Gratitude

Posted on August 24, 2016 by billtonnis

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May we be living signs of thanksgiving.

(Listen to my song “Glorify You with Me” by clicking HERE)

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Psalm 145:10

All your works give you thanks, O Lord, and your faithful bless you.

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The Greek word for “Eucharist” means thanksgiving.

Jesus showed us how to live our lives as “thanksgiving” to others.

He gave of himself in the name of love…pouring himself out in unconditional love for all…even when persecuted and crucified.

We are called to do the same.

We become what we eat. In the Christian tradition….when we receive the Eucharist at communion we are meant to become thanksgiving to all.

We are meant to go forth and use our gifts and talents to be living signs of Christ…living signs of thanksgiving.

Each of us is unique in how we do this since each of us is a unique creation of God. When we are living in this manner we are giving thanks to God.

All of creation gives praise and thanks to God in its very being.

Here is a good question to ask of yourself each day:

“How am I being the unique vessel of God’s thanksgiving to the world?”

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Listen to the song of the day “Glorify You with Me” by clicking HERE.

Sample and/or purchase my songs by clicking HERE.

CD’s available for purchase at BillTonnisMusic.com by clicking HERE.

Remember…God loves you!

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Love Never Lets Go

Posted on August 23, 2016 by billtonnis

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If you are in need of a lift…know that you are rooted in God’s grace.

(Listen to my song “God Is” by clicking HERE)

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2 Thessalonians 16-17

May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who has loved us and given us everlasting encouragement and good hope through his grace, encourage your hearts and strengthen them in every good deed and word.

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Here is some really, really good news: The Creator of all things…is love (1 John 4:8).

Love is carrying us…inspiring us…consoling us…grieving with us…laughing with us…and celebrating with us.

Love is giving us “everlasting encouragement and good hope” through grace.

Allow today’s scripture reading to settle in your soul.

Meditate on it.

Rest in it.

Feel the peace this brings.

The world needs you to share it.

Start with the people you meet today.

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Listen to the song of the day “God Is” by clicking HERE.

Sample and/or purchase my songs by clicking HERE.

CD’s available for purchase at BillTonnisMusic.com by clicking HERE.

Remember…God loves you!

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Express Yourself

Posted on August 22, 2016 by billtonnis

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Our lives are like melodies in God’s symphony of Love.

(Listen to my song “Shall We Sing” by clicking HERE)

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Psalm 96:1

Sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all you lands.

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All of creation metaphorically sings a song in its very being.

Every living thing through its very nature…pours out all that it is without any indecision or hesitancy…except us human beings! 

We have freedom of choice.

Many times…we compare ourselves to others and determine that we are not good enough. We envy others or wish we could be different or try to out-do others.

This is because our egos are in charge.

Your ego must diminish so your true self can emerge!

What if we simply were ourselves to the fullest extent with no filters?

What if we simply kept in tune with the song in our hearts and followed Jesus while pursuing our deepest passions?

What unique song is God trying to sing through you?

Each person has a song to share that is different than any other person’s song and each is beautiful.

Sing your song.

Be you…in each moment.

The Master Composer is yearning to make your song a part of the on-going symphony of love.

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Listen to the song of the day “Shall We Sing” by clicking HERE.

Sample and/or purchase my songs by clicking HERE.

CD’s available for purchase at BillTonnisMusic.com by clicking HERE.

Remember…God loves you!

 

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The Great Compassion

Posted on August 19, 2016 by billtonnis

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The source of all life is Love.

(Listen to my song “God Is” by clicking HERE)

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Psalm 107:5-6

Hungry and thirsty, their life was wasting away within them. They cried to the Lord in their distress; from their straits he rescued them.

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Jesus said that he is the vine and we are the branches. When we sever our connection to the Giver of Life…we wither.

Of course…we can never actually sever our connection with God…but we can choose to ignore it.

It’s a matter of consciousness.

We can choose to live apart from this conscious union with our Loving Creator…or simply be unconscious of it…perhaps deluded by the attractions of power, prestige and possessions.

We can nurture a conscious connection with our Loving Source by practicing being present to the Divine Presence.

Try contemplative practices such as:

  • Centering prayer and meditation.
  • Lectio Divina: Read scripture in silence while listening in your heart for a word or phrase that moves you.
  • Walk or sit in the midst of nature and nurture a sense of awe and wonder.
  • Lose yourself in anything creative…like music, poetry or art.

If we do this we will begin to be aware of promptings from God on decisions in life.

