A Greater Than Solomon is Here!

A Greater Than Solomon is Here!

by Eric C. Wheeler

Many believe Solomon was the wisest person who ever lived. Yet, they fail to remember what Jesus said about Himself: “The queen of the South will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and indeed, a greater than Solomon is here.” (Matt. 12:42). Like the people of Jesus’ day, I too have often marveled at Jesus’ incredible wisdom which He has displayed in His responses and comments to me over the years. To ensure that these divine comments and responses are not forgotten, it seemed good to me and the Holy Spirit to record some of His words that He has spoken to me over the years for posterity’s sake. My goal is to prove that Jesus is still very much alive and easily engaged by those who truly seek Him. By way of introduction, I want to refer to a true story given in the Bible that has always impressed me and clearly demonstrates our Lord’s amazing wisdom:

“So they [the chief priests and the scribes] watched Him, and sent spies who pretended to be righteous, that they might seize on His words, in order to deliver Him to the power and the authority of the governor. And they asked Him, saying, ‘Teacher, we know that You say and teach rightly, and You do not show personal favoritism, but teach the way of God truly: Is it lawful for us to pay taxes to Caesar or not?’ But He perceived their craftiness, and said to them, ‘Why do you test Me? Show Me a denarius. Whose image and inscription does it have?’ They answered and said, ‘Caesar’s.’ And He said to them, ‘Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.’ But they could not catch Him in His words in the presence of the people. And they marveled at His answer and kept silent.” (Luke 20:20-26)

The wisdom displayed by Jesus in His response has always impressed and amazed me. Just like the people who heard it that day, I too marvel at His brilliance and incredibly wise handling of this seemingly “no-win” situation. But I think many of us fail to truly realize and take to heart that this same Jesus who thwarted and silenced these potentially-damaging spies and pretenders is still alive and approachable today. He didn’t die in the first century – that is, He didn’t die WITH the first century! He resurrected, and is still accessible today – and He still speaks with that same glorious, astonishing, mouth-stopping, and jaw-dropping wisdom that He displayed in the first century!

Regarding His wisdom and availability, I want to share with the world some of the amazing things Jesus has personally said to me over the years. I assure you, with God as my witness, none of this is a product of my own imagination. These are the actual words He spoke to me. In each and every case cited below, I will endeavor to accurately capture and relay the exact situation and scenario, as well as my thinking leading up to it, upon which He swiftly answered and spoke to me. In every incident and circumstance described below, His words were a profound and life-altering revelation to me, as well as an important and informative lesson for us all. (I have endeavored to relay them in chronological order as best as I can remember them.)

Lesson 1: Around late 1998 or early 1999, I was invited to an elder’s house for a prayer meeting with some fellow deacons. (This occurred while I was still a member of the church denomination I was raised in.) We were sitting in a large circle (I think there were eight or nine of us gathered together), and I noticed that most of these church leaders were praying for material things – success at jobs, being able to take family vacations, marriages being blessed, nice houses and cars, etc. As I sat there bowing my head and listening, I felt the grief and anger of the Holy Spirit come upon me. When it was my turn to pray, God completely took over my mouth and had me say some things out loud in prayer that astonished even me! I don’t specifically remember what they were, but they were very bold, and somewhat of a sharp rebuke to us all, and a re-directing of our hearts to the spiritual things that are most important to God. I assure you; it wasn’t me speaking. The prayer meeting ended a few moments later and everybody lifted their heads, glared at me, and began to shun me, as if to say, ‘How dare you speak like that!’

Overcome by the embarrassment and open rejection from my church brothers, I quickly exited and went to my car. A fellow deacon came out to me as I was sitting in my car wondering what the heck had just happened to me and why I was speaking like that. (I hadn’t had much experience with the Spirit of God up to that point, and neither did our church denomination.). As this deacon approached my car and noticed the dejected disheartened look on my face, he asked, “Are you alright?” At that moment, the Holy Spirit immediately had me say, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who stone the prophets and reject those who are sent to you. How often I would have gathered you together in my arms, as a hen gathers her chicks around her, yet you were not willing.” We were both astonished at what came out of my mouth! Saying nothing more, I drove home in humiliation feeling a deep sense of shame and rejection. It was around nine o’clock at night, and because I was overwhelmed by my grief and self-pity (although, I didn’t recognize it as such at that moment) I pulled off the highway and went up a short road overlooking the city of Denver. I parked in a dusty barren field, got out of my car and threw myself on the ground, complaining that I didn’t want any more embarrassment and humiliation. I told God I was finished with that. I didn’t want the job of giving messages to people! I told Him I was sick and tired of the strange looks, the rejections that followed, and the verbal attacks and insults that accompanied them. I laid face down in the dirt, crying to the Lord and complaining, feeling very sorry for myself, and yelling and insisting that I had never signed up for any of it or the humiliation it involved. I bawled my eyes out until I had no strength left within me. Emotionally exhausted, I laid there on my face in the dust with nothing more to say. As soon as I became quiet, I suddenly felt a Presence standing behind me. I knew it was the Lord Jesus. He flatly asked: “Are you done?” He posed the question to me just as a patient and wise parent would to a little child who had just thrown a temper tantrum. After a momentary pause, because I had nothing left to say or to add, He then said, “Good. Now get up, brush the dust off yourself, and let’s get going. There is much work to do!” And then His heavenly Presence instantly disappeared.

