NIPTO, Day 21

Why is it late every time I post?!? This awful pattern needs to end. Tomorrow. I am GOING to get up early, exercise, and have my quiet time before school. It is GOING to happen. I'm posting this on here so it will happen. Because I might just shrug it off tomorrow morning when my alarm goes off. I shall fight the battle of the blankets tomorrow morning. (I cannot take credit for that statement, seeing as it was in Rick Warren's book about bible study methods =P We were talking about that today)

(Saved/sozo(Greek)) σῴζω

(To wash/Nipto (Greek))νίπτω

sozo has been one of my favorite words for a long time. I'm not sure when it started, but I reallly like it. More on that below. I decided today to go to Blue Letter Bible and look up what the Greek is for nipto. I knew that it meant "to wash" so I just put that into the search engine, looked for a verse in the New Testament (Important: The NT is written in Greek, OT in Hebrew. I wasn't going to find the Greek for a word in the OT (Which part of the bible is written in Aramaic?) =P There is a handy dandy little button that you can push. I believe it's the icon "C" that has a concordance/lexicon. It breaks down the verse into the different words in their original language. I think it's sweet. My sunday-school teacher, Matt, introduced BLB to me and my sisters, and I love it. I should tell him that :)

σῴζω (sozo/saved) is something that I kind of want to get a tattoo of at some point in my life. This is the point in my post where adults in my life (my parents/grandparents/any other adults (tee hee hee)) vehemently discourage me from getting a tattoo. =P We'll see. I'm still definitely not old enough to get a tattoo, but we'll see once the time comes. I think it's just a sweet reminder that we are saved. Not by our works but by the blood of Christ. SWEET. =D

John 3:9, 21. 9"How can this be?" Nicodemus asked. I tend to ask a lot of questions. It sometimes gets me in trouble with my classmates at school. They don't like it when I bring something up that they don't want to talk about in class. My teacher loves it, but my friends, not so much =P But sometimes we find ourselves asking "How can this happen?" or "Why did this happen?" Whenever questions like this come up, I love love LOVE this verse: Lamentations 3:37 "Can anything happen without the Lord's permission?" NLT How COOL is that. NOTHING happens without the Lord "decreeing" it as the NIV puts it. That verse has brought me tremendous peace when I've been dealing with something stressful or kind of off putting. It's great. I love it. I've gone to that verse multiple times. It's definitely a good one :)

Proverbs 28:23- He who rebukes a man will in the end gain more favor than he who has a flattering tongue. This is interesting to me, just because in the world that we live in today, it's not really "normal" to "rebuke" someone. We like to be all nice and kind to people. But in the end, the person who is kind of brutally honest, in a good way, will have more favor than a person who just kind of glosses over mistakes and things that need to be fixed. Interesting.

Revelation 22:20- He who testifies these things says, "Yes, I am coming soon." Amen. Come, Lord Jesus. This verse just gives me chills. It's fantastic. He's coming soon. To be able to say "come, Lord Jesus" is fantastical. I love it. Annnnd I'm going to end with that :)

Come, Lord Jesus. Come.

NIPTO, Day 20

Right now I am sitting in my living room watching Olympic exhibition ice dancing/skating while my family figures out what we're actually going to watch tonight! It's going to be Monk or Psych, but we're not sure which yet. :) Looks like it'll be an episode of Monk. Oh yeah, my oldest sister is home annd she is the "treat boat," which is an extremely affectionate term in the Yackley home because she gets the ice cream, brownies, whatever sweets we have in our home. She might be the only one who is willing enough to actually get ice cream! So now I get to sit and eat moose-tracks ice cream with a brownie! =D I love my family and their love for sweets. It makes me think of last summer while we were in Georgia with my dad's family.

Us cousins

ate a FULL half gallon of Blue-Bell Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ice Cream

in 10 minutes

Ten people. Ten minutes. One half-gallon of ice cream later..... we were happy :)

It made me happy finding those pictures on facebook. =D It made me look through my cousin, uncle, father, and my pictures!

NIPTO-ooo.

Luke 23:20- Wanting to release Jesus, Pilate appealed to them again. I think that Pilate takes a lot of the blame for Jesus' death. But he really wanted to free Jesus because he said to the crowds "Why? What crime has this man committed? I have found in him no grounds for the death penalty. Therefore I will have him punished and then release him." in verse 22. But the people were extremely persistent, and therefore, Jesus was crucified. It's amazing how much power a crowd can have.

Proverbs 27:17- As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another. This verse really compels me to really challenge myself and the other participants in NIPTO. When we challenge one another, we grow. Exciting, eh?

