[Music] Welcome to Call to Freedom with Barbar Car Mag. 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 370-367 Denver, Colorado 802-37 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. [Music] So this is Kimberly sitting in for Barbara today on Call to Freedom. I apologize for the technical difficulties. I think it’s on my end and I’m having to call in from Oklahoma. So thank you for your patience with me. Barbara woke up with a scratchy throat this morning and she asked me to sit in for her so she could have a day of rest. So thank you for your prayers over her and this ministry that there will be wholeness, strength, and health. Her faithfulness to proclaim that word of God is such an inspiration and a blessing to me. So it is an honor to sit in and let her rest and be restored and rejuvenated today. Thank you for your prayers for her. If you would like to leave a message of encouragement for my mom, Barbara, feel free to call that number 877-917-7256. She is probably not going to be answering the phones today but feel free to leave her a message at 877-917-7256 and let her know that you missed her today. We do love hearing from you any time that you leave us a message. So please feel free to do that. And if you are being blessed by what you hear at Call to Freedom, visit us at FreedomStreet.org. You will find some of the past radio shows there and you will also find ways to donate. So we pray over each donation that comes into this ministry that it will be multiplied back to you. And we pray over you every individual as well as the families that you represent. You are dear to us and we love to pray over you. Well, I’m just going to continue with the subject that we were talking about yesterday. We left off talking about how to cultivate a life that emulates Jesus. And Jesus did not fight the circumstances that he found himself in. Even when he saw what was coming, how a crowd could run out of food and need to be fed. He did not try to prevent that hunger. He did not see it ahead of time and decide that he was going to do something about it. He sometimes lets us be hungry so that he can feed us. And we know if we’ve ever been really hungry, how good that first meal is that we have. And Jesus is our very best meal. The words from his mouth are a better meal for us than any food on this planet. So I can only imagine that maybe the people didn’t even realize they were going hungry because they were listening to his words. I would love to have been there. And the other things that Jesus would see ahead of time are things like the storm. A storm on the lake. And he told the disciples, let’s get in the boat and go to the other side. He knew there was a storm coming but he didn’t stop the trip from happening. He didn’t wait for a more opportune time to cross that lake. And we tend to do that as human beings. We’ll look at the weather and we’ll think, oh well, maybe today isn’t a good day to travel. Wow, Jesus was not like that. And he also saw how one of his closest friends would betray him. He did not take that information and put in a boundary and distance himself from that friend. I want to read from Romans 8, 28 and 29. And when I was asked to sit in, I was looking at my Bible and praying and asking the Lord, what would you have me share? And I think we share this verse so very often. But I know that I was led back to it today for a reason and a purpose. So let me read Romans 8, 28 and 29 from the new American standard version. It says, and we know that God causes all things to work together for good. To those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose, for whom He for knew He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the first born among many brethren. I want to go ahead and read this from another translation, the passion translation. It says, we are convinced that every detail of our lives is continually woven together for good. For we are His lovers who have been called to fulfill His designed purpose. For He knew all about us before we were born. And He destined us from the beginning to share the likeness of His Son. This means the Son is the oldest among a vast family of brothers and sisters who will become just like Him. That’s you, just like Jesus. Wow, what does that mean to you when you think about that? What does that mean to become just like Jesus, the Son of God? If you could describe Jesus in one word, what would that word be? I had to think about that myself. I was just trying to figure out, wow, how do you condense the Son of God into one word? Would it be trusting, fruitful, a miracle worker would have a hyphen in it? How do you describe God in one word? Would the word holy work? It would work for me, but you have to have a good working definition of holy. And to me, holy is being set apart, so different from anything else on this planet. It’s holy, it is above what we might imagine. I heard someone describe Jesus as relaxed. I don’t think that would have been the first word that comes to my mind, but then I started thinking about it, relaxed, Jesus being relaxed. And what does that look like to us as human beings? How do we relax? Do we relax with a nice cold drink on a hot day or being in a place where there’s a cool breeze? Taking a vacation. Do you relax when you’re on vacation? Sometimes I do, but sometimes my vacations are full of some work, too. And then I come home and I need a vacation from my vacation. So I know some of you know what I’m talking about. I think about Jesus being relaxed and I realize, you know, being relaxed is just knowing that everything is taken care of. Right? It’s all done. It’s all taken care of. Now we can just relax. And I think Jesus lived, relaxed, because he knew his father had taken care of everything. It was all taken care of. He had an understanding of that that maybe we don’t. And so being relaxed