A Counterfeit Home

Read this slowly and imagine the words about Home:  “At night across the mountains when darkness falls and the winds sweep down out of the hollows, the wild things with their shiny eyes come to the edge of the clearing.  At such an hour the house seems safe and warm, an island of light and love in a sea of darkness…   …the vision of a mother’s face, a father’s deep voice, the aroma of fresh baked bread, sunshine in a window, the muted sounds of rain on a roof…the cry of a newborn babe, and voices calling ‘goodnight.’  Home, an island, a refuge, a haven of love.”

This excerpt of Home was John Boy’s epilogue of Season 1, Episode 15, “The Actress,” from The Waltons.  I don’t recall the episode, but I replayed the DVD until I had these words on paper.  They evoke such peace!  I used to watch a lot of old t.v. shows searching for that feeling of peace.  I believe that many of the “old” shows are so beloved as we age (even when we didn’t watch them as kids) because they present an aspect of God’s TRUTH.  And TRUTH = PEACE.  While we can learn things from shows, we cannot live the show, and once the set is off, it is back to real life.  The life we have created.

Did you know that Satan has a counterfeit for almost everything God has given to us?

Counterfeit money looks like the real thing on the surface – but it doesn’t spend the same way with people who know the truth.

Look around you – look for counterfeits masquerading as truth in your life.  They will look good on the surface…but the item or relationship or situation will not work…there will be a niggling little doubt in your mind…because it is God’s gift TWISTED.  There will be just enough truth to look good.  But at the end there is a twist of the knife that will sever, instead of strengthen, your God-given relationship.

Living together is a counterfeit marriage.  Your marriage has been stolen from you!  Living together is play-acting.  I know.  I did it years ago and I regret it.  It was one of the biggest mistakes of my life.  If we had gotten married, we'd still be married.  Instead, we chose a counterfeit relationship, and no-one expected this counterfeit to last, and it didn't.  We had no support, and we certainly didn't have God's blessing.

Day care is a counterfeit home environment.  Harsh, but true.  Sometimes necessary, as when one spouse has died, but it is no longer a last resort, as with all previous generations.  Every day your child is away from your care and training, is a day stolen from your love and guidance.  Every child becomes like his teacher.  Don't you want to be that teacher?

Magazines and advertisements of organized closets and perfect homes are a counterfeit reality.  It's okay to look if it inspires, but when we become discontent with what we have, and especially when we go into debt to fix-up a house that the bank is probably the real owner of, we are living in a counterfeit reality.  Magazines and advertisements do not have people that occupy the homes.  There are only 4 outfits in the closets, and the make-believe child only owns 3 old-fashioned toys.  How many hours do you spend watching HGTV living in a counterfeit reality instead of just simply cleaning and clearing out the space your currently live in?  (I know, I was on that kick, too.)

Pornography and fornication is a counterfeit of true love.

Has your peaceful house been stolen by the lie of perfection?

Has your mind been stolen by the lie of ungodly lyrics?

Has your peace been stolen by the lie of idolatry?

Has your life time been stolen by the lie of more money?

This will ring TRUTH for some.  I know, because for many of these, someone had to suggest to me I might be living in Satan’s counterfeit plan.  I looked good on the surface…but I didn’t have God’s peace.

Ask God to open your eyes to Satan’s lies in your life…and to open your eyes to HIS TRUTH.  Amazing things can happen! 

The riveting book “Stormie” by Stormie Omartian was my first glimpse into taking a critical look at the life I had created and weeding out all of Satan’s lies.  When she talked about taking a look at all of the items in her home that were idols or offensive to God, she threw them out.  I put down her book and took a look at my own home.  I was keeping pagan gods in my home because they were a gift!  They were on my dishtowels, masks, decorative trays, pictures, calendars.  When I rid my home of these items, I then went through my music albums.  Then movies.  Then I was able to take a look at what I did with my time.  

We are all prone to Satan’s counterfeits.  There’s an old saying that if he can’t make you sin, he’ll make you busy.  We all fight it.  I pray that you will right now, take a look around your house and at how you spend your time alone, with your children, and with your husband, and ask for God to show you His truth, to take any blinders off your eyes so you can live in peace and truth.  We all need to do this periodically.  May God bless you as you walk with Him!