When I was a little girl, there was a popular game show on TV entitled "To Tell The Truth". It was fascinating because the premise was that a panel of celebrities had to guess the identity of a contestant who had an unusual occupation, or story to tell. The three contestants, all claiming to be the same person, would answer questions from the celebrities but only the real person had to tell the truth. The other impostors could lie and pretend to be the real person, while each star briefly interrogated them. The celebrities had to follow a set of rules and guidelines on the questions they could ask, and were also given a time limit. When the bell went off, and the time was up, each star would decide who they thought was the real person- in other words- who was telling the truth.
It was interesting to see at the end, how some "liars" could stump the panel into believing they were the the correct choice, while the honest and real person was rejected- and it was their own life! The savvy panelist would ask the right questions and in turn, help the whole group get to the truth- if they listened well. The same technique helps a good police officer, prosecutor, or judge in real life, for they know from experience that often the truth is all mixed up in false impressions and lies. We as Christians also need to exercise the same method in our faith walk. We need to ask the right questions to grow in the knowledge of Christ. We need to make sure we are not stumped by the impostor, the deceiver, who is an evil spirit trying to keep us away from the truth of God. [Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. 1John 4:17]
Jesus told his disciples that they needed to hold to his teaching, and they would know him, and the truth would set them free.[Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." John 8:32] Dear ones, I can't stress this enough- you need to know God- to know God, by taking the time to read God's word, study, and meditate on the truths recorded in the Bible. This is your study reference guide for testing, so when the impostor comes to trick you to believe something contrary to what God has planned for your life, you will know that this is not a spirit from God.
When the end time comes, when the trumpet sounds, and the announcement is made (like in the game show), "Will the real Jesus please stand up?"...don't be the one stumped. If you are dead wrong, you will lose more than a little bit of your pride. You risk everything, and all because you didn't listen well and believe the real truth.
