00:00:09 Jimmy Lakey
Well.
00:00:10 Jimmy Lakey
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, Co 802 three 7.
00:00:25 Jimmy Lakey
Or by going to the website at www.freedomst.org if you want to leave a message or order a word power, daily reading, Bible guide, or a Freedom St. Express newsletter, you can call us toll free at 1-877-917-7256 and leave your name.
00:00:45 Jimmy Lakey
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 187.
00:00:56 Jimmy Lakey
79177256 to speak to her. And now let’s join Barbara in the studio.
00:01:03 Barbara Carmack
Welcome to call to freedom. Ohh again. It was for freedom that Jesus set you free today. May you be surrounded by God’s love, comforted by his grace. Oh, his ever loving.
00:01:16 Barbara Carmack
Place blessed by his peace, aware of his presence today, I pray that those of you who are really, truly listening, that you will feel his presence today in your life and filled with abundant joy, if you could only see the blessings God has already prepared for you.
00:01:37 Barbara Carmack
If you could.
00:01:37 Barbara Carmack
See it and I pray that your eyes will be open to it and he’s preparing your heart right now to receive those blessings. It takes a little bit to receive a lot of people don’t receive, they don’t receive well. They don’t receive immediately. But it’s important that you become a receiver of God’s blessing. It’s like if somebody wants to pay you for something that you.
00:01:59 Barbara Carmack
Oh, no, no, no. You don’t need no.
00:02:00 Barbara Carmack
No, no, no. And a lot of people, they are just not good receivers. But I pray today that you’re a receiver of God’s grace and his blessings that he’s wanting to pour out in your life. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord and thank you for tuning in to call to freedom. I I believe we’re going to have a a program today that’s going to let you know how deeply in love.
00:02:23 Barbara Carmack
Jesus is with.
00:02:24 Barbara Carmack
You you are blessed to dispense for in him you live and move and have your being. I just need to announce the meeting on Saturday, July 13th. You probably know that by now and we’re going to be gathering together and just having a wonderful time in the Lord and a wonderful Bible study. We’re going to be having lunch on the patio.
00:02:45 Barbara Carmack
It’s going to be warm, it’s going to be warm, but we’re going to have that before it really heats up in the afternoon. So I encourage you to come on Saturday, call me at 1-877-917-7256 and I’m just going to have some really nice.
00:03:03 Barbara Carmack
Rolls and we’re going to make hoagie sandwiches and just fill them up. And if you would like to bring something to go with those sandwiches if your last name begins with a through M, bring a salad. And if your last name begins with N through Z, bring a dessert that’s about the only way I knew how to do that. To distribute.
00:03:23 Barbara Carmack
The sides that you bring to the the meeting. So thank you so much for all those years that you have prepared salads and desserts and wow, we have enjoyed them. We really have. Welcome to the broadcast, Kim.
00:03:36 Barbara Carmack
Really.
00:03:37 Kimberly
Thank you. I’m excited to talk about Song of Songs with you today. Yesterday we were talking about how I differentiate the temple from the synagogue.
00:03:48 Kimberly
In scriptures and the temple for me is not just synonymous with synagogue or the other way around. Synagogue is not just synonymous to me with the temple.
00:04:00 Kimberly
But there is a difference in my mind, and this is just the way I I like to look at this. The temple represents a place of ministry to the Lord, whereas the synagogue focuses more on teaching and administration. And I just wanted to touch on that just at the beginning here because.
00:04:20 Kimberly
The ministry to the Lord began to take a back seat when Solomon built that extravagant temple. It became a showpiece and as a show piece then it was coveted. It was destroyed, rebuilt, destroyed again.
00:04:28 Barbara
M.
00:04:35 Kimberly
And you know, eventually a synagogue took its place. Basically, that’s the same structure the synagogue was meant to be. The temple where people would come and worship and minister to the Lord. It ended up with a focus more on teaching God’s instructions. And it had an administrative focus.
00:04:55 Kimberly
And I bring that all up because it seems like God’s people were trying to prevent destruction again. You know, when something has been destroyed, have have you ever been rear-ended in the.