Revelation 21:4- He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away. How awesome is that?! No pain. No worries. Just to be in the presence of the LORD. YAHWEH. I can't even fathom it. It's fantastic.

Man. I need to SLEEP. Gotta get up early to do music at church tomorrow morning... or this morning by the time I'm actually posting this! Crazy.

Goodnight all!

NIPTO, Day 19

It's late. I'm tired and lame. This is going to be a short post. I think I wore myself out posting yesterday haha.

Why is it that, out of all of my family members, minus my mom, I am the one who is "responsible" and tears herself away from the Olympic bobsledding to go to bed? (GO USA 4-MAN BOBSLED TEAM #1! =P) I'm the youngest... shouldn't I be rallying for us to stay up late? I guess not. Or maybe I'm just the one who is the most tired. Strange.

Whew. Ready for bed. Now I just have to actually do the reading/posting and then I can crawl under my nice, cozy covers and go to sleep to Jim Dale's voice reading Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. I really wish Jim Dale read the Bible. That, my dear readers, would be simply FANTASTIC. I would have the bible memorized in a jiffy (Okay. Maybe not THAT fast... but you get the idea) and, yes, I just used a ridiculously cliche word to describe that, but it's true.

Allll righty.

Luke 19:33-34- As they were untying the cold, its owners asked them, "Why are you untying the colt?" 34They replied, "The Lord needs it."

I think that we often don't respond to ourselves in this way. We ask ourselves why we're following God, and it might just be "because we know we need him to go to heaven." But that's not going to cut it. It's because the Lord needs us. We're the workers who plant seeds in people's minds and hearts. The Lord needs us. We can't question it, even if we want to.

Proverbs 26:9- Like a thorn-bush in a drunkard's hand is a proverb in the mouth of a fool. I don't know about you, but I'd be pretty afraid of some drunk person with a thorn-bush. So I guess we should be just as scared of a proverb in the mouth of a fool. Doesn't seem quite as severe, but it pretty much is.

Revelation 19:5- Then a voice came from the throne, saying: "Praise our God, all you his servants, you who fear him, both small and great!" No matter what your "size" in your faith, praise God. He's amazing and deserves way more than we can ever give to him.

That's all folks.

Until tomorrow.

NIPTO, Day 18- REALLY long post. Brace yourself!

So I'm chilling at Panera right now! Woot. Love this place. Great atmosphere for just hanging out! I'm here for my date with God, so this might be a "random thoughts" post along with NIPTO.

I've been thinking about what Brandon said in the Mid-week YouTube service video. Thinking about thinking. It's not really something we do very often because we just think... without thinking about it? If that makes any sense at all. It does, but it doesn't. Thinking isn't something we would normally think that we need to think about.

This is the point that I go get a hot drink.

Okay. Hot drink: Check (DELICIOUS byy the way). Music: Check. Bible: Check. encounter62.blogspot.com up so I can see what the reading is for today: Check.

I feel like it's been forever since I've posted... and it has been a good 36 hours... which is too long if you ask me =P

Today I went with a friend from church to do a photo shoot at a day care. It was awesome. I'm not completely sure, but I think that might be what my calling is. I LOVE photography and working with kids. It was a lot of fun and it was good to see what it's really like to "work" as a photographer. I put quotes around "work" because it didn't SEEM like work. It was just fun for me! And to get paid to do what you love is just an extra bonus. I think it's great to do what you love without getting paid, but just to be able to do it for the glory of God. But getting paid? That's a sweet bonus. =D

We're doing another shoot at the same day care tomorrow, just different kids. I'm looking forward to it. I think it'll be super. I get to be a BUNNY wrangler. tee hee hee. I basically put the bunnies back in place when they move. It's actually kind of humorous. But not when they don't stay put AT ALL. Then it gets annoying. But it's still fun to work with the bunnies because they're soft and fuzzy... :) So tomorrow is another day of shooting kids and bunny wrangling. Should be good. The only bad thing about it is I have to get up like... wayyyy too early. My thinking on that is that no one should have to be awake before... 6:45 (because that's when I normally get up.) Having to get up before 6 is basically torture... especially since NO ONE in my house EVER gets up before 6. It's basically unheard of. (My dad might break that rule every once in a while, but that's my dad. He's insane... so it all makes sense.) But on these days that I do the photo shoots I have to get up EARLY. Like, 5:55. Yes. I set my alarm for 5:55 so I can hit snooze once... (or twice) and still have enough time to get ready. It's insane, but worth it. But I should really go to bed earlier if I have to get up that early... but I think I might just stay here at Panera until my sister is done working/closing and I might just go home with her... but she's not usually done until almost 10... so It's kind of a tricky situation... but then again, it is nice to just sit here and type. I'm enjoying this... if you hadn't noticed. I've written a tonnn more than I usually write. And I still haven't gotten to the NIPTO stuff yet... I'm wondering if I should make that a different post for that... Eh. No. haha. If you've read this far, then you'll probably make it to the end. I think I'm at the end of my stream of consciousness. Maybe.

