Christian

Let’s be real

/ Mike Farley / Leave a comment

Let’s be real about this.  I am not a perfect father, or husband, or son, or employee.  I am not perfect at any of those things, and I am not a perfect Christian.  To be honest I still smoke, still like to have a drink, sometimes I get mad and say something I should not.  I am not perfect, but I am also not who I was.  Jesus has delivered me from many things and thankfully He will continue to deliver me.

I am not always faithful as I should be but He is.  Two verses that I think everyone (including myself) should regularly meditate on are Philippians 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, and 2 Timothy 2:13 If we are unfaithful, he remains faithful, for he cannot deny who he is.  Both of those verses very clearly show that God is faithful and He is will always be faithful.  I don’t know how else to say it, but God cannot not be faithful.  Notice in 2 Tim it says He cannot deny who He is.  It is in His nature to remain faithful.  It does not depend on my faithfulness for Him to be faithful.  

We have seen those quotes about don’t judge where someone is because you don’t know where they came from.  As true is that is I am not sure we always apply it to ourselves.  We too should not be so hard on ourselves because Jesus has already brought us through so much.  We have to remember that He loves us and He sees what successes and failures you will have next week, next year, next decade.  He is not surprised by any of it, and inspite of all that He remains faithful.

I may have mentioned this before but it bears repeating.   If you want the ultimate example of God’s faithfulness and wanting to bring things to completion think about creation and the omnipresence (being everywhere at the same time) of God.  When God created the world He also saw the fall of man, and the rejection people would have, and the death of Jesus, and the resurrection of Jesus, and you embracing Him.  He saw it all at the same exact time and still uttered the words Let there be Light.  That is faithfulness, that is love.

So later when you get upset and remember that you are not perfect spin that feeling around on it’s head and remember that God is perfect and He loves you.

Just a thought,

Mike

1/4 Inch That Is All It Was

/ Mike Farley / Leave a comment

1/4 inch that is all it was.  A small bone growth only 1/4” by 1/4” yet something so tiny caused so much blahh.

I should probably explain.  For the past few days I have been feeling a little more tired and just plain blahh.  I figured it was just because of everything that was going on until today.  I had a tooth removed a few months back and the spot where the tooth was has been bothering me for two days.  I thought I stabbed it with a chip.  Turns out there was a small bone fragment growing there.  After a few minutes of playing dentist I got it out.  It was not pleasant and I bled a small amount but I was able to get it out.

Sometimes we have something either infecting or growing in us that needs to come out.  It does not belong there and it’s continued presence will only cause more discomfort.  Of course the alternative is more pain and discomfort than leaving it alone, but only for a short time.  In this example I already feel generally better.

Hebrews 12:15 warns that we should let no root of bitterness grow and cause trouble.  Simply put if something is growing in you that does not belong there it will cause trouble.  But what can cause a root of bitterness to grow?  Honestly a lot of things like, unforgiveness, anger, malice, and such.  Maybe you were passed over for something you should have received, you are now angry and cannot let it go.  Bitterness grows.  Maybe you were hurt by someone you love, you do not forgive them.  Bitterness grows.  Maybe, maybe, maybe.  Bitterness grows.  I cannot know your story, and I might now want to.  But what I do know is if you do not remove the thing that does not belong you will not feel like you should.  You will be tired, have a headache, or the 50 other symptoms of bitterness.  Regardless you need to remove it.

Here is the thing about it though.  It is going to hurt a little maybe even a lot, but once it is out you will start the process of recovery.  My suggestion is to go through the momentary pain and discomfort and prepare to heal.

Just a thought,

Mike

What does He want from me?

/ Mike Farley / Leave a comment

Have you ever asked yourself “What does God want from me?”  I know I have from time to time.  I know that He does not need anything from from me but sometimes it seems like He asks a lot of me.  So what does God want from me?  What does He want from you?  The simple and short answer is He wants everything, or to be more clear He wants all of you.  

God wants all of you because He has created you to belong to Him.  He created you to choose and then presents Himself as the clear and proper choice.  There is not a single verse that points this out but as you search the Bible and the entire story of redemption you start to get the picture.  But what kind of man would I be without a Scripture to help point this out?  Ephesians 1:5-6 gives quick synopsis of this:

having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.

God wants you so bad that He chooses you first, and then makes us acceptable in His Son Jesus.  He has done all of the hard work to make the relationship happen.  But I digress we are not talking about what salvation here.  Nope this time we are talking about the Christian who struggles with wanting to know what God wants from you.  Hummmmm.  I have a problem now though.  I cannot separate the two.  It seems I cannot find a way to distinguish between God saving you and what He asks of you.  This might be harder than I first thought.  Give me a minute to think about this…….

OK I am back.  Did you miss me?  Still with me?  Here it is here is what I have for you.  1 Corinthians 6:19-20 says you are not your own you belong to God because He purchased you at a price.  You are not your own, but you belong to another and you have someone to answer to.  Now let me give you an illustration or two.  First is from marriage and the second from family.

