Cheer UP! Podcast
Cheer UP! Podcast
Journeying With Zacchaeus
Ever wonder how a simple act of acceptance can lead to profound transformation? Join us on this episode of the Cheer Up Podcast as we explore the heartwarming story of Zacchaeus, a chief tax collector whose life was forever changed by a single encounter with Jesus.
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Hi and welcome to the Cheer Up Podcast. I am your host, kara Hunt, and with me is the amazing Sherry Suawa. How are you doing today, sherry? I am doing great and we want to thank all of you who continue to join us every week, as podcasts are uploaded every Wednesday for every Wednesday has podcasts uploaded every Wednesday, for every Wednesday, and we just want to thank you for joining us every week, for coming, for listening, for sharing, and we just pray that if you're listening, that you do share, if this podcast has brought you joy or has been a blessing to you in any way.
Speaker 1:could you share it with a friend? We would greatly appreciate that and it just helps the algorithm. So for those who are looking for a podcast that's maybe inspirational or filled with joy, a little bit of laughter, that they will be able to find us. So if you could do us that favor, that would be great. I do want to give a shout out to those of you who have been joining us.
Speaker 1:We have Dallas, texas, mason City, iowa, richland, michigan, fort Pierce, florida, sydney, new South Wales, sudden, coldfield, birmingham, quarryville, pennsylvania, ripley, derbyshire. So it sounds like we have quite a few, uh, uk listeners, right, sherry, I believe birmingham and derbyshire in the uk. If I am wrong, please forgive me and send us an email at your podcast at gmailcom and let us know if we're getting that wrong. Um, we have orlando, flor, jersey City, new Jersey, mississauga, ontario I believe that's Canada, oakland City, indiana, clearfield, pennsylvania, indianapolis, indiana and so many other countries Germany, nepal, united Kingdom, australia, chile, the Netherlands. We just want to say hi. Nepal, united Kingdom, australia, chile, the Netherlands. We just want to say hi, welcome, thank you for joining us, and we just can't stress enough how much you joining us and listening in and sharing the podcast just blesses us. We just want to say thank you, thank you, thank you, and we're so glad you're with us. And is there anything you'd like to say, sherry?
Speaker 2:Just we're humbled and we're appreciative and please let us know which are your favorite episodes, If there's topics that you want to hear more of. Which of the Bible characters that we've been talking about sorry, Bible, excuse me, Bible figures I don't like calling them characters, because they're real life people. So Bible figures we've been talking about that you've enjoyed the most or that you've gotten excited about, that you wanted to learn more about on your own. Just kind of share your heart with us and let us know your feedback, because we truly value your feedback and, while we're spirit-led meaning we bring you what we feel the Holy Spirit wants us to bring you we certainly want your feedback and want to know what you're struggling with or what you would want more of, or just what would bless you.
Speaker 1:Absolutely, and it doesn't have to be a long drawn-out story Excuse me drawn-out paragraph it could just be a couple of words, a couple of sentences you know, or a particular topic you know. So we would greatly appreciate it. And again, all questions, comments, cheeruppodcasts at gmailcom. And so, as Sherri mentioned earlier, we're still going through Bible, figures of the Bible. We have really just been having a great time doing this. God is so good and we just hope that you guys are continuing to be blessed by it too. And we just hope that you guys are continuing to be blessed by it too.
Speaker 1:And today we are talking about, excuse me, the book, the Gospel of Luke in the New Testament. It's one of the four Gospels Matthew, mark, luke and John and Matthew and Mark were earlier this month, so if you wanted to go back and just hear that, so you can get all four gospels in order, then, um, just go to our trail podcast page or your wherever you're listening to the trail podcast from, and you'll be able to see that, and then that way, you can listen to them all, um. Or you can go all the way back to the beginning of the year, because we've been doing this, I think, since February of this year. So, but Luke, luke, luke, luke, luke, Luke. So Luke was you know it. Just it just dawned on me, as I just mentioned this, that you know it's interesting that a lot of these, that the Bible, just really emphasizes the first names, right? It's not like you have Luke Thomas or Luke Jackson, right?
