February 19, 2025 • 43 mins
DISCIPLES
Meet the disciples— a diverse group made perfect through faith! Join us to explore their stories and how they inspire us to embrace our unique paths today! What personality trait do you relate to most? 🎧
#Faith #inspirational #Hope #Life #PersonalityTraits #FromTheBible #ChristianPodcasts #CheerUpPodcast #CheriSwalwell #KaraRHunt
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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, as always, is the
beautiful and fabulous SherriSwalwell.
How are you today, sherri?
Speaker 2 (00:37):
Well, except for coughing, right then, I am doing
great.
But instead of talking aboutthe weather, like we usually do,
I want to talk about somethingthat actually ties really really
well into what we're talkingabout, or our topic of today.
But you well, I want to talkabout fiction books and not like
not a big, huge discussionabout them.
(00:59):
But I know about you somethingyou love legal fiction.
Speaker 1 (01:05):
Oh yes.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
And I recently read my first, like I had been
wanting to read this author fora long time, and within the last
couple of months I read thisguy, robert Whitlow, and I read
his book Double Amenity.
And the reason I bring him upis one I know that you
absolutely love legal fictionand it's not the legal fiction
part that I want to talk about.
It is.
(01:28):
I love when writers talk aboutcharacters that love the Lord
and have a super closerelationship with God, and not
just God, but the Holy Spiritwith God, and not just God, but
the Holy Spirit.
And so there were these minorcharacters in this book Double
(01:48):
Amenity by Robert Whitlow, ifyou are interested in checking
it out and Clayton and Sarah,and they're married and Sarah
just has this, she just has herheart or her hand.
I guess that's the right phrase.
I'm terrible at phrases and,trust me, coming into one of my
other books, I'm going to writeit into one of my characters
because I know it so well,because I am like horrible with
(02:10):
phrases, I get them wrong allthe time.
But that's a side note.
But this Sarah, she has herfingerprints, or her finger, on
the heart of God and she madethis.
Comment because Connor is thepastor of this church.
Speaker 1 (02:27):
comment because Connor is the pastor of this
church.
Speaker 2 (02:29):
And so he had, god had given him a revelation and
he had, he had tried to expressit or tried to share it in a
sermon, and he bombed because hedidn't understand it enough
himself before he tried toexplain it to other people.
And I kind of feel like that'sthe season I'm in right now that
God is like downloading thingsto me and they need to let it
marinate before I share it withothers because it's going to
(02:50):
bomb otherwise.
But that's exactly what Sarahsaid to him, like she she's so
blunt with her observations ofhim in a good, loving way, like
in a Christlike way, but she'slike the seed needs to have time
to germinate before it isfertilized, or something like
that.
I tried to find it again, theexact phrase, and of course I
(03:11):
couldn't.
And I was like, okay, I, Ican't remember exactly where it
was in the book.
Next time I'll have to mark itas I'm reading it.
But it just really struck me.
And then I think about, likeKaren Kingsbury, she has a
completely different style ofwriting and she does the exact
same thing, though Hercharacters just really, really
grab on to the heart of God.
And then Dee Henderson, shewrites, she has these really
(03:36):
long, long books.
Speaker 1 (03:37):
Military type novels right yeah.
Speaker 2 (03:40):
Yep, but then she also yes, and so or FBI or
things like that.
One character, Anne, shows upin a bunch of her newer books?
Speaker 1 (03:44):
She hasn't, then she also yes, and so or?
Speaker 2 (03:45):
FBI or things like that.
Anne shows up in a bunch of hernewer books.
She hasn't written in a longtime, so, d, if you are ever
listening to this podcast,please, please, please, write
some more, because I absolutelylove your writing and I've read
them all and I will reread thembecause they're just so amazing.
But anyway, she writes aboutthis lady, anne, who has like
this intense, super personalrelationship with God, and so,
(04:08):
as I'm reading these books, I'mlike Jesus.
That's who I want to be Like.
I want to be just like thesepeople.
And the reason I bring that up.
You're probably thinking okay,why are we talking about Robert
Whitlow and all of thesecharacters?
Because that is kind of the way, like it's a great segue into
talking about the disciples thisweek, because all of the
disciples are just a hodgepodgeof people and of personalities
(04:33):
and of different characteristics, but yet they all have their
finger on God's heart, or Godhas his finger on their heart,
or however.
It is that you're supposed tosay it.
What we're talking about today,and that is what I absolutely
love.
God loved us so much and hecreated all of us the way he did
(04:56):
on purpose.
Like there have been times,especially in the last couple of
weeks where I have literallyalmost said to my husband, like
why are you even married to me?
Because it seems like all I dois annoy you.
And that's not true.
That's just my hormones talking.
So don't think that he and Iare headed on the brink of
disaster or anything, becausewe're not.
That was just I had to get ridof my hormone treatment or my
(05:17):
supplement for a while becauseof my impending surgery.
So I'm like, okay, I'm justgoing to be crying for a little
bit.
Um, my impending surgery.
So I'm like, okay, I'm justgoing to be crying for a little
bit, don't worry about it, I'llget regulated again soon.
And um, so you know, all thosestupid thoughts go through your
head.
So, trust me, he and I are fine.
But but my point is is that, asI was even saying that out loud,
I'm like, no, god made me theway he did and he made me
(05:39):
perfectly the way that he did.
Like I am perfect for Sherry,I'm not perfect for Kara, I'm
not perfect for my husband orfor my daughter or for whoever,
I'm perfect for Sherry.
And that is kind of like theintroduction to the disciples
today, because they are such ahodgepodge of personality traits
(06:02):
and characteristics and allkinds of things, but yet their
one common denominator is thatthey loved God enough to trust
Him.
They loved God enough to pursueHim, even though they didn't
completely understand everythingabout Him.
And I just I love that infiction, but I love it even more
(06:25):
in real life.
So, before we dive into thedisciples, what do you think of
my little discovery right there?
Speaker 1 (06:34):
I actually you're getting me in trouble because
you keep giving me books to addto my list and authors to add to
my readers list.
And I am an avid reader.
For those of you who do notknow, of course both of us are
authors, but we're also avidreaders of nonfiction and novels
(06:56):
.
And boy, I have heard of RobertWhitlow, but I don't think I've
ever read any of his novels.
Really, yeah, it is weirdBecause, like you said, he
(07:16):
writes.
Maybe I don't think I knew thathe wrote legal novels.
I think I thought he wrotesomething else.
You know a different genre, sothat could be it, but you're
absolutely right, I love legalthrillers and I love political
thrillers.
You know a different genre, sothat could be it, but you're
absolutely right, I love legalthrillers and I love political
thrillers, you know, and I meanI can just binge on those for
like the whole entire summer andare any type of mystery,
(07:37):
thriller, suspense type novels.
But again, I like theChristian-based ones that have
Christian characters in themthat are able to overcome
unimaginable odds and that havesubstance to them.
You know that there's just nota legal plot or political plot,
(07:58):
but then the whole overwhelming,unseen arch of the book is
their faith and theirrelationship with God.
So I can't wait to download orget one of his novels, to get
one of his paperbacks since youmentioned it Because it sounds
really, really good and I cansay, and it ties right into the
(08:20):
disciples and their characters.
Speaker 2 (08:22):
So you have to start with double amenity because I
just totally fell in love.
I'm sure I was supposed to fallin love with the main
characters, Connor and Liz Ithink are the, and they were
great, Don't get me wrong.
But I just absolutely fell inlove with Liz because she, oh
she, just her faith, like shewore her faith on her sleeve,
(08:42):
Like she was who, she was whoshe was, no matter where she was
, whether she was at home,whether she was at church,
whether she was out on thestreet, whatever.
And she was such a minorcharacter, Like she didn't show
up that often but man, when shedid, she delivered a peaceful
but powerful punch and that iswho I want to be and that goes
(09:05):
right in.
Speaker 1 (09:06):
She walked it out, she walked her faith out in real
life.
She walked it out, yes, andthat is who I want to be Like.
Speaker 2 (09:12):
I don't want anyone when I die.
I don't want anyone to be like,well, okay, let's just say
y'all gather at my funeral andyou know, feel free to come or
don't come, your choice.
But if you're at my funeral Idon't want like people to be
talking and be like, huh, that'snot the Sherry I knew, what,
what?
No, I want it to be absolutely.
(09:33):
She was always spot on.
The Sherry you knew is theSherry I know.
It's the Sherry you know herfamily knew.
And it's the Sher whatever,whatever, like I.
I just authenticity, genuine,own my mistakes and all like.
That's who I want to be.
But I want to be known assomebody who, regardless of what
(09:57):
the world, you know, what cameat her from the world, whatever
you know she dealt with, shedealt with with a strength and a
faith in God.