00:05:08 Kimberly
Traffic when when that happens and your car gets hit and there’s some destruction that happens after that moment in time, you have a tendency to keep looking in your rearview mirror. You know, you just you you keep. Once that experience has taken place, you just keep looking to try to.
00:05:29 Kimberly
The event and get out of the way of someone who might be coming up on.
00:05:31 Barbara
That’s right.
00:05:32 Kimberly
You really fast.
00:05:32 Barbara
That’s right.
00:05:32 Kimberly
You know, so I believe the focus on God’s instructions in a synagogue.
00:05:39 Kimberly
That focus came after the great loss and destruction of the temple. It’s possible those Israelites wanted to try and prevent destruction from happening again, so they really focused on instruction administration. This is how we do it rituals, but sadly they forgot to continue to Minister to the Lord.
00:06:00 Kimberly
In the middle of all that teaching and instruction and gaining knowledge, yes, so.
00:06:07 Kimberly
The sanctuary of today, when we read 1st Corinthians 316, it tells us do you not know that you are God’s temple and God’s spirit dwells in you?
00:06:21 Kimberly
We want to remember that we are the sanctuary of today. We are the temple of today. Second Corinthians 616 confirms that what agreement has the Temple of God with idols, for we are the temple of the Living God. As God said, I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
00:06:46 Barbara Carmack
Do you believe the average Christian is aware about that?
00:06:47 Kimberly
Sorry.
00:06:52 Kimberly
You know, I believe that we have all had a veil on us. You know, we’ve all kind of been living in the.
00:06:57 Barbara Carmack
That’s true.
00:06:59 Kimberly
Dark.
00:07:01 Kimberly
There’s there is a veil that comes with being born into this world and that’s.
00:07:07 Kimberly
Really, what’s in place? So. So the whole journey is becoming awake. Awakening to this life that God is inviting us into. You’re right. You know, we we aren’t really aware we’ve forgotten.
00:07:23 Kimberly
Who we are, and if that’s one way to put it, it’s it’s like we had something put into us way back in the Garden of Eden.
00:07:34 Kimberly
And we’ve forgotten what that is. Humankind has forgotten. So the Church of today is modeled after a temple of worship and ministering to the Lord. That’s relationship. It’s not just about the synagogue, and I’m just using those terms for myself.
00:07:55 Kimberly
To differentiate between the two. But it’s not just about all the rules and rituals and gaining knowledge.
00:08:02 Kimberly
We are in a season where God’s people are turning back to his original design. That veil is lifting and we are all wanting relationship. That’s what we were made for. So when we are busy trying to prevent things from from happening or avoiding situations, you know, like a car.
00:08:22 Kimberly
Accident or something we can be missing out on what’s right in front of us. The relationship right there with God.
00:08:29 Kimberly
So it’s not a bad thing to try to avoid those car wrecks, but living in fear and constantly worrying and fretting will distract us from the original design. That relationship that God intended us to have through in song of songs. This is a beautiful song, a beautiful story inviting us back.
00:08:44 Barbara Carmack
That’s.
00:08:51 Kimberly
Into the original relationship we were designed.
00:08:56 Kimberly
The dialogue in the first chapter of Song of Songs starts out with desire and it says let him smother me with kisses, his spirit kiss divine. So kind are your caresses. I drink them in like the sweetest wine.
00:09:15 Kimberly
And.
00:09:16 Kimberly
You know, that’s just the beginning.
00:09:19 Kimberly
When we look at Song of Songs and and I’m just giving you the two slices of bread on either side of the sandwich. OK. I gave you the first part here in Song of Songs 11 and now Song of Songs 81 says if only I could show everyone this passionate desire.
00:09:40 Kimberly
I have.
00:09:40 Kimberly
For you, if only I could express it fully, no matter who was watching me without shame or embarrassment, I long to bring you into my innermost chamber. This holy sanctuary you have formed within me.
00:09:59 Kimberly
Oh, that I might carry you within me.
00:10:04 Kimberly
So those are the two ends of Song of Songs that that we want to look at and remember, we’re starting out with his desire, his passion for us, and he’s smothering us with kisses and we’re just soaking that in. We like that.
00:10:25 Kimberly
That I was telling you that I I was thinking about how we start out as infants in this life and there’s probably no other time in our life.
