Not everyone who says, “I believe in God,” is actually walking with God. We’re told to test every spirit. Yes, this is to safeguard our own soul, but it’s not just everyone else’s spirit we’re supposed to test. To see the evidence of God, you have to test your own spirit first.

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Many of us get through most, if not all, of our lives leaning on our own understanding of what “life” is. We live a little bit of life and make our own definitions for things like: life, purpose, strength, prosperity, and even love. We search for truth in a world full of lies, and eventually, the lies swallow us whole, and we walk the rest of our lives blinded in darkness.

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Once you’re blind, you can’t then give yourself sight. If you never regain your sight, you’ll lead your children, your family, and everyone else around you into your blindness… into your darkness. If you were raised in darkness, raised in blindness, how do you really know you can’t see? This is why we have to test our own spirit.

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You won’t see His light until you can recognize and accept your darkness, no matter what the origin of that darkness is.

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So why do so many get stuck in the dark? Because most of us don’t realize we’re blind.

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Remember those lies that swallow you whole? Do any of these sound familiar?

“Nobody is perfect.”

“We’re all sinners.”

“It’s okay if you sin as long as you repent.”

“We’ll never be perfect until we die.”

While these are all true, they’re all only half truths.

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Nobody is perfect, but anybody can be made perfect.

We’re all sinners, until we’re purified through the fire.

It’s okay if you sin as long as you repent and turn away from your sin.

We’ll never be perfect until we die (spiritually); then we are born again, washed clean of our previous imperfect sin-ridden self.

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The Devil wants you to believe that sin is normal. He wants you to believe there is no way to change it, that it’s bound to happen anyway cause that’s the way the world is. He wants you to remain trapped in your sin. If you fall for his lies, his deception, he wins.

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You have to test your spirit… because that’s where you discover your need for Jesus.

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So what are you supposed to look for? You look for the areas, the deep dark corners, of your soul that are still chained. You look for the places where you continue to sin, regardless of what is in your heart, regardless of what your intent is. If you’re still sinning, you still have chains. If you’re still sinning, you’re still not putting complete trust in God, because He’s the only one who can help you stop.

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Do you lie to keep peace?

Do you lie to spare another’s feelings?

Do you use God’s name to fit your gain?

Do you use the Sabbath to do whatever you want to do?

Do you disgrace your parents?

Do you hold unnecessary anger towards anyone in your heart?

Do you agree with any form of murder? (abortion, euthanasia, homicide, etc)

Do you have eyes for anyone who is not your spouse?

Do you take anything when it’s not yours?

Do you change the narrative to protect yourself?

Do you prioritize anything over God?

Do you live in fear and dissatisfaction because you have less than others? (money, house, recognition, hot spouse, food, cars, toys, etc)

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Any and all of these are sins. Any and all of these create separation between us and God. Any and all of these invite demons, invite the Devil, into your house, into your heart. But God is the ruler of the house… that’s why He is the only one who can cleanse it. But He’s a loving and merciful God, so He won’t make moves… unless you ask Him to.

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When God moves in, the demons have no choice but to move out. When God makes your heart His home, you can’t continue in your sin… because God is living in you.

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1 John 2:1-6

“My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world. And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him: whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.”

1 John 2:7-11

“Beloved, I am writing you no new commandment, but an old commandment that you had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word that you have heard. At the same time, it is a new commandment that I am writing to you, which is true in him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining. Whoever says he is in the light and hates his brother is still in darkness. Whoever loves his brother abides in the light, and in him there is no cause for stumbling. But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.”

1 John 2:15-17

“Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.”

1 John 3:4-10

“Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness. You know that he appeared in order to take away sins, and in him there is no sin. No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him. Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous. Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s seed abides in him; and he cannot keep on sinning, because he has been born of God. By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother.”

1 John 3:19-22

“By this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before him; for whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and he knows everything. Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God; and whatever we ask we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him.”

1 John 4:18

“There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.”

2 Corinthians 5:17

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”

Colossians 3:5-11

“Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming. In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all.”

Ephesians 4:17-32

“Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. But that is not the way you learned Christ!— assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil. Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need. Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.”

Matthew 5:21-22

“Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment: But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.”

Matthew 5:27-28

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”

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When you turn to God, truly and fully turn to God, He builds a new you.

But…

He can’t build up a new you…

Without breaking down the old you.

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Let the old you die…

So the new you can rise from the ashes.