Join Kimberly as she dives into the essence of what purpose means in our lives, especially amidst challenges like loss and uncertainty. Through insightful dialogue and personal anecdotes, learn about the importance of setting your sights on Jesus, finding peace beyond earthly struggles, and understanding that we are more than the purpose we seek. Tune in for a heartfelt discussion of trust, divine purpose, and the path to an everlasting friendship with God.
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 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 03 :
You are tuned in to Call to Freedom, and this is not Barbara. This is Kimberly. I am flying solo today, and my mom, Barbara, is having a good time editing and figuring out all of the new software, the new programming, the new website, uploading. She’s having such a good time that she just sent me off and said, oh, you go do it. You go take care of the radio. So you’ve got you’re stuck with me today. You’ve you’ve got me to listen to. And I just want to tell you, if you’re listening right now, I want to encourage you. May your day be blessed with the wonderful assurance of knowing that. You are God’s dream. You are his promised land. You are what he has created this whole universe for, for you to be his best friend. And that’s his dream. And what we’re talking about today is purpose. Our purpose is to fulfill his dream. And that brings us more peace, more joy, more comfort than we could ever imagine. I’m looking forward to getting into these scriptures with you. And, um, I just want to say thank you to all of you who are listening that you are just the most wonderful supporters and encouragers. And we’re so grateful for the calls and the emails that come in encouraging us. Thank you for that. I know that you will be greatly rewarded. We pray over your calls, your emails, your support, any gifts that you send in. We do pray over each and every one of you that those gifts and that encouragement will be multiplied back to you, that you will know the favor of God and the provision of God in your life. That he will cover every need, no matter what it is, in any area that you have need. That he will cover that completely for you. Today I want to talk about Hebrews 11.6. We started on Monday talking about seeking God and making him first in our lives. And we landed on Hebrews 11.6. So we’ve been mentioning it each day this week. Those who come to God must believe that he is God. and that he rewards those who diligently seek him. The beginning of the verse says, without faith, it is impossible to please God. So I kind of reversed that today. I said the seeking him part. We diligently seek him. He rewards us for doing that. And we come to him by faith. We believing not only that he exists, but that he is good, that he gives good gifts and he rewards those who diligently seek him. One of the things humans seek most is purpose. We want to know the purpose of our lives, the purpose of a gift that we’ve been given, the purpose of a tragic event. We want to know the why and the what for. We may have obvious gifts and skills in our own lives that lead us down a path toward a career, or there may be some confusion in your life about your past, your present state, or your future, what that’s going to look like. Whether there is a clear direction or a vague and foggy uncertainty, it’s all wrapped up in the idea of purpose. What is my purpose? And then if we experience any loss, whether it’s death or divorce, bankruptcy, there’s health issues, a dismissal from a job, maybe a failing grade in a class, a foreclosure on your home, any loss at all causes us to question our purpose. Most often it actually causes us to think and feel negative narratives, negative dialogues. We have negative feelings about ourselves. And when then we have negative feelings about God, what did I do to deserve this? Right? Do you believe that we were made for so much more than all of this? Jesus is our purpose. That might sound ambiguous and maybe kind of intangible, but seeking Christ and Christ alone is what truly satisfies us because we were made for him. That is our main design, our main purpose. It’s our blueprint in this world, in this universe. We were made for him, for friendship with him, for life everlasting with him. I’ve heard some arguments recently in the Jewish community, actually. There’s a rabbi who’s been talking about how God needs us. And other rabbis will say to him, no, God doesn’t need anything. He is all sufficient. So he doesn’t need us. And, you know, maybe they’re arguing over the definition of the word need. But if we throw out the idea that God needs us, if we choose not to believe that he needs us in some way, in some form. Then what is this life really all about? What is the purpose? See, again, we’re seeking purpose. And I don’t want to believe in a creator that just creates all of this, throws it all out there and says, have fun with that. You’re on your own. I don’t want to believe in that kind of creator. I believe that we do have a greater purpose and a greater design. And it is to become like him, to become his best friend. So as we are seeking him. not all of the gifts that He promises that come along with Him, but we’re seeking Him, trying to know Him. It feels difficult, but He makes it easy when we ask Him for His help. Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. That’s John 14, 6. And He says that no one comes to the Father except through Him, through Jesus. When we hear these words, our human default kicks in and we start focusing on formulas and methods. What is the way? I need to find this way he’s talking about. And what is the truth? Can I find it in a certain translation of the Bible? We become focused on the way, which might be devotion, prayer, tithing, or on the truth. And we study original languages and accurate definitions and translations. We might be focused on the life. How do I get that better life? And what is the better life? The best life? I want that. I want the best life. You get what I’m saying. We become focused on the way. We become focused on the truth and we become focused on the life. And then we’re no longer focused on Jesus. And he is the way. He is the truth. And he is the life. When we focus on anything besides Jesus, we are focused on just that, anything. But we were made to prioritize a person. This person put flesh on and came to this earth to show us how much he prioritizes us. That blows my mind. His example is not unattainable for us. Did you know that we can actually learn to prioritize him? We can learn to seek him and to know him. We can learn this in Matthew 16, 24 through 26. Jesus encourages us to deny ourself, to take up our cross and follow him. Whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. And see, in those words, in that verse, this encouragement from Jesus, it’s saying that we need to lose what we’re grabbing for the most. We need to lose the idea of what the way is to be blessed. or what the truth is, so that I can have more truth in my life. We lose that. Lay it down in order to seek him, to listen for him, and not just listen, but to obey, even in the smallest things. I think I gave an example last week or the week before of being at a restaurant and I have some bills that I carry in my pocket and I don’t always carry cash with me. It’s usually just my driver’s license and a debit card in my pocket. But I had some bills there and one of them was a rather large bill that I had been praying over for quite some time. And I didn’t really have it in my mind that I was going to use it for any specific purpose. I just was praying over it and asking the Lord where he would want it to go. And so mom and I were at a restaurant and after we ate, we were, well, we were arguing. over who got to pay the bill and who gets to tip the server. We do that almost every time. And I love that kind of generosity that argues over who gets to give. And when we were arguing, I reached back in my pocket and I said, Mom, I’ve got the tip. And I thought, see, I have them in a certain order, the bills, in a certain order in my pocket. I thought for sure that I reached for a certain bill. And it wasn’t the one I reached for. It was the large one. And when I pulled out that large one, it kind of surprised me. And I thought, oh, wow. And I was holding it in such a way that mom saw it from across the table. And she’s like, oh, what are you doing with that? And we do that, don’t we? We question, wow, is this supposed to be the tip? This is like five or six times more than my bill. I don’t know if it’s supposed to be the tip. But when we trust that God is the one leading and directing every small gesture in our life, every movement that he’s whispering to us, I asked him about that, that large bill in that moment. And I wasn’t just listening for the answer. I had my heart set that I would obey. And I really believed that it was not an accident that I pulled that bill out of my pocket. So I offered it to the server and she flushed. You could tell she was holding back tears and it was such a blessing for her. She started, you could see her go and start telling everyone else, look what I got today. You know, that is one of the ways that we enjoy being God’s best friend. We listen, we obey, and we do good works on this earth. We don’t judge them. We don’t attach our own opinion to them. We just go forward and do those good works. So, when we focus on our judgment or our common sense, we’re usually taking our eyes off of Jesus, but we were made to prioritize him. And you are a dearly loved child of the living God, the creator of the universe. You have the spirit, the same spirit who raised Christ Jesus from the dead inside you. He is alive in you and you have unhindered access to connection with him at all times, even the small times at a restaurant, pulling out something that you think might have been a mistake. Those distractions can get in our way, thinking that something’s a mistake. It can get in our way. Choose to die to those. Lay down your life. Deny yourself and take up your cross to follow Jesus and just do the good works and trust him that he provides. If you let that provision go through you and you sow that seed to others, he will give you more. He’ll realize, oh, she’s trustworthy. She is going to give when I tell her to give. Let me give her more. And you end up sowing seed all over the world. So we choose to die to our own ideas. And when we take up his way, it is the most fulfilling life imaginable. His purpose for us is much more than any purpose we could find in this life. Much more. I love Romans 8. It talks about much more. I think Romans 5 also is the much more chapter. There’s a song that Danny Gokey and his team wrote. And this song is about our perceptions of who we think God is. The song is called More Than You Think I Am. We have hard questions in this life. Why are people going hungry? Why are there tragedies and shootings and natural disasters happening all around us? God, why don’t you do something about it? These questions can lead to discouragement and hopelessness, and even worse, anger that leads to bitterness and resentment. But when you open your heart to God and truly seek him for the ultra good being he really is, he shows himself. He is much more. And he pulls down all the walls and the enemy’s deceptions in our lives that have been an obstacle to us knowing him, really knowing him. God wants to show us who he really is, and he is asking for our cooperation in that project. Yes, that’s what it is. It’s a project. If we would fight the negative dialogues in our minds and emotions and choose to seek our God, our good God and father, who is much more. we would see what this song is really saying. It’s written as if God is speaking directly to us. And I’d like Rachel to play that right now.
SPEAKER 01 :
be amazed the places that i go to be with you where you are so forget what you’ve heard don’t you think that you know there’s a lot about me that’s never been told We’re destined for a dance. I catch all your tears. Put your name on my heart. Be still and trust my praise.