At one time…I was “hungry and thirsty” with my life seemingly “wasting away” within me. I did cry out to the God in my distress…and it was in the silence of my surrender that I heard a gentle whisper that redirected my life.

Looking back…I clearly see how God rescued me (and many times since!).

Have faith and trust that God will lead you through your struggles to wholeness.

God is always good even when we or life’s happenings are seemingly not!

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Listen to my song “God Is” by clicking HERE.

Sample and/or purchase my songs by clicking HERE.

CD’s available for purchase at BillTonnisMusic.com by clicking HERE.

Remember…God loves you!

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God Restores and Renews

Posted on August 18, 2016 by billtonnis

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Turn to Love and live.

(Listen to “Singing My Song” by clicking HERE)

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Ezekiel 36:25-26

I will sprinkle clean water upon you to cleanse you from all your impurities, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. I will give you a new heart and place a new spirit within you, taking from your bodies your stony hearts and giving you natural hearts.

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Prophets like Ezekiel had some harsh predictions for God’s people after they had turned to idols and to self-centered and non-life-giving pursuits. But he also had comforting words when they returned to God.

In reality…it wasn’t God who made bad things happen to them. They were responsible since they had turned away from their Loving Source.

God had never left them. That would be impossible!

God is always reaching out in love to each of us because that’s what Love does.

But we always have the option of whether we want to cooperate.

It’s about relationship.

When the people turned back to God…there was no chastisement.

God immediately began the process of cleansing them from their impurities and giving them a new heart and spirit.

Is there some area of your life where you have turned from God and have instead pursued some kind of idol such as power, prestige, possessions, wealth, physical appearance, sports, or even religion itself?

What is standing in the way of your relationship with God?

What is standing in the way of you being able to love all people and all creation?

Whatever it is…lay it down before your loving Creator. God is always ready to “sprinkle clean water upon you” and restore you…again and again and again.

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Listen to the song of the day “Singing My Song” by clicking HERE.

Sample and/or purchase my songs by clicking HERE.

CD’s available for purchase at BillTonnisMusic.com by clicking HERE.

Remember…God loves you!

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Peace

Posted on August 17, 2016 by billtonnis

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An Unconditional Love is sustaining and carrying us.

(Listen to my song “How Wonderful to Me” by clicking HERE)

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Psalm 23:2

The LORD is my shepherd; there is nothing I lack.

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A sheep in care of the shepherd has all its needs met. It is totally cared for.

So if my Creator is my shepherd…what more do I need?

Is there anything else truly needed above God’s love and care?

In the Catholic lectionary of daily readings, today’s gospel (Mt. 20:1-16) is an example of God’s amazing love. It’s the parable of the landowner who goes out in the morning and hires laborers to work in his vineyard. He goes out again at noon and hires more and again near the end of the day.

When it’s time to pay the laborers…the ones who started at the end of the day get the same amount of payment as the ones who worked all day.

The workers who worked the longest complained that the landowner wasn’t being fair.

But the landowner asked if they were envious because he is generous?

God is willing to pour out gratuitous love and blessings on us regardless of what we have done.

It is not about merit…but grace. 

It is not about our goodness…but God’s goodness.

We are loved unconditionally.

In the light of this Love…we lack nothing.

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Listen to the song of the day “How Wonderful to Me” by clicking HERE.

Sample and/or purchase my songs by clicking HERE.

CD’s available for purchase at BillTonnisMusic.com by clicking HERE.

Remember…God loves you!

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Be Free

Posted on August 16, 2016 by billtonnis

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The love of God is as close to you as the air that you breathe.

(Listen to my song “Breathe On Me” by clicking HERE)

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Matthew 19:23

Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Amen, I say to you, it will be hard for one who is rich to enter the kingdom of heaven.”

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What does it mean to “enter the kingdom of heaven”?

Certainly we all hope to enter upon death…but Jesus seemed to be focused on the now and not some future “reward.”

When a scribe agreed with Jesus that the two greatest commandments were to love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength and to love your neighbor as yourself…Jesus told him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God” (Mark 12:34).

Jesus was clearly talking about experiencing the kingdom of God in the present.

A rich person has an abundance of power, prestige and possessions. It’s easy to get caught up in defending and protecting all of that to the point that there is no time for God or anyone else.

It’s not the power, prestige and possessions in themselves that are bad…it’s the attachment to them.

To be present to the Divine Presence is to be free of clinging to anything.

It’s to be free to live in a loving relationship with all that is.

Then…you will be experiencing the kingdom of God or the reign of God…right now.

