Thanks Be To God!

Psalm 103.1-5 (NLT)
Let all that I am praise the Lord;
with my whole heart, I will praise his holy name.
² Let all that I am praise the L ord;
may I never forget the good things he does for me.
³ He forgives all my sins
and heals all my diseases.
⁴ He redeems me from death
and crowns me with love and tender mercies.
⁵ He fills my life with good things. My youth is renewed like the eagle’s!

Psalm 138 (NLT)
I give you thanks, O L ord, with all my heart;
I will sing your praises before the gods.
² I bow before your holy Temple as I worship.
I praise your name for your unfailing love and faithfulness;
for your promises are backed
by all the honor of your name.
³ As soon as I pray, you answer me;
you encourage me by giving me strength.

⁴ Every king in all the earth will thank you, Lord,
for all of them will hear your words.
⁵ Yes, they will sing about the L ord’s ways,
for the glory of the Lord is very great.
⁶ Though the L ord is great, he cares for the humble,
but he keeps his distance from the proud.

⁷ Though I am surrounded by troubles,
you will protect me from the anger of my enemies.
You reach out your hand,
and the power of your right hand saves me.
⁸ The L ord will work out his plans for my life—
for your faithful love, O Lord, endures forever.
Don’t abandon me, for you made me.

1 Thessalonians 5 Journal:
Prayer: For my family and myself to be as Courageous as Christ! (Isaiah 53.11-12)
Thanksgiving: Thankful that God fights for us and gives us Victory! (1 Cor 15.57, Deut 20.3-4)
Joyful: in my new perspective to live life before death in Jesus Name! (John 10.10)

"All men die, but few ever live...Don't Count the minutes of your life, make the minutes of your life count."

~ Erwin McManus ~

Morning Glory!

Earlier today was a morning full of glory! My son was baptized in the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit! He is a disciple of Jesus Christ in the making!

I feel like God the Father when His Son Jesus was baptized. "And a voice from heaven said, "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased." (Matthew 3:17; NIV)!

I am so well pleased with my boy - by the way, he turned 6 months old today! Praise the Living God!

A Morning Full of Glory

• Worshiped the Triune God with my family!
• Matthew 14:22-36; "Water Walkers!" "COME ON (v29)!"
  
• Preached during Sunday school; the Spartan on my left was there to listen!
• Participated in my son's baptism; all family was present! Praise Jesus!
• Walked my son to the center of the church family after his baptism! Praise the Holy Spirit!
• Homemade brunch with family: CeCe's Morning Glory Muffins...yummy! CeCe's fruit salad...yummy! Mamaw's veggie egg fratada; breakfast casseroles and grits...organic Orange Juice!
• Afternoon hang time with the Fantastic Four!
• Deuteronomy study
• Soul Cravings
• 5 year anniversary celebration planning!

1 Thessalonians 5 Journal:
Prayer: Praise God for the baptism of my boy and having all family healthy and present! Pray for my family to be bold, courageous, risk taking water walkers!
Thanksgiving: Thankful that God is teaching me to focus on my family and less on my task list
Joyful: in my new perspective to live life before death in Jesus Name!

Cold Hot Contrast

Cold and Hot Contrast and a little date pudding
Whata-greatday!I don't know about you, but nothing beats a cold contrast of rich chocolate organic brownies with chocolate ganash, and organic frozen cookies and cream yogurt made by Super Moma, shared with my twin bro! Did I mentioned something called "date pudding"...oh yea, that was in the mix as well my friend! Carmely, nutting, date pudding!!!

Early Out of the Blocks
I was blessed by God the Father to wake up to His voice at 3:00am...pray over my beautiful wife, daughter, and son...train people in fitness from 545am to 1030am; study the book of Exodus while my bro was studying for the MCAT and my mom was painting her bathroom! Got to see dad earlier and he shared his cop stories...always a hoot!

Rock and Role Express Time
Got home, held my boy and played around with him while he blew bubbles...watched the Smurfs with my daughter in her purple chair...ate mint dark chocolate...70% cocoa!

Meditate Day and Night on God's Word
Gonna pray and bible study some more later...my daughter is messing with my feet right now as I write this! Can't wait for the prettiest and funnest woman alive to get home!
Whata-greatday!

