Join Barbara Carmack and her guests on ‘Call to Freedom’ as they delve into the profound journey of faith and dependence on God’s provision. Through heartfelt conversations, they explore the challenge of embracing divine intervention in our lives, especially amidst uncertainties and trials. With anecdotes of personal experiences and scriptural references, this episode offers solace and encouragement for those walking through difficult times.
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 04 :
Welcome to called a freedom. We’re praying that you’ll know the fullness of God’s joy in this day and the days after the closeness of his heart to your need. He knows each one of your needs. He knows what is needed. is heavy, burdensome on you right now. He wants to take that. He wants to take that from you. And the goodness of his plan for your life, he knows that. And he’s willing to work on your behalf to get that accomplished. Philippians 4.19, many of you have memorized this. My God shall supply all my need according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. And you can just spout that off so fast. You know that. And yet, when you walk away from saying that, Here comes that worry mode into your mind because you just got an unexpected bill or you just are looking into something that you have to pay in the next month and you don’t have the money for it. So you’re going to start worrying about it and focusing on it. That’s not in God’s plan, my friend, trying to figure it out. I like what Darren used to say. God has more provision than you have need. And God reminds me of that often. And then, Kimberly, your father used to say, we’re just living hand to mouth, hand to mouth, but it’s God’s hand and our mouth. That’s right. I used to get angry. Yeah. I said, you need to be out there doing stuff and making money so we don’t have to worry about the bills. The bills will always be here. And welcome. Welcome, Kimberly, after traveling all this time. She’s right across from me in the studio. That’s just wonderful. But your father always had this faith that God would always supply, and he certainly did.
SPEAKER 02 :
And really that is the faith of God. We don’t have it unless we ask God to fill us with his own faith. He is faithful and we don’t have that kind of faithfulness. We need, we need a refill. It seems like every moment of our day and that’s when we just need to be asking. We don’t ask because we think we’re supposed to be independent and especially in this culture, independence is celebrated. And independence is something that we think that we’re striving for here. But no, we are supposed to be more and more dependent on the Lord.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yes. And what is our duty here? Our duty is our verse that we’ve been focusing on this week, folks. And it’s First John 318. Let us not love in word or with tongue, but let us let us love indeed and in truth, in action, in And I really like what the message says. Let’s practice real love. Let’s show the truth by our actions. That’s what we are supposed to be doing. Letting God do everything else for us. Taking care of those bills. I know. I have to keep… The my focus on when to pay the bills, because that is my responsibility. I don’t want to get behind or I don’t want to neglect. But we relax in the fact that he’s going to be there to take care of every bill that we have. And Kimberly, even at my age, I’m learning this to give it over to the Lord. Give it all. Give it all to Jesus.
SPEAKER 02 :
Yeah, we all have our story and our journey in this life. And I don’t know if it’s an age thing. I don’t know. We don’t have to beat ourselves up whenever we do finally start relaxing and learning how to be still and know that he is God. That is when it’s ordained for us. It’s when it’s when we are supposed to catch it. And it doesn’t matter if it’s in our teens or in our 80s.
SPEAKER 04 :
Amen. That’s right.
SPEAKER 02 :
We catch it when we’re supposed to catch it. Yes.
SPEAKER 04 :
I’ve been looking at a certain situation. We have such a wonderful genius of a technician who is helping us with computers. I’ve known him for over ten years, Kimberly, and very worldly in some of his concepts because that’s where he works. He told us just a couple weeks ago, we’re the first ministry that he has ever built a website for. So he’s been in the world. And I’ve been praying for him for years. And I’m not dictating to God when he will come into the knowledge of Jesus Christ. But it’s closer and closer. And he’s now talking personally about the ministry of God in our lives and the daily radio program.
SPEAKER 02 :
I love that you’re bringing that up because I think that’s what’s happening all around us with everyone coming closer and closer. He is drawing every heart to him and I love seeing it. I love experiencing that and seeing the kingdom of God come to this earth.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yes. I think probably or I believe probably the hardest thing for us parents to do is rely on God regarding our children. And we were just talking about that on the way to the studio. Right. How some people, some parents are helicopter, especially moms. But there are dads, too, that expect so much from their sons. You got to learn to play ball when you’re just a real young guy. Right. We have to give that to God. We can’t push him into our children getting to know him. We can’t push him into that. God knows exactly when.
SPEAKER 02 :
And he knows the path they need to take before they fully come to him. You know what? That path that you see your loved one on that looks so bad to you, God is going to take actually ordained that it’s a net and the people that they come in contact with on that path are going to be brought into the kingdom as a result of that loved one that you’re praying for. It doesn’t matter what timing it is. The Lord is allowing this time to be a journey for them where they’re making acquaintances, they’re making connections, they are, they’re increasing their net.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yes. And some of you may say, oh, but you don’t know what’s going on. My son just got another tattoo and it’s just covers him. And I don’t know what to do. You don’t do anything.
