Winding through the rich tapestry of Adam and Eve's tale, we find our modern reflections in the ancient threads. Their story, our story—it's a continuous loop of love, boundaries, and the dance between staying within God's sheltering embrace or stepping out into the unkempt wilds. So fix your earbuds firmly, and prepare for a journey not just through biblical landscapes but into the heart of your own 'Gardens of Eden
Would you like to support the Cheer UP! Podcast? You can do so by clicking here
Kara's website - click here.
Cheri's website- here.
Email - cheeruppodcast@gmail.com
Instagram - @kararhunt
Leave reviews on - Apple, Spotify, iHeart, Google Podcasts,
Winding through the rich tapestry of Adam and Eve's tale, we find our modern reflections in the ancient threads. Their story, our story—it's a continuous loop of love, boundaries, and the dance between staying within God's sheltering embrace or stepping out into the unkempt wilds. So fix your earbuds firmly, and prepare for a journey not just through biblical landscapes but into the heart of your own 'Gardens of Eden
Would you like to support the Cheer UP! Podcast? You can do so by clicking here
Kara's website - click here.
Cheri's website- here.
Email - cheeruppodcast@gmail.com
Instagram - @kararhunt
Leave reviews on - Apple, Spotify, iHeart, Google Podcasts,
Hi and welcome to the Cheer Up podcast. I am your host, kara R Hunt, and with me, as always, is the lovely Sherry Swalwell. How are you doing today, sherry?
Speaker 3:I am doing fantastic. I it is just I don't know. My word for this year is thankful and I have to tell you, despite circumstances, I am just so thankful, like I'm thankful for just the little things as well as the big things. I find myself just thanking God over and over throughout the day, and it doesn't mean I don't get discouraged and it doesn't mean I don't have bad days For whatever reason. I feel like God has just turned a corner with me and I am just so thankful. I'm just. There's nothing that that builds up a person's soul or feeds a person's soul as being truly thankful. And yeah, I just. I feel like I've gotten out of the desert and I'm stepping into a season of refreshment, even though, like I said, there's still all kinds of you know stuff going on in my life that I wouldn't necessarily say it's things to be thankful for, but I'm just really, really thankful for the big things, the little things and everything in between. So this morning I am thankful.
Speaker 2:You know, and that's the way, as Christians, we should be right, because in a book of James it talks about, you know, being thankful in all things, not in the good things, not in the bad things, but in all, every last, every one of them.
Speaker 2:Because you know, and I, and it seems so, so crazy to do that right, and you know, I was telling you before about, especially the beginning of the year where people talk about, oh, my word of the year or my phrase of the year is going to be this, and I've never been one to necessarily speak the Lord on one of those. But I kind of just decided, like you know what I think, my word of the year, you know, I'm just going to just institute the word hallelujah in stressful situations, in great situations and, like you said, it's situations in between, right, because hallelujah pretty much means praise God, and it is, you know what things like that do, when you're saying, when you're thankful, in situations, even situations where you're just like, hmm, you know, wow, I wish this didn't happen. But, god, I thank you for it, because I know you somehow are going to turn this around. I'll make it work on my behalf, or you're going to show me something. You're going to teach me something through this journey.
Speaker 2:And it's the same way like with hallelujah, like, and so I've been trying to do that A lot of times. I'm successful. Sometimes I'm so frustrated at this situation, I'm like I have to like, for an example, throw it a wall. I really feel like saying praise, god, you know, because I'm if it's a person, I'm usually want to get them a piece of my mind.
Speaker 2:So I have to get my heart right.
Speaker 3:I like how honest you are, Kara, that you know. It is so refreshing to just be with somebody who is honest, and I love the fact that God does not expect us to be perfect. Oh, imagine if we were supposed to be perfect. I love your honesty. I do because you say what everyone else is thinking. Amen. Amen, that's the truth.
Speaker 2:And I have to get my heart right before I'm like praise God right, because I'm like I have to get those other words out of my head, you know. Or praises like boy, when I, when I talk to them again, I am going to blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. You know, and I'm like okay, no, kara, you can't do that. Listen, where's your word? You're going to praise God through this situation, and you know.
Speaker 2:So it takes me a minute because my heart feels like now God, there's no way in my thoughts my flesh and my fin nature is like, mmm, I'm going to say this and I'm going to say that, but then it's like that is not God honoring. So care you cannot. You know you can confront in love, but some of the things you're thinking, there's no love behind that.
