Move From Potential to Purpose | Theresa Dedmon | Episode 73

Theresa Dedmon Ministries: I understand my disappointments tried to silence me. They threatened the very places where God was developing in me, compassion, resilience, wisdom, and greater dependence on him. All of that were things that were internal that I didn't see because I was just looking at the outcome. So looking back, I can see that every difficult season was preparation internally for me to have a greater influence, greater healing ministry, and greater fruitfulness. And that's what I believe is happening right now. Hi, I'm Teresa Dedman, and this is Kingdom Create Talks, where creativity and the supernatural collide. Each week I 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 transform the world together. Well, hello friends. Welcome to Kingdom Create Talks. It is so good to be with you throughout this time and to hear from you. And I'm so glad if you are new to Kingdom Create Talks. Please tell us where you're joining from if you have any questions for me. And I I'm gonna dive into today because if you love the podcast, please let us know. But I'm gonna dive in today is we're gonna move from potential to purpose. How many of you know like everybody has potential? But do they move into their purpose? So we're gonna talk about that today. And then also the subject that we really want to tackle is what keeps you from. moving forward toward your purpose and how you can be derailed by disappointment. So if you've been derailed, I know I have there is news and joy that God is going to help you through this podcast to grow. So watch it till the end. I've got some prophetic words for you too. But let's talk a little bit about, okay, Teresa, how can I grow my purpose? How can I become all that I'm called to be? Well, I have some upcoming, amazing opportunities for you that I don't want you to miss out on. If you're like me, I I love to learn and I love to inspire people. And I've done a a Kingdom Creative Movement Thrive Life. And now this academy, which has now been for seven years, it's growing. We have more things that we're developing. And it starts in September and it's a nine month program. All you need is just two hours per week. To be involved with that. I'm there with you weekly, and then you're in a small group as well. And so it's one hour of you working on your identity, building resilience, knowing who you are. And then it's one hour, 30 minutes with me, and then 30 minutes in a small group where you dive into who you are, you build resilience, you find where you belong, you find out what's holding you back, and then you grow through my courses as well. And it's free for all of my kingdom creative. Movement members. So you would check it out on TeresaDedman.com. And in August, we have a special, which I'm so excited to tell you. So if you join my Kingdom Creative Movement membership, you only pay $10 for not one month, but for three months consecutively with the code KCM 1010. So check that out. And then you just sign up for the Kingdom Creative KCM ⁓ Thrive Life. On top of that, and then we'll give you all that information. So I do have an informational meeting. It's September 1st at 9 a.m. Pacific Standard Time or 6:30, where I'll go through what this entails with both the membership but also with the Thrive Life, the nine-month academy. So go ahead, you can register for that at TeresaDebmund.com events. Now, for those of you, and I know I'm talking to some of you, you're called to be a leader and you've always known that. You could be older, you could be younger. It doesn't matter your age, but you feel like Teresa, I really want to grow underneath your leadership. You've been ⁓ doing a ministry for the last 30 years and I want to grow. I want to create something over here. I want to lead a movement over here. If that's you, drum roll, please. I have the KCM Leadership Academy, which also starts. In September and it goes until May. That one is such a game changer because I'm with you every week. And I'm helping you thrive and grow. It's about a six-hour commitment, either at 9 a.m. on Wednesday for about an hour and a half, or on Thursday from 5 to 6:30 p.m. Pacific Standard Time. And then you also get the Thrive Life. So I really coach you, you get to travel with me, you get to be involved in the leadership ⁓ principles, strategies. We do 40-day challenges, you do a dream to destiny project where you really thrive and grow in. You're calling. It there's just so much. So you can check it out on TeresaDebman.com. We do have an informational meeting the same day, September first, and that's at ten ⁓ AM Pacific Standard Time. Or at 7 p.m. Pacific Standard Time. So whatever time works, I'm so excited to meet you to find out where you're from and if this could be a fit for you. So check all out both all of these. I also have Thrive Life for Youth. So if you are a parent and you have a youth that's like 11 to 19, during the Thrive Life Academy, we also have a group for youth. So check that out on TeresaDebman.com and different discounts for them as well. So Then on top of all this, you're going, Teresa, what? We also have from D from a Dream to Destiny online immersion school. It's my first time in not just Relying heavily on speakers, but on helping you to form a blueprint to talk about your dream, 30 minutes talking about what it is, how you can hear from God, how you can grow, how you can get prophetic words. We're going to give you that too. And then there's also a prophetic creative workshops where you get to dive into things that keep you from your dream and from your destiny. So it's all that you get a blueprint. You get like so much you get to hear from Tony Sulfus who's a world renowned coach as well and myself and my husband Kevin. Check it out on TeresaDema.com/slash events. We do