SPEAKER 02 :
You don’t do anything. And tattoos are beautiful. Yeah.
SPEAKER 04 :
It’s a way of looking. Really, it’s a way of looking. Yes, perspective is so important here. So nothing is evil, evil to God. And we may label things in that way, Kimberly. But to God, every person born is a blessed creation for him. Yeah, he’s working on some more than others, but… I believe that he is at work in each and every one of us, even the people in the, in the forest and jungles. He is working on each soul.
SPEAKER 02 :
Yes, yes, that’s right. Everyone is made in the image of God. It’s not like he made some in the image of something else and only a few in his image. Every human being is made in the image of God. And if we choose to believe that as truth, then we can see him as a good father. We would never, even the children that have gone astray and really done harm to our family, to our home, have stolen from us, have betrayed. We still have that soft place in our heart that does not want to see them lost forever in hell. We don’t want that. How much more our heavenly father? He doesn’t want any to be lost. He doesn’t want any to come to ruin, not even the wicked because we’re made in his image and we just have human thinking. We, we don’t know how to think the way he thinks. We don’t know how to plan the way that he plans. And so sometimes we get kind of caught up in our own ideas way too much and our own plans. And we’re not open to his higher plan. Yes.
SPEAKER 04 :
Now, some of you listening may say, well, you don’t know. I was conceived in a one night stand. Right next to a beer store. And I will say to you, you need to read Psalm 139, that you were fearfully and wonderfully made in the image of God, regardless of what went on. I love that verse of scripture that you speak of so often, Kimberly, in Romans 8, 28, that all things and all human beings work together for good. God is working for us together for good.
SPEAKER 02 :
Yes. Yes. Yes. And he will always be good. It’s our own perspective that convinces us that he’s not. And that’s exactly what happened in the Garden of Eden. The original sin was a serpent planting ideas in Eve’s mind that made her think, well, maybe God’s holding out on us. Maybe he’s not as good as I thought he was. Maybe, maybe this fruit will make it better. You know, anytime we get our eyes on something in this world that we think will make it better and we hold on tight to that solution instead of making God our solution, it might provide some relief for a moment, but it never fully satisfies.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yes. Yesterday I was doing some receipts. I was in the middle of the receipts and I was trying to print them out. And for some reason there was a little glitch. So every receipt that came out, including the first 30, I went through 30 of them, and it had this person’s name for the address printed. But it gave all of the amounts and the addresses in the letter to other people. What is going on here? This is awful. And so I unplugged the printer and I reboot and I did it over and over. And then after a while, after about 45 minutes, I said, oh, Lord, I’ve got to go in. He says, that’s a real good idea. Just go in the house and relax.
SPEAKER 02 :
Walk away.
SPEAKER 04 :
Walk away. And so in the middle of the night, it was about four o’clock, not in the middle of the night, but at four o’clock this morning, Holy Spirit was saying, you need to go to the settings. You need to go to the printer and you need to delete everything. And the job that you had started yesterday that just continued to build and build and print and print. I did. I went to the settings and there they were stacked upon stacked upon stacked of the old order that I had given the printer. And we deleted it and started over, started over.
SPEAKER 02 :
You know, that was some very specific instruction, wasn’t it?
SPEAKER 04 :
It was. It was marvelous. And I believe we get stuck sometimes in the frustration of not getting a job completed. And the Lord is saying, OK, let’s just take a break. Let’s rest.
SPEAKER 02 :
Wasn’t it more joyful for you to have him involved in the answer?
SPEAKER 04 :
Absolutely.
SPEAKER 02 :
And isn’t that joy even more satisfying when you realize he did a miracle to bring an idea like that to you to speak to you in such a specific way that when we see the miracles that surround us on a daily basis and we keep our eyes open to the, to the eternal realm, to his realm and the way he wants to communicate with us and he wants us talking and communicating with him. When we keep ourselves there, we are in a much better place and it’s available to us right now. Today. Yes. Today is the day that we can be at peace and enter that rest and be still and know that he is God. Today is the day that he can give us victory, that he can bring us to a place where we overcome the situation that we are in in this realm. Now, does that mean that the circumstance is going to completely change? No. Maybe not, but you will be led on a path of goodness. You will be brought to still waters. You will be brought to green pastures because he is good. He is good.
