July 8, 2025 • 28 mins
Hell’s Playbook for Hijacking Your Weakest Moments
What if your struggles aren’t random—but a targeted demonic operation?
In this hard-hitting encore episode, we rip open Letters 18 & 19 of The Screwtape Letters, where C.S. Lewis exposes:
Hell’s favorite attack strategy: How demons exploit your physical exhaustion, mental fog, and emotional lows (Screwtape cackles: “Attack when the body is weak and the will is weaker!”).
The “Noonday Devil” Deception: Why subtle temptations (complacency, cynicism, apathy) are deadlier than dramatic battles.
The trap demons use to isolate you from God’s presence (spoiler: it’s not possession—it’s distraction).
Why “low-grade spiritual exhaustion” was Wormwood’s preferred weapon over outright sin.
How to spot demonic whispers in your weary moments—and shut them down with Scripture.
Satan doesn’t need you to renounce God—just to live like He’s irrelevant.
To listen to this episode, click or copy and paste the below link into your favorite browser -
https://cheeruppodcast.buzzsprout.com/1633087
“The enemy pursues my soul; he crushes my life to the ground. But You arise, O Lord!” (Psalm 143:3, 9)
For a richer understanding of demons and their relationship with humans, we recommend revisiting our April 23rd, 2025 episode, where we discuss, in depth, the Scriptures that covers those topics -
https://cheeruppodcast.buzzsprout.com/1633087/episodes/12990069-do-you-have-a-demon-assigned-to-you-an-encore-episode
Would you like to support the Cheer UP! Podcast? You can do so by clicking here
Kara's website - click here.
Cheri's website- here.
Email - cheeruppodcast@gmail.com
Instagram - @kararhunt
Leave reviews on - Apple, Spotify, iHeart, Google Podcasts,
Mark as Played
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, carer R Hunt,and with me is the beautiful and
talented Sherri Swalwell.
How are you doing today, sherri?
Speaker 2 (00:33):
I am doing fantastic.
Today is a little bit overcast.
Last week was bright and sunny,but you know what, as we've
talked about multiple times, Iam starting to really love the
overcast days as much as, ormaybe even more sometimes than,
the bright and sunny days,because, I don't know, there's
just something really cozy andcomforting.
(00:56):
Well, god's with us in thesunshine and God's with us in
the rain.
I just love that.
There's nothing better.
Speaker 1 (01:06):
I know, even you know , you get to the point where or
rather, I have some days wherethe sun is out and everything is
just beautiful and all of itssunshine and glory, and I'm like
, yeah, but I kind of wish todaywas overcast.
Yeah, I think the reason I tendto do that is because it's kind
(01:28):
of depending on my mood,because you know sunshine and
gorgeous days, you're like, hey,I want to get out, I want to
walk, I want to go do things, Iwant to garden, I want to do all
these other things.
It's like energy, right, youwant to just soak up the
beautiful day, but sometimes itcould be a beautiful day, but
I'm in an overcast mood.
Does that make sense?
Speaker 2 (01:47):
Absolutely.
We are not even a pod.
Speaker 1 (01:52):
Yes, but I'm in an overcast mood, meaning not
necessarily that I'm feelingdown and out and sad, but that
I'm just more contemplative.
Does that make sense?
Like I just more of a mood towhere I just want to think about
things, you know, just thinkthings through, whether it's
(02:13):
regarding relationships,friendships, a Bible study, a
Bible verse I just read someoneI just talked to something
that's happening or going on inthe world.
It's like sometimes I just wantto be able to just be more
contemplative in that.
And why I'm able to do thatbetter on overcast days, I have
(02:33):
no idea.
I guess because I don't havethe distraction of the sun.
Right, very true, it's likemeaning the sun being a
distraction, and what I mean bythat is I don't have the sun
competing for my attention.
Right, it's so beautiful.
Out, I roll, roll, roll, getout.
You know what I'm saying.
And so it's like, when it'smore overcast, it's like you
(02:56):
know what, today's a perfect day.
I'm going to give me a hot cupof cacao or a hot cup of tea,
you know, or even some coffee,and I'm just going to sit back
and think about some things fora minute.
You know, some things I've beenkind of letting go by the
wayside.
But I really need to thinkthese through and perhaps make
some decisions regarding onmoving forward or not moving
(03:17):
forward with something Right,and those days just overcast
days just seem perfect for that.
So I had.
But regardless of whatever day,whatever mood you're in today,
whether you're in a such shinyday mood or if you're in more of
a overcast, more contemplativemood, we want to welcome you to
(03:38):
the Cheer Up podcast and forthose of you who return weekly,
nationally and globally ourlisteners we just want to thank
you and especially for ourglobal listeners, we want to
know that we see you, we knowthat you're there and that
you're listening, and we justdon't want you to think we ever
take that for granted.
So thank you for always tuningin when you can to be able to
(04:02):
listen to the Cheer Up podcast.
And if you're new to the CheerUp podcast, welcome.
And right now you're steppinginto a series that we have been
doing since the beginning ofJune.
For June, july, august and forSeptember we're doing something
called our Summer Series, butit's based on one book and that
(04:22):
book is called the ScrewtapeLetters by CS Lewis, l-e-w-i-s
is a piece of classic literaturework originally published in
the 1940s and it's about lettersfrom one demon to another demon
, because Screwtape is a demonand that's what the book is
(04:44):
about.
It's 31 letters from Screwtapeto his demon nephew, wormwood.
They're both demons.
Screwtape is just in ahierarchy of a demon because
he's been here so long.
Wormwood is new to demonhoodand Screwtape is mentoring him
through letters on how to handlethe new Christian human that he
(05:09):
has been assigned to.