Panera's Cafe Mochas are scrum-diddily-umptious!

Focus. NIPTO.

Ah. This is INSANE. I just read Luke and there are about 50 bazillion verses that I want to post... to limit myself or not... I don't have a TON of time... seeing as Panera is technically closed... but my sister works here, so it's okay if I hang out here until she's done right? I mean... her manager's girlfriend does it too... =P

Okay.

Luke 17:9-10- Would he thank the servant because he did what he was told to do? 10So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, 'We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.'"

We shouldn't expect praise when we do what we're supposed to. We're supposed to consider ourselves unworthy servants. We need to be humble. If someone does praise us, we shouldn't glorify ourselves. WE didn't do it. We shouldn't really even be doing stuff for people. We should be doing it for God. I mean... if someone asks you to do something that you're capable of, by all means do it. But don't do it just to do it. Do it to glorify God, whatever it is. This week I wrote "Geometry for Jesus" on the front of my Geometry notebook. I don't always like doing Geometry, but it's probably a skill I'll need to use if I am going to do stuff with photography. So I need to remember that I'm not just doing it to pass the class, I'm doing it so that maybe, someday, I can use it to glorify God. (I need to remember to write "Chemistry for Jesus" on the front of my chem notebook. That's another subject that isn't my favorite. But still useful in photography because of developing photos and whatnot.) wow. that evolved. And I think that might be all I'm going to post for Luke... let me look over the other verses I underlined.

18:7- And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? No. He won't. If you're calling out to God day and night He's going to listen to you. Don't despair. Psalm 42:11: Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God. =D (I also read Luke 19 today. That's scheduled for tomorrow. Oh well!)

Proverbs 25:11- A word aptly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of sliver. I'm a word person. I like words. I'm coming to like writing more... as you might be able to tell by the length of this post. So this verse stuck out to me because of the word aspect of it. I also noticed that it doesn't say "words" it says a "word." That's singular. (Thank you. It's been great.) One word can be like apples set in gold? Not quite sure what that means... I think it means it's beautiful... pleasing? Anyone care to clarify if you have any idea what this means? I'd appreciate it.

Also: Proverbs 25:28- Like a city whose walls are broken down is a man who lacks self-control. Whew. That's kinda heavy for being 14/15 words. (Depends if you count a hyphenated word as 1 or 2 words. =P) It just kinda makes you think more about being in control of your self and your thoughts and well... yourself. Again. Something to think about.

On to Revelation 18:2- With a mighty voice he shouted: "Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great! She has become a home for demons and a haunt for every evil spirit, a haunt for every unclean and detestable bird. If I'm not mistaken, Babylon was a GREAT city in its day. Aka... thousands of years ago. But in the days when the Lord will come, it will become this haunt for evil things. I think it was a spiritually significant city, but I'm not completely sure. I'd have to do some research. I think that's kind of significant though if Babylon was a spiritually significant city because things that were once spiritually significant to us can become this place for demons and evil to abide. Interesting.

I think that is ALL for today. Tonight. Whatever. Almost 3 hours after I started this post, I'm done. Kind of. ;)

P.S. I'm totally rocking out and dancing to my worship playlist for the week. While sitting in Panera. It's awesome. Here's a list of the songs if you want to listen too :)

Mighty to Save

Marvelous Light

Can You Hear Us?
Thank You For Hearing Me (Did NOT notice that those two were next to each other until RIGHT now. =P)

Your Love Will Never Change

Come and Listen

Turn Your Eyes

Beautiful

Lily of the Valley

Be Thou My Vision

More Than Life

The Stand

You'll Come

Where the Spirit Is(?)

Your Love Will Never Change.

(If you want more info on these songs you can leave a comment and I'll get you artists and whatnot :)

P. P. S. After reading this over again... skimming really. I have decided that I have a slight form of ADD... and probably OCD to go along with that. Crazy combo!