I laid on my face there for a few moments completely shocked! I couldn’t believe He had just talked to me and said those words. After completely processing what He had just said to me, I felt very childish and stupid in my spiritual immaturity and vain self-pity. I thought about prophets and servants of God through the ages who had REALLY TRULY suffered, many of whom were tortured and murdered. And here I was throwing myself a major pity party for some relatively meaningless and harmless dirty looks from a few people. At that moment of realization, I just had to shake my head at myself as I considered my poor and disgusting wretched attitude. I laid there in the dust laughing at my own stupidity and spiritual immaturity. God knows our foolishness and human frailty; and in His great mercy and understanding, He was patiently letting me have my childish moment – not condemning me, but wisely allowing me to come to terms with my “burden” and divine calling – which in reality, is a tremendously great honor.

Lesson 2: I think it was around 2001 when my wife Teresa called me one day as I was driving to tell me that our company sales for the month were dismally low. (At the time, my wife and I owned a multimedia packaging company we started years earlier in our basement that had become very successful and lucrative.) To function, cover our expenses, and meet payroll for our growing number of employees, in addition to our own personal bills, we needed to bring in around $200K a month in gross sales. It was the end of the month and according to the “Stat Sheet” (the weekly and monthly sales statistics report) we were only showing around $45K in total sales for the entire month. To make matters worse, Teresa had just received a phone call that the largest order we had received for that month (around $30K of the $45K) had just been cancelled. In the past, I usually wasn’t involved with the accounting – Teresa had always handled that – so I rarely looked at the financial books or any of the weekly or monthly stat sheets. Lately, she had been handing stat sheets to me, accompanied by her worried, frightened looks, and panicked tone, which would then get me fearfully riled up and worried as well. (This occurred during a time when I was learning just how real and literal God’s words in the Bible are! Up to that point, like most Christians, I too, just merely had an academic and casual view of them. Jesus was obviously training me for my future job in Him to show people how real and true God really is.) While we were on the phone, she shared with me the disheartening stats, which made us both worried and very upset, especially with the knowledge that our biggest order of the month had just been canceled. I went from praising the Lord in my car only moments before to freaking out because of the bad news of the Stat Sheet. I went from divine peace to emotional chaos in a matter of seconds! As soon as I hung up the phone, the Lord suddenly spoke to me. This is what He said: “Eric, I told you in My Word that if anything causes you to stumble or to sin, then you are to cut it off. If looking at the numbers and the stat sheets causes you to lose faith in Me and to worry, then stop looking at them! You are to learn to walk by faith, and not by sight. You are to live by every word that I say, and not by what others say or what a stat sheet tells you. If a stat sheet causes you to stumble and to not believe, then throw it away. Besides, can anybody mathematically tell Me how I multiplied the fishes and the loaves? Numbers and stats mean nothing to Me!”

I was stunned as I sat in my car amazed at what He had just said! I had never thought of that before. Silly me, I literally tried over the next few moments to mathematically compute it and figure it out in my mind. ‘How DID Jesus multiply the two fish and the five barley loaves to feed five-thousand people? And additionally – He had twelve basketfuls of leftovers too?! He’s right! The math doesn’t add up! It’s impossible. No man can mathematically explain that!’ I thought to myself. From that moment on, I never looked at another stat sheet again. And not surprisingly, our company continued to prosper for many years after that!

Lesson 3: In 2009, the Lord had me write a book about some of my experiences working for Him over the years. After reading the original manuscript before it was published in 2010, my wife became upset regarding it, and asked me to move out. The Lord had told me this would happen, so I didn’t try to fight her on it, even though I loved her and our children with my whole heart. When I was writing the manuscript, I didn’t realize God was having me write a book that was soon going to be published. I thought the Lord was having me write down my memoirs for my children and grandchildren (for future generations), like a private diary, so He made me be brutally open and honest writing it. My wife was a very private person, and the thought of our lives being exposed to the world was very upsetting to her. When I went to the Lord about this concern, He immediately said to me, “Do you think Moses being the meekest man who ever lived wanted to write about his sister, Miriam?” (He was referencing an incident in Numbers chapter 12 that doesn’t put Miriam in a very good light.) I further protested, saying, “But, Lord, my wife is going to get mad at me.” “Yes.” the Lord replied. “I had many of My servants write down [in the Bible] things they didn’t want to, and also name names, for the [spiritual] benefit of others. Now, go and do what I tell you!” I therefore wrote down everything the Lord wanted me to write. [Incidentally, God doesn’t care what we humans think. He is not about pleasing our flesh. Jesus said: “What is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in the sight of God.” (Luke 16:15)]

As a result of my book, as well as the other strains that “learning to live by faith” was putting on our marriage, my wife and I separated in 2009 per her request. She divorced me in 2010. As our family was suffering, I cried out to the Lord in deep anguish over the grievous situation. I said, “Lord, I can understand if You are trying to show Teresa and me something; but will You expend my children’s childhoods in order to do so?” Immediately, the Lord answered me: “Eric, first of all, they are My children before they’re yours! And second, they are going to inherit a society and a world the likes of which you have never known. Therefore, I am speaking to them, and preparing their tender hearts now, in such a way and in a language in which they can comprehend and understand.” Obviously, I was very surprised at what the Lord said. But almost as a divine comforting gesture and confirmation, the very next day, my three young children came over to see me at my small apartment all excited, and said, “Dad, have you seen the movie ‘Evan Almighty’? It’s our story, Dad! It’s all about how God was talking to a father, but not the mother, and how God told him to build a boat, but she didn’t believe him at first, so she separated from him and took the kids away; but eventually, she came to believe too. That’s our story, Dad! That’s literally OUR story!!” I had to turn away, so they couldn’t see the tears in my eyes, as I whispered, “Thank you, God,” realizing that God had caused them to tell me that in order to encourage me. He truly was speaking to them in a way their tender young hearts and minds could comprehend. As hard as it’s been, I learned that day to entrust my children to God. He loves them more than I ever could, and He is perfect in all His ways.

