Can God be trusted to make all things work for good?

Any small community has pros and cons. But how about a church full of professing Christians, me included? One would think the love of Jesus would rule our lives, and it does to a point. Because we are all human, we naturally lean to our own understandings, forgetting about God. We fumble around and there are the inevitable bumps in the road. Can God be trusted to make all things work for good like the Bible teaches?
We love our congregation at AVEFC. Not just as a "feeling" but in real ways such as concern, helping, being available when called. How do you love them all when one is doing something that may hurt another person? For me it is not making judgments, and knowing God is big enough to handle the tough situations. I pray to be in His will. Sometimes that becomes awkward so I keep moving forward so that He can work things out. That has to be God, because my nature is to not get involved and stay hidden. He gives me strength and love. I must rely solely on Him.
At one point last year, the church leadership at AVEFC realized that as we grow, the church will get messy. What does that mean? Well the Aeneas Valley is a small population base and their backgrounds vary a lot! And there are many broken people in this valley.  As they all come in to be part of God's family, we need to love them. PERIOD. Let God work out any flaws in their lives as He works out the flaws in ours. Its a process and we will always be in process until we get to heaven. We very much expect messiness from a group of people who have different belief backgrounds, such as Catholic, Lutheran, Assembly of God, Baptist, Seventh Day Adventist, Messianic Jews, and even non-believers just looking to see what we are about. Frontier Hubby was a diehard atheist until attending this church and meeting Jesus in a new way. AVEFC wants to be a place where people can learn about God in a non-judgmental environment. A safe place. I hope that can become the reality. All Christians are in the family of God. Let's take keep our eyes on Him and not ourselves. In the scope of eternity, denominations and other differences should not keep us from loving one another with agape love -- no judgments, no expectations, no grudges.
If you are curious come check us out. It is a different experience from most churches. The people are real, the preaching is different, the Word of God is explored, and hopefully, then applied to our lives. Bring a teachable spirit. It does not help much if you come in already knowing everything. We all have much to learn. See more at avefc.org
= = =
Frontier Hubby had a really tough week last week. He was preparing to give a teaching Sunday morning on a chapter in the Firm Foundations series. As a new Christian, only 3.5 years old, his depth of knowledge is limited, but he is truly searching out the Word and has been successful at getting the lessons across. This is not a pastoral thing, but as Frontier Hubby has a background in teaching, he is comfortable being up-front. As a teacher/seminar leader, he was an expert in his field. Now that 'expert' prop is gone, he is learning to rely on God -- a difficult lesson for a lifelong, self-reliant man.
He was preparing his teaching and smack in the middle of the week, he was exposed to a horrendous scene of a video on the internet sent via email. It was a sick violence that disturbed him to his core. He could not unsee it. There was an instant hatred that entered him. He began praying about it and God gave him much relief. Over the next few days, his hatred turned to prayers for the people involved. God is showing him how to love those who we would normally hate for their actions. That has to be divine as Frontier Hubby is not one to just love and forgive his way through life.
With all that going on, Frontier Hubby was having problems concentrating how to give his presentation. On Sunday after the service, it was Frontier Hubby's time to talk. We had some great discussion on the scripture and its interpretation, mostly on legalism. He ended his session by talking about his week and how this video affected him and how God was blessing him through this time. His final statement was awesome, "Jesus is enough for me."
The congregation was clapping when it was done. That rather shocked Frontier Hubby as he hardly knew where the words were coming from when he spoke. I think God was helping him to say what He needed to be said. There seemed to be a shift in the room as God touched the hearts of people.
Pastor Shane often tells of problems that come up during the week that relate to what he is preaching about on Sunday. Ken is now learning that God works like that in his life too. Their messages are so much stronger and real when they share what has been going on during the week. It is clearly a God thing to make it so relative to the scripture to be covered. How does He do that? Guess because He is God and He does work all things out for good. Just sometimes we don't always see the good, but it is there.

