We Keep Rejecting Jesus When We Should Ask Him To Stay

A single line from Judges still lands like a punch: when there’s no king, people start doing whatever seems right to them. We open there, with a sober look at what moral chaos produces, then we turn our attention to something steadier: prayer, Scripture, and the daily choice to seek God instead of trusting our own understanding. 

From Song of Solomon to the Gospel of John, we read passages that pull faith out of the abstract and into the heart. John 4 takes center stage as we walk through Jesus meeting the Samaritan woman at the well, offering “living water,” naming hard truths without cruelty, and redefining worship as “in spirit and in truth.” Her response becomes the challenge for us: will we run and tell the truth about what Christ has done, or keep holding him at arm’s length? 

We also connect the spiritual to the civic, reflecting on Proverbs 14:25 and why a truthful witness saves lives while lies rot a culture from the inside. Along the way we remember bravery with a Medal of Honor story, then end with perspective on American independence through Irma Bombeck’s humor and John Adams’ realism about the toil and sacrifice required to keep freedom alive. If this encouraged you, subscribe, share it with a friend, and leave a review wherever you listen.

#JohnAdams

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Transcript

Moral Chaos And A Warning

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Judges 21, verse 25. In those days Israel had no king, and all the people did whatever seemed right in their own eyes. John 4, verse 26. Then Jesus told her, I am the Messiah. January 2026, San Antonio, Texas. 22-year-old woman raped and strangled by Jose Manuel Rodriguez, an illegal immigrant from Venezuela who had prior arrests. Hey

Welcome And Opening Prayer

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folks, this is Jesse Cope back with another episode of the American Soul Podcast. Hope y'all are doing well wherever y'all are, whatever part of the day you're in. Sure do appreciate you joining me, giving me a little bit of your time and attention, a little piece of your day. I will try and use it wisely. For those of y'all who continue to uh share the podcast with others and tell others about it, thank you for those of y'all who continue to uh pray for me and for the podcast. Thank you very much. Very grateful for your prayers. Father, thank you for today. Thank you for you, Father, and your son Jesus Christ and your Holy Spirit. Thank you for your love and your mercy, your grace and your forgiveness of sins. Thank you for your patience, Father. Thank you for the people that you bring into our lives who support and encourage us. The examples of those who have gone before us. Be with our military, law enforcement, firefighters, EMS, keep them safe, bring them home safe, protect them. Be with our leaders in the pulpit and in the state. Give them wisdom and courage and a strong faith. Help them to lead and rule in fear of you. Be with those listening to the podcast, Father. Wherever they are right now, comfort them. Ease whatever heartache or pain they may be feeling, having. Bless their families and their marriages, their children. Help us to turn back to you, Father, as a nation. To truly love your Son Jesus Christ. To love you with our whole heart, mind, soul, and strength, to love our neighbors as ourselves. Help us to trust you and lean on you and not our own understanding. Forgive us when we fail, Father. And please bring us home safe to you in your timing. And God, my words here. In your Son's name we pray. Amen. Marriage

Marriage Verses From Song Of Solomon

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verses for today. Song of songs, Song of Solomon 1 through 8. I have come into my garden, my sister, my bride. I have gathered my myrrh with my spice. I have eaten my honeycomb and my honey. I have drunk my wine and my milk. Eat, friends, and drink, drink your fill of love. I slept, but my heart was awake. Listen, my beloved is knocking. Open to me, my sister, my darling, my dove, my flawless one. My head is drenched with dew, my hair with the dampness of the night. I have taken off my robe, must I put it on again? I have washed my feet, must I soil them again? My beloved thrust his hand through the latch opening. My heart began to pound for him. I arose to open for my beloved, and my hands dripped with myrrh, my fingers with flowing myrrh on the handles of the bolt. I opened for my beloved, but my beloved had left. He was gone. My heart sank at his departure. I looked for him but did not find him. I called him, but he did not answer. The watchmen found me as they made their rounds in the city, they beat me, they bruised me, they took away my cloak, those watchmen of the walls. Daughters of Jerusalem, I charge you, if you find my beloved, what will you tell him? Tell him I am faint with love. John

