Dear Church Family,
I had outlined another topic for today, but a 90-minute interruption changed that. I received a call that informed me I faced criminal charges for drug dealing. The caller hesitated to give me any details of when and where I engaged in this illegal activity. She then passed me on to her supervisor in the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA). He thanked me for my cooperation and let me know all my finances would be frozen in the next few days. With his help he indicated some of the problems could be lessened.
Surprise and confusion filled me. Other then picking up a prescription at CVS or other drugstores, I have never trafficked in drugs. His tone changed when I asked where this drug dealing occurred. He let me know I had been seen at two locations in El Paso, Texas. I breathed a sigh of relief as I have never set foot in that city. But the DEA agent then let me know I was still on the hook for financial crimes as my Social Security number had been used on over 20 credit cards and multiple fraudulent loans. I faced up to 30 years in prison as well as fines and payment of restitution.
To shorten the story, I realized this was nothing but attempted identity theft. I will spare you the details, but my bank has set up a fraud alert and I do not plan to lose any sleep over this. I might get LifeLock to protect against further scams.
At last I could relax a little. My thoughts went Biblical. I realized Satan relishes his evil role as an identity thief. In Matthew 4:6 he tempts Jesus by questioning His divine identity with, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down.” Satan then misquotes Scripture (a favorite tactic today) to persuade Jesus to jump off the highest part of the temple. Of course, Jesus responded as He did to all three of the temptations Satan brought to Him with Scripture. Jesus’ rooted His identity in what the inspired Word of God said.
Satan will try to rob us of our identity in Christ. He might get us to doubt the truth of the Bible. He could tell us our sin is so bad God will never forgive us. He has a warehouse full of tricks that lead us away from remembering that Jesus has died for our sins and that God has adopted us as His children. He will try with all his might to get us to deny the words of Romans 8:38-39 that nothing “will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
I hope you and I can learn from the attempt to steal my identity today. It would be terrible to have to get all those matters put back in order. Remember, your identity in your Savior and Lord is secure!
Living by grace to His glory,
Pastor Gillikin