SPEAKER 04 :
I know when I went back into the house after collecting the receipts and it worked out so well. And I took communion because that’s the only thing I could think of. Lord, I just want to thank you. I want to sit here and thank you and praise you that you are in every little thought of mine as I yield it to you. As I yield it. And today we were talking about receiving communion. And it’s hard for most of us to receive something from God, something from you.
SPEAKER 02 :
It’s that independence that comes in and says, I’m supposed to be the one that can provide for myself and I want to provide for others and I want to look good like that. Maybe it doesn’t look so good to be on the receiving end. That is such a lie from the enemy. There is honor in learning how to receive. There is true honor in that. And that’s humility.
SPEAKER 04 :
And we know that honor doesn’t come without humility. That’s right. That’s in Proverbs, not just once, not just twice, but three times in Proverbs. Before honor comes humility. So we got to lay down that pride.
SPEAKER 03 :
That’s right.
SPEAKER 04 :
That’s right. That is so difficult for us, as you were saying, in this independent life that we have. Right. I have noticed, though, Kimberly, even in the administration that I’ve seen, so apart from the first time President Trump was president in 2016. Now, when he gets his cabinet together, wow. I mean, everybody’s in agreement, cooperating in every way. There’s such agreement and commitment. It’s just a phenomenal thing to see. It’s almost a spiritual experience.
SPEAKER 02 :
It definitely is. I remember when we were praying for reconciliation, for unity, for harmony in the political realm, in this office of president and… We, we pray. We all, all of us, all of you listening. If my people, we prayed. Yes. And he, that prayer has been answered. And if you’re not seeing that kind of unity, that kind of harmony, that kind of working together and a reconciled place in your family, in your work environment. Start praying, start praying. There’s, there’s really nothing that we can say. In fact, most of the time when we try to say things to others, it doesn’t come out right. And then it causes more angst, more tension, more frustration, more aggravation. But when we bring it to the Lord and we say, we can’t do this without you. And we keep that conversation, constant, divine conversation going with him. He moves mountains. It’s that kind of faith that moves mountains. Faith that says, you know what? I can’t say anything. I can’t write anything. I can’t do anything without him. So let me go to him first. Let me make him my priority and go to him first. And watch how he answers prayers. He’s so good. He is.
SPEAKER 04 :
And I was also reading in Romans 1, one of the verses that Paul brought up while he was trying to reach the Jews in Rome, and a lot of them didn’t receive him. They did not. They were very adamantly against him. We are in America right now. He brought up a scripture from Isaiah 6, verse 10. And I want to read it in the message. And because he’s bringing it back up that people here, they listen with their ears, but they don’t hear a word. Is that something they listen with their ears, but they don’t hear a word. You’re going to stare with your eyes, but you won’t see a thing. And this is from Isaiah 610, which Paul repeats in Acts 28, 26 and 27. It’s so important because we’re in an era where people are listening to everything, but but it’s not going deep. And they’re seeing with their eyes, but they forget when they’re distracted. These people, he says in verse 27 of Acts 28, these people are blockheads. They stick their fingers in their ears so they won’t have to listen. They screw their eyes shut so they won’t have to look, so they won’t have to deal with me, God, face to face, and let me heal them.
SPEAKER 03 :
Hmm.
SPEAKER 04 :
Not figuring out a way to get healed or go to the doctor or take so much medication or get so much done.
SPEAKER 02 :
They are unable to deal with God. Unable. You know, that is such a good word today. I believe that describes the human condition. Every one of us has certain areas where our eyes are screwed shut and we just don’t see. That’s right. And our ears are stopped up and we just don’t hear. Right. Every one of us have certain areas. None of us have perfected this place where we can fully hear and fully see God. All we can do is stay in conversation. But that’s the point. Making us reliant upon him, choosing that we want reliance and dependence on him. That is the whole point of this life. And when we think that we can handle it on our own or we should. We should be able to handle it on our own. We’re setting ourselves up for lack. We’re setting ourselves up for disappointment. We’re setting ourselves up for hopelessness and aggravation and irritation and So if you’re feeling any of those negative things right now, you can know for certain that if you start a conversation with your creator and ask him to be involved in whatever it is that’s hurting your heart, that’s bothering you today, ask him to be involved. Let him know that you trust his plan more than you trust your own. Let him know that you trust his design and what he’s doing more than you trust your own. One of the ways that has helped me quiet my mind and my emotions and to get to that place where I can be still and know that he is God. Now, am I there 100% of the time? No, but I just want to offer this remembering that he is the author and the finisher. of our faith and recognizing that he foreknew and predestined us to be conformed to the likeness of Christ, right? In accordance with his pleasure and his will. That’s what we were made for. And now I’m kind of combining some scriptures here from Romans eight 29 and 30 from Ephesians one five. But if you really search