I recently had the incredible opportunity to sit down for an interview with Paul Ryden — an Emmy-winning journalist, actor, and seasoned reporter for Turner Broadcasting, ESPN, and Fox Sports.
And let me tell you… he is the real deal.
Paul asked thoughtful, meaningful questions—not just about my book Soul Restored, but about my personal journey and the heart behind why I wrote it. It was such a powerful and uplifting conversation that I can’t wait to share with you!
If you haven’t grabbed your copy of Soul Restored yet, now’s the time! It’s available on Amazon worldwide (U.S., UK, Canada, Australia & more), and also at Barnes & Noble, Indigo, and Goodreads.
If you—or someone you love—needs a reminder that no matter what you’ve been through, God can restore your soul… this book is for you.
I’m currently reading a book on endings and how to embrace the fact that it’s normal for things to end. Such a concept, isn’t it? If something is good, we never want it to end. If it’s bad, we think it will never end! Good grief!
What we need is a new mindset about beginnings and endings. We need to recognise that all things come to an end and an ending isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It just means its season is done.
Ecclesiastes 3:1 tells us, “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens” (NIV). There are times to begin things and times to end them.
Another way to look at endings is to view them as part of the pruning process. No one likes pruning, but the reality is that pruning is as normal for each of us as it is for plants. We need to be able to see that the endings of some things release us to start tending new things—new fruit and new harvests that could last for many years and seasons!
I find myself asking these questions lately:
Am I hanging on to an activity, relationship, or strategy when its season has already passed?
Is there anything I need to do or let go of to move into a new season? Have I been frustrated that the season I thought should be here by now has not yet come?
Have I fought the pruning process and kept tending what there is, even if it’s not producing any fruit?
Is it time to start harvesting fruit in some areas of my life?
We must be willing to recognise and acknowledge the season we’re in. We can’t expect to ‘harvest’ if winter has kicked in. In the same way, we can’t keep sowing and sowing—there needs to be a time of tending, and from there, a time of harvest.
As I read Ecclesiastes, I find myself asking God to reveal what season I am in. What activities under Heaven should I be participating in? Should I be gathering or scattering, sowing or reaping? Have I been trying to raise something up that should be killed off? Am I still mourning something when God says it’s time to dance? Are there things I’m keeping hold of that He wants me to throw away? Are there endings on the horizon that I am refusing to accept?
God is sovereign, and we should desire His sovereignty over our lives. So, as we ease into a new year, let’s seek to be in sync with God’s timing and walk with Him, step by step, through every activity under Heaven. Whether we are sowing or reaping, embracing or releasing, picking up or laying down, gathering or scattering—let’s remember that GOD has “made everything beautiful in its time!” (Ecclesiastes 3:11 NIV), and that His beauty will manifest in whatever season we are in!
Definition of an intercessor; is a person who builds up a wall and stands in the gaps. God is searching for men and women to stand in the gap .
I searched for a man among them who would build up the wall and stand in the gap before Me for [the sake of] the land, that I would not destroy it, but I found no one [not even one]. Ezekiel 22: 30
I believe that God is often looking for a man or woman who will stand in the gap for a LEADER, so that they will not be overtaken, overwhelmed or taken out. People who will come to the Wall when He calls them – not when it’s convenient or they feel like it. God is looking for people who come when the Holy Spirit calls! So many times we will say we are good at intercession and we pray for hours at a time – but God is looking for is, do you COME when He calls you?
Leaders need intercessors praying for them. God is constantly giving us new strategies on how to pray. That is why we need, as intercessors to constantly be trained in prayer. We need to be looking up new books, or current information and conferences on Prayer – so that we are building ourselves up – staying fresh and getting current strategies for warfare on behalf of leaders!
Leaders also need to be praying more effectively – not necessarily longer! Remember the scripture says the ‘Effective fervent prayer of a righteous man… ‘ We need to be praying effective prayers ! What does that mean to be effective when we pray. It’s to be strategic in how we pray – being focused on a target!
Why Leader’s don’t have intercessors: 1. Ignorance – lack of knowledge or teaching and don’t really see the importance, significance or necessity of it. 2. Rugged individualism – I can do it myself – so they don’t think about asking for help. ( very common among certain nationalities.. ) 3.Fear – leaders are afraid of being vulnerable – ‘Who can I really share my heart with?’.. Leaders often don’t have many close friends. This may feel safe, but really isn’t. 4. Spiritual Arrogance – I’m leader . God called me. 5. Undue Humility – I’m no better than anyone else – who am I to ask for special prayer. I’m just ‘one of them’. ( No. that’s not true, your the LEADER!! )
Ask yourself, if you don’t have intercessors, or you only have a few, what is keeping you from receiving intercession from others.
