Sifted Wheat

Are you struggling with setting boundaries with your parents? Do you need support to assess the relationship and give yourself permission to say "no" or create space? Or on the other side, do you struggle with not involving your parents in your lives, having them take responsibility for your kids or your emotions when that is no longer their role?

If any of those answers is "yes" or "maybe," this is a conversation for you! And as always, its a space where we look at scripture and see how Jesus engaged his mom and brothers and what He says about loving Him first.

Hopefully, this will help you think through some things and make some choices that will help you learn how to love your parents well.

Scriptures included:

Luke 14

1 Corinthians 13:4-8 (yep, again!)

Mark 3:31-35

Matthew 12:46-50

Luke 8:19-21

John 2:1-11

Exodus 20:12

Genesis 2:24

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Audio production - Tuxradio

Logo design - Tina Marie Alverenga

We’ve all heard the statement “The church is a hospital” but if we are honest, we are looking less like a hospital where people can come and find healing and leave better, and have become more like a hospice where we choose to remain comfortable until we die. If those feel like harsh words, maybe it is because they fatefully ring true. This episode is about discovering what it means to love people enough to help them get BETTER! This requires engagement and conversation and intimacy that goes beyond what “feels good” into what is actually “beneficial.”

Scriptures referenced:

Mark 10:17-22

1 Corinthians 13:4-8

1 John 4:8, 18

Matthew 5:43-48

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Disordered "love" opens us up to harm.

If we aren't careful we can elevate our love for others, making what God created the SOURCE of our love instead of Him being the source through which we love others. This often happens through the magnification of others meeting our needs, allowing them to be "god-like." This opens us up to get hurt and for us to be victimized in ways that God's love for us seeks to protect us. Or, the other extreme of that is, we become aggressors in our demand towards others to meet and gratify our desires or for our need to be the only one to gratify those things in them. Loving God first allows Him to meet our needs, and from there, He will move us into relationships so that we can love others safely.

Scripture referenced:

1 John 4:18

Resources on attachments:

Attachments - Clinton and Sibcy

God Attachment - Clinton and Straub

Unending thanks and gratitude to:

Tuxradio - audio production

Tina Marie Alverenga - logo creation/design

Follow for more content at:

@siftedwheatpodcast on instagram

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We are continuing to open up about the order of “love” with “Love Yourself” in part 2 of the Out of Order Series. Hopefully, you are learning what “love” is so that you can operate in it more fully and more safely. Remember, God wants to guard our hearts to guide our hearts, and He can only do that if we get the order right. So today we are allowing that love for Him to guide us in loving ourselves.

“Self love” is a word that gets a lot of attention, and it should, but more often than not, it ends up being more akin to lust – fueled by possession and need rather than protection and companionship. We don’t want to be “lovers of ourselves” which leads us into self-gratification to the exclusion of others, but rather we want God’s love to extend to our worth and lead us to be loving and gracious towards ourselves, keeping us guarded instead of open to deception, and engaging care for self for continued health.

If I love myself OVER God, it becomes dangerous to others, setting them up to be hurt, misused, and/or abandoned. When the narrative of my love shifts into only what is “best for me” then I am excluding a huge majority of the population. God’s love, in its purity, includes self but extends to embrace and acknowledge others in a way that promotes value and grace.

Love without limits (read that as “boundaries”) isn’t freedom, its chaotic and oppressive. Keep listening to learn why and how.

Scriptures to follow up with:

Romans 12:1

2 Timothy 3:1-2 and 3-5

Hebrews 12:16

Unending gratitude to:

Tuxradio – audio editing and production

Tina Marie Alverenga – logo and design

This episode is opening the door to my own sifting season that is presently being experienced. Sometimes what is happening in our lives doesn't reflect God's promises, and if we aren't careful, we might even think that it doesn't reflect His goodness.

I want to take some time and talk through 4 things that I have committed to doing which has helped me both in this season and also in past seasons:

1. Believe God over your circumstances.

2. Talk to God to gain His perspective.

3. Lean not on your own understanding.

4. Focus on His character over your needs.

Join me as I walk through each one of these steps and how to practically apply them to your life.

Resources and scriptures referenced:

"Holier Than Thou" - Jackie Hill Perry

Hosea 14:2

Psalm 139:17-18

Psalm 27:13

Proverbs 3:5-6

Genesis 15:1-12

Psalm 145:8-9

1 Corinthians 10:13

Jeremiah 29:11

Unending thanks to:

Tuxradio - audio production/edit

Tina Marie Alverenga - logo creation and design

We are continuing the conversation with Trey Oldham, and this time we are going to dive into more experiences of being obedient in the face of fear or even discomfort. We are called to be generous and loving regardless of our preferences or preconceived notions. Trey reminds us "Grace and love is messy" and as followers of Christ we are called to love well. Join us as we walk through our own struggles and the uncovered and unexpected blessings of obedience.

Scriptures referred to:

Matthew 6:3-4

Hebrews 13:12

Unending thanks and gratitude to:

Tuxradio - Audio production

Tina Marie Alverenga - logo/graphic art

Feel free to follow me on instagram @siftedwheatpodcast so we can continue to connect!

Join the first of our two part conversation about how we move from the love of God into making it the purpose of loving and caring for those around us. In this first episode, my pastor and friend, Trey Oldham, shares his own story of "reckless" obedience and how it wasn't just about helping others but freeing him from the power of "stuff."

We move through Trey's story of obedience into suggestions and examples of how we can meet the needs of others and how physical needs precede spiritual needs for most. I hope this is a blessing to you and that after you listen, you will go and be a blessing to others through acts of obedience to God who loves each of us intentionally!

Scriptures we reference:

Luke 15:10-32

Matthew 18:10-14

Psalm 119:105

Unending thanks to:

Tuxradio - audio production

Tina Marie Alveranga - logo/graphic design

Follow me for more content and encouragement

@siftedwheatpodcast on Instagram

Let’s take a look deeper into the story of God through the parable of the prodigal son and the lost sheep. Let’s look beyond the players in the story to the teller of the story, Who is represented in the Father and the Shepherd, the conduit of both reckless love and sustaining love. This time we are going to move into the beauty of sacrificial love and how Jesus bridges the gap for ALL of us, wherever we find ourselves – near or far. This is the story of The Third Son.

Scriptures to explore:

Luke 15:1-32

Matthew 18:10-14

Hebrews 12:2

John 5:19

John 10:30-38

John 14:9

John 15:13

Additional resources mentioned:

“Radical” – David Platt

“Shame Off You” – Norman W. Wright

Unending thanks and gratitude to:

@Tuxradio – audio production

Tina Marie Alvarenga – logo creation

This conversation is the second in a series that highlights

Resources to follow up with:

“Prodigal God” – Tim Keller

Luke 15: 13-7; 11-32

Continual and unending thanks to:

 Rob Tucker – audio production

Tina Marie Alvarenga – logo/ design