You catch more flies with honey... Have you ever noticed that the people or things that initially get and hold your attention best use an approach that is tailored to saying or showing good stuff about you? It’s human nature to like to see and hear things positive about ourselves. Life lessons school teaches us to make a sandwich with our words when dealing with others. Start with a slice of positive bread, layer the meat of correction or opportunity in the middle, and then finish with the final slice of encouragement bread on top. This is a biblically based principle that works far better than intimidating others with negativity and harsh words… Check you experience… "A new life has been given us or, if you prefer, a design for living that really works" Big Book pg 28 Lord, let us use the eyes of our heart to look for and see the good in all people, places, and things today, AMEN. "So let’s agree to use all our energy in getting along with each other. Help others with encouraging words; don’t drag them down by finding fault." Romans 14: 19-21Have a blessed day y’all! Furniture Bank helps many folks with a HAND –UP as they work with various organizations to gain skills and jobs to escape homelessness and, helplessness to gain self-respect and self-sustainability!! Your gifts, donations, prayers, and financial support make this possible! Families, veterans, elderly, physically and mentally challenged, as well as others can enjoy homes filled with furniture and furnishings as they rebuild their lives. MAKE A DIFFERENCE! ALL donations to Furniture Bank are TAX DEDUCTIBLE and 100% goes toward helping the families, veterans, elderly, and other individuals in need. You can donate any amount for a tax deduction and tax receipt, BUT…. a gift of either $400 as an individual or $800 as a couple to Furniture Bank, Inc. a 501c3 public charity, can also reduce your tax bill to the State of Arizona by that amount dollar for dollar! It’s easy and you can make a big difference on how Furniture Bank can further help our families and individuals in need. http://www.furniturebank.us/arizona-tax-credit.html

But I just wanna be judged by my INTENTIONS while I judge you by your ACTIONS. ...Well that’s just dandy isn’t it?!? Maybe it’s just me, and perhaps you cannot relate, but the “committee” in my head that tries to run my life, otherwise known as my selfish self-will, tries to make this a policy for me all the time. Thank goodness I have tools to veto their vote and the key to lock them back up deep in my mind. Why is it that I have this fear fueled, pride based notion that I have the right to judge others only by how I view their actions and at the same time expect them to overlook my actions and judge me by my intentions? Over the years and through many painful lessons I have learned that I must first walk in another person’s shoes before I even attempt to understand them. I have no right to judge another person. That is for God to do. My job is to try to love, tolerate, and accept others as best I can and allow them to have their own opinions of me. How is your relationship with the committee in your head?.. Check your experience… . “Love and tolerance of others is our code.” Big Book pg 84. Lord, let us set aside our preconceived notions and give our best efforts to love and tolerate others, AMEN. "Do not judge so that you will not be judged. For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you.” Matthew 7:1-2 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! It’s Phoenix based for now. Pray for its growth to provide helping hearts and willing hands to our organizations that need help! http://aservantsheart.us/

Becoming teachable. ... Remember the last time you were able to lay aside your preconceived notions, expectations, assumptions, and self-made opinions in order to truly learn something new? Yeah, it's been a while for me too! Part of having free will and becoming an adult is this magic magnifying mind that we have that likes to unconsciously grow and feed from our perceptions and experiences. It tries to predict situations for us as well as attempts to harden our hearts through our own self-made assessments and judgements. Until we stop this process and set aside the ability and power it has over us, we cease to truly grow spiritually. Kids don't have this. They look to us with wide eyes and open minds thirsty to learn. It's only when we can open our minds willingly in this manner can God truly teach us and fill our hearts with His Spirit and wisdom. ...Check your experience… "But after a while we had to face the fact that we must find a spiritual basis of life-or else." Big Book pg 44 Lord let us set aside our own thoughts and become teachable like a child for Your Word, AMEN. "He said: I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven." Matthew 18:3 Have a blessed day y’all! Furniture Bank helps many folks with a HAND –UP as they work with various organizations to gain skills and jobs to escape homelessness and, helplessness to gain self-respect and self-sustainability!! Your gifts, donations, prayers, and financial support make this possible! Families, veterans, elderly, physically and mentally challenged, as well as others can enjoy homes filled with furniture and furnishings as they rebuild their lives. MAKE A DIFFERENCE! ALL donations to Furniture Bank are TAX DEDUCTIBLE and 100% goes toward helping the families, veterans, elderly, and other individuals in need. You can donate any amount for a tax deduction and tax receipt, BUT…. a gift of either $400 as an individual or $800 as a couple to Furniture Bank, Inc. a 501c3 public charity, can also reduce your tax bill to the State of Arizona by that amount dollar for dollar! It’s easy and you can make a big difference on how Furniture Bank can further help our families and individuals in need. http://www.furniturebank.us/arizona-tax-credit.html

The difference between a leader and a boss. ... At various points in our lives we find that we have different authority figures who we either report to or hold us accountable. In my walk I have had some great ones and some... well... "interesting " ones! The interesting ones have been bosses. They dictate, bully, and spout negativity. They attempt to rule by fear and intimidation. These "bosses" seem to never get much good done and those under them tend to move on to other jobs, tasks, or assignments under others to escape this toxic environment. I learned to NEVER attempt to lead that way. .... I have tried to model my own servant leadership style from the great ones I have served under. I have found a common trait that is biblical in nature. The greatest leaders I have had have taught me by example to do what they do. They SERVE the ones they are responsible for and LEAD BY EXAMPLE. They gain loyal followers and happy, productive workers with positive results and create healthy long term relationships. ....What is your style AND...what is your experience? .... "Our real purpose is to fit ourselves to be of maximum service to God and the people about us." Big Book pg 77. Lord please continue to guide my heart and show me how to lead through serving others, AMEN. "The greatest among you shall be your servant. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted." Matthew 23:11 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/