is not necessarily the goal. It is the byproduct of being in relationship with our creator, our Heavenly Father. And being in relationship with Jesus and becoming like him helps us get to this place of being relaxed. We don’t have to worry. We don’t have to stress over what might be coming up in the day. What the weather might be. How a friend is treating us or what our job is like. We don’t have to be stressed. We can relax because God is working all things together for good. Every detail of our lives. He’s got it in his hands and we know this about him. We’ve lived enough life to know that he is causing all these things to come together for good. So even if it looks like the enemy is working things to trip us up to the obstacles to get in our way, we know that God is actually causing those obstacles to be the very thing that causes good to come into our life. And it’s a better good than what we would have ever imagined. So being like Jesus and being relaxed, he allows us to go through some chaos and confusion. He allows us to go through the wilderness, even calls us into the wilderness with him in order to become like him. So we will not fight the circumstances that we find ourselves in. When we’re relaxed, we don’t fight them. We just relax and we trust. We know that God is causing this very situation to bring the utmost good into our lives. We don’t have to worry about what we need to do right now to secure our future plans. That’s not at all how Jesus taught us to do life. We need to listen and trust. In the listening and the trusting, we develop a relationship with the one that we’re made for. Instead of being so concerned with whether or not we’re comfortable, we instead will concern ourselves with becoming. With becoming. Becoming what we were created to be. Becoming who we were created to be. Discomfort is not that big of a deal when you realize that you were made to become like God, to become his perfect partner in this world, to become his best friend for all of eternity. It’s not just a temporary mission. It is an eternal goal and it sounds absolutely impossible when you measure it up against who you see you are in the mirror. At least it becomes, it looks impossible for me. It looks like just the most amazing idea. And we really need to take some time to think about it. We are made to be his perfect partner. I remember years ago having a conversation with a close friend and she asked me, “What is it that you want?” I think I remember voicing some concerns to her at the time. I don’t remember exactly what those concerns were. This was a couple decades ago. But her question made me think, “What do I want? Do I live for having a comfortable life? The American dream? Recognition? Do I want more education? Maybe you can think about it right now. What do you want? What do you want with your life? What do you want in this life? I don’t think it was my friend’s question that stood out to me as much as her observation. She actually repeated back to me some of what I had been telling her. And she said that she heard me say three different times in my report to her that I was uncomfortable, that some circumstance was just so uncomfortable to me. And so she noticed that I wanted comfort. I wanted to be comfortable. Is that really what I want in life? You know, I was reading from Romans 8, 28, but let me go back to Romans 8, 18. It says, “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us.” That glory is being made into his image. And when we think about that, when we see that that is the main goal, that is the plan for our lives. That’s the design. The designer has made these blueprints for us. And those blueprints are for us to become just like him, made in his image. Wow, when we look at that, then anything else that we might be going through is not worthy to be compared with that kind of glory that is being revealed to us, that’s being worked in us and through us as a result of these circumstances and situations that were allowed to walk through. When I wonder about what I might want in this life or what you might want as you’re listening right now, I go to the question, “Well, what did Jesus want when he was here?” And the answer is found in John 638, “For I have come down from heaven not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me.” Jesus wanted to do the will of his father in heaven. Well, I don’t know what that’s like very well. I have been such a selfish creature that I haven’t given a whole lot of thought to my father’s will on a moment-to-moment basis every day. Have you? It’s kind of a hard thing to tap into what his will is and to trust that he is accomplishing his will in the midst of our circumstances, the very ones that we are in the middle of right now. Sometimes those circumstances have a so overwhelmed that we don’t even see that there could be a plan for something good. Yet this is where our heavenly father wants us to trust him. It’s a natural human response to try and prevent situations that make us uncomfortable or that interrupt our routines. But when we try to control our circumstances that way, we are robbing ourselves of becoming. Yes, becoming. That’s the goal. Becoming like him, being conformed to his image. Actually walking out the design that we were designed for, the whole picture. It’s his picture and walking out his will is such a blessing. It brings us to a greater understanding, a greater wisdom, a greater peace, a greater joy, and greater love. We all need that. We all want that. Yesterday I heard my husband Matthew giving glory to God for bringing us where we are right now, bringing us to this place, and giving us here was not comfortable for either one of us. In fact, being uncomfortable is the very thing that brought us to this place that we are enjoying now. It’s a blessed place. We both call it blessed. And how grateful we are for