Cheer UP! Podcast
Cheer UP! Podcast
Ahab and Jezebel
We wade into the turbulent waters of Ahab and Jezebel's saga, characters who left an indelible mark on biblical history with their notorious reign. Together, Cheri and I sift through the lessons nestled within these ancient narratives, considering the impact of their legacies on the nation of Israel and drawing parallels to the subtler forms of idol worship that can infiltrate our lives today.
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Hi and welcome to the Cheer Up Podcast. I am your host, kara R Hunt, and with me is the loving and sweet and kind Sherri Swalwell. How are you doing today, sherri?
Speaker 2:I am doing fantastic. I cannot believe that we are already in the second week of May. It's almost Mother's Day. I think Mother's Day is this weekend coming up and I'm just, I'm loving it.
Speaker 2:My wonderful, amazing husband bought me some cold brew because I absolutely love cold brew and some Chobani creamer white mocha, and so I am drinking that this morning, nice and cold, because it's so beautiful outside and not only does it make me think of him, but it's just delicious. And I have to say it's better than no offense to the coffee places. But it's better than the coffee places because I can do it according to my taste and my liking instead of how they decide they want to do it.
Speaker 1:Oh, I know right, they're like you're going to love this and you're like not so much.
Speaker 2:Exactly, exactly.
Speaker 1:You know, there is a very famous coffee company that is probably on every corner of every city in America right now I'm not going to name names.
Speaker 1:It was very, very popular and people always rave. I mean, even their coffee is even sold in stores right under their brand name and everything else. And people have always raved about oh, I need to stop by blah blah blah to give me a cup of coffee. You know? Oh my gosh, have you had this at blah blah blah and everything else? And, like I said, they're everywhere, but I've never liked their coffee.
Speaker 2:Never. I like the smell of it, but it's not my favorite taste.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's like it has like a bitterness to it. Maybe. Yeah, yes, okay, yes, okay. Um, that I've never really liked, so I haven't had them in. But then there are people like, oh my goodness, it's so good, it's so great, and I'm like, is it?
Speaker 2:what am I missing?
Speaker 1:right. I'm like what, what am I missing? Because I'm not, apparently. I'm like what am I missing? Because apparently I'm not getting the same coffee that you guys are getting, or maybe I am, but you're right, though, because it is different. Right, it's just different to me. However, I will tell you whose hot coffee I absolutely love, even though you were the one who told me they also have cold coffee.
Speaker 2:I absolutely love Chick-fil-A's coffee, and see, I want to, I really want to, but it's that dark roast and I just I can't.
Speaker 1:Right, they do use a dark roast, so you're not a yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I try Chick-fil-A. I love you and your iced coffee is amazing, but I cannot do. Could you maybe give a medium roast option for people like?
Speaker 1:me, and when you say a dark brew, they use a dark brew. I know A dark rose, I know it is that sucker is dark and boy is it powerful.
Speaker 2:I mean if you want a kick in the morning, that's going to pick you up, you know, which is why I do not. I have to do like four creamers and like six brews just to get it down. I'm like, ah, I'll just take water, thanks, because yeah, it's potent. Yes, that's the word.
Speaker 1:It's very potent, yes, and I'm like if I'm on the bottom I'm going to have coffee and I got errands to run, I need something potent. But normally, and if I do do that, I'm not drinking all of it. I'm usually sharing it with my hubby right, who can down coffee, their coffee, easily and everything else, but it is the taste of it alone, with no sugar, no creamer, which I typically hubby and I have gotten to the point where we take our own alternative sweeteners with us. Oh, of course, yeah, and you know, at least place some in a car and everything else. But I like black coffee as well, and just sipping it, whatever, you could just really really taste it. So there's, I like. I like a lot, but I'm a dark roast girl, so I know that's not everybody's, you know, cup of tea, so to speak. But the other one, the really big name coffee shop, never been a fan, Never. So to each his own right. Everyone's just so individual.
Speaker 2:Like you said, when you do it at home you get to fix it to your taste home, you get to um, fix it to your taste exactly, and I I like black coffee too, the one my one favorite is we have a gas station around here called johnny and they have a blueberry coffee that I don't know anything in it.
