April 9, 2025 • 31 mins
The Prodigal Son isn't just about one wayward child—it's about all of us. Whether you're the one who ran away, the resentful sibling, or trying to love like the father, this parable speaks to your heart. Have you found yourself in this story? #CheerUpPodcast #FaithJourney #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 beautiful and
saintly and kind and beautifuland glamorous and talented and
skilled Sherri Smallwell.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
How are you?
Speaker 1 (00:38):
doing today, Sherri.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
You definitely make me more than what I truly am.
Speaker 1 (00:45):
You definitely make me more than what I truly am.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
I am just grateful to be alive and grateful to be
God's child and grateful foryour friendship and just I don't
know, this is an amazing woman.
Also, I don't ever do theintroduction so I don't get to
tell people how fantastic Tarais, but she is just.
(01:08):
I am so blessed to be calledyour friend and we always tease
that we're sisters from anothermother and it's so true.
Like every time we talk, itseems like we find out that we
have even more in common witheach other, and I didn't even
think that was possible to havemore in common with you than I
already knew that we had incommon, I know.
We always find out more and moreand more Exactly, exactly.
(01:31):
I'm like, oh my gosh, that istotally me.
Or yeah, there's very fewthings that we are opposite on,
but one of them and I amsticking to this is I am not
jumping out of a plane ever, oh,oh yes, that is going to be so
exciting.
Speaker 1 (01:48):
I am looking forward to it.
I don't have anything scheduledyet but, boy, I am so looking
forward to doing it with myhusband and boys.
I just think it's going to bean experience that I'll
obviously never forget.
And I don't know, and I don'teven like the idea of free
falling.
I'm a control freak, so howdoes that even work?
(02:10):
It's like, how does that evenwork?
Because when you're freefalling like that, you're in
control of nothing.
But I don't know.
To me it's just such areflection of just trusting God
right, when you really literallyhave no control.
I think they do have somethingwhere you could, in case of an
emergency, you could try to pullthe latch or something.
(02:33):
But obviously I'm untrained,I'm not a professional sky
jumper, so I would have someoneright there with me.
But we all know that sometimesall the fail-safes that you have
don't always work.
So it's like just thatfree-falling feeling and just
knowing that in that moment Icompletely, 100% have to trust
(02:55):
God.
I don't have to think am Igoing to trust God on this
situation or I don't know?
God, I should really turn thisover to you and trust it.
No, you pretty much, reallyreally have to.
You have no choice.
The choice is, you know,literally in the air, and so
it's just one of those things,and I don't know, maybe it's
(03:16):
because I do tend sometimes tobe a control freak with certain
things in my life that I needthat release.
I honestly think that it has alot to do with it.
Does that sound crazy?
Speaker 2 (03:31):
No, no, Cause you're almost almost kind of sort of
trying to convince me, but Istill I'm still not there.
But no, it's not crazy at all,it actually sounds quite sane.
Speaker 1 (03:48):
Yeah, and it's just I don't know.
I'm kind of looking forward toit.
I'll be shaking in my boots thewhole time.
Even I'll be in my air Excuseme, be in the air, but I don't
know.
It's just interesting.
And again, as all of you know,another difference that we have
is the way we love coffee.
We both love coffee, but I'mdefinitely a dark brew girl and
(04:12):
she's definitely not.
Speaker 2 (04:16):
I do have to say, kara, except in the summertime,
when I do cold brew, the darkerthe better, because I put milk
in it.
So I have to drink my coffeesuper, super hot.
I'm like a super hot person ora super cold person.
I do not like lukewarm at all.
So when I drink my, my coffee,my iced coffee, in the
(04:37):
summertime, I put ice in it,obviously, but then that dilutes
it, because it takes me foreverto drink iced coffee.
I just really like to savor it,and so I like to have it on the
darker side, because then it'snot like water by the time I'm
done, because of the ice that Iput in.
Speaker 1 (04:53):
Oh right, because with the lighter coffee, it
would just literally be water.
Yeah, okay, yep, I can see that, so you are only turning me to
you, but only with iced coffee.
Speaker 2 (05:06):
Still not with hot coffee.
There's not a creamer for mefor dark coffee.
Speaker 1 (05:12):
Well, talk about technology when it comes to cold
and dark.
My youngest son, he's one ofthose, unlike his dad, who looks
like you either really reallycold or like hot right, and when
it comes to their drinks and hedrinks a lot of cold drinks and
, oh my gosh, do you know?
(05:33):
Because my husband and I endedup getting this for a gift and
again everyone else probablylike, yeah, cara, those have
been on the market for like thepast 15 years.
But do you know that there aremugs and thermoses that don't
look like thermoses but they'restainless steel inside that
keeps your drink cold for 24hours?
Speaker 2 (05:55):
Nice 24 hours 24 hours.
Speaker 1 (06:03):
So when my husband saw that he was like, oh my gosh
, he is so going to love thisbecause he loves his cold drinks
you know, everything else andI'm like 24 hours Now.
I knew there were thermoses outthere that kept drinks cold for
like eight maybe, and I waslike you got a really really
nice one.
But I don't even know who wouldneed a drink to stay cold for 24
(06:27):
hours.
But if you were to go to sleepovernight and you still wanted
it cold when you woke up in themorning, there it is, there you
go yeah, because I'm like, well,who would need that?
But then I'm like, okay, well,you never know right what
circumstances you may be inwhere you may need that.
I don't think I've seenanything to where it keeps
(06:51):
drinks hot for 24 hours Likethis particular.
I can't call it a device, I'lljust say mug keeps it, I think,
hot for like maybe 10 to 12.
So far I haven't seen anythingthat keeps drinks hot for 12
hours Because, excuse me, for 24hours.
Because if I did I am no matterhow much it costs I would have
(07:16):
to get that for my hubby,because he is one of those
people that when he his drinkshave to be hot all the time, and
if he wants to take a sip ofcoffee, like at 11 o'clock at
night, and if it can still behot for him, I'm all on board.
So far I haven't seen anythinglike that.
