"Then the word of the LORD came to me saying, "Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel who prophesy, and say to those who prophesy from their own inspiration, 'Listen to the word of the LORD! 'Thus says the Lord GOD, 'Woe to the foolish prophets who are following their own spirit and have seen nothing ... Therefore, thus says the Lord GOD, 'Because you have spoken falsehood and seen a lie, therefore behold, I am against you,' declares the Lord GOD.'" Ezekiel 13:1-3,8.

My efforts at counterfeiting might have worked. I discovered the potential when I found pictures of U.S. paper currency on the Internet, and then printed a very convincing copy of a one thousand dollar bill on my color laser printer. With the right kind of paper, no ethics, and no fear of the law, I possibly could have funded a "missionary trip" to Hawaii or a Caribbean island.

The problem with the counterfeit is that it appears close enough to the real thing to be deceptive. If I opted to make counterfeit currency from red construction paper with hand-written numbers and pictures, no one would be convinced. For the counterfeit to be effective it must be a convincing substitute for the real thing.

A movie from several years ago portrayed a charlatan traveling evangelist. A sincere, spiritually-minded young man caused him emotional anguish. He commented that the only real threat to someone like himself was the real thing.

The Apostle Paul was deeply concerned about the dangers of deception that the young church in Ephesus faced: "I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them" (Acts 20:29-30). The threat of deception was very real, but Paul's confidence was this: "For I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole purpose of God" (Acts 20:27).

The surest way to avoid deception is to fall in love with truth. A life saturated with study and obedience to the word of God is a life safeguarded against deception. From this position of strength it is possible to discern between those who truly have "a word from the Lord" and those who "prophesy from their own inspiration" (Ezekiel 13:1).

Be sure to also visit http://thetruthrevolution.wordpress.com/ & https://kingdomdreamer.blogspot.com/

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