NIPTO, Day 17

It's snowing. I love the snow! Except when it ruins plans... but it seems like this snow shouldn't ruin plans... maybe. =P

I can't take credit for this next "passage" if you will. I can't even take credit for finding it. It was in a message sent out through His face/His book (a group on facebook that did daily, now weekly, devotionals. I would recommend that you join! Always some good thoughts goin' on :) and I thought that it was super duper, so here it is.

It was written by someone named Horace Bushnell. But it was exactly what I needed to hear and I thought you might need to hear it too.

"This everlasting and compunctious study of duty--duty to everybody, everywhere, every day--it keeps you questioning all the while, rasping in a torment of debates and compunctions, till you almost groan aloud for weariness. It is as if your life itself were slavery. And then you say, with a sigh, `Oh, if I had nothing to do but just to be with Christ personally, and have my duty solely as with Him, how sweet and blessed and secret and free would it be.' Well, you may have it so; exactly this you may do and nothing more!

Sad mistake that you should ever have thought otherwise! What a loss of privilege has it been! Come back then to Christ, retire into the secret place of His love, and have your whole duty personally as with Him. Only then will you make this very welcome discovery, that, as you are personally given up to Christ's person, you are going where He goes, helping what He does, keeping ever dear, bright company with Him, in all His motions of good and sympathy, refusing even to let Him suffer without suffering with Him. And so you will do a great many more duties than you even think of now; only they will all be sweet and easy and free, even as your love is."

Luke 15:8-10- 8"Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Does she not light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? 9And when she does find it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, 'Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.' 10In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents." When a person comes into a relationship with God and they confess their sin, there is rejoicing in the presence of angels. It doesn't say that the angels rejoice, which I'm sure that they do, but God rejoices in the presence of his angels.

Proverbs 24:6 for waging war you need guidance, and for victory many advisors. I'm pretty sure that this verse has been applied to my sister who is at Kent State University. She has 5 advisors. Spanish, French, Education, Honors, and Dad. I think that she'll have victory. :)

There was not a verse in Revelation 17 that stuck out to me, but the chapter struck me because it is not a pretty picture. A lot of times the bible is portrayed as a book that can and should be read to children... when adapted. But the bible isn't really that innocent. There's a lot of gory stuff in there and I think that's something that we need to remember.

I hope you're having a fantastic day and that it is an encouraging one! :)

NIPTO, Day 16

Luke 10:41- "Martha, Martha," the Lord answered, "you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her." I think if Jesus said my name TWICE... I would listen. But I'm also pretty sure that if Jesus were coming to visit me or was visiting me, I'd be in a tizzy like Martha was. Martha was busy cooking and cleaning, but her sister, Mary, was just sitting by Jesus' feet listening to what he had to say. I would yell at my sister too if she weren't helping me. But we need to remember what we really need to do, and that is to sit at Jesus' feet to listen to what he has to say.

Proverbs 23:12, 18- 12Apply your heart to instruction and your ears to words of knowledge. I've been trying to really listen to people who are wise and are full of knowledge because there is so much to learn from the wise. 18There is surely a future hope for you, and your hope will not be cut off. This is just an encouraging thought. No matter how hopeless things seem there is surely a future hope and it will not be cut off.

Revelation 16:15- "Behold, I come like a thief! Blessed is he who stays awake and keeps his clothes with him, so that he may not go naked and be shamefully exposed." A reminder that no one knows when God's going to come back. Be ready.

I've been listening to the worship mix that Brandon made for us pretty much non-stop. I burned the disc to my computer and put the songs on my phone which also acts as my iPod/MP3 player. It's been a great reminder of how amazing God is. Love it!

NIPTO, Day 15

*yawn* Today has been an amazing day. I'm still kind of running on that Jesus High from last night, but talking about Pride and Prejudice in Lit Class today made me super happy as well. If you ask my sister, I was jumping up and down in my seat... and giggling like a maniac.... people were staring. Well. Mainly the guy in my class who HATES P&P. But whatever. Heh. :)

I feel so in love with life right now. It feel like last night was just uber freeing for me. I guess I act kind of fake around certain people. Annnd so I'm going to try to fix that. While I was praying last night, I grabbed my bible and found an index card that I got at LT 2-maybe 3- years ago. Thinking back to the night that I got it, I remember them saying that the staffers at LT prayed over these verses on the index cards that they would really speak to the students that received them. My card has Ephesians 1:18-19 on it: "I pray that the eyes of your heart my be enlightened, so that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of His power towards us who believe." That verse is just special to me now thanks to that night 2 or 3 years ago :)

whew. onto actual NIPTO stuff now? haha

This week we were told to read the passages as if it is the first time we're reading them. Just reading through the first... 15 verses of Luke 7, it's ridiculous. I don't know if I would believe what I was reading because, come on, Jesus really raised this guy from the dead as he was being carried out of the city in a coffin? REALLY? Yup. Crazy.