Speaker 2:it is so good and it's just a gas station coffee so it's like not even anything like super. You know, it doesn't cost a whole bunch of money and I love it. They also have a Michigan cherry one. Oh that one's delicious too. But oh, and they also have a peppermint one and they have a pumpkin one at the you know seasonal, the peppermint one. I think now they have all the time because people like it so much, but the pumpkin one is so good.
Speaker 1:That would be my fave right there.
Speaker 2:I already know I will have to send you some, because it is so good. Now I know a present for you, tara. Do you like blueberry? Because I can send you some of that too.
Speaker 1:I love blueberry, and I even have some in my freezer because I love blueberries and they're just very healthy. I just can't see how it mixes with coffee, though. Okay, that's my struggle. I'm kind of going.
Speaker 2:I didn't think so either.
Speaker 1:I didn't think so either. Oh, okay, I'll tell you what.
Speaker 2:I'll tell you what you know. Know, my prayer partner. She got me hooked. Well, not hooked, I mean well, yes, kind of hooked, because it's really good and I don't have any anymore because I drink it all Orange chocolate coffee. I know it sounds weird, it took me a year to try it. So good. I'm like, why did I not try this when it was fresh? Because this is amazing Chocolate, orange coffee, so good, wow.
Speaker 1:I know, Because I'm thinking the same way with the blueberry. I'm going. How do they go together?
Speaker 1:I know I know, you've got to trust me, yeah, and it's all about opening our, being open to new things, right? Yeah, yeah, you know, when it comes to things like that, you were talking about gas stations and there's a gas station around here who you know in our area, probably throughout this section of Missouri, that apparently I've never had it. But it's a gas station, but apparently they sell pizza. But it's a gas station, but apparently they sell pizza and according to all of the local Facebook groups that I belong to, it is the best thing since sliced bread. Isn't that the fun? They are going. Oh my word, who needs Domino's? Who needs Pizza Hut? Who needs, you know, all the big name pizza brands or whatever? And they're like, oh my gosh, there's nothing like getting a slice of pizza from blah, blah, blah, you know, and I'm and locally people love it and I, yeah, and I'm like it is crazy because there's, like some of the best food that you would never think you would know about. It's just hidden gems in these little places, so it's very interesting.
Speaker 2:We should do a podcast one time just on hidden gems. Seriously, it would be so much fun.
Speaker 1:Well, I so these. There's a guy on YouTube and he does, because Kurt and I are Costco members and um, and it's just he does this um podcast. I guess you could call it a podcast or YouTube video where he goes into, like, uh, the some of the big stores, sam's, costco, um, and things like that and he does the best deals and stuff that are there Some of the big stores Sam's, costco and things like that and he does the best deals and stuff that are there and I love watching it.
Speaker 1:Oh, I've seen it, yeah, yeah. And I'm like when he does stuff, I'm like I did not know that was at Costco, I did not know that was there. I'm like, wait, they have low-carb ice cream choices. Like, where is that at? Sure enough, we go to our local cause. He's in a different state. I have no idea where he's at and he'll say that he's like here at my Costco, this is what we have and this is what's on sale, um, and things like that. And we will go like, um, we would go and we're like, oh my gosh, where'd this come from? We didn't even see it, right. So, and he has these things, he does it like every month the best things to buy at Costco for March, for March 2024, April 2024, may 2024. Right, and everything else. So it's like usually before we go and do our cause, it's Costco is not close to us. So it's like, before we go, I'm like, wait a minute, let me check out the deals for this month.
Speaker 1:Oh that's so smart and find the things that he you know offer and things like that. And then there's another lady who does nutritional choices. She's like, if you're low-carb eating, you just want the healthy choices, you know, and everything else. And then she does it that way. So it's amazing what you can find at YouTube University. But they actually go into the store and they'll say, oh, I always get this because this brand is nutritionally, this blah blah, blah, and they'll list all the things and you know they're putting it into their cart and things like that. And so, anyway, it's just very helpful when you go right, I like to check them out and I'm like, because otherwise I'm like, how do I miss this stuff?
Speaker 2:when I go.
Speaker 1:Right, right, like, how, like, how do I? But then you go and you search for not all of this there, because you know Costco like a lot of major stores or they buy what the people locally want right Right. So like the one in a Michigan area will be completely different, like in a Missouri area, you know, and things like that. So sometimes I go and I'm like, oh my gosh, this yogurt. She was talking about this keto yogurt with the granola. I'm like, please have it, please have it, please have it.