And that's kind of how I feel,like the disciples are.
So when I was looking up thedisciples to talk about them
(10:18):
today, I'm like, okay, so whoexactly are they?
So the Bible tells us that theywere Peter, james, john, andrew
, philip, judas Iscariot,matthew, thomas, another James.
This one's the son of AlpheusBartholomew, another Judas,
judas Thaddeus this time.
And Simon's Delicus.
Now Peter later gets changed toSimon, if I'm remembering right
(10:40):
.
God changed his name.
He called or maybe Simon Peter.
He ended up calling him SimonPeter, and Peter means the rock.
And so Jesus said that you arethe one on whom I will build my
church, or the rock is on whom Iwill build my church.
But the thing that I love somuch is that all of the
disciples were so different.
(11:00):
So Peter, james, john andAndrew they were all fishermen.
Matthew was a tax collector.
We talked about him when wetalked about Matthew back in
November and we talked about howpeople were not very, they
didn't really like taxcollectors, because tax
collectors were kind of like.
(11:20):
They were known to be dirty,they were known to do things
illegally or on the side.
They were known to cheat people, which I don't know.
If Matthew was one of thosetypes of tax collectors, he
might've been an honest taxcollector, but tax collectors in
general got a bad rap and got abad reputation or had a bad
(11:44):
reputation.
And then Judas, iscariot he'sthe one who ended up being the
traitor.
So for those of you who areunfamiliar with the Bible and
unfamiliar with the disciplesduring the Last Supper, which
was right before Jesus gotarrested, which was right.
So this happened on Maundy.
(12:04):
Thursday was the Last Supperwas right, so this happened on
Monday.
Thursday was the last supper,and during the last supper Jesus
said the person that I sharethis bread with is going to
betray me, and then, or that weboth dip our bread into the oil
or whatever it is we're sharingthis thing.
And then Judas Iscariot did it.
Right then, and the Bible talksabout how the disciples were
confused with that, because theydidn't realize that Jesus meant
(12:27):
that Judas was going to betrayhim.
Betray him meaning get himarrested and eventually he would
hang on the cross.
They thought that he was likecheating, because he was the
treasure, he was the one thatkept all their money, and so
they thought that maybe he wasjust cheating jesus with the
(12:48):
money they didn't, or betrayinghim with the money.
They didn't realize that thathe meant betray, betray, um, and
so.
So that is judas iscariot.
He ended up going and hanginghimself, and then um, one of the
other disciples that I namedended up taking his place, so
that there were always 12.
But not only were there these12 disciples that God or Jesus
(13:12):
called personally, calledhimself, but there was an inner
three within this 12 that Jesuswas especially close with, and
those were Peter, james and John.
Now James and John, I believe,were brothers.
And then Peter, he was the onethat during the whole after
(13:35):
Jesus got arrested, so duringthe whole weekend of his
crucifixion, he said to Peter,right beforehand, right before
the Last Supper and thecelebration started, he said to
Peter he said you will deny methree times before the rooster
crows in the morning, so in lessthan 12 hours, six hours,
whatever you will deny me.
(13:56):
And Peter said absolutely not,lord, how in the heck do you
even say that about me?
I would never deny you, andsure enough, we should never
argue with Jesus, tara, ever,because he is always right.
And sure enough, before therooster crowed that morning,
peter had denied him three times.
But instead of becoming bitteror instead of turning away,
(14:18):
instead of living in that shameand that guilt and I can't
believe I did this and he wasright in that shame and that
guilt, and I can't believe I didthis and he was right, and you
know, blah, blah, blah it turnedout to be a turning point for
Peter and Peter ended up isn'the the one that ended up
preaching and having whateverybody claims is like the
first megachurch, that 3,000people after the Holy Spirit or
(14:41):
after, yeah, after the whole, soafter Jesus rose from the dead
and then he was with them forfor 40 days and then he ascended
up into heaven.
Isn't Peter the one that waspreaching the word and preaching
the truth?
And 3,000 people got saved inone day?
Wasn't that Peter?
Speaker 1 (14:57):
I can't remember, but I think it was.
So Peter ended up going to andI kind of think that has
something to do with theCatholic foundations of the
church too, but don't quote meon that everyone, because I
haven't double-checked, but Ithink it was.
Speaker 2 (15:10):
So he ended up like there are so many truths that we
can take from the disciplesthat they first off, they lived,
walked and breathed with Jesusfor three years during his
ministry and yet even they stillhad questions and they had
doubts.
Jesus never got mad at them fortheir questions and their
doubts.
He walked with them throughthem and sometimes he said
(15:34):
things like, oh, I don'tunderstand why you have little
faith, and he would shake hishead.
But he never punished them, henever belittled them, he never
made them feel bad for theirdoubts.
He understood, like he was Godand he knew the truth.
But he also knew that we wereall human and he knew that the
(15:54):
people that he had chosen to towalk with him were human and
would make mistakes, and he wasokay with that.
Like he didn't, he doesn'tleave us in our confusion.
He doesn't leave us in ourquestioning.
He doesn't leave us in ourconfusion.
He doesn't leave us in ourquestioning.
He doesn't leave us in ourdoubt.
He rises us or helps us to riseto the next level, but he never
shames us.
(16:14):
He never makes us feel bad forwhat we don't know, and he,
jesus, comes and takes us fromwhere we are to where we need to
be.
He will never condemn us forour sins, but he will instead
help us to change, to be thepeople that he originally
(16:37):
created us to be.
So he will show us the needthat we have for a savior, and
then he will help us.
He won't leave us in the pigflop, he won't leave us in the
dirt and the mire that we gotourselves in, but instead he
will help us to heal, he willhelp us to grow and he will help
us to change, to become moreand more like Him, and that's
(16:57):
through the power of the HolySpirit.
And of all the different storiesabout the disciples, of all the
different events that happenedin the Bible about the disciples
, I thought which one do I wantto talk about?
Which one is my favorite?
And my absolute favorite onecomes from Luke five, and this
is just kind of like I don'tknow.
(17:17):
I've kind of taken this storyon as like a promise from God.
It's just, I don't know.
It's just really, reallypersonal to me, and what it is
is.
This is when Jesus called.
It says the four fishermencalled his disciples.
So Jesus called the fourfishermen that I talked about
earlier Peter, james, john andAndrew.
(17:38):
And so what happened is Jesusis walking down the beach and he
sees these two boats.
And what usually happened backthen is that the fishermen would
fish at night.
And so the fishermen Peter,james, john and Andrew had been
fishing all night long, and orat least, at least James, john
(18:03):
and Peter were fishing all nightlong.
And so Jesus said to them hesaid, well, I'm just going to go
ahead and just read it, becauseit's not that long and that way
I won't mess it up.
So it was as the multitudepressed about him, so as a whole
bunch of people weresurrounding Jesus, basically to
hear the word of God, he stoodby the lake of Bethlehem and saw
(18:27):
two boats standing by the lake,but the fishermen had gone from
them and were washing theirnets.
So in other words, they hadbeen out all night long.
They were tired, they werecleaning up and getting ready to
go to bed.
Then he got into one of theboats which was Simon's and this
is Simon Peter and asked him toput out a little from the land.
So in other words, put yourboat out just a little bit so
(18:48):
that people can't crowd me, butthat I can see the whole crowd
and he sat down and he taughtthe multitude from the boat.
When he had stopped speaking,he said to Simon again Peter,
launch out into the deep and letdown your net for a catch.
But Simon answered and said tohim master, we have toiled all
night and caught nothing.
Nevertheless, at your word, Iwill let down the net.
(19:09):
So, in other words, we had beenfishing all night long.
We're super, super tired, butyou know what?
If that's what you want us todo, that's what we're going to
do.
And when they had done this,they caught a great number of
fish and their net was breaking.
So they signaled to theirpartners in the other boat to
come and help them.
And they came and filled boththe boats, so they began to sink
them.
(19:31):
And they came and filled boththe boats, so they began to sink
.
Think about that.
I don't know how big theirboats were back then, but both
of the boats were sinkingbecause of all of the fish that
Jesus had allowed them to catchin the natural.
When Simon Peter saw it, hefell down at Jesus' knees,
saying depart from me, for I ama sinful man, o Lord.
For he and all who were withhim were astonished at the catch
of the fish.
So not only were James, john,peter and Andrew there, but the
(19:56):
multitude that he had just gotdone preaching to were also
there and witnessing the miracle.
They were astonished at thecatch of fish which they had
taken, but so also were Jamesand John, the sons of Zebedee,
who were partners with Simon.
So they were in the other boatand Jesus said to Simon do not
be afraid, from now on you willcatch men.
So when they brought theirboats to land, they forsook all
(20:18):
and followed him.
