330 – Don’t be Scammed By Something That Is Too Good To Be True

#faithbites #faithjourney scammed

This is hard for me to admit as I used to work in IT security. Not only that but I ran departments and know a thing or two about how scammers work. On Black Friday though, I fell for it. I found a deal on a 3D printer that was too good to be true. A $299 printer on sale for $29.99 plus $10 for shipping. Sure it was crazy, but on Black Friday who knows. I spent a lot of time examining the product to make sure it was a good printer. I didn’t even think to check seller. To make it worse, I posted it and my brother “bought” one too. For the rest of the night and the weekend, I researched the printer, looked at what I would print first including printer upgrades. I was excited as I never buy anything for my self.

Then I decided to check my confirmation number. I never received an email through my brother did. So I checked out the website and it was down. Then I tried to contact them and no responses. I even working with the domain host to find out what they can do. All that being said, I was scammed out of my money. The $40 doesn’t both me as much as the wasted time, the excitement I was going to have, and having someone else fall for it.

Guess what? Faith is like that too. If something is too good to be true, it might be.

Scripture

• 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.- 1 John 4:1
• But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction. – 2 Peter 2:1
• But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in my name that I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that same prophet shall die.’ And if you say in your heart, ‘How may we know the word that the Lord has not spoken?’— when a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, if the word does not come to pass or come true, that is a word that the Lord has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously. You need not be afraid of him. – Deuteronomy 18:20-22

Reflection

I was scammed in trying to get something that was too good to be true. In our passages, we see that God is true and eternal. But at the same time from the beginning, there have been false prophets and those who try to speak in God’s name but speak the devil’s world. All denominations have and continue to have these false prophets. Even those not attached to a church have false prophets. But how do we know what to believe?

I believe in the Word of God. I believe that it is inspired by God and needs to be looked at holistically. My personal denomination, Lutheran, was founded by Martin Luther who believed that the Catholic Church at the time, this is 500 years ago, didn’t follow the word of God. He had the word translated into the language of the people.

We are all human. We want something for nothing. How great would it be to hear someone say you get everything you ever wanted by doing bad? What if that person convinced you that the bad wasn’t bad was helped you get closer to God? These are the scams we see every day. I know that I did nothing to deserve the forgiveness of Christ but I accept it. This was foretold in the old testament, and it was a sacrifice from God to bring us together. To me, that isn’t being scammed as it is his word.

In looking back at my purchase, I should have been more diligent. I should have taken the time to research the company and not just the product to make sure I was getting the real deal. In our faith, we have to be even more diligent. We need to seek out the will of God through his word.

Charge

Do you use the same diligence in your faith that you do when searching for a “good deal”? Are you listening to false prophets including the world? Take time to go back to his word. See what the word says, then pray. He will guide you.

Lord, help me to not give in to the temptations of the world. Let me see what is true and not a scam. Help us all to know that you are with us and will never have us commit evil acts for salvation.