have thirty dollars off. That means that under 50 bucks you get all of the replays, all of the recordings. We want to see you thrive and grow and get to your destiny. So I'm so excited about that. I can't wait to see you there as well. So those are things that are coming up. But now let's, you know, one of the things that I believe that stops us from dreaming is that we need to understand that we have a purpose. You know, God didn't create you by accident. But you're created for a purpose. Every dream that God places in you, every purpose within carries the potential to impact lives, to transform culture, and to reveal his kingdom on earth. All right. But this the problem is that many never step into that God-given destiny because of lack of clarity. confidence, community, and just practical tools. Nobody ever told me how to take my dream and make it into my destiny. Nobody ever told me how to write my books, how to help out with my creative movement. I had to kind of figure this out on my own. I don't want that for you. You know, many people have no idea about God's presence and how dreams are formed in God's presence, not you're not by yourself alone. And the different phases that can help you to grow supernaturally with creativity, with different ways that you can see community come around you to fulfill that. ⁓ Again, this is going to be this event will help you because through powerful teaching, prophetic ministry, you're going to get some prophetic activation ministry, encounters with God, small groups, workshops, coaching, and community. You'll leave with renewed vision, fresh faith, and personal dream to destiny blueprint. Now, if you have Teresa, I have so many friends that need this. If you get three people to sign up, you get the fourth one free. So go to teresa deedmond.com, find out more about that. And if you have that discount that you wanted, go to support at teresa deadmond.com. But again, you get $30 off until September 1st. So we only have one week left. So make sure that you sign up for that soon and you get your friends and family too. Well Again, this is such an incredible event. You'll learn about God's presence as your greatest source of power, understanding the favor of God, recognizing God in every season of the development, partnering with heaven, and then you'll actually get a blueprint that you will be creating along with when I teach or Kevin or Tony that will lead you to find out more about how you can thrive and grow. And that is a game changer. Let's just not have a a school where we just learn information, but let's help you to be activated and you can ask any questions. You can start to grow and thrive and see your dream be fulfilled and discover your destiny and purpose. So Anyway, let me pray for you. We're going to dive into today. Are you letting disappointment derail you from your destiny, from your purpose? Okay. We're taking our potential and moving it into our purpose. So let's pray. Father, we just thank you that every person that's listening, as I can just feel God come and say, do not doubt that I have a vision for your life. I could see God pointing his finger and saying, Remember when I showed up here? I hear the Lord saying some of you you've you've doubted that that my purposes are good for you. Some of you have been discouraged and you feel like you're giving up because no one's there to support you. So Father, I pray I release favor on today. I release favor that when they hear about these strategies, when they hear about God's purposes for their life, and they get to see God moving, that they would have renewed hope. So come, Holy Spirit, just work in them right now in Jesus' name. Amen. All right, let's get into our podcast. Okay, let's go to how you're feeling right now. You know, I I feel like sometimes people feel like a door has closed, or there's been a painful setback, or there's been unexpected disappointment that's caused you to doubt God's plan. For your life, like, ⁓ everybody else is successful, but not me. If that's you, raise your hand, raise your hair, raise your feet. Yeah, that's me. Okay. So perhaps you thought you would be further along than where you are right now. Or maybe you've experienced rejection, sickness, loss, unanswered prayers, or circumstances that made you wonder if it was possible to fulfill your potential. Now, if that's you, I want to encourage you that today your disappointment does not have to be the final word. God has the final word. Woo-hoo! Guys, some of the greatest men and women in scripture who I love, who you love, they walk through seasons of continued waiting. And heartbreak before stepping into what God really had for them. You think of Job and all that he suffered, yet he was given back double. Joseph endured betrayal before he was promoted. David faced years of sub of obscurity, being hunted down by Saul before becoming king. Abraham and Sarah waited decades before receiving that promise. Way, way past their age bearing capacity years. This is what God does, right? He doesn't work according to our plan. Have you found that out? And he doesn't work according to what's possible in the natural because he wants us to rely upon his love supernaturally in our lives. You know, I've discovered That often the greatest temptation during disappointment is not just giving up on the dream, but it's giving up on ourselves and our divine purpose. We don't believe that we are enough. Woo! I could feel the Holy Spirit on that one. I believe God's changing that today. He's showing you who you are. So today I want to share a personal story. About how God transformed one of my most disappointing seasons that launched me into a greater understanding of my purpose more than I could ever imagine. So my prayer is that as you read or listen, you will start to move into a place where you have renewed