Barbara Carmack and Kimberly Carmack discuss trusting God during stressful and uncertain moments while reflecting on Psalm 18, worship, spiritual warfare, and the peace that comes from turning attention toward Christ.
The conversation also focuses on grace, forgiveness, God’s perfection working through imperfect people, and how Scripture, prayer, and worship help believers navigate anxiety, conflict, and everyday life challenges.
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. Now, let’s join Barbara in the studio.
SPEAKER 04 :
Welcome to Calda Freedom. I’m so glad you joined us today. And Kimberly is on the other line in Oklahoma. Isn’t it marvelous that we are hundreds of miles apart, but we can talk right here? It’s just great.
SPEAKER 02 :
It is marvelous.
SPEAKER 04 :
I love this technology. Yes, I do too. So thank you for joining us, Kimberly. We miss you. We do. Thank you. Thank you.
SPEAKER 02 :
You know what, I will admit, I miss Colorado. I have a hard time coming back to Oklahoma. But I miss Oklahoma when I’m there.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah, I know. It’s just a real transitional time for both of us, yes. So we want to say to you who are listening, there is joy within each person who knows how priceless they are to God. Let me give you a word of edification. You are so priceless. And it says here in Ephesians 2, he has raised you up with him and seated you with him in heavenly places in Christ Jesus in order that in the ages to come, he might show the surpassing riches of his grace in kindness towards you in Christ Jesus. For by grace, you have been saved through faith and that not of yourselves. It’s a gift, folks. It’s a gift of God, not as a result of works that no one should boast. Here he is for you are his workmanship. You are his creation, his masterpiece. Some translations say created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared before that you should walk in them. You’re a masterpiece. You’re priceless. So I’m glad that you’re joining us today. You are blessed to dispense for in him you live and move and have your being. And Kimberly, we are in different places. People can find us at different places and at different times. And you know most about Spotify and YouTube.
SPEAKER 02 :
Well, yes, and also on the radio, we are on KLTT in the Denver, Colorado area. That’s 670 AM, and we are on at 9 o’clock at night and 2.30 in the morning and 5.30 in the morning. And we are also on the sister station, and that is KLDC.com. And you know what? I’m not even looking at a piece of paper. So you’re good.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yes, you’re good.
SPEAKER 02 :
No, you got this. Well, 20. OK, so yes, one, two, two, zero on the dial. And that’s at 11 o’clock. But yes, look for us on Spotify because we also have a Spotify account. Look for Freedom Street Radio. It’s Freedom S.T. Radio. And you’ll find us on Spotify. Yeah. Yeah, it’s really good to be able to be out there on different social media platforms and also on the radio and just be a voice of freedom, a voice of the word of God that brings light and life in this time, in this day and age when there is a lot of confusion and chaos. That’s right.
SPEAKER 04 :
You can also get hold of us at Barbara at FreedomStreet.org. Kimberly at FreedomStreet.org or hello at FreedomStreet.org. And it was on the hello at Freedom Street, Kimberly, where two days ago I got an email from a lady. I do not know even what area of the country she’s in, but Darren was on 110 stations. So it was quite a few. And she was thanking me. On behalf of her husband who passed away, their marriage was in dire straits. And when Darren was at Darren’s coffee shop, she called in and he prayed for her that her marriage would be healed. And it was. And now that’s how many years ago? Forty years ago. And only recently did she lose her husband in death. But she knows where he’s going. And she was so thankful for that and for Darren. for Darren Carmack’s ministry. So I’m grateful.
SPEAKER 02 :
Yeah, it is. It’s so good to hear from listeners. And thank you all for your support. The Call to Freedom is supported by you. We exist only because you listeners have faithfully supported us all these years. And we thank you for that. We are so grateful for you. And if our content is blessing you, consider going to freedomstreet.org. and push that donate button and help us out that way. We would appreciate it.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yes. Oh, thank you so much. This week, we are in Psalm 18, verse 30. And that’s later in his life, King David wrote this beautiful psalm. It’s beautiful. It’s just past anything that I can even imagine as far as me writing words about God’s majesty. For as God, his way is blameless, the word of the Lord is tried. He is a shield to all who take refuge in him. What a beautiful thing. And that is in 2 Samuel 1. Chapter 22 is almost word for word of Psalm 18, verses 30 through, oh, what is it? 30 through 37? Probably, yes. So do you have it in the passion, Kimberly? Well, I can get there.