Luke 7:9b- "I tell you, I have not found such great faith even in Israel." 7:50- Jesus said to the woman, "Your faith has saved you; go in peace." 8:25a- "where is your faith?" he asked his disciples. 8:48- Then he said to her "Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace." The word "faith" jumped out at me in these four verses. I decided to go to Blue Letter Bible, which my Sunday-school teacher Matt has used before to show us some stuff, to look up the Greek word for "faith" to see if they were the same in all four verses. It was the same. The word, if you were curious is pistis or, in actual Greek, πίστις. I found this interesting, just because it is. Matt would be so proud of me! haha

Proverbs 22:6- Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it. What happens to us when we're young affects us for the rest of our lives. We're still young and therefore we need to be careful of what we do and say because it will stay with us for the rest of our lives.

Revelation 15:4- Who will not fear you, O Lord, and bring glory to your name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship before you, for your righteous acts have been revealed. All nations will come and worship before the Lord. It's going to be an incredible thing to participate in really. I'm looking forward to that day more and more :)

Well, I think I might go play some Wii with my sister now! Or I might go to bed... Is going to bed at 9 pm lame? You tell me.

Press on!

Freedom In Christ-Galatians 5

This is the sermon that my dad gave this past Sunday. If you have 30-45 minutes to spare, I'd definitely recommend watching it :)

02.21.2010 Grace Summit Sermon - Galatians 5 - Freedom in Christ from Grace Summit on Vimeo.

NIPTO, Day 14

Gaaaah. I love those people at Encounter62 sooo so so much! They're so encouraging. I love it when we're real with each other and God. It's like.. hm... I should really think of a better word than this, but AMAZING. I can't even come up with words to describe tonight. It was fantabulawesticsome. That's right. Fantabulawesticsome.

So now I'm just chillin on my bed reading my bible and listening to the mix CD that Brandon made for us NIPTO-ers. Love it. =D The only negative thing I have to say about right now, is that it's almost 11 pm. I need to get more sleep than this! Anywho:

Luke 5:11- So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed [Jesus]. They left EVERYTHING. Everything. They left their livelihood, families, friends, everything. To follow Jesus. I wish I had the guts to do that.

Luke 5:16 (But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places to pray) also is amazing to me. Like, being able to go away somewhere LONELY to be with God... I wouldn't exactly classify that as "lonely" but okay, I get the picture of what he meant. This is something I really need to work on. Prayer is not a strong point of mine. I'm a strong "worshiper/reader" but prayer is hard for me. I am a very visual person who likes tangible things, and Jesus is not tangible... so I have to deal with it.

Proverbs 21:3- To do what is right and just is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice. Sooo basically, it's better to do what is right without sacrifice than to do the wrong thing while sacrificing. I think that sometimes sacrifice comes with wrong motives because we want to see like we are doing the "right" thing, but we're just kinda doing it for show, ya know?

Revelation 14:5- No lie was found in their mouths; they are blameless. no lie. Not even one single stinking little tiny white lie? Nope. Blameless. Amazing. Again.

I think that today was a day about spiritual freedom and real-ness and not doing things in your own strength. This morning at church, we didn't have Sunday-school, so I was sitting in our Sunday-school room reading my One Year Bible and when I finished with the daily reading in that, I read some of The Heavenly Man (which is a RIDICULOUSLY amazing book. Go get it from your library. Read it. Be amazed) and the section that I read was about how Brother Yun was trying to do things in his own strength and how that got him landed in prison again. Then onto the actual "church" part of church. My dad was speaking today. Woooohoo for having a pastor for a father! =P (Yes. I am a PK... or as we like to call ourselves EK's (Pastor's kid... Elder's kid... same diff really.) But my dad talked on Galatians 5 which is basically about how we can't do things in our own strength and about having freedom in Christ. Then tonight at Encounter62 Brandon talked about being real with yourself and God and how freeing that really is. Sooo I think God's trying to tell me something. I'm listening. Are you?

I want to post my dad's sermon once he gets it posted on Vimeo :) It's a good one.

