Category: Mind

Temple Fitness

Sheri YatesLeave a comment
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Don’t be so focused on the physical that your eyes are not on the eternal. There is tremendous worship and spirituality in taking care of your temple because it’s God’s house. But for so many people, it is all they talk about. 

All they think about is every meal and every detail. They are obsessed and consumed with: “I don’t eat this. I only eat that. I don’t do this. I do that. I flavor with this. I flavor with that.” I can see how people like me can be annoying to the rest of society because we do put a ton of focus on working out and eating a certain way.
We have to keep in mind that we are aliens in this world. This is not our home. We are not of this world. But if we don’t take care of our temple, we won’t be in this world, either. There is a good balance.

We constantly need to remember that it’s not what we put in our mouths that defines us; it is what comes out of our mouths. We need to be careful about how we talk. We need to be careful of our aggressiveness. I am so guilty of this—almost aggressively saying, “My way is the right and only way.” But it’s not loving or kind. If you are having to be aggressive and mean about something, then maybe your opinion is fueled by a lie or some wound or hurt you have been through that has made you mean and aggressive to anything mean or an opposition.
I want us to be eternally minded and make sure our focus is on God. If we eat something not on the plan, or if we have to eat something that isn’t hormone free, or if we need to eat a grain and we are on paleo, or if we have to eat a carb and we’re on a ketogenic diet, then we should recognize it is prayer over our food that cleanses it. It’s not the food itself. You cannot put your hope and faith in your food. It’s only emptiness. It’s going to come up empty every time.
So let us keep our minds on the eternal and not focus too much on the physical, because we are aliens in this world.

Reverse Thinking

Sheri YatesLeave a comment
The mind is a tricky thing.

I think that’s why the Scriptures say to take every thought captive. This doesn’t mean to take only negative thoughts or only some thoughts captive. It means to take every single thought captive and make it obedient to Christ. The reason we are supposed to do this is because even positive thoughts are not healthy for us if they don’t line up with the truth of the word of God.

If I pump myself up with facts or ideas about myself but it’s not God’s word, then it is not beneficial to me, or to anything for that matter. Life-giving words are truth-filled words that God Himself has spoken and ordained for us.

Our mind can be a tricky weapon, easily used against us if we aren’t guarding our heart, taking our thoughts captive, and making our mind obey the will and the love of God.

One of the things my husband always talks about is doing reverse thinking—doing the opposite of what your mind tells you. Your mind wants to run in fear sometimes, or your mind will choose to do what is logical, but what we need to do is what the Spirit says. 

That isn’t what our mind would say. If your mind would run in fear, do the opposite. Run towards the “yes.” If your mind rationalizes, “Okay, this is the reason we can’t go,” then tell your mind to shut up—and go!

Remember, you can only trust your mind’s way of thinking if it lines up with God’s way of thinking.

Being Obedient to God

Sheri YatesLeave a comment
This is a dangerous statement because our society today tells us, “Just be you. Be who you are. You know who you are. Do what your heart desires. Fulfill your desires.”

I’ve learned the hard way to be careful about sharing this because it only exists for those people who are searching the heart of God in all of their ways—not some of their ways, not only in church on Sunday morning, but in all of their ways. They acknowledge God in all of their ways.

Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. (Proverbs 3:5-6 NIV) 

That word ‘acknowledge’ there means to know God relationally. In everything you do, be in communion with God. That’s really what it means.


If you go out and do what you want to do, and that includes sleeping around and making immoral choices, then you are not acknowledging God in all of your ways. He is not a God of sin. This message is not designed for people who are trying to fulfill their fantasies or their sinful desires.

This is for people who are truly seeking God with all of their heart, soul, mind, and strength. They are seeking to know Him. They read the Word. They are falling in love with God more every day. Those people can do this. God gives them the desires of their hearts.

When you’re not really seeking Him, when He is not your first priority and you are not pursuing Him with everything you have because He is good and you want to know Him, then the desires of your heart may not be purely His. They may be your desires for the old things your flesh used to want—you know, bigger house, nicer car, better body, somebody to love you, somebody to fill your void. 

Well, God is your void filler. He is your house. You are His house. You have everything you need in Him, and there is nothing that you lack. Lack is not your portion when you are in Him. I think it takes a while after we begin seeking God for the desires of our heart to transfer from our old, worldly desires to His desires.

