Resting in Him

That deep depression that just does not go away. I have this pain in my heart that keeps hurting and I don’t know why. I am reading my Bible and praying and I am reaching out and I am still depressed. I feel like I am in this pit and I can’t get out. I guess I am tired of being alone all the time. Being sick and alone. I have my hope in Jesus so why am I depressed? I guess many Christians who struggle with depression ask that question. I have been diagnosed with bipolar and sometimes it gets hard. I take my meds when I am should but it is a battle. Somedays I feel like giving up, but I know that I can’t.

I have learned through the past few years feels come and go but I don’t have to act on them. That’s why I need to know the Truth of God’s Word. His Truth never changes! Even if I don’t feel like it, it’s true! The more I can read His Word the better I am when I get when I get depressed. It’s o.k to be down but it’s not o.k. to have bad actions when I am down. I can cry and cry out to the Lord, that is o.k. He cares and listens when I cry out. But my old ways of dealing with things are not o.k.

When David was struggling he wrote a Psalm. We can see through his writings he struggled with depression. There is something about writing and writing to God that helps us out. My heart might be down cast right now but my love for Jesus never fades! During the last few days I have been reading the Bible more and praying and crying out to Jesus. He hears me and loves me! I just want Him to take away my sickness and pain, but for some reason God sees fit to have me in this situation. It’s hard, but when I am weak He is strong! Today I am going to rest in Him!

Trust in God no matter what

I have been in a deep depression for a few days. I am reading my bible, praying and reaching out to others and yet I am still depressed. I'm also struggling with being lonely. 

I use to react negatively when I was depressed by drinking or other sinful actions. I try to seek after my savior. Sometimes my depression last a few hours but it's but a long time it has lasted this long. It's easy to feed into it and focus on the negative. Instead of how far I have grown I start going back to the past, my past sins. 

Even in the bible guys struggled with depression just read the Psalms. David had to have struggled with it, but he kept pressing on. I think we forget sometimes that the men and women of the bible were just human like us. They served the same God we serve. 

God never changes we do. In my darkest days like today I need to remember that! I don't understand why I am going through all of this pain and suffering but God does! 

My prayer tonight is that I trust in God who knows all things. Trust in God who is in control and who loves me so very much! To keep on keeping on no matter what!

Forgiveness

Forgiveness! We like it when others and God gives it to us, but we often have a hard time forgiven others! Or we say I will forgive but will never forget, but God forgets our sins and remembers no more. We put conditions on forgiveness but God doesn't. If we are to be like Christ then we must forgive like Christ! 

Do you ever read what people post on Facebook and think whatever. The person posted something that goes against what they did to you or how they are treating you. I wondering how that is how God feels about us sometimes. He says He loves me but he is not acting like it!

We all need to forgive like Jesus and to live like Him. One day at a time! 

Gods Word not Feelings...

For me the last couple of days is good example of way I need to know what the bible says. That is the the Truth. When my my feelings go crazy like they sure did I can go back to to Truth!. That's why I can't go by my feelings but hold on to the word of God! I don't always feel like a Christian but the bible says I am always His. Feeling will come and go but Gods word will last forever!

Mixed emotions

Today I have mixed emotions! I have joy because Christmas is sure a day of joy! I have sadness because I am not with my kids today. My heart is heavy as tears run down my face. 

I also sit hear and wonder what more I can be doing for God. My hearts desire is to do more but my health keeps me from doing what I really want to do, preach and teach. I sometimes wonder if I am reaching anyone with my podcast. But God knows my heart desires. 

Going to try to write more

One thing I am going to try to do is write more in this blog. I don't know why I have slacked from writing. This year 2015 has been a year of sickness, pain and growth! God is doing a work in me through all the sickness I have been going through. Sometimes it's easy to lose hope, but I try to keep my eyes on Jesus!

Christmas joy and pain

There is a reason why God hates divorce. It pulls families apart. Marriage is supposed to be for life. I see the effects that my divorce and my parents divorce has on my life. Especially during holidays. I relive I caused my divorce by my sins. But it still hurts. Since my divorce I haven't had my kids on Christmas Day. I just had them for two days and it went by fast. I was not having good health day's while they were here and had to go to bed early every night. 

We tried to include my dad today with my mom and the kids and that blew up in my face. My blood sugars have been high all day today I think because of stress. 

During the holidays I often feel like a second class citizen when it comes to my kids. I only get them if it works for my ex wife. I am thankful for the time I had but it was only two days. 

