In this episode of Call to Freedom, Barbara Carmack and Kimberly continue their focus on seed time and harvest—this time turning inward to examine the condition of the heart.
The conversation begins with a refreshing reminder of the importance of joy and laughter, reflecting on how childlike faith and perspective can bring life and renewal even in difficult seasons. From there, the discussion moves into a deeper biblical teaching from Luke 8, exploring the parable of the sower and the four types of soil.
Listeners are challenged to recognize themselves in each of these conditions—times when faith felt shallow, distracted, or
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 04 :
Welcome to Call to Freedom. Wow, the last week of April, 2026. We are getting into the warmer months and the summer months, and I hope you’re looking forward to that. The Lord blesses us with laughter, a sound he loves to hear. Oh, he loves to hear it. I remember when we moved into the home that I live in right now 23 years ago. And original residents lived there, older people from the 50s and 60s. And then they soon moved on into retirement centers. And the people that took their place were young couples with little children. So in the weekends, Kimberly, I hear a lot of laughter, a lot of yelling, a lot of balls just bouncing all over the place. Right. So many balls have fallen into our yard. We’re having to throw the balls back over the fences. And it’s just a delight, especially on weekends when Jeff and his wife are home. They’re just right next door to me. And George and Alice have all their friends over. And they’re jumping on the tramp and doing all kinds of things and laughing and laughing. And I love that. That’s why God blesses us with laughter, a sound he loves to hear. And as we get older, I don’t think we laugh as much and we should.
SPEAKER 02 :
I agree with that wholeheartedly. And I think maybe we could look into Jesus saying, let the little children come to me. They’re full of laughter. And if you want to be in the kingdom of heaven, become like one of these. And he’s pointing to little children as he’s talking, you know, so being able to incorporate more laughter in our lives. That’s good. Yes. Amen.
SPEAKER 04 :
Amen. You are blessed to dispense for and dispense means to throw that seed out. We’re going to be talking about seed this week. Throw that seed out into good ground ministries for the kingdom of God. You are blessed to dispense for in him you live and move and have your being. And you can go online, and Kimberly, you can tell us more about some of the things that are happening on the website and also with our program.
SPEAKER 02 :
It’s really exciting. We have some new things happening, and we won’t be on this 1 o’clock time. If you are the one that listens at 1 o’clock for us and you’ve been used to hearing us at 1 o’clock, you might need to make a little bit of a shift. We will still be on KLTT at 9 o’clock at night, 2.30 in the morning and 5.30 in the morning. Mm-hmm. But also on 1220 KLDC, you can hear us at 11 o’clock in the morning. So we’re making that shift on radio, but we’re also making a shift into social media and onto Spotify. So if you would like to look for us on Spotify, look for Freedom Street Radio. And you’ll actually find us more quickly if you type in Freedom ST Radio. So it looks like Freedom Stradio. And you will find us. Yes, any of these programs, they’re all going to be fresh and new. We’re going to keep new content coming right at you every day. And you will find it on Spotify. And you’ll find it also on our website, freedomstreet.org. Yes. If you have any questions at all, feel free to get a hold of us at hello at Freedom Street dot org. Just email us and ask your questions or you can call in if you want to leave a message. Leave us your number. We’ll call you back. Call that number. Eight seven seven nine one seven seven two five six.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yep. There are many ways to get hold of us. And I’m so grateful to Crawford for helping us transition here and helping us us to help you transition because I know I’ve been on the air for a long time and I’ve been live and it is kind of a transition here. So I’m praying for you. I’m asking the Lord to bless you as you go to these other times for our radio. This morning, I was just so pleased, so blessed to see President Trump and Melania welcome King Charles and Queen Kamala. And there were rows and rows. I mean, the pomp and circumstance were over the top. Because I know that when he goes to the United Kingdom, I mean, they have everything out. All the gold and all the clothes and fashions and everything. Yeah, they definitely have a ritual and routine to honoring their leader. Yes, they do. So, boy, it was just wonderful. In fact, as they were going down the rows of military and addressing them, President Trump and King Charles, King Charles was kind of lagging behind the general and president. President Trump, I think he was a little tired. Well, and it could be the change, the jet lag. Oh, my goodness, what they all go through. But it was wonderful. As I remember the verse I gave over the air to you yesterday about praying for President Trump. Kind words are like honey, sweet to the soul and healthy for the body. I realized how quickly Holy Spirit goes to work. Oh, today, President Trump’s words were edifying and gracious for those 250 years that we’ve celebrated of independence. And he told of all the wonderful things we’ve learned from the British people. They have been a foundation for us. Don’t look at the British people as somebody that we had to fight and we defeated for our independence. They were a wonderful example. boomerang probably for us to realize the religious freedom and also some of the tradition. It came over from England. I know that it’s important to realize that as our religious freedoms were extended over here into this country, there were so many missionaries, Kimberly, from England that came over to America to preach the gospel. So I’m appreciative of that.
