July 2, 2025 • 44 mins
How Demons Weaponize Your Plate, Your Plans & Your Envy
What if your diet, your life goals, and even your holy habits are being hijacked by hell?
“Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” (1 Corinthians 10:31)
In this encore episode, we dissect Letters 16 & 17 of The Screwtape Letters, where C.S. Lewis exposes:
How demons twist even healthy appetites into obsession (Screwtape’s trick: “Let him pride himself on ‘moderation’ while judging others’ plates!”).
Can Satan use laziness and control as a deceptive cover for God's will?
How envy masquerades as “righteous discontent”
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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 awesome and
inspiring Sherry Swalwell.
How are you doing today, sherry?
Speaker 2 (00:32):
I am doing fantastic, it is a beautiful day today.
It is just it's August and I'mjust really, really trying to
accept and embrace the challengethat I offered to everybody
else this month and that is tojust live excited and happy and
expectant of God working andshowing up every single day.
Speaker 1 (00:57):
Oh, yes, and just expectant.
I love that, I love that, Ilove that, I love that, I love
that.
Speaker 2 (01:05):
You know, and so it's like if you're praying for
something to happen today youknow, expect it to happen you
know what's the cool thing, too,kara, is that like, if we truly
live the surrendered life thatwe say we want to, that
obviously everything thathappens to us is under God's
(01:28):
covering.
So if there's something, likeyou said, that we're praying
about, we need to liveexpectantly that God's going to
do something in that area,whether it give us a yes for it
because it's something that hewants in our lives, or give us a
no, and it's okay to bedisappointed with the no, but
only if we then turn around andtrust him and say okay, then
(01:50):
that means that you have abigger yes for me somewhere else
down the road.
And, lord, I accept this.
I might still drown my sorrowsin aloha bars, but I am going to
accept that this no is for mygood and not for you know, not
because I'm a failure or notbecause you don't love me, or
(02:11):
not because I'm not as good asyou know, johnny, down the
street.
You said no to me because youhave a bigger and better yes,
and I am expecting about thatbigger and better yes.
Speaker 1 (02:24):
Oh, absolutely and definitely, definitely, since
Sherry had just mentioned isdon't compare yourself to Johnny
down the street, and I thinksometimes in our Christian walk
we can do that right.
Johnny down the street justbeing, you know, an example of
(02:44):
well God.
Why does it always seem likethings work out for their family
, you know, and yet mine isstill like in the middle of all
sorts of chaos, you know, andeverything else.
And the reason I want todiscourage that is because we
don't see everything that Godsees so to you.
You just may be seeing the goodthings that's going on in
(03:05):
Johnny's life, but God knowswhat it took Johnny, what it
took for him to get Johnny thereRight.
It didn't just happen overnight.
Johnny's journey is a lotdifferent than everyone else's
journey.
Johnny's journey with the Lordmay have started a lot sooner, a
lot longer.
His issues may have been a lotdeeper.
He may have had to walk throughthe desert for 40 years, when
(03:29):
God only meant it to be 40 days,you know.
So Johnny could just be at thatpoint to where he's coming, on
the other side of that, thatrainbow, so to speak, and he's
just like okay, god, I've beenin wilderness with you long
enough to know that, no matterwhat happens today, that you got
(03:50):
this all under control andeverything is all good.
And if it doesn't happen theway it happens, then it just
wasn't meant to happen, you know, and everything else.
And his faith has gone strongerbecause he's been through a
whole lot more with the Lord.
So all the time we can't justjudge on the surface of what
someone else is going throughcompared to what we are going
(04:12):
through.
And I think as Christians we dothat, we do that a lot.
You know Well, why were theyhealed when I wasn't, you know,
and I'm not or my husband wasn'thealed, or my child was in
healed Someone, their child wasrescued from drowning in a pool,
yet Ma was killed in a caraccident.
Why did you choose to?
You know all of those things wecan ask God when we meet him
(04:37):
face to face, but that doesn'tmean that we can compare
ourselves to others, becauseit's actually just going to lead
you around down a road ofdisappointment because you don't
know the inside of it.
We're not the Alpha and Omega,like God is.
He knows the whole entire story, he knows the end to not of it
and he knows the the way thatthat situation needed to go, or
(04:59):
whether, if it didn't go the waythat it possibly should have.
He's got them covered in that,and I just think that's
something that we just all needto be careful of as Christians.
You know, in the secular worldthey call it keeping over the
Joneses.
Right, you kind of want to haveeverything that they have, but
we also got to be very, very,very careful of that in a
(05:19):
Christian world.
Is there anything else you wantto add to that?
Speaker 2 (05:21):
Sherry.
No, I completely agree withwhat you were saying, that that,
yeah, we don't know.
And well, I guess.
Okay, I guess there is onething.
So, as parents, we don't giveour kids candy 24 seven because
(05:42):
we know that they don't brushtheir teeth as well as they
should and we don't want them tohave a mouthful of cavities.
So we look at the big pictureand we see cavities and 24 seven
sugar.
We still give them sugar, butwe give it to them in such a way
that we teach them the rightamounts to have, etc.
Etc.
(06:03):
We need to look at our lives andGod is that way.
He's not sitting up in heavenpunishing us or saying I don't
want you to have this, I don'twant you to have that.
God cares more about ourspiritual life, our spiritual
growth and our spiritualmaternity, maturity.
He knows that us going toheaven is the most important
(06:25):
thing, most important assignment, most important decision that
we'll ever make, and so he willhelp guide our lives to point us
to the place where we can makethat choice.
So we need to keep that in mind, that we will not always get
what we want, we will not alwaysget it the way that we think we
(06:45):
should.
But God is more concerned aboutour emotional I mean about our
eternity and where we spend oureternity than he is about
physical comfort in the, in thepresent.
He's looking at the big picture, he's not looking at the
instant gratification.
Speaker 1 (07:06):
Absolutely, and as humans we are so used to wanting
everything quick and fast.
You know, with remote controls,like if we're watching
something on television and wewant to change the channel, it
can happen like really, reallyfast, because we just pick up
the remote and we change it.
It's not like the old days wehad to get up and actually
(07:27):
physically move our bodies to doit, right.
So and now, you know, somethinglike popcorn used to take a
minute to cook.
If you wanted a snack, anafternoon snack, now you could
just pop a bag in a microwave.
So things we you know, as timegoes on, it just seems like
things happen a lot more quickerand quicker.
Same thing with email versussnail mail.
(07:50):
You know, a relative of minewas waiting for something that
could only be sent by snail mail, and she was, so she couldn't
wait to see it and get it, butit just seemed like it was
taking forever.
And it's because usually withemail we can get stuff so
instantly.
And I think that kind of bleedsinto our spiritual lives a lot
and we're just like, oh Lord, Iwant it and I want it now,
(08:10):
instant gratification, right now, right now.
And that's not always the bestfor us and, like Sherry said, he
always wants the best for us.
But who doesn't want the bestfor us?
The enemy of our souls, satan?
He does not.
And if you guys, for those ofyou who are just now listening,
welcome to the excuse me, we'rejust just now tuning in, perhaps
(08:32):
for the first time.
Welcome to the editorialpodcast, where the podcast is
based on John 1633 and Sherrywill explain more about that at
the end of the podcast.
But we just want to thank youand all of our returning
listeners and all of our newlisteners.
Welcome to Cheer Nation.
If you are a listener of theCheer podcast, you are a part of
(08:54):
Cheer Nation and we want tothank you for listening across
all the various platformsSpotify, iheart, all the major
ones and continuing to listen tous, continuing to tune in each
week.
We thank you so much for thatand, for those of you who
haven't done so yet, we areavailable on those platforms
that I just mentioned and others, and so we thank you.
(09:18):
We're also the Cheer podcast isalso on Twitter and I believe
we're at.
We are at Cheer Cheer, cheerpodcast.
I think is where we are.
I think it's at Cheer podcast,but if you type in Cheer podcast
.
It should come out.
It should come out.
So so we're also on Twitter aswell.
(09:40):
Now for this.
We are continuing our summerseries, and for this summer
series we have been talkingabout the book the Screwtape
Letters by CS Lewis L-E-W-I-S,which he may be known to some of
you if you're a fan of classicliterature the Lion, the Witch
(10:02):
and the Wardrobe and other booksthat he's well known for and in
this book, the ScrewtapeLetters, it is about two demons.
It is about Screwtape and theletters that he writes to his
nephew Wormwood.
Both are demons and heScrewtape is the uncle and
(10:25):
Wormwood is the nephew.
Screwtape is a lot higher in ahierarchy of hell than his
nephew, who is a young novice,and so Screwtape is writing his
nephew Wormwood letters andteaching him how to handle the
newly assigned Christian malethat he's been assigned to.