(07:38):
I guess the technology isdifferent hot versus cold to
keep it hot like steaming hotthat long.
But hey, if any of you guysknow of any products that are
out there like that, send anemail to thechirilpodcast at
gmailcom and let me know and Iwill definitely check them out,
(08:01):
because just because I don'tknow about them does not mean
they don't exist.
Definitely check them out,because just because I don't
know about them does not meanthey don't exist.
And speaking of the ChirrupPodcast, thank you to everyone
who has tuned in this morningand who have tuned in this
evening and this afternoon oreven at night, whatever time
you're listening.
We just want to say thank youfor tuning in to the Chirrup
Podcast and we welcome you andwe thank you for doing so.
(08:24):
Oh my, so now we're going topick up where we left off in the
New Testament, and today thebiblical figure we're going to
talk about is the prodigal son.
I also like some of the otherfigures in the New Testament.
They don't.
I noticed that a lot of timesthey don't have names attached
(08:45):
to them, you know, and sosometimes I want to give them a
name, um, to just humanize thema little bit more for the
listeners, but for the podcastlisteners.
But again, um, correct me ifI'm wrong.
Sherry, the prodigal son isthis did he have a name or are
we made aware of a name?
Speaker 2 (09:02):
No, and I think I kind of think the reason why God
might do that and this is justa sherry guess, it's not a, I
don't know this for sure, but Ithink it's because I think God
wants us to personalize it, forourselves he wants us to feel as
(09:28):
we're the ones that, um thatare living it, and that the
lesson that he's trying to teachis one that that we can make
personal, that's just, oh,insert our name there.
Speaker 1 (09:34):
Yeah, absolutely.
Oh, my gosh, I'm glad youmentioned that.
Yeah, that makes it so muchbetter because I'm like, well, I
know these people had names,what were they?
But you're right Keeping itvague so that we, no matter what
time zone or what culture orwhatever decade we're living in,
it's still personal.
(09:56):
We can still make it personalRight, you know, and we can just
insert our names there.
Speaker 2 (10:02):
I think that's a good explanation, sherry, yeah, well
, good, so we get to talk aboutthe prodigal son today and I had
to ask Kara.
I'm like, can I please be theone to talk about this one?
Because I, you know it's sofunny not funny, haha.
But to me it seems like thosethings that that I don't like so
(10:24):
much turn out to be the onesthat I absolutely end up not
only personalizing for my ownself but become the most
precious to me.
So like growing up, I know, Imean I knew the prodigal son, I
knew the story, but it was justa story to me.
Like it was just, yeah, ithappened long ago and so what?
(10:45):
Let's move on.
Like I love other stories more.
But I'll tell you what the moreand the more that I read and
study the prodigal son, thatparable, the more I fall in love
with it and the more I see howmuch God really loves us.
The prodigal son is about theprodigal son, but it's about so
much more.
It's about the father, it'sabout the son and it's about the
(11:06):
brother, and each story tellsus so much and unpack so many
truths to us.
So you'll find the prodigal sonin Luke 15.
It starts in chapter 15.
It starts in verse 11 and itgoes until verse 32.
And I'm not going to read it,but instead I'm going to just
(11:27):
kind of give a little bit of anoverview and then explain why
it's a story about the father,why it's a story about the
prodigal son himself and whyit's a story about his brother.
So the prodigal son goes, andthis part I will read, because
it says Jesus continued.
So he's telling parables.
It's called the parable of thelost son or the prodigal son.
(11:48):
There was a man who had two sons.
The younger one said to hisfather father, give me my share
of the property.
So he divided his propertybetween them.
Basically, he went to his dadand he said hey, I know that I
have a brother and I know thatyou're still alive and you're
still running the household, butI want my inheritance now.
(12:10):
And when you said somethinglike that to your father back
then, I mean it's bad enough tosay that to your parents in
today's standards, but back thenyou were saying I want you dead
.
You are more important to meand you are more valuable to me
dead than you are alive.
And the dad didn't bat an eye.
He didn't say hey, that isincredibly hurtful.
Hey, I can't believe you wouldactually say that to me.
(12:32):
He said nothing, he didn't batan eye.
He gave him his money, hewished him well and he sent him
on his way.
Well, all of a sudden, this songot really popular really
quickly, as most people do whohave things that other people
want.
So he squandered his moneypartying and doing all kinds of
(12:54):
things he shouldn't have beendoing.
He wakes up one day and herealizes oh my goodness, you
know I got nothing left.
So he started to see if hecould find a job because he was
so young and he needed.
You know, he was going to livefor quite a long time probably,
and so he ended up working withpig flops, with pigs and feeding
the pigs and living with thepigs and everything to do with
(13:14):
pigs.
And again, culturally, that waslike I don't want to say the
equivalent of being a garbageman, because I think garbage men
are highly respected.
So I don't want to imply that,but it was.
It was a garbage type, meaninghe was working with slop and
garbage, but it was like thelowest of the low back then,
(13:37):
like if you worked with pigs youdefinitely had not made it.
You had a long way to go beforeyou would be considered making
it.
So he finally woke up anotherday and he was like you know
what?
This is ridiculous.
Why am I dealing with pig flopand all kinds of nasty stuff
when my dad treats his servantbetter than I'm being treated?
(13:59):
So if I just go home and justtell my dad, you know, I'm
really sorry.
I'm not expecting to have you,you know, put me back into the
family, but if you would justlet me be your servant, I would
be living a much better lifethan I'm living right now.
So he started to go home and itsays in the Bible it says that
while he was still a far way off, his dad saw him and came
(14:23):
running to him.
Well, his dad said to theservants quick, bring the best
robe, put it on him, put a ringon his finger, sandals on his
home.
But he reinstated him as hisson.
He did not have to be a servant, he was his son.
(14:52):
And there's a lot of differentthings to unpack there.
One servants were known asservants or were distinguished
as servants because they werebarefoot.
Sons and daughters of the houseowner.
The owner, the landowner, woreshoes.
So the dad said bring himsandals.
(15:13):
He also said bring him a ring.