Lesson 4: When my beloved wife Teresa divorced me, it was probably the hardest day that I had ever faced in my life. I had to go to court as the “Respondent” to participate in a proceeding I didn’t even believe in. God hates divorce (Mal. 2:16); and Teresa and I had taken an oath before God to always be together “till death do we part;” not to mention how much I truly loved her. I didn’t take that vow lightly, and now I was being forced to partake of something I felt was morally wrong and evil. When I told the judge that I didn’t believe in divorce, and didn’t want one, he reluctantly told me that in the state of Colorado “no fault” divorces were legal, which meant that anyone could get divorced for any reason. I had no choice in the matter, and neither did the judge. After hitting his gavel and declaring us divorced, I was so emotionally unprepared and shaken by it, I didn’t even know if I was required by law to surrender my wedding ring to the judge. (Apparently not, for he returned it to me when I went up to hand it to him in tears.) As I drove home, completely devastated, I barely had any strength in my legs to drive to my apartment or go inside. I crawled through my front door, body shaking, and my insides deeply aching to vomit in grief. As I laid on the floor inside my doorway, I sobbed in brokenness, wondering what I had ever done to deserve this. In trying to be faithful and obedient to God, I had now lost everything and everyone I had ever loved. Everything had been cruelly taken from me – my wife, my children, my home, my friends, my wealth, my reputation, my happiness – all was now gone! As I laid on the floor crying, with no strength left in me to even stand up, and trembling with my head pressed up against the bottom of my couch, I suddenly felt the Presence of Jesus standing in the bedroom doorway right in front of me. Immediately upon appearing, He profoundly declared, “Eric. Those who learn to embrace their cross, need not be nailed to it.” And then He disappeared.

This revelation from the Lord was huge! At that moment, I began to truly realize for the first time in my life, that as a professing Christian, I had signed up for this. For Jesus told us: “If any man desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.” (Matt. 16:24). And “if anyone comes to Me and does not hate [love less by comparison] his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple… So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake [let go of] all that he has cannot be My disciple.” (Luke 14:26,33). In addition, He also said that as Christians, we would be hated by all for His name’s sake, and that even close family members would turn on us and friends would betray us (Luke 21:16-17). Until this actually happened to me, I didn’t realize how literal His words are. Yet, even through it, He was now mercifully instructing me that if I learned to EMBRACE it, it wouldn’t hurt as much as having to be NAILED to it by force. He was teaching me to not fight it, but to accept it as God’s will, trusting Him. Needless to say, at the beginning it was devasting for my flesh to hear; but ever since, His profound words have been truly life-giving and joyous to my soul and spirit. Indeed, the Truth does set you free (John 8:32).

Lesson 5: One day, as I was standing and looking out the patio door of my small one-bedroom apartment, God suddenly told me something He wanted me to do. Believe me, it was something WAY OUTSIDE of my acceptable paradigm at the time. I certainly didn’t want to do it then, because it wasn’t something that fit my religious thinking, but I clearly heard the Lord tell me to do it. (I am not going to disclose what it was; but suffice to say, it wasn’t illegal, immoral, or harmful. It was just something that was outside my spiritual and biblical understanding at the time.) After arguing with Him and protesting, which of course, He easily overcame by quoting Bible verses to me, and showing me that my biblical understanding was clearly flawed and deficient, I finally put forth to Him one final objection: I didn’t understand how two completely different prophecies and directives from Him could possibly coincide. It seemed to me like the two things He told me were contradictory to one another. “How can I do this,” I asked, “when You also told me that [such and such] was going to one day happen in the future? Now this [what You’re asking me to do] seems contradictory to that futuristic thing! In my mind, I can’t reconcile these two different things, Lord. They seem contradictory and not compatible to me.” Immediately, the Lord answered me in somewhat of an irritated tone: “Stop trying to figure Me out. Just do as I say. Did Abraham sit around trying to reconcile the two seemingly contradictory statements that I gave him regarding how it would be through his son Isaac that all the nations of the earth would be blessed; and yet, later, I then also told him to kill Isaac? Or did he just obey Me, believing and trusting Me?! As it is written: ‘He [Abraham] did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving gory to God, and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform.’ [Rom. 4:20-21]?! Now, you go and do what I commanded you to do!”

Honestly, before God quoted this verse to me, I didn’t know that Scripture. He literally pulled it right up in front of my mind’s eye as He was speaking so that I could see it as He was quoting it to me while also commanding me to stop wavering in unbelief trying to figure Him and His ways out. Obviously, I quickly obeyed what He commanded me to do. And yes, it later turned out to be a great blessing for me! Clearly, another reminder that as Christians, we are not “to lean on our own understanding” (Prov. 3:5).