hope, you find courage, and you keep moving forward into every purpose that God has for you. So let me tell you my story. I remember when I was around the tender age of five years old, and I had an encounter with God. And I knew that I was called to teach, and I knew that I was called to follow God all my days. And that has been my compass my whole entire life. So when I was about 13 or 12, my parents got really involved in the charismatic movement. How many of you remember that? And So at my parents' prayer meeting, we would have people from every denomination filled up with the Holy Spirit going out and just creating so much hope and healing in around where we lived in the Reno Tahoe area. So at that point, ⁓ I was so excited because I was ministering in prisons with my family and my community. I was going to orphanages, places in the Reno area. And God was moving in such an incredible way. Then I met my husband, Kevin, and we went down to Bible college. And that was huge. We were very young. We were in our early 20s, so on fire for God, and so on fire for what God was doing. And afterward, After going to college for three years, I became pregnant with our son Chad, who is a minister right now, travels around the world. And at that point in time, I was devastated. You have to understand if you've ever done the strength binders with ⁓ Buckingham, this amazing Marcus Buckingham, my top strength is learner. And then of course of course positively, but my positivity, but my third is achiever. So here I am. I'm pregnant. I can't finish because in December I had Chad. And so all of that I thought was lost. And I I really was so upset inside. How many of you have been feel like you're derailed because you can't do something because of a circumstance that happened? Okay, then we decided to move and to and we said yes to our denominational our denomination had a pat ⁓ a like an associate pastorship back where we lived in the Reno Tao area. So we were so excited. We were on fire. Chad was about five five months old and we were just excited to get our teeth into ministry. And I talked to the the senior pastor and I said, I am so excited. Just call me. If anyone needs prayer, if anything needs to happen, I am your girl, right? And after one month, after two months, after six months, after nine months, he never called. He never saw me as a leader or as a minister because I was a woman. Yeah, which was not good for this amazing woman that was on fire for God. So not only did I get a disappointment in not finishing the school when I wanted to, but also here I am in this pastorate, not fulfilled. My husband was working about 60 hours at the church. And here I had a young child. And so I became very depressed. Very alone. And I'll never forget, we were about two or three weeks before we left. And this one board member came up to me before a service started and said, Why are you like so down? Why are you like upset? And I go, When I told him, Well, I'm just not doing well. I'm not doing good in my marriage. I'm not gonna do good here. And he goes, Teresa, sometimes you just have to fake it. And you have to appear like you have joy. And I thought to myself, what? That's not God. God cares about, He wants to comfort and He wants to help me in that process. And so when I left, I vowed I would not go back and get my degree in biblical studies, but I would get my degree in psychology because I knew how disturbed the church was. And They had not accepted me and my calling and what I was called to do. So this was a game changer for me. Now you might have gone through a similar thing. If if the church rejected me, it could have rejected you. But I was thinking, where where could I make a difference? And so psychology, because of my upbringing, was something that caught my eye that I've always loved. So I pursued that. So here I am. I I'm I'm in the church and I I mean I'm not in the church right now. I'm going to Bible college, but I'm getting my degree at Vanguard University in psychology. And what does God do? He sets me up with these amazing teachers. This one man, Dr. Greeve, he had 20 years experience pastoring, 20 years experience counseling, who took me under his wing and helped me. To understand what happened, what God's call was, and there was so much empathy that I needed that I got because I didn't get my degree in biblical studies. I understood what women deal with. I understood at that time, I understood the things that were happening in my life. Now, another thing happened too when I was there. This is important. This ⁓ somebody contacted me and and they were in my stats class and said, Teresa, I want you to check out this vineyard. This is a new church that's just starting in the Newport Beach area. I've been, it might be different. I go, I don't know. And I went there and I saw freedom. And I started to attend some of the services. Then I started to reach out to the pastors and get to know them and go on some trips with them. And this was right when the vineyard was starting. And so after I graduated, they asked me to come on staff. Not Kevin and I, but myself, because of the calling that God had. So my potential was real. But getting that psychology degree led me to be involved in counseling at the Vineyard Church, small group development, women's ministries. There's so many things that I did because God led me into a place of disappointment and then led me into a place of wholeness and healing that brought forth more fruit than I could ever possibly imagine. So my my call is if you are in a season of disappointment or something has happened, wait for it. God has something for you, just like what happened to me. I know I did a recent painting and it's gonna be in the notes here called Blue Sky that's all about waiting for God's promises. I think you'll like it. So it took me