Cheer UP! Podcast
Cheer UP! Podcast
King Solomon
Tune in and delve into the unexpected as we discuss King Solomon's story. His timeless wisdom, downfall, and ancient insight. Is it possible to connect Solomon's life lessons to modern day challenges?
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Hi and welcome to the Cheer Up Podcast. I am your host, carol Hunt, and with me is the saintly sweetly kind and God-fearing Sherry Swalwell. How are you doing this morning, sherry? I am doing fantastic.
Speaker 2:So our audience today, they might like to hear that you have had a chance to try that blueberry coffee. I tried another flavor from Johnny this week. It was cinnamon vanilla and I thought I would no, no, no, no, no cinnamon almond and I thought I would really, really like it, and I did. It was good, but not as good as the blueberry. It was more of like a November versus a spring. So the blueberry still is number one on my list.
Speaker 1:Yes, and for those of you who were tuned into I think it was last week's podcast Sherry was telling me about her. One of her favorite morning things that she liked to indulge in is some blueberry coffee, and I'm thinking blueberry and coffee how do they even go together? So she showed me, she introduced me to it. She sent me a big old nice bag of it. She introduced me to it. She sent me a big old nice bag of it, and not only did I try it, was I blown away, because I'm like, oh okay, and the smell is wonderful. It just smells like a blueberry muffins being baked in your home when you're brewing the coffee. But my husband loved it, and so did my son, my oldest, who's a coffee connoisseur, so to speak, I guess I could say, and who really likes his coffee, and so he liked it as well. So you were right. I had my doubts. I was the only doubting, thomas. My husband and my son were like, well, I could see how those two could go together.
Speaker 1:And I'm like you can't Because I'm like I can't, you know. So it ended up and now it's one of our faves, so thank you so much for introducing us today, sherry.
Speaker 2:Well, I say that to say we are not affiliated with Johnny's Market, we are not being-.
Speaker 1:Oh, no, we're not. Yes.
Speaker 2:But, but. But you all, you don't have to live by a Johnny's gas station to get Johnny's coffee. Live by a Johnny's gas station to get Johnny's coffee. So if you go online to Johnny's Market J-O-H-N-N-Y apostrophe S Johnny's Market you can order the coffee yourself. And I say that to say if anyone else out there wants to try it. Just go to Johnny's Market, you can have it delivered right to your home and then you can let us know what you think of the blueberry coffee. And I almost want to say that it calls itself blueberry muffin, but maybe it doesn't, maybe it just says blueberry coffee. But it does smell exactly like blueberry muffins baking in your home, and maybe that's why I love it so much. I brewed myself some more this morning because it's now, I think, become my my weekly podcast coffee.
Speaker 1:And once again, we are not sponsors, we're not affiliated, we don't get any money from them. We are just giving you a glimpse into the days of the lives of Kara and Sherry, some of the things we, some of the things we enjoy.
Speaker 2:Yes, yes, we were, we enjoy, yes, yes, we're your friends, you're our friends and we're just being friends.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we're just saying, hey, we like this and in case you think you may like it or maybe something you may be interested in, then check them out. But again, we're not affiliated, we're not friends with them, we don't even know who they are. We're not anything not affiliated.
Speaker 2:We're not friends with them we don't even know who they are.
Speaker 1:It's just hey, if we like this and if you think you may like it, then you know. Here's the information to try them out. So we're just welcoming you into the daily lives of Kara and Sherry, kind of like a behind the scenes look. And we just want to thank you all again for tuning in to another episode of the Cheer Up Podcast and thank you all who are our loyal listeners and who tune in every week, and we just can't thank you enough. Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you. I constantly am saying we see you because we do. Thank you so much for showing up from all over the country, from states all over the country and globally. So we just want to say thank you, thank you, thank you. And if you're new to the Churro Podcast, welcome to the Churro Podcast, welcome to Chur Cheer Nation, where we just hope to be that start to your day or that part of your day that helps you along your journey to joy, your joy in the Lord. So welcome, we love having you. If you have any questions for us, please send it to the Cheer Up Podcast at gmailcom and if you could do us a favor, and if you're listening on any particular to the podcast on any particular platform, just like subscribe and download if you can. It just helps us in the algorithm for people who else may be looking for just like that Christian inspiration.