Lesson 6: I think it was sometime in 2012 or 2013, I was coming home one evening, returning from teaching a Bible study when this next lesson occurred. As I was driving home, I could feel the powerful anointing of the Holy Spirit leaving me, as my mind and spirit began drifting back into this earthly realm. For many years, every time I taught a Bible study, the gift of prophecy would come upon me by the Holy Spirit, and I would teach and speak under the inspiration of God for the entire time I was attending or teaching the Bible study. It happened to me every time I got together with brethren and fellow believers (I Cor. 14:22). It’s always amazing when it happens; it’s like you can spiritually see and hear with such sharpness and acuity that this physical world and realm suddenly mean nothing to you. Cares and concerns evaporate and become meaningless compared to the superiority and greatness of God and His heavenly Kingdom. Truth becomes alive and paramount to everything in the here and now and beyond. Yet, when the meeting of the brethren is over, the strong anointing upon me begins to wane and dissipate as I leave to return home. (Perhaps, this is what Jesus was referring to when He said, “Wherever two or three of you are gathered together in My name, there I AM in the midst of you” – Matt. 18:20). As I was feeling this divine anointing leaving me, my mind and its thoughts began falling back into this earthly fleshly realm which we all occupy. Not wanting to “come back to earth” so to speak, in desperation, I suddenly cried out to God: “No, Lord, I want [my mind and spirit] to stay up here with You!” Immediately, Jesus answered, and said: “Eric, “I Am always in you. But you are not always in Me.” I then asked, “But how, Lord? How can I be in You and stay in You?” He replied, “I Am the Word. Be in Me every day [read the Bible every day]. Do not cross your door’s threshold to start your day without first spending time with Me. People are going to drain your spiritual fuel from you all day long. Therefore, you must refuel on Me every day. Otherwise, you will not have enough fuel yourself to enter in.” I could tell that this fuel comment about “not having enough fuel myself to enter in” was a direct reference to the Parable of the Ten Virgins and how five of them did not have enough oil in their lamps to enter into the Kingdom to be with Christ (see Matt. 25:1-13).

From that point on, although I had never been a very regimented person who followed schedules, because of what the Lord Jesus said to me that day, I have never left my house nor started my day since without first having spent time reading the Lord’s Word and spending time with Him. It has changed my life and helped me tremendously to stay on the “straight and narrow road which leads to eternal life” (Matt. 7:13-14).

Lesson 7: In August of 2014, I was falsely accused of kidnapping my own daughter. A few years earlier, I had been tricked by Teresa and her attorney into granting Teresa what I thought was “primary residence.” (Meaning, the kids would be primarily residing at her house. I thought it would be easier on our young children if they didn’t have to get bounced back and forth between two residences every week especially while they were in school.) Little did I know, Teresa and her attorney craftily used this deceptive terminology instead of using the words “primary custody” in order to swindle me out of my half of the children’s parental custody which Teresa and I had originally agreed upon when we separated. We had agreed to equally share custody of the children. However, during the divorce proceedings, they tricked me by making me believe that I was agreeing to give her “primary residency” for the kids which, unbeknownst to me, the courts interpret as “primary custody” which I never would have agreed to. Three years later, in August of 2014, I was attempting to speak to my eldest daughter who had just turned eighteen the month before, because she had deceitfully taken her fifteen-year-old sister, against my wishes, to get her nose pierced using a fraudulent I.D. As she got into my car of her own free will, I pulled away to take her to a place where we could talk privately because Teresa had previously come out of the house cursing and yelling at me that she didn’t want me on or near her property. As I drove to my apartment and parked in the lot to speak with her, she knew I was angry about the situation, so she suddenly jumped out of my car screaming for help, claiming that a stranger had just kidnapped her! I tried to calm her down, but as she was running around screaming, she tripped on the curb, and began kicking at me as she laid on the ground when I came near her. A couple who were out walking their dog came over and said, “I’m going to call the police!” I replied, “Go ahead. I’m not a stranger, I‘m her father.” At that moment, she then yelled, “You’re not my father!” still kicking at me from the ground. I smacked her one time across the face with my left hand for lying, and said, “If this is the kind of lifestyle you choose to live, one of lying and deceit, then that’s your choice! But you are not going to teach your little sister to do such evil!” At that moment, I grabbed her cell phone, which I had helped pay for, and smashed it on the ground breaking it. I didn’t want her, her mother and her little sister using her cell phone, which I had helped pay for, as a tool to conspire against me anymore. (I had found out the day before from my innocent ten-year-old son that Teresa and my oldest daughter had plotted together to go behind my back in this matter, as well as in others things). About two hours later, the police showed up at my apartment and arrested me for felony kidnapping at the behest of my ex-wife and my eldest daughter.

I write all of this as a backdrop to what I am going to share regarding the profound lessons that Jesus taught me through this entire ordeal. The Jefferson County District Attorney’s Office ended up charging me with felony 2^nd degree kidnapping, and two misdemeanor charges of assault in the first degree (for slapping her once) and for criminal mischief (for breaking her cell phone). After spending a day in jail, since I had no previous criminal record, the judge released me on my own personal recognizance (I gave my word that I would later appear in court to face the charges). When I got home, I got down on my knees and prayed to the Lord, asking if I needed to hire an attorney. He reminded me that He was my attorney! I then inquired, “Yes, Lord, but do I need to hire a professional attorney to help me because these are very serious charges that I’m facing?” He immediately said to me: “Remember how righteous king Hezekiah came to Me in My Temple, and knelt down before Me in prayer and told Me that he was looking to Me to deliver him and his people from the Assyrians who had invaded Judea and were planning to attack Jerusalem? What if after praying to Me, and declaring his faith and trust in Me, he had then gotten up off his knees and immediately sent emissaries to Babylon and Egypt to hire their help? Would that not have been insulting to Me?! Are YOU going to do that?” I swallowed a big gulp when I heard Him say this to me. I then resolved to go forward with the Lord only as my attorney, even though I was frightfully facing two to six years in prison for these unfounded inflated charges.

