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The Authenticity Test

¹ Listen, cowboys. Just because some hombre rides up claiming to have the Spirit in his life don't make it so. There's been a ton of counterfeit cowboys who have made the same claim. ² If you ain't sure whether or not someone really has the Holy Ghost, just put 'em through the authenticity test. Ask them if they have faith that Jesus was God and came to earth as a real person. ³ Those who deny it are counterfeit cowboys. They don't have the Holy Ghost, but the devil's spirit of lies inside 'em. You've heard that the Antichrist would come, but he is already here in many ways.

⁴ But don't fret none, cowboys. You ride for God and have already defeated all these counterfeit cowboys. The Holy Ghost inside you is vastly more powerful than the lies in them. ⁵ These counterfeit cowboys talk only of things in this world and how to get them. That's because they are slaves to this world, not God. ⁶ But we are God's very own crew. Those who want to know him listen to us. Those who don't want to know him shun us. It's as simple as that. This is how we can tell the difference between authentic cowboys and counterfeit ones.

Tie Hard and Fast to Love

⁷ Cowboys, we've got to love one another. God loves us and we pay it forward to others. Whoever loves another rides for God and knows Him. ⁸ Those who don't love don't ride for the brand. ⁹ God showed us his love by sending his only Boy to give us life. ¹⁰ This is what tying hard and fast to love looks like. It's ain't about how much we love God, but about how much he loved us by sending his Son in order to forgive our sins.

¹¹ Pards, if this is how much God loves us, then we should pay that love forward to others. ¹² Ain't no one ever laid eyes on God, but when we love others, he rides with us and we ride with him. His love makes us complete and authentic.

¹³ We're certain we ride for him and he rides for us because of the presence of the Holy Ghost in our lives. ¹⁴ While we haven't seen God, we did see his Son who he sent to be the rescuer of the world. ¹⁵ If we live in the truth that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, we ride for him and he rides with us. ¹⁶ Like I've said, we know and believe just how much God loves us.

God is love and those who love others ride for his outfit. ¹⁷ That love we have of his grows in us each and every day so that on the day of reckoning, we will be able to have courage and confidence. Jesus wouldn't be worried about that day and since we ride for him, we won't worry about it either. ¹⁸ Real love has no fear. Perfect love like God's drives away all fear. A person who is afraid doesn't realize how much God loves them. Fear comes from being afraid of punishment and we are destined for glory, not punishment.

¹⁹ We love because God loved us first and best. ²⁰ If we say we love God, but hate others, that makes us liars. You cannot love God, who you have not seen, without loving those who you have seen. ²¹ It all boils down to what Jesus told us, if you love God then you'll love others.