Speaker 1:Because, as most of you know, we are continuing to talk about biblical figures this year and, wow, we've covered quite a few of them over the past couple of months. We started in February and so we've covered quite a few of them over the last couple of months. We started in February and so we've covered quite a few of them over the last couple of months. And the reason we're doing that is because not only okay, so they have went. The biblical figures we were talking about. They were all significant in the Bible and they all had their own stories that they had to tell or, excuse me, that were written about. And even though those may have happened thousands of years ago, the same things that they went through are the same things that we today, in the current times, are going through. It's just, it looks different, but it's the same thing. And so we are covering some of those biblical figures and the things they went through, you know. And how is that? How could they be what they went through? How can that benefit us today? What can we learn from that? What did we learn from that? Can we learn anything from it, you know, and just how God can work with that in our lives.
Speaker 1:And today we are talking about Solomon, solomon from the Old Testament, solomon, for those of you who may not know, was born to David and Bathsheba. He was their second son. He was not their first child, he was their second son and we did cover under I think it was in February when we did David and Bathsheba. Am I right, sherry? Yep, yep, yes. So if you go back there to that episode on the Trail Podcast and just look for the one titled David and Bathsheba and you'll find out what happened to their very first son and why it happened.
Speaker 1:So, but anyway, solomon was the second son of David and Bathsheba and he was the third king of Israel. He ascended to this, believe it or not, and he wasn't the first one, nor the last one that ascended to the throne at such a young age. But it just always astounds me when I hear about someone you know getting on a throne at such a young age, because he started to be king when he was 12. And when I think about my kids, and just kids around the age of 12, and I'm like could they have ruled a kingdom, you know, at?
Speaker 1:the age of 12? So, yeah, he was. Like I said, he wasn't the first. Well, I don't know. I can't say he wasn't the first because we're pretty early in biblical times here, but he definitely wasn't the last.
Speaker 1:There have been several other young males in different countries and everything that have ascended to the throne at a very young age, but he was 12 and he ruled for 40 years. He ruled in 40 years and the main crazy thing about his reign is that all 40 years were with peace. His entire kingship was ruled with peace. And one of the interesting things I found out and everyone loved him being king um and one of the interesting things I found out about him is that because, uh, again, king solomon did a lot during those, during those 40 years, but that he was king um, but including building the temple and including building this marvelous palace or castle or his home or whatever, and all of that costs a lot of money because I think, like his home had like inlays of copper and, of course, we know that the temple, the holy temple, was like overlaid with gold. So there was a lot of money involved. So the cool thing that I found out regarding that is that that didn't come off of the backs of the Jews to where he had them working hard, hard, hard, hard, hard, and then they would take the profits from that and then he would build the palace and a temple. No, he reigned in peace. They got to benefit from it because he made those other countries that he ruled do all the labor you know and everything else, and then they would pay him as king. I don't know what that would be called. The royalties or something would kind of go to him and then he would be king. So it wasn't just him who benefited from it, it was his people. They were just like wow, we don't have to work hard for all of this for him to live in this type of luxury and for us to experience this peace. No, he had the other country surrounding him that he was king over. Do all the work. They paid him royalties. I think that's what it's called. I can't think of the correct name for it, but I just thought that was just so cool because the whole country benefited from that.
Speaker 1:And he also is the author of three books of the Bible Proverbs, the Song of Songs and the Book of Ecclesiastes. Now it is said Jewish tradition says that one of the Jewish traditions say that he wrote the Song of Songs in his youth. He wrote Proverbs like in his middle of his life, type of mid-stage of his life, because Proverbs is, you know, about just wisdom and things to think about, type proverbial, type statements. And then then a jewish uh tradition says that he wrote the book of ecclesiastes at the end of his life as he was looking back on everything, because that book is more philosophical. Now the bible does not give us any clue to when he wrote any of these bibles. Again, I just want to throw that out there, that that's just one of the Jewish traditions, that he wrote songs and his youth Proverbs in the middle stage of his life.
Speaker 1:And then Ecclesiastes, as he was older and looking back on his life, and he was a great king. He was a great king, he was a mighty king. He's most known for several things, especially the two women he had to judge about who were saying whose baby it was. So that's one of the things he's known about. But he's also known about his wisdom and how he had asked God for wisdom and how that kind of played out in his life and or didn't play out in his life more towards the end of it, but we could get to that later. So, sherry, what are your thoughts on King Solomon? He?