Lesson 8: Acting as my own attorney – for man’s courts obviously don’t officially recognize Jesus as a person’s attorney –  I made an appointment to go in and discuss my case with the prosecuting DA’s office. They were anxiously licking their chops as I agreed to meet with them, excited at the prospect of me verbally hanging myself and making their case for them, since I didn’t have an “expert” attorney speaking on my behalf and representing me. In preparation for the meeting, I asked the Lord what I should do. He told me to bring a copy of my book In His Service with me, which I did. When I arrived, they led me to an interrogation room where a younger-looking DA named Tim (I won’t disclose his last name) and an older female detective were seated. As I explained everything that happened in detail, I could tell that Tim was listening very intently; but the detective lady seemed somewhat annoyed and disbelieving. At some point, Tim asked me about the word “fear,” and whether or not I thought it was a good thing that my daughter should fear me. I explained that children should have a healthy “fear” of their parents, much the same way we as law-abiding citizens should have towards the police and those in authority over us – it’s called respect – respect for their God-appointed positions. It’s not fear as in the sense of terror or being afraid of them. It means having a healthy respect and honor for. It’s the same respect that younger people should show their elders, their teachers and coaches; and that we, as citizens, should also show our bosses, judges and governors. It does not mean to feel terrorized by them. It simply means to have respect for them and for their positions of authority they have received from God (see Rom. 13:1-7). I then added, “Just as the Bible says that ‘the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.’” Tim became excited, and asked, “Is that why my parents named me Timothy? I understand that Timothy means, ‘one who fears the Lord’?” At that moment, the Holy Spirit had me lower my eyes to speak directly at Tim with divine authority, and say, “That is exactly why God had your parents name you Timothy! It is so you will remember all the days of your life to fear the Lord and care what He thinks!” At that, Tim sat back smiling and nodding, obviously very pleased that the Lord cared so much about him to have his parents give him that name. Moments later the Lord had me hand Tim my book which he readily and excitedly received.

Not long after, Tim and I had to appear before the court. The judge ordered us to go into a side room together to work out a deal. I marveled when I noticed that my book, which was brand new when I had handed it to him only a week or so earlier, now looked completely worn out with many pages highlighted. (He pulled it out of his briefcase as he was looking for my file.) It was very apparent from how worn it was that Tim had really enjoyed reading it, and was truly believing its message. As a result, he believed that I was a true servant of God who hadn’t lied. You could see that he was caught in a deep crises of belief about my case and didn’t really want to prosecute me at all. He hinted at that, as I watched him squirm in his chair, looking stressed about the entire case, commenting that “the alleged victim” (my daughter) wasn’t giving in; and that he had a professional responsibility as the DA to represent her. He ended the conversation saying that he wanted to talk to the victim again and then he would get back with me. He called me later, and asked if I would consider pleading guilty to the two misdemeanors so he could drop the felony kidnapping charge. I refused, saying that I didn’t want the assault charge going on my permanent record as though I was some admitted “assaulter of women.” A number of days went by, and we had to appear again in court, whereupon the judge immediately ordered the both of us to go into the hallway and work something out. When we were in the hallway, Tim was obviously frustrated by the case, feeling very pressured by the “victims” (my daughter and her mother), but tormented by his own conscience, knowing I was innocent of kidnapping or any malicious criminal activity. I said, “You know I am innocent, and you are only trying to extort me by charging me with felony kidnapping so I’ll plead guilty to two misdemeanors.” He angrily answered, “We always negotiate these things! It’s standard common practice!” I asked, “You negotiate justice?” He emphatically answered, “Yes!” I immediately said to Tim what Jesus said to me: “The Lord God says: ‘If you can negotiate justice, then it’s not justice!’” Tim stood there with his eyes and mouth wide open, stunned and speechless, with a horrified look on his face. I then walked out.

Lesson 9: A different DA called me a number of weeks later to announce that he was taking over the case. (I believe Tim recused himself because he feared the Lord, and did not want to prosecute me; although I was never officially notified of this prosecutorial change or that he had even left the case altogether.) The first thing this new DA said to me over the phone was:

“So, I understand you know the Scriptures pretty well. I too know the Bible, although probably not as well as you. Tell me, does the Bible speak about hitting your children?” he snidely asked me.

“It sure does.” I responded.

“Where?” he demanded.

“All over the Bible!” I replied. “There are many Scriptures that tell us to discipline our children if we love them. Proverbs 13:24 for example: ‘He who spares the rod hates his son; but he who loves him disciplines him promptly.’ And Proverbs 23:13-14: ‘Do not withhold correction from a child; for if you beat him with a rod, he will not die. You shall beat him with a rod and deliver his soul from hell.’ Also Proverbs 19:18: ‘Chasten your son while there is hope, and do not set your heart on his destruction.’ Obviously, the Lord is talking about disciplining them as in spanking them for their own good. He is not talking about abusing them.’”

“Yeah, but those are all in the Old Testament!” he rebutted in a self-justifying dismissive tone. “Can’t you give me any in the New Testament?” he sneeringly asked, obviously trying to trick me.

“Absolutely, I can!” I answered. “How many do you want? There is Hebrews chapter 12, verses 5 through 11; I Timothy chapter 3 verse 4; and Ephesians chapter 6 verse 4 speaks about…”

He cut me off, and said, “Okay, okay… but none of those verses advocate that you can just snatch up your daughter – who is an adult by the way – and throw her into your car, beat her up, and go around smashing her personal belongings, do they?!”

“Hey, wait a minute, that’s not what happened! I didn’t do any of that,” I protested.

“Well, we think you did! So, we’ll see you in court, Mr. Wheeler. Goodbye!”

I felt like Satan had just brought in the hired big guns! My mind immediately thought of the times in the Bible when they couldn’t trap or ensnare Jesus, so then the Pharisees recruited others – Herodians, Sadducees, and lawyers – attempting to trick Jesus into saying something that they could use against Him (Matt. 22:15-35). And I also thought of how Paul had outsmarted the Pharisees and Sadducees who were accusing him before the high priest Ananias when he pitted them against each other over their doctrinal differences; so they later had to hire a professional big-name attorney called Tertullus to help prosecute him before the governor Felix (see Acts 23:6-10; 24:1-9).

