LifeLink Devotional

Tuesday, January 12, 2021

In February of last year a training meeting was held in Guam for the purpose of teaching business people how to quickly identify counterfeit currency. The meeting was conducted by Special Agents Joshua Fisher and James Ingram of the United States Secret Service, Guam Regional Office.

The half-day seminar began with a brief history of the security agency followed by an overview of the manufacturing process of U.S. Currency. The two agents then led an in-depth look into security features built into different currency notes. “By understanding how to identify genuine U.S. Currency, we can more easily detect counterfeit bills,” explained Special Agent James Ingram.

The Secret Service Agents passed out both counterfeit currency and genuine specimens and asked the group to spot differences between the bills. Within a few hours of training, participants quickly spotted illicit currency and identified various levels of sophistication between different counterfeit productions.

This principle of training applies to the spiritual realm as well. We are bombarded every day with counterfeits of genuine faith in Jesus Christ. Our only hope is to be so familiar with Jesus that fakes are quickly recognized.

Jesus said in John 10 that His followers are able to discern between His voice and the voices of strangers.

John 10:3-5  “The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.”

There are three things to consider today:

1. What voices are you listening to? We must discern the voice of Jesus and separate out all others as unnecessary.
2. How well do you know the voice of Jesus? How familiar are you with His teaching? How intimate is your relationship with Jesus? The level of your intimacy with Jesus and your growing knowledge of Jesus will determine your level of recognition of all those who counterfeit His truth.
3. How strong are you to resist the temptation to follow a stranger? The world is full of people with messages containing elements of truth but ultimately emphasize empowering self. Our only defense against following such strangers to the Gospel is to be grounded in the theology of the true Gospel.

Thieves and robbers of spiritual truth abound in the world today. Take the advice of the Secret Service. Spend your time studying only the original. You can know Jesus so well that any counterfeit is quickly exposed.

Pastor John