Well, when he was firstassigned to Wormwood, if I
remember correctly, he wasn't aChristian, but somehow, on
Wormwood's watch, you know, theperson he was assigned to became
a Christian.
Screwtape has not been happywith him ever since and he's
been writing him these letterssaying, hey, we're going to try
(05:29):
this, we're going to try that,we're going to try this, we're
going to try that and everythingelse to get him back firmly on
the dark side.
And so that's what the bookit's basically about and, like I
mentioned, it's 31 letters.
And please go back and listen toour June 7th episode, which is
the first episode of the SummerSeries, where it talks about why
(05:50):
we're reading the screw tapeletters and it also gives lots
of biblical truths about.
Excuse me, we also sharescriptures that share biblical
truths about demons anddemonization.
And is it real?
Can people be demonized?
Can people be possessed?
Can animals?
Are there real demons out there?
(06:11):
What are their purpose?
And so we give tons ofscriptures on that so you can
have more of a biblical, so thatthere's more of a biblical
basis, as we went forward withthe screw tape letters, since it
is about two demons, and then,after that episode, we have
covered in the past couple ofmonths letters one through 17.
(06:35):
So if you're interested indiscovering those topics again,
we're not reading the book perse we are going through the main
topics of each letter thatUncle Screwtape is writing to
his demon nephew Wormwood.
And so to this episode, we aregoing to be covering letters 18
(06:56):
and 19.
And letter 18 is about love andmarriage.
Well, and, wow, that soundsreally sweet, doesn't it Like
really, the demons are talkingabout love and marriage?
Yeah, okay, but it's not in away that you think.
So it is more about howScrewtape wants his nephew,
(07:22):
demon Wormwood, to understand,and to get his human to
understand, that following God'sstandard pretty much means any
type of sexual activity withinany type of sexual activity.
There's only two choices inGod's world.
This is what Screwtape wantsWormwood to really hammer down
(07:49):
to his human, who's a newChristian.
It's either abstinence orthere's monogamy.
And Screwtape is like right nowyou're a young Christian man,
he is not married, so we'regoing to work on that sexual
activity part of him, becausehe's about in his 30s, you know,
and since he's in his 30s, youknow, or something, we're just
(08:11):
going to really kind of focus onthis relationship and trying to
get him to do things outside ofwhat God is talking about.
We want to let him know that,unlike God, we don't just focus
on abstinence or monogamy.
There's so much more and that'swhat Screwtape is trying to get
Wormwood to teach his new human, who's a Christian, that he's
(08:35):
been assigned to and to get himall confused about real love and
real marriage and all thesexual activity that is in
between of what God wants forthis young man.
So what are your thoughts onthis, sherry?
Speaker 2 (08:53):
Well, first off, having grown up in a very
conservative church, we werealways taught that if you have
sex outside of marriage it's asin, but we were never really
taught the why behind it.
Why is it a sin?
Why does God not want us to doit?
(09:14):
So I grew up again I've sharedthis multiple times that God was
a punisher and he just didn'twant me to have any fun he
wanted and I'm not just talkingabout sex here, I'm just talking
about everything.
So, like everything that theworld says is fantastic, god's
the killjoy and says no, don'tdo that.
Speaker 1 (09:36):
No, you can't have that.
Speaker 2 (09:36):
God's the killjoy and says, no, don't do that.
No candy, no gluttony, no, no,no.
But I think that when we shiftto the focus and we explain to
people, explain to kids, explainto we actually have had sermons
(09:57):
on this in our church, which Iabsolutely love, and we've
explained it to our kids thisway that this is why God says no
sex before marriage.
It's not because he's being akilljoy, it's not because he
doesn't want you to have fun.
It's because he knows that whenyou have sex with somebody,
you're giving them a piece ofyour heart and you're giving
them a piece of your soul.
(10:18):
And if you want to have alasting loving relationship with
a husband or a wife not thatyou can't if you've had sex
outside of marriage or had sexbefore marriage, I'm not saying
that God is the God ofredemption.
God is a redeemer.
God can change anything andeverything.
But if you want to go intomarriage with less baggage, if
(10:39):
you want to go into marriage theway that God intended it, where
your heart is intact, your soulis intact and you are able to
then give that gift to yourfuture husband or your future
wife, that is like the epitome,that is like the perfect will of
God.
That is what it means to beunder the perfect will of God.
(11:00):
Can God redeem mistakes?
Absolutely, 100 percent.
Does God expect us to beperfect?
Absolutely not.
Do people sin in this area allthe time?
Absolutely.
But if you want to have yourbest chance of having less
baggage when you go intomarriage and having a strong
marriage to begin with, withouthaving to go through all of
(11:21):
these issues that don'tnecessarily have to be there,
that is why God tells us to haveto abstain and not have sex
outside of marriage.
So when it is explained in thatway and when it is explained as
to why God has those commandsand why God gives you those
instructions, it makes it somuch easier to obey because
(11:45):
you're doing it out of love.
You're doing it because you arecoming from the perspective
that God loves you and wants thebest for you, and it's just a
win-win for everybody.
So I think that when weapproach this topic, it needs to
be brought out.
Why does God want us to dothings his way?
And sometimes, yes, we have tosimply just obey.
(12:08):
God said do it.
God said don't do it.
Okay, I'll do it, I won't do it.
But when we hear the why behindit and hear the love behind
that why.
For me, it just changeseverything.
Speaker 1 (12:23):
Well, it gives you something to hold on to, right.
Speaker 2 (12:26):
Right.
Speaker 1 (12:27):
When temptation comes unknocking because it always
does and that kind of goes intowhat letter 19 is about, where
the topic on that one is usinglove and by that Uncle Screwtape
is telling his nephew Warnwoodyou know this whole love thing,
(12:52):
we can use that to work for us,right?