Speaker 1:You know, or Luke Smith, and I'm pretty sure that they had them and I'm pretty sure if I searched the scriptures a little bit more I could probably find out. But sometimes it just feels weird to just say you know by their first name only. But Luke Luke, he was one of the writers of the. He wrote the book of Luke. The book of Luke is attributed to him. Writing it as well as the book of Acts is both attributed to him in the New Testament. He was a physician and he was a close companion of the Apostle Paul and it is. A lot of scholars believe that he likely became a believer in Jesus Christ through that ministry, through his ministry and or maybe friendship with Paul, and he later joined him on several of his missionary journeys. And he later joined him on several of his missionary journeys.
Speaker 1:It is speculated that it was written around 80, 85 AD. And the Gospel of Luke provides a detailed and comprehensive account of like Jesus's life, his ministry, his death and his resurrection. But it also talks about his compassion for the marginalized, for the outcast, such as women, tax collectors and sinners. And interesting that he had compassion for like the tax collectors because we're going to talk about one of them today, a story that is found in the book of Luke that he wrote about. But you know, the book of Luke, the gospel of Luke, also includes several parables and teachings unique to Luke, such as the parables of the Good Samaritan and the Prodigal Son. I'm not sure if I ever really realized that that was in the gospel of Luke only, but when you think about it it is because the other books really don't cover it. But you know, you kind of go through those so many times, like in your Christian journey. You kind of go through those two particular Bible stories a lot and I think I just forget that it's not in all of the Gospels, that it was just in Luke. But he was also known for his medical background, which is believed to have influenced his detailed and accurate descriptions of the way Jesus healed, his healings, the way he described his healings and other events in the Gospels. So that's a little bit about Luke. And again, this is just kind of coming to me as I'm thinking about this, but I you know.
Speaker 1:So here, nowadays, many centuries later, to become a doctor you have to go through a lot of medical training. You have to go through what? Maybe eight years of medical school. So I'm kind of wondering what were the requirements? You know, and here you have something to prove that you're a physician. Right, you have your documentation, your doctorates, your medical license and everything else. So I'm just kind of it's just very interesting to me. I would love to know how, what were the requirements to become a doctor back then? Do you know much about that, sherry?
Speaker 2:I really don't know, but as you're sitting here talking about Luke himself, I think to myself if God hadn't had which we talked a little bit about either last week or the week before. We talked about how Paul and Barnabas and Silas and John Mark, how they split up in their mission, whatever you want to call it and because of that, the gospel was shared with more of the Gentiles and more people to become believers. And I sit here and I'm just in awe. Honestly, I'm humbled that because of that, we were able to become believers as well, not just Luke, but us.
Speaker 1:Right, yes.
Speaker 2:God loved Luke enough, like the ones of us who were adopted, not born Jewish and not born into the lineage of King David, but those of us who were adopted. He loved us enough so much were adopted. He loved us enough, so much that Luke was allowed to write a gospel of the Bible. A gospel, a gospel not just like a little tiny, you know three page book, a gospel. It just blows me away, like I'm just so humbled. I didn't really think about that, because by the time we became alive and by the time we learned about God and about salvation and about all of that, it's this commonplace that adopted people are as good as non-adopted people. But it just, I don't know. It just really struck me this morning that you know he was one of the first ones and yet God gave him the honor and the purpose and the destiny to write a gospel of the Bible. So anyway, that just blew me away.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's just amazing when you dig into them and you learn more about them and how they, you know, came to Christ and who their friends were.
Speaker 1:you know and can you imagine those conversations Like those had to be so cool you know, just to hear and then, like you say, for him to have absorbed like a sponge so much knowledge from his friend Paul right and everything else, and then to be able to go on, you know, for the Lord to approve him to his medical background and all of that. It just says a lot about him as a person and you know his journey as he walked. You know this road and it was a dangerous road back then. You know to do that. And one of the stories he told excuse me, that he wrote about, not that he told, but one of the stories that he wrote about is in Luke, chapter 19, verses 5 through 10. 5 through 10. And in there he tells a story of what happened regarding one of the tax collectors that Jesus had come across and his name was Zacchaeus.