00:10:34 Kimberly
That we receive as many kisses as we do as a baby because we’re being passed around to cousins and siblings and aunts and uncles and grandparents and everybody’s just kissing on us. You know that babies get the kisses.
00:10:48 Barbara Carmack
They do, and I’ve seen some babies where the kisses are so smothering that they almost have to catch their breath, because before the next kiss comes because they’re they’re just taken in by all that I think we should be like that with our bride.
00:11:03 Barbara Carmack
Room there is a wedding coming, Kimberly, and we have to have this wonderful anticipation of being with the bridegroom Jesus.
00:11:04 Kimberly
Yes.
00:11:14 Kimberly
Yes, we do, right.
00:11:16 Kimberly
And so we start out on the receiving end, but Song of songs eight one is pointing to us.
00:11:23 Kimberly
Being so full of passionate desire for him.
00:11:28 Kimberly
That we don’t even know how to express it fully and we want to be able to express it better, and it’s hard to, in this human form because we’re very limited in this human form, but longing to bring him into our temple, into our sanctuary and to carry him with us.
00:11:48 Kimberly
At all times, that’s. That’s where we’re headed in the song of Songs is going from being on the receiving end to being on the giving end.
00:12:01 Kimberly
And the.
00:12:03 Kimberly
Yeah, song of songs. Chapter one, as we make our way through, we’re seeing a lot of encouragement from from the bridegroom and he just keeps saying you are so lovely. And it’s funny because here the bride, the bride starts saying.
00:12:23 Kimberly
Oh, I’m. I’m.
00:12:24 Kimberly
Mark, don’t don’t think of me as unworthy in this twilight darkness. I am so in need. So she’s aware of her need. She’s aware that she’s in the dark. I feel as dark and dry as the desert tents. So here she is. Just confessing. Oh, I’m. I’m in the dark.
00:12:45 Kimberly
And the the bridegroom responds and says, but you’re so lovely.
00:12:50 Kimberly
And he responds again and says you are. You are so lovely. Like fine linen in the holy place.
00:12:57 Barbara Carmack
Oh.
00:12:59 Kimberly
And she comes back and says, don’t scorn me because of my dark and sinful ways. So here it comes. Out again. I’m dark. I’m. I’m in the dark. And again, that reminds me of just starting out in life. You know, babies have limited vision, so it might feel a little bit dark. It’s definitely dark in the womb.
00:13:06 Barbara
All right.
00:13:19 Kimberly
Like in Genesis 11, the Earth was dark, it was formless and void. And so here are these beginning stories, and God loves to begin things in the dark.
00:13:34 Barbara
Hmm.
00:13:35 Kimberly
It’s not scary to him that is a place of intimacy for him.
00:13:40 Barbara Carmack
And maybe on the bride’s part, Kimberly, she can’t even begin to comprehend the depth of this love that is being poured out to her.
00:13:51 Barbara Carmack
She’s just betwixt in between. I, I mean almost a little confused by all the all of the attention given to her. So right? Yeah.
00:14:03 Kimberly
Yes, and Song of songs one verse 8. The bridegroom just encourages and and speaks these wonderful words saying listen, my radiant one. If you ever lose sight of me, just follow in my footsteps where I lead my lovers.
00:14:24 Kimberly
I love that idea.
00:14:26 Kimberly
You know it, we we start out with our own ideas of how life, our own opinions and of how life is going to look. Maybe our own expectations, what we want in life. That’s that’s what we’d like. And here he is saying if you ever lose sight, just follow me in my footsteps.
00:14:47 Kimberly
Where I lead my lovers.
00:14:51 Kimberly
And don’t be afraid of where that leads. You know sometime.
00:14:55 Barbara Carmack
Things.
00:14:56 Kimberly
It we do find ourselves in a car.
00:14:57 Kimberly
Wreck.
00:14:58 Kimberly
We find ourselves in a traffic jam. We find ourselves in a place with our job.
00:15:04 Kimberly
Where it looks like it’s going to a dead end or it’s just ending period. You know, we look, we look at our finances and realize this this might be a mess or maybe our finances are all in order. We have everything we could ever want and we just don’t feel satisfied at all.
