March 26, 2025 • 36 mins
"Though your sins be red as scarlet, they are now as white as snow." The story of the woman caught in adultery reminds us that no sin is beyond redemption. Listen to our latest episode to discover how Jesus offers grace when everyone else offers stones. #CheerUpPodcast #FaithJourney #BiblicalWomen #FaithStories
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:19):
Hi and welcome to the Cheer Up Podcast.
I am your host, Kara R Hunt,and with me is the amazing
Sherri Swalwell.
How are you doing today, Sherri?
Speaker 2 (00:33):
I am doing great.
I am blessed to be alive today.
That is the best way to put it.
I can't believe it's the end ofMarch and time is just going in
2025.
Speaker 1 (00:47):
I know it's just I don't know.
It's like with every new year,with the 20 in front of it, it
just always seems so surreal.
You know, yeah, it's like 2010,2011, 2019, 2020, you know, it
(01:08):
just sounds so.
It just sounds so surreal Ijust keep.
What comes to mind is a TV showmy mom used to watch back in
the day, and I think I was smalland I can't really remember how
small I was, but I do rememberthe show because she watched it
quite, and it was called 1999.
(01:28):
And it was a very much a show,very Star Trek-ish type of show,
but it was called 1999.
And back then, you would, itwas like, oh my gosh, 1999 was
so far in the future and, youknow, there was all this
scientific stuff and roboticstuff and spaceship stuff, and
(01:50):
it was just so different.
And so you just kind of wouldthink, oh my gosh, everyone's
going to be looking kind ofcrazy Because they looked kind
of different, kind of like StarTrek-ish people from another
planet, you know, and everythinglike that.
And it just seems like, wow,when 1999 gets so far in the
future, that this is kind ofwhat it's going to be like.
(02:13):
And here we are.
What 26 years later?
Yeah, yeah, and it's like weare still the same pretty much,
you know, as we were then,though, because I did watch
cartoons, I was one of thosechildren that loved to watch
(02:33):
Saturday morning cartoons backthen, though I'm kind of a
little disappointed that I don'thave a robot made, I don't have
a robot maid, I don't have arobot maid and we can't just,
you know, go in our quoteunquote driveway and get into a
little car that flies in the air.
(02:56):
So I think those are the onlytwo things it's like.
Back then, when you werechildren, you were like, wow, by
the time that time gets here,everything's going to be so, you
know, cool, when I have arobotic maid that's going to
have a baby, tell us, do all thethings that I don't want to do,
though technically I shouldprobably take a step back from
(03:17):
that, because technically thatmay exist.
Right now it's just out of myaffordable range to get
something like that.
So, but technically it mayexist right now.
I mean we do have robotic vacuumcleaners, right, right.
And I was shocked the other daywhen Hubby and not too long ago
(03:38):
, I should say when Hubby and Iwere driving and there was this
guy excuse me, this home thathad a lavish lawn, like huge,
but it was hilly, it was veryhilly and there was a robotic
lawnmower cutting the grass.
I had never seen such.
Yes, I had never seen.
(03:59):
And I'm like, wait, what myhusband's like, oh yeah, you
didn't know they had those.
I'm like no, and I'm like, wait, what my husband's like, oh
yeah, you didn't know they hadthose.
I'm like no, and I'm like itprobably saves the homeowner
like a lot of time, Because thelawn was, it was a lot of lawn
and it was hilly.
And you know, going down, youcan't go down it in a riding
(04:19):
mower, you know Right.
And then trying to do, it'veseen people do try to do it in
the past with um the push mowers, but it's very difficult
keeping your balance, you knowI'm doing that I used to do that
as a kid he had a rope.
Speaker 2 (04:36):
he would take a rope on his push mower and he would
lower the lawnmower as it wasrunning down the hill and then
pull it back up and then downthe hill and then pull it back
up and then down the hill andpull it back up so he wouldn't
flip his ride when it was super,super um, hilly, super steep.
Because we lived in Pittsburgh,so we lived where the um it was
(04:59):
.
The place where we lived, thetown was pleasant Hills and it
was literally huge.
The place where we lived, thetown was Pleasant Hills, and it
was literally huge, steep hills,because there were mountains
right there.
And so that's how he would mow,because it was so steep, Because
if you fall with a lawnmoweryou could get seriously injured.
(05:21):
Oh yes, that's how he did it.
Speaker 1 (05:22):
And I grew up thinking that was normal.
Well, paul, I know it probablycould, you know could have been.
I'm thinking how ingenious todo that.
You know to be able to do that,because you know it has to be
cut, but yet you're like, oh mygoodness, I just don't want to
tumble down this hill with thislawnmower, with the blades
(05:43):
wearing, you know, andeverything else.
So how ingenious, because I had.
There was definitely homes thathad treacherous heels to mow,
like where I grew up, but Inever seen them use a rope, as
far as I know, you know, butthey could have been doing that
the whole time because the lawnswere well kept.
Speaker 2 (06:05):
Yeah, the rope was really thick and he would just
lower it and pull it back up.
And lower it and pull it backup.
I'll have to next time.
We're supposed to be gettingtogether for lunch soon.
I'm going to have to see if heremembers that.
Speaker 1 (06:18):
Oh yeah, that is like talk about ingenuity, right?
Oh, and make sure you ask himdoes he now know that they have
robots, robotic lawnmowers thatcan do that?
Now, exactly, that's why we'regoing to be like wait, what,
where is all that stuff?
And I was having to pull thislawnmower back up, you know, via
(06:42):
a rope, you know, and Icouldn't believe it.
And it was.
You saw it cut in the grasslike it was just going up and
down and it was doing it veryneatly too, you know, and
everything.
And I'm like, well, look atthat.
So I take back what I said Maybethere are robotic robots out
(07:05):
there that could be made, youknow, like there was in the
Jetsons and everything else.
And I just don't know about it,because apparently there's a
lot going on in technology thatI'm still just trying to figure
my head about, because I didn'tknow there were robotic
lawnmowers and apparently peoplearound me, did, around me, did
Around me, did.
(07:25):
My sister knew, my husband knewLike, wow, I just I don't keep
up with that stuff, but how cool, how cool is that?
I don't know.
I just think it's really kindof fun.
I've fortunately never had tomow grass because me and my
hubby have been together for somany years and I don't think he
would ever trust me to be behinda lawnmower riding or pushing
(07:51):
either way.
And, to be honest, I've beenruined for push mowers because,
like you and me, both Sherryhave been medical
transcriptionists and I rememberwhen I would get ER reports the
ER reports that we would get inin the summertime, mainly about
people who were injured bytheir lawnmowers.
(08:12):
I mean, people had lost toes,you know, and just all sorts of
things that just kind ofhappened and you're kind of
going, what in the worldhappened?
How did they, like foot almostget cut off and things like that
.
So it's definitely notsomething that you don't want to
(08:33):
mess with, that you don't knowwhat to do.
Like you know, and from what Iunderstand, mowers nowadays are
a lot different than the mowersback in the day you know when I
was growing up or even when Iwas a medical transcriptionist,
so hopefully those incidents arenot as prevalent as they were.