And there's just so much truthto learn from that short 11
chapters in the Bible.
So, first off, when Jesus callsus to do something, it's going
to succeed.
How do we know when it's Jesustalking to us and when it's not
Jesus talking to us?
(20:39):
Well, that I don't have ananswer for, except pray about it
, and the Holy Spirit will giveyou peace or not give you peace.
And sometimes we just have toput our foot in the river, as we
learned from Joshua way back inthe Old Testament.
Sometimes we just have to putour foot in the river and just
try it out and say, okay, isthis something that is biblical?
(21:00):
Is this something that wouldplease God if I did it, and if
so, then sometimes we just gotto put our foot in the river and
see if it's exactly what Godwants us to do.
But other times he speaks very,very clearly to us and he lets
us know this is what I want youto do, this is what you need to
do, and I've had those instancesin my life where God has been
(21:20):
very clear and said I want youto volunteer to help in a
position that hasn't even beenadvertised, and I felt really
stupid doing it.
I'm like, okay, he didn't evenask for any help, and yet I'm
asking him if I can help.
And, sure enough, when I didthat, it was you have no idea
the answer to prayer that youare, and that was because I
(21:41):
didn't know, but God did know.
And so when God is involved andwhen God is in charge, it's
going to happen, it will succeedand it will be.
It might not be well, it won'tbe in our timing, but it will
definitely be in God's timing.
So I want to encourage youabout that part, and sometimes
we can be working at somethingin our own strength all night
(22:03):
long and be weary and tired, butas soon as Jesus gets involved,
as soon as it is his timing, itall will come together.
So there's another part that Iwant to encourage you with.
And then miracles do stillhappen today.
So there's so much that we cantake from that one particular
(22:23):
story and I just absolutelypositively love that story.
And Jesus not only took care ofthem in the natural, but his
whole purpose was to win.
He said today you fish for fish, but from now on you're going
to be fishers of men, meaning Iwant you to be on my team, I
want you to be one of my 12disciples and we're going to go
(22:46):
and preach the gospel and we'regoing to go share the truth with
all the people who don't knowit.
So not only is God concerned,but he also took care of their
physical needs.
He took care of them by havingthem get the fish as well.
So that's the other part that Ijust want to encourage people
(23:20):
with, and that is that God takescare of our physical needs, and
that is that God takes care ofour physical needs, but he also
will set things up so that wewas part of the select 12 of
Jesus, like for three years, andthree years seems like such a
(23:42):
short amount of time and theydidn't think it was.
They didn't even know at thetime that it was only going to
be for three years, three and ahalf years.
They probably thought they haddecades with him.
So I guess that's the otherthing that I want to encourage
people with is we don't know howlong we have.
We don't know when Jesus iscoming back.
We don't and he does it thatway on purpose need to make the
(24:05):
most of all the situations thatwe are, all the opportunities
that we're given, not to thepoint where we run ourselves
ragged and we burn ourselves out, but to the point where we're
listening to his voice, we'relistening to what he wants us to
do, and then we're doing thatin the Holy Spirit's strength.
(24:26):
We're asking for the HolySpirit to give us the strength
to fulfill the purpose that Godhas for us.
So those are just kind of someof the thoughts that I had as I
was studying and thinking aboutthe 12 disciples.
So what are your thoughts?
Speaker 1 (24:40):
Tara Well, a couple.
But I think one of the things Iwant to touch on is one of the
scriptures, a part of thescripture, the 11 verses that
you were talking about, wherethe disciples are kind of going.
We've toiled all night and wehaven't gotten anything.
(25:04):
And within what a span of a fewminutes.
They had so much when Jesus wasinvolved, when Jesus got
involved, they had so much thatthe boat almost sank right.
And to me that is such a hugepromise, sherri, because how
(25:24):
many times have we done thingsfor God and we're like Lord?
We have just toiled and toiled,and toiled.
We have toiled with our family,I have toiled with my career, I
have toiled with this ministry,I have toiled with the things
that you have placed in my handand or the people.
And it's all night, all season,all decade, most of my life.
(25:49):
And you know, there's just beenno progress made.
And it's so easy to gethopeless right, to just be like
it's never going to change,they're never going to change,
the job is never going to change, the career is never going to
change.
I don't even know why I comeout here every time.
Try to get some fish, so tospeak.
(26:10):
You know, because nothing'sgoing to change.
But then when Jesus shows up onthe scene, you know, all of a
sudden, everything that you havetoiled for comes to you in
abundance and it comes fast.
It didn't come in a week's time, that happened in one.
As soon as they met Jesus, itwas within a matter of minutes,
(26:32):
and I just think that'ssomething that the purpose one
of the purposes, I believe, ofScripture is to say hey, god's
got this, he's there with you.
It may seem like you're toilingand you're seeing no results,
but he's just saying hey, justwait a minute, just wait a
minute, just wait a minute.
When I get my hands on this andI bless you and I continue to
(26:56):
show you the things that need tobe done, you're going to be
blessed beyond measure and Ithink that is just such an
amazing promise to hold on to,because it's just knowing that,
if we have Jesus on our side,that we're going to come out,
that everything's going to workout okay.
It may seem like we're toilingin vain, but Jesus is just
(27:17):
probably just like just hold on,just have patience, it's all
going to work out.
In my timing it's going to workout and, trust me, it's going
to work out better for you too,got better for you too.
And the second thing is, youwere talking more.
Oh, it wants to flee me rightnow.
(27:38):
What was it?
Anyway, it'll come back to mebecause and I think it has
something to do with anotherpart of the scripture oh, I know
what it was.
Okay, you had mentioned how thedisciples were only with him
for three years maybe three anda half, and to me that is.
(28:01):
And within those three years,walking with Jesus, being in a
relationship with Jesus, heinfluenced, impacted their life
so much that not only did theylearn from him, learn his ways,
listen to his teaching, sit athis feet, listen to his teaching
, watch the miracles, helpperform miracles, because, if
(28:23):
I'm not mistaken, the same Jamesand John that were his
disciples were also called thesons of thunder.
Am I right, sherry?
Yes, yes.
So, I think those, yes.
So within that short period oftime they saw miracles.
They were able to performmiracles.
The Sons of Thunder were readyto pull down like fire from
heaven, you know, to likecompletely set a town ablaze,
(28:48):
because they felt like thatJesus had been slighted in a way
.
And so it's like they performedmiracles.
They saw healings, they saw andwitnessed so many things that
just ramped, that just inspiredthem in their faith so much.
Now we're just talking threeand a half years, and to the
point to where almost all ofthem were martyred for their
(29:10):
faith.
That's how far walking in arelationship, being in a
relationship with Jesus, can do.
And some of us have beenwalking with the Lord for a lot
longer than three and a halfyears and we have seen, we have
witnessed all of those things.
So don't worry that yourtoiling is in vain.
(29:31):
God has it all, he's got it allcovered, all in his perfect
timing.
For some it takes longer, forothers, excuse me for some it
may take longer than others, butjust, you're never going to go
wrong by having a relationshipand walking deeply with the Lord
.
You just can't.
(29:51):
And we've all probably witnessedmaybe, those Christians who
were sinners last week and thisweek they're on fire for the
Lord and it's like you've onlybeen walking with Jesus for a
week.
But what they know, that youprobably don't know, is the
change that is in them, like itwas so vast, it was so deep, it
(30:11):
was so they were so gutted outfrom the person they were to the
person that they is nowsomething that they thought
would never be able to happen,that now they just can't stop
talking about Jesus.
And so it only took that oneencounter with him, that one
introduction to him, that onesermon about him, them
surrendering their life to him,that changed their lives forever
(30:33):
.
And that's exactly whathappened to the disciples.
So you can never go wrongwalking with Jesus.
That's all I wanted to add.
I hope all that made sense,sherri.
Speaker 2 (30:44):
Oh, it did.
And the only thing that I wantto add to what you said and I
didn't even think about thisuntil you started talking was
what would have happened if theyhad said, no.
If you said, put it out, youknow, cast out your thing on the
other side, and if they said,no, we're tired, we're going
home, we let you borrow our boat.
Well, we really didn't have achoice, because you just kind of
(31:06):
took our boat and we're done,we're going home, we'll come
back next week.
What would have happened?
And I don't know about you, kara, but I do not want to miss any
opportunity that God wants togive me and when we go to heaven
and we talk to all thedifferent disciples up there and
(31:26):
we find out how they weremartyred because that's the only
thing that you could say to me,because I used to be a person
of fear and I'll I'll admit Istill have moments of fear that
I have to fight, but, um, so Ican I can see myself saying well
, yeah, but they were allmartyred for their faith and
prime.
