Welcome to another word of encouragement from the Our Daily Bread Devotional.

Today's reading is titled Look at the Fruit, and it was written by John Blaze.

Will the real, insert person's name here, please stand up?

That's the familiar line at the end of the game show to tell the truth.

A panel of four celebrities asks questions of three individuals claiming to be the same person.

Of course, two are impostors, but it's up to the panel to discern the actual person.

In one episode, the celebrities tried to guess the real Johnny Marks,

who wrote the lyrics to Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer.

The celebrities found out how difficult it was to figure out who's who,

even when asking good questions.

Impostors finagle the truth, which made for

entertaining television. Discerning who's who when it comes to false teachers is a far cry from

television game show antics, but it can be equally as challenging and is infinitely more important.

The ferocious wolves often come to us in sheep's clothing,

and in Matthew 7, Jesus warns even the wise among us to watch out. The best test is not so much good questions, but good eyes. Look at their fruit, for that's how you'll recognize them.

Scripture gives us assistance in seeing good and bad fruit. The good looks like love,

joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

We've got to pay close attention, for wolves play by deception.

But as believers who are filled with the spirit, we serve the real good shepherd, full of grace

and truth.

Today's Our Daily Bread devototional Scripture reading is from Matthew

Chapter 7, verses 15 through 20.

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