a while to forgive and believe in myself. It wasn't like overnight. You know, I I was in so much pain. And and I thought that that would anything good come from it. So before I found the vineyard, before all this happened, I I remember I was in that place of pain. And I remember I was traveling with our our that pastor at that time. And he was going into a place where he was talking about what he's doing. He was releasing healing. And he started to talk about his relationship with his wife Margie and how they did everything together. And that they had, they were both pastors. And all of a sudden I went back to my hotel room and I just wept. I said, finally, somebody believes that women can minister and minister. And so at that point in time, when they asked me to come on staff, I was underneath a protective layer of God not only breaking off that disappointment, but God showing me a new way. So I forgave the church. I forgave that pastor that I first had and I moved into my calling. And I was there for seven years and I loved, loved, loved it. This is so cool, isn't it? How God, maybe He's redeeming something in you. So everything changed. I and at that point in time, I want to encourage you with your story. ⁓ guys, I was in a point of real pain. I was in a point of giving up on the church. I was in a point of see ya later. But remember the word that I'd gotten when I was five. See, God wants you to know, remember who you are, remember your potential. So I want to encourage you. ⁓ I know that that many of you might be going through this a similar time, trying to figure out how to deal with loss, disappointment, relational pain, stress, defeating a self-talk. It could be divorce, it could be problems with ⁓ your family, whatever that is. I get it. I understand how the accuser of the brethren works. But I do want to encourage you to remember Joseph's breakthrough. Remember that. Remember when he saw his father, Abraham and Sarah, the moment that Isaac was born, when David first recognized that he was the king. They all had to wait for it. They all had to believe in faith that God would pursue them and that they could hold on to that dream before it became a reality. See, I believe in the waiting. There's faith that's created that is more powerful and fruitful than if things come easy. I think that in a culture that we live in, we're afraid that if things aren't are hard, that somehow God's rejected us or is not with us, but it's just the exact opposite. God will never leave you, He will never forsake you. So your promised land is waiting for you. Perspective and help is everything. Remember what happened to the Israelites when they when they sent in the twelve spies in Canaan, and ten came back so afraid to venture out, remember? And two came back, Joshua and Caleb, and says, we can take the land with a report that they should go in. While those ten spies so influenced the Israelites that they wandered in the desert for 40 years. So who is encouraging or encouraging you on your dream and on your potential? Listen to faith. Listen to my voice. God has brought you this far, and He's not going to leave. And He's going to fulfill every promise that He's spoken. Every potential is going to come about. So I release faith. Now, this means that as we partner with faith in God's promises for us, not giving up our potential, our purpose, then we surrender ourselves and we see God move. We also partner with others who are living in faith because we know that together we will overcome. I love the fact that God said, Caleb and Joshua, it wasn't just one guy out here by himself, but it's like, no, find those that have faith to believe with you for your dream, for their dreams. So as I took this position at the Vineyard Church. It set me up to plant a church in Huntington Beach with my husband Kevin, which was very evangelistic and very creative. And then it led me to move to Ratting, California, where I came on staff in 2003 after doing the School of Ministry and leading a creative movement across the world. And in 2019, launching my online Create Academy, which is now Kingdom Creative Movement, which is what I'm inviting you to. To be a part of. So all of that happened because that disappointment, that part in me, I had to let hope arise. Now, this is crazy because the other thing that happened in the midst, like we heard about all the pain that I went through. Well, What God did in 2017, He also helped me to launch my inner healing creative like ministry called Create to Be Free, which has gone around the world. And you can see it on on ⁓ TeresaDevon.com. And that's because I walked through disappointment. It's because I understood the power of creativity in taking rests that I was able to launch. And then this create to be free has set so many people free. You can actually buy the course or you can you can get it for free when you become a part of our membership. But all of that was happened because I got my psych degree. Mm-hmm. So sometimes those setbacks become not only a comeback, but it becomes greater levels of fruitfulness in our lives. So your story, my friend, isn't over. If there is one thing that I've learned, it's this if you say yes to grow your potential with a strong community around you. Then you will see answers. See, God wastes nothing, but He always calls us into community. So nothing is wasted, not your tears, not your waiting, not your disappointment, not even the seasons that seemed unfair or impossible, or that you're still in. What feels like a detour. Mm-hmm. Today may actually be preparation for the desire God has been shaping in you all along. The disappointments that once threatened to silence you because God is wanting to show you that He is enough. Now I understand. I understand my disappointments tried to silence me. They threatened the very places where