False humility is thinking of yourself lower than what God says about you. Pride is thinking of yourself ‘higher’ than what God says about you. True Humility is to agree with what God has said about you.
Watch out for words like : ‘kinda’ .. when describing yourself and your leadership.. You’re either the leader or your not the leader.. Your either the Intercessors or your not the intercessor. If you’re JUST an intercessor – you’re minimizing what God is saying you are! If you’re JUST a leader, you are minimizing your leadership. Remember, the enemy will also take you at your Word.. and if you’re ‘just’ a leader.. or only ‘kinda’ leading.. he will work on minimizing your leadership, your authority and your honour!
Leaders need to remember that the higher they go up in the role in the Kingdom, the higher they go up on Satan’s hit list. Why? Because when a leader gets taken out, especially through sin, it causes such a ripple effect through the Body! It causes an ‘effect’ that is harmful! That’s why the enemy loves to go after leaders! The enemy wants to take you out and that means your ministry, your marriage! If he can’t get you, he’ll go after your seed – your children and your grandchildren! He’s out to destroy the sea of God. So if you don’t think you personally need intercessors, ask your family if life is peaceful for them. If not.. then you probably need intercessors. You are targets, because you are more visible! That’s not to cause you to be afraid, but it is meant to make you think and be WISE!
I’ll post more about this another day..! But wanted to get you thinking!… .
Have you forgotten who the enemy is?!! We are so busy fighting each other – judging each other – have we forgotten who is really benefiting from all this dissension? The enemy has lit a fire and just stands back and watches things burn. We have drawn lines in the sand that don’t need to be there!
I’m okay with your choices. Are you okay with mine?
Anger and judgments are hitting a new level. People attacking each other on Facebook and in person. People are now afraid to ask questions for fear of being judged and attacked!
Lord, help us!
Ephesians 4: 3 Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. Make every effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit, binding yourselves.
We need to wake up and see what the enemy is doing. When we are fighting or bickering, we often stop praying for one another. Let’s make the enemy the enemy; and take the targets off the backs of our brothers and sisters.
I’m advocating we love louder .
What is the world seeing right now in our Christianity? Let’s love louder than we argue.
Rom.14( in the Message) says this:
Welcome with open arms fellow believers who don’tsee things the way you do. And don’t jump all over them every time they do or saysomething you don’t agree with—even when it seems that they are strong on opinions butweak in the faith department. Remember, they have their own history to deal with. Treatthem gently.
10-12 So where does that leave you when you criticize a brother? And where does thatleave you when you condescend to a sister? I’d say it leaves you looking pretty silly—orworse. Eventually, we’re all going to end up kneeling side by side in the place of judgment,facing God. Your critical and condescending ways aren’t going to improve your positionthere one bit. Read it for yourself in Scripture:“As I live and breathe,” God says, “every knee will bow before me; Every tongue will tell the honest truththat I and only I am God.”So mind your own business. You’ve got your hands full just taking care of your own lifebefore God.
13-14 Forget about deciding what’s right for each other. Here’s what you need to beconcerned about: that you don’t get in the way of someone else, making life more difficultthan it already is. I’m convinced—Jesus convinced me!—that everything as it is in itself isholy.
Let’s stop fighting each other and remember we have an enemy whose territory/kingdom is fear, disunity, anger, judgment. Let’s start walking in that bond of peace; with each other again. Let’s remember that all of this is an opportunity to show LOVE and bring His peace to a world that is being shaken right now.
I am not one that is naturally fearless, but oh I want to be! I don’t want to be afraid of people yet, I still am at times. I want to walk in the truth that I am ‘fearfully and wonderfully made’ and if you don’t like me – that’s ok, because I’m not everyone’s ‘cuppa of tea’.. but it’s also, not my problem.
I want to be fearless because I know my worth and value.
I want to walk in the reality of Psalm 34:4 – “I sought the Lord, and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears”. Now THAT is my goal, I believe it’s God’s goal FOR me! to be ‘fear-less’.. ‘fear-free’.. . I don’t want to be afraid to travel but I still am sometimes AND YET, I travel. Everytime I get in a car or plane it reminds me that I am brave.. and ‘fearless’.
I fight ‘fear’ when it comes to my recovery from my recent surgery – an ankle replacement. Fear is mixed in with the unknown, ‘Will I ever walk normally again?’…’Is it always going to hurt like this?’ Fear about the future is a daily battle, and then I remember Jer.29: 11
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
I take great comfort in knowing that God did not design me to be fearful – that it’s something I’ve learned through life, and if it’s a learned response, it can be ‘un-learned’. But oh, the process to ‘unlearn’ a fear response! In my case, that usually means having to face fear and yes, fearful moments.
“For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.” 2 Timothy 1:7
I’ve learned that when I feel fearful, that it’s usually an indication that I am not feeling ‘loved’. Why?