Speaker 2:was definitely an interesting guy, that's for sure. I was looking it up as we were. Well, first off, I guess I want to back up a minute. I've been telling you guys for weeks now that my Bible study group and I have been reading in the Old Testament. So we're reading slowly, but I love that we're reading it slowly because it's helping me catch all those things that I never caught when I read it fast.
Speaker 2:So we're reading through King David's life right now and we've been reading it for a while, because he takes up a lot of first and second Samuel and then he goes into first Kings, and first Kings is where where you'll read about Solomon, you can. You'll start reading about him, his verses in second Samuel and then his. He becomes King in first Kings, and then you'll also read about him in 1 Chronicles and King David he well, sorry, let me go back a little bit further. So King Saul, he was crowned or ornated or whatever you want to call it um, made King, um publicly, and he, he kind of had the, the um impression or the, the personality, the characteristic trait at that time of, you know, being like shy or a little bit on the non-prideful side when he first started out, and then we all know what happened and everything that led to his demise. Well then, david, he was crowned king or ordinated, or whatever you want to call it in secret king or ordinated, or whatever you want to call it in secret.
Speaker 2:So the prophet, who? Who showed? Well, who showed who God chose, because it was ultimately God who chose David. They did it in secret. He said you can't tell anybody that you're going to be the next king. Saul doesn't even know yet. But just so you know, you're going to be the king next. Well, solomon, he had a very interesting story of getting to be king, his brothers. So we talked about it either last week or the week before that, about how David had many different sons and the problem because David was not a very good father. He was a great leader of the country, he was a great warrior, but he was not a good father. He did not discipline his children, he did not hold them accountable, he did not raise them well at all. And so in First Kings, it talks about how one of his older sons and his name is hold on one second name is hold on one second.
Speaker 1:Um, let's see, I had it well anyway, it it starts with an a and I have a hard time pronouncing it, but I think it's adonijah. I think it was a-d-o-n-i-j-a-h. I hope I'm saying that right. I think that was him. Correct me if I'm wrong when you find your notes.
Speaker 2:But so that that brother decided to, or son of David decided to, go around David not invite any of the people that he knew would call him out and make himself king, like. Why he thought he could do this, I don't know. But Nathan, who was the prophet back then, and Bathsheba, who was Solomon's wife David was really old at this point. So I get the impression and I think the Bible kind of tells us that like he stayed in the kingdom a lot, he didn't really go out much. And so Bathsheba went to the king, king David, and said, hey, I thought Solomon was going to be the king, and he's like yeah. And then Nathan came in and said, hey, um, didn't you say Solomon was going to be king? And he's like yeah, and he's like well, check out your other, your other son over here. He's saying that he's going to be king instead. So the whole way that Solomon actually became king um was very interesting as well.
Speaker 2:So there was always turmoil, like God told David when he committed adultery with Bathsheba and when his son from that union died and then Solomon was born after that, god told him that there was going to be stripes and problems in his household. That it wasn't going to be, you know, done. Well, and that was all proven true, like God cannot be proven wrong when God tells you something unless he changes his mind, which is very, very rare, like there were a few times with Abraham where God said I'm going to destroy. Well, actually he did end up destroying Sodom and Gomorrah anyway, because he wasn't able to find more than one person or five people. He wasn't even able to find five people who loved him in Sodom and Gomorrah. But anyway, when God tells you something's going to happen, it's going to happen. And he told him that the consequences of his sin was that there was going to be strife and trouble and problems with his household and with his family, and there sure was.
Speaker 2:So King Solomon came into rule with brothers who were resentful, with brothers who tried to take over his kingship, who tried to take over the kingdom and the throne, and it was not a very necessarily joyous occasion because there was family relationship issues. And I loved the fact that Solomon asked for wisdom when God gave it to him, but he didn't necessarily make the widest of choices in his life. So, number one, he made an alliance with Egypt, with a Pharaoh, and he ended up marrying the Pharaoh's daughter with a pharaoh and he ended up marrying the pharaoh's daughter. Well, that then brought the false gods and the worshiping of false gods right into the kingdom, because the pharaoh's daughter brought her her way of worship with her. Um, and then there there was a part in deuteronomy where god told the people what to do and what not to do, and he was very clear about it.