Speaker 1:I was conferring with Sherry earlier and I'm like is it Zacchaeus or is it Zacchaeus, because I did not want to mispronounce it wrong so Zacchaeus. So it's only 10 quick verses, so I'm just going to read it really quick to give you guys, you know, just a glimpse into what we're talking about. And it says Then Jesus entered and passed through Jericho about. And it says Then Jesus entered and passed through Jericho. Now, behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus who was a chief, a chief tax collector, and he was rich and he sought to see who Jesus was, but could not because of the crowd for he was of short stature. So he ran ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him, for he was going to pass that way, jesus was going to pass that way, it says he in here, but I just want to clarify that that he's referring to Jesus. And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up and saw him and said to him Zacchaeus, make haste and come down, for today I must stay at your house. So he made haste and came down and received him joyfully, received Jesus joyfully.
Speaker 1:But when they saw it, they all complained, saying he has gone to be a guest with a man who is a sinner. Then Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord Look, lord, I give half of my goods to the poor and if I have taken anything from anyone by false accusation, I restore fourfold. And Jesus said to him Today salvation has come to this house because he also is a son of Abraham, for the Son of man has come to seek and to save that which was lost. Okay, and that's the end of that scripture and that was the New King James Version that I was reading that from. So you're like, okay, carol, what is going on there?
Speaker 1:So one of the first things to know and one of the things you realize when you start reading the Bible is that names have meaning and the name Zacchaeus means pure or innocent and as a tax collector, zacchaeus was not living up to his name. He just wasn't. It was no secret and as you could tell in that scripture the crowd was murmuring against him. It was no secret that his wealth was gained on the backs of his friends and neighbors and family and countrymen. So he was not well liked at all. And when they kind of saw Jesus kind of talk to him and say, hey, zacchaeus, you know, make haste, come down. You know, I got to, I'm staying at your place, they were just kind of like what.
Speaker 1:Zacchaeus Like does he not know who this guy is? Well, of course he does. He has to know who he is, because what they knew about Zacchaeus is that not only was he a tax collector, he was very sinful and he was greedy. And he wasn't just a tax collector, like the scripture just mentioned, he was the chief tax collector. He was a greedy man, and one of the problems with the tax collectors back then is that they reported directly to the Roman occupation, the Romans who were occupying their land. It's almost as if we here in the United States were being occupied by, you know, a foreign government. And so when we knew another American was working for them and was even turning people in, other fellow Americans in, and the feelings that we would have about that, you know, and how upset that would be, we would be to see something like that happening. And then, in this case, though, jesus comes and he's like hey, I'm going to stay at your house. So I could see why the crowd was kind of like what.
Speaker 1:You know, and they were murmuring, you know like, does he not this man is? He's like a horrible guy. He the Roman occupation at the time had required that the Jewish people pay large amounts of money, a huge amount of taxes, and they weren't just. You know, as with most occupations of countries and everything else, this wasn't like a smooth occupation or a kind occupation. I mean they were. As you read through the scriptures, you'll find out that they were a very cruel and foreign government and they recruited tax collectors and who openly and as Zacchaeus pretty much admitted to, they openly took extra for themselves from their own people, under the authority of a cruel government, you know. So they were, let's just say, feeling some type of way about, really, of all the good people who are Jesus, you're going to go and sit, stay at his house, lodge at his house. He's a traitor, he's a traitor to us, he's a traitor. He's a traitor to us, he's a traitor to his nation. And what made it even worse for them was that there were no laws protecting these hardworking people against anything like that. I mean, zacchaeus could have kept robbing them blind and they pretty much had no recourse to it, had pretty much had no recourse to it, and so they were just resentful that they were, you know, overtaxed, that this own person, someone of their own culture and someone who was Jewish like them, would be stealing from them, and he had the support of the Roman occupation and the Roman authorities to do it and they had nothing to do it. So he pretty much became rich by using his position to take as much as he wanted. But Jesus, right so.
