Your Kingdom Come

Posted on February 15, 2016 by billtonnis

hands_oneness_helping

When we reach out to those in need, we experience the Presence of God

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Matthew 25:34-35

‘Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me.’

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Jesus is said to have stated that the greatest commandment was to love God and to love your neighbor as yourself (Matthew 22:37-39).

He gave specific instructions on how to love our neighbors (meaning everyone) in today’s scripture passage. It was in reaching out to those in need and helping them…actually being with them and including them.

That is what God requires of us.

Note that Jesus did not say anything about worthiness or requirements about “being right” or following specific guidelines (not that guidelines are bad!).

Mother Teresa didn’t give the dying a lecture or a lesson…she simply fed, clothed and comforted them.

Jesus reached out to all people in love and mercy.

We are called to do the same.

***

Listen to the song of the day “You’ll Lead 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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Mercy Reigns Album Project

Posted on February 12, 2016 by billtonnis

Mercy Reigns CD Cover (Bill Tonnis) Final-1_1600x1600 (2)

Hi all!

I need your help!

I’ve kicked off an effort to fund my new “Mercy Reigns” album project on the crowdfunding site “Indiegogo”.

If you like my blog…you’ll like my music!

Please click HERE to go to my page on the Indiegogo site to see and hear more about my passion to do this!

To hear the title song, “Mercy Reigns”, which is already recorded, click HERE.

If you are unable to contribute…your good thoughts and prayers are appreciated!

Many thanks!

Peace and blessings,

Bill

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True Sacrifice

Posted on February 12, 2016 by billtonnis

love_banner

The universal calling is to channel God’s Love

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Isaiah 58:6-7

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“This, rather, is the fasting that I wish: releasing those bound unjustly, untying the thongs of the yoke; setting free the oppressed, breaking every yoke; Sharing your bread with the hungry, sheltering the oppressed and the homeless; Clothing the naked when you see them, and not turning your back on your own.”

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The prophet Isaiah lived over 700 years before Jesus but spoke powerfully of the Messiah to come.

Jesus would not be a king of military might but one of love, mercy, forgiveness and compassion.

Isaiah told the people quite pointedly that God does not desire fasting and sacrifices if they are to gain God’s favor. That, apparently, is not what impresses God.

What God wants is for us to sacrifice our ego-centered desires to free us to be able to reach out to the oppressed, hungry, homeless, and impoverished.

The sacrifice is of our own selfish desires…for the sake of the “other.”

This is the radical call for all Christians.

***

Listen to the song of the day “Make Me a Channel” 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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Let Go and Live

Posted on February 11, 2016 by billtonnis

banner_bird_flyingWhat masks are camouflaging your true self?

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Luke 9:23-24
Jesus said to all, “If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.”

~~~

To be a Christian in today’s culture is to be a radical.

Our culture says grab all you can and amass more and more. Satisfy your ego’s every whim and desire. Jesus tells us to turn from those desires…carry our daily struggles and persecutions…and to follow his path.

The paradox is this: If we follow our culture’s path we potentially end up with lots of material stuff that all eventually disappears. It certainly will when we die. As they say, “You can’t take it with you.” Then the sad truth is…we end up not knowing why we lived in the first place!

But if we follow Jesus and let go of our ego’s insatiable desires…we end up finding our true selves and the true meaning of our existence.

Talk about “saving” your life!

That is true salvation!

***

Listen to the song of the day “I Want to Follow You” 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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Ash Wednesday

Posted on February 10, 2016 by billtonnis

candles_ashes

Live your life with an eternal perspective

Matthew 6:2
“When you give alms, do not blow a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets to win praise of others.”

~~~

As we enter into the season of Lent…many Christians today will receive ashes on their heads. Let’s make sure that this ritual is a reminder that our bodies…as well as all our possessions…will one day turn to dust.

Our earthly time is fleeting.

Let it remind us that this life is about more than “me”…but about “us” and all of creation.

Everything is part of a much grander plan.

The only time that is real is now.

It’s the only time to encounter God’s unconditional love and to channel it to others. Let the ashes on our heads also remind us that death will not be the end…but that life will go on and be transformed in eternal life. Jesus showed us this.

Let today’s ashes not be an attempt to attract attention to ourselves or an attempt to “please” God. Jesus went through a litany of instructions against hypocrisy…such as doing good deeds and giving alms to receive accolades or any other ulterior motives.

Let us use this time of Lent to practice letting go of our ego’s desires for things that won’t last and don’t matter…so that we can be open to the things that do…such as learning to love, seeking justice with compassion and serving those in need.

***

Listen to the song of the day “Pour Me Out” by clicking HERE.

Sample and/or purchase my songs by clicking HERE.

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

Remember…God loves you!

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Spiritual Craving

Posted on February 9, 2016 by billtonnis

sun-flower-_sunshine

Awaken to God’s intimate Presence

Psalm 84:3

My soul yearns and pines for the courts of the Lord. My heart and flesh cry out for the living God.

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This is profoundly true but most people are probably quite unaware of it.