SPEAKER 02 :
When we talk about how perfect God is and wanting to know His will for our lives, that’s another area that we very often are looking for the will of God. We’re wanting to follow His ways out of obedience, knowing that we’re created for Him. And yet on a daily basis, we can have situations come up. And those situations will throw us for a loop and we’ll be trying to figure out, okay, what is the will of God in this situation? How do I handle this very thing that has come up to me today? And when we have that happen in our lives, all of a sudden we might lose, I say lose, we might not have the vision. We may not have vision for what God’s will is anymore because we’re so distracted about the one thing. But His will is that we become like Him. And that happens in relationship. So you were asking me about the Passion Translation, Psalm 18. Do you want me just to read verse 30? No, go to 37.
SPEAKER 04 :
All the way through? Yeah. Okay. It’s beautiful. It’s just talking about God and what you were just talking about, His Majesty. And if we look at His Majesty, the birth of a little baby, or the mountains that we see all the time, Kimberly, in Colorado, then we understand that we’re willing to bless Him and please Him by our own actions and by our own doing.
SPEAKER 02 :
That’s right. I can’t see. And there’s a submission and a surrender in that when we choose to lay aside what our agenda is or even what that situation is that came up just today. Yes. That is causing some confusion and maybe some chaos for you. But you get to become like him in the middle of that situation. That’s right. So, yes, Psalm 18, starting in verse 30. What a God you are. Your path for me has been perfect. That means whatever came up today, it’s perfect. All your promises have proven true. What a secure shelter for all those who turn to hide themselves in you. I guess I’m just going to comment there because it does take a turning on our part. We really must turn.
SPEAKER 04 :
that means whatever our attention is on in this life it’s very helpful to turn toward him and ask him what his direction would be yes let our longings be like his we never know what’s going to happen kimberly and it’s just like rachel going to work and there’s a huge accident on the on the road where she gets to denver she’s outside of denver south of denver in beautiful beautiful uh territory But there was a huge accident. I think one person died. So she had to find alternate routes. And that took her a lot of time to find an alternate. And then finally, they cleared I-25s here going from Castle Rock to Denver. And so she went to work there. But it took hours. I think she told me somewhere four hours. Wow. Yeah, four hours.
SPEAKER 02 :
Wow, Rachel. You know, that really does raise our blood pressure. It causes a high amount of stress and anxiety, especially when you are on the clock and you’re trying to get somewhere. That’s right. Yes. But just the longing to be like God, when we, in that moment, turn and say, okay, I can’t get out of this. I’m stuck in this. and, Lord, I want to be like you. That is a place of calm and peace. He sees us when we turn toward him, when our heart turns toward him and our attention turns toward him. So there’s a turning that needs to take place. And when we turn just that turn, it absolutely excites him. He gets so excited over us that he dances over us. He loves when we look to him and then he gives us the peace we need, the joy, the calm, the favor in the traffic or the favor with our boss and in our job. He is the one who gives that to us. It’s really beautiful. Oh, what a God he is. Yes. What a God. Yes. Do you want me to continue with this verse? Did I even get through one verse yet?
SPEAKER 04 :
I don’t think so, but that’s okay. We’ve got a little time here. You can just go on. Yes. Because this is so edifying and so encouraging for our listeners, Kimberly. And that’s what we want every day when we are speaking over the airwaves. Because we know some of you have been down. Some of you have had attacks and battles on your life. And what we can say to you is make God your refuge. Just tuck yourself inside there. Even if you have to wrap your arms around each other, just contemplating what God is doing. He’s surrounding you with his very presence. Okay. That’s right.
SPEAKER 02 :
Go ahead. What a secure shelter for all those who turn to hide themselves in you, God. You are the wraparound God giving grace to me. Verse 31 says, Could there be any other God like you? You are the only God to be worshipped, for there is not a more secure foundation to build my life upon than you. You have wrapped me in power, and now you’ve shared with me your perfection. wow, we are an imperfect people. And he knows that. He has always known that. He’s the one who created us imperfectly. And his way for us imperfect people is for us to turn to him, a perfect creator. So when we turn, when we simply turn, and it’s just in that process of turning, or even in the longing to turn, When we just have a longing in our heart to turn from our ways to His, then we are put on solid ground. We’re put in this place where it’s perfection. He shares His perfection with us. So it doesn’t matter how imperfect we are. He is sharing a security and an assurance. He’s sharing favor. He is sharing with us his perfection. And in all the areas that we might be concerned about, about our job and our relationships, our health, our finances, that is what the Lord is promising to us, that he will share his perfection with us. Just because we’re turning to him and looking to him for help instead of clinging to all our old resources, which is usually the kind of thing that raises our blood pressure and gets our stress and anxiety up through the roof.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yes. And he clears the way. for each of us, for the future, for future days. He promises he will be with you, friend, for future days. So that means out into the future, his perfectness, his precious majesty is going to be surrounding you in those future days, those days where you don’t know what’s going to happen. But in Jesus, in the Lord Jesus, you know you are going to be wrapped around by his presence, his very presence. Oh, this is beautiful, Kimberly.