(10:46):
And it doesn't reallyspecifically say in the book, I
don't think, but we kind of readthis, though this young man may
be single and he's in his 30s,and Screwtape wants to make sure
that his nephew gets it right.
His new assignment is aChristian male, a male who just
(11:06):
is new in his Christian fate,and Screwtape wants to mess that
up by any means possible.
He's like, yeah, he's aChristian now, but, wormwood, if
you do your job right, he'llend up down here and hailed with
us and not where God wants himto be, basically.
And so that's what theseletters are about.
The first episode that westarted this was in the first
(11:30):
week of June and if you go backand listen to those episodes
you'll be able to catch up.
The one in June you definitelywant to listen to, I believe the
June 7th episode.
That's where we talk a littlebit more about why we're reading
the Screwtape letters anddemons and a scriptural basis
(11:50):
for demons, and we give thescriptures in the Bible that
talks about demons, who they are, are they real, what are their
purpose and things like that.
So we give a list of scripturesthat go into detail about that.
So you definitely want tolisten to the June 7th episode.
After that, we have coveredletters, the 31 letters in the
book of the Screwtape letters,and we have covered so far
(12:14):
letters 1 through 15.
And in this episode we're goingto be talking about letters 16
and 17.
And letter 16 is talking aboutchurches and in this letter,
uncle Screwtape is writing aletter to his nephew Wormwood
saying hey, what in the worldare you doing?
(12:38):
Like you, what are you doing?
You're supposed to be a demonand yet this man is still at
this stage.
He's still going to church.
You know he loves his churchand that that that just can't
happen, right.
And he's still assistant onchurch going.
Nothing you have done.
Nephew Wormwood has stopped himfrom going to church.
So we're going to have to fixthat.
(13:00):
And because you haven't stoppedhim going from church, we're
going to try another tactic.
I want you to get himdissatisfied with this church
that he loves going to.
Let him start picking at things, the things the pastor says.
What he wears, is he wearing?
Is he dressed appropriately?
Like a, like a?
Like you know, someone who'steaching the word should be.
(13:21):
You know, having picked on thepeople in the congregation, you
know, have him become verydissatisfied with it.
Does he like the carpet?
Does he not?
Do they need stained glasswindows?
Should they have regularwindows?
Get him very dissatisfied withthe timing.
Oh, why are they starting atthis?
You know just anything.
He just wants Wormwood to justget him very dissatisfied with
(13:41):
the church and he says if thatfails, he still insists on going
to the church.
I want you to get himinterested in church hopping,
you know, like, well, maybethere's another church out there
that you know just may be evenbetter than this one, for
example, or may satisfy my needbetter, fit my schedule easier.
(14:05):
And he said, in particular,this too I really want you to
urge him to go to.
And he said and one of them isa church, he says, where the,
the, the message of the faith,has been so watered down like
it's just not even any good.
Like you know, the person isgetting nothing.
It's so watered down, it meansabsolutely nothing, and he's
(14:29):
just a very worthless pastor,priest Vicar or whatever you
called it, you know, andeverything else.
And again, the word Vicarbecause it was like written back
in 1940s.
But he's like, yeah, just havehim go there, he won't learn
anything, it won't bring him anycloser to God.
Everything's been so watereddown, you know, and everything
(14:50):
else.
And he and there's anotherchurch, he wants nephew Wormwood
to try to stir, steer his newChristian pupil too.
And he's like, are youconcerned to this one, because
this one is more political innature, does this?
It does that, you know, to gethim all rolled up and everything
else, whatever, but it'd gethim away from focusing on God
(15:12):
and his relationship with him.
And so, and it's justinteresting to think that we
have to be so careful, even whenthis, even when we're thinking
about our church, in the churchwe go to and if we're
dissatisfied with it, andwhether we're going to a church
that God planted us to orsomething else planted us to.
(15:34):
What are your thoughts on that,sherry?
Speaker 2 (15:37):
I have so many wonderful thoughts on this.
So, first and foremost, thereare times in our lives when God
nudges us to change churches.
I know that that happened withmy husband and I about 10 years
ago, we both separately.
God told us separately that itwas time to leave the church we
were in.
We had been there oh goodness,let me think over a decade, so
(16:00):
we weren't church hopping, butGod is definitely saying it's
time for you to move, and wefound out later.
One of the reasons, I think,why God did move us was because
we had been growing in our faith.
I was raised in a differentdenomination than my husband was
.
The church we were presentlygoing to was a different
(16:20):
denomination than either one ofus had been raised in, and it
had taught us a lot and we hadgrown a lot in our faith.
But God wanted to stretch usand grow us even more, and we
couldn't do it at that churchbecause they weren't teaching
what God wanted to reveal for us, and so he took us to the
church that we're in currently.
And so there are times andthere are seasons where God will
(16:45):
move you to a different churchbecause he wants you to grow
even further, and maybe, whilethe church you're going to might
still be a wonderful church, itjust might not have the growth
that God wants you to have, sodon't be afraid.
Right, god is teaching you, godis nudging you to grow somewhere
different.
Speaker 1 (17:04):
But then one thing that I Just make sure it's God
nudging you.
Speaker 2 (17:08):
Exactly, and that was the thing we didn't rush into
it.
And we were confirmed becauseGod told us both separately, not
together.
So that was a confirmation forus that, yes, this is really God
and not just we're upset aboutsomething or dissatisfied about
something.
Well, when I go to church now I, when the worship music starts,
(17:32):
I close my eyes so that myfocus is only on God and I ask
him to let me enter his throneroom.
And that sounds kind of weirdto some people, because maybe
they don't even know what I'mtalking about or they were like
why aren't you just singing thesong, sherry?
But the reason why I do that isbecause I want my focus to be
on God and God alone.
(17:53):
My worship is to invite himinto the atmosphere, to invite
his presence in, and I want tobe solely focused on him.
I don't want to be focused onsmoke, I don't want to be
focused on music, I don't wantto be focused on the person next
to me Well, actually I do,that's my husband.
I don't want to be focused onthe people in front of me, I
(18:13):
don't want to be focused onanything except for God himself.
And so I close my eyes and Iask God to.
I ask him if he would invite mein or allow me to step into his
presence and then, if there isan issue with church or with
something that's happening atchurch and I can't seem to shake
it on my own, but I do this notjust with church.
(18:35):
I do this with relationshipsthat I'm in.
I do this with people that Iwork for and work with.
If I have an issue withsomebody and I'm not positive,
that it's truly an issue and notjust a hormonal thing on my
part, or I woke up on the wrongside of the bed, or I'm the one
that's the problem and not theother person, but I'm projecting
(18:56):
it onto them I will ask God tofight for me.
I will say, god, if this istruly an issue that needs to be
dealt with, will you do thedealings?
Will you talk to the person andconvict them and change them?
Because I don't know if it'sreally my place and especially
if you're not in a leadershipposition at a church.
(19:16):
It really isn't your placeunless God is calling you to do
it.
And I believe I've shared on thepodcast before how there was a
point in one of the churchesthat we had attended that God
wanted me to bring attention tothe youth pastor, something that
had been going on, and I arguedwith God for months about this
and I said, god, I don't want tobring this up with him.
(19:38):
I don't think it's my place, Idon't think that this is
something I should be doing, Idon't want to do this.
And God said, sherry, I'mtelling you, you need to do this
.
You are the person that I amcalling to do this, and he would
not let it rest.
So I made an appointment,grudgingly, with the youth
pastor during the week.
I went and talked to him bymyself and he acted the same way
(19:59):
that he had been acting and thewhole reason why I was having
the conversation with him.
To begin with.
He acted rushed, he actedhurried, he acted irritated that
I was bothering him.
It was let's get this over with, I had better things to do,
type of a thing.
And so I said to him I saidlook.
I said I don't even want to behere.
I said I don't want to behaving this conversation with
you.
I don't want to be doing any ofthis, and I wouldn't be if I
(20:22):
wasn't obeying God.
And he said oh, so it's aproblem with Tom?
And I said no, actually theproblem is with you and I listed
and explained to him what Godtold me to say to him and I said
it in a nicer way than I'mtalking now and he got it Like
it was a moment between him andGod and it stopped being about
(20:42):
what had happened.
That transpired to make it sothat I went to talk to him in
the first place and it was abouthim and God, in a moment
between him and God, and itturned out to be from God, which
was the whole point of why Idid it, because I didn't want to
do it.
So we have to check our actions.
If we do, or our motives.
If we do, go approach somebodyin leadership at a church, if
(21:05):
there really is a biblical issueor something that we see as a
problem, we need to pray, prayand then pray some more.
