god

Further Than We Expect

/ Mike Farley / Leave a comment

Below is an essay I wrote for class, and I thought I would share.

I would be lying if I were to say the building was “unassuming”, but everyone knows the purpose of this building, and most people know, or at least have an idea of what goes on inside. We have all seen movies or read books that tell us in great detail what happens inside those walls. The layout might differ, but the assumptions of its inner workings are the same. There is no hope here, no glimpses of light to be seen. This is a place of strength, and it has no room for weakness. Anyone who goes in must be prepared for rejection, proving, and have skin so hard that bullets bounce off you like a pellet gun attacking an armored car.

The fence was about 15 feet high, but it might as well have been a mile. I had never seen or felt metal this way. It was cold in a way that temperature could never be. The fence seemed to go on forever, bending perfectly around every corner-showing the outside, but mocking the idea of access to it. I have seen fences before but this was different. The fence served not only as a separation to the outside, but as intimidation to those on the inside. It seemed to work like a diaphragm with the space between links being big enough to let the wind flow in, and hope flow out. I needed to focus on something else, anything else, because this was too much to take in.

My gaze finally broke from the eternal fence. I looked up, and if giving the fence too much attention was my first mistake then looking up was my second. From the distance you could see the razor wire, but it is something else entirely to stand that close to it. The mile-high fence suddenly shrank in front of my face and I could see the sun reflecting off each tip of the wire that seemed to taunt those inside. Each one sharper than the next as they fought for prominence like a pride of young lions vying for command to see which one would devour the slowest gazelle in this wilderness.

Finally, I moved towards the main door. Not that I had a choice, once in you cannot just turn around. I had to be here. The choice was not mine, after all this is where I belonged. The entrance was overshadowed by the large glass bay window that looked out to the courtyard, and parking lot. The first room had decorations if you could call them that. Certifications, pictures of honored guards, and an American flag hung on the walls, but it was nearly as frigid in here as the fence that surrounded the complex. I gave them my name, nearly every personal possession save some cough drops, and my Bible, and was told to have a seat and wait for the guard. I sat on that hard gray bench for hours with the clock never moving. What was I doing here, how did this happen? I am not ready for this. Could I ever be ready? It didn’t really matter. I was here, and that was that. I sat counting floor tiles, ceiling tiles, and the time in-between the flickering of fluorescent bulbs. Why do places like this always have those bulbs? Why can’t they just work right? Maybe that is how they are supposed to work. Maybe the purpose of the bulbs is to flicker like a horror film, so maybe that’s why horror films use them? A new voice interrupted my thoughts “Ready”. This was it: time to move.

He seemed to be annoyed either at me or at life itself. I couldn’t tell, and I was not about to ask. The fact that he had at least 80lbs on me, a wand, and a look that made me feel like I was 5 years old being scolded by father made it clear I was not to ask questions, but follow orders. I walked looking forward as best as I could. The hallway was just as uninviting as the control room if not worse. Here there were no pictures just offices and doors with fake wooden name plaques. Not that I was trying hard but one sign stood out it simply said “Warden.” The door was closed, and I was thankful for that. My annoyed escort continued to lead me through wandering halls, and then into another courtyard. It was “open” if that is a word that can be used in a place like this. No flowers, brown grass, and the first taste of something worse than the razor wire I had seen before. The cement was painted brown, maybe in attempt to make it not so institutional, but if that was the goal they failed miserably. The walls seemed to hold in the tears of those I imagine cried into it. Tears of loss, remembrance, and regret were the mortar that held these walls together.

Eventually we entered a small hallway that led to the first block. “Open 1” my disillusioned guard said with clarity and authority, and as if the gate was controlled by his voice it let out a loud buzz, and allowed us to enter. The sound that comes off an iron gate slamming back into its home is not a clash, or bang, or even a thud. These are all sounds you hear, but this is a sound that is felt. A sound that sends a signal straight through your nervous system, and in an instant you are aware of everything. In less time than it takes to blink I notice two guards on my right behind what I could only assume was bullet proof glass, and straight ahead of me another gate leading to yet another block. To the left a wide hallway with a door on the right leading outside, just beyond that a small area not more than six by six between two more gates. The cement walls all painted the gray version of the brown color (if it could be called that) outside.  The grumpy guard turned to talk to the guards behind the glass, and tells me to wait over on the right side of the wall. Why the right side? Was this just an arbitrary order? Before I could finish my thought the gate nearest the glass opened and they entered.