Live because we will die
Hey listen, in response to such a great day, let me leave you with one final thought: Andy Stanley asked the question in Part 9 of his Defining Moments sermon series, "How would we live differntely if we believed each day would be our last?" Whether you believe in absolute truth or not, there is an absolute truth that no one can deny. It is this: we are all going to die. How would you have lived differently if today was your last? Would you have taken time to laugh more, pray more, invest in family more? Would you have made chocolate chip cookies and put frozen yogurt in between them? I would have! Think about this truth as you set your alarm for tomorrow morning, God willing, we have one... How will you live tomorrow?

Let that truth be the context for how you live your life...in how you make your decisions...in how you pray and spend time/money, laugh, have conversation with family, seek the lost, etc...

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 Journal:
Joyful: for family
Pray: for persecuted Christians
Thankful: for Christ perspective

MasterCard Moments and Influence

Praise Be To God The Father and Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! Had an amazing weekend that was highlighted by 2 "MasterCard Moments!"

On Saturday, I was able to catch some of R's Futbol Match! The halftime whistle had just blown and as he was walking off the field during the break in action, he caught my eye and sprinted straight towards me, leaping into my arms for a hug that I will replay in mind for ages to come!

On Sunday, Jeffrey and I went to go and pick up Sweet Eyes from the nursery...as we walked in, the door swung open...Like a crowd at a Thanksgiving day sale, all the kids busted out of the door in full sprint! Of course, one special champ stood out among the group, it was Sweetness! As we made eye contact she came sprinting straight towards us, jumping into my arms with a BIG 'ol smile that could light up the sky!

Wow! As I think about these moments, I think of Influence. If you were to ask me what Influence looks like, I would say it looks like your nephew in his soccer uniform and your niece in her sweet sweater-like green dress, sprinting towards you and jumping straight into your arms!

This is not to brag on my part at all, what I am saying is that Influence is based on relationships. Time Invested relationships instead of time obligated relationships. I am Blessed by God Almighty to be able to spend so much time with them and it is my Prayer that I am influencing them in The Name of Jesus Christ!

They have Influence on me probably more than I have Influence them. They have totally changed my out look on relationships and how important they are to human survival. And it is only because of the time we spend together, the rich time we spend together, that reactions such as seeing someone and wanting to sprint and jump into their arms occurs!

R and Sweet Eyes, thank you for these "MasterCard Moments!" God-Willing, I Pray for many more! I am extremely Blessed that we have this type of sprint-jumping-hugging relationship!

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 journal:

Thankful: For Sprint-Jumping-Hugs! For Blessed travels and Health, G's emceeing of Miss MSU Pageant, his "team" travel to see the Dogs on Homecoming and for each and all's endeavors and opportunities! For Mom being courageous in her new job! It's Amazing how God opens up opportunities and Leads us into new Promise Lands on a daily basis! Harooh!

Joyful: For the opportunity to Influence and to be Influenced by our God-Ordained Family!

Prayerful: To Influence others for Jesus Christ! For the development of "Nuby" and His Healthy Birth! To have sprint-jumping-hugs with him! For W's carrying and delivery of "Nuby as well as their recovery!" I Pray to witness each family give "Nuby" a huge hug and kiss on his birthday! I Pray For Jeffrey's "Spartan-Leadership" with his family and his ministries and his school, Church-Planting, Ordination, book writing. For Sweetness and her "15 Month Birthday! continuing to grow in life and being a source of God's Light!" For Dad's opportunites and Faith, Mom's new opportunities and Courage, for G's Lion Chasing and Discovery, J-Lo's School and Work and Peace, and for R's and S's joy and discovery of life each new day! For Phil and Mary's healing and work! For a Blessed wrap up of October with the costume-soup party, a God-Ordained November and Thanksgiving celebration, and a December to wrap up an Amazing 2008 by celebrating the Birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ on Christmas Day! Then... to live a Dangerously Faithful, Trailblazing, Risk-Taking, Christ-Following 2009 as we God-Willing welcome in the New Year with family, food, football and fun! For Andy, Jefferson Jesus, & Mathias to become leaders of men, representing Christ and raising their villages and people out of poverty and into the destiny they have been created to live through Jesus Christ! For my interview and God-Appointed acceptance into Medical School!