But you were a medicaltranscriptionist a lot later
(08:56):
than I was, Sherry.
Did you ever get any of thosetype of injuries?
But then again, I transcribedfor radiology.
Speaker 2 (09:03):
Yeah, no, I worked for like general surgery and
psychology, so I didn't getthose kinds.
But we have had some majortragedies, just here in my town
where a little girl was runningout to talk to her dad who was
(09:25):
on a ride on and she ended updying.
Speaker 1 (09:29):
She ripped on the wet grass and he ran her over oh.
Speaker 2 (09:35):
Oh yeah, yeah, I remember.
And she wasn't that little Like.
She wasn't like some littleteeny tiny girl.
I mean she wasn't.
She wasn't a teenager, but shewas.
She wasn't like two or threeeither complete accident, like
(10:02):
nobody could have prevented itAll she was doing was running
out to say something to her dadand she slips on the wet grass
and yeah so you're right.
You've got to be incrediblycareful around any of those
kinds of things.
We have a zero turn now I can'teven run it.
I have no idea.
I can't get the thing to stopLike you're supposed to.
You know, move your hands insuch a way and my husband makes
(10:26):
it look so easy, my oldest makesit look so easy.
I can't get the thing to stop,so I'm like until I can safely
learn how to do it.
I'm not going to even trybecause I'll run into a tree.
Speaker 1 (10:41):
I'm laughing because I could so see myself doing that
.
But go ahead.
Speaker 2 (10:45):
Yeah, I'll run into a tree or something and I'll
break the machine and probablybreak myself.
So, yeah, and I hate that too,because I used to love to mow,
it was like my time to write.
One of the stories that Ihaven't written on paper yet is
completely written in my headfrom a summer of mowing and
writing it while I was mowingLike in my head it was.
(11:07):
I can't wait to get that onedown on paper, but I'm doing a
different series.
Speaker 1 (11:12):
Oh, that's going to be fun.
Yeah, I can't wait to read thatone.
Yeah, I can't wait to read thatone.
For those of you who don't know, and if you're tuning in for
the Tura podcast for the firsttime, sherry and I are both
novelists and we both havewebsites, and Sherry will give
you more information about thoseat the end at the podcast.
(11:32):
But if you're a reader, an avidreader, and you're like the
summer is going slower than Ithought I need more books, then
definitely hit up our website.
We have a couple of good novelsthat we're just sure you're
going to enjoy and or maybe beable to share with your friends
and family.
But if this is the first time ofyou tuning into the Tira
(11:53):
podcast, welcome and thank youfor joining us and we pray that
you'll come back.
You know, again and again, newepisodes every week.
You can tune in every week.
They're uploaded on Wednesdaysand we just want to thank you
for tuning in and for joining ustoday our avid listeners, I
(12:16):
should say, and that are alwayslistening and tuning in.
We want to say thank you, thankyou, thank you, thank you for
making the TRILL podcast what itis today.
People in other countries areable to listen to it people
nationwide and we just thank youso, so, so much.
And we just ask that youcontinue to like and subscribe.
And I heard a couple of podcastplatforms are now allowing you
(12:39):
to leave reviews and if you havebeen blessed by the Trail
podcast in any way, even if youjust type in great podcast, you
have to listen to it.
It could be as short as that.
You could just leave a reviewand again, just like the likes
and subscribing and downloadingit helps that you're a podcast
(13:02):
in the algorithm so that otherswill be able to find a podcast.
So we just want to thank you so, so, so much for doing that and
for continuing to do that, andwe thank you so much.
Well, today we are still talkingabout biblical figures, and the
biblical figure in the NewTestament that we're going to be
covering today is the womancaught in adultery.
(13:25):
I kind of wish I had a name forher, but I don't.
Part of me just wants to giveher a name called Jane, but I'm
not because I think that wouldjust be too confusing.
But she's just known mainly asthe woman who was called in
(13:49):
adultery, and her story can befound in the book of John, the
Gospel of John, chapter 8,verses 1 through 11.
And I want to read thatscripture.
Those scriptures are very, veryshort, but to kind of
understand that scripture first,I want to go back to the Old
Testament and read Leviticus 20,verse 10, where it states If a
(14:15):
man commits adultery with thewife of his neighbor, both the
adulterer and the adulteressshall surely be put to death.
Okay, the reason I want to readthat society, new Testament,
ancient biblical things thatadultery was looked at as very,
(14:48):
very, very, very bad.
It was not glanced over, it wasnot tolerated.
It was not just said, oh well,or anything like that.
Like, necessarily in today'sculture, it was very much
considered something worthy ofyou being killed for, and there
(15:12):
were so many.
Now, everyone wasn't alwayskilled, but then there were so
many different rituals that youhad to go to.
If you were, excuse me, evenaccused of well, the women, not
necessarily to purify it, but itwas kind of like they would
drink this very bitter drink andthey would be watched for a
couple of days and if they hadno reaction to it, then they're
(15:49):
like okay, the accusation wasbaseless and the person who
accused you was lying.
You didn't have a negativereaction to the bitter drink or
whatever.
So you're good, you did notcommit a guilt, you're telling
the truth.
However, if the woman got ill,help her.
If she got even violently illafter drinking that type of
(16:10):
drink, then they will be likeyou're guilty.
You're guilty of sin, you'regoing to die, you know of thing.
So this was not something thatthey played around with lightly,
um, back then, and for those ofyou, just just for those of you
who may not be clear, um, onadultery, it is defined as
(16:31):
sexual intercourse between amarried person and someone who
is not their spouse and,according to the commandment
that Moses had talked about, itwas both the man and the woman
who engaged in adultery weresubject to the death penalty,
highlighting the severity inwhich the sin was viewed in that
ancient Israeli society.
I think nowadays, if everyone,if women, were given bitter
(16:56):
drinks like that, or heavenforbid men and women were both
stoned and or killed or got thedeath penalty for committing
adultery.
Let's just say we'll be livingin a very, very different
society.
Whether good or bad, we don'tknow, but it would be a very
different society.
So I just wanted to put thelisteners in a frame of mind of,
(17:21):
like, what was going on aroundthis time and how it was
absolutely positively not to betolerated.
It wasn't to be entertained, itwasn't you know, you were just
to stay away from it, justbecause of the toxicity of it.
It was like, okay, well, thisperson committed adultery and
they got away from it justbecause of the toxicity of it.
It was like, okay, well, thisperson committed adultery and
(17:42):
they got away with it.
Well, I think I can cheat on mywife and then I can get away
with it.
Or I can cheat on my husbandand then I can get away with it.
And they were just adamant thatthat was not going to pervert
the society that they wereliving in, and so they were
going to pretty much, to usetoday's vernacular nip it in the
bud and it just was not goingto be tolerated.
Okay, so I'm going to read fromthe New King James Version John,
(18:07):
from the Gospel of John,chapter 8.
Actually, I'm going to start inVerse 2.
Okay, and it says Now, early inthe morning, he came again into
the temple and all the peoplecame to him and he sat down and
taught them.
Then the scribes and Phariseesbrought to him a woman caught in
adultery that has.