Inmates started to walk in, and line up on the opposite side of the wall. They lined up knowing exactly where to stand, after all this was not their first time. I was aware that this would not be their last line up, at least for a while. The clothing varied slightly long sleeve, or short sleeve, black shoes, or white shoes. Some as young as me or younger others in their late 60s, some white, some black, some tall, some short, some had visible tattoos some did not. Even with slight modifications in appearances they all looked the same except a small handful. A slightly plump older man with white horseshoe hair and an iron on name tag that read David smiled at me. Not that “Oh my, I am in this place and someone is smiling at me” kind of smile. No this was a smile that you would see from a nice old man at the mall. It was just a genuine “Hi, nice to see you” smile. For the most part he was the only one who actually looked at me, and it was reassuring only I could not figure out why.

“OK let’s go” my annoyed escort said, and the first gate of the small resting area opened. We stepped inside, and like magic the gate closed after us leaving the men behind. The loud electric buzz sounded again letting us through the second gate. We took only a few steps and he said “just up here.” We made our way up the stairs, turned a corner, and opened the door to a room. “They’ll be in shortly.”

My mouth was so dry, and my hands so wet with sweat that I thought for a moment that my hands had been stealing the moisture from my mouth. I only had 3 cough drops, and I weighed the option of using one now. Before I could finish my thought Joy, who had been there with me all along, asked if I wanted some water. I took some water from the table, and she said we needed to get the room set up. She pointed me to a stack of Bibles, and stack of hymn books. “We don’t have enough for everyone so just space them out” she said as she hurried around setting up her things. For an older lady she was quick. She had long solid gray hair, not more than 110 pounds, and a zeal not seen in someone half her age. As she zipped around the room praying, and singing it was apparent this is where Joy belonged.

Before I could even finish laying out the Bibles the men started to arrive. First one then another, three more and finally a steady stream of grown men filled the room. They went straight to their seats like it was sixth grade homeroom all over again. No one wanted to be caught standing when the bell rang. Yet I noticed a strange sight. Most of them had a smile on their face. The biggest smile came from my hallway friend David.

Joy stood in front of this group of men, and said “Guys, guys, this is preacher Mike and he’s got a message for you today!” Joy was always so happy, and full of life. She was the epitome of her name. I however nearly threw up at that moment. This was by far the most fear I had ever felt in my life. It was not the place I was in, and it was not the people that surrounded me, it was not even the content of my message. It was James 3:1 running through my head, and the question of had I prepared enough sprinting through my mind. I had one chance to share the love of God with these men. I had one shot at telling them that God loves them. Some of them knew, that was apparent, but even when we know that there is always more of His love we can encounter, and that was my goal. Stretch the ideal of what love is if possible in this place. I was so scared I would miss the opportunity to share His love that I almost missed what happened.

Before worship the men led a prayer time where they prayed for their families, each other, the guards, and me. I was amazed by their love towards the people who ran this place and the honesty in their prayers. The difference in temperature from the cold unrelenting iron bars, and razor wire fence outside compared to the warmth that permeated this room was noticeable. A man sat at the piano that even though out of tune made a beautiful sound. It was a simple melody 3 maybe 4 chords, but the sound was quite lovely. The sound of the poorly tuned piano was quickly drowned out by the voices of men that turned into voices of angels. The room was filled with off key, and over singing men that somehow when combined with the words produced something marvelous. For a moment in time God gave me His ears, and let me hear what it sounds like when His children sing praises to Him. The imperfections remained, but the sound was different. It was not about the way it sounded but what it was; no longer did I hear altos or baritones, but thankful redeemed sinners rejoicing in the God who loves them.

At this moment my anxiety cleared up like a rain soaked road after a storm when the sun hits it. I was free not only to share how God had done the same thing in my life that He had done in theirs, but how He desires to take us further than we expect. Sometimes the place we are going is not where we would ever expect to go. We might not ever choose to go there, but we open our eyes to find ourselves standing in a situation bigger than us. If we are willing to go to places that intimidate, scare, or even terrify us we can catch a glimpse a heaven.