As my court date quickly approached, I still hadn’t heard from my Attorney (the Lord). God wasn’t saying anything to me. He had gone completely quiet. I was panicking, facing two to six years in prison for a crime I didn’t commit, and I didn’t know how to legally defend myself. I wasn’t allowed to question or depose any of the witnesses beforehand because the judge said I wasn’t officially credentialed as an attorney. I had no idea what they were going to say in court. I didn’t know anything about court proceedings or filing motions; and the judge had already made it abundantly clear that she didn’t like me because I had turned down her offer of a court-appointed Public Defender, insisting the Lord was my Defender. She also warned me that she was not going to show me any leniency in court if I didn’t know the laws or the procedures – commenting that that was my problem because I chose to represent myself! Obviously, I was in way over my head, but still, I didn’t want to offend God.

The evening before they were going to start summoning potential jurors, I was sitting outside pleading with the Lord to help me, and to please tell me what to do. I was very scared; but I resolved in my heart and mind that, if need be, in order to not dishonor God, I would keep going forward without a professional attorney even if it meant me going to prison. Suddenly, the Lord then spoke to me: “Go inside and sit down at your computer,” He commanded. I eagerly obeyed, overjoyed to be hearing His voice again. As I sat down, the Lord said, “I didn’t deliver Daniel FROM the lion’s den; I delivered him IN the lion’s den. I didn’t deliver Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego FROM the fiery furnace; I delivered them THROUGH the fiery furnace.” He instructed me to write an email letter to the DA and presiding judge which He then dictated to me. (I wanted to include a copy of this letter here, but unfortunately, I am currently on an assignment from the Lord in Houston, and my case files are in storage in Denver, so I don’t have a copy of it. I hope to publish a copy at a later time.) The letter was very articulate, hard-hitting, and forthright. It stood up for the truths of God, and clearly stated His laws and His ways, which man has circumvented, substituting his own laws in place of God’s commands. The letter mentioned that as a Christian, I will gladly and proudly plead guilty to physically disciplining my daughter and for breaking her cell phone because I love her and don’t want her to follow the way of wickedness. It also stated that I was absolutely willing to bear whatever punishment they wanted to mete out for doing so. I also informed them that God’s Word states that a person isn’t an adult until they are twenty years old, whereas man says it’s eighteen years old. (God showed me they do this because men want to be able to justify themselves by sending our children off to war to do their bidding. They know that eighteen-year-olds are still impressionable, and their heads can be easily filled with patriotic jargon and slanted ideas of “honor” so they can send them off to be killed. If they really are considered adults in the eyes of the law, why aren’t they allowed to buy alcohol or permitted to gamble? Hypocrites! Liberal states like Colorado don’t want parents to discipline their children as the Lord commands because it’s easier for the liberals to then indoctrinate and deceive them with anti-biblical messages and propaganda, thereby making them wards and dependents of the state so they can manipulate and control them.) I also stated in the email letter that just as I wouldn’t plead guilty to something I didn’t do (kidnapping), neither would I plead innocent to something I did do (disciplining my child by slapping her once for lying, and also breaking her cell phone which she was then using to do evil things.) I clearly explained in the letter that I was only “guilty” of obeying God’s Word; and if that meant breaking man’s laws in order to obey God, then so be it! I would be happy to therefore suffer the consequences.

Both the DA and the judge accepted my guilty plea to the two misdemeanors, and dropped the bogus and inflated felony charge, even though the judge had mentioned a number of weeks earlier that there was a deadline to the plea offer which had since expired. But seemingly in retaliation for my proud Christian stance and my lack of remorse, she threw the proverbial book at me. In fact, even the manager of the Probation Office, pulled me aside later to privately ask, “What did you do to piss off the judge?” I asked, “What do you mean?” As she looked over my case file, she immediately said, “In all my years here, I have never seen anyone so harshly punished like this before – especially a first-time offender! What did you do to upset her?” “I told her the truth, and she didn’t like it.” I replied. In my statement to the court, which I was allowed to give before the judge sentenced me, I testified to the truth that God had warned us in the Bible that the days were coming in which those in government would punish us (Christians) for obeying Him, for disciplining our kids (as I had done), and for things like refusing to put two men on a wedding cake! (Remember, at the time, the state of Colorado was persecuting a baker for refusing to violate his Christian ethics and conscience). I told the court and the judge that while they say it’s alright to kill babies in the womb, God is going to one day answer such wickedness. I told them they better stop calling good evil and evil good – and that God had given them their positions of authority to do righteousness, but instead they are promoting evil. The judge could hardly wait for me to finishing speaking so she could throw the book at me. But little did she know that God had other divine appointments in mind for me to do. He had people lined up that I needed to deliver messages to throughout her so-called “justice” system. I ended up giving several messages to different people and had many witnessing opportunities in all the places and classes she sentenced me to (Matt. 10:18-20; Luke 21:12-15). What Satan had intended for evil, God clearly used for good!