Speaker 2:And so I have to just take a minute like stir at the wall or something. Calm down, you know, and talk it out with God. Sometimes and I you're talking about being brutally honest I try to be, I try. I mean, how can you not be honest with God, right? I mean we can say with our lips, oh, I'm fine, I'm fine, god, I'm, I'm completely fine, you know, because I was like, no, you're not.
Speaker 2:So, I learned a long time ago, just to be honest with God and be like Lord. You know what I want to do. I want to go to our house right now. I want to do this and I want to do that, and you won't know why, because they did this and they did that. You know that was wrong, lord. That was in biblical, what they did, you know, and everything else. And by the time I'm done talking it out, my mindset has changed, right, you know? Because I'm just just I'm letting my frustrations out with him instead of with that person, and the perspective changes from them being someone I'm mad at to their child of God to you know they they, they are.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you know they're a child of God to not. That's not excusing any type of bad behavior, it's not, you know, excusing anything that people do that's just very ill willed. But it kind of changes your perspective from being so heated to being more calm about it, to where you can't confront them just about the issue without the emotion behind it, you know, and that that that really helps me a lot. And it's just one of those of my husband was we were talking about years and years and years ago, like we were so young, probably in our twenties or whatever, and he was, he was teaching me about the time that my mom was telling him like you do know, she has a temper, right, it could be a pretty quick temper, and he was like you know what he was, like you did, but you know I, over the years, as you mature, right, you know you just, you get better and you see things differently and everything else.
Speaker 2:Now does that temper try to rear its ugly head a lot? Oh, yeah, it does, but I've calmed it down a little. I mean, I've calmed it down. The Holy Spirit, and God has just really, really helped me do that. You know what I'm saying to just okay, let's not respond so quickly. Calm down, you know. And here's another thing I just want to throw out there for some people who may find themselves in another situation. I was having a conversation, a consult, with my functional medicine doctor, who's also a friend, but and I think I had said something about me listening to my body when I'm being snappy, or she uses the word snappy, I use the word snappy, but I think they mean the same thing.
Speaker 2:You know, but like when I tend to be snappy and I'm like I've started to ask myself why, kara, are you snappy? Is there a reason? And she's like that is so key because you have to ask yourself. She's like when I'm snappy with myself or with other people, she's like first thing I ask is did I drink enough water? Am I completely hydrated? Do I need to drink more water? She's like the second question she asks is have I had enough sleep? Am I running on empty?
Speaker 3:That's the big one. For me, that is a big one for me.
Speaker 2:Yes, she's like do I have enough sleep? And she's like the answer is no. She's like then I know I need more rest and then I won't be so snappy. Have I had enough healthy food to eat? Am I putting the right foods in my body to foster a good attitude? And when your body feels well, your mood feels well, your energy's well, you sleep well. And she's like have I been eating enough of the right foods? And it's like have you been eating a bunch of fast food and everything else that can put you out of character and everything else, because those things have an effect on your body. And I was just thinking the things that she was saying and I'm like you know what that is so key. A lot of times when we're snappy for no known reason, right or snippy where we just really can't think of it, and we're just someone says something, good morning, and we're like uh-huh.
Speaker 2:You know, and we're like why am I like that today? She's like always listen to your body and try to figure out why, but always start with have I had enough water? Had I had enough healthy food? Have I had enough sleep? She's like cause usually that lies behind many bad attitudes that have like no explanation and everything. So I just want to share that, maybe to bless someone this morning.
Speaker 3:I'm so glad you did, because I noticed yesterday I've been pushing really really hard this week and I've been really glad about the stuff that I've gotten accomplished or should I say that God has gotten accomplished. But I noticed yesterday that I kind of sort of hit a brick wall. I had to push through it because I wanted to finish what I was doing so I could check it off my list. And actually, as I was doing that last night I'm going okay, is this really the smartest way to treat myself? Am I being kind to myself or am I just pushing too hard and I'm gonna run out of steam? But I noticed that I got like super depressed, like I just felt depressed over me and my husband even asked me he's like what's wrong? And I'm like I don't know. I'm just really really depressed and I think it was because one I hadn't had hardly any water.
Speaker 3:Two, I've been pushing really, really hard and I need to learn how to. I don't see, I have the mentality of set it and forget it. I have the mentality of do it in groups, get it done and then you can breathe the sigh of relief so that it's not like hanging over your head that something's gonna happen and you won't be able to get it done. But I don't know.