The ring was a signet ring thatwas personalized and
specialized to that household,to that family.
So if you were wearing thatring, then everybody knew that
you were the son of so-and-so.
Then you've got the father happythat the son of so-and-so.
Then you've got the.
So you've got the father happythat the son's back.
(15:35):
You've got the son celebratingand everyone's welcoming him
back, except for his brother.
It says that the brother camein from the field and he's like
wait, hold on, what's going on?
And he's like, oh, your brothercame back, let's celebrate.
And he's like, well, hold up aminute.
I I've been here this wholetime.
I never once took yourinheritance, I never once wished
you dead.
And you're telling me thatwe're celebrating my brother
(15:59):
who's coming back after doingall the horrible things.
Like what's going on?
And the father is like, butwe're celebrating because he, he
was lost and now he's found.
You have always had everythingof mine, you've never once lost
anything.
Let's celebrate that yourbrother is back.
So I want to unpack a littlebit each part.
(16:23):
So the first part symbolizespeople who maybe have heard
about God or know about God, whomaybe have heard about God or
know about God, maybe evenprayed the prayer when they were
younger and they thought thatthey became a believer, but the
worldly things pulled them awayand it's a heart issue.
We've always talked about thefact that when you accept Christ
(16:49):
into your heart or when yousurrender your life to God, it's
a heart issue.
Christ into your heart or whenyou surrender your life to God,
it's a heart issue.
And so the prodigal son iseither.
He symbolizes either people whohave never surrendered their
hearts to God or half-heartedlysurrendered their hearts to God,
meaning they prayed the prayerwhen they were younger, but it
was never a heart change, liketheir hearts never changed and
(17:12):
they never, they never fullysurrendered themselves to God.
They wanted to get out of freeor get out of hell free card,
but they didn't want anythingthat went along with it.
God, you can.
You know I'm going to.
I'm going to quote unquote askyou into my heart.
I'm going to quote unquote praythe prayer, because I don't
(17:37):
want to go to hell, but I alsodon't want you changing anything
in my life.
I'm going to still stay incharge and you're going to just
be the manager on the days thatI let you.
Type of a thing which we allknow is not a true heart change
and is not truly surrenderingyour life to God.
We all know it's not a trueheart change and it's not truly
surrendering your life to God.
So he symbolizes those people,the people who finally one day
(17:58):
wake up and say nope, doing it,my way is just not working.
I don't like who I've become.
I don't like who I am.
God, I need help.
I've ruined my life.
I've made a mess of things.
I need you to take over and bein control.
I've ruined my life.
I've made a mess of things.
I need you to take over and bein control.
The brother symbolizes theperson who has always done
(18:21):
things right and who is abeliever and who has always had
God in charge.
Had God in charge, but once,instead of being thankful and
pleased and happy that thepeople that they've been praying
for, or their loved ones ortheir friends, are now true
(18:43):
believers, have truly repented.
Instead of being happy, theyare resentful.
They're like well, why do theystill get exactly everything and
all the rewards and so forththat I have, when I've been here
, sacrificing and surrenderingand doing all of it the way that
God wants me to do it?
(19:04):
And they haven't.
So God, kind of in my opinion,this is the Sherry
interpretation and Kara cancorrect me if I'm wrong but God
is kind of calling those peopleout and saying hey, you know, we
need to be grateful andthankful that they are now not
(19:25):
going to hell, that they are nowcoming to heaven as well, that
you know you still are veryloved.
You've always been loved.
Nobody has ever usurped yourlove in my eyes.
I have always loved you.
But we need to be grateful andthankful that they now are loved
and have the assurance ofsalvation also.
(19:47):
And then you have the Father,who is depicted as our Heavenly
Father.
Who is depicted as our HeavenlyFather and he will do
everything in His power to well.
First off, it shows how hegives us free will.
So, even though the Sonbasically said I want you dead.
(20:07):
You're more important to me oryou're more valuable to me dead
than you are alive.
It shows our free will.
It shows that God is not goingto chase us, he's not going to
beg us, he's not going to forceus to have a relationship with
him, but he's also going tocontinue to pursue us and look
for us and wait for that opendoor to where we surrender, and
(20:33):
then he's going to lavish uswith His love.
He is waiting to lavish everysingle person with His love, but
he's not going to force it uponus.
And that is one of the thingsthat is so wonderful about this
story is he allows our HeavenlyFather allows us to get into the
(20:53):
pig slop, if that's what ittakes for us to have a truly
repentant heart and to come backto Him.
And the minute that we repentand the minute that we say, yes,
we want to do it your way, godlavishes us with His love.
He's not going to allow us tocontinue to sin, and we see that
in all of the different storiesthat we've been talking about,
(21:20):
all the different biblicalevents.
Now, this is just a parable.
This is an actual story in theBible.
The others are historicalevents, biblical events that
actually happened.
But we see that with the womanat the well, he didn't let her
stay there.
He didn't let her continue tosin.
Her stay there.
He didn't let her um continueto sin.
He said go find your that manwho's not your husband and come
back here and sin no more.
(21:40):
He told I don't know, that waslike one of his favorite phrases
go and sin no more.
Go and sin no more.
Go and sin no more.
He knew that people who stay intheir sins um that they're
miserable, that they may thinkthey're having fun, they may
think that that's the best wayto live life.
But God knows the truth andhe's not afraid to share it.
(22:03):
He's not afraid to.
He doesn't pussyfoot around, hetells it like it is and he
gives us the choice.
We have the choice to surrenderour lives to him and to live
his way or to continue to liveour own way.
But he knows that when wechoose to live our way, we will
be miserable, maybe not today,maybe not tomorrow, maybe the
(22:24):
money has to run out first, butwe will hit rock bottom and God
is always there, ready to takecare of us.
He didn't make the son clean upin the parable.
He didn't make the son go get abath before he put a robe on
him.
He put a robe on him, a ring onhim and sandals on him when he
was still disgustingly dirty,not just from traveling but from
(22:45):
living in the pig spot anddealing with the pig spot.
