Welcome to Keep It 100 Podcast with Sean and Christa Smith. Join us in this space where we take on real issues with real insight and real inspiration. This podcast is for those not looking for temporary relief to change circumstance but revelation to forever change lives. Keep It 100 Tribe, what's going on? This is your boy Sean and your girl. Hey everybody, it's Christa. Hey, we're super excited that you guys joined us. We just never take for granted that you guys listen to this podcast.
You're continually making this podcast the top 1% globally. Our downloads are just increasing every month. We're super excited about it. And our prayer is that it's bringing value. It's bringing a level of inspiration, but more than anything is leading people to just encounter Jesus and to take their faith deeper in the air of discipleship. And so we're super excited. In this episode, we're talking about the price tag of spiritual greatness. Isn't that an awesome subject?
Man, I'm excited about this conversation you and I are going to have because I think so many people, God is using such significant ways. So I think there's going to be some insight into people that really want to go to that next place with the Lord. Yes, absolutely. I 100% agree with that. And I just want to jump in here and just kind of give a couple updates. Hey, we've been some places. What did you share with this you were in Florida and just God moves? So tell us about that.
Yeah, I was great. I was in Florida at Calvary Church with Possel Jim and Don Rayleigh, and they just have an incredible house there. And she hosted a beautiful women's conference called Glow. It's an annual conference. And this year, a woman in the church, woman of means, she covered the entire bill. So the conference was able to be completely free. That alone is just awesome, right? Wow. Yes. So 1400 women came, totally free event. Havala was there. Who's a friend of mine.
I love ministry alongside Havala and the pastor, Don, and her own right. It's just a powerhouse. And just all of our sessions, I just saw God uniquely meet the women. It really was special what God did. And then they invited me over to minister on Sunday and you flew in to be with me, which I always tell all the ladies, find a man who will fly in and be delayed and get in in the wee hours of the morning to sit in and pray and intercede and cheer you on.
I mean, and I just loved having you in the service. But God moved on Sunday morning. Oh my gosh. I began by just ministering prophetically at the beginning of the service, called out this young man, got the feedback on the other side of that story prophetically. It was really cool. I just got how he's called to preach and minister and go on campuses. He's currently on university campuses and all tours were full. And I don't know, it just felt different in the spirit. I was in those services too.
And obviously it went over three hours on a Sunday morning. You guys come on, everybody's trying to cut back on time. But it was the presence of God. There were so many people that got saved. I mean, a number of people, healings, prophetic words. It was... Salvation, that's right. Amazing. It was amazing. I just saw an Anointing come on you to draw the loss.
And I think big picture, we're really in a season where, and this phrase has been sticking with me, is that we're not in a season to give the Holy Spirit room. We're in a season to give the Holy Spirit the room. I love that. Sunday morning is the big test. I think we've gotten a little bit better at having off night services, special prayer meetings and everything. But now I think the Holy Spirit is saying, I want the room on Sunday morning.
Because at the end of the day, it really does become the steering wheel for the culture of the house. That's when the majority of people are there. That's where they guess people are picking up on what you value. So it's so important. So anyway, it was interesting because before I joined you, like you said, I did a power and love school with our great friend Todd White. We love Todd and Jackie. We were outside of Pittsburgh. And it was so cool because we just got a chance to equip people.
They hit the streets. They were leading people to the Lord. There were miracles. One of the, I did, I think three sessions, one of them, I just took time and prayed people through to the baptism Holy Spirit. We had dozens upon dozens upon dozens. It was so, I always remember this, but we had a mom and two daughters side by side weeping at the altar, all of them baptized in the Holy Ghost for the first time.
And then the next session, the older daughter, and when I say the older daughter, the older daughter is maybe 13, the younger daughter is like 11 or 10. She was used of the Lord to go share her faith. And if someone responded to Christ and I just thought, man, the night before this timid girl is at the altar wondering what's the baptism Holy Spirit? She gets filled. She's out and there were miracles. And it was just, it was such a profound time. And then come on now.
Last week we had our second momentum night. You brought the word prophesied. It was amazing. You know, the Lord told me going into the night that I was going to prophesy over the bay and it was going to be a catalytic night and it was going to be rooted in his glory. So I went into the service last Friday night with such an expectancy of what God's going to do. And I just, I love what God is doing in California.
There's a remnant here in the bay and beyond that he is doing something we have not seen. And this is cool. I'm going to do this on Friday night and I want to quickly share this with the people on our tribe, especially for those of you that live in California will be excited. And for many of you that have lived in California but moved away, but still have a heart for what God's doing. Cause we get a lot of feedback like that as well. You know, in, uh, I think it was 1848. It was the beginning.
It was officially the day that started the year that started. And I think it was like January 25th, 1848, something like that started the gold rush in California. And what's interesting is because of the unprecedented waters and rains this year in 2023, there has been all this new found gold has come to the surface that has been in for 175 years that has been unfounded in the rocks, in the caverns, in the different soil.