Before we have thatconversation, before we open our
mouths, we need to make surethat it truly is God that is
asking us to do it and it's notjust something that we have a
problem with, Because then Godwould be involved in it.
(21:26):
God will get the glory in itand change.
True change will really happen.
Or maybe, like the other thingsthat I've done, where I've
prayed and said God, you lovethis person, you love me.
We're both your children.
Fix them, fight in this battlefor me, because I can't fight it
, or show me where I'm in thewrong so that I change and the
(21:49):
relationship changes for thebetter, because you changed me".
When we have an open attitudeand an open mindset and an open
heart, in that way, god can workwonders and it gets the enemy
out of the focus and out of thepicture and he can't do more
damage, which is exactly what hewants to do.
To begin with, he wants nothingmore than for us to have
(22:12):
conflicts and problems withpeople.
That brings him pleasure.
And when we bring things outinto the open and when we invite
the Holy Spirit into each andevery situation, it takes the
Satan or the enemy completelyout of it, and then real change
and real growth can occur.
Speaker 1 (22:30):
Absolutely, and it is definitely one of those things,
and you know what it all goesback down to.
Your relationship with God isthe key, because that way you
will know if God is nudging youand saying wow, this church has
been awesome for you the pastfive years and you've learned so
(22:51):
much from it, but there'sanother church I need you to go
somewhere else, to where I cantake what has already been
planted, the seeds that havebeen planted in you from this
church, and take it even higher.
Okay, so I got this otherchurch from you and if our
relationship, if we have thattype of relationship with the
(23:11):
Lord and we're at so much peaceregarding a situation like that,
we know that that's a holynudge kind of as people refer to
it, or a holy hunch, and it's anudge from God saying I got
some replaced cells for youright now, so say you're
goodbyes to this church, we loveeverybody in it.
But there's another one I gotin store for you.
(23:32):
So you want to make sure thatyou hear his people know his
voice, so you want his sheepknow his voice, so you always
want to make sure you know thatvoice right, and because it's
very, very different from theone that I'll be telling you
this church sucks.
Something is wrong with thischurch.
(23:52):
Can you believe that he'swearing flip flops?
Can you believe that he'swearing jeans with holes in them
?
Can you believe he has on abaseball cap right there?
Baseball cap on.
You know, he's talking at theballpark and he's supposed to be
a Reverend Pastor, minister,priest or whatnot.
Where's the decorum, where's thereverence?
(24:14):
And look at the people.
How are they dressed in here?
Why do they always come insuits and everything else?
Do they think they're betterthan me?
Or why don't they dress betterShorts and t-shirts, really.
And if you start hearing a voicelike that, like of condemning
other people, and you becomingjust dissatisfied in that way
(24:34):
and you're like you know what,I'm going to another church
because the people here don'treally know what's going on, or
I don't like the message anymore, or something like that, then
you know that that's notnecessarily from God, because
it's getting you to focus onthings that really aren't
important.
If the message is solid, if themessage is biblical and things
(24:56):
like that, those are the thingswhere you want to work on.
But if it's drawing yourattention to things that don't
really matter, like the color ofthe carpet, pews versus chairs,
anything like that and you'relike, well, I'm going to, they
got chairs.
I'm going to this other church,I'm tired of these chairs.
The church on the street haspews.
You want to check that and say,god, is this you or am I just
(25:18):
becoming, or is this fromsomeone else?
And I just need to stay put.
It's always, always good to askGod for wisdom and clarity on
whatever voices you're hearingcoming in your head, and that's
something that you definitelydefinitely want to do, because
you don't want to go fromsomewhere to where you were
being fed spiritually, tosomewhere that you're not, just
(25:41):
because you're dissatisfied withone or two of you things.
And a good way to know if thathas happened to you is that, if
your zeal and your passion and afire for the Lord and His word
that you had in your previouschurch has now been on a
downward spiral in the new oneyou're attending, you're not
excited about God, you're notexuberant about prayer, you're
(26:05):
not as zealous about spreadingHis word, you're not looking
forward to going to churchanymore and your relationship
with Him has faded.
You're not talking to the Lordas much anymore, you're not
reading the Bible as muchanymore.
You haven't learned anythingnew that has been spiritually
life changing for you.
Then there's probably a sign.
You know a few of those.
(26:26):
One of them could be a red flag, two of them could be burning
red flags.
But if you have a whole bunchof them and you're like, yeah,
like when I was at church, hey,I had this zeal for the Lord.
I just I couldn't get enough ofHis word.
I look forward to hearing themessages all the time.
They blessed me, theyministered to me, they were
spiritually life changing for me.
(26:47):
But in this other one it's justblah, I'm getting, I get
nothing from it.
Then that may be something thatyou really really want to pray
about and see if perhaps youmade the wrong move at the time
because you were nudged bysomething other than Holy Spirit
.
And letter seven excuse me, umletters, letter 17 and the screw
(27:13):
tape letters is about gluttonyand, believe it or not, the two
gluttony and churches are kindof related.
Because um and letter 17, withgluttony it it goes back to kind
of like screw tape strategy andthe previous letter.
(27:34):
He just wants um Wormwood tohave.
The Christian has been assignedto him to focus on anything and
everything, but what he shouldbe focusing on Right, and in
this case, he's like gluttony,um, and he's like let's do okay,
(27:54):
so let's use food, like youknow, if you can't get him to
stop going to church and youknow, you can't get him to go to
another church, you know, hey,guess what?
There's always?
There's always food, andWormwood kind of just talks
about how one of the greatestachievements in the last hundred
years has been to dead in ahuman conscious on the subject
(28:15):
of gluttony, and he tells us,nephew Wormwood, so we've, we've
been able to dead in theconscious of so many humans on
their subject, um, so deeplythat, now you will, you will
hardly find a sermon preached ora Christian conscious troubled
about the, about the length andthe depth of gluttony, you know,
(28:36):
and what it can mean, and sohe's just screw tape, is just
writing the letter to Wormwoodand just urging him to you know,
get him to focus on, you know,on gluttony and it.
Both of them, though, aredesigned both of these letters
are designed for Wormwood to getthe, his newly assigned
(29:00):
Christians, mind on anything andeverything except God, and how
much he enjoys the churchservices, you know, and he's
like if we you can't get him tostart going to church, we want
to get him to focus on, focus ongluttony.
And screw tape explains to hisdemon nephew Wormwood that
gluttony is not about how much aperson eats, but rather about
(29:23):
them being controlled by whatthey eat.
What are your thoughts on that,sherry?
Speaker 2 (29:29):
Well, as someone who has dealt with this issue for
her entire life, I have to sayGod has been working with me
slowly over the last few yearsand it started when I began a
fasting lifestyle, a consistentfasting lifestyle, with my
prayer partner, annie.
I had had a fasting lifestyle bymyself, and God talks about in
(29:55):
the Bible that where two orthree are gathered there he is
in the midst and she had neverwanted to fast before, had never
seen that there was a realreason to fast until, I don't
know, she had a conversationwith God, or God had a
conversation with her and she'slike Sherry, I want to do it.
Well, we have slowly started tohave, like I said, a full
(30:19):
fasting lifestyle, and it isthrough that discipline and
through that self-control, orthe learning of the self-control
, that God has really beenworking with me on my appetite,
and by my appetite I'm not justtalking about the food that I
put in my body, but it's thewhole appetite of what do I want
to focus on in my life?
(30:42):
Do I want to have my focusbeing on selfish things and
things that fill me up whetherit's physical, filling me up
through food or entertainment oryou know whatever or do I want
to focus on the things of Godand having Him fill me up?
(31:02):
And I'm not perfect at it.
I have not achieved the goal.
I am not at my healthy weightyet, but I do have to say that
God has been working with me onit, and, as somebody who does a
podcast with you, somebody whohas a YouTube channel, somebody
who has a ministry, writes books, et cetera, et cetera.
I do feel a little bit more ofan obligation and a little bit
(31:25):
more of a conviction, because myoutward body is a reflection of
my relationship with Christ andI want to be as genuine and as
authentic as I can be, and oneof the ways of doing that is to
take a look at and discern whatareas of my life need more
(31:48):
self-control and then taking thesteps and the measures
consistently to do that.
I think you're right.
I cannot remember the last timethat I've heard a sermon on
gluttony, heard a sermon onself-control, and what do I fill
myself with?
And I think that it is reallyimportant as Christ followers,
(32:09):
and whether or not you have aplatform and whether or not
you're in front of people, beingconsistent and being genuine is
something that all believersshould be working towards.
Speaker 1 (32:24):
Absolutely.
