The Call of the Heart | Bible Teachings for Spiritual Awakening

What does it actually mean to love God—and to love our neighbor as ourselves?

In this episode of The Call of the Heart, we explore Jesus’ greatest commandments in Matthew 22:36–40 through the lens of presence, spiritual practice, and everyday acts of care. Drawing on the life of my grandmother, Joyce, I reflect on how hospitality, genuine curiosity, teaching, and service can become expressions of our devotion.

An invitation to bring the love we cultivate in prayer and meditation into our homes, relationships, and communities.

There are many ways to pray, and many things we can ask for. But how do we come into presence with the God we’re speaking to?

When Moses asks God His name, the answer is “I AM.”

In this week’s transmission, we explore three steps for entering more deeply into prayer:

1. Calling God by name
2. Feeling His presence within our hearts
3. Returning to the prayer again and again.

It’s a simple teaching, but there’s something profound available when we take the time to actually be there with the I Am.

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What if the story of Adam and Eve is also a story about what happens inside us?

In this episode, I revisit the Garden of Eden through the lens of yoga and non-duality. I explore Adam and Eve as the masculine and feminine within each of us, and the moment we begin to trust the mind’s ideas about what will make us happy more than the quiet knowing of the heart.

The invitation is to return to presence: to enjoy and engage with life while staying connected to God. I close with a prayer for that connection to become something you can feel and carry into each day.

If this episode spoke to you, follow The Call of the Heart on Substack for more reflections on Scripture, meditation, and living in connection with God. ❤️‍🔥

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All wisdom traditions point to the same underlying truth...That God can be heard. That God can be connected with.And that connection happens in Silence.LIVE every Monday at 8EST: Sacred Texts for Spiritual Awakening

What if the meditation teachers of the East and the God of the Bible have been pointing to the exact same truth all along? In Exodus 3:14, God doesn't give Moses a name — He gives him two words: I AM.

I'm Xander Sage. The Call of the Heart is a weekly Bible teaching podcast for those who feel an unexpected call — toward God, toward Jesus, toward something deeper.

Here I approach Scripture not as religious doctrine, but as the deepest guide to spiritual awakening ever written.

This episode explores spiritual awakening through Exodus 3:14 — the moment God reveals Himself to Moses not as a name but as "I AM." We trace that same felt sense of pure existence into the East, into the teachings of Ramana Maharshi and Advaita Vedanta, where resting in "I am" is taught as the fastest path to enlightenment itself. Two traditions, two vocabularies, one revelation. If you've ever felt like your meditation practice and your faith were pulling you in opposite directions, this episode is for the moment you realize they were always pointing the same way.

(00:00) The question that changes everything(01:40) I AM — Exodus 3:14(04:55) Where East meets the Bible(09:30) Read, meditate, pray together(13:40) Closing blessing

The guilt you feel when you fall back into an old pattern — that isn't God turning away from you.

That's God reaching toward you.

I'm Xander Sage. The Call of the Heart is a weekly Bible teaching podcast for those who feel an unexpected call — toward God, toward Jesus, toward something deeper.

Here I approach Scripture not as religious doctrine, but as the deepest guide to spiritual awakening ever written.

In this episode, we explore guilt and shame not as signs of spiritual failure, but as gifts — God's way of calling us back to the life He has placed on our hearts. Drawing from Numbers 16, where Aaron stepped between the dead and the living and the plague was halted, we look at what it means to turn to God in true repentance and feel His presence return. God has never left. He is waiting — every time, without exception — for us to turn back toward Him.

Answering the call doesn't require it to make sense — only an openness and willingness to listen. If you feel that invitation, stay close by subscribing, and share this with someone else who may need it today.

—— Chapters ——

(00:00) Guilt Is a Gift From God

(02:40) How God Uses Pain

(05:05) Three Steps Back to God

(07:10) Numbers 16 Context

(09:35) Aaron Halts the Plague

(11:40) God Catches You Every Time

This episode found you for a reason. Whatever season you're walking through, God has a blessing of peace to offer — and all that's asked of you is to receive.

I'm Xander Sage. The Call of the Heart is a weekly Bible teaching podcast for those who feel an unexpected call — toward God, toward Jesus, toward something deeper.