For unspoken Prayer Requests!

Just Say The Word Lord, To God Be The Glory! In Jesus Name! Amen!
Goo'day mate!

Be Imitators Of God

Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children...(Ephesians 5.1 NIV)

What-A-Great Day began by having the opportunity to teach Sunday School and then Worship with TheFam! PX!

Then came home and did some drawings, played some guitar, and listened to some "Wild Goose Chase" podcasts!

I then was Blessed with the opp to hang out with TheFam and experience the joy of being with my Niece all day! Through her, God has "fleshed" out what Ephesians 5.1 is all about!

She teaches me all about God...His mercy, grace, joy, power, and love. She shows me that God is definitely the Carpenter of Creation...she reminds me that God is full of Joy as she is running around the house in pure innocence and living up every second of the day!

She teaches me how God is always reaching out to hug us as she extends her sweet little arms that are filled with mighty power as she wraps them around your neck!

The sound of her laugh, the curiosity in her eyes, and the celebration in her voice...the speed of her running, the creativity of what she can do with found items, and the sweetness of her life all point to God Almighty! We are reflected in His Image and nothing could be more representative of that than the pureness of a child!

She also teaches me about relationships. She brings us so much joy; I Pray we do the same for her, I believe we do for I am confirmed by this every time she smiles! We need to always be ready to put her first, thus we put aside our desires...in fact, our desires become what she desires...we spend so much quality time with her, that is what builds relationships...you can't just tell someone you love them, you must spend time with them, and then when you are with them, you must enjoy being with them, don't just spend time with them out of obligation, they will see right through it. Invest your life in them. My niece actually makes that easy for me, she is so cool!

It's the same way with our relationship with Christ, the more time we spend with Him, the more our desires become what He desires, and then we can have our lives molded and shaped in order for us to be answers to His Prayers.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 journal:

Thankful: For time invested with "Sweetness"

Joyful: For our Family, for life, for our health, and for Christ showing us what life in the full (John 10.10) looks like through the eyes of MaNiece

Prayerful: For Phil's Recovery (Praise God for how well he is doing!)... For Bryan's God-Sized Accomplishments...For Jeff's Ordination and Church Planting, his tests this week, for his Book Writing, my mcat acing and entering into the Promise Land of MedSchool! For Whit's new job! For unspoken appts and health request, and career pursuits...

For us all to be 'Trailblazers' in our given professions and life endeavors

Praise Be To God For Jeffrey's Ministry! - Lord God, You have set Jeff apart from birth^[a] and You have called Jeff by Your grace, Thank You for Your pleasure to reveal Your Son in Jeffrey so that he might preach Jesus among the Gentiles. Thank You Lord God for Speaking through Jeff everyday and please continue to do so every time he preaches and in every second of his life, that all who see him and hear him, will see You and hear You, and may all be saved. Thank You Lord God. In Jesus Name! Amen! (From Galatians 1.15-18 NIV) & (1 Timothy 4.15-16 MSG)

Goo'day mate!

Rev. Jeff!

"It's not about doing...It's About Being...We need to stop 'doing' our devotionals and start 'BEING' with Jesus!" ~Jeff Nesbit~

Before it was even 1015 hours on this Sunday morning, I was already Blessed beyond measure! I had the opportunity to hear Jeffrey speak The Inspired Living and Breathing Word of God and have Jesus revealed to me (Galatians 1.15-17) in such an incredible new perspective!

"Rev. Jeff" taught CUMC and myself this morning that our Devotionals are not something we do, just one more thing to add to our task list, but rather it is Being With Jesus! If we were to take guitar lessons for 1 hour/day with John Mayer as opposed to 1 hour/week, people would be able to tell we have been with a master guitar player. So it is with our lives. When we spend an hour a day Being with Jesus instead of only an hour a week doing church, people will tell we have been with The Master! Thanks Champ! Jesus has rocked my world through you again, you are always making me better!

Later we had lunch with the NesbitNucleus @ at one of our favorite Italian bistro's! Now I am about to go and ace mcat studies!

Praise God! I look forward to the rest of this great day God-Willing! Soli Deo Gloria!

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 journal:

Thankful: For being able to hear MaTwin Preach The Word of God!