(18:28):
I want to stop and emphasizethe word caught, because, if I'm
not mistaken, sherry, the lawof Moses or the Levitical law, I
should say was specificallyabout being caught in the act of
adultery.
There was one thing if you wereaccused of adultery, and then
there was, like, another penaltyif, like you, were actually
caught in the midst of adultery,which, according to this verse,
(18:51):
this particular woman was, itsays.
Then the scribes and Phariseesbrought to him a woman caught in
adultery, referring to Jesus.
And Pharisees brought to him awoman caught in adultery
referring to Jesus, and whenthey had set her in the mist,
they said to him Jesus, teacher,this woman was caught in
(19:11):
adultery, again caught in thevery act.
Now Moses, in the law,commanded us that such should be
stoned.
But what do you say?
Now?
It's also important to pointout here that they're trying to
set Jesus up.
Okay, they just want to see if,for some reason, they can get
her and him stoned, or whateverthe case may be.
But they're trying to set himup, they're trying to trap him.
(19:33):
But anyway, how do I say that?
And if you say well, carol,what makes you think that they
were trying to trap him.
They caught the woman in an actand they're bringing her to him
and they're saying but what doyou say?
So why are you saying that theywere trying to set him up?
Because of verse 6.
It says this they said, testinghim that they might have
(19:57):
something of which to accuse him.
But Jesus stooped down andwrote on the ground with his
finger as though he did not hearthem.
So when they continued askinghim, he raised himself up and
said to them he who is out sinamong you, let him throw a stone
at her.
First and again he stooped downand wrote on the ground.
Then those who heard it, beingconvicted by by their conscience
(20:20):
, went out one by one, beginningwith the oldest even to the
last, and Jesus was left aloneand a woman standing in the
midst.
When Jesus had raised himself upand saw no one but the woman,
he said to her woman where arethose accusers of yours?
Has no one condemned you?
She said no one, lord.
And Jesus said to her Neitherdo I condemn you.
(20:40):
Go and sin no more.
Oh my goodness, what a reliefthis had to be to that woman who
was probably shaking in herboots and afraid she's like oh
my gosh, this is the Son of Godand I was just called an
adultery and I know what the lawof Moses said, and there was
tons of witnesses Like I wascaught in the very act of
(21:02):
adultery.
And now here's the Son of Godstanding here right next to me,
like what's going to happen tome.
She's probably shaking andafraid and you know, and just
scared, scared for her life.
She didn't know what was goingto happen, but then those who
were accusing her weren'tqualified to accuse her.
Now no one knows what Jesuswrote on the ground.
(21:24):
The Holy Spirit didn't revealit to us in the Bible, in the
scriptures.
No one knows.
There's been a lot of conjectureand speculation if you read
different theologians andscholars, but no one actually
knows what Jesus wrote on theground.
But whatever it did, itconvicted them and they were not
qualified.
They did not have the right tocondemn her.
(21:48):
They didn't, and that's why hewas like hey, where are those
accusers?
Has no one condemned you?
And she's like no one, lord,there's no one here.
And he's like neither do Icondemn you.
Go and sin no more.
Can you imagine a relief thatshe had to experience in that
moment, sherry?
Speaker 2 (22:07):
Absolutely Talk about having an encounter with God,
like I'm always praying andasking God if I can have an
encounter with him or if he willhave an encounter with my
family, and talk about having anencounter with God, wow.
Speaker 1 (22:23):
I know Like what such an encounter, and you know it
doesn't follow up with her perse to know exactly what happened
after that, but I can't helpbut believe she took heed to his
words.
That but I can't help butbelieve she took heed to his
(22:43):
words and that, whatever she wasdoing before, the people found
her and or called her.
By the way, you can't commitadultery by yourself, and
Leviticus pretty much made itclear in the Levitical law and
the law of Moses pretty muchsaid the man and a woman, if
they're caught in the very act,they are both to be able to face
the death penalty.
Where was he?
Speaker 2 (23:07):
where was he?
Speaker 1 (23:08):
Was he not there?
Did he run, did he get away?
You know, did he run, did heget away?
Or was he there in a crowd, oneof the men condemning her?
You know it doesn't say, butit's very obvious that he was
supposed to be there and thatthey both were supposed to die
(23:29):
as a result of what they weredoing, what they were caught in
a very active doing.
And I just one of those storiesexcuse me, that is one of those
incident events in a Bible, oneof those stories in a Bible,
one of those what's the word I'mlooking for in the Bible that
(23:52):
resonates with us still today.
Now, obviously, today we don'tface harsh penalties like that.
If we're caught in adultery, oreven if you're accused of
adultery, women don't have to gothrough all these different
rituals to prove if they were orif they were not actually
telling the truth about whetherthey were caught in adultery.
But adultery, when you get downto it, is a sin and it doesn't
(24:16):
matter if it's adultery you werecaught doing.
If it was lying that you werecaught doing.
If it was stealing that youwere caught doing.
If it was murder, you know, youwere caught in the middle.
Someone actually saw you, forinstance, take a knife and
actually hack someone to death.
(24:37):
No matter what the sin is, wehave a gracious and merciful and
loving God that is willing toreach out to you and say hey,
you know, come to me, accept meas your Lord, jesus Christ of
Nazareth, as your Lord andSavior, and you don't have to
(24:59):
live like this anymore.
You don't have to live with anadulterous spirit, an adulterous
heart, a thieving heart, amurderous mind, a murderous
spirit.
You don't have to live likethat anymore.
Come to me and I will give youpeace.
Now that doesn't mean you'renot going to face the
consequences of your sin,because there's the legal
(25:20):
authority, civil authoritiesthat you will obviously have to
answer to, especially if youwere caught in the very act of
doing some of those things.
So you still have to answer forthose.
But when you truly come to Jesus, no matter what you have done,
I love where it talks about inthe scriptures that, though your
(25:43):
sins be red as scarlet, theyare now as white as snow.
It is for your sins.
Or as far as the east is fromthe west.
We serve an amazing and lovingGod.
Now it's white as snow.
It is for your sins or, as faras the east is, from the west.
We serve an amazing and lovingGod.
He knows how dark and red andfull of blood some of the sins
we have committed have done, buthe's paid the price for them.
(26:03):
He's paid the price for themand that's one of the reasons
why he could forgive the womanwho was called an adultery.
He knew he was going to pay theprice for her sin.
He knew that she didn't knowthat, because he pretty much was
going against what the liticallaws and the law of Moses had
(26:24):
said.
So they weren't wrong per se inwhat they were doing.
They were wrong in the way thatthey were doing it and they
were very hypocritical in theway that they were doing it.
And, by the way, they were alsotrying to set Jesus up in the
same process.
So their hearts weren't clear.
They weren't doing it out of.
They were trying to follow thelaw.
They were trying to dot every Iand cross every T and they just
(26:47):
felt like, hey, this is ourduty, this is what has to be
done.
They weren't doing that.
They had their own sins,apparently because they said
they were convicted of theirconsciousness, and so they were
doing it out of other reasons,but they were just going to have
her pay the price.
And sometimes that could be thecase in your life.