With my bad health I try to be more easygoing. And with my bad health I am more emotional. 

It amazes me that my kids still love me! It's been a hard year for me. I guess I am sad tonight. Sad that I only got two days with the kids, sad that who knows when I will see them again, sad that my sin had caused all of this, sad because I am so sick and there seems to be no hope in sight, I guess I am just sad. 

This isn't a very positive post for Christmas Eve. Gods plan for marriage is forever. And there is a reason for that. During holidays I hurt more. And I have caused my own pain. 

As I write about my pain and sickness I know what the word of God says. I know I am forgiven by God! I know that for a fact. One of the hardest things is we as humans sometimes don't forgive ourselves or others. 

Days like these are the hardest as my mom dropped my kids off and me not knowing when I will see the kids again. I have been doing a lot of crying today. 

Tonight I feel like giving up. My health is causing me lots of pain! Tonight I have been asking God what's the point!

When I get like this I need to cry out to the one who understands Jesus! This Christmas had brought me joy and pain. Something many people will understand. 

Good and bad

I need to remember this verse often. This is my verse for the month of November! 

Job said, should we just except the good  and not the bad. 

We are told to give thanks in all things no matter what happens, God is in control! God is in control in all things. Some times it's hard to be thankful but we are told to!

E

Giving Thanks

It is easy to forget the holiday between Halloween and Christmas. It seems we added a new holiday called Black Friday. The stores are just giving into what we want, greed. Black Friday gives us what we as humans are a greedy, a day to trample over each other for our greed. Christmas had become more about us then about Jesus! That holiday we have forgotten is Thanksgiving. It seems we don't want to give thanks.

It is easy to focus on the bad and not be thankful for what we have. I am so guilty of that. Even though I am very sick the Bible tells us to give thanks in all things. 

It gets hard and it's getting harder. I am 36 and I have a feeding tube, have type 1 diabetes, have terrible neuropathy, can't control my bhouls (if I spelled that right) and due to being unbalanced I have to use a Cain or walker. 

But my faith in Jesus has tought me to rely more on Him and to focus on the good. Sometimes that is hard to due but I have to keep on keeping on. No matter what we go through we have a God who cares.

So this month let's not forget to be thankful no matter what we are going through!

Continued Struggle

For the last 12 months I have been really sick. I have been sick most of my life. When I was 14 I found out that I had diabetes. Most people don't understand what it's like to have diabetes and all the complications. This year seems it's been the year of the complications. I get one then another and then another pops up. For about two weeks now I have struggling with neuropathy like crazy. It just came in sudden and bad. So bad that I can hardly walk. Because of my Gastroparesis where my stomach doesn't work narcotics slows down my stomach. So at first they tried to use everything they could that was non narcotic, but I have to be on them. 

I have to go through a bunch of hoops before I can see the pain clinic where they want to put electroids in my nerves. So that won't happen until December. I am having memory problems and having a hard time keeping track of all my meds.

I have really been struggling with being lonely. I know God is in control but it gets real hard sometimes!

Rough day!

Today was another rough and frustrating day. The question I have been asking myself self today is what is my purpose in life? Is it just to suffer and to be lonely? Sometimes loneliness gets to me as I am home day after day. I don't even feel like doing my podcast somedays. I like many divorced single people wish for that second chance but I wonder what women would ever want to be with me. There is no good answers or maybe no answers to these questions right now. I know that I need to cling to Jesus right now during this storm in my life. It may seem dark and bleak right now but I need to still need to keep hoping things will get better!

Rest in Him

This is one of thos things that u want to write in more than I have. I have not felt like doing podcast the last couple of days, frankly it's been hard to do anything. I am still using the feeding tube, sneaking food now and the. Now I am fighting neuropathy in my feet and legs. They have me in some pain meds that is making me super tired. Life has been hard and it seems just to keep in getting worst. 

So tired of being such, but I need to rest in Him.

The introduction of Peaches Ministries

In the midst of a pretty bad few days of some health struggles I have decided to launch something I have been thinking and praying about for a few weeks. It does not really change much, but I hope it will open some doors to help people. I am going to use YouTube more and keep using this blog. Right now I am going to keep using social media to reach people. This ministries purpose is to help Christians who have struggles to keep on keeping on and to reach the hurting non-Christians for Christ.

