12.26.24 – Give God Control Over Your Gifts

SPEAKER 01 : 0:10

Welcome to Call to Freedom with Barbara Carmack. This is Jimmy Lakey, and I’m delighted that you are joining us for this half hour. You can reach Call to Freedom at Box 370367, Denver, Colorado, 80237, or by going to the website at www.freedomstreet.org. If you want to leave a message or order a Word Power Daily Reading Bible Guide or a Freedom Street Express newsletter, you can call us toll free at 1-877-917-7256 and leave your name and address, including your zip code. If you want to talk to Barbara right now, she is expecting your call. You may call that same toll-free number, 1-877-917-7256 to speak to her. And now, let’s join Barbara in the studio.

SPEAKER 05 : 1:04

I hope you had a wonderful, wonderful warm Christmas and a cozy Christmas. I know for the first time, I think in a long time, we had rain in Denver. We usually have, we sometimes have snow, but it was rain. So I’m so grateful to the Lord God. And welcome to call to freedom. All that is good is yours. You know why? Because of Jesus. All that is fulfilling is yours because you serve him. All that is peaceful is yours because you love him. And he loves you so much. I know the wonderful phrase that Kimberly’s father used so often. We’re just living hand to mouth, hand to mouth, but it’s God’s hand and our mouth, which is wonderful. Oh, we’re just living hand to mouth and it’s God’s hand and our mouth. You are blessed to dispense for in him you live and move and have your being. If you’d like to listen to Call to Freedom, you can go to 670KLTT.com. Really simple slash podcast slash Call to Freedom. And you’ll find that in a list of all of the teachers and evangelists that are on KLTT. So, you know, feel free to do that on your phone. If you’ve got a phone, you can get just almost anything nowadays. That is such a wonderful technology. If you’d like to give online, you can go to freedomstreet.org. And you still have a few days to get a calendar, a 2025 calendar. And you can go online and hit that donate button. Or you can just write a check or money order to call to Freedom Box 370-367. God bless you for your wonderful giving to this ministry. It’s been a wonderful year, and I’m looking forward to a better year ahead because we’re just one day closer to God coming back through Jesus Christ. So we say to all of you, glory to God in the highest and on earth peace, goodwill toward each other, toward men, toward everyone who is alive because we know for God so loved the whole world. The whole world that he gave, he gave our Lord Jesus. And I want to welcome you, Kimberly, to the broadcast. I missed you this week. So I called you today and I said, I miss being on the radio with you. So will you come on today? And you said, oh, yeah, I will.

SPEAKER 02 : 3:27

Well, thank you for that invitation because it made me sit down. I’m so glad that I had the opportunity to just sit down and really think about the gifts that the Magi brought to Jesus. And you said it on the phone. You said, I’m moving away from the stable now because now we’re after Christmas. So we’re moving away from the stable and looking at what came next. And it was the gifts. And I told you I’m kind of curious about that because. Mary and Joseph, they went to Bethlehem specifically to register for taxes. If I had to go to another city to register myself for taxes, I wouldn’t stay there. But evidently they stayed for a while. They stayed long enough for the wise men to find them.

SPEAKER 05 : 4:16

That’s right, yes.

SPEAKER 02 : 4:18

so we don’t know exactly how long that was but the wise men brought gifts for jesus they saw the star in the sky they followed that star for a long time and they brought these gifts for jesus and i just think these gifts are really amazing when we look and see that wise men brought gold and frankincense and myrrh, we can see some parallels with what those are in our own lives. And we want to be able to bring our gifts back to the King. I am just astounded that the Lord would entrust us humans with so much. This planet has so many resources and even the knowledge and the intelligence that we have been given, they’re gifts from Him. And He is entrusting us with this intelligence, with this knowledge, and believing that we’re going to do something good with it. And how funny, because we’re all a mess. All of us, you know, we misunderstand things. We assume things and we make a mess every time we assume and misunderstand. And yet here’s our very generous God looking and saying, I know you’re going to get this. I know you will. He has so much faith.