(27:07):
No matter what you've done orwhat you do or even why you did
it, the thing is that what wasonce red as scarlet, it can be
white as snow when you acceptJesus Christ as your Lord and
Savior, and whatever led you todo that point to rob that bank,
to kill that person, to cheat onyour spouse, to beat someone
(27:33):
senseless, whatever did that youdon't have to face and deal and
battle those spirits anymore.
When you give that all to Jesus, he will turn you into a
completely new person and hewill pretty much be saying to
you I paid the price for all ofthat.
I paid the price for all ofthat.
Go and sin no more.
And the key is don't do itagain.
(27:54):
Accept Jesus Christ in yourlife as your Lord and Savior and
live the righteous life andpath that he has set out before
you.
Don't ever think that anythingyou've done is beyond the
redemption with Jesus Christ ofNazareth, because it isn't.
What would you like to add tothat, sherry?
Speaker 2 (28:14):
I have a friend who loves to say it's under the
blood.
It's under the blood, and forsomeone who used to have a
really hard time forgivingherself and it's not that I
thought that I was better thanwell, I mean my actions, because
I could not forgive myself forthings.
When you don't forgive yourself, when you don't once you ask
(28:44):
God for forgiveness for whateversin you've committed, if you
can't then forgive yourself,you're basically saying to God
well, I'm better than you areLike you're, you're dying on the
cross and you're sufferingdidn't mean enough, because I'm
still punishing myself and Inever really saw it that way.
But that's the truth, that'sthe cold hard truth.
(29:05):
And so when my friend keepssaying it's under the blood,
it's under the blood, it finallygot through to me.
I guess repetition is what Ineeded.
When we confess, when we trulyconfess with our hearts and with
our minds, and we say, god, I'mso sorry that I did such and
such, or I'm so sorry that I,you know, allowed myself to go
(29:27):
down that path, or whatever itis, when we truly ask for
forgiveness, it's under theblood and that means that God
thinks of it no more.
Therefore, we should think ofit no more.
We shouldn't be bringing it upanymore.
We shouldn't be talking aboutit.
We shouldn't be unless the onlyway I think that you could talk
about it would be like Paul.
(29:48):
But even Paul was neverspecific about the different
sins that he committed.
He was just always like it'sunder the blood, like I did
horrible things, but that's notme anymore.
So let's not focus on the past.
Instead, let's focus on thepresent and the future and what
God has called me to do, goingforward.
(30:08):
So even Paul tells us that it'sunder the blood and to sin no
more.
So I guess that's theencouragement that I want to
give to people.
If you're anything like I wasand still have a tendency at
times to be that, I have toremind myself it's under the
blood and God has forgiven me.
If you have truly asked forforgiveness for whatever it is
(30:32):
that you did, it's under theblood.
And if you're a believer, it'sunder the blood and you don't
have to worry about those sinsanymore.
You don't have to dwell on them.
In fact, God doesn't want us todwell on them.
He wants us to keep them underthe blood, because when we're
focused on ourselves whetherit's our sins, our past sins,
(30:53):
whether it's anything that hasto do with any of that when
we're focused on that, that isexactly where Satan wants us.
He wants us focused on us andfocused on the wrong things, so
that we then aren't looking upand out and able to pray for
other people and able to helpother people and able to be a
(31:16):
witness to other people.
It's okay at times to use ourpast as a testimony of what God
has brought us through and howwe've grown, but it's not good
to focus on it and to keep thatin the center, as I'm this
horrible person who did allthese horrible things.
No, I am forgiven, I am loved,and it's under the blood, and
(31:41):
that, I think, is the perfectway to end our discussion today,
because or our podcast today,because it's under the blood.
If we are a believer and wehave asked for forgiveness, then
it is under the blood and it isremembered no more.
And that's the way God wants usto live.
(32:01):
So, if you are someone whodoesn't know exactly what I'm
talking about, who's like?
That's what I want, but I don'tknow how to get it.
That's that's what I want, butI don't know how to get it.
That's who I want to be, but Idon't know how to do that.
If you want to become a believer, if you want to start a new
(32:23):
chapter in your life, if youwant to become a child of God,
it's actually really simple.
It's a heart change.
It's a heart change, it's aheart decision.
And it tells us in Romans 10, 9, if we confess with our mouth
that Jesus is Lord and believein our hearts that God raised
him from the dead, it says, youwill be saved.
So if that's something that youwant today, if you don't want
(32:46):
to end this podcast withouthaving a life change and without
making that important decisionin your life, well, today's the
day that you can do that.
All you need to do is pray thisprayer after me with a
repentant heart oh HeavenlyFather, I come to you in Jesus'
name.
I believe you died on the crossand that you rose again and
(33:10):
you're seated on the throne.
Jesus, forgive me for all thatI've done wrong and I choose to
forgive all others.
Come into my life today andforever.
I am yours In Jesus name, amen.
If you prayed that prayer withus today, then I ask you to send
(33:31):
us an email over atcheeruppodcastgmailcom.
We also encourage you to find aBible-believing church in your
area and tell somebody.
You can tell us, or you cantell other people, or you can do
a combination.
But we are so glad that you arepart of the family now that you
are a son or a daughter of theKing, if you are interested in
(33:56):
growing your relationship withGod, you can head over to my
website, sherryswalwellcom, andthere's a monthly membership
that you can check out.
It helps you to grow thatrelationship, no matter where
you're at, whether you have justbecome a believer, whether
you've been a believer for 10plus years, your whole entire
life, whatever stage you're in,and if you're looking for
(34:18):
community with other fellowbelievers, the Jesus and the
Everyday membership is a perfectplace to find it, so I would
encourage you to try that out.
You can try it for three weeksfor free, before you are charged
at all on your credit card, andit's $9.95 a month, which
(34:41):
basically what you're doing isyou're investing in your
spiritual growth, and I can'tthink of a better thing to
invest in in my life thangrowing my relationship with God
.
There's also fiction andnonfiction books you can check
out on my website, as well as aYouTube channel and a few other
(35:01):
things, so look around on there.
Kara's website, karahrhuntcom.
She, as she said earlier, we'reboth fiction writers.
Well, we're both writers.
I write fiction and nonfiction.
She writes fiction, and theyare some of the best books that
I have ever read, and I'm notjust saying that because she's
my friend, but she truly.
I was hooked from the firstchapter I read of hers a decade
(35:25):
ago and that's how she and I met.
So I didn't even know her backwhen I loved her writing, and
now that I know her, I love herwriting even more.
But she has a series out theHabastic series and it is an
e-book, paperback and audio book.
(35:45):
So if you like any of thoseversions, check out her books on
KaraRHuntcom.
She also is an amazing mentorand loves to help people as
they're stepping foot intowriting.
You can find out how to get herhelp on her website as well.
So we are just so glad that youare here.
I cannot believe it's the endof March already.
Next week we're going to betalking about well.
(36:05):
Next week we're going to startinto April, which is crazy, and
we're going to be talking aboutthe Sermon on the Mount, which
is a lesson in hope.
So I hope that you'll come backnext week and hear our hearts
on the Sermon on the Mount.