In marriage you take a wife (or a husband), you pledge to honor, cherish, love, and devote yourself to that person.  You go into the relationship choosing to give yourself and your thoughts over to that person right.  Well the Bible says that we are the Bride of Christ and we should go into that relationship the same way.  When making a decision in marriage you ask what the other person would want and make a mutually consenting, and beneficial choice.  Same way with walking with God.  The only difference is He is smarter than you and knows what is best, but He still talks to you about it.

Second is the family example.  If you have children you want what is best for them and you know what they are capable of.  More than that you know if you ask more than they are capable of you will help them achieve that goal.  Well again God is the best father ever and He knows what you are capable of and if it is more than you can do He will help.  He does not want you to fail, but has given you every spiritual blessing, and every good and perfect gift comes from Him.

So what does God want out of the person He has purchased with the Blood of Jesus?  He wants it all.  He wants you to listen and respond.  He wants you to obey.  He wants you to love those you need it.  He wants you to give the same way He gave.  He has shown what love is and He wants you to love.  Sometimes it is hard, and it hurts.  Sometimes people hurt you, but when they do you pray “Father forgive them, they know not what they do.”  He wants you to give your will over to His.  He does not ask for too much though, He asks for it all.

Just a thought,

Mike

Well then…

/ Mike Farley / Leave a comment

I do not know your background, history, family, upbringing, relationship status, income, race, etc.  It would be impossible for me to know this about you.  These are not things I can know.  What I do know is all of these things determine how you view Jesus.  The sum total of your life leaves you with a few things and a view of Jesus is one of these things you come up with.  So I am not going to waste time telling you the way you view God is wrong because it may very well be right.  What I am going to do however is tell you what God thinks about you.

I am not going to talk about religion, or being “spiritual”, or whatever funny term some use when they want to talk about knowing Jesus.  No we’re going to talk about a love affair.  A love affair so scandalous that none other in history can compare to it.  A love affair so beyond what you have ever heard that is shakes the core of many people myself included.

Romans 5:8 says “Christ died for us while we were still sinners. This demonstrates God’s love for us.”  (God’s Word Translation).  This is the love I am talking about.  A love that gave all, that spared nothing, held nothing in reserve.  You may or may not understand that so again “Christ died for us while we were still sinners. This demonstrates God’s love for us.”  God sent His Son to die in your place.  OH MY WORD!  I cannot express how amazing that is.  Maybe it is just because of how much pain I had in my life, maybe it is because of the pain I caused others.  To know that the God of the universe loves me and gave everything so I can live is astounding, and scandalous.  You need to understand I was not raised Christian, I caused pain, cheated and wrong people, I hurt myself regularly to let out the pain I felt, I took pills and smoked pot to lessen the pain.  I used to hurt every day.  I was in agony.  Then I find that God the one true God loves me, and He loves me so much He died so I can live.  This is love, this is real love.

I say these things because I cannot know what your view of Jesus is.  What I do know is God’s view of you.  God sees you in pain, He sees you cause pain, He sees that you need help.  You are in a hole that you cannot escape from.  So to prove He loves you He comes to you.  I dare you to prove me wrong.  I dare you to honestly and wholeheartedly call out to God and ask Him to make Himself real to you.  If you do, He will show up and shake the foundations of your world.  He wants you to, He has given everything so you can.

So here is the question some are asking, if God loves why is the world so screwed up?  Easy answer because we screw it up.  You can’t blame God because you are a jerk, sorry it does not work that way.  Lets all stop asking about the innocent victim of this crime or that crime for just a second and focus on you.  You cause people pain, you cheat and lie to people, you try really hard but you are not perfect.  I still do these things so lets not pretend OK.  Let’s follow that question all the way through for a minute.

You say if God is love then He should stop the hurting and punish the wicked.  OK we will obviously start with the murders, and rapist, and drug cartels.  But wait where is the line?  Where do we stop and say OK only these offenses need to be punished.  The pain you caused your spouse with the affair you had makes them hurt real bad so you are out.  You lie to get ahead at work causing someone who should have gotten the promotion to get passed over, now they cannot make the money needed to get their child the treatment needed.  You’re out.  So on and so on.  Injustice is injustice and takes many forms.  Trust me you do not want God to give you what you deserve.  You want mercy.  The good news is it is yours for the asking.

Check this out if you do not think this is scandalous enough yet.  This one may blow you away.  God sees everything, but not just everything that is going on right now, He sees everything that happened and everything that will happen.  He is outside of time and a clock or calendar mean nothing.  So here is the thing; God created the world and was speaking it all into existence and said It is Good.  He could still see you, He could see your need for love and a Savior.  At no point was it a shock to Him that you were in pain.  He sees your yesterday today and tomorrow and He saw it before He created anything.  Revelation 13:8 says the Lamb (Jesus) was slain before the foundation of the world.  That means God foresaw your need and was ready for it.  He saw your pain and made a way before you could even call to Him.   He has done everything.  The work, the timing, the planning it was all Him.  He loves you that much.

I don’t know if I can really say anything else about.  I’ll finish with this.  God loves you, and He wants you to love Him.  He will not make you, He will not force Himself on you.  But He has done everything possible to make the relationship work.  All you have to do is accept the invite.

