About the Book
I was inspired to write this book when God began to do things directly in response to my questioning Him. All of a sudden, it seems like he showed up. And then all of a sudden, He shined the light down the history of my past and pulled the ripcord, bringing it all together, showing me the places where He has been there the whole time! My hope is that He will do this for you, and you will also see where He has actually been walking with you, even though you may not have known it. My hope also is that you will Speak to the Fire in your own life and understand that you have the power to change things, with even a tiny bit of faith in our creator. Speak to that problem that has been haunting you! Speak truth to it, and forgive yourself! No matter what walk of life you are--married, single, LBGT, parents or not--no matter where you are on your path in that walk or what religious label you carry--Christian, Mormon, Agnostic, Catholic, Muslim, Jewish, even Atheist--this will inspire you to start OR to keep talking to God, that fire within you! There's a lot of uncertainty and a lot of division in our country these days. So much hate, so much prejudice, so much fighting. So many things done claiming to be in the name of God that just don't sit well with me. The word Christian doesn't sound right to me anymore either. It has been distorted and twisted and used for political reasons. The church itself has been corrupted in many ways. But God, Christ, Jesus...They all still live and speak to each one of us, if we will quiet our minds enough to listen. I even recall that, when I was single, I didn't put the label Christian on the dating websites but opted instead for the spiritual but not religious category. I dated Jewish, Muslim, Agnostic, Mormon, Catholic, pretty much anybody that I was attracted to. Each step of the way, I knew that God would lead me to the right person and that my steadfast belief in Him would not be shaken. Unequally yoked? I can hear you now. That is what grace is for, and when you are truly led with a humble heart, the Lord knows...and matches you up accordingly! Sometimes that path can be the very thing leading you closer to each other and to him. Pray, seek God's answer and follow that divine direction he puts in your heart AND gut. There is a true voice of God, and there is a true spirit of God, and it doesn't matter what label you put on yourself. I was raised non-denominational Christian, I believe, and I even had to check with our pastor to ask! My mother was raised Pentecostal, but she was led away from some of it. She fell under the non-denominational category as well. She was a fire-breathing, Holy Spirit-filled prophet herself. She didn't always get it right, but she did get most of it, and I was blessed to have her as a mother. The term false prophet is in reference to willful liars doing their will out of greed vs. God's will he put in their spirit. Discernment comes into play on the part of the receiver. More on that later. In every generation, God is still present. Sometimes we just don't recognize Him. Worse yet, sometimes we don't really understand where other people are in their path to Him. He created us all equally and He loves us all equally, regardless of what label we put on ourselves. I have atheist friends who are more LED in goodness of heart and deed than some of the people claiming to be Christian. I have brought to my pastor some of my Muslim friends, who were given words from God of comfort and direction; and it didn't matter what faith, background, or country these friends were from. God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, our Creator knows the heart. We don't. And we don't know what label people have on themselves (or that are placed on them), whether or not there's relevance. Even the great singer Prince, who was raised Baptist, switched to Jehovah's Witness; and in his walk, I am certain, he found the Lord, touched the face of God, and he loves Jesus. Know He understands
About the Author: Joy Ryan is based out of Vernonia, Oregon and grew up in a conservative Christian household with family members that were in the ministry. She spent many years in the church growing up with her mother as a pastor of a very small country church. She herself embarked upon a finance career and obtained her finance degree. She went through the loss of her first spouse in her early 20's and then remarried. That tragically ended in divorce sometime later. During her years in the dating world she discovered a lot of similarities amongst the families of different religions she encountered and men she was dating. A common thread she found was that each religion wanted to be the only religion and always seemed to be in rebuke of the others. Most seemed deeply rooted in manmade tradition vs a personal relationship with our creator. Realizing there is a true voice of God that one must find and follow, gave her a lot of relief in all the confusion. She shows us the history of stories in her own life that verify the almighty exists and works in our lives in wondrous ways, even if we have been unaware. After telling random stories to friends and hearing their reaction she realized the blessing and that these stories needed to be shared on a more public platform. She knew this would help others tune in and have a personal relationship with God despite the chatter and confusion of competing religious labels. Most religious folks, she found, reported that they went to church regularly however were largely unaffected and had no real experiences of wonder. Unreligious folks were completely turned off by the Church due to all the hypocrisy, ambivalence and downright cruelty to others. Joy challenges you to look at your own life and find where the Lord has shown up; no matter what faith, or lack of faith, you claim. She helps you shine the flashlight upon the history of your life and see that the Lord has been there, available and has even swooped in to save the day without you realizing it.