And peter, he wouldn't evenallow himself to be crucified in
(31:49):
the same direction that Jesuswas he got?
crucified upside down becausehe's like I do not even have.
I am not worthy to be crucifiedright side up like my Lord.
I need to be crucified upsidedown because I'm not even worthy
of his position, of hisposition.
And so I can guarantee you,without having talked to any of
(32:12):
them yet, that I can guaranteeyou, when we go up to heaven and
we say, okay, so you have thatchance, you had that opportunity
to tell Jesus no and not lethim or not obey him and let the
things out, and maybe youwouldn't have been martyred then
, but would you have changed itfor the world.
And I can guarantee you,without having ever talked to
(32:35):
them, that they would say not onyour life, it was the best
thing that ever happened to usever, and we would do it again
in a heartbeat and beingmartyred.
I'm not saying, trust me, I'mnot saying that it's easy.
I'm not saying that it's notpainful.
I'm not saying that it's easy.
I'm not saying that it's notpainful.
I'm not saying that it's nothorrific.
I am saying all of those thingsthat it is horrific and it is
(32:55):
horrible and it breaks my heartfor everybody who's persecuted
for their faith or just murderedsenselessly for no reason.
But the pain of that, I believeagain.
I've never been tortured orpersecuted, I'm still alive.
But I believe that the pain forthat that's temporary is
(33:17):
nothing compared to the glorystanding before our Heavenly
Father saying do it again in aheartbeat, because I would never
, ever, ever, reject you or denyyou, betray you.
That's the word that I'm tryingto say.
So that is the.
(33:38):
That's the only other.
I went off on a rabbit trail,but the only other thought that
I had was what if they had saidno and I'm so glad they didn't
had said no, and I'm so gladthey didn't?
And I pray that when God givesme opportunities, that I never
say no, that I always say yesand that I always obey, and that
(33:58):
I always put my foot in theriver and do whatever it is that
he wants me to do, because whoam I to know when that miracle
is going to come?
I don't Only God does.
And they would have missed outon that amazing miracle if they
had said no and I do not want toever miss out on the miracle
that God wants to give mebecause I'm too tired, or
(34:20):
because I'm too occupied, or I'mtoo busy, too depressed and not
full of hope just despair,right.
Yes, exactly, and so that's kindof what we want to leave you
with.
One, you are made perfectly theway that you are.
God created you and knit you inyour mother's womb.
(34:41):
He had you thought up anddecided upon in his own mind and
in his own self long before youwere ever, long before your
parents were ever even remotelyborn themselves, let alone
thinking about having children.
So you are not a mistake.
You are precious in yourpersonality and your
(35:04):
characteristic traits may be toomuch for some people, but they
are not too much for God.
You are absolutely perfect theway that you are made.
Now, sometimes God needs tomold us and create us and and
help us to be refined in some ofour things, but that's between
you and God.
So you just know that you areperfectly made the way that you
(35:27):
are.
And second, I just want toencourage you that God is always
with us, that when we bring himinto the equation and we ask
him to be in charge, then wehave less of those.
Not, it doesn't cancel out thelong night of fishing with no
results ever.
We'll still have those moments.
(35:48):
But we'll have less of thosemoments when they put God in
charge from the get-go and we'llhave more of those miracle
moments of put it out on theother side or go home and take a
nap today and we're going tofish fresh tomorrow.
The more we listen to God'svoice, the more miracle moments
we'll have and the less longnight with nothing moments.
(36:09):
But you know what, even thoselong night moments, if you're
kind of in a season of longnight moments right now and
you're just kind of gettingdiscouraged, don't be
discouraged.
Instead, ask God what is itthat you're trying to teach me
from these long nights?
Because sometimes God has toget us into the middle of quiet
in order for us to really hearhis voice and to make those
(36:32):
pivot shifts that we need, thathe needs us to make in order for
the miracle to happen.
So just be encouraged that youare.
Nothing that happens in yourlife is a mistake.
Nothing that happens in yourlife can't be used by God, but
he will use it.
Romans 8, 28 is one of myfavorite verses.
All things work for good tothose who love him and are
(36:54):
called according to his purpose.
If you are God's child, then heloves you and you are called
according to his purpose, sothat verse is fit for you.
So, having said all that, thatis just kind of a small, small,
small introduction to thedisciples.
I encourage you to read the NewTestament Matthew, mark, luke
(37:15):
and John, the four gospels.
They talk a lot about thedisciples.
And then my favorite book of theBible, acts, talks again more
about the disciples and it talksabout the strength that they
received from the power of theHoly Spirit and their boldness
that they got because of it.
And that goes back to what westarted to talk about at the
(37:36):
very beginning of the podcasttoday.
And it's the power of the HolySpirit that the authors are so
eloquently able to write about,these fictional characters that
exhibit the power of the HolySpirit, and it just it awakens
it enough in the reader or atleast it did in me that I'm like
I want what she's having, andthe fun thing about it is that
(37:59):
we can have it, that God givesit to us, and we can have it not
in a fictional way, but we canhave it in a real, genuine way,
just like the disciples did, andit will change your life the
way that it has changed my life,the way that it changed the
disciples' lives.
So, if you are well, actually,before I go into the verse and
(38:20):
before I go into having youreach out to us, if you want the
power of the Holy Spirit, youfirst need to get a relationship
with God.
And Romans 10, 9 tells us thatwhen we confess with our mouths
and believe in our hearts thatJesus is Lord, we will be saved.
So I'm inviting you to pray thatprayer with me, if that is what
(38:44):
you want, if you want a genuinerelationship with God, it
starts with a prayer.
It starts with asking him intoyour heart and surrendering your
life to his, to him that hewill be in charge.
Does it mean that you'll get itright all the time?
No, but he doesn't expect thatHis disciples weren't perfect,
and he doesn't ask us to beperfect either.
But if this is something thathas been on your mind, if the
(39:07):
Holy Spirit is drawing you tohave this relationship with God,
don't wait another day, don'twait another minute, but pray
that prayer with me right now,so we will pray.
Oh, heavenly Father, I come toyou in Jesus' name.
I believe you died on the crossand that you rose again and
you're seated on the throne.
(39:28):
Jesus, forgive me for all thatI have 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 right now, I just want to say
welcome to the family and I amso, so happy for you because you
(39:49):
have made the best decisionthat you could ever make in your
life.
If you did that, we encourageyou to reach out to us at the
cheeruppodcast at gmailcom andlet us know that you made that
decision.
We want to celebrate that withyou.
We also encourage you to join aBible believing church, and one
(40:10):
of the things that God put onmy heart was to start a
membership to help people growtheir relationship with God, to
make their relationship with Goda priority and something that
is just a part of their everydaylife.
So if that's something thatinterests you and you want to
know more about that, you canhead over to Sherry Swalwell on
(40:33):
my website and you can look atthe Jesus in the Everyday
Membership and find out what allthat entails, and I'm
encouraging you, or inviting youto come join that community If
you are interested in seeingwhat Kara writes and also the
other different things that sheoffers on her website, as well
(40:56):
as audiobooks.
So if you like to read fictionor listen to fiction, head over
to KaraRHuntcom and you can findout all of her different
fiction series, and she writesamazing books.
Lydia, paper Dolls, Lydia isanother one that she just has
that fingerprint of God, theprayer.
(41:17):
She is just such a prayerwarrior in her prayer closet
that you will be touched by thatbook.
If you want to read aboutpeople who live out their faith,
every single one of thecharacters in the Habakkuk
series, the paper doll series,lives out their faith, but Lydia
, her and Eve, they're probablymy favorite when it comes to
(41:39):
that.
So I encourage you to checkthose books out.
But you have to start with PaperDolls because you have to be
introduced to all the dolls andthe baby dolls, the minor
characters.
It's just an amazing series.
I truly feel like they're myfriends and I'm not just saying
that because Kara's my friend,but I have loved her.
In fact, it's because offiction and because of the way
(42:01):
that she writes that she and Iwere actually introduced to each
other.
We talked about that on thepodcast before, so if you're
interested you can reach out tous at the email and we will be
happy to share the story of howwe came to know each other
through fiction.
But as our verse for thepodcast says, in John 16, 33,
(42:24):
jesus speaks these things I havespoken to you that in me you
may have peace In the world.
You will have tribulation, butbe of good cheer.
I have overcome the world.
I absolutely love that hestarts with a positive In me you
will have peace.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, there'stribulation in the world, but be
of good cheer, don't forget.
(42:44):
Cheer up because I haveovercome the world, and that is
what we need.
To remember that, regardless ofall the bad things that twirl
around us, be of good cheerbecause God has overcome the
world.
So that is what I want to leaveyou with this morning or this
afternoon, whenever you'relistening to us.