And the, as the, as the rain has been coming down in the rivers, they're discovering all this new gold. And I, and they're calling it the gold rush 2.0. And they're saying 175 years later, California is in a new gold rush. And now Sonoma County, we are having a new gold rush. And it's such a perfect picture of the outpouring and the blessing and the richness of the land that when, what the, what the enemy is called a wasteland, God has said, this is my promised land.
And, uh, I just want people to know we're in the moment of the subtleties and we're going to begin to see that things that just turn on a dime. And so I just released that over you as you're listening right now, wherever you call home and whatever you're facing in your life, I just want to declare the suddenly of the Lord over you. And then in a moment shifting, God can change anything and everything and the places that were once dry are now going to be plentiful and fruitful.
So I just released that. Oh, I love that. Wait, keep it 100 tribe. We want to talk a little bit about this whole aspect of price tag of spiritual greatness. And we're got a big surprise because I'm going to interview Christa. So she's going to be answering questions. But first I just want to lay a little groundwork and just say, you know, in this day and age, many people don't realize that there is a price tag to spiritual greatness.
And when I, when I think about it, I think leadership without a price tag, leadership in the church, leadership in the kingdom, leadership without a price tag is nothing more than the immature, famed fantasy. But if you don't realize, and what we're taking this from is Jeremiah 18, one through six, Jeremiah, the prophet went and the Lord spoke to him to see a potter who had some clay in his hand and he was going to make this clay into a useful vessel.
And it's just a picture of us that we got to understand God is the potter. It's interesting in that passage, Christa in Jeremiah, it says that the clay and it's called clay until the final product. It's not like it's called a pot until it's done. I think a lot of people prematurely come out from underneath the dealings of the Lord and they're not finished yet.
And what happens is, is that piece of clay that's not a pot later down the line, you put it in an oven and that's how you make it into earthenware, how you make it into porcelain, depending on how hot, how long you leave it in there. But it cracks under the pressure of the heat if it hasn't been properly processed. And man, have we seen that? So anyway, this whole aspect is God is the potter or we are the clay.
And when I think about that, I think there is this thing where God processes his people before they become God's product. But Christa, just think about it, a servant of God not only touches the work of God, they become the work of God. And so what do you think about when you think about just that phrase that spiritual leadership without a price tag is nothing more than immature, faint fantasy? You know, I agree with it.
It's kind of a hard pill to swallow probably for some people when they hear that like, whoa, you know, there's a finality to that statement. You're drawn a line in the sand, but I think it's really accurate. I think we have to understand that with the cost that the Lord paid on the cross, that the Father God gave of his son, when he's willing to give everything, it would be foolish for us to think we're not going to be required to give everything.
And there's a laying down process that is required for every disciple and follower of Jesus. And there is, there's a line in that, you know, there's a line that has to be drawn in the spirit. So if we feel like we can be used mightily by treading only in shallow waters, we really are deceived in that.
There is a requirement for us to go to the deep waters, for us to be able to lay down the foley and completely that I think is required, but a lot of times people don't acknowledge it because we live in such a consumer driven Christianity at present in North America specifically. And I know other nations listen to this and I'm sure this could be relatable to other nations. But I think we have so focused on what can the gospel do for me now, you know, right?
That we have lost sight of really it's about what Jesus, what can we do for you? It's not what he can do for us because he's already done it. And so I think that shift of mentality shifts your posture on how you follow Jesus. That's so good.
You know, I was thinking as you're sharing that, you know, the Bible talks about the second Timothy chapter two, verse 20 says in a large house there are not only golden silver vessels, but wooden earth and where therefore anyone cleanses themselves from the ladder, they'll be useful, sanctified, useful to the mass prepared for every good work.
And so I started thinking about then I think, you know, the scarcity of power at any given generation is not a shortage on God's part, but it's the lack of usability of vessels. So so many people say, why aren't we seeing more of the power of God in this generation? And you can think of a time when past giants, Smith Wigglesworth, the Amy Sybil McPherson's WJC Morris, the Evan Roberts. And part of it is it's not a shortage on God's part. It's the usability of a vessel.
And the Bible talks about over and over again, God says, I saw it for a person who would stand in the gap. I saw it for a person who would be king. God is always seeking. And what he's looking for is so key. And I think about the Bible is clear over and over again. God looks for people that have an undivided heart of loyalty. He looks for people who honor authority. He looks for people that are hungry for the things of God.
And so with that, you are probably the most hungry for God person I know. So I'm super excited. I'm going to jump into some of the questions and hold on again, because we got a special little excerpt from a great friend of ours that we're going to introduce a little bit later. But I just want to begin, Christa, and just ask you, what did giving your life to Jesus look like? And then I would ask you to piggyback on that. What did consecration look like for you?