In the meantime, have a greatday, have a great rest of your
week and join us again nextWednesday for another exciting
(36:28):
episode of the Cheer Up Podcast.
Hi and welcome to the Cheer Up Podcast.
I am your host, Kara R Hunt,and with me is the amazing
Sherri Swalwell.
How are you doing today, Sherri?
Speaker 2 (00:33):
I am doing great.
I am blessed to be alive today.
That is the best way to put it.
I can't believe it's the end ofMarch and time is just going in
2025.
Speaker 1 (00:47):
I know it's just I don't know.
It's like with every new year,with the 20 in front of it, it
just always seems so surreal.
You know, yeah, it's like 2010,2011, 2019, 2020, you know, it
(01:08):
just sounds so.
It just sounds so surreal Ijust keep.
What comes to mind is a TV showmy mom used to watch back in
the day, and I think I was smalland I can't really remember how
small I was, but I do rememberthe show because she watched it
quite, and it was called 1999.
(01:28):
And it was a very much a show,very Star Trek-ish type of show,
but it was called 1999.
And back then, you would, itwas like, oh my gosh, 1999 was
so far in the future and, youknow, there was all this
scientific stuff and roboticstuff and spaceship stuff, and
(01:50):
it was just so different.
And so you just kind of wouldthink, oh my gosh, everyone's
going to be looking kind ofcrazy Because they looked kind
of different, kind of like StarTrek-ish people from another
planet, you know, and everythinglike that.
And it just seems like, wow,when 1999 gets so far in the
future, that this is kind ofwhat it's going to be like.
(02:13):
And here we are.
What 26 years later?
Yeah, yeah, and it's like weare still the same pretty much,
you know, as we were then,though, because I did watch
cartoons, I was one of thosechildren that loved to watch
(02:33):
Saturday morning cartoons backthen, though I'm kind of a
little disappointed that I don'thave a robot made, I don't have
a robot maid, I don't have arobot maid and we can't just,
you know, go in our quoteunquote driveway and get into a
little car that flies in the air.
(02:56):
So I think those are the onlytwo things it's like.
Back then, when you werechildren, you were like, wow, by
the time that time gets here,everything's going to be so, you
know, cool, when I have arobotic maid that's going to
have a baby, tell us, do all thethings that I don't want to do,
though technically I shouldprobably take a step back from
(03:17):
that, because technically thatmay exist.
Right now it's just out of myaffordable range to get
something like that.
So, but technically it mayexist right now.
I mean we do have robotic vacuumcleaners, right, right.
And I was shocked the other daywhen Hubby and not too long ago
(03:38):
, I should say when Hubby and Iwere driving and there was this
guy excuse me, this home thathad a lavish lawn, like huge,
but it was hilly, it was veryhilly and there was a robotic
lawnmower cutting the grass.
I had never seen such.
Yes, I had never seen.
(03:59):
And I'm like, wait, what myhusband's like, oh yeah, you
didn't know they had those.
I'm like no, and I'm like, wait, what my husband's like, oh
yeah, you didn't know they hadthose.
I'm like no, and I'm like itprobably saves the homeowner
like a lot of time, Because thelawn was, it was a lot of lawn
and it was hilly.
And you know, going down, youcan't go down it in a riding
(04:19):
mower, you know Right.
And then trying to do, it'veseen people do try to do it in
the past with um the push mowers, but it's very difficult
keeping your balance, you knowI'm doing that I used to do that
as a kid he had a rope.
Speaker 2 (04:36):
he would take a rope on his push mower and he would
lower the lawnmower as it wasrunning down the hill and then
pull it back up and then downthe hill and then pull it back
up and then down the hill andpull it back up so he wouldn't
flip his ride when it was super,super um, hilly, super steep.
Because we lived in Pittsburgh,so we lived where the um it was
(04:59):
.
The place where we lived, thetown was pleasant Hills and it
was literally huge.
The place where we lived, thetown was Pleasant Hills, and it
was literally huge, steep hills,because there were mountains
right there.
And so that's how he would mow,because it was so steep, Because
if you fall with a lawnmoweryou could get seriously injured.
(05:21):
Oh yes, that's how he did it.
Speaker 1 (05:22):
And I grew up thinking that was normal.
Well, paul, I know it probablycould, you know could have been.
I'm thinking how ingenious todo that.
You know to be able to do that,because you know it has to be
cut, but yet you're like, oh mygoodness, I just don't want to
tumble down this hill with thislawnmower, with the blades
(05:43):
wearing, you know, andeverything else.
So how ingenious, because I had.
There was definitely homes thathad treacherous heels to mow,
like where I grew up, but Inever seen them use a rope, as
far as I know, you know, butthey could have been doing that
the whole time because the lawnswere well kept.
Speaker 2 (06:05):
Yeah, the rope was really thick and he would just
lower it and pull it back up.
And lower it and pull it backup.
I'll have to next time.
We're supposed to be gettingtogether for lunch soon.
I'm going to have to see if heremembers that.
Speaker 1 (06:18):
Oh yeah, that is like talk about ingenuity, right?
Oh, and make sure you ask himdoes he now know that they have
robots, robotic lawnmowers thatcan do that?
Now, exactly, that's why we'regoing to be like wait, what,
where is all that stuff?
And I was having to pull thislawnmower back up, you know, via
(06:42):
a rope, you know, and Icouldn't believe it.
And it was.
You saw it cut in the grasslike it was just going up and
down and it was doing it veryneatly too, you know, and
everything.
And I'm like, well, look atthat.
So I take back what I said Maybethere are robotic robots out
(07:05):
there that could be made, youknow, like there was in the
Jetsons and everything else.
And I just don't know about it,because apparently there's a
lot going on in technology thatI'm still just trying to figure
my head about, because I didn'tknow there were robotic
lawnmowers and apparently peoplearound me, did, around me, did
Around me, did.
(07:25):
My sister knew, my husband knewLike, wow, I just I don't keep
up with that stuff, but how cool, how cool is that?
I don't know.
I just think it's really kindof fun.
I've fortunately never had tomow grass because me and my
hubby have been together for somany years and I don't think he
would ever trust me to be behinda lawnmower riding or pushing
(07:51):
either way.
And, to be honest, I've beenruined for push mowers because,
like you and me, both Sherryhave been medical
transcriptionists and I rememberwhen I would get ER reports the
ER reports that we would get inin the summertime, mainly about
people who were injured bytheir lawnmowers.
(08:12):
I mean, people had lost toes,you know, and just all sorts of
things that just kind ofhappened and you're kind of
going, what in the worldhappened?
How did they, like foot almostget cut off and things like that
.
So it's definitely notsomething that you don't want to
(08:33):
mess with, that you don't knowwhat to do.
Like you know, and from what Iunderstand, mowers nowadays are
a lot different than the mowersback in the day you know when I
was growing up or even when Iwas a medical transcriptionist,
so hopefully those incidents arenot as prevalent as they were.
But you were a medicaltranscriptionist a lot later
(08:56):
than I was, Sherry.
Did you ever get any of thosetype of injuries?
But then again, I transcribedfor radiology.