SPEAKER 02 :
You know, the word of God tells us that the glory of the Lord will be seen all over the earth. It will cover the earth like the waters cover the seas. And we have been able to look back in history and see how it has spread. Now, it hasn’t always been perfect because the Lord sent out human beings to do it. And sometimes we humans have made some really poor choices. in the way that we have expanded the salvation message. At the same time, it’s still a really good message. It’s not just good news. It’s the best news ever. And it is going forth. And yes, we were able to have the freedom to follow that good news, to follow that message and to talk about it freely and to be able to worship. in our homes, worship freely, in our communities. And that is what this country is built on. That’s right. That kind of freedom.
SPEAKER 04 :
That’s right. So God bless President Trump and Melania, and God bless the United States of America. I’ll tell you, our First Lady is just so beautiful. She is. I agree. She’s such a great representative of the U.S. And she’s gracious. She is so gracious. It was beautiful to see. Today, I was also hearing about how South Carolina, oh, I forgot his name, but this man is going forth to 25 different cities in South Carolina. including Charleston, where Dana is living. Somerville is really close to that. So I was praying that Dana would be able to hear some of this, the churches that are on fire for God, and also my grandchildren, because every representative and every senator in the state legislation, they signed an agreement to be a Christian Congress in South Carolina. every member.
SPEAKER 02 :
Isn’t that marvelous? That is. That is marvelous. That’s something I would expect of Oklahoma, my home state.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yes, and probably that has happened. I mean, we don’t hear about that as often, but I was listening to CBN and it just thrilled me to think that Some of these states are realizing that Jesus saves. He’s the only one that can get us back on track. That’s right. We need him more than ever. Now more than ever. That’s right. So we’re talking about Galatians 6, 9. In reference to that, I was looking just a few verses before. And it talks about sowing and reaping. And we sow seeds. We either sow seeds of condemnation and seeds of anger, or we can sow seeds of blessing. It’s like when you pray for someone, for instance, the United Kingdom. I’ve heard that the Muslims are taking over. Well, why don’t we just pray that God will overtake that country with Holy Spirit and produce a revival there that they’ve not even experienced even since Jonathan, whatever his name was. It just skips my mind right now. A great revivalist, yes, from England. Oh, and the Wesleys, too. John and Charles Wesley.
SPEAKER 02 :
Oh, my goodness. I think you’re thinking of George Whitefield. Whitefield, yes. Yes, and then John Wesley and Charles Wesley. Yeah, huge movement, great awakening. It’s actually happening. We just don’t hear about it here in the United States unless we’ve got some kind of a personal contact with missionaries. If you go to a church that supports missionaries and they come and speak at your church at what’s going on in the other countries, that’s how you get the actual news, the real news. That’s right. Because our news stations here do not report what’s really happening. in these other countries, it is a huge, great awakening that’s going on. And so you’re right, the seeds that we plant, and we want to be planting seeds of goodness, seeds of kindness, and not grow weary in planting those. I saw a post, I was telling you, a post on Instagram, and it was someone who had put up pictures of Donald Trump and Kirk, Charlie Kirk, and also JFK, Kennedy, When he was our president and a picture of Abraham Lincoln and there were others that were all side by side. And he simply said it was Democrats who shot these people. And I looked at that post and I thought, OK, well, that that could that could cause some people to bristle.
SPEAKER 01 :
Right.
SPEAKER 02 :
Yes. And and we don’t want to cause more bristling because in our conflicts, we want to show one another preference. We want to honor one another. Now, when people get so angry that they have to take a life because of their anger, that’s really sad. And it is very sad to me that the Democrats seem to have. more of that kind of aggravation and irritation that comes out toward Republican. Now, JFK was not a Republican. He would probably be more like a Republican today if he was alive than in the 1960s. I don’t know. Let’s not assume that. But let’s also say that JFK, he was shot by Oswald and Oswald was not a Republican. So that’s what’s so interesting. It’s not always the opposite side that is against you. It’s your own emotions. It’s your own irritation and aggravation and anger and being able to bridle that and show preference to one another. And that’s what your memory verse is kind of alluding to in Galatians 6, 9. Don’t allow yourselves to grow weary or be discouraged in planting good seeds. For the season of reaping, the wonderful harvest that you’ve planted, it’s coming. We’ve got to sow good seeds. And I’m telling you, when you lash out in emotion, that is not a good seed. Mom, we don’t want to be doing that. Amen.
SPEAKER 04 :
It says in Galatians two verses before Galatians six, nine. Oh, it’s a great chapter. But it says, do not be deceived. God is not mocked for whatever a man sows. This he will also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh, that’s anger, unforgiveness, all of that, shall from the flesh reap corruption. But the one who sows to the spirit shall from the spirit reap eternal life.