Even as a Christian most of us are struggling with something and sometimes we think we are all alone in our struggle. We are not all alone and that's where the ministry comes in. Real lives and a real God!

Want to join me in reaching people? Have gifts that would benefit the hurting? Then please contact me at crazyeaches@yahoo.com

Good day then not so good

One of the biggest struggles of having a chronic illness is knowing how much to push yourself. I was able to go to the fair Saturday but I am sure paying for it today. My day started out good but started feeling horrid late morning. It is a hard balance to know what you can and can't do.

Most people don't understand this struggle. One minute or day you are feeling good then your health gets bad again. Life is sure a one day even one hour at a time.

The above was written a couple days ago. I am having bad nerve pain in my chest they think. But to make sure I have a heart doctor appointment today. The pain in my chest is extreme. Hopefully they can figure out what it is and relive this pain. It sure gets frustrating. But, I need to cling to my faith! 

I have on and off mild chest pain since I have been 18 because of the nerve damage. When it gets this bad they want to make sure it's not my heart. It's hard dealing with chronic nerve pain and for some reason it is pretty bad this week.

Learn from my mistakes

It is so easy to make mistakes and then not learn from them. Temptation seems to always be around the corner and it's easy to fall in the same traps. That's why I always need to keep my eyes on Jesus. 

Why I am a Christian

A somber day, but God!

A day that should be a happy day, is not. 14 years ago today I married my sweetheart. On that day we both never thought we would be divorced. I really did not think my life would be anything like it is today. My life is a great example of how our ideas and God's ideas are not always the same. If you asked me what my life would look like back then in 14 years I would say that I would be a youth pastor or even a pastor right now. Working side by side with my wife.

Now my sin has played a huge part of where I am today. The pain of realizing that it was me that caused the divorce haunts me on a daily basis. As a pastor would say during our separation I am living the consequences of my sin. Sometimes I feel the consequences are to burdensome. It gets where I feel it's to much. One of the worst consequences is separation from my family. There is of course other consequences but that is the worst.

Realizing I might not be in full time ministry again is hard since I still feel called to do that. 

Today I thank God for His forgiveness. I know He walks with me even through the consequences of my sins. I am not the same person I was because of Christ. I have been struggling with my health most of my life. Even before I started drinking. It is easy to get frustrated about the limitations my health has on me. 

I want everything to be fixed now. But God does not always work that way. My idea of ministry has changed. I have become more willing to join God in what He is doing. It is still easy for me to wonder if what I do for ministry is reaching anyone. The last couple of weeks I have been wondering if my podcast is reaching anyone.

It's easy to get discouraged and want to just give up my podcast. I have been doing it ten months now. I think if what I am doing does not fit my idea of ministry than it must not be a real ministry.

That is a bunch of crap, but that's where my head goes. Ministry just does not happen at the church. It does happen on my podcast and maybe even on this Blogg. 

The idea of when we sin or fail that God can never use us again is very false. I failed my marriage and so I lost it. Is it lost forever? God only knows that. But God uses the messed up to reach others.

By reading Gods word the last few months had really showed me God is not done with me yet! Walking with God is more important to me today than it ever has been. From the gutter to Grace. Through His Grace He has forgiven me my past failers.  

If God can use a sick sinner like me He can use anyone. As today is a sad day for me I need to realize how God had changed me and how He continues to use me!

Keep walking, Peaches

Be a part

This weekend has been a really good one. Another busy weekend. In the town I go to church, Gilbert had there town festival. It was cool how our church was allowed to be a part of it. This weekend has made me very proud to be a part of Grace Bible Church. As church's we should be willing to be  a part of our community. The community will notice. They might even be amazed if your churches willingness to be a part of the community.

Romans Road

	The Romans Road

 

for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

—Romans 3:23

·         What is sin? Sin is missing the mark. Disobeying God’s Laws (Ten Commandments). If you have disobeyed one of God’s Law you are a Law breaker or a sinner.

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

—Romans 6:23

·         This is the bad news. We all deserve spiritual death. Christ came to die in your place.

but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

—Romans 5:8 

·         This is the good news!

because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.

—Romans 10:9-10 

·         Ask Jesus to be your Savior and Lord! Tell God that you realize you are a sinner and ask Him to forgive you. Receive Christ as Savior today!

Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

—Romans 5:1 

·         When you ask Jesus into your life you are now a new creation. When we ask for forgiveness our sin is as the east is from the west. 