Speaker 1:But after Jesus reaches out to Zacchaeus you notice that from the scripture scripture right there again, it's chapter 19 of Luke, verses 1 through 10, he, automatically, he, automatically, he is so touched you know, I guess, that Jesus saw him because he was up in a tree, remember, so that he could see.
Speaker 1:I think he was just so touched by Jesus calling out to him and saying that he was going to stay with him and just, I think, by the love that he felt, that he pretty much, in a way, repented of everything that he had did and had managed and had said that he would restore tenfold anything that he had got, that he had gotten by false accusations, which means he was accusing people of doing things that they weren't, probably just to get more money. But after Jesus reached out to him, he changed his ways, and that just goes to me to show how you could be one of the most despicable people known in your area, for whatever reason. But when you allow Jesus into your life, when you answer the call, when he calls your name, things can go completely different. And before you know it, you're offering to make restoration to people, and he went above anything that he needed to do to just make it right.
Speaker 1:But you know what he ended up doing also, he finally overcame his past and he lived up to his name, pure and innocent Pure or innocent and he started living up to his name. But he didn't start living up to his name until after Jesus was on the scene, until after Jesus called out to him and he answered. What are your thoughts on that, sherry?
Speaker 2:I love how you brought that out, kara, and the thing that sticks out the most to me is that, like you said but God, we don't have to fix ourselves. So like Zacchaeus, didn't? We don't have to fix ourselves so like Zacchaeus, didn't? It wasn't Zacchaeus who woke up that morning and said okay, I feel so guilty for screwing these people over time and time again that I'm going to repay them tenfold. No, that wasn't even in Zacchaeus' radar.
Speaker 1:Nope.
Speaker 2:God who changes our hearts. And it's when our hearts are changed and we embrace that love that God gives us, that God offers to us, when we accept that and embrace that love, that's what changes our behavior and that's what changes our actions. So, if you are coming from a position of well, a couple of different positions that all lead back to the same path, one is oh, I'm so bad and I've done so many things that God just doesn't even want to have anything to do with me. Not true? Look at Zacchaeus. Or, oh, my goodness, I don't even know where to begin. So, okay, so God loves me and I've accepted God's love and I, I'm now a believer and I, I I'm going to go to heaven and I have that assurance of salvation. But I don't even know where to begin. It doesn't matter, you don't have to begin. Your only begin is Jesus. I surrender and Jesus, he is the one that changes our hearts. I love talking to friends of mine who sit there and say you know, I became a believer in such and such a year, but I still had residue from the world that God and the Holy Spirit had to get out of me, because it reminds us that we're human and that God cares about our salvation first and foremost. He cares about where we're going to spend eternity, and then we have a lifetime with him, a lifetime of a relationship with him.
Speaker 2:To worry about or no, that's the wrong word to work on getting the residue out of our life, and God is the one that will do that for us. Now, am I saying that we wake up in the morning and just go, oh, I got residue. Who cares? God's going to take care of it someday, but until then, I'm going to enjoy it? No, because if you're a true believer, if you truly have surrendered your life to God, then you're going to wake up and say, okay, god, we got residue. I'm trusting you that you're going to work on whatever it is that you want to work on today, I'm not going to worry about. Tomorrow, I'm not going to worry about the next day. I'm not going to worry about you know any time in between.
Speaker 2:But whatever residue you bring to my mind today that you want me to work on, I'm there for you. I'm going to be willing and obedient to just hand it over to you and see what it is that you're going to be used. God, speak to me and help me hear your voice above the voices of the world. God, I want to do what you want me to do. Does it mean we'll do it? Perfectly? Absolutely not. And God doesn't care about perfection. He just cares about our heart, and that's what's so awesome about it.
Speaker 2:And, in turn, one more thing that I want to say about all of that is we, so the friends of Zacchaeus, the community of Zacchaeus, those around Zacchaeus? They were in the wrong, because, yes, zacchaeus was awful, zacchaeus was using them and exploiting them and all of those things, but it was not for them to judge. They needed to just say you know what? God, I don't think this is right. I don't know what you're doing with all of this, but it's really not up to me. You told me that I just need to love people where they are, so as much as I don't want to.
