Cheer UP! Podcast
Cheer UP! Podcast
Journeying Through Faith, Traditions, and Timeless Lessons
✨ Discover timeless lessons from the nativity story and celebrate the strength of faithful women like Mary and Elizabeth. Tune in for insights on grace and humility this Christmas! #NativityStory #FaithfulWomen #BookLovers #HolidayReads
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butt. Hi and welcome to the Cheer Up Podcast. I am your host, kara R Hunt, and with me is the beautiful and lovely and sweet and kind Sherri Swalwell. How are you doing today?
Speaker 2:Sherri, I am doing fantastic. Can you believe that next week is Christmas Day? We're like cups of the week before Christmas. This is insane. It's kind of crazy, but kind of nice.
Speaker 1:I know. And who doesn't love Christmas time? Right, you know it is. It's just something. It's something about like the whole month of December and then, especially when you get to around Christmas time, you know, because it's global. It's global, I think, like almost every continent celebrates Christmas. Now, of course, there's different versions of how they celebrate it, but it's like a global holiday. Now, not all at the same time, of course, but it's just, it's really, really cool. And I know a lot of people would say, oh, is that Christmas magic? You know, that happens around the time. Everyone's sweet, everyone's kind, everyone's, you know, kind of got that feel in the air.
Speaker 1:And I remember I was listening to a Bible teacher not too long ago and he was saying he was trying to describe something and he said I want to use the word magic. He said, but I don't like that word. And he, you know, he was saying I just I don't like the word magic. He said, but it's so hard to find a more biblical, appropriate term for like the word magic to describe what. You know, what he was talking about, you know, and he was like it's just so hard to, you know, come up with that. And so, and I'm the same way, I don't like the word magic, but I understand the meaning of it, and so you won't hear me say, oh, the magic of Christmas or all of that, but I'm searching for another word that doesn't have the darkness tied to it like magic does. So have you ever thought about that, about the word magic, sherry?
Speaker 2:Yeah, we don't use the word magic in our house either. Yeah, okay. So now you've got me thinking how would I describe Christmas, knowing what you mean by the word magic, but not wanting to use the word Okay. So you've given me an assignment. I don't have an answer right now, but you've given me an assignment. That's one of those things, that I'll mow it around for a little bit and then come up with an answer.
Speaker 1:Right, because ever since he said that, I'm like right, I know, because it's like sometimes, because when he was saying that, because he was talking about the environment that was there at this particular Christian conference or something like that, you know, and everything else and he was like you know, it just has this, he's like no, no, I'm not going to use that word. You know, like that, and sometimes I'll say something and I'm like, oh yeah, me and my sister did this or something, and it's like this sister, girl, magic or something like that. And I'm like, no, it's not magic, I don't like that word and I don't like that darkness connotation to it. So ever since he's mentioned that, I'm like I'm not the only one. So now, like you, I'm on an assignment to find another word that embraces the same meaning but just doesn't have the dark ties to it.
Speaker 1:Agreed, you know, yeah, because I think the way the world uses it, it's like you conjured something up Exactly, you know what I'm saying. Or trickery, like you know, I did a magic trick, or you know a magician, or something like that. So just something that would have that type of you know type of thing to it and just, but it doesn't have that word so and I know there's a word out there and it's probably a word in a Bible that does it, we just don't know it, right.
Speaker 2:Right.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so while you're on that assignment, let me know when you come up with another word. It definitely is a time of year when things slow down, and I think I've mentioned in the past that I always like to find a really long book to read between, like in the two weeks between Christmas and New Year's, because my work slows down, our life usually slows down and that's a time when I can just kind of take a break. I've had a few years where I've been blessed and I haven't had to work for those two weeks and that has just been amazing. It has refreshed me and filled me up. I don't usually have that as much now, but I still have time to read more. So I haven't found my book yet, but I'm sure I will. Um that, and we also like to just spend time together as a family. So yeah, I'm looking forward to the next few weeks. Oh yes, and it's just forward to our conversations as well. Go ahead, ahead, kara. I interrupted you.
