An Empty Vessel to be Deleted

This blog site is soon to be deleted.

I have a new blog at niccupp.blogspot.com

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Thanks,
Nicky

I Want It

Have anyone of you heard of the Narrated Bible? This seems like a very tightly kept secret. Bob Preston was in Rushville last Sunday and when he heard that some of us are attempting to read the Bible cover-to-cover in 90 days, he recommended that we continue trying b/c what we are doing is a good thing. BUT, he also told us about the Narrated Bible and that with this Bible, he has read the Bible cover-to-cover every year and goes through the NT 2-3 times every year.

What's so secret about the Bible?

Well, let me tell you. This Bible is in Chronological order. That means that the Psalms are tucked away throughout the Bible and appear in the place where they were actually written. For example, when David was running from Saul and he hid in the cave - he wrote a psalm in that cave, so in the midst of reading about David running from Saul, you see the psalm. How cool is that?

Bob recommended that we buy these as gifts for Christmas, but I don't think I can wait that long. I've done pretty good about not buying one this week, but Jason and I will have one of those Bible before the weekend is up. I already checked the Family Bookstore and they don't carry them. I haven't checked Lambs. I'll probably order ours online at Amazon or E-bay. I think it was about $27 at Amazon. So - that's about it for today.

How was this for an advertisment? I think this is the coolest thing I've ever heard of!

Bible in 90 Days

90-Day Bible Reading Schedule

Follow the link above and join me and several from our church and many more across central Indiana in reading the Bible cover-to-cover in 90 days. While on the Fat Smash Diet, I have been thinking that I spend so much time thinking of food and that I wished I could also spend that much time digesting my spiritual food. So, when I heard that WGNR has called their listeners to do this, I decided this is perfect.

Now, I'm on two diets at once. One for my spirit and one for my body. :) May we lose the fat in our spirit and press on to the mark of the high calling together. May we run the physical race and not forget about the Spiritual.

I Did It!

I started the "Fat Smash Diet" as seen on the Tyra Banks Show or some show on VH1. Anywho, I started this diet last Monday. I had been putting it off, because I didn't have time to work out the grocery list and I knew that I had to be prepared with meals and snacks or else it wouldn't work. The diet focuses on eating a lot of fruits and veggies along with oatmeal and whole grains/brown rice.

I made Monday my weigh in day. I forgot to weigh myself Monday, so I did it Tuesday. I'm five pounds lighter already! It's hard to believe, because I didn't expect to lose anything so quickly.

Another part of the diet is exercise. My life is busy, but not active. I sit in the car for at least two hours daily and sit at a desk for 8 hours DAILY! I don't have time for exercise. So, I've made some of the things that I have to do daily are my exercise. 1: I work on the 6th floor of a building on Monument Circle. I started taking the stairs and I love it! 2: Yesterday, I was forced to park on the roof of my parking garage. This isn't the same one I started out with...the roof of this garage is as tall as the State Capitol Building minus the dome at the top. So, I parked on the 11th floor. When I got off work, I was thinking there is no way that I am climbing the stairs to the 11th floor. Well, I did it and I didn't even run out of breath. God and I had a good talk and He can help us to do all things.

God is so GOOD!

The Fly Has Spoken

...Yes, Renee, that's you! ;)

Wednesday was my niece's second birthday. See this beautiful hat she's wearing? It was "supposed" to be a dress. Except that I had never knit anything other than a scarf and made the dress a bit too small around the waist. One day I was playing around with it and folded it around a bit and realized it would be the perfect little hat for cold winter days. Which, we are expecting tomorrow! YEE-HAW!!! If the snow really comes, then God loves me more than all you other people who live in Indiana and hate snow. So, nothing much to say. Ya'll be nice and say hi to Renee (my friend from my previous employer) and admire the talent that my mother-in-law shared with me...that is, the knowledge of knitting.

Oh, by the way...the elder's retreat was this weekend and it was good. I was inspired by the word that Lynn Furrow gave us (in case you did not know, Lynn Furrow is part of the apostolic team of Christ Fellowship Church). I'll share more on that at another date and maybe also share what the Lord spoke to me. The thing is, he spoke so much to my heart and I got it, but I was asking him, Lord, what am I to say. I have no words to say what he said to me.

Share a Prayer

This is something that I wrote in my journal from October, 2004:

...please stir up our body and let us grab up the equipment you've supplied for us. Equip your saints so that we can make other saints. In Psalm 149, it is written: "Let the high praises of God be in their mouth and a two-edged sword in their hand to execute vengeance on the nations and punishment on the peoples, to bind their kings with chains and their nobles with fetters of ___, to execute on them the judgement written; This is an honour for all His godly ones! Praise the LORD!" So, Lord, I pray that you will burn this into my heart. Lord, I want to have the sword, your sword in my hand at all times. Help me to bring vengeance to the people. Convict Rush County of their sins and bring them to you! And I'll surrender myself to you. Do with me as you chose. AMEN!

It's amazing to look back at the prayers and to notice that some of the things in the prayers from then are the same prayers I have today. I pray for sin to be revealed and for chains of bondage to be broken. I still pray for vengeance on those that persecute the church and I also pray that we will provoke sinners to want God. I think it's fantastically miraculously awesome that Paul in Acts 2 ripped everyone apart and a huge number of them repented and were saved because of it. Today, we feel that we have to sugar coat the gospel. How in the world can we make it any better than it is? Christ died for us. Period. We were born sinners and He came so that we could be redeemed from the judgement of our sins. I am ready to tear my flesh down and press on toward the mark of the high calling. I want to be like a soldier in battle who carries the flag. Whether their are fellow soldiers around me or not, I want to bear the flag of the Lord and wave His banner freely.

God's Blessings

My boss has been very appreciative of my work and I get e-mails weekly and sometimes daily telling me how proud she is to have me on the team. Tuesday morning, I was beyond words when she handed me a parking pass. That means all the money that Jason and I had devoted to parking, the Lord has now given it back. In addition, my boss called the team together Tuesday and told us that as soon as two girls on the team completed their tasks for the day, that we could all go home. So, we got off at 12:30! I returned to work refreshed and ready to push through another stack of paperwork. My boss called me into her office again and blessed me tremendously with a $50 prepaid credit card! She had tears in her eyes as she explained to me how much she appreciates all my hard work and positive attitude.

I am humbled by her gift and I know that God has blessed me and I am exactly where I need to be. The only concerns I had were over parking and petty things like that. Well, the Lord has answered those needs and I count myself blessed.