Speaker 2:It was in Deuteronomy 17, 14 to 17. And God said that this is the way that you need to live in order to be blessed. And if you want to be blessed, then you need to live this way. And it was when you come to the land, land which the Lord, your God, is giving you, and possess it and dwell in it and say I will set a king over me. Like all the nations that are around me, you shall surely set a king over you whom the Lord, your God, chooses, one from among your brethren. You shall set a king over you. You may not set a foreigner over you who is not your brother king over you. You may not set a foreigner over you who is not your brother. But he shall not multiply horses for himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt to multiply horses. So the Lord has said to you you shall not return that way again. Neither shall he multiply wives for himself, lest his heart turn away. Nor shall he greatly multiply silver and gold for himself.
Speaker 2:Unfortunately, solomon did all of that. Not only did he put himself in an alliance with the aged Pharaoh, but he had multiple wives, and he also collected a whole bunch of horses for himself, as well as a lot of other. He amassed a bunch of great wealth. So Solomon did not do a very good job of remembering what the rules and regulations, stipulations whatever you want to call them that God gave. That said hey, if you really want to have a king, then I'll let you have a king, but make sure that you observe these commandments and make sure you observe these laws and regulations. And they didn't do a very good job at that. Solomon asked for wisdom, which was awesome, but then he, like Carol was saying, didn't really choose to follow that wisdom himself, which led to his downfall. Five feeding of the 5,000, how many fish and how many loaves. But I, I had a um, there was a company or a group or something that came when I went to school. I went to a Christian school for like three years and one of our chapels was an all day chapel and they went through the new Testament, I mean the old Testament, all the way through to the new Testament.
Speaker 2:And one of the things that they told us back then was Solomon had no heart for God, david had a whole heart for God. No, I'm sorry, saul had no heart for God. David had a full heart for God and Solomon had a half a heart for God. And that's exactly what we see taking place in 1 Kings, 2 Samuel and 1 Chronicles 2 Samuel and 1 Chronicles. So he started out well. He started out wanting wisdom and started out wanting to do things God's way. But as he was influenced by the multiple wives that he had, as he was influenced by the alliance that he had with the addiction Pharaoh, and as he accumulated wealth and so forth for himself, he showed that his heart was torn away and pulled away from worshiping God completely.
Speaker 2:And another thing the article that I was reading and it was through the Bible Project, so you can go to them and they can tell you this as well. But another thing they were talking about was that the temple that Kara was talking about earlier, that it took eight years for him. No, seven years, sorry. In 1 Kings 6.38, it says Solomon spent seven years building the temple, which is great, but he took 13 years to construct his own palace. Almost double the amount of time. So almost double the amount of work to build something for himself versus building something to give god glory.
Speaker 2:And I don't know about you, cara, but I don't want to be that kind of person. I want to finish the race even better than the when I started. I want to make sure that I'm constantly asking god. Well, let me put it this way, I think that that it's very. It all boils down to a choice. We all have a choice in life. We can choose to wake up in the morning and say, lord, what's in it for me today? What are you going to give me? What am I want to do your will? I want to live for you. Check my struggle.
Speaker 2:But it's not really a struggle as much, because God has revealed it to me, but there are some things in life that I, quote-unquote, poured. So I love coffee, I love books and I love. There's one other thing. Well, I guess I don't love that as much because God is healing me of some, but I love coffee and I love books. And I think the other one used to be like baby clothes when my kids were little. I love toys and baby clothes and all that stuff, but anyway, I've kind of outgrown that because my kids are bigger.