He's like of course God wantsthe whole love part and he loves
them so much and everythingelse and God tries to get them
to think one way of love.
He was like, but we can usefalling in love to our advantage
with them falling in love withsomeone else.
(13:13):
We can use that.
That basically goes right alongwith what you were sharing,
sherry, because it's like we'retaught you know, a lot of times,
especially like you when you'reyounger, you're taught you
don't do that, you don't do that, you save yourself a marriage
and you know things, and you'rejust like, okay.
(13:34):
But no one really answered thequestion why.
And it's so important what yourchurch is doing and how we
handle our kids now, because wetell them that God put the guard
rails in place for a particularreason, and it's not so that
you can't have any fun, not sothat you can enjoy life.
He's just saying I want you toenjoy your whole life and by
(13:57):
observing these, what I'm askingyou to do, you'll be able to
see how it's going to bless youdown the road.
And letter 19, uncle screw tapeis telling his demon nephew
Wormwood they're both demons,he's telling Wormwood hey, you
(14:19):
know pretty much, are there anycute girls in his neighborhood
or whatever you know, or anyonethat he's interested in?
Give me an update on that,because we can use falling in
love to help tempt his need forsexual fulfillment, because he's
(14:40):
only hearing from his churchand from his you know, his
church, his Christian walk sofar that there's only abstinence
or there's monogamy.
So he's telling Wyrmwood that,hey, so far you're Christian.
Along his journey he justthinks that there is just
(15:00):
monogamy or there's abstinence.
Well, he's not married rightnow.
So we're going to use himfalling in love with someone and
tempt him that way, and thenmaybe we'll be able to bring him
back over to our path down thegarden path of darkness,
basically.
So let's find him someone tofall in love with, because once
(15:23):
he falls in love with thisperson, all those feelings of
falling in love come into playand then we can insert the
temptation spirit right andbecause, and then when he falls
into it and gives into it, hecould just say, well, we were in
love, so it doesn't reallymatter.
As long as we love each other,it's okay what we do, and then
(15:47):
we can deceive him from thataspect.
What are your thoughts on thatploy from the enemy, sherry?
Speaker 2 (15:54):
Oh, I hear that all the time.
Or our society today says justmove in with each other, you
need to try.
I remember I was like 10 yearsold, so we're talking like 40
years ago.
I remember this guy.
I don't even know who he was, Idon't remember if we were like
at a shoe store or if it waslike a salesperson that had come
(16:15):
to our house.
That part I don't remember, butI remember he was pretty young,
probably the patient's age, andhe was saying to my mom that he
was getting ready to move inwith his girlfriend and I don't
think he knew my mom was apastor's wife at that point and
he so my mom said something tohim about well, why don't you
(16:36):
just get married?
And he said well, it's kind oflike.
Maybe that was it.
I think he was in our house forsome reason, because the example
he gave was well, kind of likeyou don't buy a pair of shoes
without trying them on first.
You don't get married butwithout trying it on first.
Well, when you do it society'sway, when you listen to those
(16:56):
lies, then the commitment isn'tas strong that studies have
shown, whether you're a believeror not a believer if you live
with somebody before you getmarried, the odds of getting
divorced are so much higher andlike, even from a practical
standpoint, I don't know, maybeit's a girl thing, but I want to
(17:19):
know that this person iscommitted to me like I want to
know that they're not going toleave me.
In fact, right when we gotmarried, there was people who
were very close to us were inthe middle of a divorce, so we
got married on Saturday.
They left each other on Monday.
Speaker 1 (17:41):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (17:42):
How insecure was I?
Oh my gosh.
I just committed my life tothis guy and these people, who I
never thought would ever leaveeach other, are getting a
divorce.
Like, lord help me.
Like, how do I know that thisis right?
How do I know that this isgoing to stick?
And it's just so important todo it God's way.
(18:07):
And I'm not saying that that myhusband and I have never had,
you know, fights or conflicts orwhatever.
But one thing I can say is Iknow without a shadow of a doubt
that he's committed to me andI'm committed to him, and it's
probably only by God's gracethat he's committed to me
someday.
But you know what?
I'm so grateful that he is.
Speaker 1 (18:28):
But that's what true commitment is about, right.
Speaker 2 (18:31):
Exactly.
Speaker 1 (18:32):
That's what true commitment is about.
It's not just when the timesare good right.
It's when the times are bad andsometimes difficult Right
exactly.
I am committed to this person,no matter how crazy they act
sometimes.
Exactly.
I am committed to this person.
How insane the ideas ofsomething sometimes come across,
(18:53):
I am committed to this personfor life.
Come ups or down, heels ofvalleys, mountains of slopes, we
, we I'm in this, you know touse today's vernacular their
ride or die.
Speaker 2 (19:07):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (19:07):
Yeah, Absolutely, and it's wonderful that's a
blessing actually to havesomeone like that in your corner
.
Oh, absolutely.
You know there's, there's justthere's just there's a.
There's a beauty to it, right,Because you know you don't ever
(19:28):
intend or want to take it forgranted.
But you know you can wake up onthose days and you just
technically woke up on the wrongside of the bed, right, and
you're just snappy, you know,and fussy, and you know just
picky and naggy, you know, andeverything else.
And there's such comfort inknowing that at the end of the
(19:52):
day, even though you may haveyour tinted tinted, you know
throughout the day with yourspouse, you know at the end of
the day that you're going tocome together, right, and you're
going to have a conversationabout whatever begs you that
particular morning or whatever,and you're able to come together
.
They don't walk out, they don'tleave, they don't say.
There's comfort in knowing thatthey're not going to say I had
(20:12):
enough, I am so done with youand your naggingness or whatever
the case may be, I'm done, seeyou later, sayonara.
