AUTHENTIC  VS  COUNTERFEIT    

     I am a writer who hates writing. That's like saying I'm a track star who hates running.  I find writing to be quite a  chore, like cleaning the shower, but it needs to be done. I tell people cleaning the shower clears out the soap scum, and writing clears out my brain. So many thoughts run amuck up there. I used to take ADHD meds, then I went KETO and realized Ketones are so much healthier for my brain, but not quite as effective. Lately, I've been writing a lot about the counterfeit teachings of the Christian Church. It's not like I'm mad at them, but more like I'm mad at the Adversary, who is an expert counterfeiter. 

      What is a counterfeit? It's something that wants to be like the real thing and thinks it's the real thing and doesn't have a clue that it's not the real thing, well, most counterfeiters are like that. I guess you could say my first marriage was a counterfeit marriage. I thought we were spiritual mates, I was sure of it. We weren't. I thought we were soulmates, I was sure of it, I was wrong. It lasted thirty years so it passed the test of time, but I was wrong the whole time. I had no idea who my husband was because he hid his true self from me and himself for so long.  I still don't know who he is or whether he is authentically saved. I'm relieved about there being no hell, though, because that haunted me for ten years. I was so worried that he lost his salvation, at least I know if he has, he won't be suffering conscious eternal torment and torture for all eternity, because that truth was counterfeit too. All these counterfeit truths, or LIES that I believed do make me angry, though. This post took more than a year to write, because I had to be as diplomatic about it as a northerner could be. The BIGGEST and Most EGREGIOUS LIE of Christianity

      The enemy of GOD, sometimes referred to as the devil will do his best to convince people that they are the real deal. He will give them counterfeit happiness, counterfeit riches, a mega-ministry with millions of followers. The thing about the counterfeit is that it always comes first. Take for example King Saul. He was the people's preference. He was tall, handsome, powerful, and GOD even gave him some successes in the beginning, however, his counterfeit loyalty to GOD came through loud and clear within a couple of years of his reign. The devil always starts with a counterfeit movement before GOD's true new thing. GOD allows it, thus weeding out those really not interested in pursuing the truth. Think about the times Jesus healed and fed people. Tens of thousands benefited from his miracles, but only 120 in the end were interested in his truth. 

    Sometimes, I will get into a funk and stop believing in myself and my  calling. When I do I go and listen to a few favorite self-proclaimed prophets/authors/teachers. I have two particular favorites I go to.  They are nobodies in the vast configuration of things, but they do have a large following.  They are on YouTube and Rumble, and I always find myself going back to them. I feel sorry for them, because they are absolutely convinced they are the real deal. They have 100K followers or so. They have written books and are ranked on Amazon pretty high up, but they are as clueless to their counterfeit teachings as are their fans. 

    There isn't a darn thing I can do about it, and it frustrates me, because they have more people praising them and following them who are also completely closed off to hearing the truth. How do I know they are fake? Because they've both predicted things that never happened. One in particular teaches that the 1,000-year of reign of Jesus would come when Donald Trump got re-elected and back into power. She predicted that for eight years. Yeah, she didn't predict he would "step away" from the White House for four years and work behind the scenes. She didn't see that coming. The other made many more predictions and claims "The Spirit of the LORD says," all the time and has published his prophecies as if they are Divinely Inspired Scriptures, with the same authority as the Bible.

     These are not bad people. They aren't building empires for themselves, they have the best of intentions. They want the Kingdom of GOD to expand. They have good hearts. The problem is, they've been blinded for so long to their own erroneous teaching that there is no convincing them that they are way off base. They use the traditional church method of interpreting prophecy. One thing I've learned is that GOD never lets man predict His next move, and they can't see that, they just go with what they've learned all of their lives in the accepted church teachings. 

      Jesus said that counterfeit signs and wonders would be in the last days. The Bible is replete with counterfeit magic arts, all the way back to Exodus and even in Acts 16. Paul was confronted by an authentic fortune teller who was a slave girl, who correctly predicted the future for her owners. Paul, rebuked the evil spirit to come out of her, thereby, he attributed her power to Satan, not to GOD. The Bible tells us that Satan and his minions come masquerading as angels of light.  That's the thing about false prophets, they don't know they are false prophets. So, if they are convinced they are the real thing, then they are experts at convincing their followers of what they believe to be the truth. Deuteronomy 18 is quite specific on how to judge a true prophet from a fake one. 

     I'm not a prophet, I don't predict what GOD is going to do, however, I have theories that I keep to myself. When it does happen, I keep that to myself, also. It's only for me. It is YHVH GOD affirming me that I should continue to do that what I'm doing and just rely on Him to get it where it needs to go.  You'll never find me on YouTube or Rumble, I'll always be an author in hiding.  I'd rather GOD get the credit and I remain in the shadows, unseen.  That way I'm not disobeying GOD, but I'm not out there trying to build a name for myself either. 

     The only way to know the difference is to be like the Bereans in Acts, who fact checked Paul on everything. That's why I insist on my readers fact checking me. Don't just take my word for it. Seek out the truth for yourself and let GOD use the Holy Spirit as your guide, the way John said he would in the 1st book of John, another major hint, go find it for yourself. Don't just take your pastor's word for it, because, friends, he may be wrong but not know he's wrong.  Don't take my word for it, search out the truth for yourself. 

    We are supposed to drink eight glasses of water a day, well, might I suggest that we study eight chapters of the Bible a day? Which Bible? Well, of course I'm going to recommend the one I use.  (The Complete Jewish Study Bible)  Yes, I realize that will take more than one's fifteen-minute devotional that we purpose to squeeze into our busy lives, at least five or six out of the seven days a week GOD has afforded to us. Going to church will not make you an expert in Scriptures, so spare me the Hebrews 10:25-fall-back verse that people use to rebuke me for rebelling against the establishment. Hebrews 10:25 is not literally defined as once a week, for 90 minutes, sitting quietly while spectating a carefully orchestrated worship service, which really is just a mind-conditioning session, or a brainwashing. I’m speaking in general terms here, so I’m not speaking of all congregations, but the majority of Hebrews 10:25’ers.

    I’ve been to many churches in my 35 years walking with GOD, and I never felt comfortable or felt like I belonged there. I just never fit in. So, I asked GOD, "Why do I keep leaving one and going to another, and repeating this same pattern?” I loved His answer,

“Have you ever thought that maybe I was the One making you feel uncomfortable there, because I didn’t’ want you in a church building, but rather I wanted you learning from Me directly, like Paul did, alone in the wilderness?"

    Now, of course, I'm paraphrasing GOD's voice, because GOD's voice sounds much like our own, because the Holy Spirit doesn't have vocal chords. Make sure that voice comes straight from Scripture, and matches with the character of YHVH GOD Himself, and does not appeal to the human ego. If GOD tells you something, most likely it will be uncomfortable and really stretch you to step out where the water is cold and the fish are more like piranhas. You can expect to be bitten or rather eaten up by other church people who do not like what you have to say. If the masses don't like it, it's probably from GOD.  GOD also always repeats Himself, so if you can find it in the Old Testament, you can call it for the latter days, but in the Spiritual and on a global scale. 

    King David was given the blueprints of the Temple that his son was to build.  King David wasn't allowed to live to see it built, because when man does something, man tends to take credit for it as did King Solomon who built the first beautiful Temple. Solomon got the glory for the building, but David had the original blueprints. David didn't get the glory for building it, instead, he got labeled, "a man after GOD's own heart." Now, that's a better glory than building anything. I sure do hope that when the Remnant is strong, bearing fruit, that someday, after I'm gone, they will say of me, "she was a woman after GOD's own heart."