Just a thought,

Mike 

Submit I say. …. Bow down before me

/ Mike Farley / Leave a comment

I want to talk about 1 Peter 3:1-4 for a minute.  Now I am sure there are going to be a few Christian men who decided to read the whole article this time and a few Christian women who have decided they may no longer like me.  But in normal Farley fashion (that’s my last name) I am going to put a little different spin on it.  My thoughts on 1 Peter 3:1-4 actually stem Jeremiah 29:7 which I have been spending a good deal of time thinking about.

Jeremiah 29:7 (NLT)
And work for the peace and prosperity of the city where I sent you into exile. Pray to the LORD for it, for its welfare will determine your welfare.

1 Peter 3:1-4 (NLT)
1 In the same way, you wives must accept the authority of your husbands. Then, even if some refuse to obey the Good News, your godly lives will speak to them without any words. They will be won over
2 by observing your pure and reverent lives.
3 Don’t be concerned about the outward beauty of fancy hairstyles, expensive jewelry, or beautiful clothes.
4 You should clothe yourselves instead with the beauty that comes from within, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is so precious to God.

When the nation of Israel was in Babylonian captivity God spoke to them through Jeremiah and told them to work for and pray for the peace and welfare of the city.  In 1 Peter 3, Peter tells the women to work for the peace and welfare of their husbands.  I love that.  Too many people try and use the words of 1 Peter to mean something without understand the point of the verses.  It is not about some abstract submission for the sake of submission.  It is about serving and giving.  It is about loving and wanting the best for the other person.  What Peter says to women here the Bible speaks to all people.  Serve one another, win them to Christ by love and compassion.  Give the best to them.  Don’t worry so much about how you look or what you wear.  Take care of yourself but they are not going to come to Christ because you look like a model, or drive a Bentley.  Pray for them and work for their welfare.

The goal of it all is that Christ is honored and glorified.  That men (and women) come to faith and repentance in Him.  All that we do should be to bring Jesus to them.  We are a body and as a body we should mobile.  Don’t just invite people to Church on Sunday bring it to them on Monday.  Bring the good news with you when you go to work, bring it home when you get there.  Show your husbands why Jesus is better, show your wives why Jesus is greater, show your children why His love is more.  Seek the peace and welfare of those around you.  Pray for your family, for your neighbors, for your nation.  Don’t nag your spouse, your government to death.  Instead nurture and foster love and faith in Christ.

I’m not going to say any more on that, but I do want to drop a sentence of two about 1 Peter 3:7.  Men do you feel like God is not listening to you?  Do you feel like no matter what you do you cannot seem to get ahead spiritually?  Make sure you read verse 7, and then make sure you live it.  Keep it in the forefront of your mind and make sure you remember it.

Just a thought,
Mike

You don’t work there anymore!

/ Mike Farley / Leave a comment

For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace.

I was thinking about Romans 6:14 the other day and trying to figure out how to explain that to myself.  Often I read a verse or section of Scripture and really like it but cannot seem to explain it to myself in a way that makes sense.  This is one of those verses for example.  I understand that sin is no longer my master, and I understand I am no longer under the law but why does sin keep bothering me, and why will it not let me alone?  

Have you ever had a job that you were really good at?  I mean one where your employer and co-works were really impressed with you and your performance?  The kind of job that was hard to leave because you knew it so well and they knew you just as well.  I am talking about the kind of job that even after you leave they contact you every once in awhile to ask for help and see if you want to come back.  That is what this is like.  You used to work for sin, it was your boss and you worked hard for your wages.  You would come in early and leave late.  You gave up family time to do what it wanted.  It knew just how to get you motivated and although the job was hard you really enjoyed it at times.  

The Greek word in this verse for master is kurieuó and it means to be lord of, or rule.  The definition goes further and says “properly, to exercise rights over”.  That means sin was your boss and knew it.  When you left it was mad, it was not happy to lose such a great employee.  So like that old job it keeps calling, like that old relationship you should not have had it keeps calling.  Just come back, just come over, lets just connect on Linkedin, lets just connect on Facebook.  Lets just get coffee.  I miss you.  It will pull at your strings, it will push those buttons that have always worked so well because it wants you back.  It wants what it used to have returned to it.  

But and this is the beautiful thing sin does not have rights to you anymore.  You are now under grace.  You are now dead to sin and hidden with Christ in God.  He has purchased you and is now Master over your life.  He now has kurieuó over your life.  You have a new Master and He does not want you playing around with other job opportunities.  He does not want you entertaining other employment options.  He wants you wholly as His own.

How do we fight it though?  You worked for sin for so long it knows how to get at you.  It knows how to entice you back into service.  The answer is simple you must change.  You must embrace the new man you are and learn to walk in Him.  When you walk in the newness you have received sin cannot tempt you with things you have put off.  We must understand the new man we have put on and walk only in it.  Galatians 5:6 says if we walk by the Spirit we will not gratify the desires of the flesh, what that means is simply if you are doing one you cannot do the other.  Think of it this way you cannot sit and jump at the same time.  If you do one you do not do the other.  Being under grace is the same way; if you are under grace you are not under the law.  You can only serve one master I suggest you chose the one who wants to give you an abundant life.
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