And they just walk out the door.
When you're in a committedrelationship with someone, you
that there's such a uniquenessto that and a love to that that,
despite the ups and downsbecause we all know they're
(20:35):
going to happen that that personis committed to you no matter
what, no matter what, and that'sthe truth of it.
That is the truth of it, andthat's what true falling in love
is about.
And that's when the enemy can'tuse it, because you've fallen
in love in a godly way and youhave a godly mindset towards
(20:58):
your relationship and you'redoing your best to try to, when
you're in a falling in lovestage, to just keep that as
sacred as it should be.
And then, when you go intomarriage, when all the other
things start happening, you'restill committed to each other
and there's just, there'ssomething about that that is
(21:21):
awesome, that you just have,whereas you just know that
someone always is going to bethere and love you at your worst
, and that is so like God.
Am I right, sherry?
Oh, absolutely.
Speaker 2 (21:33):
That happened just yesterday.
So we're dealing with grief inour family right now.
We've lost my in-laws withinsix months of each other, both
very suddenly, and there's fiveof us that live here and we all
grieve differently.
We all have different emotionsand feelings depending on the
day, depending on the hour, andso yesterday I was just kind of
(21:57):
I don't know, like you said,just kind of itchy, scratchy,
and I knew that it wasn'tanybody.
I wasn't upset at anybody, Ijust I was done peopling, I was
just done, I was just done.
Speaker 1 (22:11):
And.
Speaker 2 (22:11):
I knew enough about myself to know I better just be
quiet, because if I open mymouth I'm going to take it out
on other people, and those thatI love don't deserve to have
anything taken out on becauseI'm just, I'm walking the grief
walk.
Speaker 1 (22:24):
So, anyway.
Speaker 2 (22:25):
So I was really really quiet in the car.
We had had to go to a doctor'sappointment together, and so
it's really quiet in the carcoming home and then I was,
excuse me, busy doing otherthings and so it wasn't really
talking.
But when we finally got to sitdown to dinner, my husband and I
just kept exchanging looks andthe looks for just basically I
(22:48):
love you, like I'll squeeze herea look of there.
Just I know you're in my corner, I know you're right here.
I have no clue what's going onwith you right now, sherry, but
I don't need to just know thatI'm right here.
No explanation was needed.
I wasn't mad at anybody, it wasjust one of those days and it's
(23:08):
just like you said.
It's so comforting to know thatyou don't have to have the words
.
You don't have to.
Sometimes you have to have thediscussions and the
conversations, but sometimes youdon't even have to have that,
just that assurance of knowingthat that person is on your side
and in your corner and thatyou're doing it.
(23:29):
God's way is just like hedesigned it that way, like you
said, for a reason and for apurpose.
No-transcript it does enhanceand bless and make our lives
better.
It really truly does.
Speaker 1 (23:44):
It absolutely does, because you're complimenting
each other and in a case likeyou just described, what
happened between you and yourhusband yesterday it was no
words needed to be spokenbecause he knew you were
grieving, right, he knew thewhole house was grieving and
that sometimes and if for anyonewho's ever dealt with grief,
then you know it hits you weirdsometimes.
(24:05):
You know, some days you're okay,you're like, okay, I'm good,
okay, I think I can make ittoday without crying or being in
a mood right, and in other daysit just hits you, you know, and
everyone is different.
And how sweet, how beautifulthat in this particular case,
all that was needed for you toknow that you were understood
(24:26):
and that you were heard and thatyou were known was for him to
just share glances with youExactly.
Isn't that so godly?
That is just so godly.
He didn't need to say words, hedidn't need to say anything.
He just need to know I got you,I understand, I know what
you're going through and I'mhere for you.
There's such a beauty in that,and that's something that the
(24:49):
enemy always wants to try toattack, but he can't when you're
focused on God.
So in that case, like that, hecan't use love against you
because it's a true love, andthat is the type of falling in
love and true love that wereally, truly need to focus on.
Speaker 2 (25:08):
Amen, amen.
And on that note, we are goingto come back next week and talk
about sexual taste andentitlement.
Hmm, how do those two gotogether?
Come back next week and you'llfind out.
So our first for the Cheer Uppodcast is, or our key verse for
(25:28):
the Cheer Up podcast is John1633.
Jesus said these things.
I have spoken to you, meaninghe told the people kind of what
was ahead, that in me you mayhave peace In this world.
You will have tribulation, butwe have good cheer because I
(25:49):
have overcome the world.
There is just so much comfortin knowing that there is nothing
that we will face day in or dayout that God is not aware of,
that surprises him or thatcatches him off guard.
And I love the fact that Godwins in the end, that the bad
guys always lose and in factthey've already lost, which is
(26:13):
one of the reasons why they'reworking so hard to bring as many
people with them as they can.
We started the podcast as anencouragement to people, to
point us to the one who has theanswers and to point us to the
one who gives us encouragement,hope and peace in this world.
If you have questions, if youneed prayer or encouragement.
(26:35):
Email us atcheeruppodcastgmailcom.
We love to hear from ourlisteners and we love to connect
with them.
Another way that we can connectis through the Facebook group
Cheer Up podcast on Facebook.
Send over to Cara's website,caraarhuntcom, or you can check
out my website,cheeryswallwellcom.
(26:57):
Both have lots of materials andresources to help you grow your
relationship with God.
If you love fiction, biblicalfiction you've got to check out
Cara's the Habakkuk Series.
They are amazing.
She is an amazing writer.
I've known her for over 10years when she wrote her first
(27:18):
book.
It has not been published yet,but I cannot wait until you guys
get to read it too.
Oh, my goodness, it is part ofthe Habakkuk Series and you will
not be disappointed.
Her books have won two awards.
