I received a message stating the query exceeded the lookup column threshold. What does it mean and how do I resolve it?

For effective indexing and throttling, SharePoint, by default, limits the amount of items and lookups allowed per query. If you have received either of the above messages, then you have encountered this limitation and will need to perform these steps for resolution.

1.) Login into SharePoint's "Central Administration"
2.) Navigate to "Application Management" and then "Manage web applications"
3.) Select the Web application that you would like to modify and then click the General Settings drop down located in the Ribbon.
4.) Select Resource Throttling
5.) Scroll down and locate the option called "List View Lookup Threshold" and increase this value. (Default value is 8).
6.) Click OK to save the change.