You know, I love what you just shared and kind of my answer follows suit on what you just shared. And I think when you give your life fully to God, and especially as a young person, I had the privilege of being raised in a Christian home and a home that loved and reverence the Lord. So I would say my commitment and my process of consecration was exactly that, a process.
Because I was a little girl, when you step into greater knowledge of what it is to be a disciple of Jesus, he calls you to deeper waters, right? And so in the deepening of waters is a deeper place of consecration. And I think it really comes down to connect to the verse you were just talking about. The Lord was looking for a pure vessel in me. And I think he's looking that for all of us.
And where there was mixture in the years of my life, at times knowingly, at times unknowingly, he would invite me to a place of deeper consecration.
I can look back, baby, in my life at very specific moments where I looked around and in my pursuit of following Jesus, living completely for Jesus and having a life of consecration, recognizing that was what he was asking of me, not out of legalism, not out of religious rote, but out of adoration and a life that gave him honor and a life that was one that was given completely to him. It required me to eliminate the mixture.
So the mixture in junior high looked like me having to not hang out with certain people versus in high school, same thing, just making sure who I was hanging out with and making sure those influences and those people that had kind of weight in my life were honoring God. And that was hard because I lived in a place where there was not a lot of people serving God. That required in college, me not going to a lot of the parties or different things because I knew what other people could. I couldn't.
It looked like me not partying. It looked like me not sleeping around. It looked like me saving myself for marriage. It looked like me not drinking and taking a Nazarite call as a young girl and living that out. It looked like me choosing throughout my life to not goss up and watch what came out of my mouth. I had an understanding that my words had weight. When I was in positions of leadership, I realized that was not for my glory, but that was so I could be a witness for the Lord.
So it looked different in different seasons, but every one of those layers, every one of those places of God sifting through where there was a mixture in my life. And I was coming into a greater revelation of, hold on, I have this life to give this entertainment, this friend, that conversation, this behavior doesn't line up with who God has called me to be. Then I need to remove that out of my life. And so that process went through my teens, my 20s and my 30s.
And I think in my 30s especially, I really feel like I became so clear on who I was. And that doesn't negate in my 20s. I was fully serving God. I was living completely for God, but I think there's just places of consecration. I remember in my 20s, I was actually in the Bay Area and I was visiting my sister who was living here at the time. And she still lives here actually, but I was visiting her with my mom and we were watching, I think, some service together.
My mom and I were always like, go and have her God together. And I remember just having a conviction about the music I was listening to. Now it wasn't bad music. Probably some of it wasn't maybe the best. I liked myself some, 90s R&B was my favorite, I have to say. But I remember finding myself, the Lord just saying, hey, some of that music doesn't line up. I remember going out and putting in the garbage can. I got my CD case and we all used to carry our CD collection in our car. Remember that?
And I went through and I just took out so many. I just sat there over a garbage can and my mom was there with me and I just remember crying and like just being like, but I'm called. I'm called. I'm called with every CD I threw in that garbage can. I was like, but I'm called. My calling is greater than my entertainment. My calling and my conviction has to be greater than my flesh.
And so it was like, it was a moment of your flesh has to continually get surrendered throughout your entire walk with Jesus. Even as you go through the years with the Lord, you can get familiar and you still have to go back to a place of fresh consecration, fresh renewal, fresh commitment to the things of God. Cause God is always going after you to be a pure vessel before him.
I love that because I really feel like as you're sharing that, you begin to sense there is a cost, you know, as you were sharing what a consecration looked like. You know, my question would be also, has there been a cost for the touch of God in your life? And you begin to touch upon that because I think God gives everyone an equal opportunity to be used by him, but not everyone takes up God on that offer and not everybody becomes supremely usable.
That verse we're talking about and you're sharing stories that really show that you weren't the second Timothy chapter two, verse 20, you weren't vessels of wood and earth and where, but vessels of gold and silver. And so it says, sanctified, useful to the master, prepared for every good work as if to imply there's certain people God says, I can use you to do this, but I can't use you to raise the debt. And I look at Christ to how God has caused your voice to emerge.
I look at the platforms you're on the, and again, I know you guys keep you on her to try. Chris is very humble, so she's making faces right now as I'm bragging on her, but you've always given the glory to God. And amazing doors are opening for you. People are calling our office and it's incredible, but what people don't understand is that there is a cost to that. Some people think, Hey, I'll just take a couple Instagram social media pics with celebrities.
Man, throw me in and I'll be with this Hollywood type. I'll be with this sports figure and check me out and I'm doing a photo op and I can get more followers, but that doesn't mean I've touched this, the depth of spiritual greatness that God has for us. So what do you feel for you, Chris? There's been the cost for the touch of God on your life. You know, well, there are such a cost and there really is.
And I don't say that to scare anyone, but if you really want to be used by God, and I'm still figuring this out and I'm still walking out this, so I don't feel like I'm an expert by any means. I'm in, I'm in process like everybody else. But I remember having a revelation in my twenties because I was going to the Lord because I was just, I loved Benny Hinn and I loved Catherine Coleman.
