Jesus

2 sides of the same coin (or Jedi vs Sith)

/ Mike Farley / Leave a comment

Do you have something that you consider a fault?  Something that some people find a bit annoying?  For example I am what some call stubborn.  When I decide to do something I do it and thats that.  I don’t usually consider quitting an option.  If you ask my daughter what Farley means she will tell you “we never give up.”  I have told her that for years, and now believes it most of the time.  Now I will admit that the trait itself can be bad, but it can also be good.  The flip side of the stubborn coin is persistence, and everyone knows persistence is a good thing.  I find that odd because they are the same trait, one is used negatively and the other positively.  It is all about how you use it.  Don’t believe me just watch Star Wars.  The force is the force but you can either be Jedi or Sith.  You use the same power.  Generally speaking stubborn means you think something then do it.  Persistence on the other hand usually means it was carefully thought out ahead of time and planning was made (usually).  

So whats the point of my little message there?  God made you for a purpose.  He has given you gifts to use.  You can use them for good (Jedi) or bad (Sith), but you have to make a choice.  You have to decide to use them wisely and be more than a conqueror or foolishly and be conquered.  It is up to you.

Just a thought,

Mike

Joy to the World

/ Mike Farley / Leave a comment

Christmas is tomorrow!  I remember as a kid hardly being able to wait for Christmas.  Christmas Eve was usually spent in agony waiting for the day to finally arrive.  I used to try and make myself go to bed early just so it would finally be Christmas.  Now that I am grown up (at least in age) and have children it is not much different.  To see the joy they have on Christmas morning is wonderful.  But there is one thing that is different now.  There is something that has changed.  Now I have Christ in my heart and life.  Now I have redemption and forgiveness, and that has drastically changed how I view Christmas.

Before I start let me say I do not know exactly when Jesus was born, and to a large extent I do not care.  From an academic point of view I enjoy the topic and discussion but really it makes no difference to me.  If it was September, October, June or December it would not change what Christmas is.  Christmas is Joy.  Joy to the world.

I was thinking the other day about Mary, and how she was waiting to deliver her baby.  Thinking about how all Jewish women from Eve to Mary were hoping that the baby they were carrying was the Messiah.  Mary knew the baby she was to deliver was the Deliver.  Think of the centuries of anticipation.  Then I started thinking about the Angels and the Earth.  They too were waiting for the Deliver to come.  The angels did not know when He would come but that He would come.  The Earth did not know but it knew.  They too had centuries of anticipation.  That is why the angels sang they had been waiting to see this day.  When the king would come.  

This year when you sing Joy to the World sing with rejoicing that you do not wait for Him to come the first time.  Now we sing with anticipation for His return.  

Just a thought,

Mike

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

Fathers…..

/ Mike Farley / Leave a comment

Kenneth Ray Reid 7/1961.  That is almost everything I know about my biological father.  That and he served in the Army and has a twin sister named Debbie.  We now all know the same thing.  According to one census there are about 24 million children in the US right now living in a home without a biological father.  Some families may be divorced or have other similar circumstances so lets go ahead and drop that number in half to 12 million children…. Does that make it easier to bear?  Lets go ahead and add in the last two generations but only half from each and say 12 million adults who do not know or have any relationship with their fathers.  I am one of those 12 million.

Don’t get me wrong I am not whining.  I have done that and I have moved on (as much as one can) but I still think about it from time to time.  I think what did I do wrong, what was wrong with me, and so on.  Truth is there was nothing I could do on my part I was not even born yet.  No, it was just him deciding for whatever reason he did not want to be a father.  So I do the only thing I can, I forgive and I move on.  I take all of those feelings and fears and put them to good use.  I strive to be a great father to my children.  My wife and I have a daughter and she has two boys from her first marriage.  The only thing that is different between the three of them to me is that one is a girl.  I love those boys with all of my heart, I would and have done anything for them.

Why do I tell you this?  Why like any other time do I ask for a minute of your time?  Because sometimes life sucks, sometimes we are given a raw deal.  I want to you to know that I feel you I really do but at some point you have to make a choice.  You have to ask yourself “Will I let my past and my circumstances direct me, or will I take control?”  

I want to see fathers lead their families, I want to see young men who are like me (fatherless) come to the Father and see the life He has for them.  I want them to take what the world handed them and use it to reach others with the hope of Christ.  I want to see boys become men of God.  I know how hard it is and the pain from some things never actually go away.  Sometimes it hits me from nowhere (like now) but when it does I am reminded that I am not that man, no I am not him.  I am ME a new man in God and I will lead my family.  I will be there to take my kids out when I do not want to.  I will watch Disney when I want to watch UFC, and I will not let others decide who they become I will be a man.

Women, you are not unwanted, and you are not disposable.  You have a Father that loves you, and cares for you.  You do not have to seek attention or “love” from men who only care about themselves.  You were created for a purpose and have a mission for your life.  I know the love of a woman who knows who she is in Christ and I am so very blessed by it.  When you give yourself to God He will make you whole and new.  I cannot speak much as to what it means to be a woman who has no father but I can say you are worth more than you know, and any man who does not value you is not a man at all.