Speaker 2:Right right.
Speaker 1:So yeah, it's just like. So I like looking at videos like that, especially before we go. Like I said, it's not closed, so when we go, we want to try to make sure we get everything you know and be aware of the items that may be there, that we may be interested in getting, that we normally don't, because we just somehow our eyes wasn't glued to it or we just didn't even know it was there.
Speaker 2:Right.
Speaker 1:Because we just somehow our eyes wasn't glued to it or we just didn't even know it was there. So anyone probably everyone who's listening you're probably going oh my gosh, costco coffee pizza. Where are you guys going with this? Absolutely nowhere regarding that. It is just fun commentary. Sherry and I are just talking this morning, but hopefully, if you have oh, what did you call it, sherry? Johnny's yes. If you're in an area in the Midwest that has a Johnny's. Maybe you'll go there and you'll try their coffee Again. We're not sponsors.
Speaker 1:We don't neither one of us have anything to do with them business-wise, or Chick-fil-A for that matter, but if you haven't tried Chick-fil-A's coffee and you like a dark brew, we highly recommend it. And so it's just amazing at the local gym excuse me, at the gyms that you can find locally without a lot of people even knowing about it. And if you didn't know about that, the YouTube videos. If you're a Costco shopper and again, we're not associated with that at all, but anyway. So hopefully we've just given you some tips this morning on those couple of things. And just good morning and welcome. And if this is your first time listening to us, welcome when you become a listener. We just refer to you as Cheer Nation, being a part of Cheer Nation, and we're so glad that you're here. And for those of you who, every week you guys reach out, you're just so faithful, you allow us to help you with that journey to joy for the day and just with uplifting and encouraging content, and you just tune in every week. We just want to thank you for doing so and just our utmost love to you guys for constantly, always being here and listening to the podcast. And if you haven't done so already, whether you're new or you're a regular listener, please make sure to download, subscribe and or hit the like button, and it helps us with the algorithms that are out there on a different platform. So when people are looking for encouraging content, encouraging Christian content, that they will be able to see us because we pop up in the algorithm, so to speak. And if you've been blessed in any way by the Trail podcast over the past two to three years, then please share it and let other people know that we're out there and that we exist and that every Wednesday that they can tune in and just listen to the podcast. We would greatly appreciate it.
Speaker 1:So I guess by now everyone's wondering hey, sherry and Kara, what in the world is on the topic today? Well, as you know, for the past couple of weeks we have been talking about biblical figures and we have covered several. Right now, and to this point, we've covered quite a few. And today we are going to. Oh, for those who are like well, which biblical figures have you covered, then please go back and listen to the previous podcast starting in February. We've covered quite a few of them at this point and everything. And so just kind of go back to February. You'll see where it says like the Love and Lust series, but each and every week where it says Love and Lust, different Bible figures are covered in that particular section. And then in March we've covered a whole bunch, and April.
Speaker 1:And so now today we are covering Ahab and Jezebel in the Old Testament and their stories can be found starting in the first book of Kings. Yeah, the first book of Kings. Yeah, the first book of Kings. Their story carries quite, you know, it's not kind of a good, you know, a snapshot of their story like it was with some of the other ones we have covered. There is kind of go through a couple of chapters and it even bleeds into like second Kings and and Jezebel's even mentioned again in in the book of revelation. But you have Ahab and Jezebel.
Speaker 1:Ahab, when you read the scriptures and you go through that, you see where Ahab was known as one of the most wickedness I don't even know if that's a word. Well, the most wicked kings of Israel ever is how, I believe, the scriptures describe him in those chapters. He was just bad. And to make matters worse, he married Jezebel. Yeah, because Ahab, I think his father and his father's father, whatever they were just all kind of wicked kings, and the scriptures, I believe, said that he was just wicked than all of them. He was more wicked than all of them and everything else and the things that he did, he did. And then he marries Jezebel, who's oh, my goodness, was she was bad in and of herself and she was also the daughter of someone who was worshiped, baal, b-a-a-l in the Bible, which is an idol, one of the worst, one of the notorious idols that's talked about biblically, and if you guys want to know what it looked like, I really don't want to describe it on this podcast, but if you guys want to know what it looked like, you could just do an Internet search and everything like that. But they were, baal was very the people who worship Baal was very much into sexual immorality because they had Baal, which was the, I think represented the male fertility part of it, and then I had another one that represented the female part and I keep wanting to call her Ashtoreth, but do your research on that one because I could be wrong on the name of that particular idol. So they were very big into sexual morality.