We don’t even know what we don’t know

/ Mike Farley / Leave a comment

Web

Jeremiah 33:3 ‘Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.’

I sometimes fancy myself pretty smart. I can tell you the overarching story from Genesis to Revelation making sure I hit all the high points along the way. I know the individual stories from Moses, Samson, David, Peter, Paul, and of course Jesus. I know about about how the Law is a representation of God’s love to a people. I can give a bunch of facts and so on that will make me think I am pretty smart. But when I sit down to pray and read the Bible I am left in total awe in the truest sense of the word.

I read the Bible and find myself thinking I am nothing but dust. I am just a speck of dust on a larger piece of dust floating around other dust particles. I am like the a person in the town from Horton Hears a Who. Who am I God that you are mindful of me? I cannot shake this idea that I am wholly unworthy to approach this Holy God. That the God of all the universe hears my prayers and that is the first thing to take notice of in this verse. God wants us to talk to Him. Although we are but dust God wants us to talk to and seek Him. He desires very much for you to pray. This should go without saying but that usually means it must be said. You would think that after reading the Bible we would understand that God desires a relationship with us. Verses like John 3:16, Romans 5:8, 1 John 4:10 spell it out in great detail that He wants us and has done everything He can to make a relationship. Yet somehow we still forget that. Somewhere between salvation and now we forget He desires relationship with us and that a relationship requires conversation.

He says in the next part of this verse “and I will answer you.” He not only hears but is attentive to our prayers, and there is a big difference between the two. I work from home and my daughter is homeschooled so I hear her a lot but I am not attentive to what she is saying it is just background noise. When it comes to God you are not background noise. They are not bothersome to Him and when you pray He does not need to stop what He is doing and give you His attention. His attention is already on you waiting for you to pray to Him.

That should make a big impact on us when we pray. When we pray we should have great confidence that God will answer but we don’t always have that confidence. I believe one of the reasons we lose heart is that we have incorrectly linked answering us with giving us what we want but these are two different things. We should not assume that every answer is a yes or even a no for that matter. Sometime the answer is later, sometimes the answer is ask again, and sometimes the answer is ask again but let me tell you something.

God says that He has great and mighty (or inaccessible) things to show us. He says that He knows things we don’t and more importantly that He knows things we don’t even know we don’t know. We have to remember that His ways are far beyond our ways. That’s tricky so let’s break that down a little.

There was a little girl who went to her dad one day and said “dad I realized I am a genius. Yeah he says how’s that? Well I can’t think of anything I don’t know.” Is that not you and I? Do we not falsely assume that because we can’t think of things we don’t know we must know it all? We even have that attitude when we admit that there are things we don’t know about. We assume some vast knowledge because we at least know we don’t know, but God is saying I know things you don’t even know you don’t know. He is saying there is so much you don’t even have access to not know about. That blows me away. I love to study so when I find out there are things I don’t know to know I want to know.

This goes right back into God telling us to ask again but He adds in some new information. All the sudden we don’t even want to ask for the thing we were asking for. In the light of this new information our old prayer seems childish and silly. Even at that we are still looking at a portion of the big picture maybe even a shadow of a portion.

It’s just like when we read the Bible. We read once and get one thing, then we re-read and all the sudden there is more, then more and so on. That is because the Word of God is living and alive. It is active and God hides things so you can grasp something else. It is not Gnosticism where there are hidden truths oohhh aaaahhh smoke and mirrors. No it is a loving and gentle Father who does not want to overwhelm His children. I don’t tell kids everything it would break them. I am working on a project for church that is going to donate needed items to BeLoved Atlanta which is a house for women who have left prostitution and sex trafficking. My daughter asked me what they did and why they needed stuff (she’s 11) so I told her these women were homeless and need things we take for granted. It’s the truth but there is more she is not ready to receive. So as a good dad I only give her what she can handle. Shouldn’t we assume God is a better dad than I and He protects us from so much more?  

Sometimes I find myself reading something in the Scriptures or praying and can’t believe I missed it all these years. Had I known this years ago I would have not been ready to walk in that truth. I would have had a hard time faithfully doing it. I was too immature to receive so God in His goodness and mercy let me gloss over it. Not that I was sinning but He wasn’t pressing it because there were more important things He was dealing with me on at the time.