I sat there and I would order the VHSs and I didn't have a lot of money, but the money I had, I would, I would order these VHSs and I would just get wrecked and I'd watch them over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over. And I would just see Holy Spirit move in such a powerful way. And I remember saying, God, how, how do I get used like that? Like, how do, how do you come in a room like that? Like, how do you, how do you minister like that?
And I remember him saying to me, the same Holy Spirit is available to everyone, but you choose your death. Wow. And that was it. And I remember just having that revelation that Benny Hinn and Catherine Coleman and every other spiritual giant didn't have any more access to Holy Spirit than what we have. We all just choose our death and we choose how much time and we choose our pursuit. We choose our posture.
And there's times I've looked back in my life and feel like I've stewarded that really well. And there's other times I've looked back in my life and thought, man, I've really, I'm really missed some, some opportunities to go deeper. Right. And it's not about us being perfect and it's not about us always nailing it because I don't think that's possible for us to always nail it. But I do think it's about us posturing ourselves and just recognizing we choose our depth.
And so I think especially my twenties, when I really stepped into going fully for God, that's when I just started cleaning house. I started like, it was just, there was no holds bar. It was like the inner L my entertainment went through such a cleansing. And honestly, I've never been someone that's watched vulgar stuff. It's just, it's not my M.O. But nonetheless, like I just, I just cleansed what I listened to my conversations.
I hung out with awesome people that were super funny and I used to be really sarcastic. That was a big part of my sense of humor. And the Lord went after that with me because he said sarcasm is not a fruit of my spirit. So I had to, I had to change my humor. That was hard. And that just sounds simple, but honestly, it was a huge aspect of my personality and I always got a room laughing. And I loved it when I could make people laugh. So giving that up was really hard.
So I had to change my sense of humor. I had to allow the Lord to soften me in ways. He had to change my entertainment. I, I felt the no all through my college years. And this probably was when I felt it the most in the area of social on my social in my social world.
I was invited to so many parties and ski parties because we were only five hours away from Whistler because I went to school in Seattle and there was always these weekends away at Whistler where everyone would go and have a party house and go, and I was, I was never interested in drinking or anything like that, but I did want to just be around everyone and have fun and create memories. And I would have enjoyed snowboarding and all that. But I remember the Lord's like, you can't even be there.
Like you can't be present. There's some things you just can't have your presence at. There's some things by, but your presence shows affirmation and confirmation and saying like, this is okay. Even if you're not participating, it's your presence states a different message. And so I remember having that realization. Like I couldn't go to a party because if I went to a party, then it would be viewed that I was okay with what was happening at the party.
And I remember like, I even was at a dinner one time and someone asked me to hold their alcoholic drink. I don't drink and I, I take in a vow not to drink, but I remember even saying to them, I can't hold your drink. And they said, well, why? And I said, well, if anyone walks by, they don't know I'm holding it for you. They'll think it's my drink. So I remember just my convictions of like, I'm not holding a drink. I'm not participating.
I'm not like, I just cleaned house in my twenties because I think prior to my twenties, I was serving God and I loved God, but there was definitely mixture. I think because I was the only Christian, I, I still, if I compared my walked other people, I was doing awesome. But the thing is the barometer was way too low. Right? It was just way too low.
And so when the spirit of God arrested me and I just got enraptured when I started watching the Benny Hinn and the Catholic Coleman and he says, you have access to the whole, the same Holy spirit. All of a sudden there wasn't anything that was too great of a cost. I remember it was a Christian CD and it was one of my favorite Christian artists at the time. I was driving to work an hour and a half commute. Here's another cost hour and a half commute because I wanted discipleship in my life.
I didn't want to live in compromise. So I didn't live in Seattle. I lived an hour and a half commute away from work and I drove Monday through Friday and hour and a half each way to work because I wanted discipleship in my life. That's right. But as I'm driving, I'm listening to my favorite Christian artists at the time and I could tell there was compromise in their life, they had a different sound. I immediately rolled down the window and threw it out the window.
Wow. And some people might go, that's crazy. But if there was compromise or mixture because I knew that, I knew that smell. I knew that sound. I knew the fragrance of that because God had delivered me from it. He was now calling me to be a pure vessel. I just removed it. I did. I, I, I not in a, in abrupt or a mean way, but I pulled back from relationships. I wouldn't say I cut off relationships. I just, I pulled back from relationships. I, I shifted my friend group very intentionally.
I was intentional about where I lived, what came out of my mouth, what I watched. I mean, everything just, it went through a cleansing. That's so good. And, and I honestly, I've never, I've never gone back and it doesn't mean I've walked it perfect, but I've just, I've just had a conviction about the life I live because I want to live a life that the Holy spirit can dwell in and I only have one to give them. So I want it to be really good. You know?