Speaker 1:I'll love that kid.
Speaker 2:But I mean, like seriously, we're allowed to be human and we're allowed to talk to God with our feelings, because he knows what they are anyway, but we do not have the right to talk to Jane next to us. Did you see what that kid Can? You believe he's up in that tree? Why does he get to see him better than me? Did you see what he did? No, no, no, no, no, no. That is not, that's not honoring to God and that's not surrendering our lives to God. We need to worry about us. We need to ask God to take care of our residue. That's where that whole verse in the Bible, in the New Testament, comes in, and we need to take care of the speck in our eye. Was it the plank in our eye before the speck in our front? Yeah, we got to take care of the plank in our eye before the speck in our brother's eye, meaning we need to deal with and worry about ourselves and our own residue, not worry about our friend's residue.
Speaker 2:If we want to pray for them because, like, say, for instance, there's somebody in your life that you know they're doing something that is just not something that pleases God instead of well, you can do a couple of things. One, take them to God and say Holy Spirit, I know you're working on them. What can I do to help spirit? I know you're working on them. What can I do to help anything? Or just pray, because I'm willing to pray. Soften their heart, lord. But you know, I I started to say this, tara, but but I'm checking myself because it's not our place to go to god and say do you see what john's doing over there? Did you? Do you see his attitude? When are you going to fix that? No, that's the wrong attitude to have. So I'm checking myself and I'm changing that. We can say God, soften their hearts and turn them into the people that you want them to be.
Speaker 1:I think that's a good prayer, I think that's a really or to heal us from the pain that they cause and the false accusations.
Speaker 2:Yes, yes, and I think it's okay especially like if it's your spouse or your child or your parent to say God, help them to become the person that you created them to be. I think that's a really good prayer too, because that's open-ended, it shows that you love them, but it's not judgmental and it's not fix them because they're awful, you know. It's keeping the focus on help them to be all that you wanted them to be, because don't we want our loved ones and ourselves to be all that God wants us to be and that he created us to be? So I think that's an okay prayer. But when we start to get into the judgmental stuff, no, we need to stay away from that. We need to just trust that God is working in our friend, our loved ones, lives and just our enemy. Yeah, oh, yeah, and yes, exactly, sometimes we got to pray for them even more. You're, you're so right, yeah that that. Those are kind of the thoughts that I was thinking of as you were talking about, zacchaeus.
Speaker 1:You know something, when you were talking about the mumbling of the crowd, that I, you know, I just I was thinking about because they, in the beginning, right, all they see is what Does he not? Of course he knows what Zaki has done, right, he knows that he accused me falsely, that he takes you know, I work hard for the money that you know, for my family and I have all these children and I have a wife and everything else. He takes every dime and leaves me with, like you know, just barely enough to survive, you know. And so they're mumbling, right, and they're kind of upset, you know, in the beginning, but they didn't see the plan that, they didn't see what was going to happen, because before they were done mumbling, zacchaeus had already pretty much repented and said hey, I'm going to give you all your money back.
Speaker 1:Who I cheated out of you, you know. So, not only was. You know, jesus shows up on the scene. So not only was Zacchaeus blessed right in Jesus's presence, and you know it turned his life around, um, blessed right by Jesus and Jesus's presence, and you know it turned his life around, but so were the people right.
Speaker 1:But they didn't know that. They did not know that was going to happen. All they felt was kind of slighted right Like you know like why not.
Speaker 1:Why not Benjamin over there? You know someone who's a proud, upstanding citizen and fears the Lord, you know would never do anything like that. They didn't know the end of it. You know, and that's something we have to remember. I think that they didn't know that in the end, that they were going to get restored and that the poor, he was going to give money back to the poor and that they were going to be restored. If he took money from them falsely and he accused them falsely, he was going to fix that and restore it to them. They didn't know that. I bet you the mumbling stopped then, because then they saw. You know, oh, this may not be a bad thing if him going to Zacchaeus' house.
