Finding Peace in God’s Promises

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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.

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Welcome to Call to Freedom. It’s just always such a pleasure, such a joy to think that you’re listening and maybe we can carry on a mind kind of conversation, a subconscious conversation. I’d love to have you sit in the studio with me or… Even have a little more time at our meetings to just sit down and talk for a while because sometimes the meetings carry on like conversation but not in-depth conversation. And I love getting to know you a little bit more. So thank you all of you who do write a note on the back of your prayer request card. I love that. I love the fact that even if you’re going through some real hard times, you’re talking about it. You’re asking for prayer. I appreciate that, and I do pray for you. I want you to know that. Every time I see a card that comes in with a donation, or even if you do not donate, if you just send that prayer request in, I can at least agree with you in prayer about the answer, and God does answer our prayers. God does hear and answer our prayers. I say that often. Father God, I thank you that you hear and answer my prayers. So, friends, do not be anxious about anything. But in everything, by prayer and petition, that’s a special request. With thanksgiving, present your request to God. Oh, that’s a tall order. It really is. Do not be anxious. There are times in the day I find I’m anxious about maybe this thing or that thing or getting to this destination on time or just making sure that I’ve got all my errands taken care of. Anxiety, anxiety. So what do I do? I go to 2 Corinthians 10.5. I take every thought captive to the obedience of Jesus Christ. That’s the most important thing in my life right now. So don’t be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer, giving those special requests to God, not to your friend on the phone, not to somebody else who may not even pray for you, but to God because he hears and answers your prayers. God bless you. 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. Praise God. It is the word of God. It is the word of God that I depend on, that I trust in. You are blessed to dispense for in him you live and move and have your being. What a This is such a joy when I think about in the next few months. Let’s see. This is June. Can you believe this is June in the next few months that we’re going to go into our 30th year on the air? Wow. What a blessing. What an absolute blessing. You are such a blessing to me. Just to be able to talk with you every day, Monday through Thursday. And it’s been kind of a quiet week with the government and with the administration. I don’t have any news. And last Monday, I was just packed with news. In fact, most of the broadcast was news. So I’m kind of glad about that. Just take a rest. Lean back. Take a deep breath. Praise the Lord. The memory verse for this week is something that Holy Spirit pointed out to me. I had another scripture all made out. He says, let’s go to Psalm 108. Okay, Lord. It’s like one time Darren says, do you know the Lord listens to our broadcasts? And I kind of looked at him in shock are you kidding me yeah he does oh praise the lord yep he hears you he hears you psalm 108 verse 1 through 6 and i’m going to just focus on be exalted oh god above the heavens and your glory above all the earth that’s what i want you to focus on psalm 108 Verse 5, but here is 1 through 6. My heart is steadfast, O God. That means I am strong in the Lord. I’m not going to bend or twist another way, either to the left or to the right. I’m going to stay right down the middle and just obey him in everything he tells me to do. Because even to the right, there are extremes. Have you realized that? There are real extremes in being too far right and too far left. So I’m just going to take God’s advice and just go with him. He’s going to be ahead of me. I’m going to be following after him. And he’s even going to take up the rear for me so that nothing hits me like those rear end crashes at the stoplights. That’s not going to happen, folks. That’s not going to happen. My heart is steadfast, O God. I will sing, I will sing praises even with my soul. Awake, harp and lyre. I will awaken the dawn. I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the peoples. I will sing praises to you among the nations. For your loving kindness is great above the heavens and your truth reaches to the skies. Be exalted, O God, above the heavens and your glory above the earth. Later on in the show, I’m going to have Father John Michael Talbot, and he was really popular in the 70s and 80s, and that’s where I got to hear him first. Rachel asked me before the program today, have you listened to him since? And I said, no. I had listened to him in the 70s and 80s, and then for some reason, you know, other composers take their place, Chris Tomlin and all