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Compounding Effect of God

February 18, 2023February 18, 2023 Sheri YatesLeave a comment

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How do you make a big impact in the kingdom of God?

In Nehemiah, they rebuilt the wall that had been down for 150 years. They had tried to repair the wall, but they failed. Have you ever embarked on a huge project, and it turned out to be bigger than you, larger than anything you can imagine? You start working on it, and it’s too big to overcome?

The only way to overcome a massive project like that is to break it down into the smallest steps, the simplest ones that anyone can carry out. That’s what Nehemiah did. He had each person repair the wall outside their home. “So our city walls are torn down. What if we repair the walls just in our two next-door neighbors? One to the left and one to the right? What if we just worked on those?”

What they found out is the enemy doesn’t like restoration. The enemy doesn’t want us to repair broken-down people or rebuild and take away strongholds. No, the enemy wants us with our defenses down and easily attacked. He wants our neighbors to stay in bondage, and because of that, he sends obstacles, threats, and all kinds of barriers into our path.

So what Nehemiah did was say, “Hey, we gotta fight against the enemy who is trying to come in, but keep working at the same time.” Often, we’re either all out throwing down in fighting or all out working. So what we need to do is do what Nehemiah did. What he did was he said, “Hey. I need to have three hands holding a weapon and defeating and fending off the enemy so that the worker with one hand can keep busy and continue his work.” So for every four hands, four hands defended against the enemy, and one hand did the work.

If we want to see the compounding effects of God’s work in our world, we have to have three hands with a sword and one doing the work. Today, those continuously praying are holding back forces we can’t see in the spirit realm for those doing all the labor. They’re clearing the roadway. The spirit realm is like an interstate with a major traffic jam. The only way to clear it is through prayer because God’s angels will come and push back that darkness.

So when we want to see the compounding effects of God’s work in the things we’re doing, we need to assign people that are called and equipped and gifted with prayer and have them intercede on our behalf while we’re doing the work.

The Compounding Effect of God

September 23, 2022 Sheri YatesLeave a comment

blog image

How do you make a big impact in the kingdom of God?

In Nehemiah, they rebuilt the wall that had been torn down for 150 years. They had actually tried to repair the wall but failed. Have you ever embarked on a really large project that was bigger than you and anything you could have imagined? Did you start working on it, but it ended up being too big for you to overcome?

The city walls are torn down. Repairing the whole thing looks like a huge undertaking. But what if each of us repairs the portion of the wall between his two next-door neighbors, one to the left and one to the right? What if we just work on that bit? That doesn’t seem so bad.

What they found out is the enemy doesn’t like restoration. The enemy doesn’t want us to repair broken-down people or repair and take away strongholds. No, the enemy wants us with our defenses down so we are easy to attack. He wants our neighbors to stay in bondage. To that end, he sends obstacles and threats and all kinds of barriers into our path.

Nehemiah knew they needed to find a way to fight against the enemy who was trying to come in and also keep working at the same time. A lot of times, we are either all throwing down in fighting or all working. We need to do what Nehemiah did. He made sure three hands were holding a weapon and fending off the enemy so the worker could keep busy with his free hand and continue the work (Nehemiah 4:16–18). For every four hands, three hands defended against the enemy, and one hand did the work.

If we want to see the compounding effects of God’s work in our world, we need to have three hands holding swords and one hand doing the work. What that means for us today is in our session praying, those people who are praying continuously are holding back forces of darkness we can’t see in the spirit realm for those doing all the labor. They are clearing the roadway, if you will. Let’s say your car is stopped on an interstate because there’s a major traffic jam, but you can’t actually see what the problem is. That’s like the spirit realm. There’s a traffic jam, and the only way to clear it is through prayer because God’s angels will come and push back that darkness.

When we want to see the compounding effects of God’s work in the things we are doing, we need to assign people who are called, gifted, and equipped with prayer and have them intercede on our behalf while we are doing the work.

Are Negative Thoughts Running Your Life?

April 14, 2016June 22, 2017 Sheri YatesLeave a comment

Resist the devil.

There are many times when negative thoughts will pop into your head and cause you to feel as if you’re not loved by anyone and you’re all alone. Recently Robin Williams committed suicide. He had depression. You know, this whole problem had to start with a negative thought. One negative thought is not a big deal until it builds into a mountain of negative thoughts.

It is essential we learn to differentiate between good and evil thoughts. As Jesus put it, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full” (John 10:10 NIV). If a destructive thought enters your mind and tries to steal the hope, faith, love, and peace you have in Jesus Christ, why would you even consider letting it be okay? Well, the truth is you probably wouldn’t think much of it because one negative thought isn’t a big deal unless you allow it to take root. Then other negative thoughts creep in and build on it, and destruction takes hold.