But once you are seeking Him and you really know who you are as His child, He puts His desires in your heart. He puts in you the desire to take care of orphans and widows. He gives you the desire to help people. He gives you the desire not to honk the horn and be mad at somebody who road raged you or drove you off the road. He gives you the desire to offer freedom and forgiveness. He gives you the desires of your heart because He is placing His desires in your heart.

The more you seek Him, the more you find Him and the more He gives you His desires. When that happens, you’ll know. If the desire in your heart is to go out and smoke and drink, that’s not it, okay? You’ll know when it’s God’s desire. If you’re walking and you see someone and think, “I feel like I should give this person twenty bucks,” that’s probably God’s desire in your heart. He is going to provide the twenty bucks, and He is going to want you to give the twenty bucks away.

You can trust that when you are seeking God with all of your heart, you are hearing from Him and He is putting His desires in your heart. When you are first learning to distinguish between God’s desires and the desires of your flesh, what you want to do is check His Word. See whether the desire in your heart lines up with how God teaches us to live in Scripture. If it doesn’t and it’s sinful, then you don’t want to follow that desire.

You hear, O LORD, the desire of the afflicted; you encourage them, and you listen to their cry, defending the fatherless and the oppressed, in order that man, who is of the earth, may terrify no more. (Psalm 10:17-18 NIV)

One of the things I do is let the peace of Christ rule in me. I wake up with God on my heart, and I want to be with Him all of the time. I am with Him all of the time, and He is with me. Before I do anything, I stop and wait for the peace of God to run over me. I ask, “Is this the peace of God?” There’s a difference between man’s direction and God’s, and God’s is always surrounded by tremendous peace.

Are Negative Thoughts Running Your Life?

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).

Being Obedient to God

Sheri YatesLeave a comment
This is a dangerous statement because our society today tells us, “Just be you. Be who you are. You know who you are. Do what your heart desires. Fulfill your desires.”

I’ve learned the hard way to be careful about sharing this because it only exists for those people who are searching the heart of God in all of their ways—not some of their ways, not only in church on Sunday morning, but in all of their ways. They acknowledge God in all of their ways.

Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. (Proverbs 3:5-6 NIV) 

That word ‘acknowledge’ there means to know God relationally. In everything you do, be in communion with God. That’s really what it means.


If you go out and do what you want to do, and that includes sleeping around and making immoral choices, then you are not acknowledging God in all of your ways. He is not a God of sin. This message is not designed for people who are trying to fulfill their fantasies or their sinful desires.

This is for people who are truly seeking God with all of their heart, soul, mind, and strength. They are seeking to know Him. They read the Word. They are falling in love with God more every day. Those people can do this. God gives them the desires of their hearts.

When you’re not really seeking Him, when He is not your first priority and you are not pursuing Him with everything you have because He is good and you want to know Him, then the desires of your heart may not be purely His. They may be your desires for the old things your flesh used to want—you know, bigger house, nicer car, better body, somebody to love you, somebody to fill your void. 

Well, God is your void filler. He is your house. You are His house. You have everything you need in Him, and there is nothing that you lack. Lack is not your portion when you are in Him. I think it takes a while after we begin seeking God for the desires of our heart to transfer from our old, worldly desires to His desires.

But once you are seeking Him and you really know who you are as His child, He puts His desires in your heart. He puts in you the desire to take care of orphans and widows. He gives you the desire to help people. He gives you the desire not to honk the horn and be mad at somebody who road raged you or drove you off the road. He gives you the desire to offer freedom and forgiveness. He gives you the desires of your heart because He is placing His desires in your heart.

The more you seek Him, the more you find Him and the more He gives you His desires. When that happens, you’ll know. If the desire in your heart is to go out and smoke and drink, that’s not it, okay? You’ll know when it’s God’s desire. If you’re walking and you see someone and think, “I feel like I should give this person twenty bucks,” that’s probably God’s desire in your heart. He is going to provide the twenty bucks, and He is going to want you to give the twenty bucks away.

You can trust that when you are seeking God with all of your heart, you are hearing from Him and He is putting His desires in your heart. When you are first learning to distinguish between God’s desires and the desires of your flesh, what you want to do is check His Word. See whether the desire in your heart lines up with how God teaches us to live in Scripture. If it doesn’t and it’s sinful, then you don’t want to follow that desire.