Speaker 2:Right. I'm so glad you brought that up, though, kara, because I have a saying in my life, and that is that when God is in the midst of it, he blesses everybody involved, and that is he. Just nailed it right there on the head. He didn't just bless that he is, he blessed everybody who was around him, and that is God. That is one of the ways that I know when God is at work, that he will not just bless me in a business transaction, he will bless me and the people around me. And he will not just bless me in a business transaction. He will bless me and the people around me. He will not just bless me in a friendship. He will bless me and the people around me.
Speaker 2:And that's how I know God is involved, and I love that. I absolutely love that. It gives me not just hope, but it gives me joy, because I don't want to be selfish and be the only person blessed. I don't want to be selfish and be the only person blessed. I want the interactions that I'm in to be a blessing to everybody, not just me. I love that.
Speaker 1:I'm so glad you brought that out. Well, yeah, because it's just amazing what happens when you let Jesus into your life, right. So before we wrap this up, I just want to say, if you think that you have done something so wrong and you're like, you know I've, I've I've fixed myself, I've well, you know Jesus has, I've invited him into my life and I've I've taken responsibility for a lot of things that I've done and I've taken responsibility for a lot of things that I've done. And Jesus is just working on me in my heart. But my wife is still mad at me. She's not ready to reconcile with me. My kids still don't want to talk to me. You know my siblings won't even answer my phone calls because of some of the things I've done in the past.
Speaker 1:Do not give up hope. Do not give up hope. Do not give up hope Because now that you have God involved in the situation, just be prepared for a miracle. I'm not saying everything is going to. You know that people are going to forgive you for the things that you may have done in the past, because you know you have changed. God knows you have changed right. But it takes human beings time to be able to see and accept that change. But, oh boy, don't think that you're the only one being worked on, like Sherry said, because those hearts of the people that you hurt are also being worked on as well. Now, some people are a lot longer to forgive than others, and of course, a lot of that depends on the damage that was done. But if you just keep praying for them, you just keep praying for the Lord to soften their hearts, and you just keep praying for that opportunity to get the chance to apologize and reconcile with them, god is going to make a way. So don't give up hope. That's all I wanted to ask, sherri.
Speaker 2:I love that. And also God tells us he's really been working with me on this lately, but God tells us to thank him ahead of time.
Speaker 2:Just like we've seen in a lot of the miracles like the beating of the 5,000, and we're going to talk about that later this year. Jesus thanks God ahead of time. He thanked him before he saw it. That's where that whole faith comes in. I mean, there's like so much we could dig into with all of that and I'm not going to dig into that today, but I just want to encourage you to thank God. So once you, once you pray, and once you petition God and you, you share your heart with him and you you let him know how you're feeling and and you've repented for anything that you've done wrong that you know you need to repent for Thank him.
Speaker 2:Thank him ahead of time. Say God I thank you for what you are doing, what you have done and what you're going to do. I trust you. I don't know what it is, I don't know how you're going to work it out, I don't know what this miracle is going to be or what it's going to look like, but that's okay, because I don't need to know. All I need to know is that I trust you, that I thank you ahead of time and that whatever I see is going to be for the best for me and for I love the story that you brought out from the book of Luke Tara. It's so encouraging and it makes me wonder, because we talked about Matthew last week and we talked about how he was a tax collector too, so now I'm going.
Speaker 2:what kind of a tax collector was he? Was he like on Zacchaeus' side, or was he?
Speaker 1:a little more on the straight and narrow.
Speaker 2:When God saved him and called him, did he have a whole bunch of residue that he needed to take care of, or was he more of like? This is the way it's supposed to be. Was he more holier than thou type? I don't know. We probably won't know until we get to heaven, but what we do know, what we do know from what we've read, is that both Zacchaeus and Matthew were saved, were called and were used by God in great, mighty ways and, really honestly, that's all we need to know who needs, we don't need to focus on their past.
