Alert & Oriented: Conversations about God between Friends

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It is hard to make it to the age of forty without falling prey to some form of betrayal. It may have been a spouse, friend, parent, child, or a business partner; but we’ve all experienced the bitter taste of having someone close betray us.

Which means we all have to learn the spiritual lesson of forgiveness.

Oswald Chambers wrote, “Tolerating a wrong attitude toward another person causes you to follow the spirit of the devil, no matter how saintly you are. One carnal judgment of another person only serves the purposes of hell in you.”

If you aren’t scared yet, Gary and I sure are.

This afternoon, we want to talk about the pain of betrayal and the spiritual joy of forgiveness, a call Jesus invites us into, to nurture the life of God in us.

For more information about Gary or Sam visit their websites: https://thenobleheart.com/ and https://beliefsoftheheart.com/.

For more information about Gary or Sam visit their websites: 

• The Noble Heart
• Exploring Intimate Theology - Beliefs of the Heart.

If you have a question or comment, click here and send us a text.

The Special Forces have a saying:

• The battle isn’t over until all the bullets have been counted.

Their principle understands that the last battle is always a precursor to the next. Whether we won or lost that contest, we will be sure to face another. If we don’t learn from our last encounter, we will be weakened for our next.

To nurture the life of God in us, our Father invites us into an honest examination of life, struggles, friendships, prayer, faith, and prayer. Paul says, “Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?” (2 Cor. 13:5).

It is an invitation to intimacy with him.

For more information about Gary or Sam visit their websites: https://thenobleheart.com/ and https://beliefsoftheheart.com/.

For more information about Gary or Sam visit their websites: 

• The Noble Heart
• Exploring Intimate Theology - Beliefs of the Heart.

If you have a question or comment, click here and send us a text.

Scripture says every believer lives on the border between two kingdoms. But unlike the geographical border between the United States and Canada, the border between these kingdoms runs through the center of our hearts.

And these two kingdoms are in a battle to the death. Alexander Solzhenitsyn says, "The line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being."
On our most "spiritual" days, perhaps we recognize the spiritual forces behind the events of life, but God calls us to have a constant vigilance, an awakened awareness that even the tiniest circumstance can reflect spiritual battles:

* The kingdom of darkness enticing us toward rebellion.
 * And the Kingdom of Light drawing us into joyful submission to the One Who Loves.

James urges us to be Alert, Oriented, and Engaged, understanding the battle that rages within. He pleads with us to "resist" the devil and to "submit" to our Father. He reminds us that there is no neutrality:

Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. (James 4:4)

We continue our series on "Nurturing the Life of God in Us" as we explore a heightened vigilance and awareness of the inner spiritual battle; and we help each other remember: The battle is already won!

For more information about Gary or Sam visit their websites: 

• The Noble Heart
• Exploring Intimate Theology - Beliefs of the Heart.

If you have a question or comment, click here and send us a text.

Jesus said, “Of those born on this earth, no one is greater than John the Baptist.” Everyone I know would love to hear that kind of high praise. What made John so great? 

John was famous throughout Israel. Common folk and leaders made pilgrimages to hear him speak. But after John baptized Jesus, John’s disciples began to abandon him to follow Jesus. And John said, "He must increase, but I must decrease." (John 3:30)

John’s life reveals the mystery of real spiritual vitality, a life rich in hope, joy, and vision. The life we all want. And it means a kind of decrease, a letting go, an abandonment of self. Letting go doesn’t make us less of ourselves, it makes us more of ourselves. It was after John said, “I must decrease” that Jesus said he was the greatest of all humans till then.

John had to let go of fame and followers. Most of us don’t have that problem, we have no fans. We have to let go of something else:

• Some of the disciples had to let go of careers.
• Some had to let go of family.
• But every single disciple had to let go of their idea of who God is.

What happened to Peter? What made him so brave? What turned his life around? He finally abandoned his false image of God and embrace who Jesus said he was. 

Someone once said: “Jesus Christ is always unyielding to my claim to my right to myself. The one essential element in all our Lord’s teaching about discipleship is abandon, no calculation, no trace of self-interest.”

For more information about Gary or Sam visit their websites: https://thenobleheart.com/ and https://beliefsoftheheart.com/.

For more information about Gary or Sam visit their websites: 

• The Noble Heart
• Exploring Intimate Theology - Beliefs of the Heart.

If you have a question or comment, click here and send us a text.

Healthy living has become a major emphasis of modern society. Even many middle-schoolers can tell you that a balanced, nourishing diet significantly contributes to physical and mental well-being. (Whether they care to participate in that healthy diet is a different issue.)

Likewise, there is a healthy spiritual diet that nurtures His life in us. God is at work, transforming us from one degree of glory to another; and He invites us to participate in the nourishment of the Spirit.

There may be no simpler building of His life in us than active participation in Christian community.

Simply gathering as believers magnifies His presence. We know that the life of God enters us when we give our lives to Him, but Jesus prioritizes community when he says there is a special way his presence is manifest when believers gather.

For more information about Gary or Sam visit their websites: https://thenobleheart.com/ and https://beliefsoftheheart.com/.

For more information about Gary or Sam visit their websites: 

• The Noble Heart
• Exploring Intimate Theology - Beliefs of the Heart.

If you have a question or comment, click here and send us a text.

Oswald Chambers once wrote, “The bearing of fruit is always shown in Scripture to be the visible result of an intimate relationship with Jesus Christ.”

There is an innate desire in every human to bear fruit in this world. Some desires are for good (raising a family or caring for the poor) and some are of the flesh (greed or need for prestige). 

Jesus said that “It is to your advantage that I go away, for I do not go away, the Helper will  not come to you.” Scripture overflows with God’s promise to pour his Spirit into us, that is to let His very presence living in us give us the desires and ability to do the things that please Him.

We are beginning a new series in our Alert & Oriented podcast, and that is how we can nurture the very life of God in us. Jesus promises to “abide in us” and he wants to teach us how to “abide in Him.”

For more information about Gary or Sam visit their websites: https://thenobleheart.com/ and https://beliefsoftheheart.com/.

For more information about Gary or Sam visit their websites: 

• The Noble Heart
• Exploring Intimate Theology - Beliefs of the Heart.