SPEAKER 05 : 5:51

I love that scripture you gave me in Job this morning. I had never looked at it before like that. And how did you phrase it when we were talking?

SPEAKER 02 : 6:01

That the Lord has taken me by the neck and shaken me to pieces.

SPEAKER 05 : 6:05

That’s what Job said. And I think, oh, yes, I understand that. I recognize that as part of the discipline that he’s given to me over the years, shaking me almost violently to get my attention. Yes.

SPEAKER 02 : 6:21

Yes. It’s something that really stood out to me. Oh, it was almost 30 years ago. I had been given this beautiful ring. You remember it. Oh, yes. And the huge, huge stone in the ring was a large marquee cut stone. And it fell. It was too big. The ring was too big for my finger. It came off my finger. It fell to the ground. And when it fell, the stone shattered on the end of it. And I was so… I was really devastated. I felt so bad that this beautiful ring, I mean, it was a real stone. It’s a tourmaline. It’s not something fake. It was not just a fake crystal. It wasn’t something grown in a lab. It was a real stone, and I had shattered it when I dropped it. And I believe it is, it’s Job 16, Job 16, 12. It says, I had been untroubled and he broke me in pieces. He took me by the scruff of my neck and shook me and shattered me. And that sounds mean. But I read that scripture not long after that happened with that ring. It was within a day or two that I read that scripture and I just started crying and I said, thank you. Thank you that you did not allow pride to grow in me. You did not allow me to assume what direction I was going to take with this ring. And you got a hold of me and you shook me up enough for me to look to you and say, oh, yeah, this isn’t about me. It’s about you.

SPEAKER 05 : 8:12

Yes, that’s right.

SPEAKER 02 : 8:13

So that scripture is actually really precious to me. It doesn’t sound mean to me at all anymore. I’m very thankful for all the ways that the Lord gets our attention.

SPEAKER 05 : 8:23

Amen. I know that some of us are stiff necked and we’re so used to our tradition, our habits that, oh, no, I couldn’t possibly do that. I couldn’t change that, Lord. And Kimberly, he’s saying, I’ll be gentle with you. I’ll be kind to you, but you need to change. And I’ve talked to some of my friends who are later in life like I am. And the transition can really be difficult if you’re not willing to change. Even in the place where you live, many of my friends cannot walk up and down the stairs anymore. So they’re going to be looking for a place that is one level. We’re just going to have to be absolutely ready for a transition in the Lord because he’s ready to help us. That’s really good.

SPEAKER 02 : 9:09

That’s a good way to look at it and put it. Yeah. And when I think of all the gifts that he has given us to hang on to those gifts, like to hang on to that ring the way that it was, I did have that ring repaired. And I still own that ring, but it’s not as big as it was when I first received it. And that’s okay, too. That’s okay. But, you know, the gift of a home, and maybe that home does have a lot of stairs in it, To hang on to it so tightly and say, OK, I’m going to control this and this will be mine forever. That that’s what we need to change our mindset about, you know, because the Lord gave us gifts for a reason and a purpose. And in a relationship, we’re to be in relationship with him in a relationship. The gifts don’t just come at you one way. I mean, I hope not. It’s supposed to be a two way street where there’s give and take. And when you think about what you could possibly give to the king of all kings who has everything right? What can we possibly give to the one who owns it all? the wise men They’re wise. They’re giving us a hint here. This is how you are wise. We become the wise men and the wise women when we recognize what these men brought to the Lord. When we recognize that gold is actually a good picture of all of our resources. And God is the one who gave us these resources in the first place. We can give them back to him so that he can have control over them, not us. We’re not going to control it. We’re going to be open to transition if he wants us to be moving, wants us to be giving. If he wants us to do something different with those resources, that’s where we remain open and we let him have control. That’s right. There is a lot of really good advice in this world for managing our resources, you know, like saving, investing, budgeting, maintaining. Some of that advice really does come from the Bible. And Proverbs 6 is one that shows us the ant who saves up for the winter season. And Proverbs 10 has a lot to say about sowing and reaping. If you’re lazy, you’re going to end up poor. If you’re a hard worker, that will bring riches. So there’s management of resources that we find in the Bible. Some people even take all these scriptures and they write their own books and they have their own plans on how to manage your finances. And I’m not saying that those things are bad. I hope if you don’t have the Holy Spirit guiding you and controlling your resources, I hope you have the wisdom of these books that have been written. We want wisdom. The whole point is that there’s so much content available out there to guide us and to help us with our resources that it’s really obvious to me that human beings want to be the one in control.