So let us wrap this up nice and neat. God wants us to read His word and pray to Him, He wants to answer, and He has things to teach us. As we mature in our faith we should not take silence from God as punishment or even as a no. We should not be looking for yeses and no’s. Instead we should be looking to communicate and fellowship with Him. Prayer should not always be a gimmie list. Nothing wrong with asking but should we ask all the time? Should all our prayers be about asking for material things? Should we also pray that we can better know Him, understand His Word, understand ourselves better, help others, give more of ourselves to Him, and more? When we come to pray should we take some time to listen and not just talk? If we truly want to hear from Him maybe we need to speak less and listen?

Just a thought,

Mike

Tag Team

/ Mike Farley / Leave a comment

I used to love watching wrestling. I loved it even knowing it was scripted I just loved it. It was so much fun watching, Hulk Hogan, Hacksaw Jim Duggan, Superfly Jimmy Snuka, and Macho Man. Those were some of the greats, but there was a bunch of great tag teams too. The Bushwackers, The Steiners, The Nasty Boyz, Legion of Doom, The Heart Foundation, and so many more. Tag team matches were so much fun to watch because you had one guy going at it then he tags his partner and then they are both in there doing their job and it was flips, and drops. Oh it was great!

That is what I think about when I read some of the passages towards the end of John when Jesus talks about the Holy Spirit. You and the Holy Spirit are supposed to tag team life and even though He is the predominant member of the team you are still a part of the team. He won’t do it all but He will equip you to do your part. There is no part of life that He won’t help with either.

In John 15:26-27 Jesus talks about how the Holy Spirit will bear witness or testify of Jesus and how the disciples were supposed to testify as well. Now before you go and say Jesus was talking to the Disciples remember there are enough other verses to support the idea that all Christians are supposed to bear witness of Christ. The point is that both the Holy Spirit and you are supposed to testify of Christ. Now this can be done a lot of different ways but the important thing is that both of you do it. It’s crazy that a function of the Spirit is to help you do your job. As you go about letting your light shine before men or giving an account of what God has done in your life you are being helped by the Holy Spirit. When you’re nervous or scared because you don’t know what to say He gives words. When you feel like you are not getting anywhere with the person you are talking to He is actually doing His part and convicting them and showing them Christ. As a preacher there has been many times I gave a message and someone said how did you know about X, and I’m like I didn’t say anything about that. It was the Holy Spirit working on that person. It has happen to me as I hear others as well.

Like I said there are quite a few things that He does, but for now I also want to point out that the Holy Spirit helps you resist fulfilling the lust or desires of your flesh. Galatians 5:16 says “So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.” and the word for Spirit there is the same as in John. It is the word “pneuma” which also means breath. So the actual breath of God which is His Spirit is with and in you helping you overcome yourself. Not just overcome the things in life but overcome you. Maybe you don’t need to be overcome but I know I do. I am all too aware that I am my own worst enemy. As you walk in the Spirit you cannot at the same time give into your own desires. It would be like walking down Main Street and Broadway at the same time. You cannot do it because these are two different places.

I am so thankful for the Holy Spirit. So thankful that He is always present to help me because man do I need the help. Knowing that He is in my corner and wants to be tagged in, knowing that He does not get tired or worn down, and that He can win every match I let Him fight in. That is a good feeling.

Just a thought,

Mike

Give us Bread daily

/ Mike Farley / Leave a comment

When my daughter gets home from school she usually asks two questions: first can I have a snack and second what is for dinner. Both questions relate to food and while one is permission to eat something knowing dinner will come soon they both have the same understand namely that we have food and she can have it. She does not wonder if we have food, she does not worry about if we will have more tomorrow she knows we will feed her it is a given in her mind. These things are settled, they are not questions to her.

Likewise in Matthew chapter 6 Jesus talks to the people about making God’s will and desires a priority in their life and not to worry about what you will eat or drink or wear. He says your Father knows you need these things so don’t worry about it. We question whether or not God cares for our physical needs and He does. Jesus says in Luke 4:4 which is a quote of Deuteronomy 8:3.

But Jesus answered him saying “It is written man should not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.”