Speaker 2:But watch out, I'll be a grandmother someday, mother someday, but, um, but coffee and books, and I always used to think that I had to grab it for myself because I could never have enough. I could never have enough. I could never have enough. I didn't want to run out. I didn't want to run out, and God is showing me, sherry. One, it's so much better If you let me provide it for you. You will enjoy it more if you let me provide it for you than if you take it upon yourself. And two, it's an act of trust, like, do you trust me that not only will I supply for your needs and provide for your needs, but that I will even let you enjoy some more. So I've had God has told me, he has let me know in no uncertain terms that there are certain things in my life that I need to let go of in order to be obedient for him, and one of them is this and none of the things that he's asking me to let go of are bad, necessarily um to our relationship. Um, and one is this, um, this like book thing where I can get three books All I have to do is post a review for them online, and it was wonderful because it was introducing me to all these new authors that I didn't know about and I loved it. But it was taking time away from things that he wanted me to do that were the better yet in my life at this stage. It served me well before, but I needed to let go of it now and I was like.
Speaker 2:So I argued with him and I'm like God, I'm like I'll obey you, but how am I going to find these other? You know, how am I going to get these free books now and how am I going to? I don't have the money to pay for books every single week, every single month. You know I can't do that. I have to be careful with my budget and support. How am I going to do this? He's like do you not trust me? Do you not think that I will do this?
Speaker 2:I got the money from one of my bosses for Christmas. I donated $50 of it. It was going to be my book fund. I was going to use that to buy the books that I really, really, really wanted to read, that I wouldn't be able to read through this club anymore. Do you know that God has? I still have that $50 in my pocket because I've been able to read through the library, I've been able to read them through other means that this is supported for the authors, but God has shown me that he is providing for me, whether it's through money, whether it's through the library, whether it's through this club, whether it's through whatever.
Speaker 2:And so I think that that kind of goes back to Solomon in that did Solomon trust God enough? Or did Solomon get too big for his riches? Or did Solomon just say like, did he just lose sight of the fact that worshiping God is number one, the number one priority, because so many lives and so many other society cultural influences in his life and not enough people who would bring him back to God. I love being in community with you, carrie. You are so loving and getting. I love that God gives us both different sisters in Christ for different things and different areas that we struggle in in our lives, and that's the way I think it's supposed to be.
Speaker 2:Like God put the prophet back then to help the people and keep them on the straight and narrow, because, like you said before, they didn't have the Bible to refer to. So they had prophets who spoke directly to God and they were writing the Bible. We have the Bible. We have sisters in Christ, brothers in Christ, we have spouses, we have godly influences in our life and you know what, if my husband was not the godly influence that he is, life would be so much harder.
Speaker 2:But take heart. I'm not saying, if you don't have a spouse who's a believer, it's not all you know, you're not all out, it's not done, you're not down to the count. God can redeem things. We just need to pray and continue to consistently pray that God will open their hearts and draw them to him, that the Holy Spirit will bring them to a decision where they want to become a believer as well. So there's always hope, always, always hope, but, as you can, in so much as is up to you, surround yourself with godly influences, with a godly culture, because you're not going to just automatically get it today.
Speaker 2:In today's society, it's just not an automatic going to happen.
Speaker 2:It's something that you need to seek out, and I know for me, it is so much easier to walk this life that we're walking and to walk this journey and this culture that we're in with fellow believers, with people who believe the way that I believe, people who can encourage me, people who can point me back to the Bible, people who can remind me of the different promises that God gives us.
Speaker 2:And I think that that's kind of the things that we want to touch on with Solomon today, and we just want to really encourage you to read for yourself who Solomon was, what Solomon did, and if you want the big picture, then go back and start with David and start and really see for yourself the different ways that David parented and the different ways that he handled the circumstances within his family, within his own life, the different choices that he made himself personally and how they affected his family members, both his wives and his kids. You can start way back there with David, or you can jump right in with Solomon. But yeah, reading it for yourself and asking the Holy Spirit to reveal to you what he wants you to know about Solomon and about his life and how you can apply that to your own life, is really how we want to encourage you today. Is there anything else that you want to say, kara, before?
Speaker 1:we wrap up, as you were talking about David and Solomon and going back to read David and in conjunction with Solomon, not only is that a good idea, but you'll get to see the contrast between their kingdoms. Like we say, king Solomon was the third king of Esau, david, and then David's son, solomon. And another one of the traditions, the Jewish traditions, talks about how David, when you compare the two kingdom ships, like their two rules I should say their kingdom rules they would say, and you can use how to utilize their story in your own life. And they talk about how David was a warrior. David fought the adversary, he focused on it and he drove it away. He focused on the enemy and he drove the enemy away. It was an act of war. He was constantly warring and fighting against the adversaries. And they talk about how Solomon focused on the good things in life and the light things in life and how the enemy disappeared automatically like fog in the sunlight because he did a more passive war. He did things a little bit different. So you know from his dad as far as how they ruled their kingdoms and you know, and they talk about how you know which one is the more appropriate style for battling darkness at times.
