Level Up Podcast with Rhonda Devlin

Today I had the honor to help parents and caregivers have some ideas, guidelines, and input as they navigate through teaching their child about Sex. It's such a critical and fundamental topic to help our children understand, gain awareness about, and eventually grow up to be mature adults that bring healthy sexuality and sexual behaviors forward into their lives. Parents have been given such an honor to help cultivate secure attachments with their children. Building trust and bringing safety, love, and grace is all about helping our kids to thrive. Having those sex talks with our child can be awkward and down right fear-inducing and this is why we must be aware of our own values, feelings, thoughts, and attitudes about sex before we try to 'pull off' the task of teaching our child. There is no shame in the subject and the more we work through our own struggles with it the better we are able to help our child develop a healthy perspective and have those sex talks that they need. God bless you on your journey through this. Here are some of the resources I mentioned: Therapeutic Counseling and Wellness Services of San Antonio www.rhondadevlin.com www.levelupwellnesssa.com Rhonda Devlin -----210-218-6647 (call/text) www.yourbrainonporn.com God's Design for Sex Series, 4 Books by Stan and Brenna Jones The Focus on the Family.. Guide to Talking with Your Kids about Sex: Honest Answers For Every Age The Gift of Sex by Clifford and Joyce Penner

Today I had the chance to talk to the lovely ladies out there about Sex. Taking time to invest in women's lives and offering them information, grace, and resources to help them in their journey of handling their sexuality and sex was what today’s program was all about. Getting to the wounds of a broken heart and understanding that our poor behaviors and choices are communicating about our unmet needs is crucial. Leveling Up in our sexual territory is a huge part of enjoying energy, vitality, and improving our struggles of stress, non-optimal living, and many other issues we face. Being responsible with sex and owning our own healing recovery from whatever trauma or wound we have experienced is SO necessary! As promised I'm leaving resources in the description box for the podcast. PLEASE call and reach out. You are NOT alone! Rhonda Devlin @ 210-218-6647 (text/call) rhondadevlin.com levelupwellnesssa.com Cliff Taylor @ 210-378-0480 James Keedy @ 210-826-8686 Julie Dozier @ julieingscounseling.com yourbrainonporn.com Celebrate Recovery SA Anonymous (Sexaholics anonymous) S Anon

Today it was my honor to talk with men about Sex. It was a message that brought all kinds of information, grace, and resources to help them in their journey of handling their sexuality and sex. There was additionally an intentional focus on a very needed thing, which was an apology from us Ladies on how we have hurt men or let them down. I promised I'd leave resources as well in the description box for the podcast. They include: Rhonda Devlin @ 210-218-6647 (text/call) rhondadevlin.com levelupwellnesssa.com Cliff Taylor @ 210-378-0480 James Keedy @ 210-826-8686 Julie Dozier @ julieingscounseling.com yourbrainonporn.com Be Broken Ministry Celebrate Recovery SA Anonymous (Sexaholics anonymous) Conquer Series @ various churches...or find on YouTube various support groups and Christ-centered men’s groups

Today I invite you to join me in a conversation about SEX. We just aren't having enough healthy, mature conversations and we have problematic sexual issues that are causing us epidemic wide destruction...especially in our Churches! Our sexuality and sex is truly a GIFT FROM GOD....and we need to be responsible with these things. I'm asking us to check in and get real about our beliefs, attitudes, behaviors, and ultimately our hearts. The effects of having a healthy sexuality and sex life is mind-blowing! Our body, emotions, heart, and spirit all get the beautiful by-products that God blesses us with when we follow His parameters while navigating through sex. May this particular series be a catalyst to enable you to begin and actively maintain your Leveling Up experience!

Today we had the great joy to listen in as Steven De La Mora shared his personal story with all of us through the platform of radio/podcast. His courage to be vulnerable and testify to God's goodness hopefully will be a catalyst for others to do the same. Steven found himself at the end of his rope and pushed God away from his heart and life. He felt ashamed, unlovable, and broken because he was caught up in making bad choices. What we see as his story unravels is that God NEVER left him, but gave him the grace he needed to find himself back to Papa's loving arms. Steven's story illustrates the truth that God is so faithful to us even when we are not always faithful to him....not giving us an excuse or permission to be unfaithful but thankfully giving us mercy, grace, and a way back to Him through Jesus. Our love for God can only increase as we experience the many ways that He calls to us, provides for us, and saves us from ourselves and the enemy's clutches!