Speaker 3:I'm still having conversations with God to know if that's the right way to do things or the wrong way to do things, but either way, I'm starting to listen to my body more. I guess is what I was saying. So I took a walk. I reached I recharged in that regard, I hit the reset button. So walk really didn't help though, because, like I said, I was so exhausted, but I slept great last night. Today's a new day I have the stuff that I needed to get done done, so I don't have that mental pressure and that mental stress. So yeah, I don't know exactly how I'm supposed to work my schedule, but I love what you said, because you have to do those mental checks, and I used to run to food when I was exhausted, thinking, well, I'll just eat more sugary stuff and then I'll be okay, or I'll drink more caffeine and then I'll wake up. No, I need a nap.
Speaker 3:If I need a nap, I'll need a snickers bar. Those commercials lie. I'd arrive at the snickers bar. I needed that.
Speaker 2:I'll have a snickers bar. I know. So it's like we're toddlers, right, like until you remember how they used to act up and you're like you know what? I'm going to put you to bed. You need a nap. No, no, no, no, you know, and they were fighting, screaming, and then you put them in a bed and they wake up. They're different children, you're right.
Speaker 1:That's why, that's why, so you're right, that's why sometimes we just need a nap, exactly.
Speaker 2:Because we're burning the candle at both ends. We're trying to do a lot in limited time and still trying to be the best spouse, the best parent, you know the best friend, the best child. You know Meaning adult children to our parents, right, and sometimes it just becomes a lot and sometimes, like two-year-olds, you know if a guy is just saying you know what. You need a nap, yes. I'll be able to talk to you a lot better.
Speaker 2:You have a nap, you know just like a little tyrannical two-year-old, just like you know what. But you know what? Didn't he tell Elijah to do that in Kings? I think it was in a book of Kings.
Speaker 3:Yeah, he did give him a snack too. He gave him a snack. He said you need to have your bed, yeah, so.
Speaker 2:OK, for our ChiroPicase listeners, there was your free nutritional mental help this morning. Stay hydrated, eat well and get a lot of sleep. Take a nap, especially if you're feeling out of sorts. Usually one of those things is out of order. Right, and check your diet. Have you been so busy that you've just been eating a lot of fast food and things like that? Once that completely gets rid of your body out of your body, just start feeding Well, don't even wait, but just start giving it nutritious stuff, food that gives life right, and always hydration, hydration, hydration. Ok, so people asked with that. Hopefully, sherry, that has helped someone this morning and everything else. And again, thank you everyone for all of our ChiroPicase listeners.
Speaker 2:We are doing something this year. Well, we started off last month, in February, with someone of biblical characters and we kind of focus on the love relationships and some of the love relationships of biblical figures. And this year we're going to continue talking about biblical figures and how they have impacted excuse me, have impacted and are still impacting our journeys today and I think a lot of times, if we look to them and some of the things that they went through, that our journeys to joy would be so much simpler, would be so much more happier, because we're like what I'm going through there's really nothing new. It's not new under the sun, right? Or nothing new under the sun, I think, is our. It's described in Ecclesiastes. Correct me if I'm wrong, sharon, but I think it says there's nothing new under the sun, and so, even though what we're going through may be heartache and it may be troubling, and it's so confusing and sometimes depressing, other characters have went through it, and then the awesome thing about the Bible, though, is that it shows us all these biblical figures who went through some very interesting things, but how God was able to use that to His good and to His glory. And so we're starting off this first week in March with the story of Adam and Eve. Well, not the story of Adam and Eve, because I'm pretty. I just don't think there's that many people on earth who does not know who Adam and Eve are in the Bible. So, don't worry, we're not gonna read the whole book of Genesis to talk about. All of you know, necessarily, adam and Eve, but, as everyone knows that Adam and Adam was the first man created on the sixth day in a Bible, god created him, and you can, For those who may not be familiar with the story of Adam and Adam and Eve start with Genesis, chapter 1, verse 26 is Whereas it's like the beginning where God created Adam, the sixth day on which, where God created Adam and, of course, epidem Eve, short follows and she's created from his, his, his, rip, the.