Yeah. That is so strong because, you know, as you're sharing that about the cost, I'm just reviewing it in my life, different places and times, but I was thinking about again, the scripture that we were talking about Jeremiah 18, when God told Jeremiah to go down to the potter's house, when the potter gets the clay, the first thing that the potter does is takes the pebbles, the straw, the stuff out.
So what you're describing is God starts putting his finger on little things in your life, getting those pebbles out of your life in the area of purity and the area of focus and the area of what you're entertained by, who you hang out with, what's in your hand, what's not in your hand. God's going after the pebbles. But then the next thing that the potter does when he's turning the clay into a pot is that he adds water to it.
And the water, of course, we know is the word is the spirit, but you begin to watch the bitty hands of the Catherine Coleman. You begin to get in the word and all of a sudden you could see, uh-oh, this is this later down the road, I'm going to use this vessel to speak internationally, to write books, to be used of God, to call forth movements.
And then it's just a thing that kind of, I think we're going to begin to move towards too is that after that is set on a wheel where it's kind of grounded between two. So you feel the pressing, the grinding of that, but then it's thrown in the fire. And this principle that I think is so powerful and just tell me what your thoughts are on this, because I think this is so profound, is that the greater the usage of the vessel, the more intense the flames have to be.
Like earthen where only gets heated to a certain level, but if you're going to be porcelain, that's the most expensive pottery. You have to be fired up to a whole higher level. And so I think what, what do you see in terms of when God begins to, because I think when it comes to the call of God, when it comes to being used of God, it first comes as an interruption. Like you say, Hey, you're just doing a high school thing. You're doing a college thing for me. I was in college.
God comes to interrupt your life. But that moment of interruption is everything with you leaning into it, saying yes to God to where you're ultimately going. At what point, and we'll call this interruption, the ultimate interruption, the call of God. What moment did you realize you had the call of God on your life? And then I would ask you to piggyback. What are some things you would tell the genera, this generation in terms of discovering the call of God in their life?
You know, I knew I was always set apart just because I could, my convictions were different than those around me. Wow. And my convictions were different than those around me. And I knew I was set apart. I always knew I was set apart, even as a little girl. Now discovering the call of God, that's different because you can be set apart.
But when I know God has a call on my life and I'm called, I'm going to specifically say to preach and prophesy because that's my call, but someone could insert whatever their call is. But for me, I knew something was different on me. I had a divine interruption, my senior year of college at Seattle Pacific University. My friends and I, there was probably three or four of my friends, we were consistently continuing for a move of God on our Methodist, free Methodist university campus.
And one night we went to group and group was the kind of the cool chapels. Isn't that funny that there's a cool chapel, but leave it to a university to create the cool chapel. And that was the one that was Wednesday nights. And I believe it started at nine o'clock at night and all the athletes would come to that one. You know, it was kind of like the cool one. It was like a thousand people in our cafeteria. And I just remember getting a holy burden.
I wouldn't have understood at the time, but I felt a burden for my peers to experience God. And I had been, I had been witnessing to many of them because I had a friend, I was friends with a lot of the athletes and I hung out with that group. So I knew the compromise. I knew the casualness. A lot of them didn't even believe in God, had no experience with God, were not interested in God. And I just had such, because I had been so arrested by God and marked by God.
And by this point I'm in this fiery prophetic Holy Ghost church. I'm attending every week and I just know my campus needs to experience this. And I got on my, I got on my knees and I asked for permission. And at the end of worship, somewhere in the service, I got on my knees and I just begin to cry out for them to encounter God. And it just came over me. I didn't plan it. I didn't rehearse it.
It's just the Holy Spirit moved on me and in front of, in front of about a thousand or nine hundred of my peers, I got on my knees and I wept and I said, there's a God in this room who wants to encounter you. And there's many of you that have just been so dissatisfied. And I just began to make a, it was like a plea for the loss, but a plea for encounter. It was like this, it was a little bit of both. And I just said, Jesus is in the room. If you want him, come to the altar.
Okay. 300 students came down. Wow. That's crazy. You're a college student. I'm a college student. At your college. Yeah. And majority of the athletes came down. These were the cool kids, which kind of undid everyone. Because you know how it is, you did university campus ministry for years, Sean, you know, that when the cool, cause the cool kids really set the tone on campus, especially the athletes. Right.
Well, when the athletes, cause I called, I said, if you're dealing with porn, I said this, if you're dealing with porn, you're going to get set free tonight. You're dealing with depression. You're going to say, I just start calling stuff out. You're going to get set free tonight. Wow. Over 300 students came and we got on their faces, got on the altar and we're crying out. I mean, these guys were crying in front of their peers and God moved. And it shifted our campus.
It was at that moment I got up and I started praying for people. God started moving. I was prophesying into people's ears. I wasn't prophesying on the mic, but I was prophesying over people's ears, not even knowing what I was doing. I just was, I just got here with the whole, I called my friends up who had been interceding with me. So we had this like little like makeshift ministry team and we just started going through the altars. Like we just, we just did the stuff.