SPEAKER 02 :
Yes. Psalm 18 and verse 33. Through you, Lord, I ascend to the highest peaks of your glory to stand in the heavenly places, strong and secure in you. You have trained me with the weapons of warfare. Worship. Warfare worship. Yes. Warfare and then a hyphen and worship is how this translation puts it. You’ve trained me with the weapons of warfare worship. So I just want to talk about that for a moment, because a lot of us, when we get into a situation that we feel like we need to find our way out of or battle our way out of. The best way to do that battle is in worship. The best way to fight is to praise. Yes. That is how it works in the kingdom realm and in God’s realm. In order to share His perfection and become more like Him, we learn how to trust Him so much that we’re not worried. We’re not so full of anxiety. In fact, when I find myself in a traffic situation where I’m on a schedule, I need to keep a schedule, and I’m trying to get to a certain place by a certain time, And if I’ve allowed myself enough time to get there, but something happens like an accident, that can be so distracting. I have asked the Lord over and over now, turn my attention to you. Help me see what you want me to see right here, right where you have me. And then make me a worshiper. Help me praise you and worship you just right here, right now. So even if it’s something as small as a red light and you were hoping to make that green light, you just want to get through that light, but you get stopped at a red light, being able to just take a deep breath and say, help me see you right here at this intersection on this corner. And thank you. Thank you for slowing me down. Thank you for stopping me in this moment so that I can turn my attention to you.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yes. And another weapon we can use with praise and thanksgiving is the Word of God. It says in Ephesians 6, Kimberly, that the sword of the Spirit, the offensive weapon we can use, is the Word of God. And that’s so beautiful. When I’m stopped in traffic or anything, I’m distracted by so many things in the day we can be distracted with. I go to the word of God and I remember, Holy Spirit, bring up those scriptures that I need right now today, right now, this moment, to give me peace. And it just comes right up, his peace that passes all understanding. And if you say, well, I don’t know much scripture. In him, you live and move and have your being. If that’s the only thing you can say to the Lord Jesus, Lord Jesus, in you, I live and move and have my being. That’s enough for him to start fighting for you. He will. He will empower you for victory through his presence. Praise God.
SPEAKER 02 :
That’s right. That’s really good. Yes. Good reminder. So we stopped in the middle of verse 34, Psalm 18. You’ve trained me with the weapons of warfare worship. Now I’ll descend into battle with power to chase and conquer my foes. You empower me for victory with your wraparound presence. Your power within makes me strong to subdue, That’s interesting. Strong to subdue. You know, it’s not always up to us to subdue what we think the enemy is. And sometimes we see the enemy as something out there, you know, out in the world is the enemy. And it’s not up to us to subdue. It’s the Lord who subdues and he does it as we are worshiping him. He does it as we are agreeing with him and speaking his word. He does it as we turn our attention to him. He is the one who gives the power. If you go down through all of Psalm 18, especially in this area, it’s him. Over and over, David is recognizing you, God. He’s saying you, you, you are the only God. My life is built upon you. You have wrapped me in power. It’s your perfection. I’m secure in you. You’ve trained me with weapons. You empower me for victory with your wraparound presence. Your power within me makes me strong to subdue. It’s God, not us. And as we turn to the Lord, He is the one who gives that power. We also are willing to subdue our emotions, subdue that stress, subdue that anxiety and that impatience to get where we want to go.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yes. You’re helping me bring up a verse of scripture because subdue is so important, Kimberly. It has to do with obedience, waiting for God. It’s complicated. But in Romans 16, verse 20, it says, “…the God of peace will soon crush Satan.” Now, see, we want to do the crushing. We want to do the, I rebuke you and I cast you out. But see, we wait. We’re subdued before God, the God of peace. It’s the God of peace who will soon crush Satan under our feet. And we think, oh, it’s our feet, so I’ve got to do it, do it, do it, do it, do it. No. You wait for God. He’s going to do it. Just like you said, Kimberly, God is going to do it. He’s going to be the one that defeats the enemy on our behalf, not us. We say scripture and say, OK, it’s yours, Lord. And boom, you go to work for us. Praise the Lord.