Speaker 1:So he is a king of Israel and he brings in, he marries someone who brings in all this idolatry, all this idol worship, and she even brings Baal prophets with her, like hundreds of them, hundreds of Baal, b-a-a-l prophets, you know, into the kingdom and everything else. And so it is. It's bad. It's a really, really bad situation because they are supposed to be worshiping the one true God. And here's this King Ahab, and he marries who's already wicked, and he marries a woman who's not only wicked, but she's serving wicked idols and she's ushering them into the kingdom and that does not make God happy. And she's a very wicked woman. She not only worshipped and prayed to and whatever else she did like with false gods and things like that. She was a manipulator, she loved to control people and when I say she was sexually immoral, she very much was and she promoted it. She was idolatrous, she was worshiping these idols that she should not have been doing. She incited fear into people and she was big on false teaching and, you know, introducing false teaching and everything else. When I say she was a murderous spirit, she just like I said, their story spans, you know, quite a bit of length and those particular 1 Kings, 2 Kings and everything.
Speaker 1:So but one particular incident, I believe, is found in 1 Kings, chapter 21, where Ahab wanted. He's now, he's a king of Israel over Israel at this time and he wanted the vineyard of his neighbor Ahab At the time, and he approached him nicely about it and he was like you know what? I could really use this land right here, naboth, will you sell it to me, or I can give you one of my vineyards or whatever. That is better than this one, but since this one is next to mine, I really would like it and I would buy it from you. And Naboth is kind of like no, I'm not doing that. And because it was an ancestral land and I think even by the law of Moses they weren't even allowed to sell ancestral lands except in dire straits situations and even in a year of Jubilee it had to be given back to them. So and Naboth is like yeah, no, thanks, you know, thanks for the offer, whatever, but no, I'm not selling it, um, not to you anyway you know, and I'm just not doing it.
Speaker 1:Well, the Ahab, uh, ahab, pouts about it, right, and he's very, very upset and he just kind of goes in to the palace, lays down, he starts pouting and everything else. And Jezebel, his wife, is like what's wrong with you? You know, you won't even eat, you won't do this. And he's oh, nahab, I really, really want that garden. I think in the scriptures it said he wanted it to plant herbs in it or something. And he starts whining and complaining to Jezebel and he's like I really, really wanted that vineyard or whatever. But Nahab told me no, and everything else.
Speaker 1:And she's like are you not the king of Israel? Like, do you not know who you are? Anyway, here, eat, drink, be merry, whatever, because I'm going to get you this vineyard and you won't even have to buy it. So, and this is typical of her right. And she's like she wants something. Nothing's going to stop her, she's going to do it, and things like that. And so she pretty much sets up her neighbor, sets him up with something that looks like it's going to be a good and honoring thing, but then she has these people go in and speak lies against him and then the next day's like uh stoned to death and killed, and then she goes in and tell her husband like you know, cheer up.
Speaker 1:Everything's good. I took care of it for you. You now have that vineyard, um, and things like that. So she also has a murderous, uh spirit. In this case physically, uh, literally, she murdered someone and that's just one of the minor things that, well, I can't say minor, what's the one? It's like she did a lot. You know that she did.
Speaker 1:And, again, the whole purpose of us doing biblical figures in these episodes throughout the year is, even though these stories were done, told and were happened thousands of years ago, they are still so apropos today because we may not, and you have to ask yourself do you have an Ahab spirit to where you're just mourning and complaining and waiting for someone else to take care of it? Are you wicked in the eyes of the Lord, more wicked than his forefathers, I think the scriptures talks about, and they were pretty bad. Right and he was and he worshiped. Right and he was and he worshiped, and then he let his wife pretty much do anything and everything. So, or do you have a spirit of Jezebel, meaning, are you worshiping idols? You know, you may be saying, karen, sure you guys be joking, right, there's no way I would worship anything that looks like that, and or no. I don't worship any idols, but back then it was great in images, you know, embracing like a lot of things that you're putting your faith in other than the Lord Jesus Christ of Nazareth. And if you're putting your faith in anything, whether it be your job, whether it be a person, whether it be a thing, you know we constantly have to assess ourselves and say am I worshiping an idol? And you know, when he referred to how Jezebel Ahab was doing it, it talked about how he angered the Lord. You know he was hot towards them with anger. And is he that way with me Because I made this thing my idol, or this person my idol? Or I have more faith in this than I do, than the Lord, god Almighty?
