It seems I have forgotten one mailing, which was sent out back on 8/26/06. Here it is:

Valuable

You, My beloved, are very valuable. You are of utmost worth to Me. Did I not show this on the cross - that the Creator would die for His creation? I cherish you.

I would have died for one molecule of your body. I would have sacrificed Myself for one hair of your head. For it should not be that sin, that death, ought to reign in that of even your smallest of members. For sin is as leaven.

And yet sin, in abundance, has reigned in much more than just one hair, but in body and soul. And by sin, death.

Beloved, it ought not to be so. From the beginning, it was not so. And yet all things are currently out of alignment. Through sin, a cataclysm of the entire human race has occurred.

But, My love, be of good cheer! I have won the victory! I have promised life over death. Yea, though sin still reigns on this earth, one day it shall vanish away. Yea, though death still reigns over man’s mortal body, it shall not last!

The foe is defeated. Though his ship still sails, it is sinking. It will not rise again. The endless ocean of My love shall consume away all sin and death.

Beloved, rejoice in My victory.

*This was originally sent out to the mailing list on 10/14/06*

Hi there,

I wanted to take a minute to write about something that has been on my heart for quite a long time: faith. Or more precisely, having faith when things don’t seem to make any sense. Having faith when it seems like God is not being faithful AT ALL. I was reading in my Bible yesterday, and was grabbed by these verses: “Fear not, daughter of Sion: behold, thy King cometh, sitting on an ass’s colt. These things understood not his disciples at the first: but when Jesus was glorified, then remembered they that these things were written of him, and that they had done these things unto him” (John 12:15-16).

It then occurred to me that Jesus’ disciples had to have a lot of faith to believe who Jesus was, even though they could see Him face to face, and witnessed His miracles. At the time, things DID NOT make sense for them, and it was not perfectly clear whether all the prophecies about Him were true. These sorts of things happen a lot in my own life too, and things feel like they are not going according to God’s plan, or that somehow God has forgotten about me.

And in Jesus’ time, there were a lot of “knots” that came up to prevent many of the people from having a smooth and easy path to faith. I just want to name of a few that stood out for me, because I think it will help us to have faith in God in our everyday lives, especially when it feels like things are not turning out the way they should.

“The Jews then murmured at him, because he said, I am the bread which came down from heaven. And they said, Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? how is it then that he saith, I came down from heaven?” (John 6:41-42).

Was Jesus born of God, or was He just a regular person like everybody else? To a lot of the people, they just thought that Joseph was Jesus’ father. Either the story of Mary’s virgin birth was not widely known, or just not believed. This made it very hard for people to believe that Jesus really was the messiah.

“Others said, This is the Christ. But some said, Shall Christ come out of Galilee? Hath not the scripture said, That Christ cometh of the seed of David, and out of the town of Bethlehem, where David was? So there was a division among the people because of him” (John 7:41-43).

It seemed like Jesus was NOT fulfilling the scriptures, because everyone thought that Jesus came from Galilee. In the Old Testament, (Micah 5:2), it says that the Christ will be from Bethlehem, and NOT Galilee. But what many of them perhaps didn’t know, was that Jesus was born in Bethlehem, but Joseph, Mary and Jesus fled into Egpyt while Jesus was very young, and when He returned to Israel, His family settled down in Galilee. (See Matthew chapter 2.) So, everyone thought that Jesus was from Galilee, even though He was born in Bethlehem. This must have been a major stumbling block to the faith of a lot of the people, especially those who were trying to go “by the book” to find who Jesus was.

And lastly, it also said in the scriptures that before Jesus would come, God would send back Elijah the prophet to His people. (See Malachi 4:5-6) This man turned out to be John the Baptist, yet perhaps even John himself didn’t know that that was who he was: “And this is the record of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, Who art thou? And he confessed, and denied not; but confessed, I am not the Christ. And they asked him, What then? Art thou Elias? And he saith, I am not. Art thou that prophet? And he answered, No” (John 1:19-21). He was wrong! He was that prophet Elijah (also spelled ‘Elias’) as God had told his parents in Luke 1:17: ” And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias…”

This thing - John being Elijah - was very hard for the people to understand or believe. “For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John. And if ye will receive it, this is Elias, which was for to come” (Matthew 11:13-14). I sort of view this phrase “ if you will receive it” as almost saying: “if you can possibly bear to believe this truth…” It was not what the people were expecting, especially since John himself denied that he was the one to fulfill this prophecy. Jesus’ disciples even questioned Him directly on this: “And his disciples asked him, saying, Why then say the scribes that Elias must first come? And Jesus answered and said unto them, Elias truly shall first come, and restore all things. But I say unto you, That Elias is come already, and they knew him not, but have done unto him whatsoever they listed. Likewise shall also the Son of man suffer of them. Then the disciples understood that he spake unto them of John the Baptist” (John 17:10-13).