of those. And so we just, we leave them behind. Oh, I wish we didn’t. I wish we didn’t leave these anointed songs behind. But Michael, John Michael Talbot took literal Hebrew text from Psalm 108, verse 5, and And he sang that with his choir. It’s beautiful. I hope you’re going to be here by the end of the show today. The New Living Translation of Psalm 108, verses 4 through 9 is this. For your unfailing love is higher than the heavens. Your faithfulness reaches to the clouds. Be exalted, O God, above the highest heavens. May your glory shine over all the earth. Now rescue your beloved people. Answer and save us by your power. Today I’m going to be talking about how wonderful he is. He’s so wonderful. And when Kimberly the other day told me, well, have a wonderful day, Mom, I said, yes, I’ll have a wonderful day because God is a wonder. Praise the Lord. God has promised this by his holiness. This is what happens to all of Israel’s enemies today. And this is the territory that God has given to Israel through Abraham. And this is in Psalm 108, and it starts in verse 7. God has promised this by his holiness. I will give Shechem as a gift with joy. I will measure out the valley of Succoth. Gilead is mine and Manasseh too. Ephraim, my helmet, will produce my warriors. And Judah, my scepter, my hammer, will produce my kings. Here God is saying, Shechem is part of that original territory. It’s going to come over to you, Israel. And the Valley of Succoth, these were countries that had been taken over, kind of like we see today when Russia takes over Crimea. And that was part of Ukraine. But now Russia has a control of that part of the Ukraine. It doesn’t mean that that’s Russia’s. Not at all. And I think President Trump is finding that out. So he’s measuring out the Valley of Succoth. Gilead is mine and Manasseh too. Even though these are territories that the enemy has taken, God’s going to get them back for Israel. Ephraim is my helmet. He’s my covering. And the one that will produce warriors is, let’s see, is Ephraim, and also Judah, my scepter, my hammer, will produce my kings. And of course, King David, and then Jesus came through that line. But Moab, here’s verse 9, here are the real enemies of God. But Moab, my washbasin, will become my servant, and I will wipe my feet on Edom and shout in triumph over felicia because these countries i mean totally ignored and rejected israel even when israel requested to come just through they wouldn’t touch anything just walk through their countries no no and so god is saying they’re going to be punished for what they didn’t do for israel so we This is such a good passage of scripture, Psalm 108, 1 through 6, and you can read on through till 9 this week and just kind of focus on those scriptures because God will be exalted. He will, and he is being exalted, and he’s a shining glory to everyone on this earth. Arise, shine, for your light has come. And the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. Some people are ignoring it. Some people are rejecting him. Some people don’t even realize that he’s surrounding them. But he is there for you. He is there for you. Last week, Kimberly was talking about our delight is in the Lord. And I was thinking about that all weekend. I was saying, Lord, I haven’t praised you enough. I haven’t worshipped you enough. I haven’t talked to you enough, as in my regular conversations. And I realize more and more each day that he is, as Lanny Wolfe wrote in his song many years ago, he’s more than wonderful. And, oh, I enjoyed singing that song with John. So I went to the word wonder, and as Kimberly told us on Thursday, that the word is, for uh is uh ph excuse me p-a-l-a-h it’s fallah and it means i of course i’m not a grammarian i am not a hebrew scholar in the least so please understand and be patient so this is a hebrew word and it means full of wonders full of wonders i have you seen god as your wonder is he wonderful for you today calling those things that are not as though they are that’s from romans 4 verse 17 you see your family members or someone who is not living according to what you think that he should be living and so you call those things that are not as though they are you don’t go to the problem you go to the answer thank you father god that this person is hungering and thirsting give their name hungering and thirsting for you father god and you’re going to fill them And that’s Matthew 5, verse 6. He’s going to make a pure heart after that person that has been so rebellious. Watch God work. God is going to work for you. Calling our understanding of something too wonderful for words as though it is. If it’s too wonderful for you to even conceive. God is going to do it. He is. He’s that kind of God. He’s such a good God. Isaiah 29, verse 18 and 19 gives us an expression of God’s character. Our Lord is wonderful in counsel. He’s wonderful. Excellent in counsel or workings. He’s excellent. Mighty to deliver. He’s mighty and great in wisdom. That’s