And it is interesting, you know, as I reread this letter, like
I said, I initially read thescripted letters I don't know
maybe 10, maybe 15 years ago,but as I was rereading them
recently and I came across thatI'm like, wow, that's right.
When is the last time that Ihave heard a sermon talked on
(32:49):
gluttony?
Right, you know, inself-control, you know, and
things like that.
But this is how much?
And it all circles back to whatwe were talking about at the
beginning of this episode isthat God loves us so much that
he didn't wait and, like Sherrywas just saying, he didn't wait
(33:09):
for her to hear a sermon becauseshe said she hadn't heard one
on it in a very long time butwhat he did was he spoke to her
and a friend of hers and theywere able to do a different type
of lifestyle together, whichgot the focus off of food, so
they could no longer controlthem to where.
(33:30):
They got their mind's focusright on the right purpose of
food, which is for us to eat, togive us energy, to help sustain
life, and not let it control us.
And so am I interpreting thatright, sherry?
Amen and amen.
Yep, you know, and that is soimportant because and that's how
much he loves us, that's howmuch he loved her, that's how
(33:51):
much he loves you, that's howmuch he loves me.
He's like, well, you know thisparticular past.
I mean, I'll be generated, youknow.
Or any churches in the areaaren't gonna teach on gluttony
soon?
But you know, I think she'sgetting a little complacent in
regards to food and is startingto control her instead of her
controlling it.
So I'm just gonna place thislittle thing in her spirit.
(34:14):
That's love people, that's howmuch God loves us.
And he will put something inour minds and our hearts and our
spirits.
And we're like, oh my goodness,lord, you're right.
You know, at first I thought Iwas just joking.
For example, you could saysomething like I thought I was
just joking when I tell peoplethat I can't survive my mornings
without coffee.
(34:34):
But, oh my goodness, like it'sreal, lord, like I can't, it's
like I need that my coffeebefore I can like, think or be
clear.
You know, have clear thoughtsand everything else.
That's it controlling me, notme controlling my love of coffee
.
And so, lord, just, you knowsomething as simple as that.
Help me focus on you and thehealth benefits of coffee.
(34:56):
You know, and it's okay todrink coffee in moderation, but
if I can't control it and I feellike I needed to get through my
day instead of you, thenthere's a problem.
And help me see that, lord.
And it could be as simple asthat, am I right, sherry?
Speaker 2 (35:13):
Well, and it goes exactly, and it goes back to
what we were talking about,about the whole challenge in
August.
And that is okay, god.
I have a problem with food youhave shown that to me and I have
a problem with emotional eating.
Help me, give me the resources,point me in the right direction
, show me exactly what it isthat I'm struggling with and
(35:37):
then give me the solution.
And he does, and so I have beenon this fasting lifestyle where
I focus on God instead of food.
I regularly, as God leads usand as God nudges us, we ask him
what he wants us to give up andfor how long, and then we have
(35:57):
a fasting period and the funnything is not funny, haha, but
amazing with how God is so thiswe always start in January.
January 1st, we give him ourfirst, and then we have done
quite a few intensive ones.
He keeps growing us andstretching us in this direction,
and I did.
(36:18):
Our length was really focusedand more severe, more
disciplined than had been in thepast, and so I figured, when we
were done with Lent, we werejust done for the year.
Nope, god turned us around andhe had us do one right away
again, and I was okay with it.
(36:41):
Like in the past, food stillhad such a hold on me that I
would get mad every time and hewould, quote unquote, invite me
into another one.
I'd be like, but I already didthis, but I just finished.
But I want to eat what I wantto eat.
And it's not about that anymore.
It's about okay.
In fact, right now, she and Iboth are feeling the nudge too
(37:02):
fast and we're asking God andhe's not telling us that.
He's not giving us the greenlight yet.
And I love it because I have tocontrol myself.
Instead of okay, god told me Ican't have a pop right now, or
God told me I can't have bread,or God told me I can't have
coffee, instead, it's okay, Iwant to eat what's healthy
(37:23):
because it makes me feel better.
God has shown me in the lasttwo years that when I feel my
body with the right food, I cango through my whole day with
energy and I feel good and I'mable to accomplish what he wants
me to accomplish, versus goingthrough my day and struggling
because I'm on a sugar crash ora caffeine crash.
(37:45):
But the other part of the story,to finish, what I first started
to say was I knew that I stillhad issues with emotional eating
, and so I had talked to Godabout that, and I said God.
I said I don't know what to do.
I don't know what the next stepis that you do, and I trust you
for it.
And it wasn't too long afterthat that he put in front of me
(38:06):
a resource, one that I had neverseen before, a person that I
had never heard of before, andit was like just like with the
church, when God showed us thatwe had grown for the 10 years
that we were there.
But it was time to move on.
God said this is the next level, this is the next.
You're ready for this part ofthe training, for the freedom
(38:30):
that you will find fromemotional eating.
You're ready for it now andthis is the next stage for you,
and I'll tell you what.
It was like a light bulb moment, and I'm so grateful that he's
working with me through that,but I actually have to do the
work.
And so I had gotten a littlecomplacent again because life
had gotten busy and I was justtalking to another friend of
(38:52):
mine who's doing this with meand I said hey.
I said I need more help.
Again, I said I'm backslidingbecause I can feel myself not
doing the steps that need to bedone.
What do you think Are you readyto you know?
Dig deeper a little bit with me.
And she's like yes, absolutelyso.
I mean, god gives you the tools, just like we were talking
(39:12):
about with the August challenge.
If you are struggling in anyarea, any area, ask God and he
will bring you the resources.
It might not be today, it mightnot be tomorrow, but it will be
when you're ready for it, andthen you will see the growth and
the freedom come so much fasterbecause you peeled off the
(39:34):
layers that needed to be healedor worked through or whatever
first in order to be ready forthe next stage and the next
growth.
Speaker 1 (39:44):
Absolutely, I kind of said it.
Any better than that, sherry?
Speaker 2 (39:49):
Well, god's been working with me on this for
quite a while, so I say thankyou to him, although the working
is not always easy, as we allknow, but it's sure, right.
Yeah, and having said that, Ithink we're going to wrap up
today and we're going to comeback next week and we're going
to talk about love and marriageand using love, and I love all
(40:11):
things to do with love.
I love all things to do withfamily and marriage and kids,
and he who knows me knows thatthat is my true heart.
So I am super excited aboutactually well, especially about
next week.
So, as Jesus said in John 1633,these things I have spoken to
(40:32):
you, that in me you may havepeace In the world.
You will have tribulation, butbe of good cheer.
I have overcome the world.
There's just nothing betterthan that, and I'm just so
grateful that God loves us somuch.
And that's the thing Like ifyou don't get anything else, I
would have the screwtake letterswhich there's so much to get
(40:53):
out of it.
My prayer is that you will get.
You will realize, you will seejust how much God truly loves
you and just how much the enemydoes not.
He wants to see us fail.
He wants to see us fall on ourface.
He wants to see us fail.
I mean, there's like no otherword destroyed.
(41:14):
There we go.
He wants to see us destroyed,but God wants to see us prosper.
He wants to see us thrive andhe wants us to live out our
purpose and our plan that heplanted in us before we were
even born, more than we do.
And when we can truly graspthat and when we can truly
understand just how much heloves us and how much he wants a
(41:38):
relationship with us, then lifestarts being worth living.
If you do not have thatrelationship with God yet, but
you want to, if you pray thisprayer with us and see your
heart, then you God assures usin his word in Romans 10, 9,
that you will be saved.
So if that's something that youwant to do today, just repeat
(41:59):
after me oh Heavenly Father, Icome to you in Jesus' name.
I believe you died on the crossand that you rose again and
you're seated on the throne.
Jesus, forgive me for all thatI've done wrong, and I choose to
forgive all others.
Come into my life today andforever.
(42:20):
I am yours in Jesus' name, amen.
If you prayed that prayer todayor 50 years ago and you would
like more resources to learn howto have that growing
relationship with Christ, Iencourage you to check out
Tara's websitek-a-r-a-r-a-t-n-tcom,
(42:42):
k-a-r-huntcom, or check out mywebsite, sherryswellwellcom.
Both of us have such a heart toencourage people and encourage
their walk and faith, or theirfaith walk, that we have things
on our website that will helpyou grow your relationship with
our Heavenly Father.
If you need prayer orencouragement, head on over to
(43:03):
the Tira podcast at gmailcom anddrop us a note.
We would love to hear from you,we would love to pray for you
and we would love to build thatrelationship.
Another way to build therelationship is through our
Facebook group Tira podcast onFacebook and we can get to know
you and continue to build thecommunity over there together.