They've been nominated for manymore, so check them out.
Truly.
You will be glad that you didhave a great rest of your week
(27:40):
this week.
Continue to have thoseconversations with God.
Ask Him questions, bring Himinto your day, ask Him what he
wants to show you today, how hewants to bless you today and how
he wants you to bless otherpeople through the gifts that he
has given to you.
You will be surprised at how heloves to answer and the
(28:01):
different answers that he endsup giving you.
Have a great rest of your dayand we will talk again next week
.
Hi and welcome to the Cheer Up Podcast.
I am your host, carer R Hunt,and with me is the beautiful and
talented Sherri Swalwell.
How are you doing today, sherri?
Speaker 2 (00:33):
I am doing fantastic.
Today is a little bit overcast.
Last week was bright and sunny,but you know what, as we've
talked about multiple times, Iam starting to really love the
overcast days as much as, ormaybe even more sometimes than,
the bright and sunny days,because, I don't know, there's
just something really cozy andcomforting.
(00:56):
Well, god's with us in thesunshine and God's with us in
the rain.
I just love that.
There's nothing better.
Speaker 1 (01:06):
I know, even you know , you get to the point where or
rather, I have some days wherethe sun is out and everything is
just beautiful and all of itssunshine and glory, and I'm like
, yeah, but I kind of wish todaywas overcast.
Yeah, I think the reason I tendto do that is because it's kind
(01:28):
of depending on my mood,because you know sunshine and
gorgeous days, you're like, hey,I want to get out, I want to
walk, I want to go do things, Iwant to garden, I want to do all
these other things.
It's like energy, right, youwant to just soak up the
beautiful day, but sometimes itcould be a beautiful day, but
I'm in an overcast mood.
Does that make sense?
Speaker 2 (01:47):
Absolutely.
We are not even a pod.
Speaker 1 (01:52):
Yes, but I'm in an overcast mood, meaning not
necessarily that I'm feelingdown and out and sad, but that
I'm just more contemplative.
Does that make sense?
Like I just more of a mood towhere I just want to think about
things, you know, just thinkthings through, whether it's
(02:13):
regarding relationships,friendships, a Bible study, a
Bible verse I just read someoneI just talked to something
that's happening or going on inthe world.
It's like sometimes I just wantto be able to just be more
contemplative in that.
And why I'm able to do thatbetter on overcast days, I have
(02:33):
no idea.
I guess because I don't havethe distraction of the sun.
Right, very true, it's likemeaning the sun being a
distraction, and what I mean bythat is I don't have the sun
competing for my attention.
Right, it's so beautiful.
Out, I roll, roll, roll, getout.
You know what I'm saying.
And so it's like, when it'smore overcast, it's like you
(02:56):
know what, today's a perfect day.
I'm going to give me a hot cupof cacao or a hot cup of tea,
you know, or even some coffee,and I'm just going to sit back
and think about some things fora minute.
You know, some things I've beenkind of letting go by the
wayside.
But I really need to thinkthese through and perhaps make
some decisions regarding onmoving forward or not moving
(03:17):
forward with something Right,and those days just overcast
days just seem perfect for that.
So I had.
But regardless of whatever day,whatever mood you're in today,
whether you're in a such shinyday mood or if you're in more of
a overcast, more contemplativemood, we want to welcome you to
(03:38):
the Cheer Up podcast and forthose of you who return weekly,
nationally and globally ourlisteners we just want to thank
you and especially for ourglobal listeners, we want to
know that we see you, we knowthat you're there and that
you're listening, and we justdon't want you to think we ever
take that for granted.
So thank you for always tuningin when you can to be able to
(04:02):
listen to the Cheer Up podcast.
And if you're new to the CheerUp podcast, welcome.
And right now you're steppinginto a series that we have been
doing since the beginning ofJune.
For June, july, august and forSeptember we're doing something
called our Summer Series, butit's based on one book and that
(04:22):
book is called the ScrewtapeLetters by CS Lewis, l-e-w-i-s
is a piece of classic literaturework originally published in
the 1940s and it's about lettersfrom one demon to another demon
, because Screwtape is a demonand that's what the book is
(04:44):
about.
It's 31 letters from Screwtapeto his demon nephew, wormwood.
They're both demons.
Screwtape is just in ahierarchy of a demon because
he's been here so long.
Wormwood is new to demonhoodand Screwtape is mentoring him
through letters on how to handlethe new Christian human that he
(05:09):
has been assigned to.
Well, when he was firstassigned to Wormwood, if I
remember correctly, he wasn't aChristian, but somehow, on
Wormwood's watch, you know, theperson he was assigned to became
a Christian.
Screwtape has not been happywith him ever since and he's
been writing him these letterssaying, hey, we're going to try
(05:29):
this, we're going to try that,we're going to try this, we're
going to try that and everythingelse to get him back firmly on
the dark side.
And so that's what the bookit's basically about and, like I
mentioned, it's 31 letters.
And please go back and listen toour June 7th episode, which is
the first episode of the SummerSeries, where it talks about why
(05:50):
we're reading the screw tapeletters and it also gives lots
of biblical truths about.
Excuse me, we also sharescriptures that share biblical
truths about demons anddemonization.
And is it real?
Can people be demonized?
Can people be possessed?
Can animals?
Are there real demons out there?
(06:11):
What are their purpose?
And so we give tons ofscriptures on that so you can
have more of a biblical, so thatthere's more of a biblical
basis, as we went forward withthe screw tape letters, since it
is about two demons, and then,after that episode, we have
covered in the past couple ofmonths letters one through 17.
(06:35):
So if you're interested indiscovering those topics again,
we're not reading the book perse we are going through the main
topics of each letter thatUncle Screwtape is writing to
his demon nephew Wormwood.