Speaker 2:The King James version says but the interesting thing is is that when you study that word out, rib it it's talking about his side. When you, when you study that like the original text of it, or study different to it, it's talking about basically from his side. And it's interesting, as someone has pointed out, that Eve was made from his side, not his head, where she was above him, not his feet, where he could walk all over her, you know, but his side, someone close to him. And that was just something interesting that I just Just was reading about the other day, and I'm like you know what? That's very, very interesting Because the roles of men and women have become so a Top topic in today's society of you know, the woman's role in, in, with her, with their spouse, and vice versa, and different things like that, and so I just wanted to throw that little tab at in there.
Speaker 2:But, as we all know, god told Adam I'm gonna get the very short summary here God, god, created the earth, then he created Adam and he created, and there's this garden, eden, and he put, he put Adam in and he said you know, it's not good for me to be alone. And he created eat from his side and everything else and to have a help me, and Everything was great. God was like you guys can do anything you want to, everything is good, adam, you can name the animals and everything like that. Oh, but just don't eat. You know, of this particular tree, the tree, the tree of the. Oh, which one is it? Because it was two trees sherry, a tree of a Good and evil, and then there was a tree of knowledge, right? The.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, so I my, I'm drinking coffee, but I'm drawing a blank this morning, so, and so he's like you could do anything except eat, for eat from that tree. And they're like, oh, okay, good, and he, but he told Adam. I say he told him, he told Adam, and I believe Adam told Eve. So well, you know, the devil was already around, you know, and everything else. And so he uses this serpent to get into Eve's mind. She ends up taking an apple, she bites off of it, she gives it to Adam, he takes a bite off of it. But oh, oh, that was wrong, because Adam knew better. Actually, she knew better and he knew better.
Speaker 2:So, and God's like, what's going on? Then, all of a sudden, your eyes are open, right, because before, because they were completely naked and everything was beautiful for them, everything was going great in the garden, and then, all of a sudden, they eat this apple and that they weren't supposed to eat, and their eyes are open. And then they realize all of a sudden that they're naked. And then they try to, you know, cover themselves and everything else. And then they hide we, they never held help, try to hide from God before, and then all of a sudden they're hiding right, and God walks through the garden and he's just like hey, where are you? And this is where I kind of want to pivot to our lives today in Christianity, like it's God asking where are you? You know, because Adam and Eve were Hiding because they knew they did something wrong and so they were hiding from their father, right. And he's like you know, where are you?
Speaker 2:And so sometimes I think, in Along our Christian journey, we have to say am I hiding from God? Have I done something that I know I wasn't supposed to do? And the Holy Spirit has been convicting me of it, but I rather hide and I don't want to deal with it, you know, because I know what I did was wrong and or what I am doing present tense is wrong and I keep ignoring the conviction of the Holy Spirit. I keep ask, keep ignoring the fact that God is saying hey, where are you? Because I don't want to stop doing what I'm doing. And so even an age-old story and when I say age, oh, I mean age, oh, this is way back to the Garden of Eden even those age old stories have a lot to show us, you know, and in our own Christian walk today, like it's God. It's God looking for us.
Speaker 2:Have we done something we're ashamed of? But we just don't quite want to come talk with God about it for various reasons and and of course you know he eventually finds them. They come out, you know, he's like what have you done? You know, and everything else. And then he's like that woman you gave me. He was like you gave me that woman or something and she deceived me.
Speaker 2:And it's like, in one sentence he's like he blames God for his actions and he blames Eve. He never takes it apart himself. God was one who had told him not to do that. And what commanded him, I should say, not to eat of that tree of the good Neville. But then he blames God back. Well, you gave me this woman and she's the one who gave me Apple.
Speaker 2:And so it's like are there things that we are not bringing it back again a current day? Or there things that we are not Acknowledging that we have done? Are we blaming other people for problems that we have caused, especially if it has caused us a spirit to downfall? But it's easier to blame them than just say I messed up, I messed up, I got. I know you told me not to do that. As soon as she handed me the apple I should have like just took it from her, threw it out the way you know and immediately came to you about what the enemy was trying to do. But I didn't do that. I took it and now look where we are.