SPEAKER 04 : 12:22

Yes.

SPEAKER 02 : 12:23

We want to control our resources and we want all the advice that we can possibly get to control them. Well, being in control and being a good steward are two very different things. As a steward, we make withdrawals when the master tells us to. And as a steward, we give when he tells us to give. and we store up when He directs us to do that. It’s not all up to us. When we give Him control of our resources, then He will trust us with even more. We just have to show Him that we trust Him. You mentioned this scripture, maybe it was last week or earlier this week, Haggai 2, 8 and 9. The silver is mine and the gold is mine, declares the Lord. The latter glory of this house will be greater than the former, says the Lord of hosts. And in this place, I will give peace, declares the Lord.

SPEAKER 04 : 13:24

Thank you, Lord.

SPEAKER 02 : 13:26

I love this scripture. The more I meditate on it, and you had it as your memory verse, I think, memorize that. If you’re listening today, memorize this scripture. The latter glory of your home will be greater than the former glory of your home as you realize that all the resources belong to Him. And he wants to bring you peace with those resources. We can get really fearful, full of anxiety and stress over our resources. Yes. All the time. Yes. But He wants us to live in peace. And the peace comes when we recognize that He’s the one with the goal. We don’t have to have a goal of having a certain amount in our savings or a certain amount when we retire. That doesn’t have to be our goal. It can be His goal, and we can watch Him take care of us perfectly. Perfectly. We don’t know how to do it perfectly. He does. That’s right.

SPEAKER 05 : 14:30

Boy, in the world, it loves to tell, especially the older people near retirement, you’ve got to have at least a million to two million set aside. And what does that cause to the hearts of the people that don’t have it? Oh, total anxiety. I mean, total. Oh, I don’t have it. I don’t have it. And so we’re following after the world’s advice rather than God’s advice who says, I’m Jehovah Jireh. I’m your provider. Don’t you trust me? Don’t you depend on me? Oh, no, Lord, we got to get all this money together so we can live good. Oh, and God wants us to live that abundant life, Kimberly. He’s promised that to us.

SPEAKER 02 : 15:12

That’s right. Yes. And if you look at it from even younger years, if you’re in your younger years and you’re thinking ahead, there’s a whole lot of pressure in that advice. That advice to save up and have this, you know, that’s pressure. And you’re not really enjoying your days when you’re under that pressure. Amen.

SPEAKER 05 : 15:33

Yes.

SPEAKER 02 : 15:34

So being able to say to our Lord, this gift of gold and other resources are all yours, God. They’re yours. And we will not hang on to the gifts that you’ve given us. We will give them back to you. Be glorified in these gifts, O God. I love Acts 2 and Acts 4 that point out these people, this new church that came together. It says they were continually devoting themselves to each other and to the apostles’ teaching, to fellowship, to breaking bread. They were having meals together and praying together. And everyone kept feeling a sense of awe. And many wonders and signs were taking place through the apostles. All those who had believed were together and had all things in common. They began selling their property and possessions and were sharing all of that with each other. So good. As anyone had a need. You know, that is miraculous. I know.

SPEAKER 05 : 16:39

It is. I’ve even heard couples that are married. My bank account, his bank account, my this and my that is. And they’ve separated from being in one accord, one united in marriage to being single, married singles. That’s what Darren called them. Married singles. Or roommates, I’ll call them roommates too.