Not because anyone told us to do it because we just, it was just happening. What were the administration or leaders or people loved it? Oh, come on. They loved it because they had had so many issues with so many of these athletes, you know, breaking rules, having girls in their dorms all hours of the night, people sleeping together, parties. There had been so many issues of immorality on our campus. Yeah. And our, and our leadership was like, they just need God. They needed to counter with God.
And so the leaders and the people specifically over the chapels had been praying for God to move because there'd been so much rebelliousness within the student body that the administration was like, go, go. This is amazing. Right. I went back to my room that night, baby. And this is really to answer your question. I knew I was called because I felt the Holy Spirit come upon me.
And in my, just my simple understanding at that time, I was like, the Holy Spirit wouldn't have come on me if I'm not called to carry him. I just knew. I wouldn't have come on me like that if I wasn't called to carry him. And so I just realized in that moment after that night, I was supposed to have a mic in my hand. Wow. And I was supposed to proclaim what the Holy Spirit was telling me and I was going to preach and I was going to prophesy.
Like all of a sudden, all the years of me seeing other people do that, I realized that was on me. Yes. So I had been around it. I had had reference points of it, but I never knew that was on me until all of a sudden, boom, all I did. It started with intercession, it started with prayer and it started with me believing for a move of God on my university campus. And you know what? He did it. And I wish it was a full out full on revival.
It wasn't, but God began to move and we begin to see salvation. And I saw God use me among other people. And that solidified, I knew I was called. You know, and for people listening right now, as you've shared all those times that others could, but you could not. In other words, you set a standard. You were starting to live that in high school and you said, God start pointing out, rather was your sarcastic wit or different things that you begin to change.
You begin to repent of, you begin to come in line with what God has for you. And it's that whole Potter thing again, because you know, I think what happens today is we think if we can get people to call us a pot, even though we're clay, then we must be a pot. We're the cool pot. No, no, no, you're not a pot unless the Potter, right? Fully fashioned you. There's no shortcut and I feel like people don't understand to be used like you were used. God never adopts vessels.
In other words, he's not going to let someone else make you and they got, I'm adopting, I'm going to use you and you're going to have this platform. You're going to have a mic in your hand. You're going to have whatever followers or whatever influence you have to pay the price and you paid that price. And then when that moment came, you were obedient because, you know, if you're trying to be cool, you're trying to be the it girl.
If you want living right, you don't have boldness to call people to something you're not living. So if you aren't living it in front of them, and I think a lot of people want to be used to have this voice and influence, but in your day to day life, you disqualify whatever voice and influence God could give you because your articulation doesn't match your appearance. You know, people look at you and go, what are you talking about? Like, no, that's not you.
And so you have to be willing to live that life that's set apart. And in order to do it, you know, the Bible says if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out, your hand causes you to sin, cut it off your feet cause you to stumble, cut it off. And if you think about it, that is just being ruthless, which leads us to this quick little excerpt we're going to have as we take a pause to do this.
And we're going to come right back to Chris's interview, but a great friend of ours, you're well aware of him, Tommy O'Riome. He talked about this incredible phrase that I think you've got to hear as it relates to our entire thing, the price tag of spiritual greatness. Pack it up. For one of you, I wish I could grab your face and tell you this. Opportunity does not respect your excuse. You would think opportunity would wait for you to grieve the burial of your child.
And yet opportunity will not respect it. Everybody's like, God's called me to be a Ruth. You're not ruthless enough to be Ruth. Ruth lost her husband. Ruth lost her father in law. Ruth lost any possibility of having children. Now, me didn't just lose her husband. She lost her kids, my love, and kill on. She is grieving threefold. And yet she heard that God had visited his children in Israel in sending them bread and she packed her bags grieving. You're not ruthless enough to be Ruth.
Wow. Was that powerful? That whole thing of, oh my gosh, you're not ruthless enough to be Ruth. My goodness. My goodness. I tell you what, Tommy can break open the word of God like nobody's business. I have preached Ruth, but I've never pulled that out of it. I'm going to borrow that from here on out. That is so profound. That is so profound. I love it. But it's so true.
You know, because even before we went into Tommy's excerpt and I want to stay in this vein, it's like it really does require you to get ruthless in your life. It requires you. And one of the areas, because as I'm hearing Tommy's thing, I'm thinking, man, what area did I have to go ruthless in? And mine was man pleasing. I had to break every shred of what anyone thought of me holding me back.
What has been fundamental in my anointing and my calling is I cannot have one shred of what does man's pleasing within me with my prophetic gift. I have to be willing to break things open and I have to be willing to be bold and prophesy and say things and declare things that are unprecedented. That might even be uncomfortable. But I tell you what, when you follow the spirit of God, it breaks things open.
There's a ruthlessness that has been required of the call and I love how Tommy just says it so precisely, succinctly. It really is something we don't quite think about. You have to get ruthless over the call of God in your life. I love that. And as you talk about Ruth had experienced that level of loss. She experienced death of husband, family members. She's with her people, but has to make a decision that I'm even going to leave my people and go back, of course, with Naomi to her people.