Speaker 1:I just think we constantly have to assess ourselves and also, regarding Jezebelian traits, I should say have you ever wanted something so bad whether it be, for instance, let's use a job promotion that you did things that were evil in the sight of the Lord to get it? You know, did you want it so bad that you did something sexually immoral to get it? Sexually immoral to get it? Did you want that job so bad that you lied, stole, manipulated, deceived others to get it and in that case I'm just using a job. But it can be in so many other things in life and if that's kind of the way you operate when you see something and you just laser focus on it and you're going I am going to get this or I'm going to get there, no matter what, I don't care how I do it, I don't care who's um I have to step over or on to get to it.
Speaker 1:I don't care what I have to do to it, even if it includes lowering my um, uh, disregarding whatever pride or biblical pride or child of God pride that I may have, but I am going to get that position, I am going to get that man, I am going to get that woman, I am going to get this thing, this car, that house. I don't care how I'm going to do it, but I'm going to manipulate, deceive, lie, steal, do whatever I have to do to get the money to be able to do it. Is that the way you operate? Then we really have to ask ourselves do I have that Jezebel type spirit in a way that I handle things regarding that? Can I be cutthroat and do I not care who I've stomped on to get there. Do I not care what I've done to do that? Have I lied on people to get there? Have I ruined their lives and their reputation or assassinated their character to get what I want? That is definitely something we need to analyze and assess ourselves spiritually and just say oh my word, lord, god, please forgive me.
Speaker 1:Sometimes I get so laser focused on these things that I don't even realize that I'm what I'm capable of doing to get it. And God is a God of mercy and grace. As a matter of fact, he even offered mercy and grace and redemption to Jezebel and Ahab. But as you read the story, you realize they said no, they turned their backs on it and everything else. But that doesn't have to be the case with you. But we constantly have to ask ourselves the way we handle things. And when we want something so bad, do we just default to that type of nature, you know, and are we okay with it? Or have we been okay with it? Or do we not see anything wrong with it? When we see others who are close to us doing that? What do you want to add? How do you feel about all of that, sherry?
Speaker 2:Well, I completely agree with everything that you're saying. I want to take it from a different angle, though, and I want to think. I want to talk to the people who you're saying. Well, that's not me, I'm not bold like that, I'm not brash like that, okay, but what is? What your issue is is fear.
Speaker 2:What if you're doing the things that Kara's describing out of fear, not out of manipulation? What if you're afraid that God is not going to supply the needs or for your needs? What if you're afraid that God is not your provider Jehovah, Jireh and so you put yourself in situations, or you allow yourself to get into situations, where you compromise your values and your beliefs out of fear instead of out of manipulation. It's the same thing. God doesn't want us to be afraid. God doesn't want us to think that we have to take care of ourselves. We talked about that last week, or the week before. I was saying that. You know, I hesitated to follow or to obey God's commands, out of fear instead of out of pride or manipulation. I was like God I don't know if I can do this or not, because I'm scared. He doesn't want us to put ourselves in situations like this, to where we compromise or we do things that we know are wrong because we're afraid and we don't think that he'll take care of us. The other thing that, as I was sitting here listening to you talk, kara, and you were saying that Ahab was worse than his parents, the Bible also says that Jezebel's daughter which I will massacre her name Asa Leah, I believe. Sorry if I'm saying that wrong she was worse than Jezebel. Wondering is so, kara and Sherry, why are you telling us about these bad people? Like, why are you telling us about the villains in the Bible? Well, one, if God thought that they were important enough to talk about, then obviously they're important enough to talk about. But two, it's kind of like what Kara was saying. It's a really good way to have a self-evaluation. Am I more like the Proverbs 31 woman that God wants me to be like? And if you don't know what I'm talking about, go turn to Proverbs 31 in your Bible. In the very last section of Proverbs 31 of the 31st chapter, it will tell you the virtues of a woman, of a godly woman. Are we more like that and do we wake up and are we motivated to build those characteristics in our lives? Or are we more like the Jezebel spirit, where, where we're hurting our significant others, where we're hurting our families and our children.