00:15:21 Barbara Carmack
That’s right.
00:15:22 Kimberly
What’s up with?
00:15:23 Kimberly
That, you know, we can work so hard and end up having everything of our dreams and not feel content. I hear that over and over.
00:15:35 Kimberly
And that’s where we want to be looking to him, where he leads his lovers. This is the journey.
00:15:43 Kimberly
This is the journey is to learn to follow him and not our own ideas and our own ways. Yesterday, when we were talking about James 4.
00:15:53 Kimberly
And when we are just flirting with the world’s ways of doing things.
00:15:59 Kimberly
We’re at odds with God. We’re not following his footsteps, and whoever chooses to be the world’s friends makes themselves God’s enemy.
00:16:10 Kimberly
That’s James 4 four. It’s really clear, you know. So we want to be aware that God’s spirit within us is jealously longing for us to come into agreement with.
00:16:22 Kimberly
Him. And to be that sanctuary to be that temple for him, song of Songs is a wonderful way to read and see the journey.
00:16:34 Barbara Carmack
As in James four from the message all if all you want is your own way flirting with the world.
00:16:42 Barbara Carmack
Every chance you get, you end up enemies of God in his way. And do you suppose God doesn’t care? The proverb has it that he’s a fiercely jealous lover.
00:16:54 Barbara Carmack
He’s a fiercely jealous lover. He wants all of you. He wants not just a little part of you but and and can we just give him part of us when we’re on the fence? We’re going one way one day and another way another day. That’s.
00:16:57 Kimberly
Yeah.
00:17:09 Kimberly
Yeah. Or if you’re anything like me, it could be one way, one minute and another way, another minute. That’s true. And and that’s just the humanness of us, you know, that’s that’s humanity. But I believe that this whole journey is trying to pluck that humanism out of us.
00:17:28 Kimberly
And bring us into the Kingdom of God.
00:17:31 Kimberly
And in Chapter 2 of Song of Songs, it starts out saying I am truly his rose. I am. I am. I’m his theme song. The very theme of his song, and I’m overshadowed by his love growing in this valley, still aware that there’s darkness.
00:17:51 Kimberly
Here. So yeah, there is a back and forth going on. There’s the confession that I am his. I’ve I’ve made this choice. I know that I’m his.
00:18:00 Kimberly
And yet I can see I’m.
00:18:01 Kimberly
Still in the valley.
00:18:04 Kimberly
Yes, I’m so thankful that he meets us in that valley. He meets us anywhere and.
00:18:11 Kimberly
Chapter 2 is is really a wonderful chapter it it has this invitation. The bridegroom is saying come away with me. Come away. Climb these high places with me.
00:18:24 Kimberly
And this run run away with me to hire places for now is the time to arise and come away. I love this. For you are my dove hidden in the split open rock.
00:18:35 Barbara
Hmm.
00:18:36 Kimberly
Hidden in the cleft of the rock.
00:18:40 Kimberly
I think of Jesus as being my rock, and so there’s a footnote in the passion translation as you’re reading through song of Songs that mentions how the split open rock is really a a.
00:18:55 Kimberly
It’s a picture of Jesus and his wounded side, how he was split open and in his wounds. He has made a way for us to hide ourselves in him. Isn’t that beautiful?
00:19:09 Barbara Carmack
Yes. Oh, it’s beautiful.
00:19:12 Kimberly
So being hidden with him, we’re we’re being invited to go to these higher places to not be afraid of the suffering that happens. Just stay close. Stay tight. Stay in that relationship. He’s he has paid for us to have this really close relationship with him. And then he gives us this.
00:19:33 Kimberly
Very helpful hint on how to do this.
00:19:38 Kimberly
Let me hear your sweet voice in verse 14 of chapter two. Let me hear your sweet voice. So be speaking what he has taught you to speak and be singing songs. How beautiful your eyes have worship and lovely your voice in prayer. Verse 15.
00:19:56 Kimberly
You must catch the troubling foxes, those sly little foxes that hinder our relationship, for they raid our budding vineyard of love to ruin what I’ve planted within you. Will you catch them and remove them from me?
00:20:12 Kimberly
We will do it together.