I have often wondered why God let all of these doubts to prevail while Jesus was on Earth. (Of course, in hindsight, it is all very clear to us today, with the Bible having it all laid out in front of us.) I think one of the reasons for leaving things a bit open-ended was that God wanted faith.

“But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.” -Hebrews 11:6

Problems, troubles, and hardships, while they are unfolding, do not always have a clear answer. Afterward, things will make sense, (if not in this life, than at least in heaven), but while things are happening in the here and now, it can be very tough.

God wants us to have faith in the sunrise, even on the moonless night; even on the darkest of nights, when not even the reflection of the sun may be seen upon the moon; even on the longest of winters, when there is not a blade of green grass to be seen anywhere on the ground. The night does not last forever, and the winter does not endure indefinitely, but at times, days seem like years, and doubts arise, and that is perhaps the very definition of a trial: when all hope, all bearings, and all landmarks seem to be lost, and you have only the things that you can remember about God. God was good. He is good… but I can’t see it now.

It is at this point, when all is black, that souls are tested and hearts are tried — and God’s rewards can be won. It is a trial of faith. “Faith is… the evidence of things not seen ” (Hebrews 11:1). Of course we cannot see the way, else it wouldn’t be faith. Of course we can’t see the ending, or answer the “whys” or the “hows,” but God wants it that way, or else it wouldn’t be faith. Or else it would be no hardship, and there would be no growth… nor rewards.

“Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.” -1 Peter 4:12-13

-Eric Meier

*This was originally sent out to the mailing list on 10/9/06*

Wisdom & Love

“Thus saith the LORD, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches: But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the LORD which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, saith the LORD.” -Jeremiah 9:23-24

My desire is that you would know Me with open arms, and open eyes. With love - as open arms, and with wisdom - as open eyes.

What love and wisdom are to godliness, sand and cement are to concrete. Love, as the sand, is the very substance of godliness, yet without wisdom, it is only as quicksand. Look, and open your eyes to the who and what of love. Who should you love? And what should you love? Mix love with wisdom.

And yet, wisdom too, without the sand of love, is like brittle, unmixed concrete which shall soon crumble. Brittle and bitter.

An increase in wisdom must come with an increase in love, else it is vanity. Do not build your house on sand, nor on crumbling cement. This has been one of man’s earliest follies:

“[Eve] saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. ” -Genesis 3:6

So at least in part, she ate in search of wisdom. And yet, I commanded her not to eat of that tree.

“If ye love me, keep my commandments.” -John:14:15

So you see that a pursuit of wisdom without true love is folly.

Child, do you want wisdom? Then love Me. To love Me with all of your heart, and soul, and mind, and strength: this is the wisest thing you can do.

“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding.” -Proverbs 9:10

On the path of godliness, love is the what, and wisdom is the who; on this path, wisdom is the direction, and love is the movement. Without love, surely you will never enter the places that I long for you to enter. And yet, without wisdom, you may end up in a place far worse.

Know Me with open arms, and open eyes. Love is the what, and wisdom is the who. Love God.

*This was originally sent out to the mailing list on 10/1/06* (I originally called this “Opacity,” but decided it would be more appropriate to call it “Transparency.”)

Its been a while since my last mailing, and I thought I’d share this one with you. I wrote it a while ago after coming home from work. The inspiration came early in the morning; I arrived at work before any of the lights/lamps were on - and there were a lot of them. It seemed so eerie to see all those lights while it was still so dark in the room. Anyway, God began stirring in my heart, and shortly thereafter I arrived at what is below. I hope that God draws you closer to Himself through these words.

Transparency

My people are as a room full of lamps. The world, silently, eerily, lifelessly sits in darkness, awaiting a hope. My people are there, in the darkness, as lamps, as torcheries, as chandeliers, as lights of all shapes and sizes.

Yet, they are in darkness. Imagine, a room of lamps, a wall of lights and bulbs, yet there is nearly complete darkness.

Where is the light? Could not these emit a burst of light so bright as to illuminate the entire world? And where is the light?

Beloved, people, I am the light. You are a vessel, fitted for My glory. You are a lamp, fitted for My light.

I am with you, but you do not let Me shine. You trust in the beauty of your lampshades, or in the splendor of your outward decorations.

Over My light you paint “good” things. To trust in good things rather than Myself, is to paint your light-bulbs white. Opaque white. It may look good, it may seem good - and even fitting to emit light - but it is not, and it cannot.

