In this enlightening episode of Call to Freedom, Barbara Carmack delves into the profound themes of spiritual freedom and redemption. Joined by her co-host, Kimberly, they explore the importance of understanding Galatians 5 and the Fruits of the Spirit, emphasizing how these elements guide us in our path toward embracing the image of God. Through personal anecdotes and scriptural insights, Barbara and Kimberly encourage listeners to reflect on their own lives, highlighting the significant role forgiveness and self-reflection play in our spiritual journeys.
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 01 :
Welcome to Call to Freedom. I’m so glad you joined me today. And I’m so glad Holy Spirit told me a long time ago, right after Darren left this earth. And I got a lot of people saying Barbara, Barbara Carmack live. kind of thing. And I just don’t like to put my name out there. I just don’t. So when he said, why don’t you name it Call to Freedom? Because you will get some calls. And until lately, I was getting calls on the landline and also emails. So it’s been called a freedom. And I’m so grateful because it was for freedom that Jesus set you free, my friend. So stand firm and be no longer subject to your yoke of slavery. And that was also our verse of scripture through the Darren live years. And it still is probably one of my favorite because in Jesus Christ, we have peace. We have boldness. We cast not away our confidence. We have boldness. We have freedom. And I think we take those freedoms for granted, right? But I hope that you will begin to study Galatians 5, 1 and 13 especially, and then on to the fruit of Holy Spirit. Oh, it’s just chock full of so much. Oh, you are blessed to dispense for any of you live and move and have your being. Anytime you want to listen to another radio program, you can go to freedomstreet.org, go to Resources, and click on Radio Shows. And then you can look in the blogs under Teachings, also Darren’s Sessions. Kimberly sets up the blogs. And there are so many things to go to now. And so I’m inviting you to come to freedomstreet.org. It’s such a wonderful opportunity for Kimberly and me to see – the faces of people that are encouraged in the word of God. We’re not primarily evangelists. We are for building up the body of Jesus Christ, for being a cheerleader in your corner. And that’s what I hope that we have been. We do have power packs. And I’m saying this right now because I know they’re great stocking stuffers. Yeah, stocking stuffers say that four times. But I also realized just the other day that they are good for Thanksgiving. Just get a power pack and I can send them out immediately and you can have them by Friday. next week and boy the following week is thanksgiving wow it’s coming upon us so if you’ll call me after the program at 1-877-917-7256 and tell me how many you’d like to order for those who are going to be around your table you’ll have one power pack for each person i think that’s a great idea and i’ll read you more scriptures from that power pack next monday and tuesday but you can order those or go to barbara at freedom street.org and order them email them I can’t email them, but I will send them to you if you email me the number that you would like me to send to you and include your address. Oh, this is almost Friday. I can almost make excuses for the way I’m acting. So welcome, Kimberly. Thank you.
SPEAKER 02 :
Well done. Well done, faithful servant. You have taken care of people and loved them and encouraged them on to a free place. And I love that you talked about Galatians, starting out in Galatians 5, about how it is for freedom that Christ has set us free, right? We are free. And if we keep reading, we’ll see that the fruit of the Spirit That is very much a part of our keys to being free, our keys to opening the prison doors. We took a couple of weeks to describe just a small fraction of the goodness of God. How are we ever going to put words on his goodness? I don’t know how to do that.
SPEAKER 01 :
No, I don’t.
SPEAKER 02 :
But in Exodus 33 and 34, he himself describes his glory, that it’s goodness, it’s compassion and loving kindness, mercy and grace. And his forgiveness and pardon is for a thousand generations. Now, if we add in the fruits of the Spirit from Galatians 5… which is the fruit of god’s character he’s full of love and joy peace and patience kindness goodness faithfulness he is gentle oh he treats us with gentleness and there’s self-control We’ll have just a small start of a description of what Christ looks like when we see the description of God, his compassion, his loving kindness and mercy and grace and forgiveness, and then all of these fruits. Okay, that’s just a little description. So the reason why we want to set up some kind of a picture of what God looks like and all of these fruits is because we want to recognize when human beings fell, we got flipped. We were made in the image of God. We are made in the image of God. But the fall flipped us. And we no longer are full of love, joy, peace, patience with others, patience in traffic, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. We’re not full of compassion and mercy and forgiveness. Our decisions that we make, we want to involve ourselves. We want to be intentional and persistent about looking at our situations and flipping ourselves back around and saying, no, I was made in the image of God. That’s right.
