Be Humble or Stumble

Ok, so we had a cracker sermon on Sunday. Loved it. Challenging. Practical. Occasionally amusing. Good stuff. Anyway, it was all about humility. And I've heard a lot on humility. But our pastor made a point that really stood out to me.

When discussing/speaking about/writing about humility, there's this verse that gets tossed around a lot:

"God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble."

1 Peter 5:5b, NLT

But on Sunday I actually realised what this verse means. 

Given #1: We are proud sometimes. Yeh, me too. 

Given #2: God opposes the proud.

Logical result: When we are proud, God opposes us. O.O

Yeesh. Scary thought! Personally, I'd rather the God of the universe being on my side than in opposition to me! Who would win? Let me think... Let's just say, I'd fall flat on my face. Stumble. Lose. 

On the other hand, though, God gives grace to the humble.

Given #1: I want grace. I NEED grace! Grace to live a life worthy of Christ, grace to not yell at my siblings, grace to have a heart for the lost, I need lots of grace! I stumble without it. 

Given #2: God gives grace to the humble

Logical conclusion: If I need grace, I need humility first. The path to grace is humility.

Now, we need God's help to be humble, of course. But this verse just shows how important humility is. If we are prideful, God opposes us. Yes, us, me, you. But if we seek humility, we also find grace. So lets all seek humility!

Cassie xoxoxo

Lessons, joys, etc // 3

Perks of being up to see God's crazy sunrise. :)

Hmm, been a while since I posted! Though I may as well do another of these posts while I wait for something blog-post-worthy to crop up. There has been plenty God's taught me, and, as usual, He has blessed me abundantly. :)

Lessons:
 ~ Submit. And submit and submit and submit and submit and submit and... Feelings. Dreams. Thoughts. To God. Over and over. #routinebutstillgoodasnew

 ~ God works in funny ways. So there's two boys, who God has used in my life in completely different ways (long stories), and I saw both of them in the same day a while ago, and it was just amusing and cool to just reflect how God has worked in different, unexpected ways.

 ~ Sometimes lessons take aaaaaages.... but sometimes God just does a miracle in your heart and it's so cool.

 ~ When God asks us to give up something, it's always, ALWAYS because He has something better in mind. (More on this in another post, perhaps...)

Joys:
 ~ Emergency ward. (And y'all in America wouldn't understand our public health system, but let me tell you, our emergency wards are one of the best things on planet Earth.)
 ~ Parents home from overseas.
 ~ Crazy friends singing me happy birthday over the phone.
 ~ Chinese inkstones and curly black letters spelling truth onto white paper.
 ~ Buses working out, despite being late. (God is so good to me. No matter how late the bus, I've never had a serious problem getting into Uni.)
 ~ Running down a city street in the warm-cool air, rejoicing.
 ~ Crazy celebrations at church.
 ~ Easter hymns on the piano.
 ~ "Your blood ran red, and my sins washed white." ~Chris Tomlin
 ~ Seeing friends we don't see often again.
 ~ Freedom.
 ~ Teens praying.
 ~ Taking photos of the sunrise many mornings.
 ~ More music from The Grey Havens. (Plus free, and legal, download!!)
 ~ Reading LOTR and frying bacon on a camp-stove at the same time.
 ~ "Mary had a Lamb and He was white as snow." ~The Grey Havens.
 ~ Bush walking in 9.5 degree (Celsius) weather.
 ~ ANZAC Day dawn service. It was the 100th anniversary.
 ~ Marching cadets and veterans... the young and the old.
 ~ Hats held respectfully.
 ~ The Last Post (as in the bugle call).

Things I love at the moment:
 ~ Revive!!
 ~ Lord of the Rings (reading the books again).
 ~ The Grey Havens music (I think I said that already...)
 ~ for King and Country's music.
 ~ 'Concerning Hobbits' from the LOTR soundtrack.
 ~ Quiet times.
 ~ 'Home' the movie. <3


Cassie xoxoxo


P.S. Idk how much you Americans know about Australian war history, but ANZAC (Australian and New Zealand Army Corps) Day commemorates the landing of our troops on the Gallipoli peninsular in WW1. You can Google the rest, it's quite an amazing story.

The second-best website in the word

OK, everybody, listen up. This is important news.