So I'm encouraging you to be ofgood cheer today, have a great
(43:07):
day, a wonderful week, and wewill talk to you again next
Wednesday.
Thank you.
Hi and welcome to the Cheer Up Podcast.
I am your host, kara R Hunt,and with me, as always, is the
beautiful and fabulous SherriSwalwell.
How are you today, sherri?
Speaker 2 (00:37):
Well, except for coughing, right then, I am doing
great.
But instead of talking aboutthe weather, like we usually do,
I want to talk about somethingthat actually ties really really
well into what we're talkingabout, or our topic of today.
But you well, I want to talkabout fiction books and not like
not a big, huge discussionabout them.
(00:59):
But I know about you somethingyou love legal fiction.
Speaker 1 (01:05):
Oh yes.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
And I recently read my first, like I had been
wanting to read this author fora long time, and within the last
couple of months I read thisguy, robert Whitlow, and I read
his book Double Amenity.
And the reason I bring him upis one I know that you
absolutely love legal fictionand it's not the legal fiction
part that I want to talk about.
It is.
(01:28):
I love when writers talk aboutcharacters that love the Lord
and have a super closerelationship with God, and not
just God, but the Holy Spiritwith God, and not just God, but
the Holy Spirit.
And so there were these minorcharacters in this book Double
(01:48):
Amenity by Robert Whitlow, ifyou are interested in checking
it out and Clayton and Sarah,and they're married and Sarah
just has this, she just has herheart or her hand.
I guess that's the right phrase.
I'm terrible at phrases and,trust me, coming into one of my
other books, I'm going to writeit into one of my characters
because I know it so well,because I am like horrible with
(02:10):
phrases, I get them wrong allthe time.
But that's a side note.
But this Sarah, she has herfingerprints, or her finger, on
the heart of God and she madethis.
Comment because Connor is thepastor of this church.
Speaker 1 (02:27):
comment because Connor is the pastor of this
church.
Speaker 2 (02:29):
And so he had, god had given him a revelation and
he had, he had tried to expressit or tried to share it in a
sermon, and he bombed because hedidn't understand it enough
himself before he tried toexplain it to other people.
And I kind of feel like that'sthe season I'm in right now that
God is like downloading thingsto me and they need to let it
marinate before I share it withothers because it's going to
(02:50):
bomb otherwise.
But that's exactly what Sarahsaid to him, like she she's so
blunt with her observations ofhim in a good, loving way, like
in a Christlike way, but she'slike the seed needs to have time
to germinate before it isfertilized, or something like
that.
I tried to find it again, theexact phrase, and of course I
(03:11):
couldn't.
And I was like, okay, I, Ican't remember exactly where it
was in the book.
Next time I'll have to mark itas I'm reading it.
But it just really struck me.
And then I think about, likeKaren Kingsbury, she has a
completely different style ofwriting and she does the exact
same thing, though Hercharacters just really, really
grab on to the heart of God.
And then Dee Henderson, shewrites, she has these really
(03:36):
long, long books.
Speaker 1 (03:37):
Military type novels right yeah.
Speaker 2 (03:40):
Yep, but then she also yes, and so or FBI or
things like that.
One character, Anne, shows upin a bunch of her newer books?
Speaker 1 (03:44):
She hasn't, then she also yes, and so or?
Speaker 2 (03:45):
FBI or things like that.
Anne shows up in a bunch of hernewer books.
She hasn't written in a longtime, so, d, if you are ever
listening to this podcast,please, please, please, write
some more, because I absolutelylove your writing and I've read
them all and I will reread thembecause they're just so amazing.
But anyway, she writes aboutthis lady, anne, who has like
this intense, super personalrelationship with God, and so,
(04:08):
as I'm reading these books, I'mlike Jesus.
That's who I want to be Like.
I want to be just like thesepeople.
And the reason I bring that up.
You're probably thinking okay,why are we talking about Robert
Whitlow and all of thesecharacters?
Because that is kind of the way, like it's a great segue into
talking about the disciples thisweek, because all of the
disciples are just a hodgepodgeof people and of personalities
(04:33):
and of different characteristics, but yet they all have their
finger on God's heart, or Godhas his finger on their heart,
or however.
It is that you're supposed tosay it.
What we're talking about today,and that is what I absolutely
love.
God loved us so much and hecreated all of us the way he did
(04:56):
on purpose.
Like there have been times,especially in the last couple of
weeks where I have literallyalmost said to my husband, like
why are you even married to me?
Because it seems like all I dois annoy you.
And that's not true.
That's just my hormones talking.
So don't think that he and Iare headed on the brink of
disaster or anything, becausewe're not.
That was just I had to get ridof my hormone treatment or my
(05:17):
supplement for a while becauseof my impending surgery.
So I'm like, okay, I'm justgoing to be crying for a little
bit.
Um, my impending surgery.
So I'm like, okay, I'm justgoing to be crying for a little
bit, don't worry about it, I'llget regulated again soon.
And um, so you know, all thosestupid thoughts go through your
head.
So, trust me, he and I are fine.
But but my point is is that, asI was even saying that out loud,
I'm like, no, god made me theway he did and he made me
(05:39):
perfectly the way that he did.
Like I am perfect for Sherry,I'm not perfect for Kara, I'm
not perfect for my husband orfor my daughter or for whoever,
I'm perfect for Sherry.
And that is kind of like theintroduction to the disciples
today, because they are such ahodgepodge of personality traits
(06:02):
and characteristics and allkinds of things, but yet their
one common denominator is thatthey loved God enough to trust
Him.
They loved God enough to pursueHim, even though they didn't
completely understand everythingabout Him.
And I just I love that infiction, but I love it even more
(06:25):
in real life.
So, before we dive into thedisciples, what do you think of
my little discovery right there?
Speaker 1 (06:34):
I actually you're getting me in trouble because
you keep giving me books to addto my list and authors to add to
my readers list.
And I am an avid reader.
For those of you who do notknow, of course both of us are
authors, but we're also avidreaders of nonfiction and novels
(06:56):
.
And boy, I have heard of RobertWhitlow, but I don't think I've
ever read any of his novels.
Really, yeah, it is weirdBecause, like you said, he
(07:16):
writes.
Maybe I don't think I knew thathe wrote legal novels.
I think I thought he wrotesomething else.
You know a different genre, sothat could be it, but you're
absolutely right, I love legalthrillers and I love political
thrillers.
You know a different genre, sothat could be it, but you're
absolutely right, I love legalthrillers and I love political
thrillers, you know, and I meanI can just binge on those for
like the whole entire summer andare any type of mystery,
(07:37):
thriller, suspense type novels.
But again, I like theChristian-based ones that have
Christian characters in themthat are able to overcome
unimaginable odds and that havesubstance to them.
You know that there's just nota legal plot or political plot,
(07:58):
but then the whole overwhelming,unseen arch of the book is
their faith and theirrelationship with God.
So I can't wait to download orget one of his novels, to get
one of his paperbacks since youmentioned it Because it sounds
really, really good and I cansay, and it ties right into the
(08:20):
disciples and their characters.
Speaker 2 (08:22):
So you have to start with double amenity because I
just totally fell in love.
I'm sure I was supposed to fallin love with the main
characters, Connor and Liz Ithink are the, and they were
great, Don't get me wrong.
But I just absolutely fell inlove with Liz because she, oh
she, just her faith, like shewore her faith on her sleeve,
(08:42):
Like she was who, she was whoshe was, no matter where she was
, whether she was at home,whether she was at church,
whether she was out on thestreet, whatever.
And she was such a minorcharacter, Like she didn't show
up that often but man, when shedid, she delivered a peaceful
but powerful punch and that iswho I want to be and that goes
(09:05):
right in.
Speaker 1 (09:06):
She walked it out, she walked her faith out in real
life.
She walked it out, yes, andthat is who I want to be Like.
Speaker 2 (09:12):
I don't want anyone when I die.
I don't want anyone to be like,well, okay, let's just say
y'all gather at my funeral andyou know, feel free to come or
don't come, your choice.
But if you're at my funeral Idon't want like people to be
talking and be like, huh, that'snot the Sherry I knew, what,
what?
No, I want it to be absolutely.
(09:33):
She was always spot on.
The Sherry you knew is theSherry I know.
It's the Sherry you know herfamily knew.
And it's the Sher whatever,whatever, like I.
I just authenticity, genuine,own my mistakes and all like.
That's who I want to be.
But I want to be known assomebody who, regardless of what
(09:57):
the world, you know, what cameat her from the world, whatever
you know she dealt with, shedealt with with a strength and a
faith in God.
And that's kind of how I feel,like the disciples are.
So when I was looking up thedisciples to talk about them
(10:18):
today, I'm like, okay, so whoexactly are they?