We must learn to recognize that those stealing thoughts are from the enemy. They are from the devil. James wrote, “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you” (James 4:7 NIV). It sounds simple, right? It is simple, but it also requires hard work. We need to be active in our resistance. This mental effort is part of submitting ourselves to God. When we’re not resisting those negative thoughts, we’re actually submitting to the devil.

There is no gray area, no middle ground, no in-between. You can’t accept a destructive thought and claim you’re submitting to God. When we submit to God, “we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5 NIV). If we are fully surrendered to God, we actually want to rid our minds of every harmful thought. We don’t want to keep those thoughts because we know they are not His.

I have noticed many Christians struggle with determining whether the thoughts and influences peppering our minds are from God or from the enemy. We have trouble sorting through everything. Many of us are living in a constant state of confusion. The uncertainty provides a foothold for negativity. We start to recall all of our sins. We know we’re guilty. We know the punishment our sin deserves. We start to believe the destructive thoughts are God’s way of punishing us.

I can assure you with 100 percent certainty that God is not looking for opportunities to bring you down. He is full of compassion towards you. He is not trying to find reasons to be mad at you (Isaiah 54:9–10 NIV). The devil, on the other hand, stands ready to leap into every gap in our faith. The enemy wants to deceive you. He wants you to believe the damaging thoughts are from God because then you will receive them.

Once you allow negative thoughts to take hold, they will poison your mind. They will shackle you and prevent you from moving forward in the work God has for you to do. Pessimism will hold you in captivity. You will be a slave, and you will remain in bondage so long as you allow the negative thoughts to consume you. You won’t be living in the fullness of the freedom Jesus paid dearly for you to experience.

The good news is God provides us with everything we need to resist destructive thoughts. If we “take up the shield of faith,” we “can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one” (Ephesians 6:16 NIV). We possess the equipment; what we need is a battle plan.

Step one: Pay attention to what you are thinking. We need to be aware of all our thoughts, and we need to learn how to distinguish between thoughts in step with God’s truth and God’s ways and thoughts from the enemy or our own flesh. The best way to learn the difference is to study the Bible. God will speak to you and teach you as you read His Word. You will learn to recognize His voice.

Step two: Resist the devil. Isolate destructive thoughts and refuse to accept them. When you feel tempted to view pornography, when you notice an attractive man and start wanting him more than your husband, when you are shopping and covet clothes you can’t afford, when you envy someone who seems to be more successful than you are, when you view your reflection in the mirror and start criticizing the way God formed you—those are the times when you need to surrender your thoughts to the cross of Jesus Christ.

Turn to God’s Word. Keep it nearby, in your heart and on a notepad or on your phone. Seek God’s truth and rely on His promises. Put your full faith in Him. Be sure to replace the sinful thoughts immediately with the truth because, as Jesus warned, if you kick evil out and don’t replace it with anything, it will return seven times as strong (Luke 11:24–26 NIV).

The Compounding Effect of God

March 3, 2016 Sheri YatesLeave a comment

How do you make a big impact in the kingdom of God?

In Nehemiah, they rebuilt the wall that had been torn down for 150 years. They had actually tried to repair the wall but failed. Have you ever embarked on a really large project that was bigger than you and anything you could have imagined? Did you start working on it, but it ended up being too big for you to overcome?

Well, the only way to accomplish a huge project is to break it down into the smallest of baby steps that anyone could carry out. That’s what Nehemiah did. He had people repair the wall outside of their own home.

The city walls are torn down. Repairing the whole thing looks like a huge undertaking. But what if each of us repairs the portion of the wall between his two next-door neighbors, one to the left and one to the right? What if we just work on that bit? That doesn’t seem so bad.

What they found out is that the enemy doesn’t like restoration. The enemy doesn’t want us to repair broken-down people or repair and take away strongholds. No, the enemy wants us with our defenses down so we are easy to attack. He wants our neighbors to stay in bondage. To that end, he sends obstacles and threats and all kinds of barriers into our path.

Nehemiah knew they needed to find a way to fight against the enemy who was trying to come in and keep working at the same time. A lot of times, we are either all throwing down in fighting or all working. We need to do what Nehemiah did. He made sure that three hands were holding a weapon and fending off the enemy so that the worker could keep busy with his free hand and continue the work (Nehemiah 4:16–18). For every four hands, three hands defended against the enemy, and one hand did the work.

If we want to see the compounding effects of God’s work in our world, we need to have three hands holding swords and one hand doing the work. What that means for us today is that in our session praying, those people who are praying continuously are holding back forces of darkness we can’t see in the spirit realm for those doing all the labor. They are clearing the roadway, if you will. Let’s say your car is stopped on an interstate because there’s a major traffic jam, but you can’t actually see what the problem is. That’s like the spirit realm. There’s a traffic jam, and the only way to clear it is through prayer because God’s angels will come and push back that darkness.