NIPTO, Day 13

Ahhh. The joys of having a quiet time in the middle of the day. This happens SUPER rarely for me, but today is an exception. (The fact that I have some time to kill before getting ready some more probably doesn't help =P)

Luke is probably my favorite gospel. It contains the most information about Jesus' birth and even before his birth. It has a lot to do with the women of the Bible (Mary, Jesus' mother, Elizabeth, John's mother etc.) It's a great book because, as a young girl, it's important to have role models. Real life, right now role models are good, but role models from the bible or history are just as important in my mind. So I'm excited that we're delving into Luke this week :) (BY the way. John the Baptist's birth is probably one of my favorite STORIES in the Bible. It's a wonderful story of God's faithfulness to his people.)

Luke 1:62- Then they made signs to his father, to find out what he would like to name the child. I would like to kindly point out that Zechariah was mute but could still hear, as far as I know. Why, oh why would they make signs to him to find out what he wanted to name the child. I think this verse is pretty hilarious =P

Luke 1:34- "How can this be," Mary asked the angel, "since I am a virgin?" I don't know about you, but I know that I would be per-itty freaked out if an angel came to me and said I was going to have a baby. Historians think that Mary was between 13-15 (closer to 13). That's kind of ridiculously young, but that's how things went back then. Mary had such great faith that I think that all girls/women should try to emulate. She was one of the greatest women of the bible... she was Jesus' mom after all!

Proverbs 20:18- Make plans by seeking advice; if you wage war, obtain guidance. Ahhh advice. Guidance. Wonderful things to seek. I hope that someday I will be wise enough that someone will come to me for advice. Mentoring is something that I really aspire to do. (This kind of goes with the role models thing :)

Revelation 13:9- He who has an ear, let him hear. Hm. We all have ears. We should hear what God has to say. ;)

Now I am off to the ball! Or at least to get ready for the ball. The Celtic Ball to be precise. Celtic/Scottish/Irish dancing. LOVELY! (I also want to learn how to ball-room-dance. Have I mentioned that before? Not sure if I have)

Hope you have a lovely afternoon/evening/day!

NIPTO, Day 12

[I started this this morning, and did not really even start, so now at 9 PM I'm finishing this... or starting it. Whichever way you want to look at it] *yawn* good morning/evening. Today is/was another day. Profound. I know. I'm chock full of profound thoughts like that.... Onto my "profound" thoughts for today's reading!

Mark 14:36- "Abba, Father," he said, "everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will."

Mark 15:34- And at the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachtani?"--Which means, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" These verses are uber powerful. Jesus didn't want to do this. He tells God, his father, that in the first verse. But he was still blameless and wanted what was best for the long run, so he was able to say "Yet not what I will, but what you will." Crazy. It's SO hard to just give up what you want and let God prevail in your life. Something I'm working on.

Proverbs 19:21- Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the LORD's purpose that prevails. Again. Something that I need to work on. Well. I guess this verse kind of conveys that, no matter what our plans our, God's purpose will always prevail. Which is comforting.

Revelation 12:10-12 - Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say: "Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ. For the accuser of our brothers, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down. They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death. Therefore rejoice, you heavens and you who dwell in them! but woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has gone down to you! he is filled with fury, because he knows that his time is short." Dude. God threw Satan out of heaven. And Satan was mad about it. But we've overcome him by the blood of the Lamb. Which is sweet. Good things to meditate on. :)

Goodnight alll!

NIPTO, Day 11

Mark 10:18- "Why do you call me good?" Jesus answered. "No one is good--except God alone" This is a verse that pretty clearly explains why no one can get to heaven by good works alone: no one is good because only God is good.

Proverbs 18:10- The name of the LORD is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are safe. This verse is just encouraging to me. No matter what's goin' on, you can always run to God and be safe. :)

Revelation 11:13- At that very hour there was a severe earthquake and a tenth of the city collapsed. Seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the survivors were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven. Now this is what I'm talking about! So... it's pretty terrible that there was the earthquake to begin with, but the people aren't as dense as the people I posted about the other day. (I think it was yesterday or the day before. Not really sure and I'm too lazy to go look.) The people that I posted about the other day witnessed disasters and didn't acknowledge the glory of God, but these people know where the glory should go. To God. The ruler of Heaven. The ruler of Earth. The uncreated one. I could go on and on, but for your sake, I won't.

NIPTO, Day 10

I think I'm becoming addicted to blogging. It has an addictive quality to it. Innnnnteresting. *strokes imaginary beard*

Okay... onto new things. I have been reading a One Year Bible "on my own." In the One Year Bible, you read from the Old Testament, New Testament, Psalms, and Proverbs every day. I was reading Leviticus in the OT today, and it struck me how crazy it was that whenever anyone sinned, they had to present an offering to the Lord. When we sin now, we simply ask God for forgiveness and it is granted to us. It wasn't like that then. But in the New Testament, we read about how God sent his son to die for us and to make a "new covenant" with the people so that we don't have to offer sacrifices day in and out. Struck me as interesting today.

