Q+A Session @ Ignite Youth - 5/26/19
Q+A Session @ Ignite Youth - 5/26/19
I had the honor of being invited by Pastor Isaiah Bosc as a guest speaker to Ignite Youth in Avondale, AZ on May 26, 2019. Students submitted questions via social media that they would like to discuss for this Q+A session.
My Testimony
I started off by sharing a bit about my faith background and how I came into relationship with Jesus outside of religion. If you haven’t read my testimony, you can find it here.
#BreakingAndRemaking Book
My first book, #BreakingAndRemaking is my journey through the process of sanctification, pressing, crushing and refining fire…it’s a life-long process and I’ve got some stories to tell and words of wisdom to share. This book will be one of encouragement, faith and healing. Let’s partner together with Holy Spirit and believe many will be healed, set free and rebuilt into all God has created them to be. The time is now. Revival is in the air.
Why do people suffer from depression?
Firstly, it is NOT God’s will for any of His beloved children to suffer with depression. My advice is to dig to find the root cause of it and how/where/why it has entered your life. Since we are made up of body, soul and spirit it would be worthy of investigating the origins of depression through the following:
Generational
Biological/Hormonal
Circumstantial
Spiritual
It’s wise to address depression from multiple angles. If it’s biological, we can ask, “What can I do to change the chemistry of my body?” If it’s circumstantial, we can ask, “What could I change that is within my control?” If it’s generational, we can make the decision to not respond to life in that way that has been modeled for us. If it’s spiritual, then you pray that spirit out with the authority of the name of Jesus! If we make friends with the spirit of depression, then it will linger within us. We have the power to denounce, reject and cast out the spirit of depression. Sometimes it’s a process. Claim and maintain your healing.
If you are suffering with depression and would like some assistance on how to navigate the path of healing, please reach out and let’s have a quality conversation!
Is it scary being an adult?
ABSOLUTELY! Fear is always going to try to take us down and take us out, no matter how spiritual or Holy we may be. We have the choice to allow fear to be the lord of our lives, or walk in faith with Christ. It’s important to surround yourself with wise counselors, advisors, mentors and pastors to walk alongside us throughout the seasons of our life. We aren’t meant to do life alone. Above human counsel, our best Counselor is Holy Spirit.
What is Marriage All About?
Simply, marriage is a covenant gift given by God, not a worldly contract or business deal. Through Jesus, we are made to be co-creators and the command given to us is to procreate through the sacred unity of marriage. Many people don’t know this about me, but I have read like a zillion marriage books in my life because I believe it’s wise to educate myself and prepare for marriage. I wrote about this quite a bit in Premarital Education, Writing the Family Code, Evaluating Godly Standards for Love, and The Why and How of Adam & Eve. If we’re willing to invest time and money into learning and preparing for our career (which often changes), why wouldn’t we want to put effort into educating ourselves about the covenant of marriage?
As a single woman, I believe I am still a wife. Though I may not have walked down the aisle and said “I do” to him face-to-face, I have committed to him in my heart. I honor my future husband in purity and pray for him frequently (I even write letters to him!). In the spirit, I’m confident I KNOW my husband. As I’ve prayed over the years, I believe God has given me insight to his character and nature so that I will easily recognize him as the man God has prepared me for.
If you are single (no matter what age), I strongly advise you to include your trusted advisors, counselors, parents and pastors into the dating relationship so that they could encourage you, give you perspective, counsel you through establishing a healthy and sustainable foundation and to hold you accountable to your convictions.
If there are thousands of other planets and galaxies, why would God choose us when we’re so little compared to everything else?
In my opinion, this was one of the deepest questions that was submitted. In preparing to speak about it, I felt it was important to disclose that it’s okay to wrestle with these questions and be okay not understanding everything. The simple, yet profound answer is LOVE.
There are so many different schools of theological thought on topics like this…and though we could dig in and get all nerdy (and trust me, I’m all about nerding out on the word)….sometimes simplicity is best. As Christians, despite how long we’ve walked with God or how many hours we’ve spent with Him, let’s take caution not to portray that we have THE answer to everything. Sometimes we need to leave room for others to sort out their own faith and choose to be gracious as we gently come alongside them and disciple them. Instead of feeling the pressure to have all the answers, I invite you to try pointing people to the Word of God and encourage them to connect with Holy Spirit so that they can come into a greater and deeper revelation of truth led by the greatest Teacher ever, Holy Spirit.
How can I deal with my friends leaving me behind and lying to me?
We’ve all been betrayed, backstabbed, accused, abused, ditched, deserted, and abandoned by someone at some point in our life. Let me validate the reality that it’s painful and it hurts. And the other harsh reality is that we need to get used to it, because as much as we hate it, fear it, or try to avoid it….it’s likely to happen more than once.