Speaker 1:Oh no, I was just saying it's just I don't know, and this is why I have Christmas music. I like hearing Christmas music all year round. It just puts you in that frame of mind, right? You know, it just puts you in that frame of mind. I know it drives certain people in my family insane. But, you know, give a little, take a little. Yeah, I get you though, you know, because I know a lot of people. You know, because some radio stations start playing Christmas music early in October. You know, and I'm one of those huge fans of that and I'm like, yay, you know, they're starting to play Christmas music. And then there's other people like my sister be like what? Why? Just why it's too early. It's too early for all that. And I'm like you don't say it's too early for all the pumpkin stuff that comes out at the end of September, exactly, and the Christmas spice stuff and all that you know because what christmas decor comes?
Speaker 1:out in august? Yep, it really does. Yes, it comes out like in august and stuff, and it's like, um, they have the halloween stuff on one side, and then they have thanksgiving and then there's christmas you know.
Speaker 1:So you know, but it's just a wonderful special time of year that God has just graced us to be able to celebrate the time of his birth. Everyone knows he was not born on December 25th or you know things like that. A lot of people say he was born in September. I think a lot of scholars and Bible scholars and theologians say, right, Sherry, that it may have been like September or so, but it's just a day we choose to celebrate, right, at least here in America, and so it's just again a wonderful time of year to talk about Christmas than starting with the next two weeks, we're just going to be talking about baby Jesus and his birth and nativity story and things like that. And today, Sherry, who are we going to be talking about?
Speaker 2:We are going to be talking about John the Baptist, but in reality we're really talking about the Holy Spirit, which I think is one of the reasons why I'm super, super excited about today. I love any time that I get an opportunity to talk about the Holy Spirit. I did not grow up knowing much about the Holy Spirit and he was kind of in the background, like he was always Father, Son and Holy Spirit. So I knew about him, but I didn't really know him personally. We had a sermon series this year at my church again, and I cannot literally cannot get enough about the Holy Spirit, and so, while the Holy Spirit is more on the mentioned side and not the focused side of today's topic, he's still pretty important in what we're going to talk about today. So I get the privilege of talking about Zachariah and Elizabeth. Now, Zachariah and Elizabeth they were a couple who were very respected. They were righteous. So before I jump into the story, I want to let everybody know that I'm reading, or I'm referencing, Luke 1, and that's the story of Elizabeth and Zachariah, and so it's really only 80 verses. I would highly recommend that you read them for yourself, but that's what we're going to be talking about today is Luke 1. That's what I'm going to be referencing. So Zechariah and Elizabeth were in verse 6. They were described as both of them were righteous in the sight of God, observing all the Lord's commands and decrees blamelessly. But in verse seven. But they were childless because Elizabeth was not able to conceive and they were both very old. That is really important because while infertility nowadays is a struggle and it can be a cause for a major heartache, Back then if you did not conceive you were considered not blessed by God, and so a lot of times, just like people do nowadays, they blame people for their sicknesses, they blame people for their infirmities, they blame people for the problems that they have.
Speaker 2:So, while they may not have said it out loud to Elizabeth and Zachariah, it was pretty much well known of what Zachariah and Elizabeth do to sin, to cause God to frown upon them and not allow them to have babies. And that is not the case at all. There's a lot of verses in the Bible where God dispels those myths, where it has like there was a demon possessed man. And so the disciples asked Jesus. They said well, what did his parents do to cause him to be this way? And Jesus was like nothing like this has nothing to do with his parents or with the way that he was born. He was actually born this way in order for my glory to be seen through him and through the miracle of his healing. So just because people have problems or issues, whether it's infertility, whether it's handicaps, whether it's genetic or chronic illnesses, that does not mean that God is punishing them. It just means that we live in a sinful world and this just happens to be the cross or the burden, the Achilles heel, that people have to deal with. So I just wanted to throw that out there. So that was number one.
Speaker 2:So Elizabeth and Zachariah were righteous in the sight of God. Zachariah was a priest and it just so happened that he drew a lot with the priesthood, that he had to go into the temple of the Lord and burn the incense. That happened one time a year Now a lot of times, I think, and if I'm wrong, correct me, Kara, but I'm pretty sure that even in Zachariah's day they would tie a bow to the ankle of the priest and when he went in once a year to burn the offerings and to do the sacrifices for the people, if he was not righteous enough, then God would strike them dead and they would have to pull them out by the bell by their ankle, by the rope that's tied with a bell to their ankle, so that they could, because nobody was allowed to be in there, um, except for the priest, and the priest had to cleanse themselves and make sure that they were right, in right standing, before they even entered. That's how holy a place the? Um, the temple was in this part of the temple. So anyway.
