Prayers, Praise, and Life Lessons from Peter and Hebrews

SPEAKER 01 : 0:09

Welcome to Call to Freedom with Barbara Carmack. This is Jimmy Lakey, and I’m delighted that you are joining us for this half hour. You can reach Call to Freedom at Box 370367, Denver, Colorado, 80237, or by going to the website at www.freedomstreet.org. If you want to leave a message or order a Word Power Daily Reading Bible Guide or a Freedom Street Express newsletter, you can call us toll free at 1-877-917-7256 and leave your name and address, including your zip code. If you want to talk to Barbara right now, she is expecting your call. You may call that same toll-free number, 1-877-917-7256 to speak to her. And now, let’s join Barbara in the studio.

SPEAKER 02 : 1:04

Welcome to Call to Freedom. I hope you’re having a marvelous day. I hope that as you’re listening to Call to Freedom, you can say, praise God. It’s been a day that you have made, Lord God. You have created it just for me because God cannot break a single promise he’s made to you. If he’s made you a promise, he’s going to keep it. And every one of those promises was written to bless you. Praise God. I know last night I was awake in the middle of the night. That happens a lot. No, not as we’re getting older, but as we are becoming more attentive, hungering more for him. Yes. Can we say it that way? Yes.

SPEAKER 03 : 1:41

Thank you, Kimberly. We’re attuned to the spirit and we want him to have his way instead of wanting our own routines.

SPEAKER 02 : 1:49

Yes. And he said, I want you to go to, I was waking up, so I thought, well, I’m just going to go to the study. And a lot of you listening know that the study is quite a ways across the living room and into another part of the house. And so I went to the study and he said, I want you to look up 2 Peter 1, verse 21. And I was not familiar with it, but as I was reading the whole passage, and sometimes, friend, you just can’t take one verse out of that. And rely on the one verse peter here oh i love the book of peter first peter second peter he’s been through a lot that we have been through you have been through and he said he’s saying here we do not follow cleverly devised tales when we make known to them the power and the coming of our lord jesus you don’t listen to everything you hear and take it into your heart You have to examine and investigate and look into to see if it’s the truth. And that’s what Peter is saying here. And he’s saying, I was there when Holy Spirit lit on Jesus and said, this is my beloved son with whom I am well pleased. Can you imagine Peter was there? And he says, we all ourselves heard this utterance made from heaven when we were with him on the holy mountain. And so, oh, and I’m sorry, it wasn’t when Jesus was being baptized. It was when he was on the Mount of Transfiguration. And there were only two, three disciples that were with him on the Mount of Transfiguration in Mark nine. You can read about that. So he was with Jesus not only when he was baptized, but when he was on the mountain of transfiguration. And he said, and we have the prophetic word made sure, made sure to which you do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place until the day dawns and the morning star arises in your hearts. And you know that John wrote in John one that John, in Jesus was the life and in the life was the light of men. And he said, and the light shines in the darkness and the darkness did not overpower or comprehend it. And so it’s so wonderful to know that Peter here is talking about that dawn, that precious morning star, that dawn that lights into your house and into your day. And this can be metaphor or it can be real. Kimberly, there’s some mornings that it is so beautiful. You just want to go out there and just relish in all of that’s going on.

SPEAKER 03 : 4:20

Yes. I love that you’re connecting that with the idea of being awakened in the middle of the night because the dawn can come to you while it’s still dark. Oh, that’s good. Yes. It really has everything to do with when you wake up. Yes. And I mean that more metaphorically. You know, you can you can all of a sudden have an aha moment that causes you to wake up. And that’s when your dawn is. That’s when the light comes.

SPEAKER 02 : 4:45

Yes, it’s like Paul is saying in Ephesians 5, he says, wake up out of your sleep. You know, those of you who have been dead, wake up. It’s time to seek the Lord. And he goes on to say, and know this. This is in 2 Peter 1. We’re reading from the 20th verse. Know this, of all that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation. You can’t make this up, folks. We’re reading the word, the truth, every day on the air here. Hmm. For no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by Holy Spirit spoken from God. Yes. Oh, that is so good. Yes.