What is blocking me from being truly present to God’s love in this moment?

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Listen to the song of the day “Breathe On Me” by clicking HERE.

Sample and/or purchase my songs by clicking HERE.

CD’s available for purchase at BillTonnisMusic.com by clicking HERE.

Remember…God loves you!

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Gratitude

Posted on August 15, 2016 by billtonnis

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May your life reflect the Love that created you.

(Listen to my song “Lift Up Our Voices” by clicking HERE)

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Luke 1:46-47

“And Mary said: “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord; my spirit rejoices in God my savior.”

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Mary is perhaps our best example of someone putting aside her desires…and saying “yes” to God’s desires for her.

When asked if she would be the mother of the Son of God…you can imagine how radically that pulled the rug out from under the plans Mary had for her life!

And by saying “yes”…Mary’s life became an amazing adventure beyond any description.

God has plans for each of our lives.

Those plans might not be as grandiose…but they are plans that are uniquely ours.

No one else can live out the love of our Creator…like you can.

How does God want to be made flesh…in you?

How does God want to be birthed…through your life?

“Tune in” to the voice of Love in your heart. Set aside time for silent prayer, meditation, scripture reading and experiencing the awe and wonder of nature.

Then listen to your inner voice.

What are you drawn to in the name of goodness and compassion?

Start moving in that direction…and you will find yourself saying: “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord; my spirit rejoices in God my savior.”

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Listen to the song of the day “Lift Up Our Voices” by clicking HERE.

Sample and/or purchase my songs by clicking HERE.

CD’s available for purchase at BillTonnisMusic.com by clicking HERE.

Remember…God loves you!

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Good News

Posted on August 12, 2016 by billtonnis

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Since God is Love…forgiveness is always offered.

(Listen to my song “Changed” by clicking HERE)

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Ezekiel 16:62-63

For I will re-establish my covenant with you, that you may remember and be covered with confusion, and that you may be utterly silenced for shame when I pardon you for all you have done, says the Lord God.

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God’s people constantly broke their covenant with God…time after time after time.

We continue to do so.

But God offers us unconditional love.

God IS Unconditional Love!

Yet each of us has turned away…many times…choosing to serve our egos instead. Despite this…God did not and does not reject us.

Instead of condemning…God forgives!

I believe that it is precisely the fact that God forgives when we don’t deserve it…that makes all the difference. We are not punished but loved by a Creator who can only love.

And when we receive this Unconditional Love in response to our sinfulness…we are “covered with confusion” and “utterly silenced for shame.”

We weep in the face of such unmerited Love.

Our hearts are changed.

This is the transformation we undergo as we gaze upon Jesus on the cross as he looks down upon those who have rejected him in the most extreme manner and says, “Father, forgive them, they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34).

This is a Love that transforms us…and sets us free.

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Listen to the song of the day “Changed” by clicking HERE.

Sample and/or purchase my songs by clicking HERE.

CD’s available for purchase at BillTonnisMusic.com by clicking HERE.

Remember…God loves you!

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Release the Past

Posted on August 11, 2016 by billtonnis

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Forgiveness is the key to freedom.

(Listen to my song “God’s Love Is All You Need” by clicking HERE)

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Matthew 18:21-22

Then Peter approaching Jesus asked, “Lord, if my brother sins against me, how often must I forgive him? As many as seven times?” Jesus answered, “I say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven times.”

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In effect…Jesus tells us that the number of times we must forgive others is limitless.

It is truly the key to our salvation…and by salvation I mean completion and wholeness.

You cannot be freely engaged in the Flow of God’s Love in the present moment…if you are fixated on a past grievance.

You cannot move freely into the freedom of the kingdom of God while shackled in the chains of grudges and resentments.

Jesus showed us the importance of forgiveness in the prayer that he taught us when he instructed us to pray, “Forgive us as we forgive those who trespass against us.”

In his book, The Four Things that Matter Most, author Ira Byock writes, “It is wrong to think that people need to feel forgiveness in order to give forgiveness. Forgiveness is actually about emotional economics. It’s about a one-time cost that you pay to clear up years of compounded emotional pain.” “Refusing to forgive is a decision to remain in debt.”

God’s forgiveness is freely given to you. Accept it…then pay it forward.

Forgive…and be free!

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Listen to the song of the day “God’s Love Is All You Need” by clicking HERE.

Sample and/or purchase my songs by clicking HERE.

CD’s available for purchase at BillTonnisMusic.com by clicking HERE.

Remember…God loves you!

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