Speaker 2:I don't want to raise a child who's manipulative. I don't want to raise a daughter who knows how to play games with her husband. In fact, that's one of the things that my husband and I talk about all the time is. I say to him I'm like I don't even know how to manipulate you if I wanted to, because one that's just not in my nature, and I'm not saying that as a Ooh, sherry's so awesome. Maybe it means that Sherry's so dumb, but I seriously I'm not.
Speaker 2:Like I'm not the type of person who's going to turn on the tears to get what I want with anybody that I love. Now I cry all the time, but that's just me and they know that, so they, they've learned to ignore the tears. I'm like ignore the tears, just listen to the words that are coming out of my mouth. I'm really honestly trying to talk to you. Ignore the tears, ignore the tears.
Speaker 2:But like I don't want to be a manipulative person, I'd much rather have my husband tell me no and not get what I want, than to have known that I manipulated him to get what I want. That's not even satisfying, like I don't want to have that. That I manipulated him to get what I want. That's not even satisfying, like I don't want to have that kind of a relationship. I don't want to have that kind of a marriage To me. I don't know. That's just. It's incredibly important to me not to be that type of a person. So I think that we look at people like Jezebel in the Bible, people like Ahab in the Bible, because it serves as examples. I know my Bible study and.
Speaker 2:I. We just finished talking about King Saul, and there are so many lessons to learn from King Saul. Because he started out good. He had half a heart towards God. No, actually the Bible says he had no heart towards God. Um, so he started out good. He pretended. When, when things were going well for him, he was like oh okay, I can serve him, it's serving me, so I can serve God. But then, when the going got tough, and when, um, when rubber met the road, then he, he stopped serving God because it stopped serving him. So what kind of a person are we? Are we the type of people who serve God no matter what, no matter how hard it gets? Or are we the type of people who are fair weather believers and we only serve God when it benefits us? So I think there's a lot of really good questions we can ask ourselves and really good lessons that we can learn from Ahab and Jezebel.
Speaker 1:Oh, there's a ton and, like Sherry and I suggested, like when you go through and you just start reading in 1 Kings about them and their story, you'll see how God gave them chance after chance after chance, you know, and he did that in several ways and one of them was through the prophet Elijah, which we will be talking about next week. So the thing is, is that the great thing, especially about Old Testament, when you read the Old Testament, about Old Testament figures, you know, and things like that is that we just see I mean, jezebel and Ahab were evil pretty much in the sight of the Lord is about, or those these biblical stories is about to me, when I see how he would give even the most wicked people in his eyes chance after chance after chance. I see a God of love, I see a God of mercy, I see a God who is saying who you, you not only on a wrong track, you're on a very bad track and I'm telling you this is what's going to happen if you don't change and everything else. And so I just love that. It's like a father with his children when you know they're going down not just a bad path but a very dangerous, spiritually dangerous path, like Ahab and Jezebel were going down and everything else in, you know. And so I just see a God of love who's just always saying listen, I'm giving you a shot. You know, and he did with several of the other, some of the biblical figures in the Old Testament and everything else. And so I just see a God of love who's just saying you know what? I need you to get your act together because you're on a very, very dangerous path. So that's how I see it.
Speaker 1:And you know, the foundational scripture of our podcast is John 16, 33. And it talks about how we're going to have tribulations in life. To me, I don't see wanting something that your neighbor has, even though it would be highly beneficial to you, like Ahab did with Nehoboth. He just wanted it so bad that he was pouting afterwards and wouldn't eat. To me that's not a tribulation, but to some people it may be right, especially if you really really want something. But in this world we will have tribulations and things that will happen, and sometimes we, you know, our immediate thought could be revenge. It could be well, how dare you? I'm going to show you and you know, and different things like that. But it doesn't have to be and actually that's not God-like, that's not Christ-like, but it doesn't matter. We're going to have tribulations.