May you find all things new in Him,
Frontier Woman @ FrontierChristianLiving 

Changing to Meet the Truth

All this talk about Jesus' authority, but what does it mean to me? My life? My responses to situations affecting me?

A question we ask ourselves at AVEFC is: if what we learn is truth, then what do we do about it? In this subject of authority, the easy answer is to just say accept it and live your life based on it. 

Ha! I don't know about you, but I am a rebellious soul. If my dad were still around you could ask him. He could tell you some stories. In general, when told to go right I go left (part of that is dyslexia LOL). Or more importantly, if told to do or not do something, there I would be doing the opposite. A life time of that nature running rampant is hard to reel in and change.

I am independent and had raised my boys, on my own, for 8 of their in-home years. I am used to looking at things with my own logic and experience. So, my first problem is simply remembering that I am not in charge. I go off on tangents without even giving a thought to God or that I should even pray about it. Then I start seeing unintended repercussions. That's bad and at that point is when i start thinking, "Hey God, come on. A little help here." My own fault that I didn't ask in the first place!

I have written earlier on a blog that I am working on contentment and gratitude. How can I do that if I don't let God lead me? That is where I am today--learning to follow Him. That does not mean I am going off into the wild jungles (I don't think), it simply means to look to Him first. Ask what He would have me do, how to respond or just wait.

I have started my blogs for some creative freedom and to share myself with whomever reads them. I prayed about them and felt an urge to make them happen.

I am having that same urge in finding a way to make some income. There are a few avenues open to me, but I want to honor Jesus not my abilities or follow some man-made plan. So I wait.
There are a few things I am working on ATM. Things like writing a fictional book, the church website, blogs, and doing other things online. I just wrote a book for my granddaughter, and feel led to do something in the realm of relationships--marriage, family, people--putting God into it but not sure how to go forward there and a number of other things.

My ability to focus is also reflected here

Writing a fictional book takes time and I have to keep God and my family responsibilities before it. If anyone has written or been passionate about something that is not directed towards your family, you know how hard it is to keep it all balanced. I tend to do many things at once, but only focus on one or two things with full force.

Take babies for example. The baby becomes the mom's focus and the husband is often left on the periphery somewhat ignored, especially his need for serious affection from his wife. Guilty here. I didn't know that I should have had a better balance, nor did I know how if I had been aware. That is something God has shown me. That is one reason to keep God first, He helps with making my marriage good and keeping a major focus on my Frontier Hubby! That change in me, made a change in him, too. We are so much better together now than ever. When either of us takes our eyes off God, we end up fighting because it then becomes all about us. If you do not know God, that may sound really off-base, but it works! I would rather be happy in my marriage than give into my need to be the number 1, most important person in my life. Been there, done that and flopped.

So, if Jesus' authority is real what should we do about it? I try to bring myself under His authority. He is not a selfish, power hungry person. He is God, the benevolent dictator, and He is concerned about us. There is talk about if we all love each other, there would be no war. Well, if people were not involved that might work, but whoever is in power will become corrupt. It is just human nature. So how about we all look to Jesus and love Him. The rest falls into place as long as we get out of the way!

So, what are you going to do about the truth of His authority?

May you find all things new in Him,
Frontier Woman @ FrontierChristianLiving

Growth Group

We attend a very small frontier church (imagine that) here in Aeneas Valley. For over a year now, they have instituted a small group study based on the sermon the previous Sunday. Our group has 5 adults attending regularly. This intimate group allows for some deep discussion and vulnerability between us. The activity is very useful and there is much growth and a bonding in fellowship.
There is another small group meeting at the far end of the valley with the same basic discussions and hopefully similar outcomes. If you would like to see the video from last Sunday, we post sermons weekly on Vimeo click here.  It would be the one dated 2105-02-01, We are currently going through Mark a few verses at a time. Last Sunday was Mark 1:14-20. The church's website is at avefc.org
We had a great discussion in growth group on a question that asked if the way Jesus calls us today is any different from the way he called His disciples to become "fishers of men" and how it is different. It generally ran that there is no difference, but then nuances started showing up. There was no right or wrong answer, just discussion to see how everyone thought about it.