Speaker 2:I think he didn't take responsibility for that. He blamed God and he blamed D for it, and a lot of times when we do that, we are Slowing down our spiritual progress, our spiritual journey. It doesn't get us anywhere and, as a matter of fact, it didn't get Adam and Eve anywhere because they ended up getting a reprimand by the Lord and then they are, you know, tossed out of the Garden of Eden and in their swords that are set on fire to keep them out of this Beautiful place I'm supposed to be blessing to them, that was such a blessing to them until they allowed the enemy to deceive them and the snake deceived Eve by twisting what God had said. And so that's what we got to be careful, what we listen to and the person who was saying it and Doing a checklist, a spiritual checklist, and being like does that align with the word of God? Is that what God said? Let me go to his word. Let me double check that, because a lot of times if you give more ear to bad boys, then you do to what God actually said.
Speaker 2:We can find ourselves kicked out of quote-unquote the Garden of Eden where all those blessings, where we're God, where we were able to walk with God, being a presence of God without any shame, you know. But instead now there's swords that are on fire that is blocking it. I don't know. What do you think about all this sherry?
Speaker 3:Well, I love, I love. I think I want to highlight the one part that you said, because God keeps bringing this to my attention and this year God's really been working with me on hiding his word in my heart and praying his words back to him, praying his promises back. So when you were talking about how Satan just twisted God's word just slightly I've been hearing a lot about that lately both with Adam and Eve as an example, but also with Jesus when he was tempted in the desert.
Speaker 3:Don't yes, right that um tried to twist God's own words on himself, jesus's words on himself in the desert three times, or in the wilderness three times, and he was having none of it. He was like, nope, as it is written, this is what it says. This is what it says. This is what it says. So, bringing it to present day times, I think we really need to be careful. They're so like you know how they always talk about clickbait with and I'm not really good at any of this kind of stuff, so I'm going to sound really stupid in level 101 compared to people who do this for a living, but like there's so much clickbait out there, you know, and it draws you in. But then you read the article and you're like there wasn't anything in this article about what this title said right.
Speaker 3:So I think that that, on a spiritual level, is so much more important. We need to know what the word says so that when the enemy not if, but when the enemy tries to twist it on us, we can say, nope, this is what it really says, it is written and then repeat it back to him because it says the enemy will flee when we take our captives or our thought captives. The enemy will flee when we, you know, stand our ground, but the thing, the biggest weapon that we have is God's word and God's truth, and when we put that back on him, he can't help but leave. So I really think that that what you said there is so, so important, because a lot of our battles, a lot of our problems in life, a lot of our issues, a lot of our disissues that come up, that we're dealing with, can be taken care of really quickly If we just pray his words, speak God's word back to the enemy. He has to flee. But we can't do that if we aren't prepared, if we're not, if we haven't been in his word and if we aren't hiding his word in our heart.
Speaker 3:So what I've started to do and I have a tendency, when we just talked about it at the very beginning of this podcast. But I have a tendency that you know, I have to check off all my lists and I have to do this and I have to do that and I make life very hard on myself. I make life less enjoyable because it's all about making sure that I get these things done and making sure that I do this and that and the other. Well, I came to the conclusion, or I made the decision, at the beginning of this year that I wasn't going to take the invitation God was giving me to hide his word in my heart as an assignment. I was going to take it as an invitation to spend time with him. So I don't do it every single day.
Speaker 3:I don't have a set number of verses that I'm writing down, but I told God, I said you know what God? Because you know he and I are friends and this is the way I talk to my friends very respectful, but I'm like God. The words that, the verses that you want me to highlight, give them to me. Give them to me in a devotional. Give them to me as I'm reading my Bible passages in the morning. Give them to me through conversation with friends. Give them to me, however you want to, and then I will write them down.
Speaker 3:And my goal, my thought process, is that, as I casually, regularly, but funly, not really a word write them down, that I'm being obedient as far as putting his, putting his word in an easily accessible place so that I can then, when I'm worried, when I'm scared, when I have this situation come up, when I have that situation come up, I can go to my, my handy dandy list of verses and I can play them back to God and, in essence, I can say you know what? This is your problem now, it's not my problem. In fact, I said back to God last night in a, in a very respectful way I'm like God, I know you're not worried about this, so I'm choosing not to worry about it because I'm handing it back over to you.
Speaker 2:I know that you have.
Speaker 3:I'm like I know you have a solution for this, so I know you're not staying up worrying about it, but I'm just giving it to you because I'm done worrying about it too. Like, and it was so free. I had probably one of the best sleep last night that I've had in a long time, and I truly think it was because I just I trusted him, like I wasn't. I was just like okay, you've got this, I can go to bed now. So I guess that's the part that I wanted to highlight.