SPEAKER 02 :
Yes. Those fruits of the spirit are written out for us in Galatians 5. Yes. Love, joy, peace. Peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Those are the fruits of the Spirit that we want to be planting the seeds of. Seeds of the fruit of the Spirit, not seeds of our self-life, our selfishness, our anger, our irritation. That does not produce anything good. So yeah, we’re talking about planting good seeds this week.
SPEAKER 04 :
So don’t allow yourselves to be weary in planting good seeds for the season of reaping the wonderful harvest you’ve planted is coming. It’s coming. So take advantage of every opportunity to be a blessing to others, especially to our brothers and sisters in the family of faith.
SPEAKER 02 :
That’s right. And we said it yesterday. It’s worth saying it again. It says, especially to your brothers and sisters in the faith. That does not mean to exclude the ones who are not your brothers and sisters. This is seed sowing that we do with everyone that we come in contact with. Oh, that’s right. Wow. Praise the Lord.
SPEAKER 04 :
We’ve got so much to learn, Kimberly. I was going through Luke 8. We’re going to get to Galatians 3 this week. But I went so quickly through Luke 8 and the heart conditions, the four different soils. and the heart conditions of every man, woman, and child. This is you. One of these conditions is you because there’s only four soils. And I realized, Kimberly, as I was reading about on the rocky places and so near the road, I have been there. Oh, yes. I have been every one of these soils. Yes. I think that’s the point. Yes. So when Jesus began telling the people of the heart conditions, he proclaimed that in that parable the seed is the word of god and we’re in luke 8 and who is the word of god well john 1 1 says in the beginning was the word and the word was with god and the word was god it’s jesus christ that this whole thing is talking about so would you like to read from the 11th verse sure luke 8 11
SPEAKER 02 :
And which version would you like? Oh, whichever. Okay. Well, we’re talking about seeds sown beside the road, some on rocky places, and thorny patches, which are all descriptions of the heart conditions. And here in the Passion Translation, a farmer went out to sow seeds. in Luke eight and in verse 11, the deeper meaning is the word of God is that seed that is sewn into hearts. The hard pathway represents the hard hearts of men who hear the word of God, but the slanderer, the enemy quickly snatches away what was sewn in their hearts to keep them from believing and experiencing salvation.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yes.
SPEAKER 02 :
The seed falling on the gravel represents those who initially respond to the word with joy, but they couldn’t take the heat. Yeah. That’s really what it boils down to. They didn’t have a deep root. They were not able to take root because the heat that the enemy caused harassment and difficulties to come and that joy was stolen from them. They just withered. They wither and fall away for they have no root in the truth. Their faith was temporary. I remember that in my own life, mom. I remember having that faith and being really excited. And then something came along and just, wham, it felt like, oh, I was hit so hard. What, what did my faith mean? What, what was I believing for believing in? So I had all these questions.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yes.
SPEAKER 02 :
And little did I know that I needed to go through that too. All of our experiences, every event that leads us into a place of hurt and even a dark questioning of our faith and who our God is, that helps us get to the other side. We go through it and we get to the other side and we realize God has been faithful all along. We are the ones who maybe ended up faithless, and 2 Timothy tells us that God remains faithful even when we are faithless. That is really the whole crux of the gospel message and the good news.
SPEAKER 04 :
Before that verse 11, Kimberly, Jesus is saying, To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom. He’s speaking to his disciples. And we’re disciples who have really hungered after the word and we love the word. But to the rest, it is in parables in order that seeing they may not see and hearing they may not understand. Now I’m asking the Lord, what does that mean, Lord? Seeing they do not see and hearing they do not hear. And you’ve got to go back to Isaiah 6, verse 9. And God is telling Isaiah, go and tell this people, keep on listening, but do not perceive. Keep on looking, but do not understand. Render the hearts of this people insensitive and their ears dull and their eyes dim. Why did God tell Isaiah this? Because every prophecy had to be fulfilled before Jesus came. Every prophecy, including the people’s rebellion and captivity. And blindness. Yes, they had to go into captivity because they were blind. And so that’s what Jesus fulfilled here in Luke 8.
SPEAKER 02 :
Well, really what you’re talking about, mom, is our captivity. We go into captivity with these dark thoughts and these seasons of questioning God and questioning our faith. And that is captivity. We don’t find that we are better off by staying embittered or resentful and deciding that his way isn’t the best way. We end up finding out, oh, I’m trying my own way. And this is even more discouraging. How’s it working? Yeah.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yes. That’s why Galatians 5.1 is so important, Kimberly, because it says it was for freedom that Jesus set you free. So stand firm and be no longer subject to a yoke of slavery. You’re talking about slavery, Kim. You’re talking about bondage.