And that's the way that Godsees us.
He wants us the way that we areand he does the cleaning up.
The Holy Spirit does thecleaning up once we accept him
into our hearts and fullysurrender.
So the story is not just aboutthe prodigal son.
(23:06):
The story is not just about theone son.
It's about all three of us.
It's a heart check for thebrothers, it's unconditional
love from the father and it's awe're never too far gone as the
prodigal son.
What about you, kara?
Speaker 1 (23:24):
I don't know.
I think you've just summed thatup perfectly and I love the
part, love, love, love, love,love.
The part where you said when afather put the robe and sandals
and all of that on him, he wasstill filthy and dirty.
He probably smelled, yeah, heprobably still had the stink of
(23:46):
the pig pen still on him, butthat didn't matter to the father
, isn't that?
What a wonderful God we serve,right.
So no matter what you've done,we could still rank, we could be
ranked with sin, and he's justlike but if you come to me, I
got you, I got you.
(24:06):
I'm still going to put a robeon you, I'm still going to put
sandals on you, I'm still goingto call you my son or daughter
or the king.
I just I love that, I love it,I love it, I love it.
And he cleans you up as youcontinue to journey along with
him, so that you don't smellthat way anymore, you don't look
that way anymore, andeverything else.
(24:28):
I love how you emphasize that.
That was just awesome which isawesome.
Well, and I love the fact that.
Speaker 2 (24:41):
God doesn't.
He will not be um.
He will not be mocked.
He will not be made a fool, andhe never.
He won't just tell you stuff toto speak Like he doesn't.
He doesn't talk about bluff, hetalks about the truth.
He gets down to the nittygritty.
He says you can choose what youwant to choose, but if you're
(25:01):
going to follow me, then you'regoing to follow me.
So if you're choosing not tofollow me, I still love you, but
if you choose to follow me,then this is the life that I can
give you.
This is the life that you canhave, but you have to follow me.
These are the rules offollowing me.
You have to choose to surrenderon your own and then watch out,
(25:23):
look and see what kind of aworld that you're going to have.
And again, all of this goesback to.
This is like one of the perfectones for us to end with in the
New Testament, kara, because itall goes back to John 16, 33.
He doesn't say, hey, come to meand I will give you riches and I
will give you glory and yourlife will be perfect and you
(25:45):
will never have any otherproblems or issues, ever again.
No, he doesn't tell us that.
But he says, world, I willnever leave you or forsake you.
(26:13):
I will, you know, be strong andcourageous.
All of those different thingsthat God talks to us about and
all the different promises thathe gives to us are all
wonderfully, in His Word andthose are for our taking, once
we surrender to him.
That it takes us making thatchoice to surrender to him in
(26:36):
order to have the life that he,he, promised us and that he
wants to give us, that abundantlife.
The enemy has come to steal,kill and destroy, but I have
come that you may have life andhave life more abundantly.
John 10, 10.
John 10, 10.
So I think that that's a greatway to end our biblical figures
(26:58):
as we, as we wrap it up, I amexcited because, towards the
we're going to, we're going tobegin again with with another
series starting next week, butwhen we towards the more towards
, like September, towards fall,we're going to be going into or
(27:26):
delving into the Bible again andI am just like super excited,
Kara, as we start to delve intomaybe not looking at figures as
much, maybe not looking atactual people, but instead
looking at how we can apply thedifferent truths that God gives
us in the Bible.
All I know is that I havethoroughly, thoroughly enjoyed
(27:46):
delving into the Bible with ourlisteners both the Old Testament
and the New Testament and we'rejust going to continue that on
in the fall again.
So, having said that, we wouldlove it, we would love to hear
feedback from you.
So, if you have enjoyed this,if you've enjoyed the series of
(28:08):
both the Old Testament and theNew Testament, if there's a
particular story or event thathas really spoken to you, if you
would either share it with usin an email at cheeruppodcasts
at gmailcom or you can share iton the Cheer Up Podcast Facebook
page, which is Cheer Up Podcaston Facebook, so that we can
(28:31):
start a discussion and see whatother stories and other episodes
that other people have enjoyedas well.
We love to talk, as you cantell, so we would love to have
open dialogue and conversationswith you, either through email
or through the Facebook page.
If you want to check out Kara RHunt and find out more about her
(28:55):
, you can head over tokarahuntcom on her website and
you can see not only her fictionseries but also a lot of the
other things that she offers,the other services that she
offers on her website.
You can head over tosherryswalwellcom that she
(29:16):
offers on her website.
You can head over toSherrySwalwellcom.
There's fiction books,nonfiction books and also a
YouTube channel and a few otherthings on there that you can
check out as well.
Don't forget to look at themonthly membership and see if
that is something that you wantto do to help build your
community of believers, so thatyou can have that encouragement
as you are facing the world thatwe live in.
(29:38):
Because, as Jesus says, we willhave trials and tribulations in
this world.
But be of good cheer.
He has overcome and one of theways that he wants us to stay
encouraged is to stay in acommunity of fellow believers,
of people who believe like we do, because that helps to build
our faith and then that helps usto build other people's faith.
(29:59):
So I know, like with Kara, whenI'm down or when I'm having,
when I'm struggling, she'll prayfor me and when she's
struggling, I'll pray for herand we're able to remind each
other of the truth of God's word, and we're able to remind each
other that this is but a seasonand it's not life, it's not what
life is going to continue to be, and I know if I didn't have
(30:24):
that lifeline of fellowbelievers in my life.
Women, all different women.
They have all differenttestimonies and all different um
encouragement for me.
From the different things thatthey've experienced in their
lives.
My life would be a lot moredreary Um, but I am so grateful
(30:46):
for all of the sisters in Christthat God has blessed me with um
through many, many differentareas and through many different
seasons in my life.
So that's another thing thatthe membership can offer as well
.
So not just that you're growingyour relationship with God
personally, but also you havethat fellowship and that
(31:07):
community connection with otherswho will draw you even closer
to God and who are there to praywith you and to walk beside you
and to just help through thisthing called life that sometimes
can be a little bit draining.