Jesus Offers Living Water

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four verses four through forty two. He, Jesus, had gone through Samaria on the way. Eventually he came to the Samaritan village of Sycur, Syre, near the field that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Jacob's well was there, and Jesus, tired from the long walk, sat wearily beside the well about noontime. Soon a Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, Please give me a drink. He was alone at the time because his disciples had gone into the village to buy some food. The woman was surprised, for Jews refused to have anything to do with Samaritans. She said to Jesus, You are a Jew, and I am a Samaritan woman. Why are you asking me for a drink? Jesus replied, If you only knew the gift God has for you and who you were speaking to, you would ask me, and I would give you living water. But, sir, you don't have a rope or a bucket, she said, and this well is very deep. Where would you get this living water? And besides, do you think you're greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us this well? How can you offer better water than he and his sons and his animals enjoyed? Jesus replied, Anyone who drinks this water will soon become thirsty again, but those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life. Please, sir, the woman said, Give me this water, then I'll never be thirsty again, and I won't have to come here to get water. Go and get your husband, Jesus told her. I don't have a husband, the woman replied. Jesus said, You're right, you don't have a husband. For you have had five husbands, and you aren't even married to the man you're living with now. You certainly spoke the truth. Sir, the woman said, You must be a prophet. So tell me, why is it that you Jews insist that Jerusalem is the only place of worship while we Samaritans claim it is here on Mount Gerzum, where our ancestors worshiped. Jesus replied, Believe me, dear woman, the time is coming when it will no longer matter whether you worship the Father on this mountain or in Jerusalem. You Samaritans know very little about the one you worship, while we Jews know all about him, for salvation comes through the Jews. But the time is coming, indeed, it's here now when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The Father is looking for those who will worship him that way. For God is spirit, so those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth. The woman said, I know the Messiah is coming, the one who is called Christ. When he comes, he will explain everything to us. Jesus told her, I am the Messiah. Just then his disciples came back, they were shocked to find him talking to a woman, but none of them had the nerve to ask, What do you want with her? Or why are you talking to her? The woman left her water jar beside the well and ran back to the village, telling everyone, Come and see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could he possibly be the Messiah? So the people came streaming from the village to see him. Meanwhile, the disciples were urging Jesus, Rabbi, eat something. But Jesus replied, I have a kind of food you know nothing about. Did someone bring him food while we were gone? The disciples asked each other. Then Jesus explained, My nourishment comes from doing the will of God who sent me and from finishing his work. You know the saying, Four months between planting and harvest, but I say, Wake up and look around. The fields are already ripe for harvest. The harvesters are paid good wages, and the fruit they harvest is people brought to eternal life. What joy awaits both the planter and the harvesters alike? You know the saying, one plants and another harvests, and it's true. I sent you to harvest where you didn't plant. Others had already done the work, and now you will get together the harvest. Many Samaritans from the village believed in Jesus because the woman had said, He told me everything I ever did. When they came out to see him, they begged him to stay in their village, so he stayed for two days, long enough for many more to hear his message and believe. Then they said to the woman, Now we believe not just because of what you told us, but because we have heard him ourselves. Now we know that he is indeed the Savior of the world. I

Do We Beg Jesus To Stay

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wonder how many times, folks, you know, the Jews rejected Jesus so often, and here we see the Samaritans who the Jews look down upon begging Jesus to stay. I wonder how often I reject Jesus as opposed to begging him to stay in my life. And the fields are already ripe. I was talking to a gentleman the other day about that. We have so many people here in our own backyard, folks, who need Jesus Christ, who need this eternal life that he offers. Right? What joy awaits both the planter and the harvester alike for bringing people to eternal life. Give thanks to the Lord and proclaim his greatness, let the whole world know what he has done. Sing to him, yes, sing his praises, tell everyone about his wonderful deeds. Exalt in his holy name, rejoice you who worship the Lord, search for the Lord and for his strength. Continually seek him. Do we continually seek God in Jesus Christ? Remember the wonders he has performed, his miracles and the rulings he has given, you children of his servant Abraham, you descendants of Jacob, his chosen ones. He is the Lord our God, his justice is seen throughout the land. He always stands by his covenant, the commitment he made to a thousand generations. This is the covenant he made with Abraham, and the oath he swore to Isaac. He confirmed it to Jacob as a decree, and to the people of Israel as a never ending covenant. I will give you the land of Canaan as your special possession. He said this when they were few in number, a tiny group of strangers in Canaan. They wandered from nation to nation, from one kingdom to another. Yet he did not let anyone oppress them. He warned kings on their behalf. Proverbs

Truth Matters In Public Life

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14 25 A truthful witness saves lives, but a false witness is a traitor. How many traitors do we have today? How many times are we ourselves false witnesses? Do we bend the truth to suit our own needs? That would be a pretty good rule of thumb, folks, for officers that we're electing, officials that we're electing, is are they truthful?

