Practical Ways To Raise Kingdom Warriors | Theresa Dedmon | Episode 70

Theresa Dedmon Ministries: This is what it's all about. See, God wants us to raise up our children to not be afraid of comparison, failure, but to see them grow and who they're called to be. Young people who know that they have a kingdom assignment are far less likely to surrender to hopelessness. Hi, I'm Teresa Dedman, and this is Kingdom Create Talks, where creativity and the supernatural collide. Each week I sit down with powerful guests, artists, entrepreneurs, and kingdom influencers who are creating with God and releasing heaven solutions into every area of culture. Together we explore how prophetic creativity breaks fear, shame, and perfectionism so that you can live fully alive in your calling. If you're ready to unlock God's creative power within you, you're in the right place. Let's partner with the Creator and train. Transform the world together. Welcome, family, to Kingdom Create Talks, where we share vision about what we can do to supernaturally create with God and transform others in whatever sphere that we have a heart or vision for. And it's so exciting because we have a leadership academy, which is starting in September, where I help students for nine months to grow in who they've been created to be. We have different workshops, different things that we do every single week so that you thrive and grow in your calling in becoming a leader. ⁓ you travel with me. There's so many opportunities for you to grow to actually lead small groups and then to get the hope and encouragement and the belief systems that you need to become the leader that you're really called to be. I have a discount. So I want you to check it out. It's in July until the 31st. where you get to grow and you get three hundred dollars off of the Leadership Academy. Now check it out on truezadebund.com slash community and we don't want anyone not to go. So if this is what you're called to be I want you to come. This is going to change your life. Today we're talking about how to grow up resilient youth. Now I have a CCM Thrive Life Academy. So exciting, which is something that starts in September, goes to May. It's like just two hours per week where your student, whether they're 13 to ⁓ 19 or 20, they're with us every single week week learning to thrive and grow for just one hour of small group time within their specific group with with other teens as well and how they can grow in their identity. So it is a game changer. So if you like today, check it out on TeresaDebman.com and sign up your youth and we'll get we'll get them started in this amazing Thrive Life Academy. So Let's pray. Father, we thank you for every single youth that is in your heart, God, that you would change the face of the way that we think about who they are, that you would give us vision and insight to direct their path, to help them to find out who they are so that they can become all that they're called to be. God, we raise up the esters, the The Daniels, those that have been waiting for someone to mentor them into their calling, a Mordecai, ⁓ a Ruth that needs Father a a Naomi. God, we just release the presence of God and that no youth would be left alone, but that we would help them to discover their identity. Lord, we pray for identity, purpose, and power in God to be given to those that we know in the name of Jesus. So So blessings on you. And if you have not yet subscribed, we would love to have you subscribe. And family, we are just so glad that we're on this journey together. Our Kingdom Creative Movement is growing. So check out the Leadership Academy, which is a nine-month program. I believe that some of you that are listening will say that's for me. And so you can check it out on TeresaDebman.com. That starts in September, goes until May. And then the Thrive Life, both for youth and for adults, is happening as well. So check those out. And we have informational meetings, which you can sign up for ⁓ in August. So check those out. Those are mid-August. But And let's chat a little bit. And again, I'm gonna prophesy over any youth that you have. I'm gonna prophesy what I feel God's saying in this hour. So first of all. I have ⁓ Brielle, and she is my granddaughter. She's starting junior high this year. And I cannot tell you all of the discussions that we've had on what it means to grow in your creative identity, what it means to be strong and be resilient when people are bullying or when things happen, when people are are starting to talk about ⁓ who you are in a negative light. What do you say? How do you grow? These are questions that they need answers to because she's going to a public school and I believe that God is going to make her a change agent in that culture because she's going to be a Daniel. In that culture. And that's what you need to prepare the youth that are around you to understand who they are and who God's called them to be. So I remember just this last week, I was with my grandchildren and we were at the store. And I said, Who should we encourage today? And I had one of my ⁓ just a print of one of my art pieces, and