And you preach an incredible message on that. And I think today we will serve God and we'll make sacrifices until something doesn't go our way. And the takeaway that I kind of got from Tommy is that's really at the point when the potter is forming you to become that vessel that you could raise the dead. You could speak and bring revival. You could be having overseas crusades or you could be at Microsoft. You could be at Metta. You could be at Amazon and you could be having board rooms.
You could be in Hollywood. You could be on the athletic field or government or wherever teacher education segment, but it's just so important that you say yes to God and understand. I think people don't realize is the hotter the furnace, the finer the vessel. Ruth was willing to go through the fire and what you're describing to me, Christa, you're willing to go through the fire. And so that leads me to this question and we're going to begin to wind it up.
But have you ever received opposition as a female preacher? I love it. You just laugh. I mean, people, what I laugh is you're the one that goes through all our social media and deletes all the opposition and all the haters. True, true. You're the one on assignment for that because you graciously guard me. So I don't have to read people's foolishness and hate. Thank you. So I appreciate that. You know, it doesn't jar me in the sense of it will never thwart me or take me out of position.
But have I experienced opposition 110% absolutely the day since I started prophesying and preaching, I literally have never not received opposition. Wow. So literally that is the man pleasing that had to go down to the nubs in me that in order to walk out the call of God and to be who I am today, if I would have had one ounce where man's opinion had greater weight than God's opinion, I would not be here today. And so God's opinion has to must have a greater weight than man's opinion.
And that will only happen through a life where you have just said, it's all about you. It's for you. It's for your glory and where you have not made your life about you. You know, I've shared this publicly. I've shared this in my book. You know, I've had people get up, stage a silent protest while I've preached. I've had newspapers and radio stations not willing to post or play any of my sermons because I'm a woman.
Wow. To this day, if I preach and prophesy and there's clips that go out to this day 2023, come on, we will, I will have people say hateful, vile things against me and Sean graciously deletes all of that. I've had YouTube videos made against me and Sean graciously petitioned to got those removed. So I have a husband that looks out for me and guards me, but does it hurt me? Nope. It really doesn't. Does it, does it discourage me?
No. It makes me sad for them that they're missing out on half the body of Christ that has a word right now. Right. But it really doesn't affect me because I know I'm cold. And when you know you're cold, you don't take the bait of that religious spirit because that's exactly what it is. The religious spirit hates the female preacher hates the female prophet hates it.
And so everything about what I represent as a, as a prophet and as a preacher, ooh, everything about what I carry or the religious spirit hates. And so, you know, I actually look at, uh, when I have protests, you were with me one time when I showed up in a town and there was actually picketers and signs and people carrying signs protesting that I was there preaching and prophesying. I look at it as encouragement. Uh, that's the way I'm wired.
I'm kind of like, I must be doing something right because I'm stirring the enemy's camp and the enemy wouldn't be coming at me if I wasn't taken background. And so I just look at it as a compliment. But I tell you what, if you have man pleasing in you, you will not walk in the fullness of who you are. That is something that has to get sifted out of you. So good. And that's because you have to be able to get off a platform.
And even if no one in the room tells you that it was right and that doesn't mean you're not teachable, I do want to say, you never want to be rebellious. You don't want them to be teachable. There's a balance to what I'm saying. But when I know I've heard from God, even if it doesn't land with people I love, but I know I've heard from God for my years and my history again, in my teachable, God willing, I pray I'm always teachable and I always want to be able to be moldable and get feedback.
But you also have to be confident that you've heard the Lord and that is a lifelong journey. The Lord has you on as a woman of God. And for that matter, as a follower of Jesus, I just think we're in the days where the haters have arisen. And so you've got to know who you are. But opposition, honestly, I just expect it. And that's not out of like making the enemy big. I just expect it just doesn't shock me anymore. So it's kind of a, it's a moot point, as we would say.
Yes. And the Bible says, in fact, all those who desire to live a Godly life will be persecuted. And Jesus said, blessed are you when men speak evil and wrongful things about you. So God pronounces blessing there. And you know, we have to understand that clay has to pass through the fire into the day. You don't take anything away from Jeremiah 18. You got to understand that clay must pass through the fire. And if it doesn't, it never can become a pot.
And again, what we're saying is that we want our lives to ring for eternity. We want our lives to matter. We want to be used for something that God can, he gave his life for us. He shed his blood for us. He put his spirit inside of us. He's given us breath in our lungs. He's put an anointing on our life to influence people. And if we don't steward that properly and we don't understand, we can miss out.
And there's even this thing in Genesis too that it said, up to this point, it had never rained on the earth. It had never rained. But the Bible explained it says only a mist came up and that's kind of how you'd water plants. But the Bible says in Genesis 2, verse 515, there was no outpour of the spirit. One translation said, because there was no man to tell the garden.