SPEAKER 03 : 5:25

And we’ve been talking about entering into this place of rest. Yes. So if we if we look at the fact that God rested, it’s it’s a truth. It’s a fact. He rested on the seventh day from his works. Yes. And Hebrews three and four go into detail about that. He is resting from his works and inviting us into that rest, into that place of rest. And today is the day that we are invited and when we keep heaping responsibility on our own shoulders to make something happen and we’re not really seeking him as our source, We might not be feeling that rest. Well, this is what Hebrews three and four is talking about today. If you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as when they provoked me. This is God speaking where they tried me by testing me when they were in their trials in the wilderness. They saw my works and they always went astray as if they did not know my ways. Yes. And so I swore that they shall not enter my rest. They are not able to enter because of their unbelief. This is Hebrews three verses seven through 11 and verse 19 that I just read from. It’s talking about how we’re not able to enter his rest at the same time that we’re seeking our own remedies from this world.

SPEAKER 02 : 6:55

Yes. Just today, as we went from the post office, I am so blessed when I hear your praise reports. Yes. And every time you put on that prayer request sheet and send it in with your donation, you’re giving an offering to the Lord. And God loves that, a cheerful giver. And when you send that in, we pray for you. We do physically pray for you. We take our time to take a note of what you’re going through because… We realize that what you’re going through, we may not have experienced this, but today I just heard from a power partner and God bless you, Connie. We’re rejoicing with you that your healing has been from four stage cancer. I mean, this is a precious thing that has happened in your spirit. It’s because you’ve rested from the things of the world. I’m telling you, Kimberly, there are people that actually say, okay, Lord, not your will, but mine, not my will, but yours be done. Excuse me. And we know that he has control of our spirit, soul, and body. And our body may be going through a situation where we can’t handle it. But I praise God. I praise God for all of you who have asked for prayer requests. And I want you to know we are in agreement with you. Yes. that you will see the wonderful miracles from God, as Connie has today. And so many of you have reported that. I’m so sorry that I haven’t provided times when you have had praise reports. Oh, my brother has been born again, or my brother has been healed, or my sister, her marriage situation has been healed.

SPEAKER 03 : 8:37

Yes, we will take more time to really talk about it. Because when we pray, sometimes we’re even led to take communion and really lay hands on those prayer requests and cry out for those who are hurting.

SPEAKER 02 : 8:52

Yes, but I realize, Kimberly, as you were reading in Hebrews 3 and 4, We’ve got to enter into that rest in order for God to do the miracle that he has promised he will do. That’s right. And if we are full of unbelief or maybe I should go and get this taken care of, maybe I should have surgery, then we’re going back and forth. And maybe he might lead us into that surgery.

SPEAKER 03 : 9:20

He doesn’t completely cut that off. There are doctors and lawyers and financial advisors that are born again, spirit filled, and the Lord loves to use them. So we want to rejoice in that too. We just want to make sure he is our great source. that he is the one that we run to, not to the resources of this world first, but to him and let him lead us because he’s the only one with the true remedy for our spirit, soul, and body.

SPEAKER 02 : 9:52

He is our rest. In him we rest. He’s that rock of ages that we need to stand on. Yes, I totally agree with you, Kimberly. There are certain circumstances that we do go to the doctor, but still we ask God to be our source. I remember when I was getting my hip replaced and I did not want to go to anyone here in Denver because I did not feel like they knew God, like I wanted my doctor to like God and love him until I heard about your wonderful friend that you go to church with and he is a specialist, a bone specialist. Yeah. And I found that going to Tulsa and having Dr. Peterson lay his hands on me and pray for me before he replaced my hip. You were led. I was led, yes.

