4.1.25 – What Does The Upper Toom Mean To Us?

SPEAKER 02 : 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 01 : 1:04

Welcome to Call to Freedom. Oh, he delights in the prosperity of his servants. And if you know Jesus Christ, you know that your Heavenly Father is delighting in you and especially delighting in the prosperity that he’s going to bring to you. And every day there are opportunities. opportunities galore for God to bless you. May you be blessed today in a way that fills your heart with a thousand thank yous, thank yous, thank yous for all that God’s hand will bring your way. He so is looking forward to blessing you in every way imaginable as you give your life to him moment by moment. That’s right. We are doing that. We’re kind of in a process here on earth of giving our heart to the Lord over and over and over again. It’s so wonderful to serve him. Isn’t it? It’s so wonderful to serve him. It’s been wonderful to know him, to know you, to know all of you. I pray that I will get to know you more and more. And that’s one thing about being a power partner. I get to know you by name, and sometimes I get to know you by your face. And it’s a wonderful privilege of mine to get to know you. Get to know you. Oh, great. It’s really great. Let’s do our Monday Bible slogan. This is my Bible. I am what it says I am. I have what it says I have. I do what it tells me to do. This is my Bible. It has given me new life. the Bible, the paper, the Bible, because you do so much on your phone. And when you say, this is my Bible, I am what it says I am, your phone is staring you in the face with all kinds of different things coming and going. And when you have a Bible, a paper Bible in front of you, you can say, this is my Bible, I am what it says I am, I do what it tells me to do. It’s a wonderful thing to know that we still have that Bible, that opportunity to read the Word of God every day. It’s been such a privilege of mine to be reading that Bible for 50 years here. Whoa! When I started reading in 1975, I thought, well, I wonder how many years I’m going to keep this up. I didn’t know along the way, friend, there’s going to be loss and there’s going to be things that happen that you didn’t expect. But when you hold true to God, stay by his side, let him allow you to talk to him, then you know that you have the truth with you. We’re going to be talking about the truth here. You are blessed to dispense for in him you live and move and have your being. And this program that you’re listening to, if you’re listening to it at one o’clock in the afternoon, it’s live. So you can call in at 1 o’clock at 1-877-917-7256. And we’ll try to, you know, if you want to discuss something, we can do that. Praise the Lord. And then we have online programs. If you go to freedomstreet.org and you can click on radio shows and you will be able to listen to previous shows of Call to Freedom. Saturday, I had breakfast with my friend Annie in Platteville, the town of Platteville. That’s in northern Colorado. And she gave me this scripture. And I said, oh, that is such a great scripture. I’m going to use that next week on the radio. Don’t you just love friends that give you scripture? You go and you have fellowship and maybe you’re looking forward to eating with them. But the eating isn’t half as enjoyable as being able to just talk to them about the word of God. And Annie gave me Psalm 51, verse 6. Behold, you desire truth in the innermost being, and in the hidden part you will make me know wisdom. Now, when you seek the truth, it will find you through God’s wisdom. So thank you, Annie, for that wonderful scripture. Behold, you desire truth in the innermost being, and in the hidden part you will make me know wisdom. And that innermost part is your spirit part. You have a spirit part. You have a soul part. And that’s your mind and emotions. And you have a body part. And you know that one for sure. Your body is always talking to you. So here we know that when Jesus came, John 14, 6 became alive in us. For he said, I am the way, the truth. and the life. If anyone comes to the Father, he comes through me. And we learn, especially in the book of John, what truth is really like. Well, in the message translation, Psalm 51, and I’m going to read 5 through 10. And this is David saying, I’ve been out of step with you for a long time in the wrong before I was born. What you’re after is truth from the inside out. That’s what David is saying here. Right after he sinned against God with having an affair with Bathsheba, who was the wife of of a soldier in his army. So it was a grave sin that he committed. And he says, enter me then, conceive a new true life in me. Soak me in your laundry and I’ll come out clean. Scrub me and I’ll have a snow white life. He knew that if he would confess his sin to God, the Heavenly Father would forgive him. It’s the same for you today. If you sin, you know that your Heavenly Father will forgive you. Tune me in to foot-tapping songs. Set these once-broken bones to dancing. Don’t look too close for blemishes. Give me a clean bill of health. God, make a fresh start in me. Shape a Genesis week from the chaos of my life. Put a fresh new wind in my sails. Oh, that is so beautiful. Fresh new wind in my sails. And I want you to know that the passion is just so beautiful also. We want to know here that I know that you delight to set your truth deep in my spirit. So come into the hidden places of my heart. And teachers call it the inner man of the heart. I know Darren used that phrase often. And teach me wisdom. Purify my conscience. Make this leper clean again. Wash me in your