Discover the richness of enjoying God’s presence and aligning ourselves with His purpose. Barbara and Kimberly delve into Proverbs’ wisdom, discussing the purification of character through trials and accomplishments. With a focus on ceasing the strive for self-effort and embracing God’s grace, the duo presents a refreshing perspective on living as God’s best friend, enriched by sincere connections and the peace found in stillness and contemplation.
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-powered 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 :
Welcome to Call to Freedom. You know, life is like a path. At times it’s straight and smooth, and other times it takes twists and turns and it becomes uneven. And we’ve been through all that. We’ve been through the really relatively smooth times. But in the smooth times, do you sometimes wonder if the other shoe is going to drop? If you think the future is going to be negative in some ways? I know we’ve got to get rid of those. Those warning signals and have to just lean on God and thank him for the wonderful times that he has blessed us with and he is going to bless us with. See, that’s the enemy’s tactics to make you think negatively about tomorrow or the next week. You can’t do anything about it anyway. So why don’t we just praise and thank God for what he’s going to do in our lives in the future? Praise the Lord. If we stay on this path because it’s here, we find joy in the journey. I want you to find joy in your journey and make 2026 the best year you’ve ever lived. Amen. I agree with you. I agree that. God is in control, and he’s got your best interests in mind. You are blessed to dispense, for in him you live and move and have your being. And this Saturday, January 10th, is our regular Call to Freedom meeting. We’ll have brunch at 930 at the restaurant, and then the meeting will start at 11 o’clock with music and Bible study. I hope you will join us in this new year to fellowship with people who love the Lord and want to serve him in 2026. Call me for reservations, 1-877-917-7256. God bless you and hope to see you Saturday, January the 10th. And Kimberly, welcome. I wish it were into the studio, but welcome from Broken Arrow, Oklahoma.
SPEAKER 02 :
Oh, thank you. You know it won’t be long. I won’t be able to stay away. I’m going to have to visit you again soon. Well, we like to eat. I know. Yes, and I just love my Colorado home. I really do. You know, in the transitions of life, we can find ourselves just in between seasons and in places in our life where we question, okay, what am I doing here? And I was meditating on a scripture from Proverbs 27, verse 21. And it says the crucible or the melting pot is for silver and the furnace for gold. But man is tested according to praise.
SPEAKER 05 :
Now, what in the world does that mean? When I saw that verse, when you emailed me the verse, I thought, wow, I have never taught on that or even looked at it in a special way. But what do you say about it, Kimberly?
SPEAKER 02 :
Well, you looked up, did you look up the Amplified a little bit further? Yes.
SPEAKER 05 :
Do you want to read from that? That’s so good. Proverbs 27, 21. And you know, Proverbs is filled with so many good scriptures that you kind of overlook these. But the translator in the Amplified says, “…as the refining pot for silver and the furnace for gold.” And she has in quotes, “…bring forth all the impurities of the metal.” See, that’s what God’s doing with us. He’s bringing forth all the impurities so we can cast them out. So let a man be in his trial of praise, ridding himself of all that is base or insincere. For a man is judged by what he praises and of what he boasts. That’s really good because we’re getting rid of the self-securities and the pride. You’ve mentioned that, Kimberly, over and over, the pride of, oh, I am the best praise and worshiper in the whole world. Is God receiving that? No, he is not. We’ve got to praise him for who he is. Just like our verse of scripture for this week is Genesis 17 to God loved Abraham. And he said, I am God Almighty El Shaddai. Walk before me and be blameless. And that word blameless means honest in your dealings, having integrity and seeking the truth. And I will establish my covenant between me and you. And I will multiply you exceedingly. That’s the God we serve, Kimberly.
SPEAKER 02 :
That’s so right. And I didn’t even ask you about that memory verse this week. What a good one. Walk before me. I will establish you.
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah, I will establish you. Why do we not really believe that? It takes so many years for us to truly trust and believe that his word is tested and proven over and over again.
SPEAKER 02 :
Well, I think it has a lot to do with what you were reading from the Amplified version there, that a man will boast about what he has accomplished.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yes.