Speaker 2:So Zachariah went in there and while he was in there, an angel of the Lord appeared to him and the angel said do not be afraid, Zachariah. Your prayer has been heard. Your wife, Elizabeth, will bear you a son, and you are to call him John. He will be a joy and a delight to you and many will rejoice because of his birth, For he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He is never to take wine or other fermented drink and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even before he is born. He will bring back many of the people of Israel to the Lord, their God, and he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.
Speaker 2:There are two things that stand out to me about this part of the story that I want to bring to your attention. The first is that never once did the angel say to Zachariah that he is the son of the most high, that he is a God, that he is the God, that he is God become man. Never once did he say any of that. Will he be a great man who does great and mighty things? Absolutely? But is he a man? Absolutely? He is not God. Never once did the angel say he would be God. And then Zechariah's response. He said to the or. Zechariah asked the angel how can I be sure of this?
Speaker 2:I am an old man and my wife is well along in years. The angel said I am Gabriel, I stand in the presence of God and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news, and now you will be silent and not able to speak until the day this happens because you did not believe my words, which will come true at their appointed time. In the Bible, it talks very clearly about how teachers and preachers and those appointed have a higher calling and they also have a higher responsibility. So I believe that Zachariah's response the fact that he did not believe the angel so Zachariah's response, the fact that he did not believe the angel a lot of people may say oh well, that's really cruel. Or I can't believe that God shut his mouth and didn't let him speak until his son was born. But he had a greater responsibility, his responsibility. He was a priest. He should have known and should have believed God from the beginning instead of doubting. And so there was a consequence to that doubting. Did God kill him? No, did God punish him? Not really, except for the fact that he didn't let him speak. And so I think that that's something that we really need to think about.
Speaker 2:God speaks to people even nowadays, and while we may not be preachers we may not be, you know, front and center when God speaks, he asks us or wants us to have faith. Like that is the response that God wants from us, and I wouldn't really call the silence a punishment for Zachariah. I would call it more of a introspection and more of a chance for him to really stop and think. Maybe next time God speaks to him or says something to him, maybe he needs to believe it a little bit more heartily. I mean, he obviously knew that it was an angel, he obviously knew that it was an angel of God, and so that's just something I guess I just want you to put in the back of your head that God calls us to a higher calling. We're more than just observers. We're in a relationship with God. We're his sons, we're his daughters, um, and while we are supposed to test the spirits that we hear, or while we're supposed to test the um, the words that we hear, and to have discernment, god also wants us to believe him once we um have tested it and and shown, or or had that proof, that it is God speaking to us and not just you know, our own mind or whatever, whatever. So that's just a little side note.
Speaker 2:Well, so Zachariah went home and it says that his wife became pregnant and for five months she remained in seclusion. Now Elizabeth's response was the Lord has done this for me. She said. In these days he has shown his favor and taken away my disgrace among the people. So that goes back to what we were talking about a little bit earlier, where I said people assumed that they had done something wrong because they weren't able to get pregnant. God, right away. She didn't doubt that it was God. She didn't say oh well, you know, my man is such a stud that he was able to get me pregnant after all. No, she believed and she knew from the get-go that it was God that got her pregnant, and so she gave glory and honor where glory and honor were due.
Speaker 2:Well then, I'm going to jump down, because then the next part talks about the birth of Jesus being foretold, and we're going to talk about that next week. So I just want to stick with John and Mary and Zachariah. Well, at the very end of when the angel came and talked to John, to when the angel came and talked to Mary about Jesus, about her being pregnant with Jesus. He also tells her that Elizabeth, your relative, is going to have a child in her old age, and she was who said to be, and she who was said to be unable to conceive within her six months. No word from God will ever fail. And so then Mary ends up packing up and going and visiting Elizabeth. So it says.