Speaker 2 (09:03):
Yeah, no, I worked for like general surgery and
psychology, so I didn't getthose kinds.
But we have had some majortragedies, just here in my town
where a little girl was runningout to talk to her dad who was
(09:25):
on a ride on and she ended updying.
Speaker 1 (09:29):
She ripped on the wet grass and he ran her over oh.
Speaker 2 (09:35):
Oh yeah, yeah, I remember.
And she wasn't that little Like.
She wasn't like some littleteeny tiny girl.
I mean she wasn't.
She wasn't a teenager, but shewas.
She wasn't like two or threeeither complete accident, like
(10:02):
nobody could have prevented itAll she was doing was running
out to say something to her dadand she slips on the wet grass
and yeah so you're right.
You've got to be incrediblycareful around any of those
kinds of things.
We have a zero turn now I can'teven run it.
I have no idea.
I can't get the thing to stopLike you're supposed to.
You know, move your hands insuch a way and my husband makes
(10:26):
it look so easy, my oldest makesit look so easy.
I can't get the thing to stop,so I'm like until I can safely
learn how to do it.
I'm not going to even trybecause I'll run into a tree.
Speaker 1 (10:41):
I'm laughing because I could so see myself doing that
.
But go ahead.
Speaker 2 (10:45):
Yeah, I'll run into a tree or something and I'll
break the machine and probablybreak myself.
So, yeah, and I hate that too,because I used to love to mow,
it was like my time to write.
One of the stories that Ihaven't written on paper yet is
completely written in my headfrom a summer of mowing and
writing it while I was mowingLike in my head it was.
(11:07):
I can't wait to get that onedown on paper, but I'm doing a
different series.
Speaker 1 (11:12):
Oh, that's going to be fun.
Yeah, I can't wait to read thatone.
Yeah, I can't wait to read thatone.
For those of you who don't know, and if you're tuning in for
the Tura podcast for the firsttime, sherry and I are both
novelists and we both havewebsites, and Sherry will give
you more information about thoseat the end at the podcast.
(11:32):
But if you're a reader, an avidreader, and you're like the
summer is going slower than Ithought I need more books, then
definitely hit up our website.
We have a couple of good novelsthat we're just sure you're
going to enjoy and or maybe beable to share with your friends
and family.
But if this is the first time ofyou tuning into the Tira
(11:53):
podcast, welcome and thank youfor joining us and we pray that
you'll come back.
You know, again and again, newepisodes every week.
You can tune in every week.
They're uploaded on Wednesdaysand we just want to thank you
for tuning in and for joining ustoday our avid listeners, I
(12:16):
should say, and that are alwayslistening and tuning in.
We want to say thank you, thankyou, thank you, thank you for
making the TRILL podcast what itis today.
People in other countries areable to listen to it people
nationwide and we just thank youso, so, so much.
And we just ask that youcontinue to like and subscribe.
And I heard a couple of podcastplatforms are now allowing you
(12:39):
to leave reviews and if you havebeen blessed by the Trail
podcast in any way, even if youjust type in great podcast, you
have to listen to it.
It could be as short as that.
You could just leave a reviewand again, just like the likes
and subscribing and downloadingit helps that you're a podcast
(13:02):
in the algorithm so that otherswill be able to find a podcast.
So we just want to thank you so, so, so much for doing that and
for continuing to do that, andwe thank you so much.
Well, today we are still talkingabout biblical figures, and the
biblical figure in the NewTestament that we're going to be
covering today is the womancaught in adultery.
(13:25):
I kind of wish I had a name forher, but I don't.
Part of me just wants to giveher a name called Jane, but I'm
not because I think that wouldjust be too confusing.
But she's just known mainly asthe woman who was called in
(13:49):
adultery, and her story can befound in the book of John, the
Gospel of John, chapter 8,verses 1 through 11.
And I want to read thatscripture.
Those scriptures are very, veryshort, but to kind of
understand that scripture first,I want to go back to the Old
Testament and read Leviticus 20,verse 10, where it states If a
(14:15):
man commits adultery with thewife of his neighbor, both the
adulterer and the adulteressshall surely be put to death.
Okay, the reason I want to readthat society, new Testament,
ancient biblical things thatadultery was looked at as very,
(14:48):
very, very, very bad.
It was not glanced over, it wasnot tolerated.
It was not just said, oh well,or anything like that.
Like, necessarily in today'sculture, it was very much
considered something worthy ofyou being killed for, and there
(15:12):
were so many.
Now, everyone wasn't alwayskilled, but then there were so
many different rituals that youhad to go to.
If you were, excuse me, evenaccused of well, the women, not
necessarily to purify it, but itwas kind of like they would
drink this very bitter drink andthey would be watched for a
couple of days and if they hadno reaction to it, then they're
(15:49):
like okay, the accusation wasbaseless and the person who
accused you was lying.
You didn't have a negativereaction to the bitter drink or
whatever.
So you're good, you did notcommit a guilt, you're telling
the truth.
However, if the woman got ill,help her.
If she got even violently illafter drinking that type of
(16:10):
drink, then they will be likeyou're guilty.
You're guilty of sin, you'regoing to die, you know of thing.
So this was not something thatthey played around with lightly,
um, back then, and for those ofyou, just just for those of you
who may not be clear, um, onadultery, it is defined as
(16:31):
sexual intercourse between amarried person and someone who
is not their spouse and,according to the commandment
that Moses had talked about, itwas both the man and the woman
who engaged in adultery weresubject to the death penalty,
highlighting the severity inwhich the sin was viewed in that
ancient Israeli society.
I think nowadays, if everyone,if women, were given bitter
(16:56):
drinks like that, or heavenforbid men and women were both
stoned and or killed or got thedeath penalty for committing
adultery.
Let's just say we'll be livingin a very, very different
society.
Whether good or bad, we don'tknow, but it would be a very
different society.
So I just wanted to put thelisteners in a frame of mind of,
(17:21):
like, what was going on aroundthis time and how it was
absolutely positively not to betolerated.
It wasn't to be entertained, itwasn't you know, you were just
to stay away from it, justbecause of the toxicity of it.
It was like, okay, well, thisperson committed adultery and
they got away from it justbecause of the toxicity of it.
It was like, okay, well, thisperson committed adultery and
(17:42):
they got away with it.
Well, I think I can cheat on mywife and then I can get away
with it.
Or I can cheat on my husbandand then I can get away with it.
And they were just adamant thatthat was not going to pervert
the society that they wereliving in, and so they were
going to pretty much, to usetoday's vernacular nip it in the
bud and it just was not goingto be tolerated.
Okay, so I'm going to read fromthe New King James Version John,
(18:07):
from the Gospel of John,chapter 8.
Actually, I'm going to start inVerse 2.
Okay, and it says Now, early inthe morning, he came again into
the temple and all the peoplecame to him and he sat down and
taught them.
Then the scribes and Phariseesbrought to him a woman caught in
adultery that has.
(18:28):
I want to stop and emphasizethe word caught, because, if I'm
not mistaken, sherry, the lawof Moses or the Levitical law, I
should say was specificallyabout being caught in the act of
adultery.