SPEAKER 01 :
Yes.
SPEAKER 02 :
And so we want to see what it looks like to… I’ve been reading in 1 John… And the first John chapter two begins to describe Antichrist in verse 18. It says, Dear children, the end of this age is near. You have heard that Antichrist is arising. And in fact, many enemies of Christ have already appeared. So. Anti-Christ means you’re against Christ. Anti means that you’re opposed to or you’re against. So anti-Christ means that you are opposed to him. You’re opposing him. I have noticed my flesh in my flesh responses. I can very much oppose the ways of Christ, the ways of patience, the ways of gentleness, the ways of kindness and love. And even peace, I can get so caught up, not just with negative things, I can get caught up in positive things. And it’s also exciting that I don’t rest well and I don’t really enter his peace. I’m just running around from one thing to the next, to the next, to the next.
SPEAKER 01 :
Yes.
SPEAKER 02 :
So what does it look like? to be against Christ. That’s against forgiveness. It’s against mercy, against compassion. It’s against pardon for someone who has sinned against you. Wow. We all do that. We all tend to not want to pardon somebody, to not want to forgive them when they have sinned against us. Yes. When we have been betrayed or rejected or when we have been wronged, there’s been an injustice. That’s really hard for a human being. to want to pardon or forgive. And yet that is what our God is full of. Our God is so full of pardon and forgiveness that He gave His only Son so that that Son could appear on this planet in human form and lay down His life for all of us who have sinned and pardon us and forgive us. That’s big pardon. That’s big forgiveness.
SPEAKER 01 :
Yes, Jesus knew that he was in the Father. He was the Father. He knew that. John 10 says, the Lord and I are one. God and I are one. So he knew who he was. I think the greatest, the biggest travesty of the fall is we lost our identity in him. We lost our identity in the Lord. We learned our identity. It’s a false identity, though, but from the world system, education from people we work for alongside even our own families who tell us you’ll never amount to anything or, you know, you’re going to do great and mighty things and you wind up being an average Joe. And so you feel guilty. So this idea of identity, Jesus knew who he was. And as believers, Kimberly, we really should know who we are also.
SPEAKER 02 :
Yes, that’s right. I’m glad you brought that up. It actually just it reminded me that in First John three. We read about, well, let me start in verse 11. This is the message which you have heard from the beginning that we should love one another. Verse 12 says, not as Cain, who was of the evil one and slew his brother. And for what reason did he slay him? because his deeds were evil and his brothers were righteous. Cain lost his identity in the Lord. He lost his image. He was not walking in the image of God to become so angry that he then murdered his brother. And 1 John tells us that if we hate our brother, hate our sister, that is murdering them. It’s the same. So we’re not walking in our identity when we allow hatred to be in us. And I was actually studying a little bit about Cain and Abel from the Hebrew perspective and There are many who teach in the Jewish community that Cain, when he lost his image of God, that is what marked him as being vulnerable to other people who might slay him. He was going to have to be just a wanderer. He no longer would have the ground that he could… It was as if he did not own his own territory anymore. That’s right. And he did not have the ground that he could be keeper of the ground anymore. He had to wander and he lost his image of God when when he was afraid and came to God and said, this is more than I can bear. I can’t do this. God marked him. There was a mark, and people talk about that mark. I know, they do. Yeah, what was that mark? But there are some who believe that God, in his mercy, in his compassion, marked Cain with his image once again.
SPEAKER 01 :
Oh, wow. Isn’t that amazing to think of? That would be just like God. Yes. Yes. Like getting a pardon all over again. Oh, that’s right.