Before long, we ended up in a discussion about healing from God. A friend is very sick and in the hospital. We pretty much agreed that it was something we were interested in being involved in and prayed for God to show us more in this regard after praying for our friend who is 24 and has cancer. (We love you M.)
Long ago I was told a person's faith is all it takes for a healing to take place. I think there is more to it than that. God is sovereign and his will trumps all. A friend stated that the eulogy at her husband's funeral was the key to the conversion of a number of people to Christ. Although she wishes he was still here, God knew that in her husband's death, the eternal importance of salvation trumped his healing.
Still, I feel there is something I am missing and maybe part of that is my own feelings of getting in the way or fear that God won't show up. These are things for me to pray about and learn to get over myself. I think God has much more for me than I have any idea about. That is exciting!
May you find all things new in Him,
Frontier Woman @ frontierChristiaLliving.blogspot.com

Not Another Blog

Why in the world would I start another blog when I don't really even have a following for my Frontier Living Today blog? Good question and I don't really have a good answer. Just 'cause I felt lead to do so.
I have been learning a lot in the last 4 years. I have been a Christian for 30 years, and was wanting to be closer to God and more Christ-like when I converted. It was a gentle slide toward believing in God and who Jesus was to asking Him into my heart. No big fireworks, nor did I have any demonic exorcisms. A few years later I got a divorce after my then husband had his 2nd affair since we had been together. (That was a long story made into a sentence!)
I stopped going to church (we had moved) and went through a time of experimentation. Although I still believed, it was pushed aside for a couple years of fun and games. I went through another serious relationship that bombed and I left it. I then moved again.
I decided to learn to be a masseuse. There wasn't enough money to pay for the certification, so I signed up to work off the tuition. I was good at office work and computers. Doing massage was enjoyable and I kept the new age, open-yourself-up mindset to a minimum. It made me very uncomfortable. I gathered a few Christian clients and worked for two chiropractors.
I started going to a small church. The people lived the message they taught. It was a chance to start learning again. Over the next couple of years, I switched churches 3 times and moved. Then I got married and moved again. I willingly became unequally yoked to a non-Christian man. Another long story made short.
I then didn't attend church for years. I did keep my faith and prayed a lot including for my husband's salvation.
A few years ago, we felt an urge to move to the country. We had gotten tired of city living. An ad for property in Aeneas Valley caught Frontier Hubby's attention. After a few months of looking around, we bought a parcel. God was placing us exactly where we needed to be but we didn't know it yet. (Long story made short #3)
In 2010 we moved up here, living in a shed we had built for storage. We made it livable with insulation. It was a place to sleep and keep warm. Hubby saw a sign for a local church and said we should try it sometime. I was very happy to hear him willing to do so. A new friend of ours also invited us to attend, so we did. We have been going there ever since. A few months later, hubby went from being a diehard atheist to a Christian. (My fourth long story made short.)
Our learning seems to be accelerated to a daily occurrence. God is blessing us as we move to seeing the world through His eyes and understanding more about Him. We have made many friends through the church and neighbors.
Frontier Hubby and I have lived a rather volatile life arguing almost endlessly. Most of the stuff was minutia. Our walk with God has brought us closer than ever and the problems are much fewer and far between.
Every day the beauty surround us gives me pause to thank God that we are here and to see what He has created. There is no way to capture it all. May you enjoy the small moments in pictures that we do capture.
This platform is for me to bring up whatever I am learning. Even if I think I have learned something, God manages to show me there is a long way to go. I am so grateful for His patience with me and that He not only allowed me to marry Frontier Hubby, but brought hubby into the family of Christian brothers and sisters who love the Lord and show us love and grace.

In Him,
Frontier Woman @ frontierChristianLiving.blogspot.com