Speaker 2:At that time Mary got ready and hurried to the town in the hill country of Judea, where she entered Zachariah's home and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary's greetings, the baby leaped in her womb and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. So not only did John the Baptist get filled with the Holy Spirit at that time, but it says Mary, or Elizabeth, was filled with the Holy Spirit as well. And then, in a loud voice, she exclaimed blessed are you among women and blessed is the child you will bear. But why am I so favored that the mother of my Lord should come to me? This is Elizabeth talking. As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her. So in this story, the women were the ones who believed God first, and the men were the ones who needed a little bit more convincing.
Speaker 2:Now, I'm not man bashing by any means. But I am saying that us as women, even though our men are the head of our household, us women have a major role to play in the lives of our families. So we are the ones that are the thermostat for our homes. Our men are the providers, our men are the protectors. Our men are the ones that are the thermostat for our homes. Our men are the providers, our men are the protectors. Our men are the ones that take care of us. But we are the ones that should be building the faith of those around us. We are the ones that have the responsibility to teach our children about the biblical principles and how to live a biblical life. We're supposed to show it as an example, but we're also supposed to teach it with our words. And Mary and Elizabeth both are great examples of that and I'm pretty positive that because of their great examples. That's probably one of the reasons why God picked them, because he knew that they would be up for the assignment. He knew that they would be able to do what it was that he needed to have fulfilled and do. Then we go into a Mary song and then, in verse 57, it says when it was time for Elizabeth to have her baby. She gave birth to a son. Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown her great mercy and they shared her joy. On the eighth day they came to circumcise the child and they were going to name him after his father, zechariah, but his mother spoke up and said no, he is to be called John. They said to her there is no one among your relatives who has that name. Then, when they made signs to his father to find out what he would like to name the child, he asked for a writing tablet and, to everyone's astonishment, he wrote his name is John. Immediately, his mouth was opened and his tongue set free and he began to speak, praising God. All the neighbors were filled with awe and throughout the hill country of Judea people were talking about all these things. Everyone who heard this wondered about it, asking what then, is this child going to be? For the Lord's hand was with him. And then we go into Zachariah's song. So not only did everybody understand the significance and the importance of this wonderful birth and the fact that this baby was special and different than other babies or would it be a different individual and a special human being above others but I.
Speaker 2:There's just so much, so many other truths to be unpacked about this story.
Speaker 2:So do you think that Zachariah's faith would have been built up if Elizabeth had questioned God? If Elizabeth had been more like Lot's wife or, sorry, not Lot Job's wife, who we talked about in the Old Testament months ago Do you think that Zachariah and Elizabeth would have been given the honor to have to give birth to John the Baptist had they not had deeper faith? It is so important who we surround ourselves with, especially during the times that we live in right now. It's so important to surround ourselves with people who will build our faith, people who will point. So important to surround ourselves with people who will build our faith, people who will point us back to the word, people who will encourage us to read our Bible and to study the Bible and to grow our faith, versus people who don't make the time in their life for something so important. So those are just some of the key highlights that, when I was reading the story again, that it spoke to me and that it came out to me. What about you, tara?
Speaker 1:Oh my, there's so many. And I guess and as you were rereading it again not rereading it again, I mean reading it I've read this story before, right, but a couple of things popped out to me as you were reading it that never hit me or struck me before until you were reading it. And for some reason, I don't know how come, it's just hitting me that Elizabeth was well up in age, Right, Right. And I'm like I don't know why, Like, how many times have I read those scriptures?