And so to this episode, we aregoing to be covering letters 18
(06:56):
and 19.
And letter 18 is about love andmarriage.
Well, and, wow, that soundsreally sweet, doesn't it Like
really, the demons are talkingabout love and marriage?
Yeah, okay, but it's not in away that you think.
So it is more about howScrewtape wants his nephew,
(07:22):
demon Wormwood, to understand,and to get his human to
understand, that following God'sstandard pretty much means any
type of sexual activity withinany type of sexual activity.
There's only two choices inGod's world.
This is what Screwtape wantsWormwood to really hammer down
(07:49):
to his human, who's a newChristian.
It's either abstinence orthere's monogamy.
And Screwtape is like right nowyou're a young Christian man,
he is not married, so we'regoing to work on that sexual
activity part of him, becausehe's about in his 30s, you know,
and since he's in his 30s, youknow, or something, we're just
(08:11):
going to really kind of focus onthis relationship and trying to
get him to do things outside ofwhat God is talking about.
We want to let him know that,unlike God, we don't just focus
on abstinence or monogamy.
There's so much more and that'swhat Screwtape is trying to get
Wormwood to teach his new human, who's a Christian, that he's
(08:35):
been assigned to and to get himall confused about real love and
real marriage and all thesexual activity that is in
between of what God wants forthis young man.
So what are your thoughts onthis, sherry?
Speaker 2 (08:53):
Well, first off, having grown up in a very
conservative church, we werealways taught that if you have
sex outside of marriage it's asin, but we were never really
taught the why behind it.
Why is it a sin?
Why does God not want us to doit?
(09:14):
So I grew up again I've sharedthis multiple times that God was
a punisher and he just didn'twant me to have any fun he
wanted and I'm not just talkingabout sex here, I'm just talking
about everything.
So, like everything that theworld says is fantastic, god's
the killjoy and says no, don'tdo that.
Speaker 1 (09:36):
No, you can't have that.
Speaker 2 (09:36):
God's the killjoy and says, no, don't do that.
No candy, no gluttony, no, no,no.
But I think that when we shiftto the focus and we explain to
people, explain to kids, explainto we actually have had sermons
(09:57):
on this in our church, which Iabsolutely love, and we've
explained it to our kids thisway that this is why God says no
sex before marriage.
It's not because he's being akilljoy, it's not because he
doesn't want you to have fun.
It's because he knows that whenyou have sex with somebody,
you're giving them a piece ofyour heart and you're giving
them a piece of your soul.
(10:18):
And if you want to have alasting loving relationship with
a husband or a wife not thatyou can't if you've had sex
outside of marriage or had sexbefore marriage, I'm not saying
that God is the God ofredemption.
God is a redeemer.
God can change anything andeverything.
But if you want to go intomarriage with less baggage, if
(10:39):
you want to go into marriage theway that God intended it, where
your heart is intact, your soulis intact and you are able to
then give that gift to yourfuture husband or your future
wife, that is like the epitome,that is like the perfect will of
God.
That is what it means to beunder the perfect will of God.
(11:00):
Can God redeem mistakes?
Absolutely, 100 percent.
Does God expect us to beperfect?
Absolutely not.
Do people sin in this area allthe time?
Absolutely.
But if you want to have yourbest chance of having less
baggage when you go intomarriage and having a strong
marriage to begin with, withouthaving to go through all of
(11:21):
these issues that don'tnecessarily have to be there,
that is why God tells us to haveto abstain and not have sex
outside of marriage.
So when it is explained in thatway and when it is explained as
to why God has those commandsand why God gives you those
instructions, it makes it somuch easier to obey because
(11:45):
you're doing it out of love.
You're doing it because you arecoming from the perspective
that God loves you and wants thebest for you, and it's just a
win-win for everybody.
So I think that when weapproach this topic, it needs to
be brought out.
Why does God want us to dothings his way?
And sometimes, yes, we have tosimply just obey.
(12:08):
God said do it.
God said don't do it.
Okay, I'll do it, I won't do it.
But when we hear the why behindit and hear the love behind
that why.
For me, it just changeseverything.
Speaker 1 (12:23):
Well, it gives you something to hold on to, right.
Speaker 2 (12:26):
Right.
Speaker 1 (12:27):
When temptation comes unknocking because it always
does and that kind of goes intowhat letter 19 is about, where
the topic on that one is usinglove and by that Uncle Screwtape
is telling his nephew Warnwoodyou know this whole love thing,
(12:52):
we can use that to work for us,right?
He's like of course God wantsthe whole love part and he loves
them so much and everythingelse and God tries to get them
to think one way of love.
He was like, but we can usefalling in love to our advantage
with them falling in love withsomeone else.
(13:13):
We can use that.
That basically goes right alongwith what you were sharing,
sherry, because it's like we'retaught you know, a lot of times,
especially like you when you'reyounger, you're taught you
don't do that, you don't do that, you save yourself a marriage
and you know things, and you'rejust like, okay.
(13:34):
But no one really answered thequestion why.
And it's so important what yourchurch is doing and how we
handle our kids now, because wetell them that God put the guard
rails in place for a particularreason, and it's not so that
you can't have any fun, not sothat you can enjoy life.
He's just saying I want you toenjoy your whole life and by
(13:57):
observing these, what I'm askingyou to do, you'll be able to
see how it's going to bless youdown the road.
And letter 19, uncle screw tapeis telling his demon nephew
Wormwood they're both demons,he's telling Wormwood hey, you
(14:19):
know pretty much, are there anycute girls in his neighborhood
or whatever you know, or anyonethat he's interested in?
Give me an update on that,because we can use falling in
love to help tempt his need forsexual fulfillment, because he's
(14:40):
only hearing from his churchand from his you know, his
church, his Christian walk sofar that there's only abstinence
or there's monogamy.