Well…when I feel loved, I feel safe. I feel confident. I feel at peace. I’ve learned that when fear is creeping in – or coming in on a rampage – to stop and ask God to remind me how loved I am – to wash me, fill me, with His love. It’s amazing really! ‘Love’ is my superpower!
“There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear.” 1 John 4:18
In truth I can tend to be timid. and yes, even fearful – although all my friends would probably be shocked to read this. BUT the reality is I have fears that I have to overcome. Fears that make me want to change my mind, after I’ve said ‘yes’ to something. Fears that keep me up at night worrying about how I’m going to pull off an event or if I’ll give a message the way I should or could. Fears that I’ll make the wrong choice or say the wrong thing.
Anyone relate? The number of decisions I make every day or ever week that involve me having to discipline myself to not give in to fear, would probably shock and amaze some people!–
I’m not yet ‘fear-free’, but I want to be and so I keep working on exchanging my fearful responses – which are often unbalanced thoughts or untruths I am believing – with Truth! Plain and simple truth.
“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1: 9
I will overcome fear – you will too. It’s a matter of learning that I can do whatever He asks of me, go wherever He sends me and say whatever He tells me to say – because He IS with me. I can stand my ground. I can persevere. I can face fear and overcome!
Feeling fear is not an indication that God is not with me, or that I shouldn’t do something. Fear is simply a spirit – an enemy to overcome with the power of God’s love . So I’m working on being so filled with love, HIS love, that there’s no fear in me.
Some days that’s easier than others… but I press on.
I love gardens. I just can’t stand gardening. I’ve discovered that once you put all the work into creating a garden, you must keep working to keep the weeds away. Weeds love to take over, so it’s a constant battle to keep a garden from getting choked out by weeds. I realized one day as I was muttering away at all this “stupid work” I was having to do to keep our front flower boxes looking groomed and cared for, that no matter how much I worked, the weeds would always be looking for their opportunity to come back.
“God, why did you even make these things? They are such a nuisance!”
He reminded me that like my life is like that garden and I must work every day to keep myself weed-free of negative thoughts, selfishness, anger, unforgiveness, etc. Those emotional and spiritual weeds are forever ready and willing to come in and take over the ground I’ve gained. Staying free takes work, and often in the past one of my biggest mistakes was thinking that once I’d done the work of forgiving or repenting, I shouldn’t have to do it again. Wrong! Just like that garden box, I need to stay on top of old habits and thought patterns that would try and overtake the good that God was doing in my life! I need to keep my ‘field’ cleaned and cleared.
In Mark 4:18-19 Jesus warns of the choking influence of thorns. There are three kinds of pesky, prickly weeds that squeeze the life out of us.
The first weed Jesus warned of is ‘the worries of the world, the anxieties of this age.’ Worry or anxiety means “to be drawn in different directions” or “to be distracted.” We need to be aware of when we’re getting distracted, and it usually happens when we get too busy.
The second weed Jesus spoke of is ‘the deceitfulness of riches’. Maybe you’re thinking constantly about money, about not having enough or chasing more. Maybe you’re in debt yet you can’t stop spending. That’s a deceitfulness of riches that keeps saying you don’t have enough, and you need more! And you don’t trust God to provide for you, so you keep providing for yourself, while your debt mounts up.
The third weed that we find hindering fruitfulness in our lives is ‘the desire for other things’. Here we find the weed of a passionate desire or a craving. Some of these weeds are easily spotted, like sexual lust, an addiction to pornography, or perversions. But other cravings aren’t so easily identifiable: food, clothing, jewellery, car, job, salary, a hobby or sport, or even the location or kind of house we live in.
Any desire that drives us, controls our thinking, or preoccupies our minds can be a weed that hinders growth in our lives.
Here in my area of Canada we have a blackberry bush that was introduced to our area and is known to be hard to control and highly invasive. Once rooted they are very hard to get rid of and are a threat to other plant life and even animals. . They may produce berries BUT the cost of trying to get the fruit from these thorn bushes always entails scratches, cuts, scraps – basically more ‘pain’ than ‘gain’ from these bushes.
Once they’ve rooted, they can take over an entire fields, even topple fences with because of the sheer weight! I’m’ not surprised that Jesus used these kind of thorn bushes to paint us a picture.
We are told the thorns choke out the ‘message’ . The question then is what message has Jesus been trying to say to you? Me? And what can I do to rid myself of these thorns.
How can I be a field that is not habitable for the thorns?
When was the last time you felt at peace about provision?
About your circumstances?
Perhaps it’s time to remember that He’s got you and is taking care of you. And if you can’t do that, it’s probably time to ask Him why you’re struggling with believing that He will take care of you.
Or it might be time to ask the hard question: Have I taken my life back and is it in my own hands again?
Exciting news! 
Order your copy today and be encouraged!