Speaker 1:Is it the method of Solomon, where you focus on the good and light and the darkness will disappear on its own, or is it more? Do you constantly have to be ready to fight and war with the adversary and things like that, so bringing that into modern times? I think that's a question we need to ask ourselves personally. What is the path that God has for you in life? Are you more of a David when it comes to the adversary, my adversary? I'm not talking about physically fighting someone in your life. I'm not talking about that neighbor who gets on your nerves or that coworker who stole your idea or nothing like that. We're talking spiritually, like when it comes to spiritual things, spiritual battles. Are you more of a David and you're constantly taking on an enemy and conquering things? Spiritual battles Are you more of a David and you constantly taking on an enemy and conquering? Or are you more a Solomon, to where you're just focused on the good things and the light things and talk about those things and the darkness will disappear on its own because you're fighting a more passive war, to where you're not even giving the adversary a thought or time of day?
Speaker 1:I could see both being effective. But today, in our times, how do we do that? Do we do the way David did? Do we embrace what Solomon did? And so today, that's kind of like the question like which one are you? How has God molded you? Has he molded you as a Solomon or has he molded you as a David? And to remember that in all things, as long as we keep God as the focus and we constantly read our Bible to make sure that we are in line and on the correct path, that, no matter what comes across our life, no matter what type of trial, no matter what type of tribulation, that God has overcome it all. He has overcome the world and through Christ, we are victors in Him. I think that's all I wanted to ask, sherri Did that make sense? Did any of that make sense?
Speaker 2:Yes, absolutely, and I'm so glad that you ended it with that, because I think that's a great challenge, a great question for us to leave with the listeners today, and it's one that I'm going to bring before God and ask him myself, because I never thought about it that way. God, who am I? Am I a David? Am I a Solomon? Am I, as we get into the New Testament, kara, and we start talking about the.
Speaker 2:New Testament we can start asking God if we're a Paul, a Barnabas or a Timothy. And yes, I know you guys are like who are those people? Or maybe you're like, oh yeah, I remember hearing about them.
Speaker 1:We'll be talking about them later this year.
Speaker 2:So I absolutely love, love, love reading God's Word and the more I read it. When I first started reading it it didn't really make a whole lot of sense to me. But when you first start any kind of a book, it doesn't usually make a whole lot of sense. You need to get into it and you need to really embrace it and be consistent with it and then you start to see the pieces coming together and then you start to see the different ways that things tie in and you remember, oh, I heard about him before, oh, I read about him before. I know what they're talking about here because we've read this and this. So I just want to encourage you as well. So, as you're talking to God about if you're a David or a Solomon, I want to encourage you to jump in wherever you are. If you don't know where to start in the Bible or you just want a companion to start, email us at cheeruppodcastgmailcom.
Speaker 2:I have a Bible study guide or a Bible reading guide that I would love to share with you to kind of just give you a way to get started, in case you just don't really know what, and you don't have to do it this way.
Speaker 2:But sometimes it's just instead of seeing a whole book, a whole Bible, 66 books and you're like I just don't even know where to start, like so I'm not going to start. But if you just need some guidance to get going, jump into that link, then email us and I'll be happy to share that with you so that you can get started. And Tara and I love to talk about God, we love to talk about his word, we love to point you back to his word, we love to encourage you with his word. So if you have questions or if you just have this aha moment as you're reading something and you're like, oh, who can I tell about this? Well, tell us, if you want to, we would love to hear it. You can also start a conversation on the Cheer Up Podcast Facebook group. We would love to have that conversation not just with you but with the rest of the community as well.
Speaker 1:So, sherry, can I?
Speaker 1:add something real quick. Sherry was just talking about you just email us and she will send you a Bible reading guide. It dawned on me, hey, if you guys don't have a Bible, also email us at the tarotpodcastcom excuse me, com. Tarotpodcast at gmailcom.
