NIPTO, Day 313

Heyyyyy. I'm tired. So I'mma going to do NIPTO and go to bed. Because it's almost midnight. And I have to take a shower. And then be up at 8ish tomorrow morning for play practice. Yippee! (I'm excited for the play, but I'm tired. Excuse any sarcasm that I might use during this post!)

Philippians 3:17-21
¹⁷ Join together in following my example, brothers and sisters, and just as you have us as a model, keep your eyes on those who live as we do.


We as Christians need to be an example. People watch us. If they know that you're a Christian, they will watch you like a hawk to make sure that if you do something bad, it gets mentioned. So we need to be good examples of what a Christian should act like. 




¹⁸ For, as I have often told you before and now tell you again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. ¹⁹ Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is set on earthly things.


Sad. So sad. Many people live as enemies of the cross. They're doomed. Their destiny is destruction. They follow their minds/stomachs. They have their glory in their shame. They only think about what's here on earth. They have no real concept of what's next. 




²⁰ But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, ²¹ who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.


We, however, should think of heaven as our home. That's where our citizenship is. We have a concept of what comes next. And that's heaven. We should anticipate heaven with all that we have. In heaven we'll get new bodies. I think that's going to be awesome. Heaven in general is going to be FANTASTIC. I mean, it's heaven, right? So what's more awesome than that?!?!




And on that note, I'm going to go to bed... Today was fun, tomorrow will be even more fun, but I need to get my beauty rest for the ball tomorrow night! (That slipped into a Cinderella (R&H) quote half way through...) I need to get my beauty rest for the FUN DAY I'm going to have tomorrow! 


G'night readers!

NIPTO, Day 312

Today was fairly boring.
School. Lunch (with a little Elf thrown in), school, babysitting, dinner, wrapping presents for the neighborhood, watching The Office, Outsourced, and The Office again.

And I think I might eat a couple of Oreo's.

NIPTO? Yeah.

Philippians 3:15-16
 ¹⁵ All of us, then, who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you.


Us. Who are mature. Am I mature? I'd like to think so. I might be more mature than others. But there are other people who are waaaay more mature than I am.  But. If one is in any way remotely mature, you should press on toward the goal that God has called you to. If something is... ambiguous, God will clear things up. He's cool like that. 




¹⁶ Only let us live up to what we have already attained.


We can only live up to what we have already attained. So let's do our best to live up to what we have attained so that we can attain more. Boo to the yah.




Yeah. That was short. But. I'm taking things slowly. Processing. 


And that's that.


I hope you've had a good day :)

NIPTO, Day 311

So much, yet so little today.

a'ight. Today. I. Got up. Got ready for the day and ate breakfast. Got all my school stuff together. Mom and I headed to school... annnnd then I had Spanish class. And then after Spanish we went to Mariachi Loco's. But we didn't eat there. Because it doesn't open until 12 pm. Annnd it was 11 am. And Mom had to be back at school by 12:30. So we ended up going to Pancho's for lunch. It was super fun. I love the people in my Spanish class. They're hilarious.
So after that we went back to school, and I sat in on Mom's class. Did a bit o' school. Then packed up, headed to the library, bank, and grocery store... got home. Did some school. Then left for Gifts That Don't Break. Had chili for dinner. Delicious as always! Then we had a great discussion about joy. I really like those people. I'll keep them, thanks! :)
And now I'm home. Watched Survivor. And now The Sing Off is on. I love a'capella groups. SO good.

Now. NIPTO. :)
Philippians 3:12-14
 ¹² Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.


The "all this" that Paul is talking about comes from the verses before this where he's talking about counting gains as losses and following Christ in his death and resurrection. So he's saying that he hasn't gotten all this or gotten to his goal. He presses on towards his goal. To take hold of what Jesus took hold of for us. That's... special. 




¹³ Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, ¹⁴ I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.


Paul didn't think that he had gotten what he needed. Yet. He did have one thing that he would do: He forgot what was behind him. He strained toward what was ahead. When I think of straining, I think of a team of horses or oxen plowing a field. Pressing against whatever is holding them back. He would press on toward his goal. To win the prize that God had called him and us heavenward. In Christ. Woah. I know I'll be pressing on. 




I hope you press on.