Speaker 3:Um, that's the part that spoke to me the most of what you were talking about with Adam and Eve is. It is so, so, so important that we all have our ammunition ready to speak God's word back to him, to speak his promises back to him. Um, and I wonder if, well, I'm pretty sure Adam and Eve would have sinned anyway at some point, and if not them, somebody else, because that's kind of what had to happen. But I wonder, I don't know. I guess I shouldn't wonder then, because I know that that had to happen. But if we hide his word in our heart and I know they didn't have his word, but they had him- like they were in his presence, absolutely they walked in the garden with him every single day.
Speaker 3:That's like way better than just having a Bible. So yes it is. That's the part that. I just wanted to say that. That's the part that spoke to me.
Speaker 2:Yes, and if I, even, when we look back to um and of course there's um a whole lot more to Adam and Eve's story, right, um, and if you continue, uh, going after um, they, they're blocked from the garden of Eden you'll see that they, um, they pretty much had a start of life um, a lot harder life before. They had everything they needed, right, they had everything they needed. They wanted food, they had that, you know everything. But the provision was there, you know. And so now they had to go out and work for the provision, what Adam did, and you know. And then they go, you know, then they end up having um children, the first two, I believe, cain and Abel, and then, you know, that's a whole another life story that we can talk a whole lot about.
Speaker 2:So there's a lot more to Adam and Eve and I know a lot of people are going to be like, oh my gosh, like you just thought a bit of the story. And that was intentional because, um, if we were to talk about the whole Adam and Eve um um journey, that they their biblical journey, it would take up what? Three months. And you'll notice that as we go out through the year, we continue with these biblical characters and these biblical figures throughout the year. We're only going to hit on certain topics with them only because that what they did was so much and so vast um that it would take us months to just cover um, just, uh, one um biblical couple, a one biblical figure, and so we're going to be taking um because they live so long and because, but yeah, like, oh, my gosh, they lived hundreds of years back then, you know, and there could be all. There's a lot of stuff that they did in those hundreds of years, you know, and everything else.
Speaker 2:So, but you're going to notice that we're going to put a focus on, like, one particular topic in that person's life and then just kind of realize how it brings us back to today and to John 16, 33, where it talks about in this world you have trials and tribulations, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world and of course we don't have per se, I mean, like a physical garden of Eden, right, um, or maybe we do not. I think about it, sherry, because God could have in us, in a place that is just such a blessing to us, our home, our spouse, our children. He's provided for us mentally, physically, spiritually, emotionally, financially, and this is like to me. It's like that he's saying this is your garden of Eden, everything's good, right, this is your resting place, this is here, this is, you know, my presence is here, my presence is with everyone in this home, you know, and everything else, and it's fine until we go outside of what God told us to do.
Speaker 2:And then it's like all of a sudden you notice that that Garden of Eden isn't so much a happy place anymore. It's not a place of God's presence and provision and protection. Because you went outside of the guidelines and the loving guidelines and the loving principles and the loving boundaries that God has set up. And just using last month as an example, when we cover in the Love versus Love versus Lust series, when you go outside the perimeters God has set for you ie, samson, and if you guys want to listen to that episode, all for the month of February we did a series called Love versus Lust and it was Ruth and Boaz, samson and Delilah, joseph and Mary and you know couples like that.
Speaker 2:But, using Samson as an example, there were clear perimeters and guidelines God had for his life, but he continually crossed those lines and it ended in disaster. And if we do that, it's like our Garden of Eden could be the place where God has settled us right, and it doesn't necessarily have to be a home per se, but home is right where it's going to be an apartment, it could be wherever and our jobs, and he's put us there. But then soon as we go over those perimeters, soon as we start you know, as a married spouse start talking to someone that we're not supposed to talk to, and that situation goes a lot further than you ever intended, all of a sudden that Garden of Eden becomes like you know, it's different. It becomes more of a burden than a blessing, because now there's guilt involved and you having to answer questions, and then you start lying, then there's deception.
Speaker 2:So it is just such a clear reminder of how loving our God is and he's saying, hey, I've done this for you, you know, and everything else. Please don't go across these things because they're only going to bring you harm. And then what was once a place of a blessing is now going to become like a curse to you, because Adam and Eve both were cursed. You know, she was cursed with the pain of childbirth and of course, adam now had to toil for everything, and you could have been in a good place, right In your home, in your marriage with your family. Everything was just a blessing. And now you've rune it because you've decided to go outside of God's parameters. So again, even though the Adam and Eve story goes back to the very beginning of time, it is still something we can learn from today, and I'll let you go ahead and finish that out, sherry.