love until I’m pure in heart. Satisfy me with your sweetness and my song of joy will return. The places you have crushed within me will rejoice in your healing touch. I’m so glad God is a God of forgiveness, friend. I’m truly so glad because sometimes our mind and our soul, including our emotions, are We get off on the wrong track. I’m going to use myself as an example here. Oh boy, I’m going to get real truthful with you. As long as I have been in the Word, as long as I’ve been born again, and we still have to watch that flesh every day. Well, I was in at Ace Hardware. That’s where I go when I need something, and I need it quick, and I don’t have to go to Home Depot and walk a lot and look for things up and down the aisles. And I was looking for light bulbs for my guest bathroom because I have a little bank of round light bulbs. Now, the original crystal light bulbs are kind of gone. So, you know, the technology has changed. So I went to the aisle where the light bulbs were and I found two packages of the light bulbs that I needed. Well, in the process of leaving that aisle, one package dropped. And so one light bulb was shattered. And so what did I do? I listened to my flesh. I set the one package back on the shelf. And I walked to the register and paid for the one package. You didn’t, Barbara. Yes, I did. Yes, I did. And all day long, it was bothering me. When you do something that God has no proof of, you’re going to get the Holy Spirit saying, you need to go back. You need to go back. You need to go back to Ace. You need to find the broken light bulb and you need to pay for it, even though it’s broken. Okay, so I listened to that and I listened to that. I finally, I gave in. I gave in. I couldn’t stand it any longer. That’s what’s so beautiful about the Holy Spirit. He’s just so patient. I went back to Ace and I went to the shelf and there it still was. The package, it’s a package of two and one was broken. so I knew I at least could retrieve one light bulb. So I went to the register, and she said, well, I appreciate you bringing that, and I can’t take anything off, so I will charge you the $12 for the package. I said, that’s fine. I will pay it. And it was very expensive, very expensive. But I knew that in God’s forgiveness, just like David has here, make this leper clean again. Wash me in your love. And I’m pure in heart. I wanted more than anything else to have a relationship with God. that did not have anything that was interfering with my relationship. And friend, I just want to tell you that when you do something that just isn’t exactly the right thing to do and you’ve been listening to your flesh or your mind more than your spirit, oh, God is there. He really is there. So I praise him. I praise him and I give him all the glory. Oh, let my passion, and this is from Psalm 51, let my passion for life be restored, tasting joy in every breakthrough you bring to me. Hold me close to you with a willing spirit that obeys whatever you say. Obeys whatever you say. Then I can show other guilty ones how loving and merciful you are. Oh, yes. They will find their way back home to you, knowing that you will forgive them. Oh, God, my saving God, deliver me fully from every sin, even the sin that brought blood guilt. He’s thinking about Bathsheba and all that transpired that night when he was lusting after her. Lord God, unlock my heart, unlock my lips, and I will overcome with my joyous praise. For the source of your pleasure is not in my performance or the sacrifice I might offer to you. The fountain of your pleasure is found in the sacrifice of my shattered heart before you. And what David realized here was a broken and a contrite heart is what God is really looking for. He’s looking for a person who will totally submit to his protection and his guidance and the security in knowing that he is their God. So I just want you to know he is so wonderful, such a wonderful God. This morning, as I was reading in my Bible early in the morning, five o’clock in the morning, The reading for today and the word power for every hour. And I’m hoping that you’re reading through the Bible with me. But if you’re not, I want to read you more about Deuteronomy 28. And so many of you know Deuteronomy 28. It’s a beautiful chapter on the blessing of God and how we are blessed in serving him. And here it is in the message. If you listen obediently to the voice of God, your God, and heartily obey all his commandments that I command you today, God, your God, and this is Moses speaking, will place you on high, high above all the nations of the world. All those blessings and all these blessings will come down on you and spread out beyond you because you have responded to the voice of God, your God. God’s blessing inside the city God’s blessing in the country God’s blessing on your children the crops of your land the young of your livestock the calves of your herds the lambs of your flocks God’s blessing on your basket and bread bowl and when you go get groceries God’s blessing you there too up and down the aisle God’s blessing in your coming in God’s blessing in your going out God will defeat your enemies who attack you They’ll come at you on one road and run away on seven roads. God will order a blessing on your barns and workplaces. He’ll bless you in the land that God, your God, is giving you. God will form you as a people holy to him, just as he promised you if you keep his commandments and live the way he has shown you. All the peoples on earth will see you living under the name of God and hold you in respectful awe. God will lavish you with good things, children from your womb, offspring