So there's certain things, maybe even in the air of revival and operating on the spirit, God waits for usable vessels that have gone through the different testings and different places. They've said yes to God. They've gone through the fire. They've made the consecration, because consecration, holiness, when God is looking for people, it's pretty obvious what he looks for first of all. You don't look at our appearance. The Bible's pretty clear.
Samuel, when he found David, God looks at the heart. And when I think about that, I think of Christ the God has given you the most amazing heart. I could truly say that as your husband, the way you are broken before the Lord. You have a heart for people, the way you'll linger at the altar. You'll pray for the last person. You'll prophesy, you'll get up and go forward. I think it's so important.
And maybe it's the final question that I'd ask you, because there's so many things, and we'll probably just have another conversation interview. Why do you think it's important for people to be true to the call of God on their life and to the upward summons of being a vessel of spiritual greatness? You know, I think we're in an hour where we have to really realize the necessity and the need for authentic followers of Jesus. And so asking that question of why is it so important?
It's because history demands it. And our present day needs it. We're in a moment where we don't have the option, or if you want to call it a luxury, to live a subpar vanilla version Christianity. It requires you to live a Christianity in this hour that is authentic, that is radical, that is fully and completely for the things of God. Because a mixture version disciple of Jesus is not going to change culture and shift things in darkness.
The only way we're going to see the breakthrough in the hour that we live in right now in our nation, I can speak specifically in California, is a Holy Ghost remnant of believers that are actually here to put a stake in the ground and say, God, we recognize the moment we're in a history and we have to see a change. And the change comes through us living fully and completely for the Lord. And so I think that I grew up through the 80s and the 90s, and there was a lot of pomp and circumstance.
There was a lot of shininess to the gospel and the presentation of the gospel. And I feel like in 2023, we're just getting down to the basics. We're just going real simple. It's almost like we're taking the lights out, the fog machines being removed, the runway shows being taken out. It's just like, come ready to enter in, to contend, to weep, to tarry, to believe that God is going to move. And I feel like that's the hour we're in. That's the authentic gospel.
It's not this shiny packaged version of Christianity. It's a, let's get down and let's get to it. And I feel like that's where we're at right now, as the church. That's where we're at and where we need to be as believers. So I hope I'm answering your question correctly, but I feel like it's really this place of being completely sold out, uncompartmentalized before the Lord that, like you said, and I love it. I'm going to just keep borrowing your statement.
He isn't looking for some room in our lives. He's looking for all the room of our lives. Like, he's not looking for part of your heart. He's wanting all of your heart. He's not looking for some space. He wants all the space. And I just feel like we're in this, we're in this holy redesign, reshift, recalibration in the church right now, where believers are getting set on fire, like, like nobody's business. And I do have to say this, you know, I didn't expect to cry.
I got emotional on this and I thought, Oh my goodness, why am I getting emotional? And I think because I recognize everything that the Lord has done in many of us, including myself, but I think I'm reminded of my own story. But I think people are going to be reminded by listening to even me talk. They're going to be reminded of their own story of everything God has done in two, in our lives is for this moment. I feel like we have been in a, we've been in decades of preparation for this hour.
Like this is the hour. It's like the full roars coming out, the full unleashing being released. And so I just want to encourage you, keep it 100 tribe. Like it's time to go for it. Like it's, it's not a whole back season. It's a throw it all in, throw in the kitchen sink. Like, let's just go. Like it's all chips in on the table. We're doing this. So I just think we have to live authentically because we have lived, we have shown the world for too long.
A mixture version of a follower of Jesus and it has done nothing but cause confusion and heartache. That's so well said. And you know, Christy, I was thinking about America's first foreign missionary was a guy by the name of Adiram Judson. Judson endured heart rendering suffering during 37 years in Burma. So he's, he was America's first missionary, 37 years in Burma. He's left behind family and friends, a promising career in Boston.
He had to master the complex Burmese language without the aid of any textbooks. And there certainly weren't any apps that we now have that you can learn these languages real quick. You have no Google language. He labored six years in Burma before winning one person to Christ. Imagine six years while on the mission field, he suffered the untimely depths of two wives.
That would be one at a time for those of you who don't know that three children, a number of coworkers, Judson was incarcerated for nearly two years in a mind-numbling squalid prison. He was emaciated, filthy, shackled, hanging upside down most of the time. His few Burmese followers faced a constant threat of persecution. Still Judson persevered in his work of preaching and translation. When he returned to Boston after he somehow got out of prison, it was God.
For his only furlough in 37 years, he was asked by a prominent interviewer, do you think the prospects are bright for the speedy conversion of the event? Judson promptly replied as bright as the promises of God. And today, thanks to Judson's pioneering work, there are at least four million Christians in Burma. And he proves to me that there is a price tag, but spiritual greatness on the other end is so worth it. Thanks so much for tuning in to the Keep It 100 podcast.
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