SPEAKER 02 : 17:03

Yeah, it is amazing to me that we can’t, we have a hard time, we do. I’m saying we here because I know, I know from experience, we human beings have a hard time blending our ideas of our finances with another person and living with them in a like mindset. We have a hard time with that. So here it is in Acts 2. I was reading from Acts 2, 42 through 47. They were all praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord was adding to their number day by day, those who were being saved. So here they are sharing everything. They’re sharing their meals. They’re sharing in prayer. They’re selling their possessions. It’s amazing. Acts 4, 32 through 37. This is the end of chapter four in Acts. It says the congregation of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and not one of them claimed that anything belonging to him was his own. That’s unbelievable, Kimberly. But all things were common property to the whole body. Wow. And with great power, the apostles were giving testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus and abundant grace was upon them all. Wouldn’t you like to feel that abundant grace today? Abundant grace on your life. Wow, and verse 34 says, there was not a needy person among them for all who were owners of land or houses would sell them and bring the proceeds of the sales and lay them at the apostles’ feet and they would be distributed to each person as they had need.

SPEAKER 05 : 18:55

Oh, wow.

SPEAKER 02 : 18:57

Now, here’s where it gets fun. They start telling this story of Joseph. Joseph, who was also called Barnabas, This man, his name means son of encouragement. I like that. The son of encouragement. He owned a tract of land and he sold it and he brought the money and laid it at the apostles feet. And this ends Acts chapter four. And then we begin Acts chapter five. And that’s the story of Ananias and Sapphira. And you may be familiar with that story if you’re listening today. These are the people, the couple, who tried to look good by giving their big gift too. They wanted to bring a big gift also because Barnabas did. But they weren’t really honest. They kept some of their gift back for themselves in secret. And that was an agreement they had made. They decided, let’s give this big gift and say, we sold everything. Here it is. But let’s keep some of it for ourselves. And there are ways to cheat and look like you have given your all. But God is not looking for cheaters. He is looking for the pure in heart. Those who truly have given their all. And it’s not even about giving it all. It’s about the honesty. Why not just say, you know what? We weren’t ready to bring all the proceeds, but here’s half of it. Why not just say that? That’s right. It’s okay to just say, I’m bringing you half of everything I own. What a beautiful gift.

SPEAKER 05 : 20:31

That’s a gift. I know Peter even told them that. If you would have just been honest with me, I just sold half of it and whatever you have agreed upon. But because you said you gave all and you only gave a little bit, it’s like people say, oh, I tithe all the time. And they’ve tithed maybe once or twice in their life. We’ve got to get honest, Kimberly. We really do.

SPEAKER 02 : 20:54

We do. Just be authentic and true about who we are and what we’re doing. And don’t try to trick other people or cheat the system. That’s not at all who we were created to be. And when we look at this new body of believers as this New Testament church is forming and how remarkable it is that they were so willing to give these gifts. to the kingdom, for the furtherance of the kingdom of God. You know, Jesus came and gave up everything to be with us. He did. To become like us so that we could become like him. He gave it all up. And that’s something, if you are willing to look at it and realize, okay, hold on. The king of all kings gave it all up. What am I willing to give? What can I give back to him? So looking at what the wise men brought, they brought the gold, which represents resources, and then they brought frankincense and myrrh. And those two can kind of be grouped into the same category because it has everything to do with our bodies. The frankincense is a powerful healing substance. And myrrh is used, it’s used in the embalming process, but it’s also a painkiller. Dentists used to use myrrh all the time. I remember when I first opened a bottle of myrrh, the pure essential oil, and I smelled it, it reminded me of my dentist’s office.

SPEAKER 05 : 22:30

Oh, no.