Gone are the days of being a comfortable Christian

What is keeping us personally and as a church from revival? It comes down to one simple yet not so popular word, SIN. We have given in so much as Christians that we have watered down the gospel of Christ. It seems everything goes even as followers of Christ. I am as guilty as the next person.

I am so sensitive and want everyone to like me. In today's world it seems I have two choices, to be liked by the world or to follow what Jesus says and to proclaim His truth. After all Jesus said people will hate you since they have hated me. Wow, what a truth and one we seem to not hear qouted offten or at all at many churchs. This does not mean to be a jerk so people will hate you. No, it means if we stick to Jesus and the truth in the Word of God then people will not be as friednly to you.

Here is a silly example. Silly becuase it really is not that big of deal. The last few weeks I have been taking a stand against same sex marriage. I feel I have been dealing with it with grace, but still speaking the Truth. So people have been unfriending me. At first my feelings got hurt then I examined what I had been saying to make sure it was true and graceful. While feeling sorry for myself God put in my head that it's just Facebook and it's not a big deal. And if I stand for His Truth some folks will not like it. It was said last weekend that gone are the days of comfortable Christianity. So don't be mean on Facebook but take a stand!

As Americans we have become so sensitive and if you don't agree with me then you must hate me and I must hate you. That should not be so. We as Christians need to Stand with Jesus. If you share the truth in love than its not our responsibility on how people react. We are told to share the good news, we don't save people that's the Holy Spirits job!

So Christian let's read our Bibles, confess our sin to God and use our words to tell people about Jesus! Let's be united together in Christ and then see what Gid can and will do!

Hope for America comes through only one way!

We are in a political fever here in Iowa. Democrats and Republicans are flooding the state this weekend. All together there will be 15 candidates here this weekend. It might has always been this way, but there is an extreme difference between the two parties this time around. But like always the Republicans are pandering to the Evangelicals. I am sure the battle cry at the Family Leadership Summit will be let's change America. The Des Moines Register quoted:

" Spirituality will be at the heart of the GOP conference. Don't be surprised if you hear a lot about revival. Evangelical Christians and conservatives are increasingly realizing that solutions they seek to America's ills are not political, but spiritual." said Drew Zahn, communications director for the Family Leader. Heart Change, not policy change. Just winning elections isn't going to cut it. It will  take cultural transformation. 

As my title indicates I think this is a no duh. What we need here in America is another Great Awaking. First the Church needs a great revival through the Holy Spirit. To go back to the basics. Keeping the main thing the main thing which is Jesus Christ. We also need to hold up the Bible as the Word of God and truly do what it says. Watering down the gospel of Jesus Christ has done no good. Trying to look like the unsaved world while trying to save them through Jesus Christ has gotten lost through translation.

I am going to the Family Leadership Summit with much skepticism. My question is does the GOP candidates share the same view as Drew Zahn and myself? I would guess a few of them would, but what about the front runners that will be there? It is easy to agree to an agreeable crowd that America needs God. It's easy to say that we need to go back to the basics, but what happens after the fan fair leaves Ames? As Christianity becomes less and less popular in America how easy it might be to abandon this call of spirituality and revival.

The fact is that if you have not put your head in the sand you know that we are in a cultural war. It might have been a battle years ago, but today it is a war all round us. The question is what do I do as a Christian? Well, first of all let's be involved with the political process. We are American's and we need to be involved in the process by voting for a man or women who has our values. More important than that let's start acting like the person we represent. I am not talking about politicians, for they represent or should represent us. The person we represent is Jesus Christ.

What did Jesus do while being tempted by the devil in the dessert? He quoted scripture back to him after each time the devil challenged Him with out of context scriptures. So, we need to know scripture! We need to read and memorize scripture. The Bible is God's Word to us. We then need to pray. We see that Jesus prayed and he prayed often. This is not hard things to really do. But we have walked away from the basics. We have replaced the basics with colorful programs and busy work within the Church. If we as Christians want to gain ground it is not by our power at all. We need to cry out to the Lord in prayer asking Him that the Holy Spirit would do a great work. It is only by the Spirit that we can accomplish anything.

Yes we need a revival! And then we need a great awaking here in America!! Let's pray, read and watch what the Lord can do if we have willing hearts.

Note: I will be doing live podcast from the Family Leadership Summit all day on Saturday July 18th starting at around 9:45 am. You can listen at http://www.spreaker.com/show/gary-eaches-peaches-show

Help me to press on Lord!