SPEAKER 03 : 10:44

And that was the Lord leading and opening doors and you followed those doors. And so we don’t want to fall short of the promise. Like Hebrews 3, 19 says, don’t fall short of the promise to enter his rest because And I think we fall short sometimes by panicking and reaching for other sources that are not the source. We want to keep reaching for the source. That is our God. That is our most high king. He knows what he’s doing. And Hebrews four goes on to say, God rested on the seventh day from all his works. We are invited into this rest, but he swore that we will not enter his rest forever. When we’re seeking other remedies to our discomfort in this wilderness, that’s a blessing. That’s a blessing. That’s not a curse. We want to find him. So we don’t want to be so married to the remedies of this world that we don’t see him and his remedies for our life. There’s been a tendency in Christian circles to live for that great future promise of heaven, and we keep running around in this world in this time doing our own thing, thinking, oh, we’ll give time to God once we get to heaven. Or we’ll listen to him more there. And we forget that we have been given a great and really perfect promise for today. Today here on earth. That’s what Hebrews 3 and 4 is saying. Today, if you hear his voice. Go ahead and answer and be invited into his rest today. The broken situations that we find ourselves in on this earth, this earth is shattered and it’s broken. And when we find ourselves in these situations that are hard and challenging and cause us to panic, it might dampen our faith.

SPEAKER 04 : 12:37

Mm hmm.

SPEAKER 03 : 12:39

But we’re, we’re being challenged to test God and see if he will not come through for us. That’s in Malachi three verses 10 and 11. Will he not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you a blessing until it overflows? And then he says, this is God speaking. I will rebuke the devourer for you so that it will not destroy the fruits of the ground, nor will your vine in the field cast its grapes and lose its produce.

SPEAKER 04 : 13:10

Lose its produce.

SPEAKER 03 : 13:11

Says the Lord of hosts. All the nations will call you blessed. All the other resources in this world will call you blessed for you shall be a delightful land, says the Lord of hosts.

SPEAKER 02 : 13:26

Now, it reminds me today of I heard Benjamin Netanyahu. You know, they’ve signed a peace plan. And I heard Benjamin Netanyahu. It was so precious. He said, everybody likes me today. You know, he’s been in such opposite opposition from other parties in his democracy that they have in Israel that it was such a blessing. I laughed out loud. God bless you, Prime Minister Netanyahu, for not giving in. Yes. Hanging in there. Hanging in there. Right. It was beautiful.

SPEAKER 03 : 13:59

Yes. And this, this passage from Malachi three that I just quoted, we have heard that in context with the tithe that we are to give, and then he will pour out the blessings. But if you read the whole chapter three of Malachi, God is asking us to trust him and him alone so that he will give attention to us and hear those who fear him, who pay attention to him.

SPEAKER 02 : 14:29

I did not see that. See, I’ve been so focused on the Malachi 3, 10 and 11. I did not see that scripture in the seventh verse. Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your heart. It’s right there, isn’t it? And that’s probably what the author of Hebrews got, that scripture. Do not harden your hearts. Do not make your hearts so… We have so much cynicism today, Kimberly. It’s like Thomas in John 20. Well, I got to see the mark in his side and the prints in his hands to know that it’s Jesus.

SPEAKER 03 : 15:07

Oh, and isn’t it interesting that Israel saw the manna every day? Wow. Every day they had a freshwater source coming to them every day. They saw his works every day and they weren’t able to enter his rest. They weren’t able to say, okay, the way that I see this is when a new challenge comes up and that’s what was happening. A new challenge of a people group that were challenging Israel at that time that wanted to, to come and make war against them. And Israel didn’t have the faith that God was with them and it would be okay. So that’s, that’s what we want to look at when we have a bill that comes to us. When we have an ailment in our body that attacks us, we don’t want to panic and say, oh, now where, where do I go? What, where do I find the answer to this? Do I need a loan? Do I need to take out a loan? Do, do I need a new doctor? Do I, what do I need? Let the Lord guide you. It’s his hand who has kept you all this way, and he will give you the direction that you need.

