MEMORIZE THE GENUINE
By Rev. Dr. Teresa Allissa Citro
Founder and President of Thread of Hope, Inc.
“Whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.”
1 John 2:6
“Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.“
1 Corinthians 11:1
Today, God brought to my mind two incidents that happened to me. As if once was not enough, it actually happened to me twice. I will share one of them here. Just when you think you heard them all.
It was a Friday morning, I was rushing to the bank to make a deposit. I had a heavy schedule that morning. I arrived just as the bank opened. In and out, I thought. The teller greeted me, and I handed him my cash. He said, “Just one moment please.” Next thing I knew, security guards escorted everyone out of the bank except for me. The bank closed the door, with me still in the bank. Then the police arrived. I was asking, “What’s happening?” The manager came out. “Ms. Citro, all the cash that you tried to deposit is counterfeit.” “What? $4,500 is all counterfeit?” I was stunned. I asked if I could use my cell to call my lawyer. To make a long story short, they were able to trace it back to those who were responsible.
I learned through all of this that the Secret Service only memorizes the authentic money. They know everything that there needs to know about the real bills, things that are seen with the naked eye and things that are not. In other words, they don’t study bills that are fake. They look to see if the bill has what it’s supposed to have. They don’t bother wasting their time with counterfeit money. They don’t study it. They don’t care. They only care about knowing the genuine bills.
These two verses above are telling us something very important about the genuine actions of the people around us. We have a very clear way of identifying the people we come in contact with. Unfortunately, deceiving, pretending, manipulating, and lying people are all over the place. This includes the church. Knowing those that walk with God is all we need to know. Your Spirit knows those people.
So, then, who can we trust? We trust God, We look at the people that we are surrounded by and line them up to the Word of God. This is not judging. We are not judging anyone. We are watching for genuine fruits produced by actions, the very character of God. We need to study God because when we know God, we then know God’s people. We must study God through the written word. The Secret Service can’t know the real bill until the read the paper. Look at the colors that can’t be seen by the naked eye, know the numbers on the bill. It’s very intense and there’s a lot to learn from the genuine bill.
You hearing me? See, the Bible says to beware of wolves in sheep clothing. It tells us that we need to measure the words spoken to the actions taken. God is so crystal clear. “Whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.” If we know “Him,” then we know those who walk in Him. Jesus was not a thief, liar, or a deceiver. He wasn’t secretive in actions and deeds. He lived a perfect and holy life, and told us to do the same. The power of the Holy Spirit was upon Him. It showed by His deeds and not just His words. Words and deeds were combined because He was like His Father. Miracles happened where Jesus walked by. Same for you and me. We carry the life of the risen Christ in us.
Look at this verse. Paul said “Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.“ This is what we need to do. If we are only studying Jesus then we will quickly be able to identify who’s not matching up with the real godly character. We don’t need to learn all about the negatives and cloud our mind with the ungodly traits. Our minds are steadfast on the Lord, so it becomes very easy to spot the men and women who are godly and the prophets and prophetesses that actually speak the secrets of heaven because we already know what the Lord would say and who He is. There’s no mystery. We cannot be fooled. We know the real believer.
Friends, don’t waste time on what’s fake. Rather, study God. Get to know Jesus, walk filled by the Holy Spirit. It’s the Holy Spirit who leads us to all truth. You will know what’s true, what’s good, what’s honest, what’s admirable, what’s perfect, what’s genuine, and what to trust and believe. Study the Word of God, and be imitators of Jesus Christ of Nazareth.
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