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 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 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 

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! 

Furniture Bank and Spiritual Solutions Group are pleased to sponsor and share this free helping service from Faith Through Works Fellowship. 

Pray for its growth to provide helping hearts and willing hands to our organizations that need help! 

http://aservantsheart.us

Have a blessed day y’all! 

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 was 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 

 Furniture Bank Continues to help those in need! 

Until we are clear from the world heath challenges, Furniture Bank is neither accepting nor scheduling pick-ups of donated items. 

We are using our cash reserves to order new items that can be drop shipped and delivered to our clients. 

Furniture Bank is a 501c3 public charity and every penny donated goes toward helping our families, veterans, and individuals in need. 

Please help us continue to help others! 

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

Have a blessed Day y’all!

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 

How about a daily dose of hope and inspired thought? 

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

Every penny goes to support Faith Through Works Fellowship ministries including Furniture Bank! 

Order today and help us help others! 

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

Have a blessed day y’all! 

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. Overtime, 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 

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! Furniture Bank and Spiritual Solutions Group are pleased to sponsor and share this free helping service from Faith Through Works Fellowship. 

Find a place where your helping hearts and willing hands can assist your local organizations that need help! 

http://aservantsheart.us

Have a blessed day y’all! 

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, 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 

Furniture Bank Continues to help those in need! 

Until we are clear from the world heath challenges, Furniture Bank is neither accepting nor scheduling pick-ups of donated items. 

We are using our cash reserves to order new items that can be drop shipped and delivered to our clients. 

Furniture Bank is a 501c3 public charity and every penny donated goes toward helping our families, veterans, and individuals in need. 

Please help us continue to help others! 

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

Have a blessed day y’all! 

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 behaviors 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 

Lord, let us turn our hearts over to You and allow Your grace and mercy to clear the weeds of fear, bitterness, and self-will from us roots and all, AMEN. 

How about a daily dose of hope and inspired thought? 

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

Every penny goes to support Faith Through Works Fellowship ministries including Furniture Bank! 

Order today and help us help others! 

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

Have a blessed day y'all! 

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 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 

How about a daily dose of hope and inspired thought? 

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

Every penny goes to support Faith Through Works Fellowship ministries including Furniture Bank! 

Order today and help us help others! 

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

Have a blessed day y'all!! 

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 my expectations can spring from my own thought process based on my 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 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 

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! 

Furniture Bank and Spiritual Solutions Group are pleased to sponsor and share this free helping service from Faith Through Works Fellowship. 

Pray for its growth to provide helping hearts and willing hands to our organizations that need help! 

http://aservantsheart.us

Have a blessed day y’all! 

Where is all the good news at? ….

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 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 

Furniture Bank Continues to help those in need! 

Until we are clear from the world health challenges, Furniture Bank is neither accepting nor scheduling pick-ups of donated items. 

We are using our cash reserves to order new items that can be drop shipped and delivered to our clients. 

Furniture Bank is a 501c3 public charity and every penny donated goes toward helping our families, veterans, and individuals in need. 

Please help us continue to help others! 

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

Have a blessed Day y’all! 

Helping others a’int a chance for a selfie or a photo op….

Years ago when I was working at the Salvation Army Homeless Shelter in Sacramento, it used to make me angry on those occasions where a few people merely came to volunteer 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… 

 “Helping others is the foundation stone” Big Book pg 97 

Lord let us use our gifts and talents in areas that can benefit others and not for gaining attention, AMEN. 

“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 

How about a daily dose of hope and inspired thought? 

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

Every penny goes to support Faith Through Works Fellowship ministries including Furniture Bank! 

Order today and help us help others! 

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

Have a blessed day y’all! 

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 

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! 

Furniture Bank and Spiritual Solutions Group are pleased to sponsor and share this free helping service from Faith Through Works Fellowship. 

Pray for its growth to provide helping hearts and willing hands to our organizations that need help! 

http://aservantsheart.us

Have a blessed day y’all! 

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 

Furniture Bank Continues to help those in need!   

Until we are clear from the world heath challenges, Furniture Bank is neither accepting nor scheduling pick-ups of donated items. 

We are using our cash reserves to order new items that can be drop shipped and delivered to our clients. 

Furniture Bank is a 501c3 public charity and every penny donated goes toward helping our families, veterans, and individuals in need. 

Please help us continue to help others!

http://www.furniturebank.us/arizona-taxcredit.html      

Have a blessed day y’all! 

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 struggling with life challenges and issues that are taking longer than expected to resolve 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 

How about a daily dose of hope and inspired thought? 

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

Every penny goes to support Faith Through Works Fellowship ministries including Furniture Bank! 

Order today and help us help others! 

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

Have a blessed day y'all! 

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. 

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 

How about a daily dose of hope and inspired thought? 

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

Every penny goes to support Faith Through Works Fellowship ministries including Furniture Bank! 

Order today and help us help others! 

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

Have a blessed day y'all!! 

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 

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! 

Furniture Bank and Spiritual Solutions Group are pleased to sponsor and share this free helping service from Faith Through Works Fellowship. 

Pray for its growth to provide helping hearts and willing hands to our organizations that need help! 

http://aservantsheart.us

Have a blessed day y’all! 

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 ENCOURAGE 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 

Furniture Bank Continues to help those in need! 

Until we are clear from the world heath challenges, Furniture Bank is neither accepting nor scheduling pick-ups of donated items. 

We are using our cash reserves to order new items that can be drop shipped and delivered to our clients. 

Furniture Bank is a 501c3 public charity and every penny donated goes toward helping our families, veterans, and individuals in need. 

Please help us continue to help others! 

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

Have a blessed Day y’all! 

Wash the dirt away.... 

Most of us shower and or bathe daily, some more than others! On top of that, ESPECIALLY THESE DAYS, 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 along the 12 Step path is 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 

How about a daily dose of hope and inspired thought? 

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

Every penny goes to support Faith Through Works Fellowship ministries including Furniture Bank! Order today and help us help others! 

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

Have a blessed day y’all!