SPEAKER 02 :
Rumor has it there’s a gavel in my hand I’m only here to condemn But let me tell you secrets you would never know I think of you as my best friend So much has been said
SPEAKER 01 :
Showing you now Who I really am More than you dream More than you understand Your days and your times We’re destined for a dance I catch all your tears Burn your name on my heart Be still and trust my prayer
SPEAKER 03 :
Oh, I was just giggling, laughing, because he is. He’s more, more than you dream, more than you understand. Your days and your times are destined for our dance. This is what he is saying, that he catches all your tears. He burns your name on his heart. So be still and trust my plan. I’m more than you think I am. I love that line that says, rumor has it there’s a gavel in my hand. But I think of you as my best friend. We’re not judging of our best friends. We’re understanding of our best friends and we offer forgiveness and we offer another, a bridge, another way back to our best friends, to our best friends that we’ve been with the longest. We don’t want that relationship to break. And that is how he is toward us. He invites us to hide. He says in this song, hide in me and you will see. I am more than you dream, more than you understand. Your days and your times are destined for our dance. That is the most beautiful concept. And when I call it a project, our job, our project in this is to quiet those negative thoughts or give them over to him. I don’t know how to quiet them on my own, but I bring them to him and say, okay, you say you’re good. I’m wrestling with this. I’m This doesn’t feel good. This doesn’t look good. And I’ve spoken some bad things out of my mouth about this situation that I find myself in. But I want to believe you. I want to know you. I want to seek you. And I want you to be big in me that my ideas, my words will decrease and you will increase. John 14, 12 through 13 says, this is a true statement. The one who believes in me will do the works I do and greater works than these. He will do because I go to the father. When I think of the work of trying to lay down the negative thoughts, Jesus was 100% human. He had thoughts. He had feelings. He was also 100% God. And he knew how to navigate those thoughts and feelings without sinning. He’s the only human who is not sinned. We have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. The work that Jesus is talking about here that he has done. And he says now, because I go to the father, those who believe in me, they will do the works I’ve done and greater. greater works than what I’ve done because I go to the father. He is now sitting at the right hand of the father as our advocate and as our intercessor. He is constantly speaking good things over us. He’s not sitting there as judge. He is sitting there as someone who comes alongside best friend who says, you know, I can understand why my friend would do that. I’ve lived down on that planet. I know what it’s like to be under pressure, the kind of pressure that they’re under. So don’t hold it against them, Father. Don’t hold it against them. Forgive them. Love them through this. Open their eyes. Open their ears. Help them to understand our love. If we couple this scripture from John 14, With Hebrews 11, 6, those who come to God must believe that he is and he rewards. We believe he exists and he rewards those who seek him. He is setting us up to do greater things by choosing him and seeking him. Desiring Jesus life for you will take an intentional turning away from the negative dialogues and narratives in your mind and emotions. Those dialogues that cause us to think of him as our judge instead of our friend. His purpose for creating us was not to dole out punishments and consequences. His purpose was for us to find him, to find that he is wonderful. He thinks you are so wonderful that he gave his all for you. So, let not your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful or stressed. Jesus gave you his peace, and his peace is not the fragile kind of peace that this world offers, here today and gone tomorrow. His peace is lasting, everlasting. So we can, we can continue to stress over what we’ve done in the past or over what our future may bring. But that is not our purpose. Luke 12, 20, God is talking about a man who is putting all of his ideas and into an investment. And he says that we’re foolish to trust in our plans and our investments. You know, the night that our life is required of us and we are then going to the Lord, who is going to own everything that we’ve prepared? And all of those stresses and those anxieties, are they going to matter at all when we stand before him as his best friend? I don’t think it’s going to matter. It would never matter how much I learn or hone my skills. how much I’m prepared for the future. I’ve got to be established in Christ and rest in him. He locks eyes with me when I continue to let go of any of my strengths that I might desire to walk in. He hears me and answers when my only desire is to walk with him and desire more of him. Seeking Christ means this instead of prioritizing the way by honing a skill and finding identity in what you do, instead of searching for truth in original languages or definitions and the most accurate translations. Desire to be the bride that fulfills her bridegroom’s dream by knowing him, listening and following his lead in this dance of life, reflecting the beloved Savior’s heart to the world around you today. This is what will bring you the greatest peace, the greatest fulfillment, the greatest satisfaction. Keep looking at your true purpose, which is to seek him and let him fill you with his joy. Thank you for joining me today and take joy.
SPEAKER 04 :
Thank you for 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.
Join Kimberly as she dives into the essence of what purpose means in our lives, especially amidst challenges like loss and uncertainty. Through insightful dialogue and personal anecdotes, learn about the importance of setting your sights on Jesus, finding peace beyond earthly struggles, and understanding that we are more than the purpose we seek. Tune in for a heartfelt discussion of trust, divine purpose, and the path to an everlasting friendship with God.