I woke up this morning not feeling very good. Then I started to feel better but must have over done it. It's so hard to be sick all the time. My pneumonia is still kicking my butt! I pray daily that God would take it all away or take me home! Take my type one diabetes and all the complications. But for some reason He still wants me to be around. Some days just seems to much for me to take! Just venting I guess.

Reading His Word

This is an article I wrote for my church about reading God's Word. I challenge you to take this Bible challenge. 

God’s Word

The Extreme Bible Reading Plans!

I came across a Sunday school lesson I did when I was a youth pastor. It was a lesson about the importance of reading the Bible. This lesson has been tucked away in my things for quite a while. Three months ago God put on my heart to read His Word like I have never done before. I of course tried to ignore this nudging of the Holy Spirit. I kept having the same thought in my head for days. “Gary, have you ever really read through the whole Bible?” The answer was quite simple, I don’t know. Then after that thought came “you have the time so you better start reading!” This whole thing seemed pretty ridicules to me. I went to Bible College so I studied the Bible and I know the Bible. I even was a teacher of the bible and a preacher. So I gave God as many excuses and answers to prove that I of all people did not need to read through the whole Bible. Especially all of the names and Old Testaments Laws. Then God reminded me of some things. First I have for many years encouraged people to read through the Bible. Second I say I believe what the Bible says, but don’t read it like I should. Third, if I really want to walk as Jesus did I need to read and know His Word. So, I finally gave in and read through the Bible and now I have a passion to encourage others to do the same.

How can we as Christians live godly lives if we do not read His word. Below I have verses that talk about reading God’s word and how it is powerful. These verses talk about how by reading God’s word we can live more godly lives. That when we read and know God’s Word we sin less. Do you believe that these verses are true? If so we all need to be reading God’s word more and purposeful. I want to challenge everyone to a Bible Challenge. We have three options. 90 days, 6 months or 1 year. Now if you have a smart phone you can get a great Bible app called YouVersion. You can get that in your app store. You can also go to www.bible.com which is the same thing as the app. You can read or listen to the bible with the app or online on there website. There will also be hard copies of each plan if you don’t have access to these two things are would just like to do it that way. Another app and website for the Bible is www.biblegateway.com If you sign up to do one of the plans and finish the Bible reading plan you will be presented with a certificate from the Church.

We all have excuse to why we don’t daily read the Bible. As a Church we believe in the inerrancy and inspiration of scripture. If we really believe those two things then we must read His Word! Anything good for us seems hard to do. Pray and give those excuses to God. If you get the YouVersion bible app or use www.bible.com you can add friends and you can use your friends to help you stay on track. We can encourage each other to read God’s Word. I believe revival starts in two important ways, prayer and reading God’s Word. I truly believe if we commit to do these two things as a Church our spiritual tempter will rise to heights that none of us have ever seen.

There will be sign-up sheets for each plan and plans available on the first part of July. If you decide to accept this challenge we will check on each other once a month to see how we are doing. Probably will add it to P.F.C. If you need help accessing any of the apps or websites I will be happy to help you. After each plan is complete we might even meet together to celebrate together. I will also add a facebook group called, the extreme bible reading plan. In that group we can check in with each other and talk about what we have been reading. Let’s commit to do this together! Each week or even daily we can check in with each other on our facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/gbcgilbert?fref=ts Will you join me in this so important challenge?

·       ⁶ All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 1 Timothy 3:16

·       ² For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Hebrews 4:12

·       ⁴ Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.^[a] 5 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. ⁶ These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. ⁷ Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. ⁸ Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. ⁹ Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates. Deuteronomy 6:4-9

·       ¹⁸ Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. ¹⁹ Teach them to your children,talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. ²⁰ Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates, ²¹ so that your days and the days of your children may be many in the land the Lord swore to give your ancestors, as many as the days that the heavens are above the earth. Deuteronomy 11:19-21

·       ²² Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. James 1:22

·       How can a young person stay on the path of purity?
    By living according to your word. Psalm 119:9

·       I have hidden your word in my heart
    that I might not sin against you. Psalm 119:11

One of those days

Having one of those up and down days. Not feeling very good right now. Day started out ok but now not feeling good. Again wondering what my purpose is in life. The reason I moved here was to see my kids more. That sure is not gapping. Praying God shows me his purpose for all of this! 