Speaker 1:Those scriptures have been read to me during the Christmas you know, or just whenever, or even when I go through the book of Luke. Even when I read through the book of Luke, like how is that just now? Like hitting me that she wasn't a young mother like Mary, you know, or nowhere near it. Apparently she was way older than Mary and she was well in age. So for some reason, I don't know how that has skipped past me to this point. But yeah, that's something that stuck out to me because I did not know that this was very much like a Sarah moment for her, a Sarah from the Old Testament situation for her, to where she would end up getting, you know, getting pregnant at a uh, conceiving excuse me at a very much older age. The other thing that stuck out to me was when you were reading it and it said in the baby, um, when the angel was talking to Zachariah and he was saying that baby will be filled with the Holy Spirit, and he was saying that baby will be filled with the Holy Spirit, and I'm like, oh my heavens, what a beautiful, beautiful, beautiful sentiment for us to embrace. I can't say sentiment, what's the word I'm looking for? Promise, I guess, to embrace, because that just makes us think, no matter where we are in life, whether our listeners are expecting their first child, their second child, third child or whatever, where you're younger and you're expecting your children, or if you're older and you're expecting grandchildren or even older than that and expecting great-great-grandchildren, we can pray ahead of time that they already be filled with the Holy Spirit before they're born, and I just love that. And I don't know, I think maybe I just read that before and it just never really hit me before that, but it just hit me this time, you know, just differently. And so when we're praying for the next generations, we could just pray that before they, that while they're still in the womb, may they please be filled with the Holy Spirit. And I just think, talk about you know you can read all these baby books and things about how to give your, how to eat right as an expectant mom and all this stuff, and the first things you need to do to have a happy, healthy baby born and everything like that. And I'm like, but boy, talking about setting them up for spiritual success is praying over them before they even leave the womb and especially praying that they are ready to be covered with the Holy Spirit. So that was something else. That just really stood out to me.
Speaker 1:And, like you said, their faith. It's interesting that the women had more faith than the men did and it's I don't know. I just think our hearts sometimes tend to be a little bit more tender towards the ways of the Lord than men. Sometimes. Don't know what caught me on that and I doubt any scientific studies have been done on that, but I think our spirits are just a little bit more tender to the things of the Lord, to where, as men may be like I don't know about that, you know whereas women were like, wow, if the Lord said it, it's a done deal. We just got to be patient, we just got to wait.
Speaker 1:And I love in there how it also said that the word of the Lord did you say it never fails or shall not come back, void, or something like that. So that is just a reminder to all of us during this season of that, reminder to all of us during this season of that. And then also, I knew about the part where she's like no, his name has to be John, it can't be Zechariah and everything like that. And then he wrote the same thing on the tablet John. But now I'm wondering what is the biblical meaning of the name John, because I never even thought about that before. I'm like why did the Holy Spirit, why did the angel say John, why did God want his name to be John? And so would you happen to know the meaning of that, sherry I?
Speaker 2:will in just one second. Oh okay, Grace by God. The name John is derived from the Hebrew name Yohannes, meaning grace by God.
Speaker 1:Well, that explains it.
Speaker 2:That exudes strength, responsibility and kindness, and it was first appeared in Hebrew form in the Old Testament from John the Baptist.
Speaker 1:Wow, he was like the first John John Yep Ever.
Speaker 2:Yep, so God is gracious, wow. Yep, ever, yep, so god is gracious, wow. And is that? Is that not fitting for the um for his story, the fact that they couldn't get pregnant and didn't get pregnant, and then he would. They were graced by god to have a baby exactly that's why, I'm kind of in awe right now.
Speaker 2:Yeah, not just any baby, but the baby Well, not the baby, sorry who went kind of before him but not very much before him, only by a couple of months, and paved the way, and then he died before Jesus died, because we read about that a couple of weeks ago, where it talked about that Jesus went and mourned his death when he found out that he had died. So he died before Jesus even died.
Speaker 1:Absolutely, and I don't think I knew that, that the first John died, the first person named John. He was the first person named John, I think so, and a significant. It sounds like, well, okay, we're talking using the Bible as a starting point. I guess I should say you know and and what it means. And you're right, it's so appropriate, it's so appropriate, it's so fitting for his story, how it started, how he lived it, how it ended.
Speaker 1:You know, it was just I don't know, it's just amazing, right, because we know, yeah, it's just, I don't know I guess I'd never looked at it. It kind of, when you kind of look at it from that way, you kind of see the story from a deeper perspective, right, yeah, you just you kind of look at it from that way, you kind of see the story from a deeper perspective, right, yeah, you just you kind of see it from a different perspective and wow, it is like I don't know, it just kind of makes you God is so good, right, it's just, you're thinking you're just having a baby right and he's like, oh no, this just ain't any baby. Right, as a matter of fact, you're going to're just having a baby right and he's like, well, no, this just ain't any baby, right, as a matter of fact, you're going to give him a name and it's going to be John. It's not because, like the crowd was saying, like wait what?