So, having said all that, havea great rest of your week, have
a great day and join us againnext week for another exciting
(31:31):
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 beautiful and
saintly and kind and beautifuland glamorous and talented and
skilled Sherri Smallwell.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
How are you?
Speaker 1 (00:38):
doing today, Sherri.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
You definitely make me more than what I truly am.
Speaker 1 (00:45):
You definitely make me more than what I truly am.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
I am just grateful to be alive and grateful to be
God's child and grateful foryour friendship and just I don't
know, this is an amazing woman.
Also, I don't ever do theintroduction so I don't get to
tell people how fantastic Tarais, but she is just.
(01:08):
I am so blessed to be calledyour friend and we always tease
that we're sisters from anothermother and it's so true.
Like every time we talk, itseems like we find out that we
have even more in common witheach other, and I didn't even
think that was possible to havemore in common with you than I
already knew that we had incommon, I know.
We always find out more and moreand more Exactly, exactly.
(01:31):
I'm like, oh my gosh, that istotally me.
Or yeah, there's very fewthings that we are opposite on,
but one of them and I amsticking to this is I am not
jumping out of a plane ever, oh,oh yes, that is going to be so
exciting.
Speaker 1 (01:48):
I am looking forward to it.
I don't have anything scheduledyet but, boy, I am so looking
forward to doing it with myhusband and boys.
I just think it's going to bean experience that I'll
obviously never forget.
And I don't know, and I don'teven like the idea of free
falling.
I'm a control freak, so howdoes that even work?
(02:10):
It's like, how does that evenwork?
Because when you're freefalling like that, you're in
control of nothing.
But I don't know.
To me it's just such areflection of just trusting God
right, when you really literallyhave no control.
I think they do have somethingwhere you could, in case of an
emergency, you could try to pullthe latch or something.
(02:33):
But obviously I'm untrained,I'm not a professional sky
jumper, so I would have someoneright there with me.
But we all know that sometimesall the fail-safes that you have
don't always work.
So it's like just thatfree-falling feeling and just
knowing that in that moment Icompletely, 100% have to trust
(02:55):
God.
I don't have to think am Igoing to trust God on this
situation or I don't know?
God, I should really turn thisover to you and trust it.
No, you pretty much, reallyreally have to.
You have no choice.
The choice is, you know,literally in the air, and so
it's just one of those things,and I don't know, maybe it's
(03:16):
because I do tend sometimes tobe a control freak with certain
things in my life that I needthat release.
I honestly think that it has alot to do with it.
Does that sound crazy?
Speaker 2 (03:31):
No, no, Cause you're almost almost kind of sort of
trying to convince me, but Istill I'm still not there.
But no, it's not crazy at all,it actually sounds quite sane.
Speaker 1 (03:48):
Yeah, and it's just I don't know.
I'm kind of looking forward toit.
I'll be shaking in my boots thewhole time.
Even I'll be in my air Excuseme, be in the air, but I don't
know.
It's just interesting.
And again, as all of you know,another difference that we have
is the way we love coffee.
We both love coffee, but I'mdefinitely a dark brew girl and
(04:12):
she's definitely not.
Speaker 2 (04:16):
I do have to say, kara, except in the summertime,
when I do cold brew, the darkerthe better, because I put milk
in it.
So I have to drink my coffeesuper, super hot.
I'm like a super hot person ora super cold person.
I do not like lukewarm at all.
So when I drink my, my coffee,my iced coffee, in the
(04:37):
summertime, I put ice in it,obviously, but then that dilutes
it, because it takes me foreverto drink iced coffee.
I just really like to savor it,and so I like to have it on the
darker side, because then it'snot like water by the time I'm
done, because of the ice that Iput in.
Speaker 1 (04:53):
Oh right, because with the lighter coffee, it
would just literally be water.
Yeah, okay, yep, I can see that, so you are only turning me to
you, but only with iced coffee.
Speaker 2 (05:06):
Still not with hot coffee.
There's not a creamer for mefor dark coffee.
Speaker 1 (05:12):
Well, talk about technology when it comes to cold
and dark.
My youngest son, he's one ofthose, unlike his dad, who looks
like you either really reallycold or like hot right, and when
it comes to their drinks and hedrinks a lot of cold drinks and
, oh my gosh, do you know?
(05:33):
Because my husband and I endedup getting this for a gift and
again everyone else probablylike, yeah, cara, those have
been on the market for like thepast 15 years.
But do you know that there aremugs and thermoses that don't
look like thermoses but they'restainless steel inside that
keeps your drink cold for 24hours?
Speaker 2 (05:55):
Nice 24 hours 24 hours.
Speaker 1 (06:03):
So when my husband saw that he was like, oh my gosh
, he is so going to love thisbecause he loves his cold drinks
you know, everything else andI'm like 24 hours Now.
I knew there were thermoses outthere that kept drinks cold for
like eight maybe, and I waslike you got a really really
nice one.
But I don't even know who wouldneed a drink to stay cold for 24
(06:27):
hours.
But if you were to go to sleepovernight and you still wanted
it cold when you woke up in themorning, there it is, there you
go yeah, because I'm like, well,who would need that?
But then I'm like, okay, well,you never know right what
circumstances you may be inwhere you may need that.
I don't think I've seenanything to where it keeps
(06:51):
drinks hot for 24 hours Likethis particular.
I can't call it a device, I'lljust say mug keeps it, I think,
hot for like maybe 10 to 12.
So far I haven't seen anythingthat keeps drinks hot for 12
hours Because, excuse me, for 24hours.
Because if I did I am no matterhow much it costs I would have
(07:16):
to get that for my hubby,because he is one of those
people that when he his drinkshave to be hot all the time, and
if he wants to take a sip ofcoffee, like at 11 o'clock at
night, and if it can still behot for him, I'm all on board.
So far I haven't seen anythinglike that.
(07:38):
I guess the technology isdifferent hot versus cold to
keep it hot like steaming hotthat long.