SPEAKER 02 : 22:33

Yeah, I know that’s not always a good memory. Not really good memories, that’s right. Yeah, but when you’re looking at something that has healing properties and something that can reduce pain, you’re talking about our bodies now, right? So our bodies need healing and our bodies, we do at times need something that will help us with pain. I was listening in to Levi. He is so fun to listen to when he is playing his computer games and video games. And especially these battle games now, there are these things, they’re healing qualities. They’re like healing potions, bottles that you can find. You can find them or you can earn them. You can pay for them. But that way, if you’ve been injured in your video game, we’re talking about video games here. If you’ve been injured, then you drink your healing potion and you gain your health back. And the other day, I was listening to Levi playing one of these games with a team. He was on a team. And he and the others were yelling. They were yelling, why won’t they die? Why won’t they die? Their healing is insane. That’s how they were saying it. Their healing is insane. And I realized that there are some people that know how to cheat with these video games. Mm-hmm. But others of them know how to get that healing that they need. And here’s what I want to say about this. I like picturing our enemy yelling the same thing. Why won’t they just die? Their healing is insane. We have Jesus. We have Jesus. Oh, praise the Lord. That’s right. And so I was, I was giggling and I just said out loud, Jesus, your healing is insane. Lord, your ability to regenerate and rejuvenate and restore us is unbeatable. So help us give you our idea of healing so that we can adopt your ways. Help us know how to give you our pain so that we can truly lean into you as our great comforter, as our wonderful counselor. We want you to have control of this, not us in control, but you in control so that we can experience your true healing. Your true restoration. You are in the restoration business, God. And we want to let you do the restoring because we don’t know how to. That’s the kind of prayer that we pray today, Lord, over each one who’s listening and over all of our family members. And we pray it in Jesus’ name. Amen.

SPEAKER 05 : 25:26

Amen. I love this verse in Psalm 37, verse 23. I sing it a lot. Play it on the piano. Rejoice for the steps of a righteous person are ordered of God. Our steps are very steps that we walk every day for in the time of trouble. God will uphold us. God will preserve us. God will sustain us. So when we rejoice, when we rejoice in who our Savior and Lord is, wow, it just does wonderful things for our spirit, soul and body.

SPEAKER 02 : 25:56

That’s right. That’s right. You know, there is suffering in this life and this life is difficult. I’m not trying to diminish any of the suffering that any of us endure. What I do want to say, though, is that God has allowed us to experience some of that suffering, and he’s trusting us in it. It’s his way of trusting that we might accept a season of suffering along with him, because for better or for worse, that’s what the vows say, right? Mm-hmm. and when we look at those vows with the lord for better for worse god i’m in this with you are we really in it when things get worse and we’re suffering because he has truly suffered and he is all in even when it gets worse so let’s turn our eyes to him and realize that he has given us so many beautiful gifts so that we will give them back to him And be all in, even when it looks worse, that we can say to him, this is your life. These are your gifts. We give them back to you so that we can be yours and you can be ours.

SPEAKER 05 : 27:11

Oh, that’s beautiful, Kimberly. Thank you so much. Thank you for this wonderful gift you’ve given to us today. And for all of you out there, we say take joy.

SPEAKER 01 : 27:21

You’re listening to Call to Freedom with Barbara Carmack. You may get in touch with Barbara at Call to Freedom, Box 370-367, Denver, Colorado, 80237. Or you may leave your message at 1-877-917-7256. Call to Freedom is a listener-supported radio ministry. Barbara and her power partners invite you to come on board with us and become a network of hands holding up Call to Freedom ministry. Power partners support Call to Freedom with prayer and monthly financial support. You will be blessed supernaturally. We invite you to visit Call to Freedom’s website, www.freedomstreet.org, where you can hear Barbara’s daily radio broadcast 24 hours a day or order materials. You may share your praise reports and heart cries by mailing them to Call to Freedom, Box 370-367, Denver, Colorado, 80237. Or you may email us at barbracarmack at freedomstreet.org. Until next time, remember, Jesus loves you, Barbara loves you, and take joy.