SPEAKER 02 :
Yes, I love that. And I like the scripture that you gave, Romans 16, 20. I like that in the Passion Translation, too. It says, and the God of peace will swiftly pound Satan to a pulp under your feet. Love that. I love that. I just have stars all around that in my Bible.
SPEAKER 04 :
That is beautiful. Oh, friends, we can’t tell you how important this Word of God is. Even when we’re driving, there are times, Kimberly, that all I can say is, you have not given me a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and a sound mind. And it’s important that we learn some of those fundamental scriptures that get us through those traffic jams, get us through the upheaval with children in the house and rebellion and all of that. Those scriptures, Kimberly, are going to get us through the battles. They truly are. Yes.
SPEAKER 02 :
It’s a treasure to hide that word in our heart and to be able to let that come up at any time is such a treasure, a real gift. Yes. Yes. So before I go back to Psalm 18, let me just read the rest of Romans 16, 20. I’m going to start over just because it’s so good. And the God of peace will swiftly pound Satan to a pulp under your feet, and the wonderful favor of our Lord Jesus will surround you. That’s what we want in this life, the favor of Jesus surrounding us.
SPEAKER 04 :
The favor of Jesus. Back to Psalm 18. Go ahead. You just can’t forget the purpose of why you’re here. It’s Jesus. It’s Jesus, the intimacy that you’re talking about, Kimberly, about the praising and thanking him, but it’s also about others. It’s Jesus and others. That’s what it is. Yeah. And when we think of ourselves as one of the brothers and sisters and say, and I just said this today, it’s not about me, Lord. It’s about you. Because sometimes it gets so heavy, all of the different responsibilities we seem to have, that we seem burdened with them. And so I have to go to him and say, okay, I need to remind myself it’s not about me, that I be perfect in everything I do and everything. and I walk the narrow way. No, it’s not about me. It’s about you, Lord Jesus, and your forgiveness and your mercy and your grace that covers me. Oh, so good.
SPEAKER 02 :
That’s right.
SPEAKER 04 :
It’s so good.
SPEAKER 02 :
And those burdens that you’re talking about, since you brought that up, we only find freedom by following God’s ways, and we can only practice those ways by being around other people.
SPEAKER 03 :
Mm-hmm.
SPEAKER 02 :
We’ve got to be around others in order to practice patience. We have to be around others in order to practice gentleness and kindness and goodness. So that comes, that freedom comes to us as we continue to turn. Again, this is just a turning point. to the Lord and say, I can’t do this on my own. I can’t come up with patience on my own. I can’t come up with kindness and gentleness in this world, but you can. And Jesus, you showed us how to do it. It really is about Jesus. Just like you’re saying his life that he lived is a life that shows us how to be really free and filled with power. Yeah.
SPEAKER 04 :
That’s right. Well, it’s been really good, Kimberly. I want to leave those of you listening to this message that God is not a God who will leave you every time you sin or when you turn a wrong corner or when you make a mistake. I think of people, Kimberly, as serious as killing someone, murder. And I think, how can they ever receive forgiveness? Well, Jesus is there. He is there. And it’s like, I think David is a prime example of someone who murdered Uriah and he committed adultery. I mean, those are serious sins. And God forgave them in a prayer, Kimberly, in a prayer that David prayed. So we know that he can do that for us. And it says here in the message, Romans 8, that God knew what he was doing from the very beginning. He decided from the outset to shape the lives of those who love him along the same lines as the life of his son. And Jesus, his son, stands first in line of humanity he restored. We see the original and intended shape of our lives there. In him. In him. It’s always in him. Everything. This whole word of God, and I’ve got one in front of me, and I know you do, Kimberly. It is all about Jesus.
SPEAKER 02 :
You just can’t get away from him. That’s right. And I actually, I didn’t start a timer here, so I’m not sure how much time we’ve got, but I know we’re coming to the end. And I just want to, along with you, say that you who are listening to this today, you are not loved because you’re good. You are not loved because you are worthy. You’re loved because God is good and because he is worthy and he knows all of your imperfections. He knows all of your mistakes. And instead of condemning you, he has more grace and more love to pour out on you. He wants to reach right into this place where you might feel unloved and unworthy and speak love over you, show you that you are so valuable to him. He would have given his only son just for you, only for you if you were the only one on this planet. That’s right. So that is something to remember, that we can never be perfect like he is perfect. but he pours his perfection into us. And that is his will, to show that his perfection in us every day is more than enough.
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.