The pain

The pain is overwhelming to the point of extreme. It's an everyday battle of just trying to live a normal life. But how do I do it? The testing my blood the insulin and the feeding just take control. Suffering is much harder when I am alone. I beg God every day to take all this way. I even ask for death so all the pain and suffering will go away. Throwing in the towl is no option so I just grit my teeth and go about my day. I know Gid is near. I know it is a fact but some days I can't handle the constant pain! What good am I to anyone these days? So today I will endure what is in front of me. 

What are we doing part two

My point that the American Church is in trouble keeps on getting clearer to me. Sadly many of the famous pastors and preachers here in America are watering down the Bible or just plainly leaving the truth of the Bible all together. Paul warned of this in the letters he wrote to Timothy and it seems it is clearly what we are living out here in America. Truth of the Bible has come to, it really does not mean that. WHAT?? It seems it's more important to fill our church's then to preach the truth. We are afraid if we preach the truth then people will not come to church. Should that really be the goal of church anyway? Did Jesus say go fill your church building anyway you can? No He did not. He told us to make disciples.

It is important that we do not follow a person. The only person we should follow is Jesus and our guide needs to be the Bible. We need to read the Bible ourselves and know it well so when people we follow or listen to go astray we don't. We need to be careful who we follow. It seems that most Christians put up with false or bad teaching. It seems that is a sin that's o.k. But let a pastor or preacher sin in other ways like, adultery, drunkenness, homosexuality, ect,  we don't give them a second chance even after they have repented of there sin and turned from there sin.

The Bible is full of people who have sinned and then when they repented and turned from there sin God still used them. It's time that we call sin, sin. But when people repent we need to restore them even restore them back to ministry.

It's time we take false teaching seriously! It's time we make the main thing the main thing which is Jesus Christ. We are now in a battle for truth not from outside the church but from within. It makes us feel good to hear that God loves us, which is true. But God is love and just! There is consequences and penalty for sin. I have sinned a lot in my life and I am forgiven but I am still living out the consequences of my sin. A little poison in a glass of milk will kill you! !

Thank you for reading my ramblings today!

Keep Walking!

life is up and down

My day started like this. Good and fun as i took a picture for red nose day.

then tonight my feeding tube came out and i had to go to the ER. They had to put a temp one in until they could put the right one in. Here are some pics of that.

There it is coming out. They put a shorter one in because the one I need is very long and had to be put in with a scope so I have to be in an OR

Probably more info u wanted to know 😜

Keep walking!

The Greatest Commandment

Do you know what Jesus said the Greatest Commandment is? Well I am glad you asked:

The Greatest Commandment

34 Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together.35 One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: 36 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”

37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’[a] 38 This is the first and greatest commandment.39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[b] 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

Loving God with your all and loving people with your all! What does that look like? As I grow closer to Christ it looks diffrent than it did a few years ago. It is easy to say I am a follower of Christ, but it's another thing to love God with all you got! We will never do this perfect but to go after this goal is what I need to be doing. God has given us the Bible which is how He talks to us many times through the Holy Spirit. I have noticed when I read His word and spend time in prayer my love for Him grows. When my love for Him grows my love for people grows. I can easily play church and forgot about loving others. Playing church for me is just going through the motions. Go to church, read the bible for about five minutes becuses I have to. Our faith is so much more than that. The Bible tells us that we need to read His word because we are so in love with God that we want to be more like Him. So if I am loving God with my all I will then love people like I should. 

This has been my verse this year:

Luke 18:9-14New International Version (NIV)

The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector

9 To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable: 10 “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’

13 “But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’

14 “I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”

What a great scripture! I am know better than anyone else. I need to come to Christ with a broken heart! Then He can use me to reach and love other people. 

Keep walking......

What are we doing?

I believe that the Church in America today has lost her purpose. It seems that a lot of Church's today have become a "Social Justice Club" or just a Sunday morning hang out club. Gone our the days it seems that the Church family reaches out to the hurting. Now there are some Church's out there that do visit those who need comfort, but for the most part it seems most Church goers or member's are happy with punching there spiritual time card on Sunday and call it good. It all so seems we think bigger is better and that throwing money at a problem will fix everything. When I read the Bible and the Bible needs to be what we stand on and not cultural. I see the New Testimont believers did it so different than we are today.