Mark 9:23-24- "'If you can'?" said Jesus. "everything is possible for him who believes." Immediately the boy's father exclaimed, "I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!" Unbelief/doubt are huge faith killers today. I think we should look at this man as an example of what we should do when we're facing unbelief/doubt: ask God to help us overcome it. God is faithful and will help us if we are really truly sincere.

Proverbs 17:17-A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity. We as brothers and sisters in Christ are called to love at all times. Brothers are born to help their siblings. So as a family in Christ we are to help our family when they are in need.

Revelation 10:7- But in the days when the seventh angel is about to sound his trumpet, the mystery of God will be accomplished, just as he announced to his servants the prophets. This is interesting to me. The mystery of God will be accomplished. I don't know what that means really... because it's the mystery of God. Huh. That's one I'll have to think about, and possibly blog about later.

AH. It's later than I anticipated. It's time to get ready and do some SCHOOL. And go to class. And dance. Today's going to be a crazy day for me!

NIPTO, Day 9

WOOT! Back on a morning schedule! Let's see if a) I can keep this up, b) I can get everything I need to get done today done and c) don't die in the process of doing these things. whew.

Mark 4:31-32- It is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest seed you plant in the ground. Yet when planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants wit such big branches that the birds of the air can perch in its shade. Even planting small seeds can produce something large! Even our smallest actions and words around non-believers can plant a little tiny seed that, with nurturing, can become something huge.

Proverbs 16:3- Commit to the LORD whatever you do, and your plans will succeed. This verse speaks about commitment and if we truly commit this year to God, we will succeed in our plans.

Revelation 9:20-21- The rest of mankind that were not killed by these plagues still did not repent of the work of their hands; they did not stop worshiping demons, and idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone and wood--idols that cannot see or hear or walk. Nor did they repent of their murders, their magic arts, their sexual immorality or their thefts.

Man. Even after 1/3 of the population had died, these people (heh. Us.) didn't turn away from their sin. It's kind of ridiculous, but that's just the way that we as humans are. We're stubborn and want to think that we're always right, but that is not the case. We need to admit that we're wrong, that we have failings and shortcomings. We need to be able to say that because we are imperfect because of sin. But thankfully, Jesus died on the cross so we can be with him one day despite our imperfections.

On to school! Is there anything I can pray about for you?

NIPTO, Day 8

Wellll.... Hello. It's another late night. =/ I really need to get back in a morning schedule. Late nights are not good for me. My body does not like me the next morning when I make myself get up and exercise!

We finished reading Matthew yesterday and we're starting Mark today! Hurrah for going through one gospel a week! :) My pastor even just mentioned doing that. I leaned over to my sister and told her "I'm doing that with NIPTO!" It was exciting.

Mark 1:35- Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed. Ew. It was still dark. I don't want to get up when it's still dark. That's all I have to say about that. =P

Proverbs 15:9- The LORD detests the way of the wicked but he loves those who pursue righteousness.

NIPTO is about pursuing righteousness for a year. Not just for a year but for the rest of our lives. The LORD, Yahweh, the living God loves us because we are pursuing him with our whole hearts. Woaaah. That's intense love too. It's not the kind of love that is just a passing thing, it is always going to be there for us. God loves us no matter what and that is an amazing thing because we do some pretty spectacular 'messing up' in our time.

Revelation 8:13- As I watched, I heard an eagle that was flying in midair call out in a loud voice: "Woe! Woe! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth, because of the trumpet blasts about to be sounded by the other three angels!"

When those trumpets sound/ed they caused destruction. Kinda crazy...

Goodnight. I hope that your sleep is/was refreshing!

NIPTO, Day 7

Woooooooohoo. Day SEVEN ladies and gentlemen! That would be the end of Week ONE.

Matthew 25:40- The King will reply, "I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me."

This is an excellent reminder to act in a godly manner around everyone we encounter because whatever we do for anyone we do it for God.

Proverbs 14:23- All hard work brings a profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty. This is interesting because I found out a couple hours ago how much of a profit hard work can bring! At our Valentine's Day fundraiser dinner, we earned enough money for each of the 11 teenagers that helped serve and babysit to get

$52 to go towards LT (Leadership Training)! It was very exciting. :)

Revelation 7:13-14- Then one of the elders asked me, "These in the white robes--who are they, and where did they come from?" I answered, "sir, you know." And he said, "These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb."