So the Bible tells us that theywere Peter, james, john, andrew
, philip, judas Iscariot,matthew, thomas, another James.
This one's the son of AlpheusBartholomew, another Judas,
judas Thaddeus this time.
And Simon's Delicus.
Now Peter later gets changed toSimon, if I'm remembering right
(10:40):
.
God changed his name.
He called or maybe Simon Peter.
He ended up calling him SimonPeter, and Peter means the rock.
And so Jesus said that you arethe one on whom I will build my
church, or the rock is on whom Iwill build my church.
But the thing that I love somuch is that all of the
disciples were so different.
(11:00):
So Peter, james, john andAndrew they were all fishermen.
Matthew was a tax collector.
We talked about him when wetalked about Matthew back in
November and we talked about howpeople were not very, they
didn't really like taxcollectors, because tax
collectors were kind of like.
(11:20):
They were known to be dirty,they were known to do things
illegally or on the side.
They were known to cheat people, which I don't know.
If Matthew was one of thosetypes of tax collectors, he
might've been an honest taxcollector, but tax collectors in
general got a bad rap and got abad reputation or had a bad
(11:44):
reputation.
And then Judas, iscariot he'sthe one who ended up being the
traitor.
So for those of you who areunfamiliar with the Bible and
unfamiliar with the disciplesduring the Last Supper, which
was right before Jesus gotarrested, which was right.
So this happened on Maundy.
(12:04):
Thursday was the Last Supperwas right, so this happened on
Monday.
Thursday was the last supper,and during the last supper Jesus
said the person that I sharethis bread with is going to
betray me, and then, or that weboth dip our bread into the oil
or whatever it is we're sharingthis thing.
And then Judas Iscariot did it.
Right then, and the Bible talksabout how the disciples were
confused with that, because theydidn't realize that Jesus meant
(12:27):
that Judas was going to betrayhim.
Betray him meaning get himarrested and eventually he would
hang on the cross.
They thought that he was likecheating, because he was the
treasure, he was the one thatkept all their money, and so
they thought that maybe he wasjust cheating jesus with the
(12:48):
money they didn't, or betrayinghim with the money.
They didn't realize that thathe meant betray, betray, um, and
so.
So that is judas iscariot.
He ended up going and hanginghimself, and then um, one of the
other disciples that I namedended up taking his place, so
that there were always 12.
But not only were there these12 disciples that God or Jesus
(13:12):
called personally, calledhimself, but there was an inner
three within this 12 that Jesuswas especially close with, and
those were Peter, james and John.
Now James and John, I believe,were brothers.
And then Peter, he was the onethat during the whole after
(13:35):
Jesus got arrested, so duringthe whole weekend of his
crucifixion, he said to Peter,right beforehand, right before
the Last Supper and thecelebration started, he said to
Peter he said you will deny methree times before the rooster
crows in the morning, so in lessthan 12 hours, six hours,
whatever you will deny me.
(13:56):
And Peter said absolutely not,lord, how in the heck do you
even say that about me?
I would never deny you, andsure enough, we should never
argue with Jesus, tara, ever,because he is always right.
And sure enough, before therooster crowed that morning,
peter had denied him three times.
But instead of becoming bitteror instead of turning away,
(14:18):
instead of living in that shameand that guilt and I can't
believe I did this and he wasright in that shame and that
guilt, and I can't believe I didthis and he was right, and you
know, blah, blah, blah it turnedout to be a turning point for
Peter and Peter ended up isn'the the one that ended up
preaching and having whateverybody claims is like the
first megachurch, that 3,000people after the Holy Spirit or
(14:41):
after, yeah, after the whole, soafter Jesus rose from the dead
and then he was with them forfor 40 days and then he ascended
up into heaven.
Isn't Peter the one that waspreaching the word and preaching
the truth?
And 3,000 people got saved inone day?
Wasn't that Peter?
Speaker 1 (14:57):
I can't remember, but I think it was.
So Peter ended up going to andI kind of think that has
something to do with theCatholic foundations of the
church too, but don't quote meon that everyone, because I
haven't double-checked, but Ithink it was.
Speaker 2 (15:10):
So he ended up like there are so many truths that we
can take from the disciplesthat they first off, they lived,
walked and breathed with Jesusfor three years during his
ministry and yet even they stillhad questions and they had
doubts.
Jesus never got mad at them fortheir questions and their
doubts.
He walked with them throughthem and sometimes he said
(15:34):
things like, oh, I don'tunderstand why you have little
faith, and he would shake hishead.
But he never punished them, henever belittled them, he never
made them feel bad for theirdoubts.
He understood, like he was Godand he knew the truth.
But he also knew that we wereall human and he knew that the
(15:54):
people that he had chosen to towalk with him were human and
would make mistakes, and he wasokay with that.
Like he didn't, he doesn'tleave us in our confusion.
He doesn't leave us in ourquestioning.
He doesn't leave us in ourconfusion.
He doesn't leave us in ourquestioning.
He doesn't leave us in ourdoubt.
He rises us or helps us to riseto the next level, but he never
shames us.
(16:14):
He never makes us feel bad forwhat we don't know, and he,
jesus, comes and takes us fromwhere we are to where we need to
be.
He will never condemn us forour sins, but he will instead
help us to change, to be thepeople that he originally
(16:37):
created us to be.
So he will show us the needthat we have for a savior, and
then he will help us.
He won't leave us in the pigflop, he won't leave us in the
dirt and the mire that we gotourselves in, but instead he
will help us to heal, he willhelp us to grow and he will help
us to change, to become moreand more like Him, and that's
(16:57):
through the power of the HolySpirit.
And of all the different storiesabout the disciples, of all the
different events that happenedin the Bible about the disciples
, I thought which one do I wantto talk about?
Which one is my favorite?
And my absolute favorite onecomes from Luke five, and this
is just kind of like I don'tknow.
(17:17):
I've kind of taken this storyon as like a promise from God.
It's just, I don't know.
It's just really, reallypersonal to me, and what it is
is.
This is when Jesus called.
It says the four fishermencalled his disciples.
So Jesus called the fourfishermen that I talked about
earlier Peter, james, john andAndrew.
(17:38):
And so what happened is Jesusis walking down the beach and he
sees these two boats.
And what usually happened backthen is that the fishermen would
fish at night.
And so the fishermen Peter,james, john and Andrew had been
fishing all night long, and orat least, at least James, john
(18:03):
and Peter were fishing all nightlong.
And so Jesus said to them hesaid, well, I'm just going to go
ahead and just read it, becauseit's not that long and that way
I won't mess it up.
So it was as the multitudepressed about him, so as a whole
bunch of people weresurrounding Jesus, basically to
hear the word of God, he stoodby the lake of Bethlehem and saw
(18:27):
two boats standing by the lake,but the fishermen had gone from
them and were washing theirnets.
So in other words, they hadbeen out all night long.
They were tired, they werecleaning up and getting ready to
go to bed.
Then he got into one of theboats which was Simon's and this
is Simon Peter and asked him toput out a little from the land.
So in other words, put yourboat out just a little bit so
(18:48):
that people can't crowd me, butthat I can see the whole crowd
and he sat down and he taughtthe multitude from the boat.
When he had stopped speaking,he said to Simon again Peter,
launch out into the deep and letdown your net for a catch.
But Simon answered and said tohim master, we have toiled all
night and caught nothing.
Nevertheless, at your word, Iwill let down the net.
(19:09):
So, in other words, we had beenfishing all night long.
We're super, super tired, butyou know what?
If that's what you want us todo, that's what we're going to
do.
And when they had done this,they caught a great number of
fish and their net was breaking.
So they signaled to theirpartners in the other boat to
come and help them.
And they came and filled boththe boats, so they began to sink
them.
(19:31):
And they came and filled boththe boats, so they began to sink
.
Think about that.
I don't know how big theirboats were back then, but both
of the boats were sinkingbecause of all of the fish that
Jesus had allowed them to catchin the natural.
When Simon Peter saw it, hefell down at Jesus' knees,
saying depart from me, for I ama sinful man, o Lord.
For he and all who were withhim were astonished at the catch
of the fish.
So not only were James, john,peter and Andrew there, but the
(19:56):
multitude that he had just gotdone preaching to were also
there and witnessing the miracle.
They were astonished at thecatch of fish which they had
taken, but so also were Jamesand John, the sons of Zebedee,
who were partners with Simon.
So they were in the other boatand Jesus said to Simon do not
be afraid, from now on you willcatch men.
So when they brought theirboats to land, they forsook all
(20:18):
and followed him.
And there's just so much truthto learn from that short 11
chapters in the Bible.
So, first off, when Jesus callsus to do something, it's going
to succeed.