(43:28):
There are lots of ways toconnect with us, lots of ways to
stay in touch and come backnext week because we're going to
talk about love and marriageand using love.
Until then, have a great restof your day today and continue
to have those conversations withGod and see how he answers,
because he always does.
Hi and welcome to the Cheer Up Podcast.
I am your host, kara R Hunt,and with me is the awesome and
inspiring Sherry Swalwell.
How are you doing today, sherry?
Speaker 2 (00:32):
I am doing fantastic, it is a beautiful day today.
It is just it's August and I'mjust really, really trying to
accept and embrace the challengethat I offered to everybody
else this month and that is tojust live excited and happy and
expectant of God working andshowing up every single day.
Speaker 1 (00:57):
Oh, yes, and just expectant.
I love that, I love that, Ilove that, I love that, I love
that.
Speaker 2 (01:05):
You know, and so it's like if you're praying for
something to happen today youknow, expect it to happen you
know what's the cool thing, too,kara, is that like, if we truly
live the surrendered life thatwe say we want to, that
obviously everything thathappens to us is under God's
(01:28):
covering.
So if there's something, likeyou said, that we're praying
about, we need to liveexpectantly that God's going to
do something in that area,whether it give us a yes for it
because it's something that hewants in our lives, or give us a
no, and it's okay to bedisappointed with the no, but
only if we then turn around andtrust him and say okay, then
(01:50):
that means that you have abigger yes for me somewhere else
down the road.
And, lord, I accept this.
I might still drown my sorrowsin aloha bars, but I am going to
accept that this no is for mygood and not for you know, not
because I'm a failure or notbecause you don't love me, or
(02:11):
not because I'm not as good asyou know, johnny, down the
street.
You said no to me because youhave a bigger and better yes,
and I am expecting about thatbigger and better yes.
Speaker 1 (02:24):
Oh, absolutely and definitely, definitely, since
Sherry had just mentioned isdon't compare yourself to Johnny
down the street, and I thinksometimes in our Christian walk
we can do that right.
Johnny down the street justbeing, you know, an example of
(02:44):
well God.
Why does it always seem likethings work out for their family
, you know, and yet mine isstill like in the middle of all
sorts of chaos, you know, andeverything else.
And the reason I want todiscourage that is because we
don't see everything that Godsees so to you.
You just may be seeing the goodthings that's going on in
(03:05):
Johnny's life, but God knowswhat it took Johnny, what it
took for him to get Johnny thereRight.
It didn't just happen overnight.
Johnny's journey is a lotdifferent than everyone else's
journey.
Johnny's journey with the Lordmay have started a lot sooner, a
lot longer.
His issues may have been a lotdeeper.
He may have had to walk throughthe desert for 40 years, when
(03:29):
God only meant it to be 40 days,you know.
So Johnny could just be at thatpoint to where he's coming, on
the other side of that, thatrainbow, so to speak, and he's
just like okay, god, I've beenin wilderness with you long
enough to know that, no matterwhat happens today, that you got
(03:50):
this all under control andeverything is all good.
And if it doesn't happen theway it happens, then it just
wasn't meant to happen, you know, and everything else.
And his faith has gone strongerbecause he's been through a
whole lot more with the Lord.
So all the time we can't justjudge on the surface of what
someone else is going throughcompared to what we are going
(04:12):
through.
And I think as Christians we dothat, we do that a lot.
You know Well, why were theyhealed when I wasn't, you know,
and I'm not or my husband wasn'thealed, or my child was in
healed Someone, their child wasrescued from drowning in a pool,
yet Ma was killed in a caraccident.
Why did you choose to?
You know all of those things wecan ask God when we meet him
(04:37):
face to face, but that doesn'tmean that we can compare
ourselves to others, becauseit's actually just going to lead
you around down a road ofdisappointment because you don't
know the inside of it.
We're not the Alpha and Omega,like God is.
He knows the whole entire story, he knows the end to not of it
and he knows the the way thatthat situation needed to go, or
(04:59):
whether, if it didn't go the waythat it possibly should have.
He's got them covered in that,and I just think that's
something that we just all needto be careful of as Christians.
You know, in the secular worldthey call it keeping over the
Joneses.
Right, you kind of want to haveeverything that they have, but
we also got to be very, very,very careful of that in a
(05:19):
Christian world.
Is there anything else you wantto add to that?
Speaker 2 (05:21):
Sherry.
No, I completely agree withwhat you were saying, that that,
yeah, we don't know.
And well, I guess.
Okay, I guess there is onething.
So, as parents, we don't giveour kids candy 24 seven because
(05:42):
we know that they don't brushtheir teeth as well as they
should and we don't want them tohave a mouthful of cavities.
So we look at the big pictureand we see cavities and 24 seven
sugar.
We still give them sugar, butwe give it to them in such a way
that we teach them the rightamounts to have, etc.
Etc.
(06:03):
We need to look at our lives andGod is that way.
He's not sitting up in heavenpunishing us or saying I don't
want you to have this, I don'twant you to have that.
God cares more about ourspiritual life, our spiritual
growth and our spiritualmaternity, maturity.
He knows that us going toheaven is the most important
(06:25):
thing, most important assignment, most important decision that
we'll ever make, and so he willhelp guide our lives to point us
to the place where we can makethat choice.
So we need to keep that in mind, that we will not always get
what we want, we will not alwaysget it the way that we think we
(06:45):
should.
But God is more concerned aboutour emotional I mean about our
eternity and where we spend oureternity than he is about
physical comfort in the, in thepresent.
He's looking at the big picture, he's not looking at the
instant gratification.
Speaker 1 (07:06):
Absolutely, and as humans we are so used to wanting
everything quick and fast.
You know, with remote controls,like if we're watching
something on television and wewant to change the channel, it
can happen like really, reallyfast, because we just pick up
the remote and we change it.
It's not like the old days wehad to get up and actually
(07:27):
physically move our bodies to doit, right.
So and now, you know, somethinglike popcorn used to take a
minute to cook.
If you wanted a snack, anafternoon snack, now you could
just pop a bag in a microwave.
So things we you know, as timegoes on, it just seems like
things happen a lot more quickerand quicker.
Same thing with email versussnail mail.
(07:50):
You know, a relative of minewas waiting for something that
could only be sent by snail mail, and she was, so she couldn't
wait to see it and get it, butit just seemed like it was
taking forever.
And it's because usually withemail we can get stuff so
instantly.
And I think that kind of bleedsinto our spiritual lives a lot
and we're just like, oh Lord, Iwant it and I want it now,
(08:10):
instant gratification, right now, right now.
And that's not always the bestfor us and, like Sherry said, he
always wants the best for us.
But who doesn't want the bestfor us?
The enemy of our souls, satan?
He does not.
And if you guys, for those ofyou who are just now listening,
welcome to the excuse me, we'rejust just now tuning in, perhaps
(08:32):
for the first time.
Welcome to the editorialpodcast, where the podcast is
based on John 1633 and Sherrywill explain more about that at
the end of the podcast.
But we just want to thank youand all of our returning
listeners and all of our newlisteners.
Welcome to Cheer Nation.
If you are a listener of theCheer podcast, you are a part of
(08:54):
Cheer Nation and we want tothank you for listening across
all the various platformsSpotify, iheart, all the major
ones and continuing to listen tous, continuing to tune in each
week.
We thank you so much for thatand, for those of you who
haven't done so yet, we areavailable on those platforms
that I just mentioned and others, and so we thank you.
(09:18):
We're also the Cheer podcast isalso on Twitter and I believe
we're at.
We are at Cheer Cheer, cheerpodcast.
I think is where we are.
I think it's at Cheer podcast,but if you type in Cheer podcast
.
It should come out.
It should come out.
So so we're also on Twitter aswell.
(09:40):
Now for this.
We are continuing our summerseries, and for this summer
series we have been talkingabout the book the Screwtape
Letters by CS Lewis L-E-W-I-S,which he may be known to some of
you if you're a fan of classicliterature the Lion, the Witch
(10:02):
and the Wardrobe and other booksthat he's well known for and in
this book, the ScrewtapeLetters, it is about two demons.
It is about Screwtape and theletters that he writes to his
nephew Wormwood.
Both are demons and heScrewtape is the uncle and
(10:25):
Wormwood is the nephew.
Screwtape is a lot higher in ahierarchy of hell than his
nephew, who is a young novice,and so Screwtape is writing his
nephew Wormwood letters andteaching him how to handle the
newly assigned Christian malethat he's been assigned to.
(10:46):
And it doesn't reallyspecifically say in the book, I
don't think, but we kind of readthis, though this young man may
be single and he's in his 30s,and Screwtape wants to make sure
that his nephew gets it right.