I saw this woman who was getting into her car, and I said, ⁓ Hey, Brielle and David, let's go over, let's talk to her. And we did. We gave her my card. I said, I believe that you really help people. Then Brielle, I said, Brielle, do you have something to share? And she started to share about what this picture, this art piece meant to this woman. And she began to cry. And then my grandson, who's eight, also prophesied. And I said, That's what I want them to understand. That they can change the environment by asking Holy Spirit, what are you saying for that person? Instead of feeling afraid, they are gonna change the atmosphere like what David did when he slew Goliath. So, first of all, You need to know like this is what I teach, but it's what I believe, it's what I practice, and it's what I want your youth to do as well. So I'll be helping them to grow in my KCM Thrive Life for Youth. But let's talk about Heloisa. So Heloisa has been with me for two years in my KCM Thrive Life. She's 19. I just saw her because she's from Brazil, so I have people from all over because this is an online academy. And so she was talking about how much she's grown. She goes, Teresa, I've taken risks. I've written two songs because you encourage people to go after their dreams in your KCM movement. And now I have people that want me to record. I have this, I have that, I want to be a teacher. And she starts to unpackage how her whole life was changed because she was involved in the right environment. So when we talk about children being resilient, they have to have a pattern. They have to have people around them that are actually walking the talk. They're They're creating with God. They're taking risks. And that's what I want for your child. I know for me, when I was growing up, when I was 13, my parents became very involved in the charismatic movement. And I was involved in plays in all different pri prison systems. I was involved in ⁓ musicals. I was involved in so many things because my parents said that there's no j there's no junior Holy Spirit. It isn't like a person. 13 has less of the Holy Spirit than a person who's 50. We all have the same Holy Spirit, and so we just have to activate and have people empower and believe in us, like Heloisa. So I want to encourage you to check it out on TeresaDebon.com, check out the community group, and check out KCM Thrive Life for Youth. But let's talk about what's happening with our youth so we can kind of see what it is that God wants. Wants to do to break in. So we're living in a generation that is more connected digitally than ever before. Yet many young people feel more isolated, anxious, and uncertain about who they are than any previous generation. Interesting, isn't it? Cell phones. That was in the live. That wasn't happening when I was when I was a teen. But You can't imagine what life would be like without that. In the same way, we have such a digital social media community that it's hard to believe that we have existed without that. But there's also problems because of the pressures of social media. For instance, suicide remains one of the leading causes of death among young people in America. Let alone in other countries. CDC surveys continue to show concerning levels of sadness, hopelessness, and suicide related behaviors among teens. Seventy-seven percent of high school students report using social media several times a day, and frequent use is associated with higher rates of bullying, victimization, sadness, hopelessness, and suicide risk. The US Surgeon General has warned that children who spend more than three hours a day on social media face roughly double the risk of anxiety and depression symptoms. So nearly half of teens report that social media negatively affects how they feel about their bodies and about themselves. And I can attest to what my granddaughter has gone through, who's only 11. So the deepest crisis for our teens and for our youth is not simply mental health, but it's an identity crisis. It's like the enemy has attacked right where they're the weakest. So many young people know how to build a profile, but don't know how to build a life. They know how to gain followers, ha ha ha, but they don't know who they are. They know how to compare themselves, but have never discovered who God's unique design is in and how that supersedes anything else that others could say about them in comparison. So let's talk about the ways that we can help them grow. We've talked about the issues. Now, what is the solution? So, number one. Identity always comes before assignment. Gideon, here's Gideon. He saw himself as weak. Who am I? I'm nothing. I'm insignificant. I'm unqualified. But God saw him as a mighty warrior. Before God changed the circumstances for Gideon. And before he did that, he had to change his idea of his identity. God called him, The Lord is with you, Almighty Warrior, Judges 6, verse 12. And notice that God didn't call Gideon when he was feeling like he was mighty. This is who you are. So many people, if they're children and youth, if they're allowing social media to define them, peers to define them, performance to define them, how good they do in school or in athletics, mistakes define them, then they're never going to understand that God sees them and loves them, not the way that they think they should be, but the way that they truly are in God's eyes, the way that He created them. Psalm 130. 