Imitations
Satan has managed to bring forward a form which parades for the genuine emotions and actions of true Christianity. Friendliness is often seen for love. It may be, but one can show a form of friendship in brief encounters which is entirely different from genuine friendship which would cause a man to lay down his life for his friend. It takes a genuine love for country to fight for country. It takes a true love for wife or family if one is willing to sacrifice his own health for the sake of wife or family. Illustrations could be continued. Suffice it to say that love for God must be genuine, showing in deed and in truth, and not just in words.

The words "I love," are meaningful only when the whole person and all circumstances reinforce those words. If one loves God He will keep His words, meaning that he will obey what He says (John 14:23). Among the things he says is that one should be a witness to others. A witness must know by experience - by sight or engagement - what he is reporting. One reason we are such poor witnesses is that we have experienced so little of God's deliverances; we know so little of true joy of fellowship with Him.

Satan is so subtle until he manages to bring the unsuspecting to overcome this lack of true communion with God through experiences which he comes to call "God's provisions." I illustrate this with a recent "witness" at my door.

I was outside working in the yard and two men came up, presumably to ask directions to a part of the community. I gave the directions, but they were not ready to leave. They knew I was the pastor of the church building standing close by. But they wanted to witness. Did they presume that I did not know God at all, or was their thought that I likely was a formalistic minister who only gave lessons from the pulpit and did not know anything about prayer or receiving from the Lord?

What was their testimony? It was that God gives us what we pray for. We only need to have faith to get what we need. (They could have asked Him for directions to where they were supposedly going.)

One of them told me about how he had found property for living purposes here where it is too high for most people to rent or lease, and all without any money at all. Others, he said, would pay $695 and up for a unit where he had a whole condominium for free. He told me this presumably to illustrate how God is gracious and gives us the things that we need. I hope he truly has such faith and gets such results from God. But the impression I got was: I am a man with the kind of faith you ought to have. Then you could get whatever you need. I had just been thinking before he walked up about the covetousness which is prophesied for these last days - men loving silver, boasting, proud, etc. (2 Timothy 3:2). It is very easy to mix our own pride into events and circumstances so that we make a situation that satisfies our own pride and adds nothing to God's glory in the eyes of others. Beware of the cult of riches.