His new assignment is aChristian male, a male who just
(11:06):
is new in his Christian fate,and Screwtape wants to mess that
up by any means possible.
He's like, yeah, he's aChristian now, but, wormwood, if
you do your job right, he'llend up down here and hailed with
us and not where God wants himto be, basically.
And so that's what theseletters are about.
The first episode that westarted this was in the first
(11:30):
week of June and if you go backand listen to those episodes
you'll be able to catch up.
The one in June you definitelywant to listen to, I believe the
June 7th episode.
That's where we talk a littlebit more about why we're reading
the Screwtape letters anddemons and a scriptural basis
(11:50):
for demons, and we give thescriptures in the Bible that
talks about demons, who they are, are they real, what are their
purpose and things like that.
So we give a list of scripturesthat go into detail about that.
So you definitely want tolisten to the June 7th episode.
After that, we have coveredletters, the 31 letters in the
book of the Screwtape letters,and we have covered so far
(12:14):
letters 1 through 15.
And in this episode we're goingto be talking about letters 16
and 17.
And letter 16 is talking aboutchurches and in this letter,
uncle Screwtape is writing aletter to his nephew Wormwood
saying hey, what in the worldare you doing?
(12:38):
Like you, what are you doing?
You're supposed to be a demonand yet this man is still at
this stage.
He's still going to church.
You know he loves his churchand that that that just can't
happen, right.
And he's still assistant onchurch going.
Nothing you have done.
Nephew Wormwood has stopped himfrom going to church.
So we're going to have to fixthat.
(13:00):
And because you haven't stoppedhim going from church, we're
going to try another tactic.
I want you to get himdissatisfied with this church
that he loves going to.
Let him start picking at things, the things the pastor says.
What he wears, is he wearing?
Is he dressed appropriately?
Like a, like a?
Like you know, someone who'steaching the word should be.
(13:21):
You know, having picked on thepeople in the congregation, you
know, have him become verydissatisfied with it.
Does he like the carpet?
Does he not?
Do they need stained glasswindows?
Should they have regularwindows?
Get him very dissatisfied withthe timing.
Oh, why are they starting atthis?
You know just anything.
He just wants Wormwood to justget him very dissatisfied with
(13:41):
the church and he says if thatfails, he still insists on going
to the church.
I want you to get himinterested in church hopping,
you know, like, well, maybethere's another church out there
that you know just may be evenbetter than this one, for
example, or may satisfy my needbetter, fit my schedule easier.
(14:05):
And he said, in particular,this too I really want you to
urge him to go to.
And he said and one of them isa church, he says, where the,
the, the message of the faith,has been so watered down like
it's just not even any good.
Like you know, the person isgetting nothing.
It's so watered down, it meansabsolutely nothing, and he's
(14:29):
just a very worthless pastor,priest Vicar or whatever you
called it, you know, andeverything else.
And again, the word Vicarbecause it was like written back
in 1940s.
But he's like, yeah, just havehim go there, he won't learn
anything, it won't bring him anycloser to God.
Everything's been so watereddown, you know, and everything
(14:50):
else.
And he and there's anotherchurch, he wants nephew Wormwood
to try to stir, steer his newChristian pupil too.
And he's like, are youconcerned to this one, because
this one is more political innature, does this?
It does that, you know, to gethim all rolled up and everything
else, whatever, but it'd gethim away from focusing on God
(15:12):
and his relationship with him.
And so, and it's justinteresting to think that we
have to be so careful, even whenthis, even when we're thinking
about our church, in the churchwe go to and if we're
dissatisfied with it, andwhether we're going to a church
that God planted us to orsomething else planted us to.
(15:34):
What are your thoughts on that,sherry?
Speaker 2 (15:37):
I have so many wonderful thoughts on this.
So, first and foremost, thereare times in our lives when God
nudges us to change churches.
I know that that happened withmy husband and I about 10 years
ago, we both separately.
God told us separately that itwas time to leave the church we
were in.
We had been there oh goodness,let me think over a decade, so
(16:00):
we weren't church hopping, butGod is definitely saying it's
time for you to move, and wefound out later.
One of the reasons, I think,why God did move us was because
we had been growing in our faith.
I was raised in a differentdenomination than my husband was
.
The church we were presentlygoing to was a different
(16:20):
denomination than either one ofus had been raised in, and it
had taught us a lot and we hadgrown a lot in our faith.
But God wanted to stretch usand grow us even more, and we
couldn't do it at that churchbecause they weren't teaching
what God wanted to reveal for us, and so he took us to the
church that we're in currently.
And so there are times andthere are seasons where God will
(16:45):
move you to a different churchbecause he wants you to grow
even further, and maybe, whilethe church you're going to might
still be a wonderful church, itjust might not have the growth
that God wants you to have, sodon't be afraid.
Right, god is teaching you, godis nudging you to grow somewhere
different.
Speaker 1 (17:04):
But then one thing that I Just make sure it's God
nudging you.
Speaker 2 (17:08):
Exactly, and that was the thing we didn't rush into
it.
And we were confirmed becauseGod told us both separately, not
together.
So that was a confirmation forus that, yes, this is really God
and not just we're upset aboutsomething or dissatisfied about
something.
Well, when I go to church now I, when the worship music starts,
(17:32):
I close my eyes so that myfocus is only on God and I ask
him to let me enter his throneroom.
And that sounds kind of weirdto some people, because maybe
they don't even know what I'mtalking about or they were like
why aren't you just singing thesong, sherry?
But the reason why I do that isbecause I want my focus to be
on God and God alone.
(17:53):
My worship is to invite himinto the atmosphere, to invite
his presence in, and I want tobe solely focused on him.
I don't want to be focused onsmoke, I don't want to be
focused on music, I don't wantto be focused on the person next
to me Well, actually I do,that's my husband.
I don't want to be focused onthe people in front of me, I
(18:13):
don't want to be focused onanything except for God himself.
And so I close my eyes and Iask God to.
I ask him if he would invite mein or allow me to step into his
presence and then, if there isan issue with church or with
something that's happening atchurch and I can't seem to shake
it on my own, but I do this notjust with church.
(18:35):
I do this with relationshipsthat I'm in.
I do this with people that Iwork for and work with.
If I have an issue withsomebody and I'm not positive,
that it's truly an issue and notjust a hormonal thing on my
part, or I woke up on the wrongside of the bed, or I'm the one
that's the problem and not theother person, but I'm projecting
(18:56):
it onto them I will ask God tofight for me.
I will say, god, if this istruly an issue that needs to be
dealt with, will you do thedealings?
Will you talk to the person andconvict them and change them?
Because I don't know if it'sreally my place and especially
if you're not in a leadershipposition at a church.
(19:16):
It really isn't your placeunless God is calling you to do
it.
And I believe I've shared on thepodcast before how there was a
point in one of the churchesthat we had attended that God
wanted me to bring attention tothe youth pastor, something that
had been going on, and I arguedwith God for months about this
and I said, god, I don't want tobring this up with him.
(19:38):
I don't think it's my place, Idon't think that this is
something I should be doing, Idon't want to do this.
And God said, sherry, I'mtelling you, you need to do this
.
You are the person that I amcalling to do this, and he would
not let it rest.
So I made an appointment,grudgingly, with the youth
pastor during the week.
I went and talked to him bymyself and he acted the same way
(19:59):
that he had been acting and thewhole reason why I was having
the conversation with him.
To begin with.
He acted rushed, he actedhurried, he acted irritated that
I was bothering him.
It was let's get this over with, I had better things to do,
type of a thing.
And so I said to him I saidlook.
I said I don't even want to behere.
I said I don't want to behaving this conversation with
you.
I don't want to be doing any ofthis, and I wouldn't be if I
(20:22):
wasn't obeying God.
And he said oh, so it's aproblem with Tom?
And I said no, actually theproblem is with you and I listed
and explained to him what Godtold me to say to him and I said
it in a nicer way than I'mtalking now and he got it Like
it was a moment between him andGod and it stopped being about
(20:42):
what had happened.
That transpired to make it sothat I went to talk to him in
the first place and it was abouthim and God, in a moment
between him and God, and itturned out to be from God, which
was the whole point of why Idid it, because I didn't want to
do it.
So we have to check our actions.
If we do, or our motives.
If we do, go approach somebodyin leadership at a church, if
(21:05):
there really is a biblical issueor something that we see as a
problem, we need to pray, prayand then pray some more.
Before we have thatconversation, before we open our
mouths, we need to make surethat it truly is God that is
asking us to do it and it's notjust something that we have a
problem with, Because then Godwould be involved in it.