Pull the weeds trying to grow near your heart. ... Static noise and visual distractions are everywhere these days. Our phones, tablets, and other electronic devices are bombarded with visual ads trying to distract us. The "free versions" of Internet radio interrupt our music filling our heads with "offers and specials" I still cannot get the sound of Peyton Manning humming the Nationwide jingle out of my head! We experience the same type of distractions with our Spiritual walk with Jesus. Worldly clamors distract us trying to allow fear, worry, and pride to fuel our self-centered minds away from seeking and doing God's will. How many times daily are your good thoughts challenged with earthly interruptions?.. Check your experience… "His presence had been blotted out by worldly clamors, mostly those within myself." Big Book pg 12-13 Lord please let us focus on your love and will for us despite all of the earthly distractions around us, AMEN "The seed that fell among the thorny weeds is like those who hear God’s teaching, but they let the worries, riches, and pleasures of this life keep them from growing and producing good fruit.” Luke 8:14 Have a blessed day y’all! Grab a daily shot of positive and inspiration with daily devotions with the Big Book and Bible combined looking at the things we face daily! Paperback and Kindle versions are now available!! Every penny goes to support Faith Through Works Fellowship ministries! Please order yours today and help us help others! https://smile.amazon.com/Daily-Devotions-Pastor-Mark-Devotionals/dp/1980273847/ref=smi_www_rco2_go_smi_3905707922?_encoding=UTF8&fbclid=IwAR3RLzbmtLsgcZTuXS6qO1oPfeZffMfyIyEnZD3fc8XmyDIO8CqmnS1tRGA&ie=UTF8&keywords=pastor+mark+farley&qid=1524849607&sr=8-3

I got my tongue in front of my eye tooth and couldn't see what I was saying. ... Ever experienced delayed remorse as the words based on the emotion of the moment go flying out of your mouth, only to be immediately be followed by the heart driven words of "I didn't mean that!" ??... Emotions fuel our words and actions and when left unchecked by our heart and Spirit can cause pain and hurt to others as well as amends work for us. I have spent the past few years in my walk with Christ learning to RESPOND with grace and kindness rather than my old way of REACTING with the emotion of the moment. Now most of y'all know how much I despise numbers, but counting to 10 during an emotional moment has become a tool that I use to disconnect from the emotion of the moment and reconnect with my heart and the Holy Spirit. I find when I do this I am no longer held hostage by my emotions and my words do not cause harm…. Check your experience. ... Patience, tolerance, understanding and love are the watchwords." Big Book pg 118. Lord let us guard our words by responding in grace instead of reacting with emotions, AMEN. " So also the tongue is a small part of the body, and yet it boasts of great things. See how great a forest is set aflame by such a small fire!" James 3:5 Have a blessed day y’all! Grab a daily shot of positive and inspiration with daily devotions with the Big Book and Bible combined looking at the things we face daily! Paperback and Kindle versions are now available!! Every penny goes to support Faith Through Works Fellowship ministries! Please order yours today and help us help others! https://smile.amazon.com/Daily-Devotions-Pastor-Mark-Devotionals/dp/1980273847/ref=smi_www_rco2_go_smi_3905707922?_encoding=UTF8&fbclid=IwAR3RLzbmtLsgcZTuXS6qO1oPfeZffMfyIyEnZD3fc8XmyDIO8CqmnS1tRGA&ie=UTF8&keywords=pastor+mark+farley&qid=1524849607&sr=8-3

What is your energy source?... Every day, about mid-afternoon, I get that rundown and tired feeling. It’s usually during the middle of whatever I am working at or trying to focus on. I generally stop my work and grab a legal source of liquid amphetamines like coffee or the healthiest version of energy drink I can find. This refreshes me and gets me through the rest of my day as my alertness returns. What about those times when our soul is weary? Do you experience times when it seems like you are all alone and feels like you are facing a Goliath of a challenge? I have found the solution that works for me and it is not in a can. I remember that I am not alone and that I have the Holy Spirit of our almighty God living inside of me! I remind myself that HE will never give me anything that He does not think I can handle and with that assurance, I face the challenge and keep walking through it… Check your experience… . “Our ideas did not work. But the God idea did” Big Book pg. 52 Lord, remind our hearts during those trying times when doubt tries to enter our minds that you are in us and with us and that we can overcome whatever obstacle seems to be in our path, AMEN. “but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary; they will walk and not be faint.” Isaiah 40:31 Have a blessed day y'all!! Grab a daily shot of positive and inspiration with daily devotions with the Big Book and Bible combined looking at the things we face daily! Paperback and Kindle versions are now available!! Every penny goes to support Faith Through Works Fellowship ministries! Please order yours today and help us help others! https://smile.amazon.com/Daily-Devotions-Pastor-Mark-Devotionals/dp/1980273847/ref=smi_www_rco2_go_smi_3905707922?_encoding=UTF8&fbclid=IwAR3RLzbmtLsgcZTuXS6qO1oPfeZffMfyIyEnZD3fc8XmyDIO8CqmnS1tRGA&ie=UTF8&keywords=pastor+mark+farley&qid=1524849607&sr=8-3