00:20:15 Barbara Carmack
That’s so good. Oh, that’s so good. Because sometimes we think we’re alone in this thing, and our bridegroom comes along and says no, you’re not alone. I’m with you through all of this and catch the things that are keeping us from having an intimate relationship.
00:20:32 Barbara Carmack
And that could be our emotions. Our like, I don’t know if I can go through with this relationship. Can I do?
00:20:38 Barbara Carmack
You would that kind of thing.
00:20:40 Kimberly
Yeah. Staying with it, staying and and even the littlest things, you know, I can remember walking by pieces of trash not very often, but sometimes I will walk by and think, oh, I need to just pick that up. But I don’t. I don’t pick it up. And you know, I keep seeing it. I keep seeing it and keep seeing it.
00:21:00 Kimberly
In my mind, just laying there, you know, it’s not beautiful. It’s it’s it’s not decorating the world in a nice way at all. And I end up turning around on my walk and going back and getting it and.
00:21:16 Kimberly
Like I said, it doesn’t happen very often. There are other times when I have just left trash laying where it is, but there are times when I just see these things in my mind or I I might hear a a voice of instruction when I ignore it. For instance, feeling like I’m supposed to give someone money.
00:21:38 Barbara
MHM.
00:21:38 Kimberly
And not really sure you know. Perfect stranger that I don’t even know or feeling like I’m supposed to pay for somebody’s meal. You know, this has happened to me, where I have actually argued it and thought, well, I’m not sure where that came from and just kept going. But then.
00:21:55 Kimberly
I think about it and think about it and.
00:21:56 Kimberly
Think about it. It doesn’t leave my mind, you know.
00:22:00 Barbara Carmack
Yes. Or you’re wondering if you give to that person what they’re going to do. Your intentions are that they will be blessed and they spend it on whatever liquor, whatever things that aren’t, aren’t good for them.
00:22:13 Kimberly
Well, once it’s out of our hands, we.
00:22:14 Kimberly
Don’t have to worry about it.
00:22:15 Barbara Carmack
That’s right. But we still do. I mean, people still do well, I hope he’s going to do. He’s going to do well by my.
00:22:16 Kimberly
Anymore.
00:22:22 Barbara Carmack
Giving.
00:22:23 Kimberly
Yeah. Yeah. What we want to do though is just concentrate on obeying the part on our side, you know, and then they get to do whatever they, whatever the the Lord leads them, you know, with that and. And that’s where we want to catch the little foxes catch the worry.
00:22:28 Barbara Carmack
That’s right.
00:22:40 Barbara
You know if.
00:22:41 Kimberly
You’re worrying about what they’re going to do on their end.
00:22:44 Kimberly
That’s a fox. That’s right. And so I brought up, you know, picking up the trash and.
00:22:49 Kimberly
But because it can be foxes that that keep you thinking and thinking and thinking about saying well, OK, just go grab that little fox and throw.
00:22:57 Kimberly
It in the trash.
00:23:00 Kimberly
What, whatever it is that causes us to have doubt, to have fear, to have worry, stress, anxiety, self pity.
00:23:09 Kimberly
Shame. Condemnation. Guilt. Yes, all of that. Those are foxes. All of that is not from our Lord. So anytime you are feeling a negative feeling that is really taking you down.
00:23:12 Barbara Carmack
Yes.
00:23:26 Kimberly
That’s what you want to do is capture it like it’s a little fox. Sit with it for a little bit. Don’t be afraid of it. Don’t.
00:23:32 Kimberly
Avoid.
00:23:33 Kimberly
It don’t just keep walking away from it, and that was my point of just picking up the trash, you know, instead of continuing to walk because that will cause us to have a hardened heart, we don’t know.
00:23:46 Kimberly
It, but we’re callousing ourselves or we’re creating a callous and our consciences become harder.
00:23:52 Kimberly
Instead of remaining soft and really listening. So that’s why we want to catch those little foxes and I go, I go to the point where I’m doing it with trash, that I’m walking by. It’s like, OK, well, if you want me to pick.
00:24:04 Kimberly
This up I will.
00:24:07 Barbara Carmack
Well, it’s important to establish an obedient heart, Kimberly.