SPEAKER 02 : 16:20

Absolutely. I know just in our little situation, and we have a smaller ministry, and praise God for all of you listening. I just appreciate you so much, Kimberly, and I appreciate your giving hearts. But we had had an automatic response. Debit out of our account because of the online giving now, which is increasing and I’m praising God for that. But it had not been canceled from this other platform into the new platform because it was not compatible with the new website. So all those little things, they do. So I call the companies that had been automatically taking out of our account. And it doesn’t amount to much on a monthly basis. But in a year’s time, we’re talking hundreds of dollars. So as I was praying, OK, Father God, you know, I don’t appreciate going into these companies where I have to yak, yak, yak, yak. So give me some precious people that I can really communicate with. And the first one, Owen, was from Texas. I said, oh, south of Austin? He said, yes. And so I had a little connection with him there. He worked and worked and worked. And finally, it took you to get a login or what? Passcode or something. You had to get in contact with Dana, who was the one who logs in to that previous podcast. We had Owen sitting there for probably 10 to 15 minutes, and he was so patient. And then he put me on hold. You know all that. He put you on hold. Okay, so I’m praying in the Spirit, Lord, give me a person like Owen that is able to be patient with me. And here comes Reese, and she is talking about Miss Barbara. So I know she’s from the South also. Yeah. Miss Barbara. And that did take a long time, Kimberly. But the people God gave me to talk to and communicate with, that was priceless. I was so grateful that I didn’t get a grumpy guy who was impatient and wanting to get me off of the phone.

SPEAKER 03 : 18:23

Right. And it’s all about relationships like that. Even when we’re in traffic and we see today just coming to the studio, somebody cutting someone off and a possible accident and just being able to say, oh, we all have patience for one another. It’s good to be out here with you and we want to make room for each other. And we are observing. We have eyes to see because we’re made in the image of God and we’re observing one another and what our needs are.

SPEAKER 02 : 18:51

Now, when you’re listening to Kimberly saying things like that, you’re saying, oh, she doesn’t say that. Friends, she says that every time there is an icky, sticky situation. Oh, you are cooperating for it with us. All the traffic here, we’re cooperating together. We’re going to get to our destinations.

SPEAKER 03 : 19:10

I believe that my words are powerful because the Lord said so. He said that we could call the things that are not as though they are. And I believe that now there are some things that I don’t have to believe. Now, this is going to sound funny, but I don’t have to believe that. that the Lord God, the Lord Most High, created the whole universe. I don’t have to believe that. I know that. That’s something I know. But I have to activate my belief in some things that look precarious. That traffic looks precarious. There’s a whole bunch of people making up their own mind and how they’re going to behave and how they’re going to treat others. And so that kind of feels like it’s out of control. But when I speak, I’m believing that my words are being activated and that’s the belief that the Lord is asking us to have. Believe him that he is going to take care of your situations. Yes.

SPEAKER 02 : 20:09

And friend, as you’re listening to this, what do you believe? What do you fill yourself and your day up with? What kind of thing are you believing in? That’s so good, Kimberly. Yes, it’s who we believe. It’s who. It’s not a what. It’s not a company. It’s a relationship. Yes, that’s right.