If something in you feels drawn here, that may already be the call. You're welcome to stay, subscribe, and walk this path a little further.

There are seasons when teaching is not what the soul needs — only presence. If that is where you are today, let this blessing reach the part of you that is most tired. Let it land beneath thought.

Answering the call doesn't require it to make sense — only an openness and willingness to listen. If you feel that invitation, stay close by subscribing, and share this with someone else who may need it today.

—— Chapters ——

(00:00) This found you for a reason

(00:30) A blessing for the persevering

(01:20) Clarity is closer than you think

(02:00) Resisting temptation, leaning in

(02:35) Peace, joy, and love

Ep. 57

You've been eating clean and doing the practice — and the wound hasn't healed. What if presence, not discipline, is what's been missing?

I'm Xander Sage. The Call of the Heart is a weekly Bible teaching podcast for those who feel an unexpected call — toward God, toward Jesus, toward something deeper.

Here I approach Scripture not as religious doctrine, but as the deepest guide to spiritual awakening ever written.

My background is rooted in Christian mysticism, Eastern spirituality, and Christ consciousness — and it is shared from direct experience, not theology.

Healing lives in presence. And presence lives in a body that is calm, grounded, and still. This reflection on James 4:7-8 moves gently through the yogic energies — the rajasic rushing we often mistake for health, the tamasic heaviness we rightly avoid, and the sattvic stillness where the Spirit finally has room to move. The "devil" James names here is not a figure in red — it is anything that consistently pulls you out of presence, even a handful of nuts grabbed in passing.

If something in you feels drawn here, that may already be the call. You're welcome to stay, subscribe, and walk this path a little further.

James offers a sequence worth sitting with — submit, resist, cleanse the hands, and only then does the heart purify. The body is the first doorway. Notice what you reach for, how often, and what energy it leaves in you.

If this reflection is speaking to something in your own heart, consider subscribing or sharing it with someone who may be hearing a similar call.

Answering the call doesn't require it to make sense — only an openness and willingness to listen. If you feel that invitation, stay close by subscribing, and share this with someone else who may need it today.

—— Chapters ——

(00:00) Healthy diet blocking healing

(01:10) Energy over nutrients

(02:30) Rajasic, tamasic, sattvic

(04:10) Healing happens in presence

(04:55) James 4:7-8 opens

(06:15) Resist what pulls you away

(08:00) Cleanse the hands first

(09:20) The purified heart

##Ep. 56

That self-critical voice in your head — the one that doubts, fears, and judges — was never yours. And it was never God's. This episode is about learning to tell the difference.

I'm Xander Sage. The Call of the Heart is a weekly Bible teaching podcast for those who feel an unexpected call — toward God, toward Jesus, toward something deeper.

Here I approach Scripture not as religious doctrine, but as the deepest guide to spiritual awakening ever written.

My background is rooted in Christian mysticism, Eastern spirituality, and Christ consciousness — and it is shared from direct experience, not theology.

We open today in 1 Kings 19:11–13, where Elijah stands before God — and God does not come in the wind, or the earthquake, or the fire. He comes in a soft whisper. This is the teaching: the voice of truth is always the quietest voice in the room. The loud, urgent, emotionally charged voices — the ones that arrive with shame, guilt, or fear — are not from your heart and not from God. They were picked up along the way, and they can be released. Through meditation, prayer, and the practice of stillness, we create the inner space for the whisper to finally come through. This episode draws on direct experience — including over 60 days of silent meditation at Hridaya Yoga — to offer a felt, practical path toward discernment.

If something in you feels drawn here, that may already be the call. You're welcome to stay, subscribe, and walk this path a little further.

If you've ever wondered why God feels silent, or why the inner noise seems louder than any sense of guidance — this episode is for you. The whisper is there. It's learning to go still enough to hear it.

If this reflection is speaking to something in your own heart, consider subscribing or sharing it with someone who may be hearing a similar call.

Answering the call doesn't require it to make sense — only an openness and willingness to listen. If you feel that invitation, stay close by subscribing, and share this with someone else who may need it today.

—— Chapters ——

(00:00) That voice was never yours

(02:07) What the mind holds onto

(04:34) 1 Kings 19:11–13 — the Word

(05:09) Wind, earthquake, fire, whisper

(07:27) Let the whisper lead you