Isaiah 29, verse 18 and 19. And all these verses were put to music in the late 70s, early 80s. So that’s how I learned some of these scriptures. Now, where I first heard that God is wonderful is in the book of Judges. And I want to go to that book because it’s… It’s so fun. It really is almost hilarious because Manoah, I think, gets upset because the Lord only comes to his wife and she’s not even named. She doesn’t even have a name here in Judges. But Manoah is probably a little frustrated because the Lord doesn’t come to him and he just comes to his wife. So it’s so good how God does have a wonderful sense of humor. We see in Judges chapter 13, verses 2 and 18, and through the judges, they did not realize there was a God. They did not go to him. They did not worship him. Now, there was a remnant there during that time. They loved God. And so God came to them. And he didn’t come to the people that were rebellious. No, he comes to you when your heart is soft and tender and gentle towards him. So from the living translation, I want to talk a little bit about the Jewish people. Their land had been dominated by the Philistines for 40 years. That’s why God’s going to come against the Philistines. During this oppression, this wasn’t on the mind of Manoah’s wife. They were oppressed. They were put under so much pressure, so much torment. And yet this wasn’t on Manoah’s wife’s mind. And she was unable to become pregnant. She had no children. They didn’t have any children, and they were getting up there in age. And in verse 3 of Judges 13, the angel of the Lord appeared to Manoah’s wife. Now here I have capitalized angel of the Lord because when that small little article, the, comes before angel. We know that this is Jesus. We know that Jesus has come in a physical form or maybe even almost a physical form, but he is there appearing to people. So in verse 3, the angel of the Lord appeared to Manoah’s wife and said, You will soon become pregnant and give birth to a son. So be careful. You must not drink wine or any other alcoholic drink nor eat any forbidden fruit or food. And the law had… Had said so much about food that was not not for the Jewish people. Excuse me. My mind is going elsewhere. When you give birth, his hair must never be cut, for he will be dedicated to God as a Nazarite from birth. He will begin to rescue Israel from the Philistines, and it doesn’t look like it when you’re reading through Judges, but he does. The woman ran and told her husband, Then Manoah prayed to the Lord saying, Lord, please let the man of God come back to us again and give us more instructions about this son who is to be born. Now, I’m sure that Manoah had different ideas about why he wanted the angel of the Lord to appear to him. He wanted to see what he looked like. Yeah, isn’t that what people, you know, if they even see an accident, they want to come and see the accident. We’re very curious people. So, Lord, please let the man of God come back to us again. They thought he was a man of God. They didn’t know that he was Jesus. God answered Manoah’s prayer, and the angel of God appeared once again to his wife and as she was sitting in the field but her husband Manoah was not with her so she quickly ran and told her husband the man who appeared to me the other day is here again and Manoah ran back with his wife and asked are you the man who spoke to my wife the other day yes he replied I am remember when you read those words I am you know who it is speaking so Manoah asked him when your words come true what kind of rules should govern the boy’s life and work The angel of the Lord replied, Be sure your wife follows the instructions I gave her. She must not eat grapes or raisins, drink wine or any other alcoholic drink, or eat any forbidden food. Then Manoah said to the angel of the Lord, Please stay here until we can prepare a young goat for you to eat. I will stay, the angel of the Lord replied, but I will not eat anything. However, you may prepare a burnt offering as a sacrifice to the Lord. It’s so important, friend, that you realize that your offerings have weight with God. Your offerings have substance with God. And so he says, I’m not going to eat, but I want you to offer up an offering to God. And I hope that you’re doing that. I hope you’re doing that on a weekly basis, giving of your tithes and offerings to the ministries that bless you and are of the kingdom of God. Verse 17 says, Then Manoah asked the angel of the Lord, What is your name? For when all this comes true, we want to honor you. Why do you ask my name? The angel of the Lord replied, It is too wonderful for you to understand. Oh, I love that. Too wonderful for you to understand. That’s why when we think we know about Jesus, It’s just too wonderful for us to even imagine what Jesus is like. And so he said, it’s too wonderful for you to understand. Oh, wonderful for you to understand. The New American Standard quotes Judges 13, verse 18, as why do you ask my name, seeing it is