NIPTO, Day 310

Today has been another lazy "snow day" of sorts.
I "technically" got a 2 hour delay. I just started school about 2 hours late. But that's my 2 hour delay when everyone else gets a snow day. Home-schooling FTW (for the win).

Urban Vision and dance were both canceled. Thanks to all that snow.

So I did school. Ate lunch and watched Project Runway. Did more school. Took a shower. Did a mini spa day. Ate dinner. Read Lucky Magazine. And now I'm watching Alice in Wonderland. And formulating a blog post that has been in the making for a very long time.

And now, NIPTO.

Philippians 3:7-11
⁷ But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ.


As my sister would say: Bam. Whatever was a gain... he considered a loss. Why? For the sake of Christ. That, my friends, is intense. 




⁸ What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ ⁹ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith.


What is more? Everything is a loss because of the worth of knowing Christ. That's how big it is to know Christ. Everything is worth losing to know this person. And Paul did lose everything. He thought that the things he had lost were garbage compared to what he would gain: Christ. And he wouldn't just gain Jesus Christ, he would gain righteousness that comes from God through faith. Whoa. That do be super intense. 
I'm American. I don't like giving things up. But it's more than comfort. Comfort is almost a bad thing. Being pushed out of your comfort zone is a good thing. It might seem like you're losing a ton of things and you're not in your "good" place, but this could be leading to a better place. 
Who knows... (Just wait. It gets even better!)




¹⁰ I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, ¹¹ and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.




Paul wanted to know Christ. He wanted to know the power of the resurrection. He wanted to participate in Jesus' suffering. He wanted to die to somehow get that resurrection. That miracle that Jesus offers. 
Whew.
Wow.
Yeah.
Lots to think about.




For now, sleep. Tomorrow is school (Lord willing and the snow don't rise!), class, lunch at Mariachi Loco's with my Spanish class and then Mom's class. Sooooo yup. Tomorrow's going to be back into the swing of things after two completely empty days! 
Time to rest up.
G'night!

NIPTO, Day 309

Uf. Today has gone from busy to empty.
Today would normally be school/classes and babysitting. Tonight there was the added component of dance (a make up class from a couple weeks ago.)
Classes got canceled because Akron was closed [6:45 am], I got up around 9. Ate breakfast. Did some school. Found out that dance was canceled [11:18 am] and ate lunch a while later. Studied for physics, found out that I didn't have to babysit [2:12 pm], took my physics test. Then I'm not really sure what I did. Watched some Project Runway. Read a book a bit. Ate dinner. Watched more Project Runway. And now I'm here watching Lie To Me* and blogging.

My nose is stuffy. And my throat hurts. I think I have a sinus infection. But I'm not really sure. But I feel not great. So I'm glad everything got canceled today!
The next thing is to see if Urban Vision is canceled tomorrow (Akron schools are closed already. Craazy)... and dance. It would be kind of nice to have another free(ish) day!


Philippians 3:1-6
¹ Further, my brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord! It is no trouble for me to write the same things to you again, and it is a safeguard for you.


Rejoice. To be glad; take delight. Dictionary.com. Paul didn't have a problem writing the same thing over and over. It was to make them safe. 




² Watch out for those dogs, those evildoers, those mutilators of the flesh. ³ For it is we who are the circumcision, we who serve God by his Spirit, who boast in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh— ⁴ though I myself have reasons for such confidence.

We need to watch out for people who will bring us down. The "mutilators of the flesh." But those who serve God and boast in Jesus put not a smidge of confidence in the flesh. Paul even said that he had reasons for putting confidence in flesh. 

   If someone else thinks they have reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: ⁵ circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; ⁶ as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for righteousness based on the law, faultless.

If anyone (and Paul really means anyone) has any kind of reason to put confidence in the flesh, Paul has a better reason. He was circumcised. Big thing for the Jews. He was part of the people of Israel. He was Hebrew. He was, according to the law, a Pharisee. 

He had all the reason to put his confidence in flesh. But as Christians we shouldn't put confidence in the flesh.

More on that tomorrow!

Whew. I'm going to go to bed. Maybe get 11 hours of sleep! Or 10. You know. A double digit! That would be exciting.

Oh! Something else! As of Saturday, I'm the head of the "Social Networking Team" for The620. I added my first post today, so check it out! (Click on the link above :)

A'ight. G'night.