00:24:12 Barbara Carmack
That’s what we’re working at, that our hearts be obedient and not like you said. Hard, hard and stubborn against the simple things. The small things, the little things, yes.
00:24:14 Kimberly
Yes.
00:24:17 Kimberly
Right.
00:24:23 Kimberly
And and really on this journey, it’s developing trust and confidence. We like that. We love to be confident in where we’re headed, and we, Hebrews tells us to not throw away our confidence because it holds a great reward. And so we want to hang on to that. But if we don’t have.
00:24:44 Kimberly
Confidence in the 1st place. This is how we gain it is to walk through these things and to develop a closer relationship with the Lord. Chapter 3 of Song of Song starts out night after night. I’m tossing and turning on my bed of travail.
00:25:00 Kimberly
Why did I let him go from me? So if you’re tossing and turning and you feel like you’re in the dark, it’s not going to be the first time that you’ve felt the dark. It won’t be the last time that you felt.
00:25:03 Barbara
Mm-hmm.
00:25:13 Kimberly
The dark.
00:25:15 Kimberly
We go through these seasons that feel really dark and chaotic and confusing.
00:25:21 Kimberly
And when it’s night after night, dark after dark. And here it comes again. Here comes this dark again, you know, maybe it’s a mood swing that we have, and we’re tossing and we’re turning.
00:25:33 Kimberly
And our heart aches the way that this becomes more bearable, more peaceful, is to remember he is with us, he told us there was going to be a a storm, he told us to get in the boat and go to the other side when we experienced the storm.
00:25:51 Barbara
Yes.
00:25:53 Kimberly
In the middle of his instructions, we just need to remember we are going to make it to the other side.
00:25:59 Barbara Carmack
That’s right. Yes, we are. This is so good, Kimberly. I’m. I’m just soaking this up on the other end here in Denver, Co soaking up the word, the anointed word. And so many people that read the Song of Solomon, read it in a perception of. Not really.
00:26:10 Kimberly
Well.
00:26:19 Barbara Carmack
Truly understanding that agape love, that this writer is trying to show us and view and reveal to us, so would you come maybe next week.
00:26:25 Barbara
Right.
00:26:29 Barbara Carmack
Day or one day next week and continue. Oh yes, because we haven’t even begun to talk about and some of you are saying Song of Solomon. You can find meaning and song. Yes. Yes, yes, yes. Yes we can. Because our Lord Jesus is the bride groom. And they’re like I said before, there’s going to be a great wedding.
00:26:32 Kimberly
Talk some more about it.
00:26:43 Kimberly
Yes, it’s beautiful.
00:26:50 Barbara Carmack
A beautiful wedding. You know, I’ve never had a a bridal gown, a wedding gown, and I’m going to have a beautiful wedding gown for my bridegroom. And I hope all of you understand that. So thank you, Kimberly, for all this wonderful word that you’ve given to us from Song of Psalms.
00:26:52 Kimberly
Yeah.
00:27:08 Barbara Carmack
God bless you.
00:27:08 Kimberly
Thank you for having me.
00:27:09 Kimberly
Have a wonderful meeting this Saturdays.
00:27:11 Barbara Carmack
Yes, yes, yes, Amen. And all of you out there. Take joy.
00:27:19 Jimmy Lakey
Thank you for listening to call to freedom. With Barbara Carmack, you may get in touch with Barbara at call to freedom Box, 370367 Denver, Co 802, three, seven or you may leave your message at 1-877-917-7256.
00:27:40 Jimmy Lakey
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00:27:43 Jimmy Lakey
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. Our partner support call the freedom with prayer and monthly financial support. You will be blessed supernaturally. We invite you to visit. Call to Freedom’s website, www.freedom.
00:28:03 Jimmy Lakey
St.org where you can hear Barbara’s daily radio broadcast 24 hours a day or order materials.
00:28:10 Jimmy Lakey
You may share your praise reports and heart cries by mailing them to call to freedom Box 370367, Denver, Co 802 three, seven, or you may e-mail us at barbara.carmack@freedomst.org until next time, remember.
00:28:31 Jimmy Lakey
Jesus loves you. Barbara loves you and take joy.