Today we heard Lisa Michelle's amazing story about growing up in a broken home and being sexually exploited by a neighbor. Although she learned to mask her pain with a life of partying, men, and poor choices that led her to require drug rehab she was able to turn to Christ and find the love of her Heavenly Father. After working to detox, making better choices to let Christ redeem her life, and find a safe haven with her husband she unexpectedly began to experience flashbacks of hidden sexual exploitation and trauma experienced as a young girl. She was given a diagnosis and medicated but desired to be medication free. Twenty years ago she chose to face life without prescriptive meds and has successfully experienced healing and a life devoted to ministry in order to help other women and children exploited by sexual predators. Her ministry "No Strings Attached Outreach" helps to serve those women in strip clubs, massage parlors, pornography venues, and any other sexually exploited realms where women and children are victimized.

Today we had the honor to listen to James Duerr as he shared his remarkable life and all that God has been doing in it. We learned that James was raised in a church home, attended Boy Scouts, and had a Godly foundation established at an early age. God's grace and power is seen interwoven throughout James' story was we discover about his successes and struggles. James stresses the need for parents to raise their children well and impact their lives with the truths of God. We also are inspired to not quite or get soured when opportunities or things we hope for don't always work out. By God's grace we are able to authentically live out 2 Corinthians 4:8-10: We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body.

Today we had the honor to hear Valerie Salas’ remarkable testimony of how she was wounded due to early life experiences and how God helped save her. Having come from a home that was broken Valerie suffered greatly and then turned to unhealthy solutions trying to meet her needs and cope with her pain. Unfortunately, it caused her more suffering but ultimately brought her to rock bottom where she was ready to receive the help of God. Through individuals that God sent to her she was able to experience authentic, genuine love, and care that she never knew existed. Thankfully she was not successful in taking her life and was able to receive the salvation and truth that set her free through Christ. She now devotes her time, resources, energy, and love towards telling others of God's grace and helping them to see and experience a better way. She is a mother or three teen boys and she lights up this world by being the beautiful vessel God always created her to be. God's work in her and through her continues to show us how much He cares and is deserving of all glory!

Today, on our last Saturday of the year 2019, we talked about getting into position for God's favor in the New Year 2020. Vision casting, dreaming, and resolutions are all great things to do as a new year approaches...and yet we need to be ready, "clean house", position ourselves, and start with a beginning of praising and testifying about God's goodness. He has been so faithful and abundant in His love for us. Let's offer Him our 'first-fruits' during the month of January as we testify about what all He has done and is doing on our behalf. When we aren't positioned well we are not ready to receive what He desires to give. Join me for the month of January as we dedicate these airwaves to offering a 'shout out' to God so we may be encouraged, inspired, and a blessing to believers and non-believers alike!

Today we had a very beautiful and special guest, Dr. Bernice Gonzalez, on the program. She is the owner of Vital Life Wellness clinics in San Antonio, TX and has served the community as a Family Physician and Functional Medicine Practitioner for many years. She helped us to understand more about a conventional medical system vs a functional medicine approach and how addressing patients needs in a comprehensive and holistic aspect is so much more beneficial for everyone. She identified pillars of health and the necessity for us to put into place authentic self-care as we look to be good stewards of our bodies. We also disclosed some of our own struggles we face in this area and how we must rely on the grace and power of God to help us all continue to level up in our lives.

Today we were reminded of the three types of individuals when it comes to body health. Hoping to inspire you to be empowered to choose to be a type 3 individual, I discussed some basic things that can help us become that. I identified that Awareness is Key; The Help of Others is critical; Evaluate and Qualify those you choose to help you; Getting Labs helps you to be informed; Healthy Life-Style management is a must; Quality Supplementation is critical; and Detoxing Habits will effectively help you in stewarding your body well! I also spoke a blessing over your body...from head to toe...and encouraged you to find the hope, courage, right-thinking, motivation, and equipping to reach healthy body stewardship so you can walk fully in your God-ordained destinies. If you need help and want to dive deeper into comprehensive care for yourself reach out and visit me at www.levelupwellnesssa.com

Today we had the chance to reflect on why we want to steward the body well. All God's gift to us are good and this includes the bodies He gives us. Are we treating our body like a TREASURE or TRASH? It's not necessarily the easiest thing to always take care of our bodies, but when we are practicing awareness; mirror conversations; self discipline; radical self-responsibility; consistency; a positive mindset and attitude; allowing others to help us; and inviting God's power into where we are stuck we WILL BE transformed! I invite you to soak in Mathew 13 and really reflect on the Sower and Seed parable that Jesus shares. See how this applies and consider if you are living as a Type 1, Type 2, or Type 3 individual in regards to your attitude and results in stewarding your body. Join me next week as I dive into specific things that we can do to take better care of our bodies. Also, please send me any type of testimony where you are willing to brag about how Jesus has helped you overcome your struggles. Please send to Rhonda@rhondadevlin.com. I'll share this in the month of January as we all give a big shout out to His goodness. If you wish to keep it anonymous be sure to let me know. Thank you for participating in cheering about Jesus and helping others to know so they are increased in their faith, hope, and awareness of His power!