Ahhhh. It's so encouraging to know that we can make our "robes" white in the blood of the perfect Lamb of God, Jesus. It's such a great promise&encouragement.

Two late nights in a row is going to do me in, so to bed with me! I hope that if you have tomorrow off of school/work that you have a wonderful day! Enjoy the break and the time off.

Goodnight all!

NIPTO, Day 6 - Irony

Matthew 21:5, 13, and 42 are all prophecies that were fulfilled. That's in ONE chapter. It's just kind of ridiculous. There are hundreds and hundreds of prophecies that were spoken hundreds of years before Jesus' time. One thing that I find ironic is that the pharisees knew their Bible back to front. So when they heard Jesus saying that the prophesies were being fulfilled, they should've listened to him, but they didn't. It's just plain ironic.

Matthew 21:18-19-Early in the morning, as he was on his way back to the city, he was hungry. Seeing a fig tree by the road, he went up to it but found nothing on it except leaves. Then he said to it, "May you never bear fruit again!" Immediately the tree withered. This passage to me is simply IRONIC. Today is just full of irony isn't it?! We've talked about this in my Sunday school class. Figs weren't in season... yeah. That's about it for this one.

Proverbs 13:2- From the fruit of his lips a man enjoys good things, but the unfaithful have a craving for violence. This relates to the proverb I posted yesterday too. If you're careful about what you say, then you will enjoy good things that come form God.... On the other hand, if you are unfaithful to God, you just want violence. And that's no good.

Revelation 6:16-17- They called to the mountains and the rocks, "Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! For the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?"

I'm not sure why, but this verse stood out to me. Hm. Still thinking about that one. I might have to update this post later today or tomorrow.

NIPTO, Day 5

Well..... hello!

Here are my thoughts from "today's" reading. (I'm posting this Saturday morning, but I'm going to make it look like I'm posting it Friday night. How sweet is that? I kind of ruined it by telling you that... but whatever. I did do the readings yesterday and that's what really matters.)

In Matthew 17:27, Jesus was talking about paying taxes and whatnot: "But so that we may not offend them [the tax collectors], go to the lake and throw out your line. Take the first fish you [Peter] catch; open its mouth and you will find a four-drachma coin. Take it and give it to them for my tax and yours."

Okay. I don't know about you, but I would be a little freaked out if that actually happened. Like. Seriously. If Jesus told me to go and catch a fish. Any fish. And it would actually have a four-drachma coin in its mouth?? Woah. I'd kind of freak out. But then again, this is Jesus we're talking about, so I guess I wouldn't be TOO freaked out =P

Matthew 20:32-34- Jesus stopped and called to them. "what do you want me to do for you?" he asked. "Lord," they answered. "We want our sight." Jesus had compassion on them and touched their eyes. Immediately they received their sight and followed him.

The faith that's displayed in these 3 verses is tremendous. They knew that Jesus could heal, and they didn't doubt. I'm guessing that they probably heard other people saying things like "Jesus can't really heal people" or "You'll never be near enough for him to even notice you. He's too important." They didn't doubt that they would be healed. It's amazing. <-- Amazing is an awful word to describe that, but it's all I can think of right now.

Proverbs 12:14- From the fruit of his lips a man is filled with good things

as surely as the work of his hands rewards him.

I gather from this verse that when you work hard with your hands, you are rewarded. Say if you farm, you'll get food or money out of farming. So What you say determines if you are filled with "good things" that are from God.

Revelation 5:6- Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing in the center of the throne, encircled by the four living creatures and the elders. He had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth.

This verse stood out to me because he saw a LAMB that looked as if it had been slain. That's Jesus. He was the perfect son of God that was slain to take away our sins. It gives me goosebumps just thinking about it!

Revelation 5:12-13- In a loud voice they sang:

"Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain,
to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength
and honor and glory and praise!"

¹³Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, singing:
"To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb
be praise and honor and glory and power,
for ever and ever!"

These verses are also reminiscent of Revelation song which is based off of... you guessed it: Revelation. These verses are reminders of how holy and wonderful God is. They remind us that he deserves all of our praise. I love these verses. That's about it. haha

Last night after I finished my NIPTO readings, I was reading the Heavenly Man and I saw this quote and it was kind of amazing.

"I learned that if we obey God miracles will happen, no matter what circumstances we find ourselves in"

- Brother Yun

That's the thought I'm going to leave you with for... *ahem* today.

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