SPEAKER 02 :
Now, Cain, when he was pardoned and given that image again, did not go out killing more people. Cain actually went and raised up a city, a whole city of people and named that city Enoch. So that’s an interesting thing to look at and see that when you have received pardon from the Lord, you repent and you turn from what you have been doing. You don’t use His pardon in order to just do the things of your flesh and try to get away with it. You don’t use His grace. you look at it and realize how wonderful He is and you choose to walk in His image. That’s what we’re made for. That’s what it is to be walking in the image of God, abiding in Christ over and over. First John encourages us to abide in Christ, to abide in Him. When we are abiding in Him, we’re in agreement with the way that Jesus Christ forgives. with the way that He pardons, the way that He shows mercy and compassion. the way that he is full of the fruits of the spirit and that’s why i like having the fruits of the spirit memorized and if you don’t have those memorized go to galatians 5 22 23 you will be able to just read that list over and over of love joy peace patience kindness goodness faithfulness gentleness and self-control. And when we say self-control, we’re not trying to control ourselves in our own strength. We are giving God control over ourself. Yes.
SPEAKER 01 :
Amen.
SPEAKER 02 :
Yeah. Ourself is now controlled by him because we are abiding in him. So that’s the way that we want to be flipped back into the image of God. We want to make decisions to give pardon to give forgiveness to give mercy and compassion now I recognize that that’s really hard to do some of us have been wronged some of us humans we have been wronged in ways that seem like it’s unforgivable and my heart breaks for those I have um I have more than one friend that works in groups that rescue those who have been trafficked in human trafficking. And the damage that’s done to a human being is so severe. But God works. Let’s not forget that our God is the redeemer. Our God is the healer. And we know that our redeemer lives and that he can redeem and restore lives to better than they were before. We’ve got to remember that because if we just remember how severely someone has been abused and harmed, if that’s all we’re focused on, then it will be anger that stirred up. Hatred will be stirred up. resentment, unforgiveness, but that is against Christ. It’s opposing Christ. And so it can actually be deemed antichrist, the spirit of antichrist. And we don’t want to be carrying that within ourselves. So it is, I know it’s a tall order to ask a human being to be full of the virtues of God. It’s not something that we can do on our own. We’ve got to ask him to help us. And so if you recognize that you might be hanging on to unforgiveness, you might be hanging on to hatred or resentment or bitterness. You could be hanging on to discouragement, hopelessness, self-pity. Those are all familiar friends to me. I have associated with all of those emotions. And I can tell you that I needed help. And I was able to look at them and say, this is not what I want to define my life. I don’t want to be made in the image of unforgiveness. I don’t want to be made in the image of bitterness. I want to be made in the image of God. So God help me. God, help my friends and my family. God, help me learn to forgive. And moment by moment, help me test the spirits that rise up in me that cause me to react to things in this life. And let me bear your image and really respond to these things the way you would respond.
SPEAKER 01 :
Yes, I’m praying for the listeners right now that Kimberly, as you’re talking about these wonderful fruit of Holy Spirit, that they will have a spirit of discernment to understand and realize the shortcomings in their own life and begin to work on the love and joy and peace and kindness and goodness and faithfulness and gentleness and self-control. Because if we don’t look inward, we’re never going to see our shortcomings.
SPEAKER 02 :
We really aren’t. It’s so true. And it’s really easy to see other people and their shortcomings and think, okay, if they change, if they become better, then I will be better. It’s super easy to do that. It’s such a human reaction, but we don’t want to just react. We want to respond to the work that the Lord is doing in us. And I’ve learned to let God have His way, His gentle and kind way that is full of grace and mercy. That’s not easy for us humans because we’re so quick to snap. We’re really short fused people. We get easily angered, easily irritated and frustrated in a moment. So that’s a sure sign that we’re the opposite of God. God is long suffering and He perseveres and He endures. He’s got endurance that lasts forever and we are made in His image. So when the fall flipped us, that means that everything that comes so naturally to us now which is anger and irritation and frustration that comes easily to us and it comes naturally to us. Those things are unnatural for God. Isn’t that fun? It’s natural for us to just snap, but it’s unnatural for God.
SPEAKER 01 :
Yeah.