SPEAKER 03 : 20:30

And the brokenness on this earth, it really does hurt and it can cause stress and anxiety. And Jesus, when he came, he came to show us how to handle that. Jesus was moved with compassion over and over again. So he did not numb himself out. He did not avoid feelings. He knew that something hurts, something, something’s wrong here and something needs help. And he felt it down deep in his inward parts. That’s what that means to be moved with compassion. It’s the Greek words, and it’s to be these deep inward parts to be moved deeply into And it doesn’t always mean the kind of tender compassion that we talk about. It can sometimes mean indignation and being angry. When Jesus saw the brokenness of a leper coming toward him in Mark 1, verse 40. So a leper approaches Jesus and falling on his knees before him. He says, if you are willing, you can make me clean, moved with compassion. Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, I am willing be cleansed. Jesus was moved with compassion. This means that he felt feelings that were deep. And it’s really interesting to me that leprosy is a disease that numbs so that you can’t feel. And so some of us fall into that category of leprosy when we are full of apathy. If we have become apathetic and we are no longer feeling the feelings of compassion toward our fellow, even in traffic. Mm hmm. We don’t know what anxiety somebody might be under and what they’re going through in life to have compassion and to say, I am feeling for you and I’m feeling for the ones that are in danger because of you. So let me speak those things that are not as though they are. And let me believe in place of you. Let me believe that there will be goodness and kindness and patience coming in this traffic. And. That’s the kind of thing that Jesus came to bring a remedy into a situation where there was numbing. We don’t want to stay stuck where we can’t feel anymore. In Mark 1, 41, Jesus was indignant. That is the NIV, the New International Version. It says, Jesus was indignant. He reached out his hand and touched the man and said, I am willing. Be clean.

SPEAKER 02 : 23:16

So, you know, and there were not any fireworks and trumpets and all the noise that comes with a lot of things. When you see someone that’s coming down to get healing and he’s healed and, oh, praise. No, it was a quiet, quiet presence of God healing these people, Kimberly. Right. Never was there a parade or marching band or anything like that.

SPEAKER 03 : 23:40

True. I’m bringing out an inconsistency in this translation that some will say it was tender compassion that moved Jesus. Others will say it was indignation that moved Jesus. Why is this inconsistency important? Because in our human state, we have choices of how to respond when we’re feeling these deep feelings. Sometimes the deep feeling feels like indignation, anger, rage, and sometimes it feels like empathy and mercy and tenderness. And we need to choose how to respond in those moments when we’re feeling those, those feelings. We don’t want to let those feelings cripple us and, and confuse us. We want to still reach out. And you know, Jesus, when he reached out to touch that leper, he was breaking the rules. Oh, absolutely. Yes.

SPEAKER 01 : 24:34

You’re not supposed to touch.

SPEAKER 03 : 24:36

But, but the Lord does not consider rules when it comes to relationship. Right. And we want to be able to reach out in love, to cover in kindness and to reap righteousness and reap mercy, to reap goodness. We want to let our Lord lead us into those places where people need that touch. Thank you. And we are hoping to have that kind of touch, that kind of one-on-one, just a time of fellowship and wholeness this weekend. On Saturday, we’re having a meeting. And if you would like to join us at that meeting, we would love to have your presence among us. Call us if you want information. Call us at 877-917-7256. See, there’s a phone ringing in the background so that you can know that you can call.

SPEAKER 02 : 25:28

You can contact us by emailing Kimberly at FreedomStreet.org, Barbara at FreedomStreet.org, or hello at FreedomStreet.org. And you can ask questions about the meeting here Saturday on the 11th of October.

SPEAKER 03 : 25:44

Yes, just remember to leave your number. And we will get back to you with all the information that you’ll need. So you can join us Saturday morning, this Saturday, October. Is it the 11th? The 11th. We would love to see you. And you know what? I just want to say real quickly, I forgot to say happy birthday to John yesterday. It was your birthday. John, we love you. And we just want to say happy belated birthday. You are a precious, precious listener and supporter of this program. And we really do care about you and your life. So happy birthday to you. And any of you out there who feel like you have burdens on your shoulders, know that you are being invited into God’s rest for you today. And may that rest spill out over your weekend. May you enjoy the grace of God and his peace in your life because that’s what you have been promised.

SPEAKER 02 : 26:42

Oh, amen. Well, God bless you. God keep you safe and take joy. My friend, take joy.

SPEAKER 01 : 27:00

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. Our 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.

SPEAKER 1 : 28:24

Thank you.