In this episode of Call to Freedom, Barbara Carmack and Kimberly focus on a foundational truth: joy is not just a feeling—it’s a decision.
The conversation begins with the reminder that “the joy of the Lord is your strength,” even on days when emotions feel heavy or circumstances seem overwhelming. Kimberly shares a personal moment of waking up burdened, only to find that leaning into relationship with God—not just focusing on herself—transformed her outlook and restored joy.
From there, the discussion expands into a deeper look at emotional health and spiritual growth. Rather than ignoring emotions or trying to manage them
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 02 :
Welcome to Calda Freedom. The joy of the Lord is your strength and the decision to walk in that joy. Yes, it’s a decision, friend. You either decide in the morning, oh, this is the day that the Lord has made and I will rejoice and be glad in it. Or you say, oh, another day. So the decision to walk in that joy today will cast a beautiful light on God’s goodness because the joy of the Lord is your strength. So you eat the fat, you drink the sweet. We do that anyway. Share with others. Oh, it’s such a good thing to share with others. Do not grieve. Do not grieve over your circumstances or anything because the joy of the Lord is going to strengthen you to get through as Kimberly, as you say, get through those circumstances to the other side.
SPEAKER 04 :
That’s right. If you do not have a relationship with the Lord to help you through it, then it’s just going to be trudging through mud and it’s going to be discouraging. I have tried it on my own and it is discouraging. You know, this morning I actually had some dreams last night that were a little bit confusing. And this morning I woke up and I was pretty groggy. I was not feeling the same. I usually wake up. I’m a morning person. Yes, you are. And so I usually wake up just, oh, hi. Hello, birds. Hello. It might be dark when I wake up, but I’m still, oh, hi. But this morning was not like that. This morning I just had real heavy eyelids and was feeling kind of. I don’t know, just a little heavy, I guess. Just heavy is a good word for it. And I started talking with the Lord about that. Well, what is this? Just the curiosity. And then I remembered, oh, sometimes it’s not about me. Sometimes it really is about you. Are you feeling heavy about something today? Because I’ll sit with you, Lord. I’ll sit with you in that and I’ll wait on you. And, and I, that’s how I connect and have relationship with him instead of just thinking about myself all the time, have that relationship that helps me get through the day with joy because of that connection this morning, I ended up with a great amount of joy. And I don’t know what happened because we got into this studio and we were talking about the joy of serving him. And all of a sudden, we just got so emotional. We were pulling the Kleenexes out. I’m like, okay, stop that. We’re done now. Don’t look at me. I won’t look at you.
SPEAKER 02 :
Right.
SPEAKER 04 :
So, so even sitting with the emotions that come welling up within us and realizing that we serve an emotional God, he created us in his image and so he has emotions and he gave us emotions and we’re not supposed to just deal with those emotions on our own. We are supposed to connect with him in those emotions and that brings true joy. real fulfillment in our lives. And it helps us walk through whatever it is we’re going to face in that day.
SPEAKER 02 :
That’s right. Zephaniah 317 tells us that he exalts over us with joy. Exalt. The word exalt means to jump up and down, spin around and dance. And God is dancing over your presence in his life. He loves you so much. And that’s why you are blessed to dispense. You are blessed to give into the kingdom of God. And some of us give in different ways, but we give. We are givers because God has given to us so much through Jesus Christ. We are givers naturally. So I thank God for you today. I thank God for your following this wonderful ministry God has called us to for 30, some of you for 30 years. Oh, God bless you. I hope you keep in contact with us and keep listening. If it has to be on a different medium, I just encourage you to jump in and do something absolutely brand new, as I have been doing and adjusting to all this newness. But Kimberly, you can tell us a little bit more about it.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yes, the new things coming are we’re not going to be on at 1 o’clock, but that doesn’t mean that we’re leaving KLTT. You can find us at 9 o’clock p.m., 2.30 a.m., and 5.30 a.m. So we’re still on KLTT and also on the sister station, 1220 KLDC. And we’ll be on at 11 o’clock. I just wanted to get that 11 o’clock.
SPEAKER 02 :
I love that KLDC because Darren Carmack. Yeah, DC, KLDC. I’ve always really enjoyed that. And I do listen to it sometimes in the morning.
SPEAKER 04 :
So we’ll be on at a little bit different times on the radio, but now we’re adventuring out into social media, onto Spotify. We’re looking at different platforms so that we can remain relevant with the message, with the good news, and be out there in different ways. So look for us on Spotify and on different mediums, different platforms. Look for Freedom Street Radio. or Freedom ST Radio. It looks like Freedom Stradio. Look for us, and I’m sure you’ll find us. You can listen in to these programs. You can also find us on our website, freedomstreet.org.