Speaker 2:we don't need to focus on our own past. We just need to focus on and celebrate and rejoice how God uses, has used them, and how he can and will continue to use us. That's really, I think, what the focus and what the final encouragement needs to be today is that it doesn't matter where we came from, it doesn't matter what our life used to look like. What matters is that God can use us where we are now, in the season we are now, as long as we surrender to him and we're ready to be used, and I think that that is where I'm going to leave it off today.
Speaker 2:Next, we're going to talk about John, and I have to say the gospel of John one of my apples well, it is my favorite gospel in the Bible. It's not my favorite book of the Bible it used to be until this other one came about and became my favorite, but we'll talk about that down the road, because I'm pretty sure I'm looking at my cheat sheet. Well, no, I lied, so we're not going to be talking about it. So I'll go ahead and tell you my favorite book of the Bible is Acts, that Luke also wrote, but my favorite gospel is John, and I'll tell you why it's my favorite next week.
Speaker 2:But until then, one thing that we know with confidence is that in this world, we will have trials and tribulations, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.
Speaker 2:Well, let me rephrase that these things that I have spoken to you in me. You may have peace, because in this world you will have tribulations, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world. That's what Jesus assures us, that's what Jesus tells us, and I am so, so grateful that not only do we have Jesus' example from the Bible, but we have the Holy Spirit living in us and helping us become the person that God called us to be and the person that we want to be, the fully surrendered person that he helped get rid of that residue that we all have. He helped us to become and to fulfill the purpose and the destiny that God has for each and every single one of us. If that is something that you don't completely understand what we're talking about, or if that's something that that you want to know more about, feel free to reach out and email um, the cheer up podcast at gmailcom and Karen, I would love to have a conversation with you.
Speaker 2:If you are at the point where you're like you know what, I want to surrender myself or my life to God. I want to take that step, but I don't really know how or what is involved, and we're going to pray that prayer right now. So if that is something that you have thought about and that you're in that place and you're in that position where you want to have a relationship with God, you want to know for sure that you're going to heaven when you die. You want that assurance inside of you and that he is in control, then God tells us, he assures us in his word, that if we pray the prayer below with a sincere heart and a submissive heart, that we will be saved. So if that is you, then I would like to invite you to pray that prayer with us this morning.
Speaker 2:Oh Heavenly Father, I come to you in Jesus' name. I believe you died on the cross, that you rose again and you're seated on the throne. Jesus, forgive me for all that I have done wrong and I choose to forgive all others. Come into my life today and forever. I am yours In Jesus' name, amen. If you prayed that prayer, then we just want to say welcome to the family, and we are so glad that you did. It is the best decision that you will have made in your entire life. Please email us at cheeruppodcast at gmailcom and let us know that you made that decision, or you can announce it on the Cheer Up Facebook group instead, and let all of us know that you are now a believer and that you are now part of the family, are now a believer and that you are now part of the family. I love that Luke was one of the first. Well, I don't know if he was one of the first believers as a Gentile, but we know that he was an important one because God allowed him to write the book of Luke and the book of Acts. So I'm just we're just so grateful we're praising God with you if you've made that decision today and let us know that you did so that we can help encourage you with the next step.
Speaker 2:Head over to Kara's website. If you want to know more about the exciting things going on with Kara, don't forget she has audio books now for her whole series that has been out already. Head on over to Kara's website, kararhuntcom, and you can find out how to download her audio books. If you want to find out more about the membership that will help you grow your relationship with Christ, you can come over to SherrySwellwellcom. We also both have YouTube channels that you can check out as well. Those are on our website, so you can get the information for those there.
Speaker 2:And if you're interested in either my fiction or nonfiction, you can check those out on my website, sherryswellwellcom out on my website, sherryswellwellcom. Oh, and also, if you want to do the Sisters in Christ Bible study on the YouVersion app, you can go in there, and I believe it is called Sisters in Christ in Community. No, build your Sisters in Christ Community. That's what it's called. Build your Sisters in Christ Community, but the information for that is also on my website. Or you can join both of our newsletters as well. So lots of ways to stay in touch with us and come back next week. We're going to talk about John, the book of John and John the Disciple, and until then, have a great rest of your day today and we will talk to you next week.