SPEAKER 02 :
And we think that the responsibility there… You know what? I think I’m going to say that it’s the public school system. That’s what did it to me. And so many of us were raised in that system. And if it wasn’t public school, then it’s other… other entities of this world that cause us to believe that we are responsible, that God created everything and now he just put us here and he’s just watching and he’s not involved. Yeah, I’ve heard that. That nothing could be further from the truth. And he’s so involved with our lives, but we act like he’s not. When something goes wrong in our life, we start getting really busy to try to figure it out and work it out and do something. Do something. We’ve got to do something. Do. Right? Do. Yes. Yeah. Yeah. So one of the ways that we can view this passage from Proverbs 27, 21, as something as the crucible is for silver and the furnace for gold, man is tested according to praise. Well, we can see that when a man is given some praise or when a man works and accomplishes something, we can see how he responds to that accomplishment. Now, if the accomplishment turns out really well, which means he’s satisfied with it or fulfilled by it, then he might be patting himself on the back, you know, and taking credit for everything he did to make something happen. Others might be praising him. Wow, you did such a good job. Does he know how good he is? Is that how he’s receiving the praise, you know? Does he credit his own hard work or does he give the credit to God and to others who have helped him? So this is saying praise is what tests a man’s character. We find out if that man is still really leaning on himself or if he’s leaning on God.
SPEAKER 1 :
Yes.
SPEAKER 02 :
All that the Lord allows us humans to experience in this life is for the revealing of himself in this world. He is not selfless. just sitting and watching somewhere where we can’t see Him. He is ever present. His presence is with us. And we were created to connect with Him. Also, the idea of connecting heaven with earth, it’s two different realms. The heavenly realm is a different realm than this earthly realm. And we’re created to connect those two realms by enjoying God. That’s our main purpose in this life. Yes. Not to work harder. and to earn titles and to work things out and to be responsible. That’s not our main purpose. That’s not it. We are created to enjoy God. That’s how we glorify him. We glorify him by recognizing he is present at all times and wants to participate in our lives. And we enjoy that about him. Jesus told us to come to him when we are burdened or wearied or discouraged or hurting. And he promised to give us rest. He doesn’t break His promises. He keeps His promises. He keeps His covenants. And He wants us to enter into the unforced rhythms of His grace for us. We’re constantly trying to force something to make it happen. We force our way into this world and we force our way into a home or into a business and we force our way. We’ve got these wonderful plans, right? really great goals and visions. I’m sorry, I’m sounding really sarcastic right now. I’m not trying to negate anyone’s visions and dreams and goals. But when we are trying to do all of these things without God, then we will find ourselves really struggling. And sometimes we struggle with our circumstances so much that we don’t understand what’s happening to us or to our loved ones. And this makes it hard for us to enjoy God, which is our main purpose. And enjoying him means that we can be still. Oh, that can be a hard one. Yes. Be still. So enjoying God, being still, entering His rest, that’s something that doesn’t come really easy to us. But staying busy? Staying busy is one way that humans try to accomplish and be productive and be responsible. And we try to produce good works or good fruit. And that’s what we’re doing when we’re feeling like things are not so good in our lives. We’re trying to make it good. It’s really hard to be still when we are confronted with difficult events. The difficult seasons are when we need to enter God’s rest for us the very most. But you’ve probably noticed this, I’ve noticed it, the hard times are when we tend to get really busy. We get busy trying to figure out what to do next, Busy contacting anyone who could help us. Busy thinking of our next move.
SPEAKER 05 :
Or what just happened. Yes. Or what just happened. Lord, you got to tell me what. Yeah. This thing that just happened. Why was that? That’s a good point.
SPEAKER 02 :
Yeah. Trying to process it.
SPEAKER 05 :
That’s right. Just trying to process. Absolutely.
SPEAKER 02 :
Yeah. Right. Well, the Bible calls that striving. Yeah. You know, when we are striving in our own strength and efforts, then we are leaning on our own understanding. And the Bible tells us in Proverbs 3, 5 and 6, not to lean on our own understanding. But in all of our ways, acknowledge him, recognize he’s right here. He will direct the paths. It’s just super hard for us to be still and wait on him.
SPEAKER 05 :
Yes. Do you ever get telephone calls or even on texts or emails and you’re going along and you’re talking, talking or writing to them and all of a sudden, oh, I got to go. I got so much to do today. Been good talking to you. I’ll see. I’ll talk to you later. And you get the idea that this person is just almost in a rush to leave the conversation that you just had. And I have really learned, God has been teaching me, learned not to tell somebody that I have been engaged in a conversation. Oh, got to run. I got so much to do. I got my list to do today. And just say it has been really good talking to you or texting you. God bless you and keep you. And you’re gone. You don’t have to give excuses for getting off the line or out of the text. Right.