But hey, if any of you guysknow of any products that are
out there like that, send anemail to thechirilpodcast at
gmailcom and let me know and Iwill definitely check them out,
(08:01):
because just because I don'tknow about them does not mean
they don't exist.
Definitely check them out,because just because I don't
know about them does not meanthey don't exist.
And speaking of the ChirrupPodcast, thank you to everyone
who has tuned in this morningand who have tuned in this
evening and this afternoon oreven at night, whatever time
you're listening.
We just want to say thank youfor tuning in to the Chirrup
Podcast and we welcome you andwe thank you for doing so.
(08:24):
Oh my, so now we're going topick up where we left off in the
New Testament, and today thebiblical figure we're going to
talk about is the prodigal son.
I also like some of the otherfigures in the New Testament.
They don't.
I noticed that a lot of timesthey don't have names attached
(08:45):
to them, you know, and sosometimes I want to give them a
name, um, to just humanize thema little bit more for the
listeners, but for the podcastlisteners.
But again, um, correct me ifI'm wrong.
Sherry, the prodigal son isthis did he have a name or are
we made aware of a name?
Speaker 2 (09:02):
No, and I think I kind of think the reason why God
might do that and this is justa sherry guess, it's not a, I
don't know this for sure, but Ithink it's because I think God
wants us to personalize it, forourselves he wants us to feel as
(09:28):
we're the ones that, um thatare living it, and that the
lesson that he's trying to teachis one that that we can make
personal, that's just, oh,insert our name there.
Speaker 1 (09:34):
Yeah, absolutely.
Oh, my gosh, I'm glad youmentioned that.
Yeah, that makes it so muchbetter because I'm like, well, I
know these people had names,what were they?
But you're right Keeping itvague so that we, no matter what
time zone or what culture orwhatever decade we're living in,
it's still personal.
(09:56):
We can still make it personalRight, you know, and we can just
insert our names there.
Speaker 2 (10:02):
I think that's a good explanation, sherry, yeah, well
, good, so we get to talk aboutthe prodigal son today and I had
to ask Kara.
I'm like, can I please be theone to talk about this one?
Because I, you know it's sofunny not funny, haha.
But to me it seems like thosethings that that I don't like so
(10:24):
much turn out to be the onesthat I absolutely end up not
only personalizing for my ownself but become the most
precious to me.
So like growing up, I know, Imean I knew the prodigal son, I
knew the story, but it was justa story to me.
Like it was just, yeah, ithappened long ago and so what?
(10:45):
Let's move on.
Like I love other stories more.
But I'll tell you what the moreand the more that I read and
study the prodigal son, thatparable, the more I fall in love
with it and the more I see howmuch God really loves us.
The prodigal son is about theprodigal son, but it's about so
much more.
It's about the father, it'sabout the son and it's about the
(11:06):
brother, and each story tellsus so much and unpack so many
truths to us.
So you'll find the prodigal sonin Luke 15.
It starts in chapter 15.
It starts in verse 11 and itgoes until verse 32.
And I'm not going to read it,but instead I'm going to just
(11:27):
kind of give a little bit of anoverview and then explain why
it's a story about the father,why it's a story about the
prodigal son himself and whyit's a story about his brother.
So the prodigal son goes, andthis part I will read, because
it says Jesus continued.
So he's telling parables.
It's called the parable of thelost son or the prodigal son.
(11:48):
There was a man who had two sons.
The younger one said to hisfather father, give me my share
of the property.
So he divided his propertybetween them.
Basically, he went to his dadand he said hey, I know that I
have a brother and I know thatyou're still alive and you're
still running the household, butI want my inheritance now.
(12:10):
And when you said somethinglike that to your father back
then, I mean it's bad enough tosay that to your parents in
today's standards, but back thenyou were saying I want you dead
.
You are more important to meand you are more valuable to me
dead than you are alive.
And the dad didn't bat an eye.
He didn't say hey, that isincredibly hurtful.
Hey, I can't believe you wouldactually say that to me.
(12:32):
He said nothing, he didn't batan eye.
He gave him his money, hewished him well and he sent him
on his way.
Well, all of a sudden, this songot really popular really
quickly, as most people do whohave things that other people
want.
So he squandered his moneypartying and doing all kinds of
(12:54):
things he shouldn't have beendoing.
He wakes up one day and herealizes oh my goodness, you
know I got nothing left.
So he started to see if hecould find a job because he was
so young and he needed.
You know, he was going to livefor quite a long time probably,
and so he ended up working withpig flops, with pigs and feeding
the pigs and living with thepigs and everything to do with
(13:14):
pigs.
And again, culturally, that waslike I don't want to say the
equivalent of being a garbageman, because I think garbage men
are highly respected.
So I don't want to imply that,but it was.
It was a garbage type, meaninghe was working with slop and
garbage, but it was like thelowest of the low back then,
(13:37):
like if you worked with pigs youdefinitely had not made it.
You had a long way to go beforeyou would be considered making
it.
So he finally woke up anotherday and he was like you know
what?
This is ridiculous.
Why am I dealing with pig flopand all kinds of nasty stuff
when my dad treats his servantbetter than I'm being treated?
(13:59):
So if I just go home and justtell my dad, you know, I'm
really sorry.
I'm not expecting to have you,you know, put me back into the
family, but if you would justlet me be your servant, I would
be living a much better lifethan I'm living right now.
So he started to go home and itsays in the Bible it says that
while he was still a far way off, his dad saw him and came
(14:23):
running to him.
Well, his dad said to theservants quick, bring the best
robe, put it on him, put a ringon his finger, sandals on his
home.
But he reinstated him as hisson.
He did not have to be a servant, he was his son.
(14:52):
And there's a lot of differentthings to unpack there.
One servants were known asservants or were distinguished
as servants because they werebarefoot.
Sons and daughters of the houseowner.
The owner, the landowner, woreshoes.
So the dad said bring himsandals.
(15:13):
He also said bring him a ring.
The ring was a signet ring thatwas personalized and
specialized to that household,to that family.
So if you were wearing thatring, then everybody knew that
you were the son of so-and-so.