When we read this often times we emphasis the second part of this “but by every word of God” but there is a but there. If you have seen SchoolHouse rock then you remember the song about conjunctions and “but” is a conjunction. It serves the purpose to bring two clauses, phrases, or ideas together. In this case it connects the first idea that man needs bread to live and the idea that man needs the words of God to live. Both are required for a person to live a real life. Jesus is not proposing that we live off Unveriverse Juice like in Kung Fu Panda but that we need both our physical and spiritual needs met.

It should be a given in our mind that God cares for our physical needs, it should not be something we wonder about. Some who are either convinced miracles do not occur or are too scared to pray in faith for miracle make everything spiritual. Every reference to something physical becomes about a spiritual truth, and any attempt to seek something physical is met with charges of carnality. One of the many problems with this is that it leads to a belief that the physical world is inherently evil and there is nothing of value in it. This idea was popular during the Dark Ages and we see how well that worked out.

Some others who are so worldly minded have decided that everything is physical. It is not great faith that motivates them it is a love for the world and the things of the world. There are those who so love the world that they have named and claimed everything under the sun. I can admit I have been on both sides of this and fear that I will continue to battle this at times.

When we move to the point of settling the idea that God does care for our physical needs and physical well being we can move on to maturity and start to focus on His will, plans, and desires. We can pray for things like resources to accomplish plans, salvation for others, ways to reach the lost, ways to equip the saints, but it starts with an understanding that God cares about you physically and not just your eternal soul.

That is why Jesus tells us in the Lord’s Prayer to ask for this day’s bread. Don’t worry about what you’ll put in your belly tomorrow. Tomorrow has enough problems of its own sufficient are the issues of today. That does not mean you do not plan if you can but don’t worry about it. Be anxious for nothing but in all things with prayer and supplication let your request be known to God.

I would be remiss if I do not mention something very important. Jesus refers to Himself as the bread of life and this is part of the reason settling the question of physical provision from God in your life is important. When we first learn God provides for our physical we can then move on to understand that Jesus also provides for our spiritual provisions.  In John 6:27 & 35 Jesus says:

Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the father has set His seal on Him – 27

And Jesus said to them “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst” – 35

We do need physical substance to survive but we need spiritual substance to really live. This is where wisdom in reading the Bible comes in. We need both but one is more important than the other, and the most important one is spiritual. Preference to your spiritual needs are always to be met first. If you can only choose between reading and pray or eating than reading and prayer are to be given priority. You are to feed your spirit before your body because that is the part that connects you to God and realistically skipping a meal is not going to kill you. It might make you grumpy but you probably won’t die (maybe if you are a diabetic but I don’t know anything about that). The point is again you need both and God cares for both but connecting with Him and spending time with Him is the most important thing you can do.

So how do we feed on the Bread of Life? We do it by praying, reading and studying the Bible, by worshiping, by serving, by making ourselves second, and I think most importantly by understanding our place. Our place is in Christ. Everything we are is tied with our resurrected Savior. Everything we need is found in Him, and there is nothing we need that is outside of Him because again all that we are is bound up in Him. I want to give you a few verses to chew on over the week.

Galatians 2:20, Colossians 3:3, Ephesians 2:5-6, Romans 6:8, 1 Thessalonians 5:9-10, 2 Corinthians 5:15-21, and Philippians 3:20.

The point of the matter is this; God cares for you. He cares for your body and your soul. We should rest the issues of physical provision and seek the Bread of Life so that we can truly be filled.

Just a thought,

Mike

What a compliment

/ Mike Farley / Leave a comment

I was thinking about Daniel chapter 6 the other day and it stuck out to me that the plot against Daniel is a compliment. Theses other guys were out to get him because he was doing well. Some people just can’t stand when you do well. The better you are doing and the less attention you pay to them the more they hate you and I would say these guys hated Daniel because they ended up trying to get him fed to the lions. But that is not the compliment I want to talk about. No I want to be just a bit more specific. I would rather just point out verse 5 in that chapter because more than anything this is what I would want people to say of me.