SPEAKER 02 :
Right. And I have learned to quiet whatever I think I need to be moving on to next. Because people are so much more important than tasks.
SPEAKER 05 :
That’s right.
SPEAKER 02 :
And so every time a person comes into my circle of influence, I realize, especially if a good conversation is happening, I realize that God has given me a gift in that moment. A gift of being with someone and having a witness to what’s going on in life and just listening. A gift of listening. And I don’t want to rush that. I don’t want to put a task in front of that and say, oh, I’ve got so much to do. No, this is why I’m here, to listen to you. This is what I’m here for, to help you. Or… I’m here because I needed to hear what you had to say to me today. That’s right. I don’t need to rush on to anything else.
SPEAKER 05 :
That’s why God brought you into my life for today. Because I need to learn something from what you’re saying. So I am listening. I am listening. Because everybody influences our lives. Everybody in our life that we keep in contact with influences our lives in one way or another.
SPEAKER 02 :
That’s so true. And if we get too focused on the tasks, then we are trying to produce our own good works and we’re not waiting on the Lord to perform His good works. So we’re actually moving ourselves into a position where we’re taking some credit for what’s going on in life.
SPEAKER 05 :
Yes, I think that word, falling from grace, in the denomination I was raised in, when you fell from grace, you had to go and repent again on your knees at the altar, or in some cases, well, he’s going to hell, I can’t help him any longer. And falling from grace is taking up your self-effort works again. And it’s so easy to do, Kimberly, to get into that self-effort, self-works again. And that’s the falling from grace, because grace allows you to lean totally and trust totally in God. And some of you may say, you mean I need to rely on him for every little thing? Absolutely. Absolutely. That’s what Jacob did. Abraham did. They relied totally on God.
SPEAKER 02 :
That’s right. That’s right. Psalm 4610 tells us, cease striving and know that He is God. And I like to say, know that He is good. He is so good. He’s got good plans. So when we are pushing ourselves to finish a project, or even if it’s blessing others by serving them and serving you know, doing some tasks for other people, we can be rushing away from the one person that’s right in front of us. And that might even happen when we’ve got a vision or a goal for ministry. We can get so distracted from our main purpose, which is to glorify God by enjoying Him forever. Yes. That is our main purpose today. You know, I got that phrase from the Westminster Catechism. It’s the very first question in the Catechism. It’s, what is man’s main purpose? And I’m probably not wording that exactly right, but it’s, what is the main purpose of man? And the answer is to glorify God by enjoying Him forever. Yes. And We, I think overall as human beings, we have forgotten that we were created to be God’s best friend. God’s perfect partner. We are the bride. The bride. The bride. Yes. Yes. That he wants to be with forever and ever. And everything that he has allowed us to experience is to remind us we need him. Because we were made for him. That’s right.
SPEAKER 05 :
And he needs us. That’s right. The second thing is that… And blessing others, being more concerned and having your attention on others. And that has been something I have not done. Thinking of the next person or the person that comes through the door or the person that you’re talking to. I think of Abraham in Genesis when God was going to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah. And Abraham is trying to negotiate with him. Well, if there are 40 righteous, will you do it? No. Well, he gets down to 10. Lord, if there are 10 righteous, will you save the cities? And he said yes. And Abraham did this, Kimberly, because Lot, his nephew and his wife and daughters were in that town. And so he was thinking of Lot and his family when he asked God to keep them from the destruction, which there weren’t even 10 people. in that city. So others. Jesus, others, and you. And that brings complete joy in what we’re doing in life.