So he's telling Wyrmwood that,hey, so far you're Christian.
Along his journey he justthinks that there is just
(15:00):
monogamy or there's abstinence.
Well, he's not married rightnow.
So we're going to use himfalling in love with someone and
tempt him that way, and thenmaybe we'll be able to bring him
back over to our path down thegarden path of darkness,
basically.
So let's find him someone tofall in love with, because once
(15:23):
he falls in love with thisperson, all those feelings of
falling in love come into playand then we can insert the
temptation spirit right andbecause, and then when he falls
into it and gives into it, hecould just say, well, we were in
love, so it doesn't reallymatter.
As long as we love each other,it's okay what we do, and then
(15:47):
we can deceive him from thataspect.
What are your thoughts on thatploy from the enemy, sherry?
Speaker 2 (15:54):
Oh, I hear that all the time.
Or our society today says justmove in with each other, you
need to try.
I remember I was like 10 yearsold, so we're talking like 40
years ago.
I remember this guy.
I don't even know who he was, Idon't remember if we were like
at a shoe store or if it waslike a salesperson that had come
(16:15):
to our house.
That part I don't remember, butI remember he was pretty young,
probably the patient's age, andhe was saying to my mom that he
was getting ready to move inwith his girlfriend and I don't
think he knew my mom was apastor's wife at that point and
he so my mom said something tohim about well, why don't you
(16:36):
just get married?
And he said well, it's kind oflike.
Maybe that was it.
I think he was in our house forsome reason, because the example
he gave was well, kind of likeyou don't buy a pair of shoes
without trying them on first.
You don't get married butwithout trying it on first.
Well, when you do it society'sway, when you listen to those
(16:56):
lies, then the commitment isn'tas strong that studies have
shown, whether you're a believeror not a believer if you live
with somebody before you getmarried, the odds of getting
divorced are so much higher andlike, even from a practical
standpoint, I don't know, maybeit's a girl thing, but I want to
(17:19):
know that this person iscommitted to me like I want to
know that they're not going toleave me.
In fact, right when we gotmarried, there was people who
were very close to us were inthe middle of a divorce, so we
got married on Saturday.
They left each other on Monday.
Speaker 1 (17:41):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (17:42):
How insecure was I?
Oh my gosh.
I just committed my life tothis guy and these people, who I
never thought would ever leaveeach other, are getting a
divorce.
Like, lord help me.
Like, how do I know that thisis right?
How do I know that this isgoing to stick?
And it's just so important todo it God's way.
(18:07):
And I'm not saying that that myhusband and I have never had,
you know, fights or conflicts orwhatever.
But one thing I can say is Iknow without a shadow of a doubt
that he's committed to me andI'm committed to him, and it's
probably only by God's gracethat he's committed to me
someday.
But you know what?
I'm so grateful that he is.
Speaker 1 (18:28):
But that's what true commitment is about, right.
Speaker 2 (18:31):
Exactly.
Speaker 1 (18:32):
That's what true commitment is about.
It's not just when the timesare good right.
It's when the times are bad andsometimes difficult Right
exactly.
I am committed to this person,no matter how crazy they act
sometimes.
Exactly.
I am committed to this person.
How insane the ideas ofsomething sometimes come across,
(18:53):
I am committed to this personfor life.
Come ups or down, heels ofvalleys, mountains of slopes, we
, we I'm in this, you know touse today's vernacular their
ride or die.
Speaker 2 (19:07):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (19:07):
Yeah, Absolutely, and it's wonderful that's a
blessing actually to havesomeone like that in your corner
.
Oh, absolutely.
You know there's, there's justthere's just there's a.
There's a beauty to it, right,Because you know you don't ever
(19:28):
intend or want to take it forgranted.
But you know you can wake up onthose days and you just
technically woke up on the wrongside of the bed, right, and
you're just snappy, you know,and fussy, and you know just
picky and naggy, you know, andeverything else.
And there's such comfort inknowing that at the end of the
(19:52):
day, even though you may haveyour tinted tinted, you know
throughout the day with yourspouse, you know at the end of
the day that you're going tocome together, right, and you're
going to have a conversationabout whatever begs you that
particular morning or whatever,and you're able to come together
.
They don't walk out, they don'tleave, they don't say.
There's comfort in knowing thatthey're not going to say I had
(20:12):
enough, I am so done with youand your naggingness or whatever
the case may be, I'm done, seeyou later, sayonara.
And they just walk out the door.
When you're in a committedrelationship with someone, you
that there's such a uniquenessto that and a love to that that,
despite the ups and downsbecause we all know they're
(20:35):
going to happen that that personis committed to you no matter
what, no matter what, and that'sthe truth of it.
That is the truth of it, andthat's what true falling in love
is about.
And that's when the enemy can'tuse it, because you've fallen
in love in a godly way and youhave a godly mindset towards
(20:58):
your relationship and you'redoing your best to try to, when
you're in a falling in lovestage, to just keep that as
sacred as it should be.
And then, when you go intomarriage, when all the other
things start happening, you'restill committed to each other
and there's just, there'ssomething about that that is
(21:21):
awesome, that you just have,whereas you just know that
someone always is going to bethere and love you at your worst
, and that is so like God.
Am I right, sherry?
Oh, absolutely.
Speaker 2 (21:33):
That happened just yesterday.
So we're dealing with grief inour family right now.
We've lost my in-laws withinsix months of each other, both
very suddenly, and there's fiveof us that live here and we all
grieve differently.
We all have different emotionsand feelings depending on the
day, depending on the hour, andso yesterday I was just kind of
(21:57):
I don't know, like you said,just kind of itchy, scratchy,
and I knew that it wasn'tanybody.