Here are some scriptures to help explain what I am saying:

The Sheep and the Goats

31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’

44 “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’

45 “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’

46 “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”

Jesus is not talking about works here. If we are truly His we will be like the sheep. The Church is the people of God those who call themselves followers of Jesus Christ. Can you say you are His sheep. Do you feed the poor or just let the government take care of that? Do you visit the sick, either in the hospital or while the person is at home sick? And what about the those who need clothes, shelter and are just in need? In Acts chapter two we see that the belivers of that day sold everything so no one would be in need. Crazy idea? No! I think it's something we as a body of Christ should be doing. But it is so easy to let the government do it. Many Christians I know are upset how people get food stamps, health care and all the other stuff the government gives. I hear people say that is not the governments job. If it's not there job than it's ours. 

What can I do today to help those in need? More on this issue will come. 

Keep walking....

Holy Crap

I have not written in this since February. I have been really slacking in writing! Life has not been to bad if u take away my health struggles. What do I mean by that? Well my health is not doing good, but I have been reading through the bible in 90 days which is really helping me in my spiritual life and with my emotions. I have more peace about everything going on then I have in a long time.

I am really bad at writing in this since I have been podcasting. I really enjoy doing that. I have always liked doing radio stuff.

I still have my feeding tube. I was not using it for a few weeks in January and February and then had to start using it again. For about two or maybe longer I have been able to eat now.

Then last Sunday afternoon I started feeling light headed. Went to the Doctor and now on Monday I have to have a MRI of my head. Then I go and see a neurologist on Thursday. I have peace about it and really don't think anything is wrong. I think maybe I just have a cold  or the flu.

Who knows! Just leaning on God! Well there is a little update on my life! 

I am going to keep on keeping on!

Crazy few weeks

The last few weeks have been pretty crazy for me! Life kind of slowed down for every one around here since we get hit by a snow storm. But I went to Chicago to try out for a t.v. program which was pretty fun and crazy. My health seems to be getting better. I still have the feeding tube but I am not using it right now. I am able to eat for now. Which is GREAT! I have been going through the 12 steps again with my sponsor. Finding out some stuff about myself that I have not worked on. As it seems to come up, I really would like to go back to Eureka, but God has me here for now. Not going any where until I can get my feeding tube out.

I grew up with the thought that you had to go to church to be a good Christian or spiritual. I have had that in my thinking for a long time. But I have realized that yes Church is good. But if I put anything above my recovery I am in trouble. Even if I put my kids before it I run into trouble. Yes I moved here to be closer to then and God knows I have tried to see them as much as I can. But I let not seeing them effect me to much.

Expiations, is another big one for me. Expiations I put on others and those that others put on me. I have to realize that those around me are doing the best that they can. And I am doing the best that I can. I was accused by someone that I don't even really know that I have pity parties about my health and not seeing the kids. Kids, probably but not my health. I work hard on not feeling sorry for myself. There are days I do. But life is what life is. Sometimes it is going to suck. I was told once that pain equals growth. I do believe that but boy its not all ways easy.

Keep Walking....

The Struggle

I am struggling so much tonight. Had a huge weekend this part weekend. Went to Chicago to audition for my comedy. I guess I am struggling with the let down. I am very depressed tonight and I feel like drinking. My biggest discouragement tonight is I can't get a hold of my kids. My ex wife tryst to keep them away from me and has been doing this for years. I get into moods like this and I feel like throwing in the towel. I moved out here to be able to see my kids more, but that sure is not happening.
But my feelings are just feelings and I know these feelings will pass but I am sure struggling tonight!

New podcast for today

http://www.spreaker.com/episode/5475253

Check me out on Spreaker

http://www.spreaker.com/user/garyeaches

The above link will take you to my podcasts.

Seize the day!

For some reason I have not been blogging much the last few weeks. My health seems to be getting better the last few weeks. I have been able to start eating regular food which is great. Getting ready to try out my comedy in Chicago at the end of the month. Trying to take more positive chances in life. To get out of my comfort zone. It would be easy to just stay home and not take chances. It is scary sometimes. What's the worst thing that could happen? I started to volunteer at a local radio station here in town. I love doing radio stuff.

After all the health stuff I went through last year I am trying to "seize the day" as much as I can. I way to much focus on the past and let it slow me down. But the past is the past. Easier said then done looking forward. Fear is the cause of most of my problems today. I am leaning that I should not be afraid of failure. Failure for me is not trying to move forward in life and to try new things. I have in my life done and tried a lot of negative things in my life. I am going to do positive things.

I hope I can remember to write in this more. Let's all seize this day for the good!