SPEAKER 02 :
That’s right. As human beings, we can enjoy busyness. We can enjoy the activities that God has given us to do on this earth. We can enjoy them so much And really what we’re talking about here is enjoying what we accomplish and how productive we are. That’s what we’re really talking about is it’s how it benefits us. We tend to enjoy it so much that it distracts us from our main purpose. It distracts us from being the best friend to God. And when we are distracted, the rest of life doesn’t go really well. It’s hard to, well, be still. It’s hard to enter his rest. It’s hard to have the peace and the calm that he wants us to have. We’re not going to find it in our own accomplishments and our own productivity. We’re not going to find it in our own good works. We’re just not going to. I found this verse in Job 35, verse 8. It says, Even if you’re good, what would God get out of that? Do you think? Right? If you’re good. What translation is that? I believe it’s the New Living translation. Okay, New Living. Okay. Yeah. So even if you’re good, what would God get out of that? Do you think he’s dependent on your accomplishments? I love it. Yeah. The only ones who care whether you’re good or bad are your family and friends and neighbors. God is not dependent on your behavior. What I love about this scripture here from Job, it’s Elihu that’s saying this to Job. And Elihu was not actually, grouped in with the other friends of Job’s when God chastises them in the end and says, hey, you owe Job an apology because none of you spoke right of me. Elihu was not grouped in with that. Elihu did speak right of God. And Elihu actually means my God is he. He is my God. He is my God. So Elihu was speaking really well by asking these questions. Do you think?
SPEAKER 05 :
Praise the Lord. Do you think this is according to justice? Do you say my righteousness is more than God’s? Even the praise, friends, even the praise that you think that you brought into your thoughts and it came out of your mouth, praising God, is not yours. It’s God, God who produces the praise. And it’s so beautiful, Kimberly, to know that we are totally dependent on the creator of the universe and of who we are. That’s right. So good.
SPEAKER 02 :
You know, it’s in verse 7, I think, that has… I don’t have my Bible right in front of me. I don’t know how I… I’ve got my New Testament here and not my old one. But in verse 7, it says something about the wicked, doesn’t it?
SPEAKER 05 :
Well, it says, and this is good, too. If you are righteous, what do you give to him or what does he receive from your hand? Your wickedness is for a man like yourself and your righteousness is for a son of man. So her righteousness, as Isaiah said, is as filthy rags. When we look at ourselves and all our accomplishments.
SPEAKER 02 :
Yeah. And that’s saying that our wickedness is for ourselves. See, when we choose to sin and separate ourselves from God, we’re focused on our self. Our self wants something, wants to do it our way. And then we’re not focused on God. That’s right. When we’re separated from Him, that’s what sin is. Sin separates us from God. So when we’re doing anything that separates us, we might not even want to call it wicked or evil. But if it’s separating us from God, then it is selfish. It’s not what we would call good. It’s not what God would call good.
SPEAKER 05 :
It’s like people that say, I can’t hear from God. Why can’t I hear from God? And you have to look inside. You’ve got to see what is keeping you from hearing the voice of Holy Spirit. He’s living in you from you hearing his voice in that inner man. We’ve got it. Yeah. Like you said, Kimberly, rest in him. Be introspective of what God is doing in our lives and then praising him. Right. Yeah.
SPEAKER 02 :
Our creator designed so many different personalities. Yes. And beings. Right. And he has given people joy in our activities. But we just have to be aware that busyness can be a way that we hide our fears and our insecurities. See, fear and insecurity is another way that we are separated from God. When we remain busy, it’s often because we don’t like something about our life and we’re working to change it instead of waiting on God to change it. We might be afraid to be still long enough to let our thoughts catch up with us. There are a lot of people that don’t like how their own thoughts make them feel, and so they avoid those thoughts by staying busy. But our thoughts are where God wants to meet with us. He loves for us to lean into those thoughts even the ones that scare us. He doesn’t mind if our thoughts make us angry or make us really sad. He longs for us to invite Him into these places and bring Bring his peace and calm to it.
SPEAKER 05 :
I’m thinking that’s why a lot of churches at the beginning of a new year take two or three weeks of fasting. And I know you’ve been involved in that, Kimberly. And Jensen Franklin was just saying how they are going to be fasting. Fasting gets you alone with God, not thinking about food anymore. And food really takes up a lot of our thoughts. It does. Yes. And so we got rest in him and believe that he’s going to speak to us.
SPEAKER 02 :
That’s right. Well, I have I didn’t send you everything. So I’ve got more pages here and I don’t know if you. had other plans for tomorrow, but I can finish up on another day if you’d like. Oh, no.
SPEAKER 05 :
We welcome you. Yes, we do in this new year. We welcome you, Kimberly Duell, to this studio again tomorrow. So I’m looking forward to it. And all of you listening, you can get to thefreedomstreet.org and click on Source and hit the radio shows and listen to previous shows. God bless you and keep you and take joy.
SPEAKER 01 :
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.