any and all circumstances that brought us to this place. Sometimes we just need to be awakened to God’s love for us, awakened to the plan that He has for us, and awakened to what is ahead of us. It’s something that none of these circumstances in our suffering can be compared to. It’s a glory that is far greater than we can even understand. And there’s a song that still wickens things. And I would like to listen to that. Now it’s awakened us. Your love awakens me. [Music] There was between us, about across you came and broken down. You broken down. And there were chains around us. By your grace we are no longer bound. No longer bound. You called me out of the grave. You called me into the light. You called my native and my heart came alive. Your love is greater. Your love is stronger. Your love awakens me. Your love is stronger. Your love awakens me. [Music] You’re the darkness shaking. All the dead are coming back to life. On back to life. You hear the song awake in our creation. You can’t see me with life ’cause you’re alive You called me out of the grey, you called me into the light You called my name and in my heart came a lie Your life is greater, your life is stronger Your life awakens, awakens, awakens me Your life is greater, your life is stronger Your life awakens, awakens, awakens me In what all of we found that could hold us down We shining out with love ’cause you’re alive In what all of we found that could hold us down We shining out with love ’cause you’re alive In what all of we found that could hold us down We shining out with love ’cause you’re alive Your life is greater, your life is stronger Your life awakens, awakens, awakens me Your life is greater, your life is stronger Your life awakens, awakens, awakens me Your life is greater, your life is stronger Your life awakens, awakens me Your life is greater, your life is stronger Your life awakens, awakens, awakens me Your life awakens me Your life is greater, your life is stronger Your life awakens, awakens, awakens me Oh, I want to be awakened to his love that is greater, his love that is stronger than anything else in this life And, you know, being uncomfortable is not such a bad deal When we are uncomfortable, we are being led to a greater place, a greater understanding and a greater trust So, in Romans 8, 18 again, for I consider that the sufferings of this present time right now, this moment They’re not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us And in us, that is a glory that is far beyond anything that, you know, the price is worth it The price is worth it. So, whatever we are walking through, if it makes us feel uncomfortable or embarrassed or ashamed I remember telling the Lord at one point, “I am just willing to be a fool for you” and when I said that, it ended up being a tested thing I was on the platform getting ready to sing a song at my church and it was a full service And I just couldn’t do anything but leap. I started crying and I realized this is the moment that I said I was willing to be a fool And just stand up here and cry. Nobody comes and listens to a special singer cry into the mic. That’s not what you come for. You want to hear the song, right? And so, being able to be the fool in that moment, it tested that place in me that might feel ashamed or feel embarrassed But you know what? That shame and embarrassment was quickly snuffed out and put under my feet And I realized this is for him, this is for his glory, and there were people who experienced healing that day 1 Corinthians chapter 15 and verse 57 and 58 says, “But thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ Therefore my beloved brethren be steadfast, inmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord Wow, what we are toiling with and what we are facing in our circumstances and in our situations is not in vain It gives us an unshakable confidence, a really solid piece, you know the piece, the piece that passes our own understanding It’s a piece that’s so much deeper and so much greater, it’s Jesus’ piece that he leaves for us and it’s not fragile, it’s something that is so strong Let me read that from the Passion translation, so now the Leviton stand firm, stable and enduring Live your lives with an unshakable confidence, we know that we prosper and excel in every season, that’s every situation in every circumstance By serving the Lord, putting our eyes on him, focusing on him, because we are assured that our union with the Lord makes our labor productive, with fruit that endures forever The wilderness may be really out of your comfort zone, but it is a vital journey that brings us to a place where we can relax and rest in God’s plan His design for us is to become like him, that should blow our minds And whatever he needs to do to accomplish this impossible task, whatever situation it is, whatever circumstance it is, it’s worth it And we want to be awakened to this greater plan, this greater story that is causing us to be so much like him that we’re his perfect partner for all of eternity Each one of us wants that, that’s what we were designed for, so the answer to the question, what is it that you want? What is it that you want in life? The answer is to do our Father’s will, to become what He designed us to become, to have the fullness of His image brought into existence through us, in us Yes, it looks impossible, sounds impossible, but that’s what He’s doing in your life today, so just relax, let Him finish, and know that He will get all the glory 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 partner 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 phrase reports in heart prize by mailing them to Call to Freedom, box 370-367, Denver, Colorado, 80237, or you may email us at Barbara Carmack at FreedomStreet.org Until next time, remember Jesus loves you, Barbara loves you, and take joy [Music] [Music]