wonderful? And nine months later, Manoah’s wife had a son. They named him Samson. And even though, wow, what a story, what an absolutely strange story, but he did deliver Israel from the Philistines. The day he died, he killed more Philistines than when he had lived those previous years. Well, we go to Isaiah 9, 6 that says, For a child shall be born to us, a son will be given to us, and the government will be upon his shoulders. And what is his name called? Wonderful, wonderful counselor, mighty God, everlasting father, prince of peace. Maybe you think that because you’ve been reading the word for such a long period of time that you know all about God’s plan and why he sent Jesus to die and be raised from the dead. Well, think again. You have not even seen the tip of the iceberg. It will take eternity for us to fully understand God’s love for us and his plan in giving his son Jesus as a sacrifice lamb. Proverbs 28, verse 26 says, If you think you know it all, you are a fool for sure. No wonder God is unable to do those wonders that he desires, because this generation is so full of know-it-alls. They really are. And so we know that when we humble ourselves and we become inquisitive towards God, curious, Father God, show me. Let me know what it’s all about. Then he is that great God of wonders. He demonstrates his awesome power among you when you let him. When you let him do that, I know so many people are going to and fro. I see those earbuds, those white earbuds in their ears all over the place. They want to hear all day long. And it’s God who wants to talk to you, not all of the stations that you’re listening to or the music you’re listening to. It’s God who wants to talk to you. Blessed be the Lord God, Israel’s God, the one and only wonder-working God, and blessed be his glorious name forever. Let the whole earth be filled with his glory. Yes, yes, and yes. Oh, be exalted, O God, among the nations. Let your glory be over all the earth. Here is John Michael Talbot.

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I will give Lord, among the people, I will sing praises to thee among the nations. Thy steadfast love is great, it is great to Thy faithfulness to the clouds Be exalted, O God exalted, O God, above the heavens. Thy glory be over all the earth. I will give thanks to Thee, O Lord,

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is great. It is great to the heavens. And by faithfulness, by faithfulness to the

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Amen. John Michael Talbot is an Arkansas-based Catholic singer, songwriter, guitarist, author, television host, and founder of a monistic religious community. Now, he dropped out of school when he was 15 to be a guitarist in a country folk rock band called Mason Prophet, and he dabbled in Native American religions and Buddhism before joining the Jesus Movement in the 70s. Boy, I remember that. eventually discovering St. Francis of Assisi and converting to Catholicism in 1978. Moving to Berryville, Arkansas, he established the Little Portion Hermitage on land purchased during his rock days. They’d made so much money during the 70s when they were in the rock band. that he purchased some land in Arkansas, and so he used that as his hermitage. In 1980, he founded the Brothers and Sisters of Charity there as a public association of the faithful under the formal approval of his local bishop in the Catholic Church. As Minister General of this integrated monastic community with celibate brothers and sisters, singles and families, Talbot continues today to host musical retreats at the Hermitage while traveling around the U.S. Catholic parishes on ministry tours. And so if you look him up, John Michael, C-A-L-B-O-T, you will see he’s got a very long white beard now. But he was then 50 years ago, a young, good looking guy. And he’s doing the Lord’s work just as St. Francis of Assisi did. He’s written so many songs. He’s recorded more than 50 albums of worship songs. And the one that I really enjoy most of all is the one that you just heard. Be exalted, O God, above the heavens. Oh, no longer will yesterday be more important than today. I want to give God a present of every day. In his present is fullness of joy. I want to be present for every day. My mind has gone on. into tomorrow. Tomorrow may never come. And into the past. And I don’t want it there anymore. I don’t want the wishy-washy back and forth anymore. And I told that to God. I said, Father God, I don’t want to be in the past. I don’t want to be in the future. I want to be right here now. And as Kimberly said, today. Right now. Today. In Jesus’ name. And I pray that you will also just be in the now. And rest in the now. God bless you and keep you. And remember that God is the one to be exalted. No one else can take his place. We’re going to talk more about the wonder of God tomorrow in the program. God bless you and keep you and take joy.

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Thank you.