I've been thinking about genuine vs counterfeit a lot lately. So many false religions and false prophets. Sometimes it seems overwhelming. What if I don't recognize it? Especially those preaching a "close message of the truth". Adrian Rogers says the first place to look for a false prophet is in the pulpit. That's a SHOCKING statement because I think for the most part, that's the last place we look. We are learning in
The Armor of God Study that Satan is a deceiver and it really is his trump card. While that truth is not new to me, having been taught that all my life, I do seem to forget the significance of it in my daily life decisions.
A. W. Tozer said this about spiritual deception: “So skilled is error at imitating truth that the two are constantly being mistaken for each other. It takes a sharp eye these days to know which brother is Cain and which Abel.”
If I never drink Lipton tea, I probably would not recognize it if someone brewed me a nice tall glass of either one of these products pictured to the right. But a true tea drinker will recognize immediately that something is wrong if they love Lipton Tea and is served a fake. You certainly can't readily tell the difference by looking at these two packages. The only way to know the difference is to have developed a taste for the authentic one!
I read a book a good while back titled
Sacred Echo, which says,
"Don't just listen for the voice of God. Listen for His Echo. When God really wants to get your attention, He doesn't just say something once. He echoes. He speaks through a Sunday sermon, a chance conversation with a friend the next day, even a random email. The same theme, idea, impression, or lesson will repeat itself in surprising and unexpected ways until you realize that maybe, just maybe, God is at work. According to the author Margaret Feinberg, the repetitive nature of a sacred echo gives us confidence that God really is prompting, guiding, or leading. The sacred echo reminds us to pay close attention -- something important may be going on here. The sacred echo challenges us to prayerfully consider how God is at work in our life as well as in the lives of those around us. The sacred echo is an invitation to spiritual awakening. Margaret writes, 'I want a relationship with God where prayer is as natural as breathing. If God is the one in whom we are to live and move and have our being, (which is another sacred echo in another bible study we are doing at work,
Sudden Glory), then I want my every inhale infused with his presence, my every exhale an extension of his love.'"
So, after pondering this thing
Authentic vs. Counterfeit for several weeks now, the Lord has sprinkled these and some other sacred echoes for me specific to this subject. The most recent one is this morning's devotion from Grace Notes (below) which gives me confidence and assurance that the best way to recognize the counterfeit is to KNOW the intricate, intimate details of the Real Thing!!! And the real thing is Jesus Christ. So, even though we don't need to bury our heads in the sand about the characteristics of counterfeit religions and/or false prophets, the higher value, I believe, is in studying the authentic and that is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. By studying His Word and His character, we will also learn the character of the deceiver who is the behind all false religion and false prophets. Let's stay focused on our Savior. He won't lead us astray.
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Grace Notes devotion February 8, 2016
The Real Thing
Recently, I heard the experience of a secret service agent in regard to counterfeit money. He said that in his training to recognize counterfeit money, he studied and studied and studied. But the interesting point of his study was that he never looked at the counterfeit. He only focused on the real thing. He memorized every detail of the genuine money, making mental notes of each characteristic that made it the real thing. That way, when the counterfeit did show up, it would be easily recognized. It would be caught not by what it was, but by what it was not.
I got to thinking about this. What if the secret service agent had studied in the opposite way? What if he had studied, in detail, the counterfeit? Well, it would certainly teach him some characteristics of the fake. But I think his method was better. The best way to recognize if something is not genuine is to know inside and outside what is.
Genuine and Counterfeit
Naturally, this story took my mind to an illustration of God and Satan. You know, the Genuine and the counterfeit. For every genuine gift that is given by God, Satan provides a fake. Why? Because Satan's greatest tactic in deception is to mix good and evil in the same pot and come out with a product that looks good at a glance, but is rotten at the core. It's a tactic that works quite well for him. Think about it. How easily would we be deceived by things that are totally bad? How many children would go with a stranger who actually threatened their lives? None, of course. But how many have been persuaded by a stranger who speaks softly, carries a puppy, and has a bag of candy in his pocket?
The Bible is the genuine treasure upon which our lives here and forever depend. Studying God's Word, inside and out, taking note of details, and memorizing major characteristics is the best way for us to be able to recognize the counterfeit messages of Satan. A study of Satan may be helpful to us in knowing how evil he is. But a thorough study of God and of the Bible will give us the knowledge and discernment to spot the counterfeit and the counterfeiter. Not by what it is, but by what it is not.
“There is a way that seems right to man, but the end thereof is death” (Proverbs 6:25).
http://www.e-gracenotes.org/article/2673/archives/the-bible-says/the-real-thing
The purpose is to set aside time
for reflection on Jesus Christ - his suffering and his sacrifice, his life,
death, burial and resurrection.