Today I was able to sit down with the wonderful Dr. Mark Jones and have a conversation about stewarding our soul. We discussed what symptoms show up when we are in need of healing and how our soul wounds and poor soul condition can wreak havoc on our lives and others. Family of origin and one's developing years play such a crucial role in how our will, mind, and emotions are affected. Being intentional about understanding and working on our wounds, flaws, trauma, and unhealthy living brings such peace, freedom, and joy for those who courageously do this. Dr. Jones and I also shared some of our own personal struggles and how we go about attending to those issues. It is good to live transformed lives and with the power of God we can do this well!

Today we covered what stewardship of the emotions looks like. Emotions can be messy, overwhelming, and either cause us to become avoidant and shut down or throw temper tantrums as we live by what we feel. Emotional regression is a critical root issue of improper stewardship of one's emotions. When we aren't present and using our adult-like skills to problem-solve we have typically become a victim of our own emotional regression. Learning how to identify our emotions and that they bring their own set of gifts helps us to embrace them, feel them, process them, and not be taken hostage by them. Understanding that God shows us in His Word that emotions are to be acknowledged, channeled in healthy ways, and that we need the power He brings will help all us to level up in our emotional responsibilities. I invite you to consider what your own emotional needs are and if you don't have someone safe and loving to shoulder them with you then please reach out and allow me the honor to help.

Today we continued having the discussion of being a good steward of our soul. Since the soul is comprised of the will, mind, and emotions we dug deeper into principles regarding stewarding the mind well. We learned that there is a body-mind connection. Additionally, we discovered that how we treat our bodies and our brains not only influence one another, but certainly affects our emotions and our behaviors. Being good stewards of one's mind requires each of us having trusting, safe, confidential, accountable individuals in our lives so that we can flush out our thoughts, examine them with objectivity, and weed out the erroneous ones. I encourage you to reach out for counsel and accountability from a counselor, pastor, life coach, Godly-friend, and spend time in the Word of God to help you steward well the beautiful mind God has given you.

Today we finished up the conversation on stewarding the soul in regards to the will component. Since the soul is made up of our will, thoughts, and emotions, we look to understand fully how important our stewardship of our will is so that we are pleasing to God. We talk about how our family of origin and experiences do affect our will and how we need to be intentional about doing the work necessary to heal, be set free, and transformed with new thinking and living. The battle of the flesh and spirit is real and we need to be prepared to be ready as warriors of God. We also see that at times we may doubt that God's will for us is "good" and yet scripture helps us hold onto the truth so that we walk in truth and not by feelings. God loves us and has absolute good in mind for each of us and our lives.

Today we started to uncover what it means to be a good steward of one's soul The soul is comprised of one's will, thoughts, and emotions. We want to first get a handle on the will (aka: desires) and how that plays a part in our lives. We discover that if our will is aligned with God's then it doesn't contaminate our mind and emotions. We also take a moment to ponder the gift of free will from God and how we should honor Him with our choices.

Today I get a chance to bring another pastoral voice to the table as I interview bi-vocational Pastor Greg Wukasch. Listen as he shares his insights on being Godly stewards of our spiritual conditions. Highlighting one's identity in Christ; intimacy with God; and intentionally seeking to feed ourselves are just some of the things we cover in conversation. Additionally, we self-disclose about our own struggle we face in spiritual stewardship and how we choose to be obedient and address this issue when we miss the mark.

What motivates us as we strive to be good stewards of all God has placed within our destinies? God desires it to be our love for Him...but often its about the losses and gains we encounter in our lives. Search with me in Leviticus 26 and see what God gives as reward for obedience and penalty for disobedience. Then turn to Galatians 5:22-23 with me as we identify what we will exhibit as good fruit when we are being great stewards of our spiritual condition, walk, and legacy.

Today we covered an important concept in order to help us get to the place of being a good steward of our body, soul, and spirit. Mindfulness is a necessary habit we all need to practice so that we are in touch with authentic reality and not our made-up version of it. We need to seek God and others to get an accurate idea of what fruit we are manifesting. As we begin to evaluate we must have 'Mirror Conversations' that cause us to look ourselves in the eyes and have a truth encounter as we take inventory of our lives.

Today we reviewed that scripture teaches us to be good stewards of what God has entrusted us with. We have been given much and it takes awareness, balance, and radical self-responsibility to comprehensively take care of our bodies, souls, and spirits. With God's help and our willingness we can all achieve stewarding God's way.