Month: September 2014

I’m not scatter brained….I’m Biblical

/ Mike Farley / Leave a comment

If you know me then you know I have a lot of ideas.  I would love to be back doing Handyman work full time, but I would also like to own my own restaurant, travel the world, own a dry cleaners, become an actor, a race car driver, be a licensed Scuba Diver, be an EMT, oh and fly a plane.  Above all I want to reach people for Christ.  I want them to see He loves them and gave everything for them.

Everything but the last one is optional and preferential.  I do not have a dream of what I want to be when I grow up.  When asked what I would like to do I usually respond with YES.  Does this make me flighty?  Well maybe, but I also have no idea what God wants me to do with my life, and until He tells me I want to do it all as long as I get to share His love and goodness with people.

To me it does not really matter.  I am excited about anything (almost), and that will probably change in a few months.  Sometimes this discourages me, and often times annoys my wife but we are learning to deal.

Ecclesiastes 11:6 has been a bit of inspiration to me as I learn to deal with who I am and who I am not.  It says:

Sow your seed in the morning, and at evening let your hands not be idle, for you do not know which will succeed, whether this or that, or whether both will do equally well.

It makes me feel like God wrote that verse for folk like me.  People who are like “Yes I want to do that”  or “Hey you know what sounds like fun.”

Don’t get me wrong though, that does not mean I bail on what I should be doing.  There are times when I feel like God leads me to sit down and do what is right here and that is what I do with joy (mostly).  But in general I think God has made me to be excited about all sorts of things because we need people like that to.  We need stable people and Mike people.  Both are great and actually help each other as long as we do not try to make each other like the other.  My wife is the more stable and it has taken time for us to find a balance and to be honest when we find it we usually lose it.

We do this because as a two become one, each person wants to please the other so you start to do things that please the other and place yourself on a shelve.  Problem is that does not work.  You might be have designed to keep someone active and they to slow you down.  That is OK.

The same thing applies in a larger church context (local and global).  Some where built to be crazy excited and others to be more reserved.  Some where made to be hey lets go reach the lost and throw a party, and other are there to be like OK but we need money to throw a party.  See we all fit together.

OK I am not sure what happen to this post but it is not where I was headed.  Oh well I like detours……..SQUIRREL.

Just a thought (sort of),

Mike

Get to work

/ Mike Farley / Leave a comment

Eph 2:10 says that God created a work for us to do. More specifically it says “For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.” (NLT).

That is pretty awesome. First God says we are a masterpiece, something special, something more than just worthwhile, but great because of Him. That is something that takes a long time to really understand. The God of the universe, the Creator of heaven and earth. The thinker of stars and galaxies says “I have made you a masterpiece” then He goes so far as to say “I also made something for you to do.” Not only does He take great delight in the work of His hand but He says now go and do likewise.

The main point I want to get across is that while we all have a calling from God, we also have smaller works too. I think everyone will look back at their life and see an overarching work you did. Something you will be remembered for. It might be compassion, or mercy, or love, or gentleness, or passion, but whatever it is there is something you will be known for. But there are smaller works for you to do sometimes within that scope and sometimes outside of it. For example, when you leave the house today to go grocery shopping God could have it in place for you to pay for someone’s food. Maybe He will have you in place to encourage someone who is grieving. It could be as simple as just being an amazing presence in your home to show God’s goodness. Whatever it is God has a plan/work for you today and we can easily miss it.

We can miss it if we think that today is just another day. If we decide that today has no real or lasting importance we can miss our job for the day. I think that we should all take a minute (30 seconds maybe) to ask God a pointed question that can change the whole day. I think we should take just a moment to ask God if He has something He wants us to do today. After all, we call Jesus Lord and Savior. We do not just get a Savior but a Lord as well.

The lawnmower didn’t change

/ Mike Farley / Leave a comment

Phil 1:6
being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

A while back I had not cut the grass for 3 or 4 weeks. It was due to a mix of it raining every time I did have a chance and being lazy (not sure which played a bigger part). The result was the same; the lawn was out of control. I mean it was probably 8-12 inches high in some spots. Also, I should mention I had 50% grass 50% weeds. Not to mention my front yard had a pretty decent slope. All this together created a nightmare of a time. My little walk behind had a terrible time keeping up and didn’t at times. What usually took me 30-35 minutes to cut took over an hour and then it still took me about 45-50 minutes each time after that. It drove me crazy because it was always hard to cut. I had complained a lot about my stupid mower. I could not understand why that stupid thing would not cut the grass… Then I had an epiphany. It was not the mower.

I had always cut it down to the lowest or second lowest setting. Now I was on the highest or second highest setting. Because I let it get out of control I could barely manage to keep it under control. It is a lot like our spiritual life. If we walk away from Bible Study, Prayer, Fellowship, etc. then things start to grow out of control. When we come back to it we are expecting our normal effort to produce an extraordinary result. The lawnmower did not change the request, however, did. My Bible Study, Prayer, and Fellowship has not changed after not attending to these things but the lawn I expect them to take care of has overgrown. What is then required is either a bigger tool or repetitive use of the tools.

In order to deal with the overgrowth, I would have to go back and mow the lawn a few times or I needed someone with a more powerful (and hopefully riding) mower to intercede on my behalf. If I walk too far away from Bible Study, Prayer, and Fellowship then when I come back I need either a drastic move from God or more Bible Study, Prayer, and Fellowship to help cut down the overgrowth. The same thing applies. I sometimes think that the rules of life do not apply to spiritual things but sometimes they do. We need to be diligent in dealing with our relationship to God. He has promised to not quit on us but we have a part to play in the relationship with Him. That is why it is called a relationship.

ooh Mr Kotter, Mr Kotter

/ Mike Farley / Leave a comment

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness. 2 Tim 3:16

Most believers know this verse and we know that it means the Bible is the Word of God and we can and should trust Scripture, but let me drop this thought on you. If Scripture is from God then it is Holy, and if it is Holy then we must treat it as Holy, that means to set it apart. We do not drop parts of Scripture here and there pasting bits and pieces like decoupage. No we must care for it and use it in it’s proper and rightful places. Some non-believers run around throwing out Scripture bombs because they do not understand it but we have an understanding and are called to treat it properly.

I have been given the privilege to share the word with some middle school boys today and I give it as much thought and prayer as I did when I spoke in the prisons, to congregations, or in weekly Bible studies because the avenue is not of importance, but the Word is of utmost importance. It does not matter if you speak to hundreds, thousands, or 1 the Word of God is mighty and the fact that you get the privilege to read it and share it is a gift from God. Do not take it lightly.

Just a thought,
Mike

Not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly.
James 3:1