39, God created us in our mother's womb. First Peter 2:9, they are a royal priesthood. So we can't we cannot raise young people if they do not know first that they are beloved sons and daughters. So I want you to do something for every grandchild, every child, every cousin, every person in your life. Tell them that they are God's royalty every day. Text them. Let's let's pour out the gold in them and let's help them to define their identity, not based upon what the enemy has said. My granddaughter was bullied in fifth grade and was told that that she's not beautiful, which she is gorgeous. Here she is, she's dancing at Buffalo Church. in this first the first service. Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful girl. And yet there's these thoughts because of what this student has planted in her that she's not who God says she is. And the only way that we can combat that is by prayer, telling her who she is and having her Actually, encounter God's presence and say, Now that's what it feels like. You touch so many people through your dance. That's who you are. Can I get an amen? Yes. So they have to know their identity before they know their assignment. They have to know who they are. David had to know when he was facing the giant Goliath. He had to know. that he was gonna win based upon God's ability to talk to him in the places where he was alone tending sheep. He had to hear, wait a second, I I worked this out. I saw you kill the bear, the lion. I saw you help me. So Father, this is nothing compared to what you can do in my life. That is the strength of resilience that every teenager needs to know. They need to have examples of, okay, see what happened here at the school? Now what does God say? And you come and you attack that. So we can't protect children. We have to get them ready. Secondly, God's presence produces resilience. Woo-hoo! So let's look at David. We've just been talking about David. So before David again learned to publicly defeat Goliath, he had to learn privately how to be with God. So the field prepared him for the battlefield. David's confidence didn't come from himself, it came from God's presence, from playing, from being with God. So many people that are facing anxiety, rejection, bullying, like we talked about comparison and fear of failure, the answer is not them trying harder, but the answer is teaching them to encounter God. To turn on some soaking music. To talk about Joshua 1:9, about how God called Jeremiah a prophet before he was even born. To give them examples in worship, to sing, to dance, to create art. See, creativity is a way that children and youth understand who God is. It gives them a voice, it gives them a way of doing that. So resilience is not the absence of struggle, it's learning how to remain anchored in God's presence during that struggle. It's giving them places where they can start to think about. Wait a second, what does God who does God say that I am? So resilience in hearing the presence of God and more times doing that will feed their soul so they can go back to that. I remember I would just worship God right down. where I lived by the Trukee River, I would be running and I'd be walking and I would be singing songs of praise and worship. And that prepared me to to f to face the battles about what I was what I was doing in public school when I was in ninth, tenth, and eleventh and gra twelfth grades. This is what it's all about. We have to prepare them. By them having their own encounter. They can't feed off of the parents' encounter. They have to feed off of their own. So prepare them. Ask them questions. What's God saying to you? Who is God to you? When did you feel his presence the most? Does worship help you? Does dance help you? Does writing help you? All of that helps our children and our youth to come alive. The third point that you can do in helping children and youth to be resilient is giving them purpose and a reason to persevere. Now that is very important. See, I knew. that my time with the Lord, that it led me to receive prophetic ministry to touch other people in my community when I was 13, 14, and 15. I knew that after I sang songs during the worship set at church, that people came up and talked to me, that I could reach out and I could bless them and I could pray for them. So that place for when I was going through hard times and struggles, the place of the where I was able to take hold of that. was in a place where I was seeing an anointing flow through me that only God could give me to touch others. And so instead of saying like I am too young, Jeremiah one, verse seven, Timothy as well, God gave Jeremiah a bigger purpose than his fears. You're called to be a prophet. God called me to ha to have a prophetic voice. I remember when I was fourteen, this woman and she was from India, she I was at a large