Then you've got the father happythat the son of so-and-so.
Then you've got the.
So you've got the father happythat the son's back.
(15:35):
You've got the son celebratingand everyone's welcoming him
back, except for his brother.
It says that the brother camein from the field and he's like
wait, hold on, what's going on?
And he's like, oh, your brothercame back, let's celebrate.
And he's like, well, hold up aminute.
I I've been here this wholetime.
I never once took yourinheritance, I never once wished
you dead.
And you're telling me thatwe're celebrating my brother
(15:59):
who's coming back after doingall the horrible things.
Like what's going on?
And the father is like, butwe're celebrating because he, he
was lost and now he's found.
You have always had everythingof mine, you've never once lost
anything.
Let's celebrate that yourbrother is back.
So I want to unpack a littlebit each part.
(16:23):
So the first part symbolizespeople who maybe have heard
about God or know about God, whomaybe have heard about God or
know about God, maybe evenprayed the prayer when they were
younger and they thought thatthey became a believer, but the
worldly things pulled them awayand it's a heart issue.
We've always talked about thefact that when you accept Christ
(16:49):
into your heart or when yousurrender your life to God, it's
a heart issue.
Christ into your heart or whenyou surrender your life to God,
it's a heart issue.
And so the prodigal son iseither.
He symbolizes either people whohave never surrendered their
hearts to God or half-heartedlysurrendered their hearts to God,
meaning they prayed the prayerwhen they were younger, but it
was never a heart change, liketheir hearts never changed and
(17:12):
they never, they never fullysurrendered themselves to God.
They wanted to get out of freeor get out of hell free card,
but they didn't want anythingthat went along with it.
God, you can.
You know I'm going to.
I'm going to quote unquote askyou into my heart.
I'm going to quote unquote praythe prayer, because I don't
(17:37):
want to go to hell, but I alsodon't want you changing anything
in my life.
I'm going to still stay incharge and you're going to just
be the manager on the days thatI let you.
Type of a thing which we allknow is not a true heart change
and is not truly surrenderingyour life to God.
We all know it's not a trueheart change and it's not truly
surrendering your life to God.
So he symbolizes those people,the people who finally one day
(17:58):
wake up and say nope, doing it,my way is just not working.
I don't like who I've become.
I don't like who I am.
God, I need help.
I've ruined my life.
I've made a mess of things.
I need you to take over and bein control.
I've ruined my life.
I've made a mess of things.
I need you to take over and bein control.
The brother symbolizes theperson who has always done
(18:21):
things right and who is abeliever and who has always had
God in charge.
Had God in charge, but once,instead of being thankful and
pleased and happy that thepeople that they've been praying
for, or their loved ones ortheir friends, are now true
(18:43):
believers, have truly repented.
Instead of being happy, theyare resentful.
They're like well, why do theystill get exactly everything and
all the rewards and so forththat I have, when I've been here
, sacrificing and surrenderingand doing all of it the way that
God wants me to do it?
(19:04):
And they haven't.
So God, kind of in my opinion,this is the Sherry
interpretation and Kara cancorrect me if I'm wrong but God
is kind of calling those peopleout and saying hey, you know, we
need to be grateful andthankful that they are now not
(19:25):
going to hell, that they are nowcoming to heaven as well, that
you know you still are veryloved.
You've always been loved.
Nobody has ever usurped yourlove in my eyes.
I have always loved you.
But we need to be grateful andthankful that they now are loved
and have the assurance ofsalvation also.
(19:47):
And then you have the Father,who is depicted as our Heavenly
Father.
Who is depicted as our HeavenlyFather and he will do
everything in His power to well.
First off, it shows how hegives us free will.
So, even though the Sonbasically said I want you dead.
(20:07):
You're more important to me oryou're more valuable to me dead
than you are alive.
It shows our free will.
It shows that God is not goingto chase us, he's not going to
beg us, he's not going to forceus to have a relationship with
him, but he's also going tocontinue to pursue us and look
for us and wait for that opendoor to where we surrender, and
(20:33):
then he's going to lavish uswith His love.
He is waiting to lavish everysingle person with His love, but
he's not going to force it uponus.
And that is one of the thingsthat is so wonderful about this
story is he allows our HeavenlyFather allows us to get into the
(20:53):
pig slop, if that's what ittakes for us to have a truly
repentant heart and to come backto Him.
And the minute that we repentand the minute that we say, yes,
we want to do it your way, godlavishes us with His love.
He's not going to allow us tocontinue to sin, and we see that
in all of the different storiesthat we've been talking about,
(21:20):
all the different biblicalevents.
Now, this is just a parable.
This is an actual story in theBible.
The others are historicalevents, biblical events that
actually happened.
But we see that with the womanat the well, he didn't let her
stay there.
He didn't let her continue tosin.
Her stay there.
He didn't let her um continueto sin.
He said go find your that manwho's not your husband and come
back here and sin no more.
(21:40):
He told I don't know, that waslike one of his favorite phrases
go and sin no more.
Go and sin no more.
Go and sin no more.
He knew that people who stay intheir sins um that they're
miserable, that they may thinkthey're having fun, they may
think that that's the best wayto live life.
But God knows the truth andhe's not afraid to share it.
(22:03):
He's not afraid to.
He doesn't pussyfoot around, hetells it like it is and he
gives us the choice.
We have the choice to surrenderour lives to him and to live
his way or to continue to liveour own way.
But he knows that when wechoose to live our way, we will
be miserable, maybe not today,maybe not tomorrow, maybe the
(22:24):
money has to run out first, butwe will hit rock bottom and God
is always there, ready to takecare of us.
He didn't make the son clean upin the parable.
He didn't make the son go get abath before he put a robe on
him.
He put a robe on him, a ring onhim and sandals on him when he
was still disgustingly dirty,not just from traveling but from
(22:45):
living in the pig spot anddealing with the pig spot.
And that's the way that Godsees us.
He wants us the way that we areand he does the cleaning up.
The Holy Spirit does thecleaning up once we accept him
into our hearts and fullysurrender.