SPEAKER 02 :
This week we are actually focusing on the scripture in Galatians, Galatians 6, verse 9. And in the living translation, it says those who live only to satisfy their own sinful nature will harvest decay and death from that sinful nature. But those who live to please the spirit will harvest everlasting life from the spirit. So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time, we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up. Therefore, whenever we have the opportunity, we should do good to everyone, especially to those in the family of faith. Wow. Yes.
SPEAKER 04 :
So Galatians six, nine is where you’re reading from. And I’m just going to go back to the old traditional. Let us not grow weary or become discouraged in doing good. Don’t grow weary in doing good for at the proper time. We will reap if we do not grow tired. Yes.
SPEAKER 02 :
And it’s really wonderful when we think about when we go out to eat, Kimberly, and we’re talking to the server and we get into a relationship situation with the server. Real quick. Yeah, really quickly. And their whole attitude just brightens up. You’ve made my day. Oh, my goodness. I’m so glad that you came to my table. That kind of thing happens. And it’s just a blessing to see how we can change people’s day. And then ours has changed too. Yes, absolutely.
SPEAKER 04 :
There’s so much joy in that. Yeah. So we don’t want to grow weary. We don’t want to be discouraged in planting good seeds. And so this has been a week that we’ve been talking about seeds and sowing seed and what that seed really looks like and who that seed is. The seed is Jesus. The capital S.E.E.D. is Jesus in our lives. And we just so his goodness and the spirit of truth, the spirit that is a relationship, just like you were saying, it’s cultivating relationship with each other. That is a trustworthy relationship. Not a relationship built on rules where you’re not sure if somebody is in a bad mood and you broke that rule and so they’re just going to slap you that day. Or they’re not going to be understanding about decisions that are going to be different. We have an understanding God. He does not just slap us. In fact, our consequences come when we run away from his goodness. And we are not… We’re obeying. We’re growing weary of that obedience and sowing that good seed. We run away from it. And then those consequences come to us. They’re just consequences of not being close to the good one. Amen. That’s right. The good one.
SPEAKER 02 :
The good one. The good one. He is the good one. He is the good one. We’ve been talking about Luke 8 and the different soils, and you listening are one of the four soils. We’re going to leave Luke 8, but I do want to tell you about the third soil, and I just want to reiterate, those are people that are getting distracted by the world today. and all the wonderful growth is choked off by their own anxious cares. Boy, I’ve had to say Philippians 4 or 6 so many times. Do not be anxious in well-doing. And the riches of this world and the fleeting pleasures of this life, that is why they never become mature and fruitful. And the seed that fell into good, fertile soil represents those lovers of truth who hear it deep within their hearts. They respond by clinging to the word, keeping it dear, as they endure all things in faith, this is the seed that will one day bear much fruit in their lives. And Kimberly, I can’t think of anybody with more love on a human level than John the Apostle. And we’re going to go into 1 John. It’s just a beautiful book written by him. Yes.
SPEAKER 04 :
Before we enter 1 John, I’m just going to look at that last soil, the good soil. It represents those who hear the truth. Yes. Those who hear the truth. Now, I think I, for a long time in my life, I thought of the truth as being the rules of the Bible, that the Bible has all the truth in it. So all the rules in the Bible are the truth. And then I realized Jesus is the truth. He’s the one who called himself the way, the truth, and the life. And when we know Jesus as the truth, we are entering into a relationship that It doesn’t throw all the rules out, but it’s not focused on the rules. Sometimes we are so focused on being a good person that we’re focused on the things, on the rules, the good things and the good rules. And we forget that goodness is relationship.
SPEAKER 03 :
It is.
SPEAKER 04 :
And I’ve been talking about it a lot. I’ll just keep saying it. I believe that righteousness, the righteousness of God is relationship with him and his relationship with us. It’s not so focused on rules. And that doesn’t give us the excuse to do things that might be questionable. Right. or to act or to say, to speak in questionable ways. That’s not an excuse for those things in our lives that we know we’re being convicted about. It’s an invitation to be in relationship with the one we were made for. And when you think about the one we’re made for, he’s the creator of this entire universe. That’s a big deal to be invited to be the best friend to the creator of the universe. That’s right. And we’re talking about individuals here. If you would grasp that as you’re listening today, grasp that idea that you are his favorite. You are his best friend. He wants you in his life and he dances over you. Just like you were saying, Mom, he dances over the idea of having you as his connection.