When will you realize that all you need to be is transparent?

“[E]xcept your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.” -Matthew 5:20

There is no paint that can ever shine as brilliantly as light. Make My righteousness your own, and derive your light from My very own.

You may notice from the subject of the post that this message is about money. Not quite, but it does tie in with money, and my thoughts on what has true value. You may notice that I have never asked for any money, and I probably never will. You may have also noticed that my website does not have any advertising or any other affiliate banners. There is a reason for this: for me, this is completely a labor of love. I think that this message shown below will help explain how I feel.

But first, I do want to ask for something, if you can spare it: prayer. I really do appreciate your prayers, and I would ask that if God ever puts me on your heart, to please be faithful in praying. I won’t pretend to be self-sufficient: I need your prayers! This is so greatly valued to me, so much more than any monetary gain could ever be.

The Currency of Heaven

The currency of heaven is blessing, and its checkbook is prayer.

Beloved, it is My will for you to be rich in grace, rich in mercy, and rich in your knowledge of Me.

Invest in Me, for My riches are incomparable to anything that the world has to offer. Heaven’s exchange rate is always good, and My returns are divine.

“When thou makest a dinner or a supper, call not thy friends, nor thy brethren, neither thy kinsmen, nor thy rich neighbours; lest they also bid thee again, and a recompence be made thee. But when thou makest a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind: And thou shalt be blessed; for they cannot recompense thee: for thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just.” -Luke 14:12-14

Don’t you know that one day the things of this earth shall pass away? And what shall you carry with you into the next life? If I have said that even marriage shall be dissolved in the resurrection, (Matthew 22:30, Mark 12:25, Luke 20:35), how much more then shall I do away with the vain things of this world?

Beloved, let not your heart be troubled at my sayings: think not that I seek to tear down or strip away without remedy, but rather, I am making room for a more abundant blessing. For the treasures of heaven will far outweigh the things of earth; in the resurrection, they shall seem to you as silly play-things and toys. You have yet to see the full goodness of my blessings.

“For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.” -2 Corinthians 4:17-18

Have faith. Trust that I am good. Trust that I know what is best for you. Though you cannot yet see it, have faith that there is a far better place, and far better blessings for you in your devotion to Me.

Let the things of this earth grow dim, and reach just beyond that blackened sky: for a great number of suns and stars await beneath the horizon.

“These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth… But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city.” -Hebrews 11:13, 16

The following is also used as the welcome message when you subscribe to the mailing list. So, maybe some of you have already heard this, or will hear it twice if you join the mailing list. It was originally sent out for the first time on 7/8/06. (And yes, I have to admit, I was partially thinking of Wile E. Coyote and the Roadrunner when I wrote this!)

I just wanted to share something that I wrote as sort of an encouragement from God that He gave me a while back. I had been distressed and worried about things in life all day that day, and that evening I wrote a short piece and finally received a peace from God.

Don‘t Look Down

Look.
Look at Me.
My child, look to Me.

Look into My eyes, and know this: I am your salvation. I am your healing.

You need not understand all of what is happening, but simply that I am the answer. Don‘t look down to your own ways, but rather, look up to Mine. Do not look to your mire, but look to My rainbow. Do not focus on your own faults, but know the power of God. Do not look to the entanglements of sin, but rather the goodness of God.

Beloved, you have crossed from death unto life. You have run off a steep cliff, and you have not fallen. You are afloat on My grace. Don‘t look down.

You have run off a steep cliff; and, how can this be!? It is My salvation. Just as Peter walked out onto the water to Jesus, so too have I called you unto Myself. Don‘t look down. Do not see the difficulties below, but the boundless power above.

Look at My countenance. I am your health. I am your purity. I am your strength. You need not sift them out from the hay and stubble of the world. Look unto Me, and you will have peace.

*This was originally sent out to the mailing list on 8/6/06*

If a man walks a path strewn about and covered with stones, his feet feel no pain - for they are calloused and numb. Yet if he walks a smooth path, and but steps upon one solitary stone, his foot feels a prick.

Again, if a man hears a crowd of voices, all chaotic and dis-harmonic, he understands none - for he is deafened to the noise. Yet if he is in silence, and hears a voice of disturbance, he recognizes it.

My child, you have been as the calloused feet, and the deaf ear. Your conscience is clear, and yet you are unfruitful. Is it not that you are immersed in carnality, that you cannot see your iniquity? You are awash in sin.

Think not that it is in the hands, beloved, but rather, sin is in the heart. Is it not that you are deaf, and you cannot hear the things that are spoken to grieve My Spirit? Is it not that you are calloused and of a hard heart, that you cannot feel the sensitivity of My own?