Book Recommendation And Support Requests

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Countryside, Book of the Wise. If you're looking for a middle-grade fantasy series, kind of like Narnia the Hobbit, Percy Jackson, Harry Potter, Fablehaven, if you get a chance, that's the first book in the series. Here's a little snippet from uh Diane Brokowski, one of the five-star reviews on Amazon. There are many subplots in this book, the relationships between Luke's father and his uncle. Why don't they get along? What happened in the past between them? The relationship between Mr. Thompson and his assistant, Mr. Jefferson, whose side are they on? And just who is Mr. Roberts? I can't wait for the next book to come out. This could turn into a very addictive series. I think this book will appeal to both adults and young readers alike. If you get a chance, check out the series. And if you enjoyed, if you'd leave a review online for the first or the second book, I would appreciate it. Same thing with the podcast. If you feel like you're getting something out of it, if you would leave a review online wherever you listen to the podcast. And if you have five or ten dollars a month you can spare, there's a link in the show notes where you can set up that monthly donation, and that helps the writing and the podcast too. So thank you for any or all of those.

Modern Violence And Hard Lessons

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May 2019, Salisbury, UK. Ellie Gould, 17-year-old girl, was brutally stabbed to death over 20 times by her ex-boyfriend Thomas Griffiths, a Muslim convert, in an obsessive murder after she ended their relationship. You notice, folks, again, this is a great point here. It doesn't matter that this man wasn't Muslim originally or that he didn't come from the Middle East, Afghanistan, Iraq, wherever, whatever Muslim nation. He was converted. And this still led to these kind of horrific actions, right? James

Courage Then And Now In America

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Madison Byrne, sergeant, highest rank lieutenant colonel, U.S. Civil War. This is our Medal of Honor winner for today. Bravo Company, 1st West Virginia Infantry, U.S. Army, May 15, 1864, Newmarket, Virginia. Under a heavy fire of musketry, rallied a few men to the support of the colors in danger of capture and bore them to a place of safety. One of his comrades having been severely wounded in the effort, Sergeant Burns went back 100 yards in the face of the enemy's fire and carried the wounded man from the field. Accredited to Wellsburg, Brook County, West Virginia, not awarded posthumously, presented November 20th, 1896. Born August 9th, 1845, Wells Township, Jefferson County, Ohio, died October 30th, 1910, Lebanon, Ohio. Buried Lebanon Cemetery, MH117, Lebanon, Ohio. Location of metal, Newmarket Battlefield State Historical Park, Newmarket, Virginia, Marshall Museum, Virginia Military Institute, Lexington, Virginia. James Madison Burns. I stumbled across a quote by a comedian, no less, if I can find it. Hopefully I didn't get rid of it. By Irma Bombeck. You have to love a nation that celebrates its independence every July 4th, not with a parade of guns, tanks, and soldiers who file by the White House in a show of strength and muscle. But with family picnics where kids throw frisbees, the potato salad gets iffy and the flies die from happiness. You may think you have overeaten, but it is patriotism. And that reminded me of a quote I have read. This is America's Guide and Country Encyclopedia of Quotations. Great book. Highly recommend you having a copy at home, at least one. This was July 3rd, 1776, John Adams writing to his wife Abigail, reflecting on Congress and their actions, right? The second day of July, 1776 will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations from one end of this continent to the other from this time forward forever. You will think me transported with enthusiasm, but I am not. I am well aware of the toil and blood and treasure that it will cost to maintain this declaration and support and defend these states. Yet through all the gloom, I can see the rays of ravishing light and glory. I can see that the end is worth more than all the means, that posterity will triumph in that day's transaction, even though we may regret it, which I trust in God we shall not. We probably have some really dark days coming, folks, but you can see through the gloom. You can see the rays of ravishing light and glory if we trust in God and Jesus Christ and we turn back to our founding faith and principles. You know, things didn't look great for the founders at this point. They knew there were some really hard days ahead if they were even going to be successful. And and yet they trusted God. They knew how much blood and treasure and toil it was going to cost to maintain the declaration they had just made, to defend and support the states. What's the key, though? Even if we regret it, those future generations, right, if we trust in God. Our

The Lord’s Prayer And Blessing

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Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us the stare our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not to temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever. Amen. God bless y'all. God bless your families, your marriages if you're married. God bless your nation. Wherever you are listening, God bless America. We'll talk to you all again real soon, folks. Looking forward to it.