SPEAKER 02 :
So good. Yes. And so when we’re with our brothers and sisters, we do not want to offend in any way. In our eating, in our words, we need to be careful and guard our mouths so the things that come out of our mouths are edifying at all times. That’s a spirit of truth. And I’m grateful that that spirit of truth is alive and well in this world today.
SPEAKER 04 :
Oh, I am too. And when you were reading that scripture from the Passion Translation, Luke 8 and verse 15, it says that these people who are lovers of truth, they respond by clinging to the word. Yes. That’s Jesus. Yes. Yes. Clinging to Jesus, keeping him dear as they endure all things in faith. This is the seed that will one day bear much fruit in their lives.
SPEAKER 02 :
It doesn’t say immediately they will bear fruit. That’s what we want to remind you. It is a journey. It’s a process. So when you’re born again, you don’t have to immediately feel like you’ve got to be on the level of your pastor or some elder that has been in the Word for years and years and years. You are growing with Jesus. You’re growing up with Holy Spirit. So give yourself some time, yes, and develop those wonderful things by getting in the Word, clinging to that Word. and enduring all things through that faith in Christ Jesus. Yes. So are we going to 1 John? Yes. Turning my pages. Okay. Can you hear that? 1 John 3. So good.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yes. Starting in verse 7 of 1 John 3, “…delightfully loved children, don’t let anyone divert you from this truth.” The person who keeps doing what is right. Again, we’re not talking about rules here. We’re talking about relationship and being someone who is safe, being someone who’s understanding a listener. The person who keeps doing what is right proves that he is righteous before God. There it is. Righteous means we’re in relationship with God, even as the Messiah is righteous. Yes. But the one who indulges in a sinful life is of the devil because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God was revealed was to undo and destroy the works of the devil. So, you know, the devil is the one who tempts us to be really to be offended in our offense to sin by being angry and lashing out, irritated or aggravated. And maybe even being passive aggressive about it. That’s a tricky one, because when you’re passive aggressive, you’re pretty quiet. But in your quietness, you’re manipulating. So in your quietness, you can feel pretty proud of yourself that you’re not lashing out verbally. You’re not punching walls or any any people. Mm hmm. You’re not kicking your dog. So you can be proud of yourself in that passive way. But it’s a passive aggressive that is manipulative. And it is just as damaging as any kind of a physical outburst.
SPEAKER 02 :
That’s right. When we begin our life with Christ, God understands that we are fallible. And he understands that we will sin if we’ve been in practices in the world, in the flesh. So he is patient towards you, my friend. And he is so faithful in continuing to love you through those stormy times, through those times of learning. It’s like a baby when you’re teaching that baby to walk. They’re going to stumble. They’re going to fall. They’re going to scratch their knee. They’re going to cry. And that is something that God understands. The one who indulges in a sinful life, that means he practices and practices and practices. And Kimberly, after Jesus was in my heart, every time I did something wrong, Wrong. I knew it. I knew it. Yes. Feel that conviction. That’s right. Right. So we just change and we can change gradually. But God loves us in the whole process, friend. He really does.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yes. I’m glad you brought that up, Mom. That’s really good. When we are indulging in a sinful life, sometimes we think we think of substances. We think of there’s there’s a lot of things that come up in our minds when it comes to what we think is an indulgence. But what about just having your own opinion? That’s an indulgence. Having your own agenda, your own goal, your own opinion of something that is outside of relationship with God. That’s right. then that is also practicing. You’re practicing those indulgences of a sinful life. And it says here, we were just reading 1 John 3 and verse 8, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. What do we know about the beginning? The beginning that we were given is Genesis. Yes. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. And in that beginning, he placed Adam and Eve, the human beings in a garden and in that garden, There was only one tree. I’m imagining this garden had everything available that we have available to us today as far as fruits and vegetables go and nuts and grains. I’m imagining this garden was full and that it was large. Yes. Because he is a large God. Lots of trees. Yes. So really large garden. And there was only one tree that he asked them not to eat of. That’s right. In the beginning, this says that the devil has been sinning from the beginning. In the beginning, humans were tempted to think, hmm, do I really want to stay away from that tree? It kind of looks good. Well, there you are. You’re advising yourself. You’re saying that looks good to me. And on that advisement, your self advisement, you start walking toward something that the Lord asked you to stay away from. That’s right. We’re still doing it today. Humans are still doing it today. It’s a temptation from the enemy. And we still advise ourselves and others of what we think is good and bad or what we think is best. Instead of listening to our father, it’s all about relationship. And he is so good. And it really wasn’t about the fruit. It was about, will you join me in relationship? That’s what that command was in the garden. Our father was wanting to know, is your relationship with me more important than what you think looks good?