Lesson 10: During these long and difficult years of losing my wife and children, as well as a number of our mutual long-term friends, I, at times, of course, felt very lonely, dejected, and abandoned. I remember thinking at the time that it felt like I really didn’t have a home anymore. I had no place where I felt grounded and secure that I could call “home.” In many ways, I felt like a complete vagabond and outcast. I felt like I was the only one who was desperately trying to remain faithful to spiritual roots and Biblical teachings. It seemed as if everyone I knew had abandoned what we had always collectively held sacred, and I was the only one left still holding to the truths of God. ‘Where are the other holdouts who won’t trade their allegiances to God and to our divine callings, and/or spiritually “sell out” for materialism, other pagan beliefs and philosophies, or even human comforts?’ I seriously wondered. While these thoughts were running through my head, I decided to go and visit my parents in Tennessee, hoping to find a sense of “home” again, and a feeling of “grounding” for my soul – that is, a place of spiritual and emotional stability. My parents have always been very godly people of high moral character and unconditional love for everyone. So, I thought to myself, ‘I will go and see them! They would never abandon God or what is right. In them, I can certainly find spiritual camaraderie and solace.’ When I arrived, my parents and I first went out for a very nice dinner together. But on our way back to their place, they strangely, out of the blue, announced and shared with me that they no longer believed in the Bible – or at least in its inerrancy. I sat there in the back seat stunned! I couldn’t believe it! Here were the very two people I admired most – my entire life – who taught me to respect and honor God, and to obey and always do what is right regardless of the costs, now telling me they no longer believed in the one and only book in this world that testifies to the Truth about the One and only true God and His right ways and teachings?! I was truly horrified and blown away. In that moment, I felt completely shattered, demoralized and defeated. They say when you see the rats deserting the ship, you realize that that ship is going down. I felt like I was the last remaining stupid and foolish rat left on a sinking ship that was refusing to jump ship! I’m not sure I have ever felt that lost and completely abandoned in my entire life. I didn’t know what to do or what to think. I laid on my bed that night and cried, wanting everything to be over, feeling so totally lost and empty. I was lying in bed staring hopelessly at the ceiling in tears, feeling completely defeated and deflated when a spiritual window to another dimension (heaven) suddenly opened up right above me! Jesus’ Presence immediately appeared in the heavenly window, and I heard Him say: “Eric, I told you, you would be betrayed even by parents!” At that moment, He pulled up the following biblical verse right in front of my eyes: “You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers, relatives and friends… And you will be hated by all for My name’s sake.” (Luke 21:16-17). He then firmly said to me: “Stay the course!” Upon saying this, the heavenly window closed and disappeared. I can’t even begin to describe how much joy and relief that revelation gave me in that moment! It meant so much to me. Jesus was telling me that I was definitely on the right track and in step with the Lord’s program. He was announcing to me that I was on the right road, and that I was properly enduring and successfully traversing His path. Thank you, God and praise You, Lord! I so needed that then and there. I have tears in my eyes even now as I write, remembering what He said and how I felt that day.

[By the way, I don’t mean to imply here that my parents quit believing in God – no, not at all. I believe this incident occurred around seven or eight years ago, and during that time my parents had apparently been watching some television documentaries that were craftily trying to discredit the Bible. It appears that they had innocently fallen victim to some satanic-led, so-called “academic scholars,” and their ignorant, false teachings and erroneous conclusions. I don’t know whether my parents still feel this way or not regarding the Bible. My ONLY purpose in relaying this is to point out what Jesus said to me that day and how emotionally and spiritually unprepared I was for the things that Jesus told us two-thousand years ago WOULD definitely happen to those of us who truly want to follow Him, and the consequences involved for doing so. He warned us that we WOULD be hated by ALL and that many of those who were close to us would fall away and/or abandon us, some even turning on us for following Him. I must admit, I wasn’t fully prepared for that when I initially set out to follow Christ. But as you can tell from the above true story, Jesus quickly came to encourage me! It is my hope in sharing this, that others might be encouraged and come to know and realize that in order to truly follow Jesus, you might have to lose those closest to you, and at times feel very lonely, rejected and abandoned; but as Jesus said to me – STAY THE COURSE!!)

Lesson 11: Ever since 2004 when God commanded me to leave my lucrative job in order to work directly for Him giving messages to people, I have had to live solely by faith. That is to say, I have had to completely rely on Him to pay all of my daily bills and living expenses. Yet, in doing so, I can honestly say, I have literally lacked for nothing! At any given time, I have not had any savings, nor have I possessed much in my checking account, or even held a regular job, for that matter – unless of course, I was on a temporary job assignment from the Lord working at a company ministering to that company’s employees and/or clients for very little pay. Occasionally, I have had to humble myself and take a lowly position in companies to “infiltrate” them in order to get to those I’m supposed to give messages to; just like I also had to be “numbered with the criminals” (just like Jesus and Paul were) to infiltrate Colorado’s so-called “justice” system in order to give messages to certain people that God was sending me to (fellow prisoners, guards, policemen and policewomen, city officials, probation officers, etc.). Jesus told us that this would happen, and to not worry about it when it does happen, because “it will turn out for you as an occasion to witness to others.” (Luke 21:12-13). Jesus set this example for us to follow by emptying Himself of His glorious Godhead and position, taking on the form of a humble servant (and a criminal – see Luke 22:37; 23:32) in order to give us humans a divine message. Notice this in Scripture: “Let this same mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery [cheating Himself] being equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation [emptied Himself of His divine privileges], taking the form of a servant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.” (Phil. 2:5-8). In teaching me this divine principle, Jesus actually said this very thing to me once when I was complaining because He was sending me to a marriage counselor/therapist’s office in order to give a message to that marriage counselor/therapist. To do this, it was going to personally cost me seventy-five dollars to see this marriage counselor/therapist in order to give her this message from the Lord. I was angry at the prospect of paying it when He suddenly said to me: “It personally cost Me to leave My heavenly position and estate in order to come down and give you all a message, didn’t it?!” Gulp. I had never thought about that before! It not only cost Jesus His life in order to do this, but He also spent thirty-some odd years patiently and humbly waiting and living among us in order to do so! Obviously, I quit complaining at that moment and went and did what He told me to do. As Christians, we all have to be willing and humble enough to wear whatever “costume” is required (a prisoner’s jumpsuit, a janitor’s uniform, a vagabond’s tattered coat, or even maybe at times, a king’s robe) in order to play “a certain role” to be able to get in to see specific people. We also might have to personally pay certain costs in order to bring the Lord’s message or messages to whomever God sends us to! Isn’t this why the Apostle Paul was willing to sometimes have to wear prison chains – in order to stand and witness before governors and kings? And also, be able to minister to fellow prisoners and help convert them to God? We all have to stop being so proud and comfortable, and become more like Jesus Christ, who emptied Himself of His divine royalty in order to come down and be among us!