 

Just a thought,

Mike

For as for me and my house we will serve the LORD. – Joshua 24:15

 

Biscuits and Gravy

/ Mike Farley / Leave a comment

Peacefulness and thankfulness go together like biscuits and gravy.  Sure you can have them separately but when you put them together you have a dynamite combination.  

In Colossians 3:15 Paul says “Let the peace of Christ be in control in your heart (for you were in fact called as one body to this peace), and be thankful.” (NET Bible)  If you let the peace that comes from Christ control or rule in your heart you will have peace.  You will have a true peace that passes understanding in the midst of everything.  In turn you can be thankful.

Now before you start in on the “if you only knew what I was going through you would understand” speech let me tell you something, I am not at peace right now. I have not been at peace for awhile either.  My wife and I are trying to find a place to live and are not having much luck finding anything we can afford (and would want to live in).  We are trying to figure out how to pay off most of our debt, and a few other issues.  Because of these things I have not been at peace.  I mean as long as nothing else happens I can keep it together but as soon as the dog barks or the little one cries I start to feel like I am going to lose it.  That is not peace, but holding on.  I do not want to just hold on, I want peace.  

So how do I get this peace?  How do I get to a place of thankfulness and ultimately rest?  Simple answer is I let the peace of Christ control my heart.  Mind you that is the easy answer.  The hard part like all things is walking it out.  So here are some simple things I think will help you and me let His peace reign over our hearts.

First, stop looking at the check book so much.  You’re broke and need to pay bills, but if you check the account in the morning it will more than likely be the same way in the evening.  So here is what we can do.  Check your account in the morning and then pray.  Ask God to help you get what you need to get through the day.  Notice I did not say ask God for the money (not that it is wrong to do so, I am praying for 50k), but instead ask Him to provide.  I have had groceries show up on my porch, toy for Christmas, and a ride when I was walking.  You need a new job, house, etc.  Same solution.  Take a look in the morning and again in the evening.  Other than that just ask Him to provide.  He knows your needs and will meet them.

Second, is be thankful for what you do have.  Maybe you are flat broke but you still have something to be thankful for.  Time with your kids, time with your dog, time with your pillow….  Whatever it is, enjoy the things you do have.

Third, feel free to cry.  There is absolutely nothing wrong with crying out to God.  Read the book of Psalms; a good portion of that was David crying out to God for help.  Look at Elijah he cried out to God, Jesus in the Garden cried out to Father to let the cup pass.  Nothing wrong at all with crying out to God and saying please help me I cannot do this and I am so tired.

Again remember I am writing this to me as well as you.  I need to remember and do these things.  My hope is I can take my own advice and let the peace of Christ control my heart.

 

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 

Lets not make it personal ok…

/ Mike Farley / Leave a comment

Sorry this one gets personal because we are going to talk about you, I mean me, no wait you and me.  Don’t worry not you and me in a weird why haven’t you called I really thought we connected kind of way.  More of in a how you can mean you as in ya’ll or you as in you with the face who is reading this.

1 John 1:9 (NKJV) says “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

This verse is pretty personal when you understand that the our being used is a Personal / Possessive Pronoun which means it is talking about you, I mean me, no wait you and me.  It might as well be saying “If I Mike confess my sin, He is faithful and just to forgive me (Mike) my sin and cleanse me from all unrighteousness.”  I could go on and add your name but with the hundreds of readers I have (that was a lie) I am sure I would miss someone.

We need to confess our specific sins.  There is something very powerful in confessing our specific sins.  Something about confessing that you need forgiveness for that addiction, or how you were cruel to that person, or whatever it might be.  I cannot stress enough how much freedom there is in confessing that you are sorry for that specific sin.  Now to not get me wrong and think that I am saying you are not forgiven for all of your sins if you do not confess them one by one.  When you confess that you are a sinner and accept Jesus as Lord and Savior believing that died for you then you are forgiven and a become in that moment a child of God.  That does not mean though that you have forgiven yourself.  There are some sins that need specific confession, and they change over time as you mature in your walk with Jesus.  But the fact that He is faithful and just (righteous) to forgive you does not change.

That brings me to my last point.  God is right when He forgives you.  Have you ever thought about that?  When I think about the fact that God is right when He forgives me it blows me away.  He is not right because I want Him to, rather He is right because He says He is.  He says it here and in Romans 10:13 “for whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord will be saved, and Acts 2:21, and so forth and so forth.  God declares that He will forgive you and He is right when He does it.  That is just mind blowing.  The God of all the universe, the maker of things seen and unseen, the one who sees my tomorrow and my past says I will forgive you and I am just as right in forgiving you as I was in creating the earth and sending my Son to die.

You cannot argue with that, you cannot say sure but what about, or not me.  You can only accept it or ignore it.  Just remember though if you ignore it you are still wrong and He is still waiting to forgive you.

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