Speaker 1:The question is, how are you going to respond to them? How are you going to respond to them? Some of them will be heart aching. Some of them will be heart wrenching. Some of them will feel like it's just a dagger to the heart or the back. You know, and you're just like Lord. I just don't know how in the world I can. I, you know, I'm going to get through this.
Speaker 1:But he says to cheer up, that he's got to cheer up for he has overcome the world. And it is just when we have to put our faith in him instead of our own strength, our own strength, especially when we feel like someone has set us up, someone has framed us, like they did Nehoboth. They made him think they were honoring him when in reality they were just literally going to kill him. They were going to have people lie against him and kill him. And when something like that happens to friends, family members or something like that, we just it's heart-wrenching, it's heart-aching and we immediately want to seek revenge. That's just our human nature, right? But a lot of times, unless God tells you otherwise, we just need to sit back and trust that the Lord is going to handle the situation. What are your thoughts on that, sherry?
Speaker 2:I completely agree. I don't think there's anything that I can add to that. That just leaves us in a really good spot to pick up next week when we start talking about Elijah, because, while Elijah has a lot of wonderful miracles that he did on his own not on his own meaning, not without God but they have nothing to do that are completely separate from Ahab and Jezebel. There is a really one of the major stories about Elijah. It centers around Jezebel, around uh, Jezebel and um, yeah, I can't wait to talk about that next week because he is definitely a much bolder person than I see myself as and uh, he, almost, he, he almost. Well, I don't want to say almost, but I think he literally takes pleasure in using God, and I don't mean using God in a bad way, but God sets it up so that God gets the glory instead of Jezebel and well, Jezebel, mainly, not Ahab, but we'll go into that next week. But I hope you come back next week because I am like super excited to continue the conversation about Ahab and Jezebel and Elijah and how he fits into the mix with them and how God, just like we learned about last week and last month God always gets the victory. God always gets the glory. God always gets the glory.
Speaker 2:We may think that God's not paying attention, or we may think that God's just ignoring the dire straits that we're in, but he's not. He's not. He's got everything under control and he just like, like Harris said this week, he has so much grace and so much mercy. And even the people that we think don't deserve a second, third, fourth, fifth chance, God's giving it to them because he wants. The Bible says that none should perish, but all should come to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ, our Lord. That's God's heart. His heart is for everybody to be saved and everybody to go to heaven, but yet he gives us free will because he loves us so much that he gives it our choice. He makes it our choice if we choose to go to heaven or not, and that can only be the love of the heavenly father. He doesn't force his way on anybody, but he does everything he can and he gives every chance he can, which is one of the reasons why I think that he hasn't come back yet, because he's still giving second, third, fifth, a hundred and fifth to people to come to him, to repent and to be born again, to choose Jesus Christ instead of themselves. So we'll get more into that next week.
Speaker 2:But if you have a prayer request or if you have something that you want to share with us, feel free to email us at cheeruppodcast at gmailcom. Or if you want to start a discussion about any of the topics that we've been talking about lately in the Facebook group, head over to CHIRA Podcast on Facebook and we can join a conversation over there so that more people can be involved in it. I also want you to head over to CARA's website, CARARhuntcom, and find out and just look at all the wonderful things that she has over there, and, if you want to, you can check out SherrySwellwellcom. I would encourage you to check out the membership page and also the YouTube channel if you want to.
Speaker 2:Both of those are for encouragement, and the membership is a way for you to grow closer to God and to learn more about his word, to dig into the scriptures and just a way to be reminded, to see Jesus in the everyday, to make him a part of your life Well, not a part of your life, to make him your whole life. So, instead of fitting him into a corner or 10 minutes or a half an hour or fitting him in when it's convenient and comfortable. It's a way to teach you how to just live life with God as the center. So you can find that over on my website. But it's a monthly membership and it's well worth your time. It's well worth the money invested. It's less than well. It's a little bit more than one coffee at Johnny's, but it's less than a coffee at the big name stores.
Speaker 1:So it's definitely a bargain.
Speaker 2:So we are so glad that you were here today and we hope that you have a blessed rest of your day today, a blessed week, and we will talk to you next week when we delve into Elijah and we continue our conversation about Jezebel mainly Jezebel, but Ahab's there too, because, you know, when you're married, you're a couple. Have a great week.