So the story is not just aboutthe prodigal son.
(23:06):
The story is not just about theone son.
It's about all three of us.
It's a heart check for thebrothers, it's unconditional
love from the father and it's awe're never too far gone as the
prodigal son.
What about you, kara?
Speaker 1 (23:24):
I don't know.
I think you've just summed thatup perfectly and I love the
part, love, love, love, love,love.
The part where you said when afather put the robe and sandals
and all of that on him, he wasstill filthy and dirty.
He probably smelled, yeah, heprobably still had the stink of
(23:46):
the pig pen still on him, butthat didn't matter to the father
, isn't that?
What a wonderful God we serve,right.
So no matter what you've done,we could still rank, we could be
ranked with sin, and he's justlike but if you come to me, I
got you, I got you.
(24:06):
I'm still going to put a robeon you, I'm still going to put
sandals on you, I'm still goingto call you my son or daughter
or the king.
I just I love that, I love it,I love it, I love it.
And he cleans you up as youcontinue to journey along with
him, so that you don't smellthat way anymore, you don't look
that way anymore, andeverything else.
(24:28):
I love how you emphasize that.
That was just awesome which isawesome.
Well, and I love the fact that.
Speaker 2 (24:41):
God doesn't.
He will not be um.
He will not be mocked.
He will not be made a fool, andhe never.
He won't just tell you stuff toto speak Like he doesn't.
He doesn't talk about bluff, hetalks about the truth.
He gets down to the nittygritty.
He says you can choose what youwant to choose, but if you're
(25:01):
going to follow me, then you'regoing to follow me.
So if you're choosing not tofollow me, I still love you, but
if you choose to follow me,then this is the life that I can
give you.
This is the life that you canhave, but you have to follow me.
These are the rules offollowing me.
You have to choose to surrenderon your own and then watch out,
(25:23):
look and see what kind of aworld that you're going to have.
And again, all of this goesback to.
This is like one of the perfectones for us to end with in the
New Testament, kara, because itall goes back to John 16, 33.
He doesn't say, hey, come to meand I will give you riches and I
will give you glory and yourlife will be perfect and you
(25:45):
will never have any otherproblems or issues, ever again.
No, he doesn't tell us that.
But he says, world, I willnever leave you or forsake you.
(26:13):
I will, you know, be strong andcourageous.
All of those different thingsthat God talks to us about and
all the different promises thathe gives to us are all
wonderfully, in His Word andthose are for our taking, once
we surrender to him.
That it takes us making thatchoice to surrender to him in
(26:36):
order to have the life that he,he, promised us and that he
wants to give us, that abundantlife.
The enemy has come to steal,kill and destroy, but I have
come that you may have life andhave life more abundantly.
John 10, 10.
John 10, 10.
So I think that that's a greatway to end our biblical figures
(26:58):
as we, as we wrap it up, I amexcited because, towards the
we're going to, we're going tobegin again with with another
series starting next week, butwhen we towards the more towards
, like September, towards fall,we're going to be going into or
(27:26):
delving into the Bible again andI am just like super excited,
Kara, as we start to delve intomaybe not looking at figures as
much, maybe not looking atactual people, but instead
looking at how we can apply thedifferent truths that God gives
us in the Bible.
All I know is that I havethoroughly, thoroughly enjoyed
(27:46):
delving into the Bible with ourlisteners both the Old Testament
and the New Testament and we'rejust going to continue that on
in the fall again.
So, having said that, we wouldlove it, we would love to hear
feedback from you.
So, if you have enjoyed this,if you've enjoyed the series of
(28:08):
both the Old Testament and theNew Testament, if there's a
particular story or event thathas really spoken to you, if you
would either share it with usin an email at cheeruppodcasts
at gmailcom or you can share iton the Cheer Up Podcast Facebook
page, which is Cheer Up Podcaston Facebook, so that we can
(28:31):
start a discussion and see whatother stories and other episodes
that other people have enjoyedas well.
We love to talk, as you cantell, so we would love to have
open dialogue and conversationswith you, either through email
or through the Facebook page.
If you want to check out Kara RHunt and find out more about her
(28:55):
, you can head over tokarahuntcom on her website and
you can see not only her fictionseries but also a lot of the
other things that she offers,the other services that she
offers on her website.
You can head over tosherryswalwellcom that she
(29:16):
offers on her website.
You can head over toSherrySwalwellcom.
There's fiction books,nonfiction books and also a
YouTube channel and a few otherthings on there that you can
check out as well.
Don't forget to look at themonthly membership and see if
that is something that you wantto do to help build your
community of believers, so thatyou can have that encouragement
as you are facing the world thatwe live in.
(29:38):
Because, as Jesus says, we willhave trials and tribulations in
this world.
But be of good cheer.
He has overcome and one of theways that he wants us to stay
encouraged is to stay in acommunity of fellow believers,
of people who believe like we do, because that helps to build
our faith and then that helps usto build other people's faith.
(29:59):
So I know, like with Kara, whenI'm down or when I'm having,
when I'm struggling, she'll prayfor me and when she's
struggling, I'll pray for herand we're able to remind each
other of the truth of God's word, and we're able to remind each
other that this is but a seasonand it's not life, it's not what
life is going to continue to be, and I know if I didn't have
(30:24):
that lifeline of fellowbelievers in my life.
Women, all different women.
They have all differenttestimonies and all different um
encouragement for me.
From the different things thatthey've experienced in their
lives.
My life would be a lot moredreary Um, but I am so grateful
(30:46):
for all of the sisters in Christthat God has blessed me with um
through many, many differentareas and through many different
seasons in my life.
So that's another thing thatthe membership can offer as well
.
So not just that you're growingyour relationship with God
personally, but also you havethat fellowship and that
(31:07):
community connection with otherswho will draw you even closer
to God and who are there to praywith you and to walk beside you
and to just help through thisthing called life that sometimes
can be a little bit draining.
So, having said all that, havea great rest of your week, have
a great day and join us againnext week for another exciting
(31:31):
episode of the Cheer Up Podcast.
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