God was developing in me, compassion, resilience, wisdom, and greater dependence on Him. All of that were things that were internal that I didn't see because I was just looking at the outcome. So looking back, I can see that every difficult season was preparation internally for me to have a greater influence, greater healing ministry, and greater fruitfulness. And that's what I believe is happening right now, happening right now. Whew! I feel the presence so strong. So he wants you to do the same. So everybody, don't quit, don't settle. Don't allow fear, disappointment, or discouragement convince you that your best days are behind you. Your promised land is still ahead. Your dream, your potential is still alive, your calling is right there, it's intact, and it's gonna happen. Keep saying yes to God. Keep taking the next step, keep surrendering. And surrounding yourself with his presence and with people who will strengthen your faith and remind you of who God says you are. Yeah, I would love to walk alongside you, hear your story in our KCM Thrive Life Academy, our KCM Leadership Academy, or at our upcoming from Dream to Destiny online immersion school. This is what I want. I don't want you to try and Work on something alone. I feel like God is speaking to me that there's people that need to say yes. Get involved. Remember the immersion school, the 30 bucks off that that ends September 1st. Remember that you are called to thrive. Join the KCM Thrive Life. It's only two hours for nine months. You're gonna get transformed. You're gonna change the world. So let me pray for you. We we are in a moment right now. Where you have opportunities awaiting you. You have something that God is stirring. I can feel it inside of you. And it's the spirit of God awakening you to hope again, to know that God wants freedom, that He wants you to know that He's going to settle your score. Remember what it feels like. Remember who you are. What feels like an ending may simply be the beginning of God's greater story in your life. I want to encourage you and thank you for being with me all the way through. I have some prophetic words for people because I feel like you need to know your life and your heart. Are so vital right now. And God says, like everybody gets to play. One of the things I love about our immersion school and our two academies is like we want you to know how to heal the sick, how to bring about prophetic words, how to create with God. how to develop your strategies that you have for becoming all that you want to be in business, in ministry, in places that you have a heart for, in missions. This is what it's all about. God does not want you to settle for less. He is a big God. He is not a puny God. He is a God who created you and does miracles. And he's wanting to you to step out and say, I believe. So I want you just to repeat this with me. I believe that with God, I can fulfill whom I'm called to be. Thank you, Father. So these words I have are for I saw people that were stuck in fear. And I felt like the Lord said, God has not given you a spirit of fear, but of power. And of love and of a sound mind. And I feel like he's like telling you to say that over and over again because that's what he's given you. And he wants to reveal that love to you. I feel like there was a person, and I feel like your name might be Jamie or something with a J. I saw, and you were in a place where you had ⁓ doubted. that God was good because of some circumstances that it happened to your family. And the Lord said that He's going to make you the head and not the tail, and that He's going to restore your voice in that family. I feel like there was somebody here who was suffering with illness that you had a pro you had like a a diagnosis or you had something going on that you feel like, well, I'm just going to give up everything. The Lord said, no, stay, grow in a community, fight the good fight of faith, and you're going to see things shift and change. So I I feel like there's people that have been suffering also with a child that has gone astray or that's not it's not working out. And there's something happening and the Lord said, now is the time. And then I feel like there were some teens out there that you just didn't know your identity. You didn't know that how God had created you, like what I went through as a teen, and and that you need to know, like in Thrive Life for Youth, we help you. And there's a group, a creative group just for teens on knowing their identity. God's calling you. Or if you have a teen that is needing that, just sign them up. Go to TeresaDebman.com, look at our ⁓ KCM Thrive Life for Youth and sign up. ⁓ there's also People who have felt like the church didn't receive them or you can't really do what you want to do. The Lord said He's going to grow you first so that you can be free to be in a church with freedom like what happened to me. So I release that to you. And people that have dealt with unforgiveness, I feel like God's going to set you free too. So I bless you with that. And ⁓ There's anything that we can do for you, just go to support at teresa deadman.com. We will help you to thrive and grow. So I hope that you enjoyed this podcast. Share it with other people who need to know that God is not derailing them, but He's actually positioning them for favor in disappointment. So I bless you with that. And look forward to seeing you on these different like informational meetings. So remember that September 1st, you can go to TeresaDebman.com slash events, sign up, and see everything you're going to get with the Dream to Destiny online immersion school September 26th. I hope to see you then and remember friends, you are born to create and fulfill your destiny and purpose in life. Blessings on all of you. Can't wait to see 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.