(21:26):
God will get the glory in itand change.
True change will really happen.
Or maybe, like the other thingsthat I've done, where I've
prayed and said God, you lovethis person, you love me.
We're both your children.
Fix them, fight in this battlefor me, because I can't fight it
, or show me where I'm in thewrong so that I change and the
(21:49):
relationship changes for thebetter, because you changed me".
When we have an open attitudeand an open mindset and an open
heart, in that way, god can workwonders and it gets the enemy
out of the focus and out of thepicture and he can't do more
damage, which is exactly what hewants to do.
To begin with, he wants nothingmore than for us to have
(22:12):
conflicts and problems withpeople.
That brings him pleasure.
And when we bring things outinto the open and when we invite
the Holy Spirit into each andevery situation, it takes the
Satan or the enemy completelyout of it, and then real change
and real growth can occur.
Speaker 1 (22:30):
Absolutely, and it is definitely one of those things,
and you know what it all goesback down to.
Your relationship with God isthe key, because that way you
will know if God is nudging youand saying wow, this church has
been awesome for you the pastfive years and you've learned so
(22:51):
much from it, but there'sanother church I need you to go
somewhere else, to where I cantake what has already been
planted, the seeds that havebeen planted in you from this
church, and take it even higher.
Okay, so I got this otherchurch from you and if our
relationship, if we have thattype of relationship with the
(23:11):
Lord and we're at so much peaceregarding a situation like that,
we know that that's a holynudge kind of as people refer to
it, or a holy hunch, and it's anudge from God saying I got
some replaced cells for youright now, so say you're
goodbyes to this church, we loveeverybody in it.
But there's another one I gotin store for you.
(23:32):
So you want to make sure thatyou hear his people know his
voice, so you want his sheepknow his voice, so you always
want to make sure you know thatvoice right, and because it's
very, very different from theone that I'll be telling you
this church sucks.
Something is wrong with thischurch.
(23:52):
Can you believe that he'swearing flip flops?
Can you believe that he'swearing jeans with holes in them
?
Can you believe he has on abaseball cap right there?
Baseball cap on.
You know, he's talking at theballpark and he's supposed to be
a Reverend Pastor, minister,priest or whatnot.
Where's the decorum, where's thereverence?
(24:14):
And look at the people.
How are they dressed in here?
Why do they always come insuits and everything else?
Do they think they're betterthan me?
Or why don't they dress betterShorts and t-shirts, really.
And if you start hearing a voicelike that, like of condemning
other people, and you becomingjust dissatisfied in that way
(24:34):
and you're like you know what,I'm going to another church
because the people here don'treally know what's going on, or
I don't like the message anymore, or something like that, then
you know that that's notnecessarily from God, because
it's getting you to focus onthings that really aren't
important.
If the message is solid, if themessage is biblical and things
(24:56):
like that, those are the thingswhere you want to work on.
But if it's drawing yourattention to things that don't
really matter, like the color ofthe carpet, pews versus chairs,
anything like that and you'relike, well, I'm going to, they
got chairs.
I'm going to this other church,I'm tired of these chairs.
The church on the street haspews.
You want to check that and say,god, is this you or am I just
(25:18):
becoming, or is this fromsomeone else?
And I just need to stay put.
It's always, always good to askGod for wisdom and clarity on
whatever voices you're hearingcoming in your head, and that's
something that you definitelydefinitely want to do, because
you don't want to go fromsomewhere to where you were
being fed spiritually, tosomewhere that you're not, just
(25:41):
because you're dissatisfied withone or two of you things.
And a good way to know if thathas happened to you is that, if
your zeal and your passion and afire for the Lord and His word
that you had in your previouschurch has now been on a
downward spiral in the new oneyou're attending, you're not
excited about God, you're notexuberant about prayer, you're
(26:05):
not as zealous about spreadingHis word, you're not looking
forward to going to churchanymore and your relationship
with Him has faded.
You're not talking to the Lordas much anymore, you're not
reading the Bible as muchanymore.
You haven't learned anythingnew that has been spiritually
life changing for you.
Then there's probably a sign.
You know a few of those.
(26:26):
One of them could be a red flag, two of them could be burning
red flags.
But if you have a whole bunchof them and you're like, yeah,
like when I was at church, hey,I had this zeal for the Lord.
I just I couldn't get enough ofHis word.
I look forward to hearing themessages all the time.
They blessed me, theyministered to me, they were
spiritually life changing for me.
(26:47):
But in this other one it's justblah, I'm getting, I get
nothing from it.
Then that may be something thatyou really really want to pray
about and see if perhaps youmade the wrong move at the time
because you were nudged bysomething other than Holy Spirit
.
And letter seven excuse me, umletters, letter 17 and the screw
(27:13):
tape letters is about gluttonyand, believe it or not, the two
gluttony and churches are kindof related.
Because um and letter 17, withgluttony it it goes back to kind
of like screw tape strategy andthe previous letter.
(27:34):
He just wants um Wormwood tohave.
The Christian has been assignedto him to focus on anything and
everything, but what he shouldbe focusing on Right, and in
this case, he's like gluttony,um, and he's like let's do okay,
(27:54):
so let's use food, like youknow, if you can't get him to
stop going to church and youknow, you can't get him to go to
another church, you know, hey,guess what?
There's always?
There's always food, andWormwood kind of just talks
about how one of the greatestachievements in the last hundred
years has been to dead in ahuman conscious on the subject
(28:15):
of gluttony, and he tells us,nephew Wormwood, so we've, we've
been able to dead in theconscious of so many humans on
their subject, um, so deeplythat, now you will, you will
hardly find a sermon preached ora Christian conscious troubled
about the, about the length andthe depth of gluttony, you know,
(28:36):
and what it can mean, and sohe's just screw tape, is just
writing the letter to Wormwoodand just urging him to you know,
get him to focus on, you know,on gluttony and it.
Both of them, though, aredesigned both of these letters
are designed for Wormwood to getthe, his newly assigned
(29:00):
Christians, mind on anything andeverything except God, and how
much he enjoys the churchservices, you know, and he's
like if we you can't get him tostart going to church, we want
to get him to focus on, focus ongluttony.
And screw tape explains to hisdemon nephew Wormwood that
gluttony is not about how much aperson eats, but rather about
(29:23):
them being controlled by whatthey eat.
What are your thoughts on that,sherry?
Speaker 2 (29:29):
Well, as someone who has dealt with this issue for
her entire life, I have to sayGod has been working with me
slowly over the last few yearsand it started when I began a
fasting lifestyle, a consistentfasting lifestyle, with my
prayer partner, annie.
I had had a fasting lifestyle bymyself, and God talks about in
(29:55):
the Bible that where two orthree are gathered there he is
in the midst and she had neverwanted to fast before, had never
seen that there was a realreason to fast until, I don't
know, she had a conversationwith God, or God had a
conversation with her and she'slike Sherry, I want to do it.
Well, we have slowly started tohave, like I said, a full
(30:19):
fasting lifestyle, and it isthrough that discipline and
through that self-control, orthe learning of the self-control
, that God has really beenworking with me on my appetite,
and by my appetite I'm not justtalking about the food that I
put in my body, but it's thewhole appetite of what do I want
to focus on in my life?
(30:42):
Do I want to have my focusbeing on selfish things and
things that fill me up whetherit's physical, filling me up
through food or entertainment oryou know whatever or do I want
to focus on the things of Godand having Him fill me up?
(31:02):
And I'm not perfect at it.
I have not achieved the goal.
I am not at my healthy weightyet, but I do have to say that
God has been working with me onit, and, as somebody who does a
podcast with you, somebody whohas a YouTube channel, somebody
who has a ministry, writes books, et cetera, et cetera.
I do feel a little bit more ofan obligation and a little bit
(31:25):
more of a conviction, because myoutward body is a reflection of
my relationship with Christ andI want to be as genuine and as
authentic as I can be, and oneof the ways of doing that is to
take a look at and discern whatareas of my life need more
(31:48):
self-control and then taking thesteps and the measures
consistently to do that.
I think you're right.
I cannot remember the last timethat I've heard a sermon on
gluttony, heard a sermon onself-control, and what do I fill
myself with?
And I think that it is reallyimportant as Christ followers,
(32:09):
and whether or not you have aplatform and whether or not
you're in front of people, beingconsistent and being genuine is
something that all believersshould be working towards.
Speaker 1 (32:24):
Absolutely.
And it is interesting, you know, as I reread this letter, like
I said, I initially read thescripted letters I don't know
maybe 10, maybe 15 years ago,but as I was rereading them
recently and I came across thatI'm like, wow, that's right.