SPEAKER 02 :
That’s right. Oh, and verse 9, everyone who is truly God’s child will refuse to keep sinning because God’s seed, that’s capital S, remains within him. And he is unable to continue sinning because he’s been fathered by God himself. If you realize that as you were born again into a whole new realm of sin, spiritual depth, that Jesus was that little seed planted in you when you’re born again. And that seed just grows and grows and multiplies into a wonderful, fruitful tree. See yourself as that. And that’s the process that we’re talking about today. And God’s seed, Jesus, remains within you. And after a while, you are unable to sin. You are unable to take that last smoke or that last drink because you see Jesus standing in front of you loving you. You can’t do it any longer.
SPEAKER 04 :
Right. And you can’t think thoughts outside because you know that he is in you. He sees every thought. He knows every thought you think. And so instead of trying to think on your own, you are forming that relationship and making it even deeper and better.
SPEAKER 02 :
And that’s it. And that’s why so many of my friends include 2 Corinthians 5.10 that says, I cast down every evil and vain imagination. That’s thought. And every thought against the knowledge of God that the devil brings into our minds. And I take everything captive to the obedience of Christ. Every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.
SPEAKER 04 :
This is how we tell the difference between those who don’t want to be in relationship with God and those who do want to be in relationship with him. And that’s what verse 10 of 1 John 3 is talking about. Here is how God’s children can be clearly distinguished from the children of the evil one. Anyone who does not demonstrate righteousness. Okay. Demonstrating righteousness. That’s a mouthful right there. Relationship. It’s yes, it’s a big word. And so we want to keep thinking of righteousness as being in relationship. So this is how you tell the difference. Anyone who does not practice relationship with God and show love to fellow believers is not living with God as his source. Now, that’s what is so beautiful. We have the choice to turn at any moment and make God our source. He is an unending source. Everything else on this planet is just a resource. It’s just a resource, but he is the source and he never runs out of any kind of protection or provision. And he does satisfy and fulfill all of our needs, all of them, all of them.
SPEAKER 02 :
So 1 John 3, verse 13 goes on to say, So don’t be shocked, beloved brothers and sisters, if you experience the world’s hatred. In this world, you will have tribulation. Yet we can be assured that we have been translated from spiritual death into spiritual life because we love the family of believers. A loveless life remains spiritually dead. Wow. Yeah. Everyone who keeps hating a fellow believer is a murderer. That means unforgiveness. We must forgive even if it has been an offensive, hurtful thing that’s happened. We must be forgiving. And you know that no murderer has eternal life residing in him.
SPEAKER 04 :
Well, that can feel really heavy. That can feel like we’re not doing life correctly because all of us have some issues with somebody, with someone or another in our lives. Because we’re surrounded by people and we grow up in families that are not always thoughtful. The people in our families are not always thoughtful. So we can look at this and think we have every right to hold some kind of resentment. to hold a little bit of unforgiveness. There are some people, aren’t there some that think of that as being a protective wall? You know, I need to keep this protection here in front of me. Well, it’s not working out very well when we hold that wall in place and we do not receive all of the abundance and goodness that God has for us through forgiving. Now, just because we forgive someone doesn’t mean that we let them right back into our lives. to do all the damage, we forgive and we might still have a little bit of a distance. And that’s okay. The Lord will be the one who will reconcile. He loves reconciliation.
SPEAKER 02 :
As an act of your will, as you forgive, Holy Spirit’s going to go to work. in mending and healing that. Even though you may not have a relationship with that person again, the Holy Spirit is right there to heal and give you the wonderful hope of a future that is going to be full of grace and truth.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yes, and I know what we have both experienced mom is that when we have had a distancing in one relationship, the Lord has brought others to us that are so fulfilling because there are brothers and sisters who are not blood relatives to us that are so dear and so close to us. And that’s what we want to look forward to is the way the Lord provides the way the Lord surrounds us with his goodness in relationship. So sowing this seed, letting this seed grow in our lives so that we become more like him, even though that can feel like a heavy chore. If it’s feeling heavy to you today, that’s because you’re trying to do it without Jesus. Jesus yoke is easy. His burden is light. It’s a relationship that is really fun and brings a lot of joy and peace to our lives. So if you’re trying to be a good person without his presence in your life, we would encourage you today to start having more conversation with him. Invite him into every moment of your day and let him be the one that produces that good fruit in your life. so that you can experience the kind of peace and the kind of joy that he has set aside for you.
SPEAKER 02 :
Oh, that’s wonderful. So the joy of the Lord is truly your strength today. God bless you and keep you and take joy.
SPEAKER 1 :
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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.