     Then these men said “We shall not find any charge against this Daniel unless we find it against him concerning the law of his God.”   Daniel 6:5 NKJV

To break this down a little it means this; if we are going to find fault with Daniel it is going to have to be that following his God is against the rules. Basically they needed to outlaw something that he does in service to his God so there will be fault against him. They needed to change the rules so there would be blame. Daniel was so devoted to God so blessed by him that in order for something to be wrong it had to be said that bad was good and good was bad. That is a messed up system.

Now I could go a few different ways with this, but I am not (at least for now) I just want to say that their hatred for Daniel is a compliment and more so their proclamation that he is loyal to his God is a big compliment one I would say I want made against me. I know I have faults and failures but if there was one I could choose it would be that I am a light shining so brightly the love, grace, mercy, and compassion of Christ that the world is mad at me for turning on the lights.

Just a thought,

Mike

Hallowed be thy name

/ Mike Farley / Leave a comment

I want to give you a nice three point message on the phrase “Hallowed be thy name.” Three simple points that we probably all know but that can easily be forgetten. One reason they are easily forgotten is because we live under the new covenant, and while I am very grateful for this it also like all things has a flip side. All coins have a head and a tail side and if you look at one you are not seeing the other, and that is what sometimes happens with this topic. Living under the new covenant and blood of Jesus we do not have to deal with the sacrificial system and we enjoy constant grace and mercy, but because of this we can quite easily forget the holiness of God because that is something you are reminded of when you have to constantly be on guard not to trespass the Mosaic Law. Living in the goodness and mercy of God can lead to us forgetting who He is and who He is not. That is precisely why we need to talk about the simple phrase “Hallowed be thy name”

Point number one – What does it mean to Hallow His name?

To hallow His name means to not make it or Him common. It is to understand that God is holy. More than just holy He is Holy, Holy, Holy. Isaiah 6:3 says:

And they were calling to one another: “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.”

God Himself declares in Leviticus 11:44-45, 19:2, 20:7 & 26 “I am holy” and He repeats Himself through Peter in the New Testament in 1 Peter 1:15-16. God wants us to know He is holy. He desires for people to know that He is a Holy God. He has names for Himself to let us know He is holy. Elohim Kedoshim (Holy God) in Lev 19:2, El HaKadosh (The Holy God) in Isaiah 5:16 and YHVH M’kadesh (The LORD who makes holy) in Ez 37:28. If you want God to teach you things about Himself then using the Holy Scriptures as a guide you will see that letting you know He is holy is on the list of things you will learn if you earnestly desire to learn who He is. But what does it mean for God to be holy?

In simplest terms it means He is not like you. It means He is separate or completely different. God is not common but is beyond the common in a way so drastic we cannot easily define it. We don’t fully understand what it is to be infinitely beyond us so our words fail often. So the first thing to understand is that to hallow (or make it holy or separate) is to understand that is the place His name belongs it belongs in its own category. It should not be linked with any other name. It is not God and. It is just God.

Point number two – Hallow His name because He said so!

I want jump back to Leviticus. Now as we mentioned we could go to Leviticus 11:44-45, 19:2, 20:7 & 26, or 1 Peter 1:15-16 which all say basically the same thing “Be holy for I am holy.” Leviticus in general is a great place to look for what it means to be holy because holiness is mentioned more in Leviticus than any other book in the Bible although Isaiah is a very close second. While we could look at these verses and I think that could be sufficient I think there is a point made in Lev 10:1-3 that I really think drives home the point and God is the one who made it.

Aaron had two sons that were priest with him and they brought in strange or profane fire into the tabernacle and God killed them. It was and is still is a very powerful statement. God refused to allow the strange fire to be brought before Him. His direction to Moses and Aaron after this was “By those who come near Me I must be regarded as holy; and before all the people I must be glorified.” – Leviticus 10:3. God needed to make a very strong point to His fledgling created nation. He was in essence saying “If you are going to come to me then come on my terms.” It was a hard statement but one that needed to be made. Look at Acts 5 and see the story of Ananias and Sapphira and see that God made it after Christ’s resurrection as well. God is holy and tells us over and over that we must revere Him as holy. God’s holiness is not just a part of Him but it is one of the defining things about Him. He is Holy!