from your animals, and crops from your land, the land that God promised you. And you may have just a little bit of property there, friend, but God is going to bless you in whatever you own. You may only have a little patio with a flower pot, but you know as you pray over that flower pot, the beautiful flower will bloom, and you will have wonderful blossoms all summer long. God will lavish you with good things. God will throw open the doors of his sky vaults and pour rain on your land. Oh, thank God. He’s been pouring rain on our land here in Denver. And it’s just been wonderful because it was very dry. And it’s going to be kind of soupy this week. I mean, we’re going to go up and down from snow and rain back to the sunshine. Oh, and God says in verse 12 of Deuteronomy 8, you will lend to many nations what but you yourself won’t have to take out a loan. Oh, I am dreaming of the day. Praise the Lord. God will make you the head and not the tail. You’ll always be top dog, never the bottom dog, as you obediently listen to and diligently keep the commands of God, your God, that I am commanding you today. Don’t swerve an inch to the right or left from the words that I command you today by going off following and worshiping other gods. Oh, praise the Lord for his goodness. Oh, friend, he is such a good God, such a wonderful God. I’m going to ask you today, after reading about David and all of those, where’s your identity? Who are you in Christ Jesus? What do you think of yourself? Taking off the old mindset and putting all your time and energy in getting to learn more about our Heavenly Father is what this life is all about. It really is. It’s not about a successful vocation in life, although the Lord truly wants to bless His people. It’s not about paying off your house or building up your retirement. No, life is made up of getting to know your Creator. God has created us to be one people, and our identity should be in who we are in the body of Christ. When I was growing up, I had people whom I admired, usually older people who had been through the trials and come out victorious. There was the pastor of my church whom I deeply admired because of his anointed stance on getting to know God and standing against all the persecution that he was under. And we do. We have… enemies of God who are coming against us. But we know that when the enemy comes in, God sets up a standard against him. Well, that precious pastor, when I was graduating from high school, he sent me a beautiful note, a loving note saying God was going to bless me in a way that I could not comprehend. What a blessing that was. When I was nine or 10, I realized, you know, that we can grow up and emulate people that are around us that we admire and And of course, my mom and dad, they were mentors in learning how to be responsible in my daily chores and even in the yard and feeding the chickens and the pigs and all of that. Oh, when I was growing up on the farm, getting to do my homework at night when my dad read devotions, getting to know God more and more. and he advised me be a good student in school and achieve awards with lots of hard study, and I did, and I’m so grateful to my parents. Also in high school, I had a music teacher who realized that I was planning to go to school in Los Angeles, Pasadena, going to school and majoring in music. And he was a little concerned about me because it was a farming community that I was raised in. So Mr. Spencer, a precious man, He told me to come early to class, and I was the only one. He afforded me 45 minutes every morning to learn about arias and cantatas and counterpoint in music and the technical parts of music and knowing the composers and everything from the past. And I am so grateful he taught me some special songs, helped me to sing better that year. And so when I went to Pasadena to college, I had a little bit of experience there in knowing more and more about the music that I needed to know. And I know that you have probably people that you admire in your life. That’s so important. You may have people that you look up to and you want to be like them in your Christian walk. God planned it that way. When Elijah appointed Elisha to take God’s message to the Jewish people, Elisha was obedient to all that Elijah taught him to do. When the Canaanites were oppressing Israel, Barak would not go to war, even accompanied by 10,000 men, until Deborah agreed to go with him. And they experienced a great victory. Praise the Lord. There are untold stories in the Bible about people who honored those who went before them. or those who were courageous and brave in the midst of oppression. We can admire great people, but our identity is not in those whom we admire. Our identity as believers is Jesus Christ, and we treat everyone equal, and we don’t lord our place in the kingdom of God over anybody in the body of Christ. I really appreciate that when you Look to Jesus Christ as your identity. It’s wonderful to know that when you stand before God, it will be you and only you. And you cannot rely on those friends or family members whom you think are more spiritual than you are. This is a time to humble ourselves and submit to God as as Peter did, as as the disciples did after Jesus left. They truly humbled themselves and they began to mentor others in the early church. They’re described in Acts. I believe that it’s so important for us to love God, to truly love him, and to become one in the body of Jesus Christ. We truly are children of God. 1 John 3 says, Behold what manner of love the Father has lavished upon us, that we are called children of God. Here’s third day.