Joyful: For a new Perspective of Devotions. I want to Be with Jesus instead of doing devotionals.

Prayerful: For Phil's Recovery (Praise God for how well he is doing!)... For Bryan's Travels this week... Praise to God The Healer For Dad and myself healing from our colds...For Jeff's Ordination and Church Planting, Book Writing, my mcat acing and entering into the Promise Land of MedSchool! For Whit's new job! For unspoken appts and health request...

Praise God For Kate Gray's Birthday and for us all to being together and healthy for it! For many more Birthday's and all days now and forevermore! PX and JIL! Amen! Just Say The Word Lord (Luke 7.7)! Amen! For Constant Creativity!

Praise Be To God For Jeffrey's Sermon this morning! - Lord God, You have set Jeff apart from birth^[a] and You have called Jeff by Your grace, Thank You for Your pleasure to reveal Your Son in Jeffrey so that he might preach Jesus among the Gentiles. Thank You Lord God for Speaking through Jeff this morning and please continue to do so every time he preaches and in every second of his life, that all who see him and hear him, will see You and hear You, and may all be saved. Thank You Lord God. In Jesus Name! Amen! (From Galatians 1.15-18 NIV) & (1 Timothy 4.15-16 MSG)

Goo'day mate!

Happy 1st Birthday Kate Gray!

Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures through all generations. The LORD is faithful to all his promises and loving toward all he has made.

~Psalm 145:13 (New International Version)~

The Lord is Amazing and Praise Him for His Promise of Kate Gray and the gift of celebrating her 1st Birthday today with the fam!

Happy Birthday Kate Gray! What a Blessed day and what a great way to celebrate life and share experiences by celebrating "The KG's" 1st Birthday!

The day was filled with excitement, anticipation, and energy! Mom watched KG while Jeff and I went to get balloons and Birthday cake! Whit and Mary were getting the house ready and then we all met up, the whole fam, Lamar and Jean met up with everybody and it was great to see how everyone played a role...

Bryan & Taser: "The Grillin' Guru's" - Chief Responsibility: to grill the stew out of some mean Ballpark wieners and sausage links. They did great, even had the "photo-esque" grill marks on the the hot dogs!

Lamar: "Lemon-Lime Lamar" - Chief Responsibility: to assemble the snow cone machine and then crank out the sweetest shaved iced snow cones ever. Despite the 102 degree heat, Lamar displayed the Calm, Cool, & Collected nature of a true Shaved-Ice Champion!

Jeff &: "The Popcorn Poppers" - Chief Responsibility: to assemble the popcorn machine and pop "Movie-Style" popcorn! Jeff and ___ were able to make the game-time decision of whether or not the machine was an "Air-Popper" or an "Oil Popper." I am amazed at how they handled the situation. Like defusing a bomb under time pressure, they were able to remain poised and composed and determined that it was an "Air-Popper." Because of their fearless determination, kids of all ages were able to enjoy "Movie-Style" popcorn all afternoon!

Mary and Whit: "The Design Duo" - Chief Responsibility: to create an ethos of party celebration. From huge banners to Clowns and Carnival-like atmosphere, "The Design Duo" came through again as they displayed their "And Then Some" abilities to create an awesome environment and set the tone for KG's First Birthday! They even had cotton candy and animal crackers for gifts!!!

CeCe: "The Secret Service" - Chief Responsibility: To watch over and play with The Birthday girl, making sure she was fed, dressed, and rested in preparation for her BIG day! CeCe is a highly trained specialist in this field with over 30 years experience in giving her life to benefit the lives of those she loves!

Phil: "The Recovering Ranger" - Chief Responsibility: To Recover from major back surgery, yet make occasional appearances; His appearances included being the "first on the scene" in order to prepare the grill for wiener roasting! Phil's composure and ability to zone out pain was remarkable. Recovering from back surgery and even having to walk with a walker, Phil was still determined to play a part in one of his favorite past-times: Ballpark Hot Dog Grilling!

Hanz & Franz: "The Transporters" - Chief Responsibility: To Transport precious cargo: the balloons (4 colors, blue/red/yellow/green) and the cakes ( 2 cakes: Cake 1 - KG's personal "1" cake; Cake 2 - The Cake for all, titled "Happy 1st Birthday Kate Gray"). With surgeon-like precision and Indiana Jones-like timing, Hanz & Franz were able to deliver the cargo in prime condition!