What else could it be that keeps you from Me? Am I am dumb god, that I should not speak? Or am I a distant god, that I should not manifest My love? Lo, I live within your very heart! How could I be more intimate? And are you even aware of this? Do you know of My closeness?

Beloved, what more could it be that restrains you than sin? Yet mark here this wisdom: it is not in the things that you do, but rather, in who you are.

My desire is that you would love Me. That is all. I want your heart! I crave your love and devotion. To do good works, to behave uprightly and decently, these may be ways to show your love, but what are they? Expressions. They are not love itself, but merely expressions.

“If ye love me, keep my commandments.” -John 14:15

Beloved, I care not so much for such things. They come naturally as light proceeds from a burning sun. It burns, and its light spreads across the whole earth. It is not your light so much I am after, as your burning. I want you to burn after Me.

When you do not shed such light, but rather dwell in darkness, it is only that you are being honest with yourself. And when you shed a would-be light, as a “good” work, without a burning love for Me, you are spreading a vain light that shall one day be extinguished.

Again, beloved, be honest. If you do not burn for Me, it is no wonder that you have no true light. It is no wonder you are unfruitful. Seek Me. I am the only one that can change you. You know that I am what you need.

If you have not found Me in My fullness, seek Me. And if you cannot, then seek to seek Me. Search with all your heart, and I will be found.

If you have not shared My love in its fullness, desire Me. And if you cannot, then desire to desire Me. Desire with all your heart, and you will know My love.

*This was originally sent out to the mailing list on 7/29/06*

Hi again,

I thought it would be fitting to send a follow up to the last letter. Part of the inspiration for it came in prayer, and part of it came from talking with a father that goes to my church; he had been telling me a few nights ago how one of his kids had broken her arm when she was very young, and no one even knew about it until a day or two later. The child had hid the broken arm and tried to keep it a secret.

Anyhow, I hope this blesses you today.

The Healer’s Eyes

My love, won’t you show Me your face? Be not ashamed - know that I have been made shame for you. I have been made sin for you, and I have vanquished it. I have scattered it upon the hands of ten-thousand winds, and lost it unto the uttermost corners of forgetfulness.

Beloved, My beautiful one, show Me your face! Look into My eyes. I cherish your trusting gaze. You draw near to Me in word, or perhaps in deed, but why do you not look at Me face-to-face?

Little one, you guard your heart, your wounds, and your shame, and you hide it all too well. For, you hide it from My healing countenance, and conceal it from My grace-giving eyes.

Do not look down any longer. Do not draw away in shame any longer. I will not be angry by your revealed face, but am rather sorrowed at your continued reluctance.

You know that you are Mine, and I am yours. We were meant to be together. Look unto Me, and be free. Look in My eyes, and have not a care in the world for any else.

*This was originally sent out to the mailing list on 7/28/06*

Hello,
I feel that God is nudging me to share this with you. I hope these words bless you in your walk today. I love you - each one of you - and sometimes I can feel God’s love for you too. I hope that that love comes through in this message.

“And Jesus went about all Galilee, . . . healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people.” -Matthew 4:23

Beloved, can I not do the same for your soul? Can I not do the same for your heart?

Man’s corruptions, his shortcomings, his struggles - they come in all varieties - yet there is still only one cure-all. Me!

Child, do not be ashamed, and do not hide from Me. Child, recognize this only: you are diseased. Though your body may be in health, yet let Me touch your sicknesses that are hidden inwardly.

My strength is made perfect in weakness. Look on your sickness. Look on your troubled parts. Look on those areas that cause you pain or torment. Beloved, it is in these very areas that I wish to make you the strongest, and the happiest.

Why else would Satan and his angels attack such places? Is it not so many times because it is there that I have intended for you to excel, and to shine as a brilliant light?

Dear, come to Me, I am the cure-all for the soul. Look to Me. Be lifted by Me. In your gazing of My sunlight shall all your cares be melted away.

*This was originally sent out to the mailing list on 7/12/06*

Just thought I would share this short little one with you, prefaced by the verse that inspired it.

“And being in Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he [Jesus] sat at meat, there came a woman having an alabaster box of ointment of spikenard very precious; and she brake the box, and poured it on his head.” -Mark 14:3

Oh beloved, spend yourself on Me. Do not give this affection to any other, but spend it all on Me.

Let your love be poured out as that precious ointment. Child, spend your soul on Me. Waste it all upon Me. I am worth it. I am incomparable. I am unmatchable. I am brighter than all suns.

Why look downward to the sparks of the earth? My eternal light, in one instant, shall one-hundred-fold repay all sacrifices that you have made. For all eternity My everlasting light shall beam upon you.