Counterfeits Validate the Genuine

Written by Ed Krampitz | 25 March 2010

This past year, businesses in our community were hit by a rash of counterfeit $100 bills. Now, understand, these notes were not crude fakes. This was not Monopoly money! On the contrary, these were high-tech forgeries. Someone went to great lengths to ensure a very close copy of the original.

 How did they so easily pass for authentic? Smaller denominations were first bleached, to remove the original printing. The unique treasury paper, complete with magnetic strip, watermark and trademark red and blue fibers, was then reprinted as $100 bills. They looked the same. They felt the same. But, they were not the same. Many of these phonies made their way into circulation, without raising concern. To those familiar with genuine currency, however, the flaws, though veiled, were nonetheless obvious.

 So instead of trying to reproduce existing monetary notes, why didn't the counterfeiters just create their own, unique currency; something really different; say, $250 or $600 bills? The answer is obvious. They don't exist. There are no legitimate bills in those denominations. No one would accept them.

 You cannot counterfeit something that does not exist, or is of no value. Counterfeiting, by definition, seeks to create the illusion of value, with the intent to defraud; to gain influence through deception. A counterfeit is a fake; a copy, carefully designed to pass for the real deal.

 Simon the Sorcerer had accessed spurious power; using it to impress the villagers and townspeople. An authentic display of God's power exposed his motives as impure and his power as corrupt (Acts 8:9-11).

 Paul encountered illegitimate power in a young fortune-teller. Her handlers had exploited her demonic influence for financial gain, until Paul cast the evil spirit out of her (Acts 16:16-18).

 There cannot be false miracles, signs and wonders, unless an authentic standard exists. The bona fide currency of heaven must be in circulation, or the enemy has nothing to copy. Counterfeits validate the genuine.

 So, how can we know if supernatural activity is from the Kingdom? Intimacy and experience. In the world of paper currency, those most likely to pick out a fake bill are those who handle large quantities of cash: bankers. They know money; where it comes from and how it is made. They are intimately acquainted with the authentic; what it looks like and how it feels. It is difficult to sneak a phony bill past someone who spends their life handling the real thing. The same is true with the miraculous. Those who press into a supernatural lifestyle; who spend time with their Father, Papa, seeking to know, even as they are known; these are the ones who release the Kingdom into the earth, and expose the works of darkness. They know him and they know what he is doing.

 When James and John offered to call down fire upon a city, Jesus made it very clear that this was not the heart of the Father. There was another spirit, waiting to empower them. Yes, Elijah had done it, but Jesus was teaching them to watch and listen to Papa. The mission was redemption, not destruction (Lk 9:51-56). The lesson for these, “Sons of Thunder”, as well as for us, is profound. Knowing what God's word says is not the same as knowing him.

 It was very easy for the religious leaders to accuse Jesus of being demonic (Mat 12:24). They knew God's word better than anyone, yet they did not know Papa's heart. Their in-depth knowledge of scripture only served to fuel a hatred for the very Son of God, who loved them and offered them the Kingdom. Ignorance, unless it desires to know the truth, will fear it; ultimately seeking to destroy it.

 It would be foolish to conclude that $100 bills do not exist, simply because someone is passing fakes. It would be equally foolish to admit that real ones exist, but avoid them altogether, for fear of being deceived.

 The world is seeking the currency of heaven. As children of the Father; those who are inheriting the kingdom, we have a responsibility to handle it; become familiar with it; spend it wherever there is need, with discernment and without fear. The resources of heaven are waiting to be released.

 These bills are the real deal.

Believe First

Written by Ed Krampitz | 19 February 2010

Mary saw him first, followed by the two men on the Emmaus Road. Jesus was back from the dead. He was alive!

Hold on. Wait a minute. He's what?

This was the response from Jesus' closest followers. They rejected the account of fellow believers; refusing to accept their testimony. When Jesus finally did appear to them, the first order of business was a stern rebuke for their, “lack of faith and their stubborn refusal to believe those who had seen him after he had risen.” (Mk 16:14).

Why did they reject the testimony? Was is because they couldn't wrap their heads around the assertion that Jesus actually came back to life? I'm not so sure. They had seen numerous resurrections over the years. It had even been a part of their own ministry, when Jesus sent them out (Mt 10:8). But Mark records that they were, ...”mourning and weeping.” (Mk 16:10). It's clear that Jesus' promise of resurrection was not met with high expectations.

Maybe it was insecurity. Why would Jesus reveal himself to someone outside the group? Who were these guys from Emmaus, anyway? Were they credible? Perhaps the disciples were offended by Mary. After all, she was a woman. And her past...were they ever really comfortable with her hanging around?

The disciples had a hard time receiving the testimony or experience of others. When they saw a stranger casting out demons in Jesus' name, they wanted to put a stop to it (Mk 9:38). When Mary anointed Jesus at Bethany, They were indignant at her lavish, uninhibited display of love and worship (Mt 26:6-9).

I've come to see that I have a responsibility to believe what God is doing, in the lives of others, especially if it has not been my experience or something that I have valued. It may need to be. I am called to recognize what the Father is doing, even if it sounds like nonsense (Lk 24:11). It is not wisdom, or discernment, to reject that which I simply do not understand.

Suspicion, or lack of trust, is not a value of the Kingdom. Suspicion is born of fear; fear of deception, or, fear of being exposed as deceived already.

When God moves in a way we are not familiar with, or raises up someone we are not comfortable with, we have an opportunity to move in greater faith; to step into a realm of the Kingdom we have never experienced before.

This was an issue that plagued the scribes and Pharisees. Matthew 11:18&19, illustrates how they brought accusations against both Jesus and his cousin John. Their lives, representing opposite ends of the social spectrum, were nothing like the lives of the religious elite. Then, Jesus is accused of wielding demonic power (Mt 12:24). Why? Because his testimony; his experience; his expression of the Kingdom, was incongruent with the status quo. Accepting his life and ministry would call into question a deeply entrenched, religious edifice.

To dismiss the testimony or experience of someone, out of fear, is to reject the Spirit's call; an invitation into an encounter with Jesus. Doing so leaves us deaf and blind; oblivious to what Papa is saying and doing.

You see, if you and I have the very Spirit of God within us, we have an obligation to recognize His presence within and upon another. Like Mary at the tomb, or the Emmaus Road brothers, Jesus may actually entrust others with the very things we need.

Is it possible to be deceived? Absolutely. But if our first response is denial, we're deceived already. Trust requires vulnerability. Vulnerability comes with risk. That's the essence of faith.

How vulnerable are we to believe first; to risk everything for things we don't completely understand?