SPEAKER 02 :
We are right. Yes. And having a teachable heart to actually tap into the hidden mysteries of God. That’s what coming back around, coming out of the slavery, every single one of us were meant to, to experience the slavery, to go through the bondage of our own opinions and our own thoughts, even resentment, anger, bitterness. We were meant to go through that, but we’re supposed to go through it. Keep your eyes on the other side because we’re not supposed to get to the middle of this resentment and bitterness and drown in it. That’s right.
SPEAKER 04 :
Some of us have to go through. Well, and I believe, Kimberly, you’re right. Everybody has to go through a wilderness. Like the children of Israel did. They went through a wilderness to get to the promised land.
SPEAKER 02 :
This whole Bible, every story in the Bible is the story of you who are listening. Yes. You, it’s the story of you. So the more you read it, the more you understand that every single one of these applies to your life and what you’re walking through and then being encouraged and having that teachable heart so that your eyes will be open. Just start asking for it. Lord, open my eyes to see your way because you are good. We’re not. We’re humans. We’re not good. He is good. And when he is in us, living in us and through us, that’s what makes us good. That’s right. Along with him.
SPEAKER 04 :
What’s so good about it, Kimberly, is that when we accept Jesus as Savior and Lord, he puts his righteousness, sanctification, redemption and salvation into each and every one of us. Some of it may not be viewed for years and years and years may not be. Right. Because we’re still in slavery and bondage. That’s right. To our own thoughts and opinions. But he gives those gifts to us. Yes. And then when they’re open and in bloom, full bloom, then we realize, yes, Jesus, you gave us redemption, salvation, righteousness and all these wonderful things. Yeah. Those are big words. Yeah.
SPEAKER 02 :
Oh, but they’re so good. I know, I know, I know. And righteousness, I’m just going to say about righteousness, it’s not rightness. You know, so often as humans, we get our eyes set on one solution and we think it’s right. And that’s what causes us to be embittered or resentful or angry. It’s because the people around us are not doing it the way that we think is right.
SPEAKER 1 :
That’s right.
SPEAKER 02 :
Yes, that’s right. And so sowing the seeds of the fruits of the spirit, sowing the seeds of kindness and patience. We can’t grow weary in sowing those seeds into other people’s lives and then showing preference to one another. The Bible tells us to do that. That’s right.
SPEAKER 04 :
Darren was so good about. defining righteousness by saying it’s right standing with God. You no longer have a sense of condemnation, of inferiority, of fear, of guilt, or unworthiness. You can stand before your Father God in the throne room knowing that you are covered with all these wonderful attributes because of Jesus. It’s all because of Jesus.
SPEAKER 02 :
That’s good. And I like to break that down even more and say that it’s, it is a relationship. When we’re talking about the righteousness of God, we’re not talking about following right rules. We’re talking about a relationship. The reason why you no longer have any condemnation or fear or unbelief or doubt or insecurity. The reason why is, is because you’re with your very best friend who knows you, understands you, never condemns you, never makes you feel ashamed. Never. You’re free from that because he is your perfect partner and you are his perfect partner. When we really look at relationship that way, that’s how we enter into a new understanding of righteousness. Yes.
SPEAKER 04 :
So we’re talking here. We’re done with this program. We’re not going to get through Luke eight all the way. But you were talking about the second soil seeds on rocky soil representing the message, receiving it with joy, but not having deep roots, not being in the word. And so they fall away. Does that mean they’re not saved? God loves them. He’s going to get them through the difficult times. That’s right. Yes.
SPEAKER 02 :
And the third seed, Kimberly, it falls into the weeds and it represents the hearts of those who hear the word of God. But their growth is quickly choked off by their own anxious cares, the riches of this world and the fleeting pleasures of this life. It’s distractions. And this is why they never become mature and fruitful. So those are the different ways that we have been led into these journeys in our lives where we have either had that seed stolen right away. We’ve had rocky ground in our own hearts. We haven’t had that endurance to endure the heat of our life yet. And we’ve been so distracted. We’ve just been choked out with distractions. And so, yeah, we want to talk about this more tomorrow. And we want to encourage you, if you’ve enjoyed this, go to Spotify. Look for us on Spotify. We’re Freedom ST Radio. Freedom Street Radio. Looks like Freedom Stradio. And that’s how you’ll find us on Spotify. You can hear this again. Or go to freedomstreet.org. And look for radio shows under resources. And you will find us there and you can listen to this again. We really love bringing the good news to this world. And thank you for being with us today. We enjoy you. We pray for you. Even if we’ve never met you, we’re so glad to be a part of the family that’s listening and waiting and focusing on the Lord in this life. So be at peace and take joy.
SPEAKER 1 :
877-917-7256
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.