SPEAKER 04 : 20:31

Praise to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, our God and our King. To Him we will sing. In His great mercy He has given us life. children of God sing your song and rejoice from the judgment that we deserve. So we are called the children of God. Great is the love that the Father has given us. He has delivered us. He has delivered us. Children of God, sing your song and rejoice for the We are the saints, we are the children We’ve been redeemed, we’ve been forgiven We are the sons and daughters of our God We are the saints, we are the children We’ve been redeemed, we’ve been forgiven We are the sons and daughters of our God Children of God, sing your song And rejoice for the Lord

SPEAKER 03 : 24:35

and the daughters of our God. We are the saints. We are the children. We’ve been redeemed. We’ve been forgiven. We are the sons and the daughters of our God.

SPEAKER 01 : 24:52

Oh, isn’t that beautiful? That’s beautiful. I hope that you are realizing you are a child of the Father. You are a child of God. Praise to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, our God and our King. To Him we will sing. In His great mercy He has given us life. Now we can be called the children of God. Great is the love that our Father has given us. He has delivered us. Well, he has delivered us. And then we can sing children of God, sing your song and rejoice for the love that he has given us all. Oh, children of God, by the blood of his son, we have been redeemed and we can be called the children of God. Oh, friend, I hope that you have around you friends and loved ones who love God. and can give you scripture, like at the very beginning of this program today, I told you about having breakfast with Annie. I hope you have those friends like Annie in your life that you can talk about the Word of God and not just the weather and fashions and what’s going on. I hope that you have some real depth here in the bible real depth in the word of god because god is the one who’s going to love you no matter what the love he has given to us all children of god by the blood of his son we have been read we have been redeemed and we can be called children of god oh it’s been so good being with you today god bless you and keep you know that you are a child of the most high god blessings on you today and take joy.

SPEAKER 1 : 26:51

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SPEAKER 02 : 27:12

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. Our 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.