You hear, O LORD, the desire of the afflicted; you encourage them, and you listen to their cry, defending the fatherless and the oppressed, in order that man, who is of the earth, may terrify no more. (Psalm 10:17-18 NIV)

One of the things I do is let the peace of Christ rule in me. I wake up with God on my heart, and I want to be with Him all of the time. I am with Him all of the time, and He is with me. Before I do anything, I stop and wait for the peace of God to run over me. I ask, “Is this the peace of God?” There’s a difference between man’s direction and God’s, and God’s is always surrounded by tremendous peace.

Are Negative Thoughts Running Your Life?

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).

Being Obedient to God!

Sheri YatesLeave a comment
This is a dangerous statement because our society today, in our world—that’s what they say. “Just be you. Be who you are. Just be. You know who you are. Just do what your heart’s desire. Fulfill it.”

I’ve learned the hard way to be careful of sharing this because really, it only exists for those people who are searching the heart of God in all of their ways—not some of their ways, not only on church on Sunday morning—but in all of their ways. They’re acknowledging God in all of their ways.

Proverbs 3, 5 and 6 says, “Acknowledge God in all of your ways and he will make your path straight.” That word acknowledge there means to relationally know God. So in everything you do, relationally, just be in communion with God—that’s really what it means—in all of your ways.

If you go out and do what you wanna do, and that includes sleeping around and being immoral and making immoral choices, then you are not acknowledging God in all of your ways. He is not a God of sin. So this message is not for you. This is not designed for someone who is just trying to fulfill their fantasies or the desires of their heart.

This is for the person who is really seeking God with all their hearts, soul, mind, strength. They’re seeking to know him. They’re reading the word. They’re in the word. They’re falling in love with God more every day. Those people, they can really do this. God gives us the desires of our heart.

When you’re not really seeking him, and he’s not your first priority, and you’re not pursuing him with everything you have and chasing after him because he’s good and you just wanna know him, then that the desires of your heart may not be purely his. They may still be yours or for the old things that your flesh used to desire. You know, bigger house, nicer car, better body, somebody to love you, somebody to fill your void. Well God is your void filler. He is your house. You’re his house. You have everything you need in him and there’s nothing that you’re lacking. There is no lack. Lack is not your portion when you’re in him. I think that it takes a while after seeking God for desires of our heart to transfer from our old, worldly desires to his desires.

But once you’re seeking him and you’re really knowing who you are and you’re his child, you know what, he’s gonna put his desires in your heart. He’s gonna put the desire to take care of orphans and widows. He’s gonna give you the desire to help people. He give you the desire to not honk the horn and be mad at somebody because they road raged you or drove you off the road. He’s gonna give you the desire to offer freedom and forgiveness. He’s gonna give you the desire of your heart because he’s placing his desires in your heart.

The more you seek him, the more you find him; the more that you find him, the more that he just gives you his desires. When that happens, you’ll know. The desire in your heart is to go out and smoke and drink—that’s not it, okay? That’s not what it is. But you’ll know when it’s God’s desire. If you’re walking and you see someone and you think, “Gosh, I feel like I should give them 20 bucks,” you know what, that’s probably God’s desire in your heart. You know, you can sit there and say, “Well is this God or is this me? I don’t know. Is this God telling me to give him 20 bucks?” I mean, honestly, it’s probably God. You can trust that. You can trust that he’s putting his desires n you and they’re becoming your desires. He’s gonna give you the desires of your heart. He’s gonna provide the 20 bucks and he’s gonna want you to give the 20 bucks away.

So you can trust that when you’re seeking God with all of your heart, that you’re hearing from him and he’s putting his desires on your heart. What you wanna do is make sure you know that what he asked you to do lines up with the scripture. If it doesn’t and it’s sinful then that’s when you don’t want to listen.

So when you’re just first learning to just follow the desires of your heart because you know God put them there, just check them against the word of God.

Psalms 10:17 basically—if you read that and dissect it, which would be great with your walk with Christ, it’s another scripture to show you how God is putting his desires in your heart.

For me, one of the things that I do is I let the peace of Christ rule in me. I wake up with God on my heart and I want to be with him all the time. I am with him all the time. He’s with me. I just stop and let the peace of God run over me and I just kinda wait for it before I do anything. I’m like, “Is this the peace of God?” There’s a difference and man’s direction and God’s is always surrounded by tremendous peace.