Real -vs- Counterfeit

Will the truth reveal itself naturally?

This is a photo of Chickweed; a delicious edible and nutritious plant, unlike it’s counterfeit non-edible lookalike, Cerastium.

Several years ago, I heard a minister teach about how to discern between God’s voice versus deception from the enemy. The concept taught was simple - if it’s from God, it will line up with scripture. My “ah-ha” moment came when she used an example of counterfeit money.

She described a conversation she had with a friend, a bank teller who shared how counterfeit money was circulating the community like crazy. The minister asked questions about how people could identify counterfeit bills and more importantly, how banks could spot the fraudulent money. The bank teller explained that during their training they didn’t spend time looking at the different counterfeits, but rather spent most of their training studying what is authentic. By looking at characteristics of the true paper bill, they could properly discern what isn’t genuine in the questionable currency.

Fast forward to a couple of weeks ago. I was listening to a webinar by a nutrition counselor / master forager. He talked about finding nutritious weeds in the wild. The questions people had were, “what if the weed is poisonous?” or “how do I know the mushroom is edible?” and “how do I avoid toxic plants?”

His response was so obvious...something like this: Instead of focusing on the poisonous plants, study the characteristics of the healthy plant and look for those markings to identify that plant in nature. Whether it is the color, texture of the stem or fuzziness on the leaves, he instructed people to focus on the unique markings of the healthy plant. When we know the characteristics of an edible plant, like the Chickweed plant for example, (pictured above), we will not be mislead to eat the Cerastium, which has a different flower and is NOT edible. This discussion brought me back to the counterfeit currency and the importance of recognizing what is authentic.

Same truth applies to nutrition. Processed food is like counterfeit. Real, authentic food tastes cleaner and our bodies use it as real fuel. Processed food is fake food posing as real…without the nutrients.

(By the way, check out this smoothie recipe - with chickweed - on LifeintheGreen.House.)

We often put too much emphasis on the counterfeit. Of course, discerning that something is off, should cause us to pause. However, to ascertain the truth, we need to focus on what is authentic. Philippians 4:8 tells us to meditate on what is true, honest, pure and just. When we focus on Jesus, and study what the true Word of God says, anything counterfeit will be evident to us.

In other words, when we really spend time meditating on the truth, we become able to discern the difference between the truth and that thing that is disguising itself to be truth. In this culture, we cannot risk losing our future and our country to deception, much less our health. Time to stop meditating on the lies fed to us by the world and focus on what is authentic.

So…stay free and stay close to Jesus. For Real.

Chris & Marilyn

Here is a really great book that talks about how good God is, and how he wants us well! Check it out here.