Speaker 1:There's nobody. There is no John in your family. Like, where are you getting this name from? You know, but God knew all along how it was going to be and you know even, possibly he even knew the nickname that he would be called John the Baptist because he baptized people Right and there was no jealousy between Mary and Elizabeth.
Speaker 2:Like Elizabeth didn't say well, I only got John the Baptist and you got Jesus. Uh-uh, she's.
Speaker 1:Mary.
Speaker 2:So Elizabeth said blessed are you among women and blessed is the child you will bear. But why am I so favored that the mother of my lord should come to me, not. Why am I so favored that I have baby jesus growing in my belly? No, why am I so favored that the mother of the lord would come to me? And it's not like she was sitting in the background going well, your baby's going to die a cruel death on a cross. My baby's going to live to be 102. No, nobody knew. And, as it turns out, elizabeth's son, john, died before Jesus did anyway, killed, martyred, right, right. So, yeah, I mean, there's just so many layers that we could we could unpack them for hours, but I hope that we kind of have gotten people excited to to read it for themselves and, like you said, tara, as you read it and maybe you've read it 1000 times already, but we would encourage you to read it again, because you never know what God wants to download to you or reveal to you this time around.
Speaker 1:Because it's the living word right.
Speaker 1:It's like because, as you were reading it, I'm like wait, elizabeth, was you know? And how many times have I read? You know what I'm saying? So it's a living word. Every time you read it it breathes new life into you and you get new insights and everything. So I highly echo what Sherry was just saying. Always take the time, always read it for yourself. It is and the Holy Spirit will point out the things to you that you may have never even realized before. Right, it may give you a deeper insight, a deeper understanding to it as you're reading to it. So I highly echo what she's just saying because it is just so important and so delightful, right, just so delightful because you're like, oh my goodness, wow, now I get that.
Speaker 2:So, yes, it's just so wonderful. So thanks for saying that, sherry, why I think it's so important for us to just read the biblical events in the Bible itself over and, over and over again, because you'll get new highlights each time. But as I was sitting here reflecting on the story and listening to Kara talk, I got to thinking. So not only did Elizabeth not have jealousy towards Mary, and Elizabeth was just pleased that the mother of her Lord came and visited her, but she then was that example to John his whole life. I'm sure, because I'm sure that you know, like when Jesus was 12, they went to the temple, they took that long trip because they took it every single year, so not just when he was 12, but they took it every year. And they said that they were in a caravan with their different relatives. Well, I'm sure John the Baptist was part of that caravan and never once did. When John and Jesus, when they start recording their conversations and we start getting privy to their conversations, never once did John the Baptist say, show any type of jealousy whatsoever. He said who am I to baptize you? And Jesus said hey, then will you come baptize me? I, I, I need to be baptized first and John, or, yeah, john was like um, who am I to baptize you? You're Jesus, I'm not. And he's like Nope, I need you to do it.
Speaker 2:And G or John had his own disciples, he had his own followers. And um, jesus had his own followers because there had his own followers. And Jesus had his own followers because there was another part in the Bible where it talks about, where it says why aren't John the Baptist people or no, why are? Wait, I might have this backwards, I don't think I do, but if I do I apologize. I think it says why are John the Baptist disciples fasting and praying and why aren't we? And Jesus said well, you don't need to do it while I'm here, but you're going to need to do it after I'm gone.
Speaker 2:I think it's how it's written, but you can, you can read it yourself, you can Google. You know fasting and and praying with John the Baptist and see what it says, cause I might've I might've mixed that up, but my point is that they both had followers, they both had ministries, they both had purpose and destiny from God and were used by God. And yet there was no jealousy, no, no envy, no malice, no undercutting, no anger, no bitterness, none of that Jesus was. I mean, john the Baptist was rooting Jesus on and saying I am not worthy enough to do what it is that you do, and Jesus was like your job is really important too, so I need your help. That's basically the type of a thing, so, and I wouldn't be surprised if, in part, elizabeth had a part to play in that, or um could take some credit for that because of her response to mary. Never once well, so it's jealous bone in her body.
Speaker 1:Exactly. And let's not forget, because, as you were talking, I'm like Zachariah was there when Mary and Elizabeth greeted each other, right, you know?