meeting A charismatic meeting of about maybe a thousand people, and she called me out, and I stood up in the middle of her sermon, and she goes, Hey, stand up. The the young children are gonna line the streets of heaven thanking you for coming. And and I I had no idea what she was talking about. I was a shy young girl, but that prophetic word. Gave me resilience and a reason to persevere when things were hard and I didn't feel like I had friends in my school. Come on. So purpose gives pain a ⁓ place to like grow. And so the struggle. changes because we look at the perspective of wait a second, I believe that other kids might also not have friends. God, thank you for preparing me. And I reached so many people because of that. So purpose gives them something worth fighting for. This happens through encouragement. This happens through community. I can't tell you how many people in our KCM Thrive Life for youth have gone through not feeling like they fit in, but they do within our community. with the young people. I think of Elizabeth Liu, who she's got a ⁓ she's got an eight-year-old and she was hearing about all the testimonies about what God is doing with our youth. And so she decided on her own to make a card for each and every person in her class and prophesy over them and tell them what God said about them. Now she got this on her own and her mom talked to her teacher and she said yeah she could do that. This is what this is what it's all about. See, God wants us to raise up our children to not be afraid of comparison, failure, but to see them grow and who they're called to be. ⁓ young people who know that they have a kingdom assignment are far less likely to surrender to hopelessness. Like me, I I I'm telling you, it was the best thing that ever happened to me. Our students in KCM Thrive Life for youth they are grow so much because they're together. So I wanted to give you some tips on just some practical ways that you could raise up Kingdom Warriors. Is number one, I want you to know you can speak identity daily. Tell them who they are. Before the world tells them who they're not. You are an amazing man. You are going to change the world. I have a a woman, Serenity, and Melnick, who she's been in my leadership academy now, and so she's been with me for two and a half years. And they and she has ⁓ twins that are about three to four years of age, and she teaches them. These ⁓ amazing five simple ⁓ declarations every day. I am brave, I am powerful. I can do all things through Jesus. And they say that every day they paint. This is what it's all about because we want them to believe it as they get older. So, number one, speak identity daily. Number two, create ⁓ encountered opportunities. Like turn on some worship music and give them a chance to paint and ask them what did God say? ⁓ give them streamers and have them dance like my granddaughter Brielle. Give them places to experience God. About a scripture and then begin that process of let's just soak in God's presence and find out what He was saying. ⁓ so give them creative encounters. Number three, celebrate process, not just performance. Affirm growth at character, courage, and obedience much more than performance. And so encourage them. ⁓ that's so cool that you did that for your friend. That's so amazing that you did. The more encouragement we can give them, the more that will grow. And then fourthly, help them discover their gifts. Young people become stronger when they understand why they are created. You know, when Brielle is dancing, I tell her every single time at the end of the worship time, do you know that when you danced, I saw the presence of God, I saw things shift and change. When you painted, when this happened, when when David, when you built this. So I want to encourage them in their giftings, their callings, who they're called to be. And then fifthly, surround them with healthy community. Isolation is often the enemy. And it stop and it it it causes children and youth to feel alone and to feel like they they don't matter. So connection creates protection. That's why KCM Thrive Life for Youth, it's all on identity, it's all on every week being there together where they learn. So these are important things that you can do. Now I I wanted to say, like, you know. That that there's something that's happening right now in your heart. I can feel it like Let's not think of the situation as hopeless, but let's realize that the enemy comes in like a flood. Everybody thought that Goliath was too hard of a man to kill, and that all of the Philistines would rule over the Israelites, but one young man had the courage to stand up. So the next generation doesn't need more celebrity culture. They need identity. They need an encounter. They need purpose. They they need spiritual mothers and fathers like you and me, who can look at them and and tell them who they are. And say, like what Jesus said to Peter, you may not see it yet, but I see who God created you to become. So I'm going to pray for y'all. Father God, I declare that your image and purpose are being formed in our young people. I thank you, God, that