SPEAKER 02 :
He is so full of loving kindness, the kind of kindness that is full of love and the kind of love that is full of kindness. That’s what is natural for God. Lamentations 333 is a really pivotal scripture in all of the verses where Jeremiah is lamenting the sin Right there in the middle of Lamentations 3, it says that God does not afflict from his heart. So some see that any affliction or consequence or punishment that God ever has to allow is unnatural for him because it does not come from his heart. It’s referred to as a strange work of God or a strange way when there’s affliction that happens because it goes against his heart. And it is our life mission to learn to become like him once again. Antichrist is another way to define our human flesh tendencies that go against Christ. We want to flip around and learn to go with Christ and abide in him, in his mercy, in his love and not want somebody to be afflicted, but want them to be pardoned and forgiven. Yeah. He’s so full of love and forgiveness. And our human is not, not naturally. We need Christ in us to make decisions based on love and joy and patience and to make decisions that are bent toward mercy, compassion and forgiveness. We need supernatural help to break free from our natural tendencies.
SPEAKER 01 :
Yes. He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, this is where his image comes back into us. I will say of the Lord, he is my refuge, my fortress. My God in him will I trust. And that’s where we need to dwell, Kimberly, right there under the shadow of his wings.
SPEAKER 02 :
That’s right. Oh, praise God for His supernatural help that will give us that kind of covering and help us learn as we just, we go ahead and tuck ourselves right under His wings. We just want to be there learning of Him. So because of His unending support, the prophetic word in Isaiah 6, the whole earth is full of His glory. That is accomplished. because of God’s support in us. So the whole earth means every part of my being. I’m a piece of earth that is walking around on this planet. So are you. You are made from the dust of this earth and we are full of the glory of God. His glory is not just greatness and power, although it includes those things, but his glory according to himself He describes it as his goodness, his compassion, his forgiveness that pardons a thousand generations. And that’s what we want to abide in. We want to find ourselves in his glory. His word will come true. We will become like him and the whole earth be full of his glory. In 1 John 2, verse 24 says, It says, as for you, let that abide in you, which you heard from the beginning. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, you also will abide in the Son and in the Father. It says, let that abide in you. What is that? The gospel is that Jesus is so full of forgiveness. He’s willing to lay down his life and die. Jesus was anointed and baptized to be something great, someone great. He’s God. And we are all reflections of God, made in God’s image. He was baptized and anointed for that and then also crucified. He laid down his life and he died to this life so that he could gain something greater. Yeah. The next life. Right. Yes. We’ve got something greater that we look forward to. And this verse is telling us that we will abide in the son and in the father. Abiding in them means that we will learn. to be full of mercy and compassion and forgiveness and patience and peace and kindness. This is what we will abide in. And we won’t worry about what we end up giving up. We do give up some things in this life. There are things that we walk away from that we may have wanted.
SPEAKER 01 :
And we give up those things. Look what we gain. Oh my goodness. That’s exactly where I was going.
SPEAKER 02 :
We give those things up for something greater. And that’s the true definition of sacrifice. A korban, a sacrifice in the Hebrew, is something that we detach from so that we will attach to something greater. Or maybe we should say attach to someone greater.
SPEAKER 01 :
Yes.
SPEAKER 02 :
And that’s what we want to be able to do is sacrifice. Go ahead and give up what you think you need so that your greater needs can be met in the Lord and in his kingdom. He has an eternal life that far surpasses this small life, this momentary affliction that we are experiencing here.
SPEAKER 01 :
Praise God. 1 John 4, 4. I’m going to say it again. You are from God, little children, and have overcome the old patterns of your flesh because greater is he who is in you than he who is in the world. Praise God.
SPEAKER 02 :
That’s right. I know. Let us become more like Jesus and less like the world.
SPEAKER 01 :
That’s right. Stay in contact with us, Barbara at FreedomStreet.org, Kimberly at FreedomStreet.org, or hello at FreedomStreet.org. God bless you and keep you and take joy.
SPEAKER 03 :
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.
In this enlightening episode of Call to Freedom, Barbara Carmack delves into the profound themes of spiritual freedom and redemption. Joined by her co-host, Kimberly, they explore the importance of understanding Galatians 5 and the Fruits of the Spirit, emphasizing how these elements guide us in our path toward embracing the image of God. Through personal anecdotes and scriptural insights, Barbara and Kimberly encourage listeners to reflect on their own lives, highlighting the significant role forgiveness and self-reflection play in our spiritual journeys.