Everyone knows they are yearning…pining for something. Our hearts and flesh are crying out for satisfaction.

Isn’t this true for you?

The problem is that most people try to fulfill this yearning and longing with the three “P’s”: possessions, power and prestige. These things will only satisfy the constant craving temporarily before the yearning returns.

That’s because the yearning isn’t for something physical, emotional or psychological…but for something spiritual.

God made each of us with a yearning that only God can fill…or should I say, only “Love” can fill? When we empty ourselves of our egos’ desires…God has the opportunity to fill us.

When we die to our ego’s demands…we paradoxically find our true selves.

This usually only happens through great love or great suffering. Otherwise, our egos remain firmly in control. One way to practice this “dying to self” is through contemplative prayer. Try sitting in silence and making each moment an exercise in letting go.

God is as close as your very breath.

Take a few minutes to simply be silent and be aware of your breathing.

Slow down.

Stop.

Listen.

Meet the living God.

See what happens.

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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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Becoming Whole

Posted on February 8, 2016 by billtonnis

Mountain_sky_beauty

Let love transform your pain to gain.

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Mark 6:56

Whatever villages or towns or countryside he entered, they laid the sick in the marketplaces and begged him that they might touch only the tassel on his cloak; and as many as touched it were healed.

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Can you imagine what it was like for Jesus as everyone came to Him expecting to be healed? How overwhelming!

And yet this was his mission…to heal and to preach the unconditional love of God.

Let’s face it. We all have need of healing.

We all have wounds…whether physical, psychological, emotional or spiritual. Our wounds are sacred…places where we meet the healing, unconditional love of God.

Our wounds are not places to conceal and be ashamed of…but places to invite God to be with us. These are the places where we are not in control…the places where we need help and can’t fix ourselves.

These are the places where we have no choice but to “die” to our “false selves” and to be truly honest and vulnerable to God. God’s desire is not to punish or criticize us but to comfort and redeem us.

God wants to make us whole.

Sometimes our wounds are the only places where we can truly experience the unconditional, unmerited and transformational love of God.

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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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Life Song

Posted on February 5, 2016 by billtonnis

music_heart

Be present to all that is in thanks and gratitude.

The Book of Sirach 47:8

With his every deed he offered thanks to God Most High, in words of praise. With his whole being he loved his Maker and daily had his praises sung.

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King David was said to have lived much of his life in thanks and praise to God. Jesus was the perfect example of living in thanksgiving…totally pouring himself out in compassion and love to all those in need.

The word “Eucharist” comes from a Greek word that means “giving thanks.” When Jesus broke the bread, gave it to his followers and said, “Take and eat; this is my body” (Matthew 26:26)…he meant for his followers to become the body of Christ. You’ve heard the old adage: “You are what you eat”.

When we eat the Eucharist…we are meant to become thanksgiving.

We take the-way-of-Jesus into the world so that the kingdom of God truly comes in the here and now. When we are thankful for all that we’ve been given and then we live in thanks-giving…giving our thanks to others…we sing the praises of our Maker.

Each of our lives becomes a melody adding new harmony to a wondrous Divine Symphony.

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Listen to the song of the day “Sing a New 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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Let Go and Live

Posted on February 4, 2016 by billtonnis

seagull_flight_free

What attachments are blinding you to true life?

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Mark 6:8

Jesus instructed them to take nothing for the journey but a walking stick–no food, no sack, no money in their belts.

~

Just how obsessed are you with your possessions?

This “stuff” that won’t last becomes such a focus of our attention. We sometimes call certain things our “prized-possessions.” Those same “prizes” will one-day be junk.

How much precious time do we waste on keeping, securing and multiplying our possessions?

It’s not the stuff that is inherently bad…it’s our attachment to it.

Jesus sent his apostles out with nothing…so that nothing would distract them from devoting themselves to imparting the love, mercy, grace, forgiveness and compassion of God to all. They were about the business of building the kingdom of God.

“Letting-go” is not about losing anything of worth…but about gaining more of what truly is.

Start now…so that when it comes time for your final letting-go…you will be well-versed in dying and rising to new life.

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Listen to the song of the day “Listen to Your Heart” 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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Grace Upon Grace

Posted on February 3, 2016 by billtonnis

hand_baby

God looks at us through the lens of love.

Psalm 32:5

Then I declared my sin to you; my guilt I did not hide. I said, “I confess my faults to the Lord,” and you took away the guilt of my sin.

~

God is Love.

God is not an angry tyrant waiting to punish.

When I admit my wrongdoings and times I acted selfishly…as if I was the center of the universe…God forgives and extends mercy.

What else would Love do?

Turn back to your Loving Creator and allow yourself to be held. As a mother cradles a baby in her arms…this is how God wants to hold you…with no condemnation…only Love.

It’s not a matter of worthiness…but is simply a choice to open yourself to a Love that is never withheld.

God’s justice is not retributive…but restorative.

Feel the embrace of Unconditional Love…and watch your guilt and pain…

fall away.

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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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