Lets make another OT and NT tie in. 1 Thessalonians 5:19 says “Do not quench the Holy Spirit” and the Holy Spirit is symbolized with fire. So we can see a connection where God says do not bring your ideas of worship and right living to me and tell me that this is what it means to live holy. We are not to mix the common with the uncommon or holy. We do not combine our ideas with His clear commands but instead we set Him in the place He belongs and then find out what we must do to serve Him.

Point number 3 – Because it is good for us!

God wants us to know that He is holy if we do then we will live differently. When we understand that He is not common we will not be common. When we understand we serve an uncommon God we will live as uncommon people. If we read the Proverbs we can start to see that a right understanding of who God is changes our perception on what right living is.

We can take that a step further and do as Jesus said to do and pray that way. When we live with an understanding that God is holy and separate it changes our actions because we want to be like our Daddy. When we pray with that same mindset we see a change in our prayer focus because we are being made different. God is in the process of conforming us into the image of His Son (Rom 8:29) and in that process we start to become more God minded. We start to live as Christ lived and that is living in total obedience and dependence. As God Jesus could have done as He pleased and what He decided to do was live as a servant in part so we could see how to live.

But this starts with hallowing His name. It starts with placing God where He belongs in our lives and that is above everything else. We have to get to a place where Jesus Christ and serving Him is more important than anything else. It is more important than your job, or your comfort, or your preferences, or ideas, or likes and dislikes.

Praying “Hallowed be thy name” is not so much words to say but is a way to live. It is saying in my thoughts, actions, words, and prayers I want you to be above it all God and I want to be uncommon like you.

Just a thought,

Mike

Reading the Old Testament

/ Mike Farley / Leave a comment

I have been thinking about the Bible and before you say well of course you have Mike let me clarify. I have been thinking about the Old Testament and what is included. You see the OT is the historical narrative of Israel from the calling and covenant made with Abraham to the end of the exile. That is somewhere around 2000-2500 years of history give or take but the exact time is not really all that important to this discussion. The focus is that we are talking about a long time with a relatively short record. The thing I find fascinating is that in the record (the Bible) there is not as much detail as you would expect to find but that is by design. History was not recorded for the same reasons we record history. Stories were excluded or included all for a single purpose. That purpose is to reveal God.

The stories of David and Goliath, Abraham and Isaac, Sampson, Haggar, and even Creation are not there to teach you about these people with their strengths/failures or event details although they can. No instead their purpose of being placed in Scripture is to teach us about God. The Bible is the story of God telling us something of Himself. 1 John 4:19 says we love because He first loved us and that is the point. We know something about God because He revealed it to us because if God does not teach us about Himself we get false ideas about who He is and what He wants (see the tower of Babel) and if we have a false view of God we serve a false god. Seeing as God Himself commands us not to serve false gods He has to take the initiative and teach us about Himself.

So we should look at the OT and see what is God trying to teach us about Himself and not what did David do. Yes we can and should learn things from David but David is not the main character. When he dies the story goes on because the main character is God with David playing a supporting role. This applies to everything in the OT including the Law. When God gives the Law He is trying to communicate something of Himself so instead of reading it and saying “I am glad I am under grace and not Law” we should read it and say “God what are you saying about yourself in this?” This does two things that are very important.

First is puts the focus back on God. It says God you are the main character not me. Not my place my position or my desires. What are you saying about you (yes in light of Christ coming)? I am not suggesting we read it in a vacuum but He was saying something about Himself and He says he does not change. So if God was something then He is still that thing remember He exists outside space and time after all the Lamb was slain before the foundation of the world. So what was meant for learning is still good for learning. 2+2 = 4 that does not change when you learn that √(4)=2 you just have more information now. We have this idea that we are the center of the universe and I regret to inform you that you are not the center of the universe. You are of great importance to God shown in the fact that Jesus died on a cross for you but the story will continue when you die and there is a good chance that if we are all still here (people that is) no one will remember your name. So lets focus on what will remain and that is God and His Word.

The second thing it does is it starts to teach you. You might just be surprised what you find when you read with the expectation of learning something about God and doing things God’s way. I am constantly amazed what I find when I read with the desire to see Him. I go from one understanding to another one because the veil is removed and I can see things in a whole new light. I start to see certain things that I was sure meant one thing take on a whole new meaning because I understand God is trying to teach me something about Him.