Speaker 3:So, like Kara was saying, the verse that we always like to go back to is John 1633. These things I have spoken to you that in me you may have peace In the world. You will have tribulation, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world. There's just, there's just. I love how, yeah, this world has problems and this world has trouble and this world has tribulation, but God always has a way. He always has a way out. He always has peace to offer us and like Kara said, do you have that choice?
Speaker 3:We can move towards Him and claim that peace, or we can move away from Him and fight it and have to do it on our own. That's our choice, but God is giving us. He's standing there saying I have the way. It doesn't have to be so awful, it doesn't have to be so hard. Yes, I know there's going to be problems and I don't guarantee you that. That you know. That's the other thing that I absolutely love about God, kara, is that he does not mean words. He does not lie to us, he does not deceive us, he does not tell what we want to hear. He tells us the truth.
Speaker 1:So he says yes, there's going to be problems, there's going to be trials.
Speaker 3:This is going to happen until the day you die. But be of good cheer. I have overcome the world. In me, you can still have peace, and you know the more, the more that we cling to Him and the more that we rest in that peace. What an example, what a testimony and what a blessing that we can be towards other people. Because ultimately, the main goal in life is not to have a trouble, problem, free life, but it's to point people to, to the one who has the answers. And if anybody can sit there and say, if you're living a life that has no issues and no problems, then people will look at you and say well, of course you have peace, of course you have joy, of course you're happy because you don't have anything wrong with you. But when we can, when we can cling to His peace and when we can have that true joy in the midst of the problems that we're going through, that is a huge testimony. And that our life then points others to Him we can. Those conversations will naturally start of how are you so different? Why is this not bothering you? So I think that's my challenge or my prayer for you today is just really take time sometime this week and just thank God that he's there, that he gives us the tools we need, that he gives us His word and the promises in His word, that he gives us His peace when we ask for it, that he is just there and he doesn't. He doesn't mean words, he's truthful, he's honest, he lets us know how it is. But he has this solution and when we do it His way, we will. We will have that peace, we will have that joy, we will have that hope when we try to do it our way. Look it out of the knee. Yeah, that's all I got to say. So, having said that, if you want to visit Kara's website it's karaahuntcom I would suggest you go over there and check out all the new stuff that she has going on. Also, if you want to check out my website chariswellwellcom C-H-E-R-I-S-W-A-L-W-E-L-L-S-Xcom.
Speaker 3:And. I can't remember if I told you last week or not, or last month or not, about Seasons of Green Pine. This is a seven short story book and it goes along with the full novels of the Redemption of Green Pine series. So if you like short stories, seasons of Green Pine is for you. Kind of I like to describe it as the novels themselves are a great cup of coffee. The Seasons of Green Pine the seven short stories to go with the six full-length novels is the creamer for your coffee. However you like to drop your coffee up, it's just kind of that little extra. So you can go check out all of that if you want. They're on Amazon and Kindle Unlimited. So if you have a Kindle Unlimited subscription you can read them quote unquote for free.
Speaker 3:If you need prayer or you need encouragement, read over to cheeruppodcastgmailcom. We love praying with people, we love offering them encouragement and we thank you for those that do make comments and leave out to us. We take it very seriously. Also, come join our Facebook group Cheer Up Podcast on Facebook. And if you just want to connect and let us know if you're enjoying this series and this approach to this year of using the Bible and talking about the Bible and the different important Bible figures and how that relates to our life today, then let us know that at cheeruppodcastgmailcom we can start a community discussion about it. So, having said all of that, I hope that you guys have a wonderful week. I hope you have a great rest of your day and we will move back next week to talk about another Old Testament icon. If you want me to tell them who it is, tara, do you want them to be surprised?
Speaker 2:I don't want them to be surprised. Me too.
Speaker 3:Okay, so come back next week and you'll see who it is. Who do you think it might be? There's a lot of them in there. There's even lots of them just in Genesis themselves. So who knows, maybe we're just going through the book of Genesis, maybe we're going through the whole Old Testament, I don't know. So have to come back next week to find out. Have a great rest of your week, a great rest of your day, and we will talk to you next week.