You know The Rebelution? Some of you may, some may not. Basically it's a website and blog about teens choosing to not be suckered into living life according to the ridiculously low expectations our silly modern world has for teens. It is AMAZING. I say it's the best website in the world. And what makes it doubly awesome is that there is a huge community of teens who support each other, challenge each other, encourage each other, ask each other complicated questions etc on there. We're all a bunch of friends who are serious for God and living life for Him. Honestly, it was one of the best decisions I made last year, to really get involved in it. If you haven't already, check it out. If you aren't subscribed, sign up. If you haven't gotten involved with the discussion etc, DO! Anyway, here endeth my Rebelution rant. :P

Well... this week, the second best website in the world started up. One of the guys on the Rebelution had the idea of making a website so all us Reb teens could share prayer points. And then two other guys jumped on board and have officially made it reality! We've called it Revive, and it's a place where teens can share prayer points, ask questions about life, and just chat and hang out. It's almost the Christian equivalent of Facebook. But, like, a million times more awesome. And it looks stunning! You would think it was designed by pros, not two mid-teenage guys! So go take a look!

http://www.revivingtheredeemed.org/

Yes, you have to sign up first before you can see the forums etc. But it is totally worth it. Trust me.


Cassie xoxoxo

One more move...

Imaged sourced here.

The above picture is of a painting by a French painter by the name of Friedrich Moritz August Retzsch. It's titled 'Checkmate.' The game is for the soul of the guy on the right. The fellow on the left represents Satan, who is gleefully confidant. Why? He's winning. Just look at the pieces taken from the board. And the title of the painting, after all, is 'Checkmate.'

One day, a World Chess Champion was taking a stroll in the Louvre Art Museum, where this painting used to hang. This painting caught his eye, and he stopped to study it. After a few minutes he suddenly cried out in amazement! "The painting is wrong! The devil-man hasn't won! The white king has one last move! One that will tip the balance and win the man the game!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

That day when Jesus was on the cross, Satan was throwing a party. He believed he'd won. He was screaming "Checkmate!!!!!" all through Hell. Just like the devil-man in the painting, he was grinning in triumph to himself.

But he'd forgotten one thing.

He was not World Chess Champion.

God was.

And the White King had one more move.


On that long-ago Easter Sunday, the second Jesus took his first breath in that dark tomb, the King moved... and the tide was turned. Our souls were rescued. The World Chess Champion had won again!

When our souls are deep in despair, when we've reached the end of our rope, when we have no moves left... 

the King has one more move.

Cassie xoxoxo

P.S. Credit to my pastor for telling this story at church today, and this site for more info.

Nothing but the blood...

Sourced from https://bryanmwhitt.wordpress.com/2012/05/24/rejoice-in-what/

I wanted to write a post this Good Friday, but also wanted it to come from the heart. Which made it tricky. Why? Because honestly, I was already struggling with finding Easter special. I've been through... over a dozen Easters since becoming a Christian. I know the story. I know the drill. And every year, I find it hard to see with new eyes the wonder of Christ's sacrifice. And so Good Friday went by without a post writing itself in my heart.

Last night, though, I decided to ask God something. I prayed, "God, I want this Easter to be a special time of reflection. I want to see the wonder again."

This morning, I was having my quiet time, trying to just be still and know the Story of Love. I had Easter songs (mostly hymns) playing, and I was listening to "Nothing but the Blood" by Redemption Church (based of the hymn "What Can Wash Away My Sin?").

And suddenly Easter hit me.

"What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus." Nothing but the... Wait, nothing but the blood of Jesus!

Nothing.

I can't wash away my sin. I can't. All my attempts at goodness, at Godliness, at purity... none of these can wash away my sin. "Nothing can for sin atone, nothing but the blood of Jesus. Not the good that I have done, nothing but the blood of Jesus."

I can turn to things for fulfilment. I can turn to friends, to boys, to school, to church. But none of these can address the ultimate need I have - for my sins to be washed away.

Only the blood of Jesus can do that.

And that is why we sing, "Oh, precious is the flow that made me white as snow! No other fount I know, nothing but the blood of Jesus."

And that... that is why Jesus came. Because He knew that nothing but His precious blood would wash away our sin. There was no other option. And so He came, and went through agony beyond belief and bled so that our sins would be washed away. As Chris Tomlin puts it, "Your blood ran red and my sin washed white."

That is the Story of Love. That is the wonder I found again.



Cassie xoxoxo