I wasn't upset at anybody, Ijust I was done peopling, I was
just done, I was just done.
Speaker 1 (22:11):
And.
Speaker 2 (22:11):
I knew enough about myself to know I better just be
quiet, because if I open mymouth I'm going to take it out
on other people, and those thatI love don't deserve to have
anything taken out on becauseI'm just, I'm walking the grief
walk.
Speaker 1 (22:24):
So, anyway.
Speaker 2 (22:25):
So I was really really quiet in the car.
We had had to go to a doctor'sappointment together, and so
it's really quiet in the carcoming home and then I was,
excuse me, busy doing otherthings and so it wasn't really
talking.
But when we finally got to sitdown to dinner, my husband and I
just kept exchanging looks andthe looks for just basically I
(22:48):
love you, like I'll squeeze herea look of there.
Just I know you're in my corner, I know you're right here.
I have no clue what's going onwith you right now, sherry, but
I don't need to just know thatI'm right here.
No explanation was needed.
I wasn't mad at anybody, it wasjust one of those days and it's
(23:08):
just like you said.
It's so comforting to know thatyou don't have to have the words
.
You don't have to.
Sometimes you have to have thediscussions and the
conversations, but sometimes youdon't even have to have that,
just that assurance of knowingthat that person is on your side
and in your corner and thatyou're doing it.
(23:29):
God's way is just like hedesigned it that way, like you
said, for a reason and for apurpose.
No-transcript it does enhanceand bless and make our lives
better.
It really truly does.
Speaker 1 (23:44):
It absolutely does, because you're complimenting
each other and in a case likeyou just described, what
happened between you and yourhusband yesterday it was no
words needed to be spokenbecause he knew you were
grieving, right, he knew thewhole house was grieving and
that sometimes and if for anyonewho's ever dealt with grief,
then you know it hits you weirdsometimes.
(24:05):
You know, some days you're okay,you're like, okay, I'm good,
okay, I think I can make ittoday without crying or being in
a mood right, and in other daysit just hits you, you know, and
everyone is different.
And how sweet, how beautifulthat in this particular case,
all that was needed for you toknow that you were understood
(24:26):
and that you were heard and thatyou were known was for him to
just share glances with youExactly.
Isn't that so godly?
That is just so godly.
He didn't need to say words, hedidn't need to say anything.
He just need to know I got you,I understand, I know what
you're going through and I'mhere for you.
There's such a beauty in that,and that's something that the
(24:49):
enemy always wants to try toattack, but he can't when you're
focused on God.
So in that case, like that, hecan't use love against you
because it's a true love, andthat is the type of falling in
love and true love that wereally, truly need to focus on.
Speaker 2 (25:08):
Amen, amen.
And on that note, we are goingto come back next week and talk
about sexual taste andentitlement.
Hmm, how do those two gotogether?
Come back next week and you'llfind out.
So our first for the Cheer Uppodcast is, or our key verse for
(25:28):
the Cheer Up podcast is John1633.
Jesus said these things.
I have spoken to you, meaninghe told the people kind of what
was ahead, that in me you mayhave peace In this world.
You will have tribulation, butwe have good cheer because I
(25:49):
have overcome the world.
There is just so much comfortin knowing that there is nothing
that we will face day in or dayout that God is not aware of,
that surprises him or thatcatches him off guard.
And I love the fact that Godwins in the end, that the bad
guys always lose and in factthey've already lost, which is
(26:13):
one of the reasons why they'reworking so hard to bring as many
people with them as they can.
We started the podcast as anencouragement to people, to
point us to the one who has theanswers and to point us to the
one who gives us encouragement,hope and peace in this world.
If you have questions, if youneed prayer or encouragement.
(26:35):
Email us atcheeruppodcastgmailcom.
We love to hear from ourlisteners and we love to connect
with them.
Another way that we can connectis through the Facebook group
Cheer Up podcast on Facebook.
Send over to Cara's website,caraarhuntcom, or you can check
out my website,cheeryswallwellcom.
(26:57):
Both have lots of materials andresources to help you grow your
relationship with God.
If you love fiction, biblicalfiction you've got to check out
Cara's the Habakkuk Series.
They are amazing.
She is an amazing writer.
I've known her for over 10years when she wrote her first
(27:18):
book.
It has not been published yet,but I cannot wait until you guys
get to read it too.
Oh, my goodness, it is part ofthe Habakkuk Series and you will
not be disappointed.
Her books have won two awards.
They've been nominated for manymore, so check them out.
Truly.
You will be glad that you didhave a great rest of your week
(27:40):
this week.
Continue to have thoseconversations with God.
Ask Him questions, bring Himinto your day, ask Him what he
wants to show you today, how hewants to bless you today and how
he wants you to bless otherpeople through the gifts that he
has given to you.
You will be surprised at how heloves to answer and the
(28:01):
different answers that he endsup giving you.
Have a great rest of your dayand we will talk again next week
.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
New Heights with Jason & Travis Kelce
Football’s funniest family duo — Jason Kelce of the Philadelphia Eagles and Travis Kelce of the Kansas City Chiefs — team up to provide next-level access to life in the league as it unfolds. The two brothers and Super Bowl champions drop weekly insights about the weekly slate of games and share their INSIDE perspectives on trending NFL news and sports headlines. They also endlessly rag on each other as brothers do, chat the latest in pop culture and welcome some very popular and well-known friends to chat with them. Check out new episodes every Wednesday. Follow New Heights on the Wondery App, YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen to new episodes early and ad-free, and get exclusive content on Wondery+. Join Wondery+ in the Wondery App, Apple Podcasts or Spotify. And join our new membership for a unique fan experience by going to the New Heights YouTube channel now!