the hand-UP business and not the HANDOUT GAME! You can donate any amount for a tax deduction and tax receipt, but please know that $100 provides a new twin bed and bedding to make a house into a home for our clients and families escaping homelessness and hopelessness. We usually send 2 or 3 of these to every family we assist. Furniture Bank is a 501c3 public charity and every penny donated goes toward helping our families, veterans, and individuals in need. Visit our website www.FurnitureBank.us and click on the PayPal button for a secure transaction and tax receipt that will follow within 48 hours. Please help us help others! http://www.furniturebank.us

Wash the dirt away.... Most of us shower and or bathe daily, some more than others! On top of that we have hand sanitizers and other personal products stashed everywhere so we can use them at our leisure to rid ourselves of dirt, germs, and grime we encounter all day long. How about our minds? There are books, videos, and seminars always available to help us get a fresh perspective but..... HOW do we get SPIRITUALLY clean? I'm sure y'all have a thought or method. .... How's that working out for you? ... I have found through my walk with Jesus that the only way for me to cleanse my spirit is to daily wash my soul and heart in the Word, along with accountability to others, and finally serving those He puts in my path. .... Check your experience. ... "What we really have is a daily reprieve contingent on the maintenance of our spiritual condition." Big Book pg 85 Lord please help us to cleanse our hearts and minds daily through seeking Your will and being in Your Word, AMEN. "First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.” Matthew 23:26 Have a blessed day y’all! Start your day on a positive note! Daily devotions from the Big Book and Bible combined! Paperback and Kindle versions are now available!! Every penny goes to support Faith Through Works Fellowship ministries including our beloved Furniture Bank! Please order yours today and help us help others! https://smile.amazon.com/s?k=pastor+mark+farley&crid=14NTE20XGC0O1&sprefix=pastor+mark+%2Caps%2C201&ref=nb_sb_ss_i_1_12    

We get what we give.... This is a spiritual axiom that holds true no matter what the situation. We get out of "it" exactly what we put into “it”. Whether it be our gym routine, work, or other lifestyle actions, our results come directly from our efforts. This holds true for us mentally as well. Our thoughts, attitudes, and ultimately our behaviors are the product of what we put in our minds. Spiritual growth can only come for us when we open our hearts and minds to seek His truth and Will for us. ... Check your experience. ... "What we really have is a daily reprieve contingent on the maintenance of our spiritual condition." Big Book pg 85 Lord, let us give you our will and our lives daily in order to grow and thrive, AMEN. "Give, and you will receive. Your gift will return to you full—pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, running over, and poured into your lap. The amount you give will determine the amount you get back." Luke 6:38 Have a blessed day y’all! Start your day on a positive note! Daily devotions from the Big Book and Bible combined! Paperback and Kindle versions are now available!! Every penny goes to support Faith Through Works Fellowship ministries including our beloved Furniture Bank! Please order yours today and help us help others! https://smile.amazon.com/s?k=pastor+mark+farley&crid=14NTE20XGC0O1&sprefix=pastor+mark+%2Caps%2C201&ref=nb_sb_ss_i_1_12