When is the last time that Ihave heard a sermon talked on
(32:49):
gluttony?
Right, you know, inself-control, you know, and
things like that.
But this is how much?
And it all circles back to whatwe were talking about at the
beginning of this episode isthat God loves us so much that
he didn't wait and, like Sherrywas just saying, he didn't wait
(33:09):
for her to hear a sermon becauseshe said she hadn't heard one
on it in a very long time butwhat he did was he spoke to her
and a friend of hers and theywere able to do a different type
of lifestyle together, whichgot the focus off of food, so
they could no longer controlthem to where.
(33:30):
They got their mind's focusright on the right purpose of
food, which is for us to eat, togive us energy, to help sustain
life, and not let it control us.
And so am I interpreting thatright, sherry?
Amen and amen.
Yep, you know, and that is soimportant because and that's how
much he loves us, that's howmuch he loved her, that's how
(33:51):
much he loves you, that's howmuch he loves me.
He's like, well, you know thisparticular past.
I mean, I'll be generated, youknow.
Or any churches in the areaaren't gonna teach on gluttony
soon?
But you know, I think she'sgetting a little complacent in
regards to food and is startingto control her instead of her
controlling it.
So I'm just gonna place thislittle thing in her spirit.
(34:14):
That's love people, that's howmuch God loves us.
And he will put something inour minds and our hearts and our
spirits.
And we're like, oh my goodness,lord, you're right.
You know, at first I thought Iwas just joking.
For example, you could saysomething like I thought I was
just joking when I tell peoplethat I can't survive my mornings
without coffee.
(34:34):
But, oh my goodness, like it'sreal, lord, like I can't, it's
like I need that my coffeebefore I can like, think or be
clear.
You know, have clear thoughtsand everything else.
That's it controlling me, notme controlling my love of coffee
.
And so, lord, just, you knowsomething as simple as that.
Help me focus on you and thehealth benefits of coffee.
(34:56):
You know, and it's okay todrink coffee in moderation, but
if I can't control it and I feellike I needed to get through my
day instead of you, thenthere's a problem.
And help me see that, lord.
And it could be as simple asthat, am I right, sherry?
Speaker 2 (35:13):
Well, and it goes exactly, and it goes back to
what we were talking about,about the whole challenge in
August.
And that is okay, god.
I have a problem with food youhave shown that to me and I have
a problem with emotional eating.
Help me, give me the resources,point me in the right direction
, show me exactly what it isthat I'm struggling with and
(35:37):
then give me the solution.
And he does, and so I have beenon this fasting lifestyle where
I focus on God instead of food.
I regularly, as God leads usand as God nudges us, we ask him
what he wants us to give up andfor how long, and then we have
(35:57):
a fasting period and the funnything is not funny, haha, but
amazing with how God is so thiswe always start in January.
January 1st, we give him ourfirst, and then we have done
quite a few intensive ones.
He keeps growing us andstretching us in this direction,
and I did.
(36:18):
Our length was really focusedand more severe, more
disciplined than had been in thepast, and so I figured, when we
were done with Lent, we werejust done for the year.
Nope, god turned us around andhe had us do one right away
again, and I was okay with it.
(36:41):
Like in the past, food stillhad such a hold on me that I
would get mad every time and hewould, quote unquote, invite me
into another one.
I'd be like, but I already didthis, but I just finished.
But I want to eat what I wantto eat.
And it's not about that anymore.
It's about okay.
In fact, right now, she and Iboth are feeling the nudge too
(37:02):
fast and we're asking God andhe's not telling us that.
He's not giving us the greenlight yet.
And I love it because I have tocontrol myself.
Instead of okay, god told me Ican't have a pop right now, or
God told me I can't have bread,or God told me I can't have
coffee, instead, it's okay, Iwant to eat what's healthy
(37:23):
because it makes me feel better.
God has shown me in the lasttwo years that when I feel my
body with the right food, I cango through my whole day with
energy and I feel good and I'mable to accomplish what he wants
me to accomplish, versus goingthrough my day and struggling
because I'm on a sugar crash ora caffeine crash.
(37:45):
But the other part of the story,to finish, what I first started
to say was I knew that I stillhad issues with emotional eating
, and so I had talked to Godabout that, and I said God.
I said I don't know what to do.
I don't know what the next stepis that you do, and I trust you
for it.
And it wasn't too long afterthat that he put in front of me
(38:06):
a resource, one that I had neverseen before, a person that I
had never heard of before, andit was like just like with the
church, when God showed us thatwe had grown for the 10 years
that we were there.
But it was time to move on.
God said this is the next level, this is the next.
You're ready for this part ofthe training, for the freedom
(38:30):
that you will find fromemotional eating.
You're ready for it now andthis is the next stage for you,
and I'll tell you what.
It was like a light bulb moment, and I'm so grateful that he's
working with me through that,but I actually have to do the
work.
And so I had gotten a littlecomplacent again because life
had gotten busy and I was justtalking to another friend of
(38:52):
mine who's doing this with meand I said hey.
I said I need more help.
Again, I said I'm backslidingbecause I can feel myself not
doing the steps that need to bedone.
What do you think Are you readyto you know?
Dig deeper a little bit with me.
And she's like yes, absolutelyso.
I mean, god gives you the tools, just like we were talking
(39:12):
about with the August challenge.
If you are struggling in anyarea, any area, ask God and he
will bring you the resources.
It might not be today, it mightnot be tomorrow, but it will be
when you're ready for it, andthen you will see the growth and
the freedom come so much fasterbecause you peeled off the
(39:34):
layers that needed to be healedor worked through or whatever
first in order to be ready forthe next stage and the next
growth.
Speaker 1 (39:44):
Absolutely, I kind of said it.
Any better than that, sherry?
Speaker 2 (39:49):
Well, god's been working with me on this for
quite a while, so I say thankyou to him, although the working
is not always easy, as we allknow, but it's sure, right.
Yeah, and having said that, Ithink we're going to wrap up
today and we're going to comeback next week and we're going
to talk about love and marriageand using love, and I love all
(40:11):
things to do with love.
I love all things to do withfamily and marriage and kids,
and he who knows me knows thatthat is my true heart.
So I am super excited aboutactually well, especially about
next week.
So, as Jesus said in John 1633,these things I have spoken to
(40:32):
you, that in me you may havepeace In the world.
You will have tribulation, butbe of good cheer.
I have overcome the world.
There's just nothing betterthan that, and I'm just so
grateful that God loves us somuch.
And that's the thing Like ifyou don't get anything else, I
would have the screwtake letterswhich there's so much to get
(40:53):
out of it.
My prayer is that you will get.
You will realize, you will seejust how much God truly loves
you and just how much the enemydoes not.
He wants to see us fail.
He wants to see us fall on ourface.
He wants to see us fail.
I mean, there's like no otherword destroyed.
(41:14):
There we go.
He wants to see us destroyed,but God wants to see us prosper.
He wants to see us thrive andhe wants us to live out our
purpose and our plan that heplanted in us before we were
even born, more than we do.
And when we can truly graspthat and when we can truly
understand just how much heloves us and how much he wants a
(41:38):
relationship with us, then lifestarts being worth living.
If you do not have thatrelationship with God yet, but
you want to, if you pray thisprayer with us and see your
heart, then you God assures usin his word in Romans 10, 9,
that you will be saved.
So if that's something that youwant to do today, just repeat
(41:59):
after me oh Heavenly Father, Icome to you in Jesus' name.
I believe you died on the crossand that you rose again and
you're seated on the throne.
Jesus, forgive me for all thatI've done wrong, and I choose to
forgive all others.
Come into my life today andforever.
(42:20):
I am yours in Jesus' name, amen.
If you prayed that prayer todayor 50 years ago and you would
like more resources to learn howto have that growing
relationship with Christ, Iencourage you to check out
Tara's websitek-a-r-a-r-a-t-n-tcom,
(42:42):
k-a-r-huntcom, or check out mywebsite, sherryswellwellcom.
Both of us have such a heart toencourage people and encourage
their walk and faith, or theirfaith walk, that we have things
on our website that will helpyou grow your relationship with
our Heavenly Father.
If you need prayer orencouragement, head on over to
(43:03):
the Tira podcast at gmailcom anddrop us a note.
We would love to hear from you,we would love to pray for you
and we would love to build thatrelationship.
Another way to build therelationship is through our
Facebook group Tira podcast onFacebook and we can get to know
you and continue to build thecommunity over there together.
(43:28):
There are lots of ways toconnect with us, lots of ways to
stay in touch and come backnext week because we're going to
talk about love and marriageand using love.
Until then, have a great restof your day today and continue
to have those conversations withGod and see how he answers,
because he always does.
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