How do we know when it's Jesustalking to us and when it's not
Jesus talking to us?
(20:39):
Well, that I don't have ananswer for, except pray about it
, and the Holy Spirit will giveyou peace or not give you peace.
And sometimes we just have toput our foot in the river, as we
learned from Joshua way back inthe Old Testament.
Sometimes we just have to putour foot in the river and just
try it out and say, okay, isthis something that is biblical?
(21:00):
Is this something that wouldplease God if I did it, and if
so, then sometimes we just gotto put our foot in the river and
see if it's exactly what Godwants us to do.
But other times he speaks very,very clearly to us and he lets
us know this is what I want youto do, this is what you need to
do, and I've had those instancesin my life where God has been
(21:20):
very clear and said I want youto volunteer to help in a
position that hasn't even beenadvertised, and I felt really
stupid doing it.
I'm like, okay, he didn't evenask for any help, and yet I'm
asking him if I can help.
And, sure enough, when I didthat, it was you have no idea
the answer to prayer that youare, and that was because I
(21:41):
didn't know, but God did know.
And so when God is involved andwhen God is in charge, it's
going to happen, it will succeedand it will be.
It might not be well, it won'tbe in our timing, but it will
definitely be in God's timing.
So I want to encourage youabout that part, and sometimes
we can be working at somethingin our own strength all night
(22:03):
long and be weary and tired, butas soon as Jesus gets involved,
as soon as it is his timing, itall will come together.
So there's another part that Iwant to encourage you with.
And then miracles do stillhappen today.
So there's so much that we cantake from that one particular
(22:23):
story and I just absolutelypositively love that story.
And Jesus not only took care ofthem in the natural, but his
whole purpose was to win.
He said today you fish for fish, but from now on you're going
to be fishers of men, meaning Iwant you to be on my team, I
want you to be one of my 12disciples and we're going to go
(22:46):
and preach the gospel and we'regoing to go share the truth with
all the people who don't knowit.
So not only is God concerned,but he also took care of their
physical needs.
He took care of them by havingthem get the fish as well.
So that's the other part that Ijust want to encourage people
(23:20):
with, and that is that God takescare of our physical needs, and
that is that God takes care ofour physical needs, but he also
will set things up so that wewas part of the select 12 of
Jesus, like for three years, andthree years seems like such a
(23:42):
short amount of time and theydidn't think it was.
They didn't even know at thetime that it was only going to
be for three years, three and ahalf years.
They probably thought they haddecades with him.
So I guess that's the otherthing that I want to encourage
people with is we don't know howlong we have.
We don't know when Jesus iscoming back.
We don't and he does it thatway on purpose need to make the
(24:05):
most of all the situations thatwe are, all the opportunities
that we're given, not to thepoint where we run ourselves
ragged and we burn ourselves out, but to the point where we're
listening to his voice, we'relistening to what he wants us to
do, and then we're doing thatin the Holy Spirit's strength.
(24:26):
We're asking for the HolySpirit to give us the strength
to fulfill the purpose that Godhas for us.
So those are just kind of someof the thoughts that I had as I
was studying and thinking aboutthe 12 disciples.
So what are your thoughts?
Speaker 1 (24:40):
Tara Well, a couple.
But I think one of the things Iwant to touch on is one of the
scriptures, a part of thescripture, the 11 verses that
you were talking about, wherethe disciples are kind of going.
We've toiled all night and wehaven't gotten anything.
(25:04):
And within what a span of a fewminutes.
They had so much when Jesus wasinvolved, when Jesus got
involved, they had so much thatthe boat almost sank right.
And to me that is such a hugepromise, sherri, because how
(25:24):
many times have we done thingsfor God and we're like Lord?
We have just toiled and toiled,and toiled.
We have toiled with our family,I have toiled with my career, I
have toiled with this ministry,I have toiled with the things
that you have placed in my handand or the people.
And it's all night, all season,all decade, most of my life.
(25:49):
And you know, there's just beenno progress made.
And it's so easy to gethopeless right, to just be like
it's never going to change,they're never going to change,
the job is never going to change, the career is never going to
change.
I don't even know why I comeout here every time.
Try to get some fish, so tospeak.
(26:10):
You know, because nothing'sgoing to change.
But then when Jesus shows up onthe scene, you know, all of a
sudden, everything that you havetoiled for comes to you in
abundance and it comes fast.
It didn't come in a week's time, that happened in one.
As soon as they met Jesus, itwas within a matter of minutes,
(26:32):
and I just think that'ssomething that the purpose one
of the purposes, I believe, ofScripture is to say hey, god's
got this, he's there with you.
It may seem like you're toilingand you're seeing no results,
but he's just saying hey, justwait a minute, just wait a
minute, just wait a minute.
When I get my hands on this andI bless you and I continue to
(26:56):
show you the things that need tobe done, you're going to be
blessed beyond measure and Ithink that is just such an
amazing promise to hold on to,because it's just knowing that,
if we have Jesus on our side,that we're going to come out,
that everything's going to workout okay.
It may seem like we're toilingin vain, but Jesus is just
(27:17):
probably just like just hold on,just have patience, it's all
going to work out.
In my timing it's going to workout and, trust me, it's going
to work out better for you too,got better for you too.
And the second thing is, youwere talking more.
Oh, it wants to flee me rightnow.
(27:38):
What was it?
Anyway, it'll come back to mebecause and I think it has
something to do with anotherpart of the scripture oh, I know
what it was.
Okay, you had mentioned how thedisciples were only with him
for three years maybe three anda half, and to me that is.
(28:01):
And within those three years,walking with Jesus, being in a
relationship with Jesus, heinfluenced, impacted their life
so much that not only did theylearn from him, learn his ways,
listen to his teaching, sit athis feet, listen to his teaching
, watch the miracles, helpperform miracles, because, if
(28:23):
I'm not mistaken, the same Jamesand John that were his
disciples were also called thesons of thunder.
Am I right, sherry?
Yes, yes.
So, I think those, yes.
So within that short period oftime they saw miracles.
They were able to performmiracles.
The Sons of Thunder were readyto pull down like fire from
heaven, you know, to likecompletely set a town ablaze,
(28:48):
because they felt like thatJesus had been slighted in a way
.
And so it's like they performedmiracles.
They saw healings, they saw andwitnessed so many things that
just ramped, that just inspiredthem in their faith so much.
Now we're just talking threeand a half years, and to the
point to where almost all ofthem were martyred for their
(29:10):
faith.
That's how far walking in arelationship, being in a
relationship with Jesus, can do.
And some of us have beenwalking with the Lord for a lot
longer than three and a halfyears and we have seen, we have
witnessed all of those things.
So don't worry that yourtoiling is in vain.
(29:31):
God has it all, he's got it allcovered, all in his perfect
timing.
For some it takes longer, forothers, excuse me for some it
may take longer than others, butjust, you're never going to go
wrong by having a relationshipand walking deeply with the Lord
.
You just can't.
(29:51):
And we've all probably witnessedmaybe, those Christians who
were sinners last week and thisweek they're on fire for the
Lord and it's like you've onlybeen walking with Jesus for a
week.
But what they know, that youprobably don't know, is the
change that is in them, like itwas so vast, it was so deep, it
(30:11):
was so they were so gutted outfrom the person they were to the
person that they is nowsomething that they thought
would never be able to happen,that now they just can't stop
talking about Jesus.
And so it only took that oneencounter with him, that one
introduction to him, that onesermon about him, them
surrendering their life to him,that changed their lives forever
(30:33):
.
And that's exactly whathappened to the disciples.
So you can never go wrongwalking with Jesus.
That's all I wanted to add.
I hope all that made sense,sherri.
Speaker 2 (30:44):
Oh, it did.
And the only thing that I wantto add to what you said and I
didn't even think about thisuntil you started talking was
what would have happened if theyhad said, no.
If you said, put it out, youknow, cast out your thing on the
other side, and if they said,no, we're tired, we're going
home, we let you borrow our boat.
Well, we really didn't have achoice, because you just kind of
(31:06):
took our boat and we're done,we're going home, we'll come
back next week.
What would have happened?
And I don't know about you, kara, but I do not want to miss any
opportunity that God wants togive me and when we go to heaven
and we talk to all thedifferent disciples up there and
(31:26):
we find out how they weremartyred because that's the only
thing that you could say to me,because I used to be a person
of fear and I'll I'll admit Istill have moments of fear that
I have to fight, but, um, so Ican I can see myself saying well
, yeah, but they were allmartyred for their faith and
prime.
And peter, he wouldn't evenallow himself to be crucified in
(31:49):
the same direction that Jesuswas he got?
crucified upside down becausehe's like I do not even have.
