According to the United States Department of Treasury, an estimated $70 million in counterfeit bills are in circulation at any given time. Producing or possessing counterfeit money is a very serious crime; it is not a civil offense, misdemeanor, or a felony, it is a FEDERAL crime which is the worst category of crime one can commit. Counterfeit money is attractive to criminals because they can spend money and buy things without actually doing the right thing to earn that money like working a normal job like everyone else. You see, when we decide to follow Christ, we start to realize that everything we have ever used to make us ‘happy’, give us identity, and give us meaning in life was a counterfeit. Our family, friends, career, education, sports, food, addictions, lusts, and all other worldly pursuits give us a sense of pleasure for a season, but afterwards that same empty soul inside us remains. God through Jesus Christ is the only remedy for this emptiness because we were never designed to be seperate from God in the first place.
When God created Adam and Eve, He created them perfect, holy, and in perfect relationship with Him. They didn’t choose to be holy, God made them that way... but they were given instructions to follow in order to stay in paradise and didn’t follow them so God kicked them out. Eve was the first one to disobey God and the reason is because she bought into a counterfeit happiness and truth... she didn’t believe what God said and bought the lie that disobeying God would somehow make her ‘wise’ and like ‘a god.’ We all see the result of this choice with all the sin running rampant over the earth and people going to hell. Adam bought into the counterfeit truth that he should listen to his wife instead of listening to God. Because of this disobedience, God sent curses on Adam, Eve, and Satan.
The world we live in today is not much different. It’s full of counterfeit truths, people running after the pride of life and lust of the flesh, buying nice houses and nice cars and pursuing amazing careers, thinking those things will somehow ‘fulfill’ them when in reality it only leads to being empty when not put in proper perspective. Thinking anything except God will somehow ‘fulfill’ you is a lie and a deception... and the reason is simple- because it’s not how we are designed. If you put lemonade inside a car’s gas tank, it won’t go very far because it’s not designed to run on lemonade... just like we are not designed to run on our career, family, or anything else to make us ‘run.’ You see, the Bible is true and from the beginning of time we were designed to have God’s spirit dwell within us and for us to know, love, obey, and worship Him. If this is not the direction of your life, you are believing a counterfeit truth and the end result of this is being separated from God for eternity, AKA known as hades or hell. God does not want you to be separate from Him, the Bible says He jealously longs for you.
In the area of the Atlanta, GA suburbs that I was raised, there was a very common trend and lifestyle that many, many people pursued. That was to go to college, get a nice office job somewhere, get married, rack up thousands of dollars of college loan debt, buy a starter home with an expensive mortgage, get a nice new car with a monthly payment, and then raise your family and realize that you will never be truly ‘happy’ in this life and to just live a somewhat decent, civilized life. On the outside, it doesn’t look all that bad... but in reality, life is meant to be so much more than that. Jesus said He came to ‘give us life and life more abundantly.’ God knows that I have tried nearly EVERY kind of pride and lust there is to give my life meaning and nothing ever truly worked. When I found Christ in college, all these lies I believed slowly but surely started to surface and show their ugly face... the more time goes on, the more God leads me into the truth that ONLY God matters and that NOTHING besides God will ever satisfy my hungry and thirsty soul. This is because the Bible is true- man was never created to be separate from God.
One realization I have had recently is about the first commandment of the ten commandments that says ‘You shall have no other Gods but me.’ A God is something you worship as the meaning of your life, whether it be consciously or subconsciously. People that reject God are instead filling that void in their heart with a counterfeit ‘God’ such as money, pride, career, friends, spouse, etc. Everyone has a God in their heart whether they realize it or not. While there is nothing wrong with a career, friends, or a spouse, these things make very poor gods and only leave an empty soul. This is why Jesus said ‘seek FIRST the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and THEN all these things shall be added unto you.’ We must put God first before everything, and THEN He will give us the pleasures of life such as family, career, etc. Even if it takes decades to finally be surrendered to God, this is what we have to do because God is all that matters.
When God created Adam and Eve, He created them perfect, holy, and in perfect relationship with Him. They didn’t choose to be holy, God made them that way... but they were given instructions to follow in order to stay in paradise and didn’t follow them so God kicked them out. Eve was the first one to disobey God and the reason is because she bought into a counterfeit happiness and truth... she didn’t believe what God said and bought the lie that disobeying God would somehow make her ‘wise’ and like ‘a god.’ We all see the result of this choice with all the sin running rampant over the earth and people going to hell. Adam bought into the counterfeit truth that he should listen to his wife instead of listening to God. Because of this disobedience, God sent curses on Adam, Eve, and Satan.
The world we live in today is not much different. It’s full of counterfeit truths, people running after the pride of life and lust of the flesh, buying nice houses and nice cars and pursuing amazing careers, thinking those things will somehow ‘fulfill’ them when in reality it only leads to being empty when not put in proper perspective. Thinking anything except God will somehow ‘fulfill’ you is a lie and a deception... and the reason is simple- because it’s not how we are designed. If you put lemonade inside a car’s gas tank, it won’t go very far because it’s not designed to run on lemonade... just like we are not designed to run on our career, family, or anything else to make us ‘run.’ You see, the Bible is true and from the beginning of time we were designed to have God’s spirit dwell within us and for us to know, love, obey, and worship Him. If this is not the direction of your life, you are believing a counterfeit truth and the end result of this is being separated from God for eternity, AKA known as hades or hell. God does not want you to be separate from Him, the Bible says He jealously longs for you.
In the area of the Atlanta, GA suburbs that I was raised, there was a very common trend and lifestyle that many, many people pursued. That was to go to college, get a nice office job somewhere, get married, rack up thousands of dollars of college loan debt, buy a starter home with an expensive mortgage, get a nice new car with a monthly payment, and then raise your family and realize that you will never be truly ‘happy’ in this life and to just live a somewhat decent, civilized life. On the outside, it doesn’t look all that bad... but in reality, life is meant to be so much more than that. Jesus said He came to ‘give us life and life more abundantly.’ God knows that I have tried nearly EVERY kind of pride and lust there is to give my life meaning and nothing ever truly worked. When I found Christ in college, all these lies I believed slowly but surely started to surface and show their ugly face... the more time goes on, the more God leads me into the truth that ONLY God matters and that NOTHING besides God will ever satisfy my hungry and thirsty soul. This is because the Bible is true- man was never created to be separate from God.
One realization I have had recently is about the first commandment of the ten commandments that says ‘You shall have no other Gods but me.’ A God is something you worship as the meaning of your life, whether it be consciously or subconsciously. People that reject God are instead filling that void in their heart with a counterfeit ‘God’ such as money, pride, career, friends, spouse, etc. Everyone has a God in their heart whether they realize it or not. While there is nothing wrong with a career, friends, or a spouse, these things make very poor gods and only leave an empty soul. This is why Jesus said ‘seek FIRST the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and THEN all these things shall be added unto you.’ We must put God first before everything, and THEN He will give us the pleasures of life such as family, career, etc. Even if it takes decades to finally be surrendered to God, this is what we have to do because God is all that matters.