they are not an accident, but they are your workmanship created for good works. I thank you, God, that they are learning through us to be deeply loved, fully accepted, and completely chosen by you, Jesus. And we take the hands of the enemy that have been on our youth to tell them who they are, and we break that power and we loose the power of the Holy Spirit to bring a mighty youth revolution. Woo! That they will not fear. They will not be rejected. They will not compare. They will not listen to the enemy or be in the enemy's camp of bullying or of of but that Lord, they would be sons and daughters of the most high God. Lord, thank you that they are giving today power and love and a sound mind to walk in the fullness of who they've been called to be. Thank you, Father, that right now you're giving parents, you're giving grandparents, you're giving ⁓ people that are educators, you're giving people a way to help them to grow. And if that's you, I just declare that in Jesus' name that you are gonna be a Mordecai to an Esther. You are going to raise up the next generation because you're a Daniel. And you're going to raise up the Shadrachs, the Meshachs, and the Bednegoes. ⁓ you're gonna learn to walk with the courage of David. You're gonna learn to rise with the faith of Gideon. You're gonna learn how to answer God's call like Jeremiah. You're gonna stand firm like Daniel, because the presence of God is with you and his favor surrounds you. And the Spirit of God empowers you to be strong, to be chosen, to be equipped, to be resilient, to be courageous, and that you will fulfill God's purpose. Thank you, Father. Now, I have this declaration and I'm going to put it in the notes that I want you to say that your child can say too about who they are. so that they can talk every day to God and say this declarations. Now they can make up their own, but I'm gonna put that in the notes because I really want every single youth to and parent and educator and and like youth worker to know like we have to help them. to say the truth and to believe the truth. So check that out. And like I said, I'm going to prophesy right now. I feel like there were people who had whose kids were very creative, but they thought that they couldn't like ⁓ they couldn't change the world, but they will. I saw artists being raised up. I saw people that were going to be graphic designers. I saw ⁓ people in music, kids on music. And there's going to be many of you that are going to help with the children becoming all that they're called to be. I saw fashion designers. I saw ⁓ young people that had a heart to shift culture and that would be making movies and would be impacting others. And and I s I feel like there's there's other people that are really called to write. So if there's any youth that are called to write, please let them listen to this because they're gonna be mighty in the hand of the Father. Now in my ⁓ KCM ⁓ community membership, if they join KCM Thrive Life for Youth, I have monthly groups in art, dance, music, writing, photography And I have a special group just for youth. And so there's a leader who is a homeschool mom who works with all the different ⁓ teens to help them fulfill their creative dream, what they really want to do. So check it out on TeresaDebman.com. I do have an informational meeting coming up in August, the second week of August, about KCM Thrive Life, and that includes the youth too. Would love to have you join me, and you can also join. The adult version of KCM Thrive Life as your team does that, you would just be in a separate group, ⁓ small group, ⁓ for that last 30 minutes of that of that ⁓ Zoom call. So check it out on TeresaDedman.com. Hey, share this. If you enjoyed this, please share this with other people that are. Wanting their kids to be resilient. And we just pray right now that our that the kingdom of God would be established and that the creative energy of the Holy Spirit would be released upon the earth so that we get to see the fullness of who God has created each one to be. We thank you for this time together and we bless our Casey and family. Thank you so much for joining. I honor you. And I will see you next week with another episode. Episode and can't wait to talk to you and see you then. Have an incredible weekend. Be blessed. Enjoy the summertime with your family, with your friends. Thank you so much for joining. I'll talk to you soon. Bye, everybody. Thanks for joining us on Kingdom Create Talks. I hope this episode awakens something fresh inside you because what you carry is deeply valued and needed. If you're hungry for more, come join our creative community at Kingdom Creative Movement, where prophetic creatives just like you are finding their tribe, growing in boldness, and creating with God to impact every sphere of culture. You can find out more on TeresaDedman.com and connect with others who are bringing heaven to earth through their passion and gifts. And don't forget to subscribe, leave a review, and share this episode with someone who needs it. Keep dreaming, keep creating, and always stay connected to the one who makes everything new.