NIPTO, Day 4

I should really come up with better titles for these posts... I'll think about that...

Matthew 13:23- But the one who received the seed that fell on good soil is the man who hears the word and understands it. He produces a crop,yielding a hundred, sixty, or thirty times what was sown. I want to be "good soil." I want to produce a large crop. I just kind of feel like I have no way of doing that because I'm home-schooled and don't really do much outside of school with non-Christians. God will provide something for me. He always does.

Matthew 16:26- What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? TobyMac has a great song called "Lose my soul" that has this scripture in it. The verse says it perfectly. What good will it be if you gain the whole world, but you have to give up your soul instead? Why not gain the whole Kingdom of God? That sounds sweet to me!

Proverbs 11:16- A kind hearted woman gains respect, but ruthless men gain only wealth. Huh. Kinda strange analogy... But I guess I'll just strive to be a kind hearted woman who gains respect ;)

Revelation 4:8- Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around, even under his wings. Day and night they never stop saying:
"Holy, holy, holy

Is the Lord God Almighty,

Who was, and is, and is to come."

Revelation Song ladies and gentlemen. There is a great song based off of this phrase that I've sung at conferences, and I believe, though I'm not sure, that it was on the Encounter62 website at some point... I'll have to check my facts :)

This morning I was doing my daily stationary biking and either reading my One Year Bible or worshiping. I made a "Worship" playlist on my phone (which doubles as my "iPod") and was listening to it this morning. One of the songs is "Getting Into You" by Relient K. The chorus is really great, so here it is:

I'm getting into you
Because you got to me, in a way words can't describe
I'm getting into you
Because I've got to be
You're essential to survive
I'm going to love you with my life

NIPTO, Day 3

It do be day three!

Matthew 9:10-12 - ¹⁰While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew's house, many tax collectors and "sinners" came and ate with him and his disciples.¹¹When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, "Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and 'sinners'?" ¹²On hearing this, Jesus said, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.

I think that a lot of times, Christians tend to be doctors to the healthy because they don't want to deal with the sick because they are the "tax collectors and 'sinners.'"

We need to remember in our Christian lives to be doctors to the "sick" and to the healthy who have a cold as well.

Proverbs 10:12- Hatred stirs up dissension, but love covers over all wrongs.

This kind of takes me back to the Chipotle Bible Study on Friday night when we were talking about loving those who hate you/your enemies. If you hate someone who has done wrong to you, it's just going to "stir up dissension." But if you love those who hate you and persecute you, they'll (hopefully) eventually see that you're not holding anything against them and that you really do love them. Love, as stated in Harry Potter (=P), is a powerful tool that is a HUGE testimony to those who wrong you.

Revelation 3:5- He who overcomes will, like them, be dressed in white. I will never blot out his name from the book of life, but will acknowledge his name before my Father and his angels.

If you overcome sin... God will acknowledge that and you will be in the book of life. How exciting is that?! That is something to look forward to. Being dressed in white and to be with God forever!! I know that's something I'll be trying to think about today as I'm doing school and am at dance!

Today the focus of prayer is on leaders. That's a broad subject! Everything from the leaders of our country to our pastors to our principals to whoever else you can think of that is a leader! Leaders in this day and age need a lot of prayer! So get prayin! =P

Memory verse of the day! Philippians 4:13- I can do everything through him who gives me strength.

I hope you have a good day! I know I'm going to :)

Peace out.

NIPTO, Day 2

Heyy. It's the SECOND day of NIPTO....

Philippians 4:8-Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

That's our memory verse for the day. Dude. It's hard to think about anything that is excellent or praiseworthy. Yeah. Wow. Good stuff to think about. (No pun intended)

Matthew 5:14- You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden.

Hold on. I'm the light of the world? Intense. I AM a light... "Hide it under a bushel?NO!" I've gotta let it shineee =)

Ahhh Matthew 6:34- Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

How true is that? It's definitely something that I'm working on... Worrying takes it out of me and honestly, I'm ready to be done with it.

Proverbs 9:9- Instruct a wise man and he will be wiser still; teach a righteous man and he will add to his learning.

Can I be wise and righteous? I WANT to learn more. So here I sit. Reading my Bible. Learning :)

Revelation 2:10- Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days. Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life.

Wow. Even to the point of death. That's intensity right there. Don't be afraid, but be faithful. That's what I gather from this verse. You'll suffer. But you don't have to worry about it. You will earn the crown of life if you are faithful to God and what he asks you to do. Again, intensity.

I think that's all for today folks. :)

I have my actual NIPTO interview tomorrow... eek! =P

Should be a good day today.

NIPTO, Day 1

So.... I'm reading. And I came across a couple verses.

Matthew 3:8- Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. Interesting. Does that mean that when you keep with repentance, you produce fruit?

Proverbs 8:8- All the words of my mouth are just; none of them is crooked or perverse. Wow. That's a bold statement to make. Really. None of them is crooked or perverse. Impressive. I can pretty much only pray to have that.

Revelation 1:8- "I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, "who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty." God IS, WAS, and IS TO COME. It's extremely comforting to have a God that IS. I mean... to be able to go to God with anything that is troubling me NOW. It doesn't have to wait until he's ready for it. He's ALWAYS ready for it. Sweet.

Some things to think about for the remainder of the evening.

P.S. I didn't purposefully choose the 8th verse of the chapters... it just happened. Creepy? Sure. =P

Growth

Since the year has started, I've learned a lot about growth. I've learned that disappointment is a big part of growing/growing up.

Disappointment is pretty much unavoidable. Disappointment in friends, family, God, yourself... It's tough to deal with, but it ultimately leads to personal growth.

My friends have been a major part of my growth. After I went to IGNITE in Columbus, I feel like the devil has been attacking me with my friends or lack there of. Being busy, not hanging out, just relaxing and talking has been getting to me.

Just this past weekend, I was supposed to go to Columbus to see one of my friends whom I haven't seen in almost 2 years. God had other plans because he a) threw my mom's back out and b) made over a foot of snow and let it dump on Ohio.

NIPTO is going to be a key to my growth this year. Intensive discipleship and mentoring. Reading. Memorizing. Fasting. Generally devoting my entire life to following God's call.

It's super exciting. Tomorrow marks the first day. Hopefully I'll be blogging more regularly to update my progress :)

P.S. Super Bowl Commercials rock my socks. =D