Remember, our friend, Jesus knows all about this. On a level we will never be able to comprehend.
Havilah Cunnington’s Podcast, “Episode 68: Building Eternity Now w/ Christine Caine: Part 1” , Christine Caine discloses a very open and honest conversation about being very wounded by those that are closest to her and the journey of heart healing and recovery.
When I prayed and prepared for this session, the Lord brought to mind these scriptures:
Matthew 22:36-40 - The Greatest Commandment = Love God. Love Others.
Matthew 5:44 - Bless those who curse you.
Romans 12:17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil.
How we respond to betrayal is our responsibility because it reveals our character. Check your expectations, at times it’s unrealistic to assume that even our closest and best friends will never hurt us. We’re all human and we’re bound to make mistakes that could potentially hurt others. No one can be our Savior. Some people are seasonal.
Bless them. Love them. Forgive them.
How do I avoid dry seasons in my life while still being committed to the things I’m committed to?
In this context, the question was about having a fully loaded schedule and trying to find a way to rest your spirit. In all honesty, I have all kinds of advice for this because I live a pretty “full” life. (And yet I know I’m still in preparation for my promise and practicing how to establish Core Values and boundaries). I manage my time pretty strictly by using timeblocking methods. (Timeblocking course coming soon…MESSAGE ME if you’re interested in learning more!).
My quick advice:
Stop focusing on the things that are not important
Understand what your true priorities are
Set boundaries for yourself
Learn to say “Thank you and no thank you.”
On following through with commitments. When you identify what your priorities are and what’s valuable to you, those become your commitments.
What is the best way to know and tune into what God has planned for me?
I’m at a crossroad in my life where I’m asking God a lot of those questions and here’s what I’m learning…The world’s response to this is to find the path of least resistance. As Kingdom people, Children of God, Warriors of Righteousness, ambassadors of Heaven and representatives of Christ…it is up to us to not pull back or retreat when things get hard.
Armor up!
When the disciples asked Jesus how to pray and He showed us how to approach our Father. First we recognize that He is Almighty God, then we pray that His Kingdom would manifest on earth as it is in Heaven. When we approach God in prayer asking to partner with HIM, we can be assured that He will give us wisdom and revelation, direction and clarity.
In order to know God’s will/plan for our lives, we must know the heart of our Father. We get to know Him, (His character and nature) through studying in His Word, a vibrant prayer life and through life experience of obedience.
The Commission is the same for all of us. It’s an invitation not a suggestion.
We have to get to know who we are and the power we carry through our commissioning of Jesus. If we don’t understand the heart of our Father through His Word, we can be easily swayed by the world. His Word is a weapon and we have to be careful how we use it. It is not meant to wound our own family, our sisters and brothers in Christ. If we don’t understand the heart of our Father, we risk being like Peter and slicing the ears off the very people that need to hear it (John 18:10). The Word of God is meant to instruct, direct, correct, convict and encourage but not to condemn, stab, abuse and slander. The Holy Spirit is our best teacher and guide to lead us into understanding and revelation of His word.
How do I know I’m headed where God wants me?
Just because we’re feeling resistance with something, doesn’t mean it’s not God’s plan. It could be the enemy trying to hold you back from the purpose and plans God has for you. We can’t be afraid of hard things. Just because it’s hard doesn’t mean God’s hand isn’t on it. God will often call us into hard things because it creates complete dependency on Him. It takes surrender and trust. As you develop your relationship with God, you’ll learn to listen, discern and submit to the guidance of Holy Spirit even when it doesn’t make sense. You’ll develop a history with God when you trust Him. You’ll often look back and thank God as you see how He provided and protected you from disaster. Learn to listen (even in the small things) like when you feel that prompting to “take a right here.” God is omniscient , omnipotent and omnipresent. In other words, He knows everything, has unlimited power and is outside of time. What we perceive is rejection could be God’s redirection.
Surrender means giving God full authority in our lives. Though we may have our perfectly laid out plans, we have to give over full editing rights to the Lord. He’s God, we’re not and we have to be okay with that. He knows what we don’t. And we can trust that His plans for us are good (Jeremiah 29:11).
Though the broadcast cut off at an hour, we ended the service by inviting Holy Spirit to come and minister to our hearts. It was an undeniably powerful experience in which many people encountered the presence of God in fresh, bold ways.
It was such a privilege to be asked as a guest to speak into the lives of our young saints. It’s a high honor I do not take for granted. I’d love to be considered to be a guest speaker at your church or event. If you’d like to get on my calendar, click here and we’ll coordinate!
Resources I highly recommend:
Tell Me in the Comments:
What questions about faith do you have?