As I mentioned, God has been faithfully taking care of me financially and materially ever since I started working for Him. He has miraculously provided for my needs time and time again through all of these many years. Yet, He never lets me store anything up – for the same reason He didn’t let the Israelites store up the manna He set before them each and every morning, except on the Sabbath day (see Exod. 16:1-36). He didn’t want them putting their trust in stored-up manna, but rather, in Him, as they had to look to Him each and every day to provide their daily needs and sustenance. Likewise, whenever I sit down to pay my bills, what I need is always there; yet there is usually nothing left over (Exod. 16:16-18). One particular day, as I was learning this lesson, I was very worried that I wouldn’t have enough money to meet my bills for that week. But nonetheless, I sat down to pay them. Once again, to my surprise, I had enough to pay each and every bill with hardly any money left over for anything else. With a great sigh of relief, but also in somewhat of an exacerbated and frustrated tone, as I shook my head in disbelief, I unintentionally blurted out, “I can never get ahead!” Suddenly, I heard the Lord say, “And neither do you fall behind!” Shocked at God’s unexpected comment, stupid me, up until that point, I hadn’t even realized that! God had literally been paying my bills and miraculously providing for me each and every day since I started working for Him in 2004. In fact, He had not only paid all of my expenses, and faithfully provided for all of my needs, but He had also on many occasions generously granted many of my wants and desires as well (vacations, great meals, entertainment, new clothes, furniture, golf outings, etc.). Shame on me, after all these years, my wicked and disbelieving heart is finally starting to relax and be at peace (along with great joy) – knowing that each and every day my heavenly Father faithfully watches over me, is providing for me, and can absolutely be trusted with everything in my life!!

Lesson 12: One final lesson from the Lord I want to share here is VERY profound, and I’m sure it’s going to cause many to scratch their heads in wonderment, maybe even confusion. The vast majority of Christians wrongly believe in a Trinity. I am not saying that there is not God the Father, Jesus Christ His Son, and the Holy Spirit – obviously, I absolutely believe that. What I am saying is that there is no such thing as a Trinity or that GOD is Triune. This does not appear anywhere in the Bible. (For more information on this, please see my article IS GOD TRIUNE – A TRINITY? | Sharing The Way). GOD is One God, and He has been slowly and methodically revealing Himself over the millennia to us humans. As He does, we are continually and foolishly taking cumulative revelations we have received from Him and wrongly forming our own ideas and concepts of Him. By doing this, we are putting GOD in a box, and creating false ideas and images of Him that are erroneous and even blasphemous. This is the very definition of idolatry! We cannot take information about Him, and try to “bottle” Him up into our idea and concept! He has never revealed Himself as a Trinity – a triune God! All we know of Him thus far is that He is a Father, a Son, and His divine nature is holy – aptly referred to as the Holy Spirit. To try and capture GOD, and embody Him in terms and/or in images in which He Himself has not declared and revealed about Himself is absolute lunacy, insulting to Him, and clearly idolatrous. We cannot and MUST NOT form God into our image of Him – that is, we MUST NOT form God into what we imagine Him to be! Nowhere in the Bible does GOD ever call Himself a Trinity or Triune.

I came to understand this truth by the leading of God’s Holy Spirit (I Cor. 2:6-16; Eph. 3:3-5,14-19). God has been revealing Himself more and more to me, as evidenced by the lessons which I have written about here. One of the things He has been showing me over the last few years is that He is a Family (Eph. 3:15); and that we are literally being made into His Sons and Daughters. This is not to be explained away metaphorically in some figurative spiritual sense, like most churches teach. It is to be taken literally! We are destined to be SONS AND DAUGHTERS OF GOD, just as Jesus is! This is why Jesus is called only “the Firstborn” of many sons and daughters of God who will be brought to glory (Rom. 8:29; Heb. 1:6; Heb. 2:10-11). As Christ has been showing me this, and I have been trying to understand and comprehend this deep truth myself, as well as explaining it to others without blaspheming or misrepresenting Him (which would be a serious sin), I have been struggling to find the right words to communicate this truth to others. One night, about a year ago, I was lying in bed praying to Him about it while seeking to understand this deep concept, and I heard the Lord profoundly say to me: “Being equal WITH God is not the same as being equal TO God!” I was blown away when I heard this! Wow, what an amazing truth and statement! This divine revelation began opening up to me so many Scriptures that I had read over the years but hadn’t quite fully understood before. Suddenly, so many verses in the Bible began to make sense to me as I saw them in this new light. It is my hope and prayer that all who read this will begin to call out to God in spiritual hunger and thirst to know Him better! I hope we all will eagerly and earnestly pursue a personal and thriving relationship with Him and seek to grasp this incredible destiny and calling that is available to each and every one of us who have all been made in His image and have been created for His purposes. As He Himself declared at the beginning of our creation: “Let us make man in Our image!” (Gen. 1:26). Let each of us therefore, “Go on to pursue the knowing of the Lord” (Hos. 6:3) and search out all that this entails and means (Eph. 3:14-19; II Pet. 1:2-4). For great is the wisdom of our God and how unsearchable are His ways (Rom. 11:33)!!

I hope to be able to share some more of His wise lessons that He has mercifully and kindly taught me through the years, as time, opportunity, and God allows. May the Lord God be praised and worshipped forever!

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