Speaker 1:so he was there, and so it's like their faith had to speak to him too. Now he's quiet, he can't see anything, right, all he can do is listen. All he can do is listen and see how they're talking. They're, you know, they're not just like oh, your little baby, my baby, we're going to have cousins, yada, yada, yada. They're like no, how is the mother of my Lord Right, he's taking all this in, right. No, how is the mother of my Lord Right, he's taken all this in, right, you know. And he's like she's like, my belly jumped and it did this and everything else. So he's taken all this in Right, because he, because he didn't believe his, you know, he's silent for a while, you know, um, and everything else. And I'm like so, you're right, so they were probably, and he was probably absorbing that like a sponge and just taking that all in, you know, because now he can't say anything.
Speaker 1:And what happens when we can't speak? We listen more, right, you know, and I don't, you know, maybe it wouldn't be a bad idea if, every time we had laps of faith, that guy's just like yeah, I'm just going to you won't be able to speak for a month, you'll be all right, you'll be fine, you know, but because you had little laps of faith, you know. But you're not going to be talking so much, you're just going to be listening and taking out, you know, and everything else. So he actually got a chance to witness this scene. It sounds like, you know, and what a scene that was.
Speaker 2:Exactly so. I just want to encourage everybody today that you may consider yourself just a housewife, or you might be someone who you and your husband has agreed, or maybe you're in a culture, in a marriage relationship, where your husband is completely the head of the household and what he says goes and you don't argue with him. Whatever your case may be, whatever type of a relationship that you're in, if you are quote unquote just a housewife, which I say that so not quote unquote, because in my opinion, being a wife and a mother is the most important job that we will ever have. And so just know that your responses to your kids, to yourself, to your mother, to your extended family, to everybody, to coworkers, people are listening, people are watching and your responses matter. So when we respond, if it's not going to be nice, I always think about Bambi and Thumper, and I think Thumper was the one that said.
Speaker 2:My mom said if you can't say nothing, nice, don't say nothing at all. But in all seriousness, if you've got, I can't tell you how many times in my life God has whispered to me Sherry, watch it. And I can't tell you how many times I have failed and said God, I know I'm not supposed to, but I'm opening my mouth anyway and I have lived to regret it because we are an example to all of those around us and people are watching. Now, I don't say that to judge you, I don't say that to put condemnation on you. I say that with encouragement that all it takes is a brief second and, you know, maybe it wouldn't be such a bad idea if god muted me for a season or a month or whatever. Um, because our mouths get us into trouble there's times. You could google verses about the tongue, verses about feet verses about your mouth and, oh my goodness, that is a study all in and of itself.
Speaker 2:So, I mean, I I could go off on a gazillion rabbit trails, but I think what you're getting, or I think what you're understanding, is that the bible has so much wisdom for us. The Bible has so many wonderful examples for us about every single topic, and we have the influence. Whether we believe it or not, whether we want it or not, we influence those around us and we can do it well or we can do it not so well. And while God gives us grace and he gives us a gazillion chances, there are consequences when we choose badly, and so I just want to encourage people to choose wisely and to use Mary and Elizabeth and even John and Jesus as our examples of what to do and how to act and the blessings that come from that. So, having said all that, I am just so excited.
Speaker 2:So next week is Christmas itself, and I hope you will come back and join us because we're going to talk about the nativity scene. We're going to talk about the actual Christmas story and I mean, a lot of people are familiar with it. Not everybody is. So we're going to talk about it and we're going to uncover a few more layers and just see where God takes us. So, in the meantime, if you need prayer or encouragement, please email us at cheeruppodcastgmailmailcom. We would love to pray for you, we would love to encourage you. We would love to stand with you um.
Speaker 2:Head over to tara's website, tara r huntcom? Um and find out all the new and exciting and wonderful things that she has going on. You can also come over to sherry squawwellcom and see the exciting and new things that? Um I have going on. I now have a? Um. I've now bundled my six book series, so I have one book that's books one through three and another book that's four through six ebook only, but it will save you some money, um, instead of buying them all individually, you can buy them um that way and it will save you some money. They are also on Kindle Unlimited. You can get them that way. And don't forget that all of Karen's books are available as audio books as well. So have a great beginning of your Christmas week and we are excited to come back next week and talk about the nativity story.