Speaker 1:At gmailcom, if you don't have a Bible but you would really want one, but you're like guys, I've looked at the prices of Bibles and a really good study Bible is kind of expensive then go ahead and email us at cheropodcastcom Gosh, I keep getting it wrong Cheropodcast, at gmailcom. And there are, we are aware of several places that have resources that will give you free Bibles and we would love to connect you with those or point you in that direction or whatnot. But if you definitely need a Bible or and you're just like, wow, I really would like a really good Bible, or at least no a Bible to have on my own don't please contact us. If you want the Bible guide, the Bible reading guide, or if you don't have a Bible but you would like to know where you could get a free one, then also email us. Okay, I'm sorry, sherry, no perfect.
Speaker 2:So go over to carahrhuntcom. I believe she might. You have some of your resources over there too, right, cara?
Speaker 1:Yes, some of them.
Speaker 2:Yes, so you can look over there as well. You can head over to SherrySwalwellcom we also. Just, if you feel like looking around on the website, you can just kind of get a little bit more. If this is your first time listening to us, you can find out a little bit more about us, and we always, always, always want to point you back to John 1633. It says 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, no matter what we're dealing with and no matter God.
Speaker 2:Nothing surprises God. Nothing takes him by surprise. Nothing takes him takes him by surprise. Nothing knocks him off of anything.
Speaker 2:God understands and knows everything, and so we can have that assurance. He knows we're going to mess up. He knows we're going to make mistakes. He knew that Solomon wasn't going to be perfect. He knew David wasn't going to be perfect. He never asked for perfection from us and nothing that we do would ever make us be too far gone for God to redeem us. So I want to leave you with that today that he loves us more than we can even comprehend and all he really, truly wants is a relationship with us, but he's already standing there waiting for us to to approach him. He is, he's there and he's ready. But he also knows that, unless or until we get to the point where we're willing to admit that we're wrong, where we're willing to repent and we're willing to let him be Lord of our lives, because he's not going to compete with anything else in our lives, but when we're ready and we're willing and we want to take that step, he's waiting.
Speaker 2:So if that's you and you want to take that step, as we close today, I just want to read the salvation prayer. If this is something that's tugging on your heart, then that's probably the Holy Spirit. If this is something that's tugging on your heart, then that's probably the Holy Spirit, and he doesn't want you to ignore the feeling. He doesn't want you to ignore the calling on your life. He wants you to pray the prayer that we're going to pray in just a couple of minutes and he wants you to start that relationship with him. So if that's you and if you realize that you need God in your life and you want him to be Lord over your life, then pray this prayer with us. Oh Heavenly Father, I come to you in Jesus' name. I believe you died on the cross and that you rose again and you're seated on the throne. That you rose again and you're seated on the throne. Jesus, forgive me for all that I've done, and I choose to forgive all others. Come into my life today and forever. I am yours In Jesus' name, amen. If you just prayed that prayer, say welcome to the family and we are so glad you're here.
Speaker 2:The next step is to tell somebody and to get into a Bible-believing church. If you don't know what that means, email us at cheeruppodcast at gmailcom, and we will be happy to walk alongside you and just kind of give you some encouragement of what kind of things that you want to look for when you find a church home. There are other next steps that you can take as well, and one of those is getting into God's word and finding out more about him and growing that relationship that you have with him. It's not a religion. It's not about checking off a box. It's not about reading the Bible because you have to or saying a prayer because you have to. It's about getting to know Jesus as your personal savior, and we're just so proud of you and we're just so thankful and grateful that you are listening and that you, more importantly than listening to the podcast, that you're listening to the Holy Spirit and you're responding to him.
Speaker 2:So, on that note, I can't believe it's the end of May. Next week starts the beginning of June. My kids will be out of school for the summer, which, yay, I'm happy about that and we are going to dive into or continue on our conversation, continue on our quest with biblical figures still in the Old Testament, with biblical figures still in the Old Testament, and we're going to tackle, in the month of June, job, esther, jeremiah and then the story of Hosea and Gomer, and I am super excited. I have thoroughly loved this series this year and let us know if there's anyone in particular that you want to hear later in the year, we might be able to fit it in or change things around a little bit. Otherwise, have a great week, have a great rest of your week and we will talk to you next week. Bye.