With everyone coming together as a team and celebrating life, the afternoon came together in a unified whole complete with fun and family; swimming and snow coning; eating and excitement!

Part II of the afternoon, We were able to witness Kate Gray's first Birthday cake experience! With her hat and bib on, she "destroyed" her first birth cake in true reckless abandon "Kate Kong" fashion!!! (See picture above)! She then opened presents with Metro Dad Jeffrey while Warrior Princess Whitney filmed it all on the CamCorder!!!

Wow! I could write on this forever! Tons of pics, tons of fun, tons of video, tons of excitement, tons of experiences and memories to put in my heart-pocket forever! God-Willing, I look forward to many more birthday celebrations for KG and our family!

Praise God! Praise God! Praise God! Amen! JIL! Amen! PX!

Blessings and ONE Prayers
Jeff and CeCe had the Holy Spirit Filled idea to receive Prayer's and Blessings for Kate Gray from each family member and friend who contribute. Jeff is going to collect them in a Prayer Box and Pray through them each and every day with and for Kate Gray! What an amazing idea!

CeCe hand-made the most beautiful Prayer Cross and a 7-day Prayer Booklet, saturated with The Word of God! So cool to see how creative and artistic CeCe is and to witness the love that she put in to make what I know God will Bless in the lives of KG's and our Fam! The Spirit led me to make "Prayer Cards" in the fashion of "topps" Football cards, 1983 Vintage-Style, complete with stats of KG and Blessings and ONE Prayers for her! Taser got a Prayer book from Lifeway I believe, I want to see it!

What a cool and amazing Blessing to Pray these Prayers and Blessings for Kate Gray for her whole life...she is covered in Prayer and The Hand of God is upon her 24/7/365 as we have the honor and privilege to Pray for her in this way. What a sense of vision and purpose she is going to have as she Prays these Prayers with Jeff, Whit, Nuby, CeCe, Taser, Phil & Mary, Bryan, Rach, Rusty, Stevie, and our entire Family. I cant wait to Pray them for her and with her! Praise You God for Your Presence in all of our lives! Amen!

I will close with Psalm 127.3 (MSG)...I Pray this in Thanksgiving for Kate Gray, for Nuby and the Promise of He/She, and for future Nesbit's God-Willing!

Don't you see that children are God's best gift? the fruit of the womb his generous legacy? Like a warrior's fistful of arrows are the children of a vigorous youth. Oh, how blessed are you parents, with your quivers full of children!
Your enemies don't stand a chance against you;
you'll sweep them right off your doorstep.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 journal:

Thankful: For an Amazing 363 day journey as we have watched KG grow and develop. God-Willing, I look forward to Monday, for an Amazing 365 day journey, and then into the future as God Blesses us to live the full lives that Jesus wants for us (see John 10.10 NIV)!

Joyful: For God's Promises and The Fulfillment's of Psalm 145.13 & Psalm 127.3

Prayerful: For Phil's Recovery (Praise God for how well he is doing!)... For Bryan's Travels this week... Praise to God The Healer For Dad and myself healing from our colds... For Jeff's Ordination and Church Planting, Book Writing, my mcat acing and entering into the Promise Land of MedSchool! For Whit's new job! For unspoken appts and health request...

Praise God For Kate Gray's Birthday and for us all to being together and healthy for it! For many more Birthday's and all days now and forevermore! PX and JIL! Amen! Just Say The Word Lord (Luke 7.7)! Amen! For Constant Creativity! For Jeffrey's Sermon tomorrow morning - Lord God, You have set Jeff apart from birth^[a] and You have called Jeff by Your grace, Thank You for Your pleasure to reveal Your Son in Jeffrey so that he might preach Jesus among the Gentiles. Speak through Jeff tomorrow morning and every time he preaches and in every second of his life, that all who see him and hear him, will see You and hear You, and may all be saved. Thank You Lord God. In Jesus Name! Amen! (From Galatians 1.15-18 NIV) & (1 Timothy 4.15-16 MSG)
Goo'day mate!