the scriptures, you can see that God is the author. Well, I’ve let my mind have this little idea that has helped quiet me. The idea is that he has written every story. This is how fast he is, how big he is. Every, every story, every path, every journey represented by all current 8 billion of us. But how many billions have, have there been since the beginning of time? Yes. Okay. Every story has actually been completely written out and coordinated by him. Well, that makes it sound like we don’t have any choices, but where are choosing? This is where my mind goes. Okay. This helps me calm down. I take the pressure off of myself and off of other people by saying, oh, wow, this is how it was written. It was going to be written this way. Okay. That’s how I ended up not feeling so ashamed and bad when my husband gave me divorce papers six years ago. It was, oh, wow. It was supposed to happen this way. This is the story God wrote. Okay. Now what? Now what do I do with that? Because that hurt. That felt like betrayal. That felt like rejection. And when we’re in the middle of a situation that hurts, we start thinking, what could I have done differently? What could they do differently? What should they be doing? And when you start thinking that way, it only causes more frustration because you can’t change the way people think. That’s right. We can’t. But when we become dependent on the author who’s already written the story and we say, huh. You know what? This story hurts. This is a hard one. This is a tough one. But would you make me like you? Make me like you in the middle of this story. And as you’re making me like you in this story, quiet my fears and quiet the anger and the frustration and the irritation. And, and would you help me forgive you, God? Because this is, this is a hard story to walk out. But you have never let me down and I know you will not let me down now. You have always worked all things together for good and I know you will work this one for good now. Yes. When you have that kind of a mentality about your life and your journey and you’ve got it about someone else, then they don’t offend you anymore. Those people don’t offend you and their lifestyle doesn’t offend you. Their choices don’t offend you. You can see it as, oh, well, that is what God has given them for right now. how do you want me to respond to it? It’s that it comes back to that respond ability instead of taking responsibility for the mistakes and for the blame for, for, uh, trying to change the situation instead of making yourself feel so responsible. How are you going to respond in it? Can you respond with the fruits of the spirit? If you can’t, Can you call out to the one who wrote the story and say, I need you. I need you right now. I need you every hour, every moment. I need you. And will you help me cultivate the fruits of your spirit in my life so that I can respond in love the way that you respond in love?
SPEAKER 04 :
That’s right. Oh, so good. This is so good. So many times when something is said to me and I would take it negatively rather than positively. And before, years before, I would say something in a sarcastic manner or something, which would be almost worse than not saying anything. God has used his wonderful Holy Spirit in those situations when… I don’t agree with things that I’m sure when you were handed those divorce papers, you began praying silently. See, we can pray silently in the spirit.
SPEAKER 02 :
You know, what’s interesting about that is I did, I prayed and I followed what I was given in that moment and I didn’t fight him, but I didn’t sign those papers because I did not feel I was supposed to. I, that’s the answer that I received now. And this is six years later, I’ve really prayed about it more. And I have asked the Lord, wow, I feel like I’ve changed since then. And in the changing, I’m pretty sure I would respond differently if I was given divorce papers. Now, at this point in the story, in my path, I believe that you would tell me not to fight it at all. Let it happen because that’s what you do constantly. You’re allowing things to happen that break our hearts, but it’s not just our hearts that break. It’s yours too. And you’re showing us how we are with you in the brokenness and you are filling us with your faith for something greater, something better. That is what Jesus did. He went all the way to the cross. Talk about broken heart, the kind of rejection and betrayal that ended up putting him on a cross. He said, not my will, but yours be done. And he didn’t fight it at all. He went with it. That’s the kind of surrender that I want in my own life.
SPEAKER 04 :
So you’re saying there are times when we do fight, not in the way that we’re just led, but we do that. And then years later, we may do the absolute opposite because we know in God’s timing, all things work together. That’s right. That’s right.
SPEAKER 02 :
He is the author and the finisher. He is doing a good work and he will be faithful to complete it in you today. Trust him. He’s got you.
SPEAKER 04 :
Tomorrow we’ll talk about it more and more. This is so good, Kimberly. I’m glad you’re here in Colorado. And just even if it’s hot, at least it’s not humid. Thank you, Jesus. God bless you. And friends, take joy. Oh, take God’s joy to the fullest in Jesus’ name.
SPEAKER 1 :
877-917-7256
SPEAKER 01 :
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.
Join Barbara Carmack and her guests on ‘Call to Freedom’ as they delve into the profound journey of faith and dependence on God’s provision. Through heartfelt conversations, they explore the challenge of embracing divine intervention in our lives, especially amidst uncertainties and trials. With anecdotes of personal experiences and scriptural references, this episode offers solace and encouragement for those walking through difficult times.