I am not worthy to be crucifiedright side up like my Lord.
I need to be crucified upsidedown because I'm not even worthy
of his position, of hisposition.
And so I can guarantee you,without having talked to any of
(32:12):
them yet, that I can guaranteeyou, when we go up to heaven and
we say, okay, so you have thatchance, you had that opportunity
to tell Jesus no and not lethim or not obey him and let the
things out, and maybe youwouldn't have been martyred then
, but would you have changed itfor the world.
And I can guarantee you,without having ever talked to
(32:35):
them, that they would say not onyour life, it was the best
thing that ever happened to usever, and we would do it again
in a heartbeat and beingmartyred.
I'm not saying, trust me, I'mnot saying that it's easy.
I'm not saying that it's notpainful.
I'm not saying that it's easy.
I'm not saying that it's notpainful.
I'm not saying that it's nothorrific.
I am saying all of those thingsthat it is horrific and it is
(32:55):
horrible and it breaks my heartfor everybody who's persecuted
for their faith or just murderedsenselessly for no reason.
But the pain of that, I believeagain.
I've never been tortured orpersecuted, I'm still alive.
But I believe that the pain forthat that's temporary is
(33:17):
nothing compared to the glorystanding before our Heavenly
Father saying do it again in aheartbeat, because I would never
, ever, ever, reject you or denyyou, betray you.
That's the word that I'm tryingto say.
So that is the.
(33:38):
That's the only other.
I went off on a rabbit trail,but the only other thought that
I had was what if they had saidno and I'm so glad they didn't
had said no, and I'm so gladthey didn't?
And I pray that when God givesme opportunities, that I never
say no, that I always say yesand that I always obey, and that
(33:58):
I always put my foot in theriver and do whatever it is that
he wants me to do, because whoam I to know when that miracle
is going to come?
I don't Only God does.
And they would have missed outon that amazing miracle if they
had said no and I do not want toever miss out on the miracle
that God wants to give mebecause I'm too tired, or
(34:20):
because I'm too occupied, or I'mtoo busy, too depressed and not
full of hope just despair,right.
Yes, exactly, and so that's kindof what we want to leave you
with.
One, you are made perfectly theway that you are.
God created you and knit you inyour mother's womb.
(34:41):
He had you thought up anddecided upon in his own mind and
in his own self long before youwere ever, long before your
parents were ever even remotelyborn themselves, let alone
thinking about having children.
So you are not a mistake.
You are precious in yourpersonality and your
(35:04):
characteristic traits may be toomuch for some people, but they
are not too much for God.
You are absolutely perfect theway that you are made.
Now, sometimes God needs tomold us and create us and and
help us to be refined in some ofour things, but that's between
you and God.
So you just know that you areperfectly made the way that you
(35:27):
are.
And second, I just want toencourage you that God is always
with us, that when we bring himinto the equation and we ask
him to be in charge, then wehave less of those.
Not, it doesn't cancel out thelong night of fishing with no
results ever.
We'll still have those moments.
(35:48):
But we'll have less of thosemoments when they put God in
charge from the get-go and we'llhave more of those miracle
moments of put it out on theother side or go home and take a
nap today and we're going tofish fresh tomorrow.
The more we listen to God'svoice, the more miracle moments
we'll have and the less longnight with nothing moments.
(36:09):
But you know what, even thoselong night moments, if you're
kind of in a season of longnight moments right now and
you're just kind of gettingdiscouraged, don't be
discouraged.
Instead, ask God what is itthat you're trying to teach me
from these long nights?
Because sometimes God has toget us into the middle of quiet
in order for us to really hearhis voice and to make those
(36:32):
pivot shifts that we need, thathe needs us to make in order for
the miracle to happen.
So just be encouraged that youare.
Nothing that happens in yourlife is a mistake.
Nothing that happens in yourlife can't be used by God, but
he will use it.
Romans 8, 28 is one of myfavorite verses.
All things work for good tothose who love him and are
(36:54):
called according to his purpose.
If you are God's child, then heloves you and you are called
according to his purpose, sothat verse is fit for you.
So, having said all that, thatis just kind of a small, small,
small introduction to thedisciples.
I encourage you to read the NewTestament Matthew, mark, luke
(37:15):
and John, the four gospels.
They talk a lot about thedisciples.
And then my favorite book of theBible, acts, talks again more
about the disciples and it talksabout the strength that they
received from the power of theHoly Spirit and their boldness
that they got because of it.
And that goes back to what westarted to talk about at the
(37:36):
very beginning of the podcasttoday.
And it's the power of the HolySpirit that the authors are so
eloquently able to write about,these fictional characters that
exhibit the power of the HolySpirit, and it just it awakens
it enough in the reader or atleast it did in me that I'm like
I want what she's having, andthe fun thing about it is that
(37:59):
we can have it, that God givesit to us, and we can have it not
in a fictional way, but we canhave it in a real, genuine way,
just like the disciples did, andit will change your life the
way that it has changed my life,the way that it changed the
disciples' lives.
So, if you are well, actually,before I go into the verse and
(38:20):
before I go into having youreach out to us, if you want the
power of the Holy Spirit, youfirst need to get a relationship
with God.
And Romans 10, 9 tells us thatwhen we confess with our mouths
and believe in our hearts thatJesus is Lord, we will be saved.
So I'm inviting you to pray thatprayer with me, if that is what
(38:44):
you want, if you want a genuinerelationship with God, it
starts with a prayer.
It starts with asking him intoyour heart and surrendering your
life to his, to him that hewill be in charge.
Does it mean that you'll get itright all the time?
No, but he doesn't expect thatHis disciples weren't perfect,
and he doesn't ask us to beperfect either.
But if this is something thathas been on your mind, if the
(39:07):
Holy Spirit is drawing you tohave this relationship with God,
don't wait another day, don'twait another minute, but pray
that prayer with me right now,so we will pray.
Oh, heavenly Father, I come toyou in Jesus' name.
I believe you died on the crossand that you rose again and
you're seated on the throne.
(39:28):
Jesus, forgive me for all thatI have 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 right now, I just want to say
welcome to the family and I amso, so happy for you because you
(39:49):
have made the best decisionthat you could ever make in your
life.
If you did that, we encourageyou to reach out to us at the
cheeruppodcast at gmailcom andlet us know that you made that
decision.
We want to celebrate that withyou.
We also encourage you to join aBible believing church, and one
(40:10):
of the things that God put onmy heart was to start a
membership to help people growtheir relationship with God, to
make their relationship with Goda priority and something that
is just a part of their everydaylife.
So if that's something thatinterests you and you want to
know more about that, you canhead over to Sherry Swalwell on
(40:33):
my website and you can look atthe Jesus in the Everyday
Membership and find out what allthat entails, and I'm
encouraging you, or inviting youto come join that community If
you are interested in seeingwhat Kara writes and also the
other different things that sheoffers on her website, as well
(40:56):
as audiobooks.
So if you like to read fictionor listen to fiction, head over
to KaraRHuntcom and you can findout all of her different
fiction series, and she writesamazing books.
Lydia, paper Dolls, Lydia isanother one that she just has
that fingerprint of God, theprayer.
(41:17):
She is just such a prayerwarrior in her prayer closet
that you will be touched by thatbook.
If you want to read aboutpeople who live out their faith,
every single one of thecharacters in the Habakkuk
series, the paper doll series,lives out their faith, but Lydia
, her and Eve, they're probablymy favorite when it comes to
(41:39):
that.
So I encourage you to checkthose books out.
But you have to start with PaperDolls because you have to be
introduced to all the dolls andthe baby dolls, the minor
characters.
It's just an amazing series.
I truly feel like they're myfriends and I'm not just saying
that because Kara's my friend,but I have loved her.
In fact, it's because offiction and because of the way
(42:01):
that she writes that she and Iwere actually introduced to each
other.
We talked about that on thepodcast before, so if you're
interested you can reach out tous at the email and we will be
happy to share the story of howwe came to know each other
through fiction.
But as our verse for thepodcast says, in John 16, 33,
(42:24):
jesus speaks these things I havespoken to you that in me you
may have peace In the world.
You will have tribulation, butbe of good cheer.
I have overcome the world.
I absolutely love that hestarts with a positive In me you
will have peace.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, there'stribulation in the world, but be
of good cheer, don't forget.
(42:44):
Cheer up because I haveovercome the world, and that is
what we need.
To remember that, regardless ofall the bad things that twirl
around us, be of good cheerbecause God has overcome the
world.
So that is what I want to leaveyou with this morning or this
afternoon, whenever you'relistening to us.
So I'm encouraging you to be ofgood cheer today, have a great
(43:07):
day, a wonderful week, and wewill talk to you again next
Wednesday.
Thank you.
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