There was one thing if you wereaccused of adultery, and then
there was, like, another penaltyif, like you, were actually
caught in the midst of adultery,which, according to this verse,
(18:51):
this particular woman was, itsays.
Then the scribes and Phariseesbrought to him a woman caught in
adultery, referring to Jesus.
And Pharisees brought to him awoman caught in adultery
referring to Jesus, and whenthey had set her in the mist,
they said to him Jesus, teacher,this woman was caught in
(19:11):
adultery, again caught in thevery act.
Now Moses, in the law,commanded us that such should be
stoned.
But what do you say?
Now?
It's also important to pointout here that they're trying to
set Jesus up.
Okay, they just want to see if,for some reason, they can get
her and him stoned, or whateverthe case may be.
But they're trying to set himup, they're trying to trap him.
(19:33):
But anyway, how do I say that?
And if you say well, carol,what makes you think that they
were trying to trap him.
They caught the woman in an actand they're bringing her to him
and they're saying but what doyou say?
So why are you saying that theywere trying to set him up?
Because of verse 6.
It says this they said, testinghim that they might have
(19:57):
something of which to accuse him.
But Jesus stooped down andwrote on the ground with his
finger as though he did not hearthem.
So when they continued askinghim, he raised himself up and
said to them he who is out sinamong you, let him throw a stone
at her.
First and again he stooped downand wrote on the ground.
Then those who heard it, beingconvicted by by their conscience
(20:20):
, went out one by one, beginningwith the oldest even to the
last, and Jesus was left aloneand a woman standing in the
midst.
When Jesus had raised himself upand saw no one but the woman,
he said to her woman where arethose accusers of yours?
Has no one condemned you?
She said no one, lord.
And Jesus said to her Neitherdo I condemn you.
(20:40):
Go and sin no more.
Oh my goodness, what a reliefthis had to be to that woman who
was probably shaking in herboots and afraid she's like oh
my gosh, this is the Son of Godand I was just called an
adultery and I know what the lawof Moses said, and there was
tons of witnesses Like I wascaught in the very act of
(21:02):
adultery.
And now here's the Son of Godstanding here right next to me,
like what's going to happen tome.
She's probably shaking andafraid and you know, and just
scared, scared for her life.
She didn't know what was goingto happen, but then those who
were accusing her weren'tqualified to accuse her.
Now no one knows what Jesuswrote on the ground.
(21:24):
The Holy Spirit didn't revealit to us in the Bible, in the
scriptures.
No one knows.
There's been a lot of conjectureand speculation if you read
different theologians andscholars, but no one actually
knows what Jesus wrote on theground.
But whatever it did, itconvicted them and they were not
qualified.
They did not have the right tocondemn her.
(21:48):
They didn't, and that's why hewas like hey, where are those
accusers?
Has no one condemned you?
And she's like no one, lord,there's no one here.
And he's like neither do Icondemn you.
Go and sin no more.
Can you imagine a relief thatshe had to experience in that
moment, sherry?
Speaker 2 (22:07):
Absolutely Talk about having an encounter with God,
like I'm always praying andasking God if I can have an
encounter with him or if he willhave an encounter with my
family, and talk about having anencounter with God, wow.
Speaker 1 (22:23):
I know Like what such an encounter, and you know it
doesn't follow up with her perse to know exactly what happened
after that, but I can't helpbut believe she took heed to his
words.
That but I can't help butbelieve she took heed to his
(22:43):
words and that, whatever she wasdoing before, the people found
her and or called her.
By the way, you can't commitadultery by yourself, and
Leviticus pretty much made itclear in the Levitical law and
the law of Moses pretty muchsaid the man and a woman, if
they're caught in the very act,they are both to be able to face
the death penalty.
Where was he?
Speaker 2 (23:07):
where was he?
Speaker 1 (23:08):
Was he not there?
Did he run, did he get away?
You know, did he run, did heget away?
Or was he there in a crowd, oneof the men condemning her?
You know it doesn't say, butit's very obvious that he was
supposed to be there and thatthey both were supposed to die
(23:29):
as a result of what they weredoing, what they were caught in
a very active doing.
And I just one of those storiesexcuse me, that is one of those
incident events in a Bible, oneof those stories in a Bible,
one of those what's the word I'mlooking for in the Bible that
(23:52):
resonates with us still today.
Now, obviously, today we don'tface harsh penalties like that.
If we're caught in adultery, oreven if you're accused of
adultery, women don't have to gothrough all these different
rituals to prove if they were orif they were not actually
telling the truth about whetherthey were caught in adultery.
But adultery, when you get downto it, is a sin and it doesn't
(24:16):
matter if it's adultery you werecaught doing.
If it was lying that you werecaught doing.
If it was stealing that youwere caught doing.
If it was murder, you know, youwere caught in the middle.
Someone actually saw you, forinstance, take a knife and
actually hack someone to death.
(24:37):
No matter what the sin is, wehave a gracious and merciful and
loving God that is willing toreach out to you and say hey,
you know, come to me, accept meas your Lord, jesus Christ of
Nazareth, as your Lord andSavior, and you don't have to
(24:59):
live like this anymore.
You don't have to live with anadulterous spirit, an adulterous
heart, a thieving heart, amurderous mind, a murderous
spirit.
You don't have to live likethat anymore.
Come to me and I will give youpeace.
Now that doesn't mean you'renot going to face the
consequences of your sin,because there's the legal
(25:20):
authority, civil authoritiesthat you will obviously have to
answer to, especially if youwere caught in the very act of
doing some of those things.
So you still have to answer forthose.
But when you truly come to Jesus, no matter what you have done,
I love where it talks about inthe scriptures that, though your
(25:43):
sins be red as scarlet, theyare now as white as snow.
It is for your sins.
Or as far as the east is fromthe west.
We serve an amazing and lovingGod.
Now it's white as snow.
It is for your sins or, as faras the east is, from the west.
We serve an amazing and lovingGod.
He knows how dark and red andfull of blood some of the sins
we have committed have done, buthe's paid the price for them.
(26:03):
He's paid the price for themand that's one of the reasons
why he could forgive the womanwho was called an adultery.
He knew he was going to pay theprice for her sin.
He knew that she didn't knowthat, because he pretty much was
going against what the liticallaws and the law of Moses had
(26:24):
said.
So they weren't wrong per se inwhat they were doing.
They were wrong in the way thatthey were doing it and they
were very hypocritical in theway that they were doing it.
And, by the way, they were alsotrying to set Jesus up in the
same process.
So their hearts weren't clear.
They weren't doing it out of.
They were trying to follow thelaw.
They were trying to dot every Iand cross every T and they just
(26:47):
felt like, hey, this is ourduty, this is what has to be
done.
They weren't doing that.
They had their own sins,apparently because they said
they were convicted of theirconsciousness, and so they were
doing it out of other reasons,but they were just going to have
her pay the price.
And sometimes that could be thecase in your life.