I’ll end with this. God loves you. He loves you so much He gave everything to be with you. He is a caring, devoted, and compassionate Father. That has always been true and I enjoy reading things about my Dad before I knew Him.

Just a thought,

Mike

Book of Ruth

/ Mike Farley / Leave a comment

The book of Ruth is one of my favorites, and it’s a little book so you can read it in just a few minutes. There are some things I love and some things that are pretty confusing. Have you ever traded sandals to confirm a legal arrangement, and if some strange woman slept at my feet all night a proposal is not what I would be offering. But we live in very different times so I should not expect that some of those things would or even should make sense to me. Let’s face it the Bible was not written with 21 century customs or ideas in mind it was written with customs and ideas of that time in mind.

There are however some things that make perfect sense. Things like compassion, concern, love, devotion, earning a good name, respect, and morality. I find that quite funny because the story of Ruth is being told during the period of Judges. Now that is funny because the book of Judges is not known for having these attributes. You read the book of Judges and the Israelites are being less that proper towards one another and God.

One of the main things that I find when I read the book of Ruth that is most interesting to me is not the above mentioned things or the fact that Boaz is a kinsmen redeemer (although important) but the way Ruth and the other less than fortunate people are taken care of. What we see is a group of people living in accordance with the way God told them to live. Leviticus 23:22 says in a very paraphrased way “you don’t need all the grain from the field when it is harvest time so leave some for the poor and strangers. Do it because I am your God.”  What we have here is a group of people living God’s way and getting God’s results in the midst of the majority of the nation acting in disobedience. What that says to me is “do not conform to the pattern of this world.”

I’m just going to stop there and let you draw your own conclusions.

Just a thought,

Mike

Karma & Grace

/ Mike Farley / Leave a comment

I was thinking about karma and grace this morning. With karma you will always get back what you gave. If you do good you will get good if you do bad you will get bad, it is a cycle that cannot be broken. Everything is cumulative and it can take thousands of years to work off just some of your bad karma. It is perhaps the most works based system possible and offers no help for the root cause of your failures in the first place namely a sinful nature. Grace stands in stark contrast to karma. Where karama says you must work towards moksha, God’s grace says I will give you freedom, liberty, and eternal life because you can never be good enough. Grace is not just a “do over” but an all covering and immeasurable gift from the Creator Himself to mankind. Simply put karma is you doing your best it is you working towards being liberated from a life of pain while God’s grace says it is true you can never do enough to earn life with me but I will give it to you because I am good.

Powerful Little Conjunction

/ Mike Farley / Leave a comment

the-ampersand-hotel-london_monogram

I am reading through the Pentateuch or Torah or Books of Moses whichever you like for class, and I keep noticing this little word “and.” Specifically I am seeing it at the beginning of Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers. It occurs to me that this powerful little conjunction does more than just connects to words, phrases, or clauses but it connects pictures and ideas as well.

It connects the picture and idea that is being made in Genesis with the picture/idea in Exodus with the picture/idea in Leviticus and so on.

Have you ever watched a TV show that was very well put together? One where the writers decide at the onset what is going to happen and then everything works towards that goal. Every plot twist, cliffhanger, and surprise is designed to bring you to the finale so when you see that one you get a big picture. Each episode on it’s own was great but the whole story is amazing. That is the Pentateuch. So I asked myself if “and” connects these picture/ideas then what is the bigger picture/idea that is being created?

It’s probably better to give you the story of each one first. That way when we see the big picture we can appreciate it a little more.

Genesis – God creates/recreates (Creation, Noah, Babel, Patriarchs), and gives direction and promises.

Exodus – God delivers, makes promises, forgives, God delivers, makes promises, forgives.

Leviticus – God is holy, and He explains and prepares us now for future promise receiving.

Numbers – God is faithful and good even when we are not.

Deuteronomy – Pay attention to what God has done.

So what is the big picture that is being created in the story as a whole? God has created you and is calling you, He has direction and a place for you. He delivers you out of your trials and gives you insight as to what He wants for you. He is holy and mighty, and will prepare you ahead of time for what you will walk into, and even when you are weak He is strong. We need to pay attention to what He has done and what He is doing.

That is the gist of it. Sure there is more but if you want the overall picture that is pretty much it. I really don’t have more to say than that.

Just a thought,

Mike