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Casafina
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Name: Cassandra
Location: Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States
Birthday: 8/23/1985
Gender: Female
Interests: Jesus, Africa, Global Health/ Health Education, reading, tea, family, good conversations, painting, cooking, fellowship, ethnic food, history, meeting new people, hugs and smiles, travel...
Occupation: Student/ Missionary
Message: message me
AIM:  Casafina03
Member Since:
8/22/2005
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| It is amazing what our world considers to be trash. Walking by the old dark green dumpsters in my apartment complex, my roommates and I have found so many discarded treasures: wooden desks and end tables, fans (with more than one setting!), and even a blowup mattress. Perfect condition. OK, maybe the items have a few dents or scratches here and there, but they are still perfectly good. Their previous owners may have thought they were no longer useful or attractive with the distinguished marks of age or slight abuse, but they were wrong; a scar here or there adds character, it doesn't take away from it's purpose or use.
This activity of diving has become an addiction; we started with just walking by and claiming the easy to see items on the outskirts of the dumpsters. However, after such amazing finds we couldn't help but grab a stool and flashlight, and dive into the rusty old boxes. I'm not one bit embarrassed to tell the world I jumped into a dumpster, (though we did duck and hide when cars or people came by; I'm sure confidence in diving in muck comes later). My point is this: it's the willingness to swim through garbage bags and get your hands dirty that counts, even if there is no treasure promised before you take the leap.
It seems to be human nature to avoid all things unattractive or messy; we are drawn to the beautiful things, the uncomplicated. It is easy to transfer this mindset to the Lord's work and kingdom building; it is easier to pursue a spiritually interested individual, or someone who isn't 'messy' or complicated, than someone who is socially awkward or seemingly 'too far gone.' But that wasn't Jesus' ministry to seek only after those who sought after him; Jesus went dumpster diving. The treasures that the world discarded as being ugly, used up, or undesirable were the individuals Jesus walked with everyday. Jesus delighted in getting his hands dirty, in saving discarded treasures. If we are desiring to live a life for and like our savior, we should not only delight in pursuing the lost as opportunities present, but we should also seek after the opportunities while throwing away all aversions to scars and unknown outcomes. It's our willingness, our desire and fervor to bring home the lost and 'socially misfit' that Christ desires, and requires from us.
Just a thought.
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| Christ is my pilot wise, my compass is his word;
My soul each storm defies, while I have such a Lord.
I trust his faithfulness and power,
To save me in the trying hour.
Though rocks and quicksands deep thro' all my passage lie,
Yet Christ shall safely keep and guide me with his eye.
How can I sink with such a prop,
That bears the world and all things up.
Olaudah Equiano (or Gustavus Vassa), 1789 | | |
| Over three years ago I posted this piece that was written and sent to me by my dear friend, Gale. He has fought cancer for 12 years and every time we think it has beat him, God saves Gale for another day. I know he is still around because God has a purpose in him; he continues to win souls for the kingdom. When he wrote this for me, I was in the midst of having to make some major decisions (torn between two desires) and having a hard time dealing with accepting Christ's sacrifice as enough to cover all of my sins (I would be on my knees every day for hours asking God to forgive me for the same things over and over again). So Gale sent this as an encouragement to me, and I hope it will be an encouragement to you too, no matter how recycled.
The final prayer of Jesus was about you. His final pain was about you. His final passion was for you. Before He went to the cross, Jesus went to the garden. And when He spoke with His Father you were in His prayers. When Jesus looked into heaven you were in His vision. As Jesus dreamed of the day we will be where He is, He saw you there...
Never had He felt so alone. What had to be done only He could do. An angel couldn't do it. No angel has the power to break open hell's gates. A man couldn't do it. No man has the purity to destroy sin's claim. No force on earth can face the force of evil and win----except God.
And God couldn't turn His back on you. He couldn't because He saw you and one look at you was all it took to convince Him. Right there in the middle of a world which isn't fair. He saw you cast into a river of life you didn't request. He saw you betrayed by those you love. He saw you with a body that gets sick and a heart that grows weak.
He saw you in your own garden of gnarled trees and sleeping friends. He saw you in a pit of your own failures and the mouth of your own grave. He saw you in your Garden of Gethsemane--and He didn't want you to be alone.
He wanted you to know He had been there, too. He knows what it's like to be plotted against. He knows what it is like to be confused. He knows what it is like to be torn between two desires. He knows what it's like to smell the stench of Satan. And most of all He knows what its like to beg God to change His mind,and to hear God say so gently and so kindly,"no".
For that is what God said to Jesus. And Jesus accepted the answer. At some moment during that midnight hour an angel of mercy came over the weary body of the man in the garden. Jesus stood, the anguish gone from His eyes. His heart will fight no more.
The battle has been won. The sign of conquest? Jesus at peace in the olive trees.
On the eve of the cross, Jesus made his decision. He would rather go to hell for you than go to heaven without you.
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| I need to surrender everything.
I need to let go.
I feel God pulling back each finger one by one until my clinched fist is an open hand.
The thought of letting go is painful.
What I hold to so tightly, I have spent countless hours creating, controlling.
I am weak.
Take from me my life when I don't have the strength to give it away to you, Jesus.
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Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, 'This is the way: walk in it.'
Isaiah 30: 21 | | |
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