(27:07):
No matter what you've done orwhat you do or even why you did
it, the thing is that what wasonce red as scarlet, it can be
white as snow when you acceptJesus Christ as your Lord and
Savior, and whatever led you todo that point to rob that bank,
to kill that person, to cheat onyour spouse, to beat someone
(27:33):
senseless, whatever did that youdon't have to face and deal and
battle those spirits anymore.
When you give that all to Jesus, he will turn you into a
completely new person and hewill pretty much be saying to
you I paid the price for all ofthat.
I paid the price for all ofthat.
Go and sin no more.
And the key is don't do itagain.
(27:54):
Accept Jesus Christ in yourlife as your Lord and Savior and
live the righteous life andpath that he has set out before
you.
Don't ever think that anythingyou've done is beyond the
redemption with Jesus Christ ofNazareth, because it isn't.
What would you like to add tothat, sherry?
Speaker 2 (28:14):
I have a friend who loves to say it's under the
blood.
It's under the blood, and forsomeone who used to have a
really hard time forgivingherself and it's not that I
thought that I was better thanwell, I mean my actions, because
I could not forgive myself forthings.
When you don't forgive yourself, when you don't once you ask
(28:44):
God for forgiveness for whateversin you've committed, if you
can't then forgive yourself,you're basically saying to God
well, I'm better than you areLike you're, you're dying on the
cross and you're sufferingdidn't mean enough, because I'm
still punishing myself and Inever really saw it that way.
But that's the truth, that'sthe cold hard truth.
(29:05):
And so when my friend keepssaying it's under the blood,
it's under the blood, it finallygot through to me.
I guess repetition is what Ineeded.
When we confess, when we trulyconfess with our hearts and with
our minds, and we say, god, I'mso sorry that I did such and
such, or I'm so sorry that I,you know, allowed myself to go
(29:27):
down that path, or whatever itis, when we truly ask for
forgiveness, it's under theblood and that means that God
thinks of it no more.
Therefore, we should think ofit no more.
We shouldn't be bringing it upanymore.
We shouldn't be talking aboutit.
We shouldn't be unless the onlyway I think that you could talk
about it would be like Paul.
(29:48):
But even Paul was neverspecific about the different
sins that he committed.
He was just always like it'sunder the blood, like I did
horrible things, but that's notme anymore.
So let's not focus on the past.
Instead, let's focus on thepresent and the future and what
God has called me to do, goingforward.
(30:08):
So even Paul tells us that it'sunder the blood and to sin no
more.
So I guess that's theencouragement that I want to
give to people.
If you're anything like I wasand still have a tendency at
times to be that, I have toremind myself it's under the
blood and God has forgiven me.
If you have truly asked forforgiveness for whatever it is
(30:32):
that you did, it's under theblood.
And if you're a believer, it'sunder the blood and you don't
have to worry about those sinsanymore.
You don't have to dwell on them.
In fact, God doesn't want us todwell on them.
He wants us to keep them underthe blood, because when we're
focused on ourselves whetherit's our sins, our past sins,
(30:53):
whether it's anything that hasto do with any of that when
we're focused on that, that isexactly where Satan wants us.
He wants us focused on us andfocused on the wrong things, so
that we then aren't looking upand out and able to pray for
other people and able to helpother people and able to be a
(31:16):
witness to other people.
It's okay at times to use ourpast as a testimony of what God
has brought us through and howwe've grown, but it's not good
to focus on it and to keep thatin the center, as I'm this
horrible person who did allthese horrible things.
No, I am forgiven, I am loved,and it's under the blood, and
(31:41):
that, I think, is the perfectway to end our discussion today,
because or our podcast today,because it's under the blood.
If we are a believer and wehave asked for forgiveness, then
it is under the blood and it isremembered no more.
And that's the way God wants usto live.
(32:01):
So, if you are someone whodoesn't know exactly what I'm
talking about, who's like?
That's what I want, but I don'tknow how to get it.
That's that's what I want, butI don't know how to get it.
That's who I want to be, but Idon't know how to do that.
If you want to become a believer, if you want to start a new
(32:23):
chapter in your life, if youwant to become a child of God,
it's actually really simple.
It's a heart change.
It's a heart change, it's aheart decision.
And it tells us in Romans 10, 9, if we confess with our mouth
that Jesus is Lord and believein our hearts that God raised
him from the dead, it says, youwill be saved.
So if that's something that youwant today, if you don't want
(32:46):
to end this podcast withouthaving a life change and without
making that important decisionin your life, well, today's the
day that you can do that.
All you need to do is pray thisprayer after me with a
repentant heart oh HeavenlyFather, I come to you in Jesus'
name.
I believe you died on the crossand that you rose again and
(33:10):
you're seated on the throne.
Jesus, forgive me for all thatI've done wrong and I choose to
forgive all others.
Come into my life today andforever.
I am yours In Jesus name, amen.
If you prayed that prayer withus today, then I ask you to send
(33:31):
us an email over atcheeruppodcastgmailcom.
We also encourage you to find aBible-believing church in your
area and tell somebody.
You can tell us, or you cantell other people, or you can do
a combination.
But we are so glad that you arepart of the family now that you
are a son or a daughter of theKing, if you are interested in
(33:56):
growing your relationship withGod, you can head over to my
website, sherryswalwellcom, andthere's a monthly membership
that you can check out.
It helps you to grow thatrelationship, no matter where
you're at, whether you have justbecome a believer, whether
you've been a believer for 10plus years, your whole entire
life, whatever stage you're in,and if you're looking for
(34:18):
community with other fellowbelievers, the Jesus and the
Everyday membership is a perfectplace to find it, so I would
encourage you to try that out.
You can try it for three weeksfor free, before you are charged
at all on your credit card, andit's $9.95 a month, which
(34:41):
basically what you're doing isyou're investing in your
spiritual growth, and I can'tthink of a better thing to
invest in in my life thangrowing my relationship with God
.
There's also fiction andnonfiction books you can check
out on my website, as well as aYouTube channel and a few other
(35:01):
things, so look around on there.
Kara's website, karahrhuntcom.
She, as she said earlier, we'reboth fiction writers.
Well, we're both writers.
I write fiction and nonfiction.
She writes fiction, and theyare some of the best books that
I have ever read, and I'm notjust saying that because she's
my friend, but she truly.
I was hooked from the firstchapter I read of hers a decade
(35:25):
ago and that's how she and I met.
So I didn't even know her backwhen I loved her writing, and
now that I know her, I love herwriting even more.
But she has a series out theHabastic series and it is an
e-book, paperback and audio book.
(35:45):
So if you like any of thoseversions, check out her books on
KaraRHuntcom.
She also is an amazing mentorand loves to help people as
they're stepping foot intowriting.
You can find out how to get herhelp on her website as well.
So we are just so glad that youare here.
I cannot believe it's the endof March already.
Next week we're going to betalking about well.
(36:05):
Next week we're going to startinto April, which is crazy, and
we're going to be talking aboutthe Sermon on the Mount, which
is a lesson in hope.
So I hope that you'll come backnext week and hear our hearts
on the Sermon on the Mount.
In the meantime, have a greatday, have a great rest of your
week and join us again nextWednesday for another exciting
(36:28):
episode of the Cheer Up Podcast.
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