“The more intimately aware you are of a genuine article, the easier it is to recognize a fake.” ~Henry Blackaby (Experiencing God)

Is there anyone who enjoys something that is not genuine? We have probably all found ourselves in a situation where we were duped before. I remember purchasing a handbag when I was younger that I thought was a particular brand. I found out later it was a fake. I had purchased a counterfeit, at a designer handbag price. It was not a happy moment for me. Yet, there were ways to tell. I just did not know them and was ill prepared to spot the clues.

In the same way, we live in a constant flux of changing ideas, opinions, and beliefs. How do we know where to stand and what to cling to?

It starts with truth. We have to first establish what truth is. In John 14:6, Jesus says He is the truth. In Psalm 119:160 and 2 Timothy 2:15 God’s Word is referred to as truth, and we know these go hand-in-hand as God’s Word reveals Jesus Christ. In fact, there are so many references in Scripture about truth we can’t even address them all in this post!

“Great! We know what truth is so now we can recognize a fake”

Well, not exactly. See, I knew what my designer handbag should look like. I knew the shape, size, and where the logo would be. However, I still ended up with a counterfeit. How? Because those doing the counterfeiting are clever. They know how to trick you, how to draw you in, how to convince you what you are believing is accurate.

The enemy knows how to trick you, too. Knowing that God’s Word is truth does not help you fight a clever enemy. In fact, the enemy is really good at convincing you that what you are thinking, feeling, believing is accurate.

The only way to truly know how to spot the counterfeit is by being intimately acquainted with the genuine article.

I admit that I am constantly baffled at the lack of truth among believers. We cling to our opinions instead of God’s Word. We justify and rationalize our sin without even realizing how we have violated God’s truth. And it is all because we cannot recognize a fake.

The only way to recognize a fake, is to be so intimately acquainted with the genuine article that we can spot the difference.

In your Christian life, can you tell the voice of God from the voice of the enemy? When someone speaks to you and questions your faith can you spot the fallacy in thought and defend God’s Word?

My prayer for all believers is that we will become so intimately acquainted with God and His truth that we will not be deceived by the enemy. Instead, I pray we will combat the enemy with the truth, recognize God’s voice from the others clamoring for our attention, and be the beacon of hope the world needs to see.

“My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me;” John 10:27