I am a firm believer that you should practice what you preach. Now, although I don't consider myself to be a preacher, I do seek to share the word of God and to help encourage other believers in their walk with Jesus. Because of the fact that I do believe that our actions should align with our words, I have taken more breaks than usual in between my writing recently in order to take a good look at my life, regroup, and place my sights and my actions back into to the will of God.

This past week I had the privilege of going on spring break with an amazing group of girls and with the plenty of downtime that we had and the absence of the millions of activities and responsibilities we had back home, I was able to look at my life and the way I had been living and see what went wrong.

In one of Lecrae's songs called "Wish" he talks about looking back at his past and all the things he wished he could change or wish he could take back. As he was describing his past he says this:

I probably passed on a whole lot of truth But I know about a whole lot of lies

I've heard this song a million times, but for some reason as I was sitting on the balcony on the beach listening to this song, that line stirred deep within me. Although I had been living in a way that I knew was not glorifying the Lord and although I knew that the Bible would tell me that I was sinning.. It just didn't feel like it. It didn't feel like I was doing anything wrong. It was then on that balcony that I realized that I had passed on a whole lot of truth and was believing a whole bunch of lies..

I was deceived.

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Many wise people have told me throughout my life that I shouldn't ever base my decisions and my actions off of my feelings. Proverbs 14:12 says this,

"There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death."

As human's, it is easy to become deceived whenever we are not sharpening ourselves with the truth of the word of the Lord. Even so, I have been in many situations where I was constantly surrounded by the word of the Lord and people who poured into me and still, I lived an entire part of my life very deceived. The Bible tells us that satan has come to kill, steal and destroy, and one of the biggest weapons he uses to do that (and the deadliest), at least in my life, has been through feeding us lies. He likes to get up all close and personal and feed us lies about ourself, this world, our purpose and even worse, our God.

Now I do not tell you this to scare you, actually the opposite. We have full reign and victory over satan and he has no power in Jesus Christ. But I tell you this because often times when we are deceived and believing a lie, we don't actually know it or realize it. Just like i've been, there are some of you out there that know that the things you are doing or saying do not align with the will of God but because you have believed a lie, it doesn't feel like you're doing anything wrong at all. Like the verse says, "There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death." But let me tell you this and I hope it resonates with you...

Just because something seems right or feels right does not mean that it is. 

I sit here with my own version of Lecrae's song about the things that I wish didn't happen or wish that I could take back. Things that i've done and lies that i've believed that even though God has shown His glory through them, still are things that I regret deep down and wish that someone would've told me the lies of this world. That following your heart and doing what you feel was a lie. That it is ok to be physical with a boy before you've been pronounced in marriage is a lie. That it's ok to revel in drunkeness all the time with your friends on the weekend is a lie. That you're in college so that gives you an excuse to live a worldly life is a lie. That it's a lie that living in anxiety and depression was a normal thing that we should just have to live with. That it's a lie that God's power isn't able to provide divine healing, deliverance of satantic powers and to provide people with the incredible gift of being baptized in the Holy Spirit and speaking in tongues. That it's a lie that you're not able to have authority over satan and to flee from and resist the temptations that he throws at you. That it's a lie that someone my age couldn't touch the lives of many. That it's a lie that my worth amounted to almost nothing. That it's a lie that my sins now are ok as long as i'm going to fix them later on. That it's a lie that I could keep abusing the insanely incredible forgiveness that God has given us in order to keep sinning and fulfilling my selfish desires.

There are thousands more that I could name. And I know that some of you are not gonna like what I have to say and may even stop reading because of it. But if you're serious about God then sometimes it takes someone to be serious about His word. And to speak truth into your life where satan and this world have placed plenty of lies.

It is time to take a hard look our lives and realize the lies that we are believing. The only way to combat those lies are with truth and that is found in Jesus. The bible says that,

"For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart." Hebrews 4:12

If we truly do claim ourselves to be followers of Jesus Christ, it is time to start calling sin a sin and believing that God's word is the truth. Even if it doesn't feel that way, even if you're convinced that sin is ok, you have to choose whether you're going to believe yourself, satan, or Jesus? And if you choose to instead believe what the Lord tells us to be true and you follow it, Jesus Christ will invade your life so powerfully with the understanding and the knowledge of the Spirit that no lie will be able to deceive you anymore.

I know that many of you, like myself, know what it's like to feel regret. To feel the pain and suffering of a life that does lead to death, and the consequences that arise from that. But it doesn't have to be that way. For those of you who recognize ways that you have been deceived and notice lies that you have accepted, stop right here. Stop right here and call sin a sin. Stop right here and don't rely on your own understanding but rely on God's. Stop right here and get real with yourself and God so that you don't have to add more to that list of regrets.

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Colossians tells us to “put to death” whatever is earthly in us. Look at your life, look at your music, look at your friends, look at your thoughts and attitude, look at your words, look at your relationships and look at your actions and find the places that you are believing a lie. Find the places in your life that do not align with the Word of God and choose to say, "God, I believe that what you say is true and that what I am believing has to be a lie. And I choose to follow your word rather than my own desires." And then do it. Walk in the way that God has called you to walk and get rid of all that holds you back from it, even if it doesn't make sense. Because eventually it will.

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It's true that we reap what we sow. When we are walking in alignment with the will of God it produces life which reaps all the benefits of the fruit of the spirit which is, love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Moving forward, what it is that you want to reap? And what are you sowing right now in order to reap that kind of harvest in your life?

"Those who live only to satisfy their own sinful nature will harvest decay and destruction from that sinful nature. But those who live to please the Spirit will harvest everlasting life from the Spirit." Galatians 6:8

^"The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit."  Galatians 5:19-26

Don't be blinded any longer and don't choose to add anymore to your list of regrets and list of defeats. Trust that the word of God is true and that we serve a mighty, powerful and incredible God that is good and sovereign and faithful and wants us to be able to live the life that He created for each and every one of us and that is a life of freedom and power and peace. One of boldness and love and overcoming.

Don't settle for less.

And don't let yourself believe that any other kind of life is greater than the glory that God has for you in His plan.