The Great Compassion

Posted on May 27, 2014 by billtonnis

Psalm 138:2-3
I praise your name for your fidelity and love. For you have exalted over all your name and your promise. When I cried out, you answered; you strengthened my spirit.

Our Loving Creator is as close as the breath we breathe. The same wondrous God who made the galaxies and continues to create in each moment…also resides in your innermost being and wants nothing more than to be with you. Allow that truth to sink in. Turn to the Great Compassion Who will never reject you…but will always embrace you. Shout with joy to the Lord!

Suggested song of the day– “How Wonderful to Me” on the Live to Love album.
Hear free clips of Bill’s songs by clicking on Bill Tonnis’ Music on iTunes to the right.
CDs available by clicking “home” and then the “store” tab.
Remember…God loves you!

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Awaken

Posted on May 23, 2014 by billtonnis

Psalm 57:8-9
My heart is steadfast, God, my heart is steadfast. I will sing and chant praise. Awake, my soul; awake, lyre and harp!

Is your soul awake? That might seem like a strange question…but it just might be the most profound question that Jesus was trying to put before us! Is it not true that for most people their egos are fully in command while their soul slumbers? Do they not spend most of their lives trying to build-up and manufacture a persona that in reality is a “false self”? Who is the “real you” that God made to sing a unique song with your life so as to help build the kingdom of God? Jesus says, “Come, and you will see” (John 1:39). Follow Him. May your soul be awakened! What is your unique song in God’s great on-going symphony?

Suggested song of the day– “Singing My Song” on the Live to Love album.
Hear free clips of Bill’s songs by clicking on Bill Tonnis’ Music on iTunes to the right.
CDs available by clicking on “home” and then the “store” tab.
Remember…God loves you!

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Unconditional Love

Posted on May 22, 2014 by billtonnis

John 15:9
“As the Father loves me, so I also love you. Remain in my love.”

God is Love. It’s beyond our understanding…but God is constantly giving unconditional love because that is Who God Is. That means God expects nothing in return. It seems unbelievable because it’s so opposite of most human experience where we love expecting something in return. See how Jesus receives the Love of God…and in turn gives it to others…expecting nothing in return. He gives the ultimate example on the cross…showing love in the face of total rejection. If we receive the Love so freely given to us and then in turn give it…also expecting nothing in return…a beautiful cycle is created…as this Love is returned to God…for God is in all people and all things. When this happens…the kingdom of God is at hand!

Suggested song of the day– “You’ll Lead Me” on the Listen to Your Heart album.
Hear free clips of Bill’s songs by clicking on Bill Tonnis’ Music on iTunes to the right.
CDs available by clicking “home” and then the “store” tab.
Remember…God loves you!

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Being Your True Self

Posted on May 21, 2014 by billtonnis

John 15:5
“I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit, because without me you can do nothing.”

The Risen Christ is at the very center of your life…but are you conscious of this? Is following in His path your top priority…or are you more concerned with satisfying your ego and its desires? You will never find true inner peace and joy if you are not living in the awareness that you are a branch connected to the vine of your Divine Source. The Giver of unconditional love, mercy, grace, forgiveness and compassion invites you to give what you have been given. How can you channel this Grace using your unique gifts and talents? This is the process of becoming your “true self.”

Suggested song of the day– “Make Me a Channel” on the Listen to Your Heart album.
Hear free clips of Bill’s songs by clicking on Bill Tonnis’ Music on iTunes to the right.
CDs available by clicking on “home” and then the “store” tab.
Remember…God loves you!

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Kingdom Builder

Posted on May 20, 2014 by billtonnis

Acts 14:22
They strengthened the spirits of the disciples and exhorted them to persevere in the faith, saying, “It is necessary for us to undergo many hardships to enter the kingdom of God.”

Struggles and persecutions are promised us in our human experience but if we walk in faith with Jesus they will always lead to new life. It’s the path Jesus showed us. In today’s scripture passage, Paul had just been stoned and dragged out of a city for preaching about the risen Christ. He somehow survived. Rough treatment for someone doing God’s work! Notice how the disciples didn’t plan retaliation. They didn’t form a militia for a counter-attack. They simply moved on with the same message of unconditional love, mercy, forgiveness and compassion. For this is the only way the kingdom of God will break into the present! They learned well from Jesus. Have we?

Suggested song of the day– “Salvation” on the Live to Love album.
Hear free clips of Bill’s songs by clicking on Bill Tonnis’ Music on iTunes to the right.
CDs available by clicking “home” and then the “store” tab.
Remember…God loves you!

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Rejoice and Be Glad

Posted on May 19, 2014 by billtonnis

John 14:7
“If you know me, then you will also know my Father.”

Jesus reaches out in unconditional love to all. He stands up to any injustice but while doing so never condemns or uses violence. Jesus is always reaching out to include those who have been rejected and even when unjustly put to death He extends mercy, compassion and forgiveness (“Father, forgive them, they know not what they do” – Luke 23:34). Jesus says that if we know Him…then we also know God. So…why would we fear such a God? This is Good News!

Suggested song of the day– “God Is” on the Give Praise and Thanks album.
Hear free clips of Bill’s songs by clicking on Bill Tonnis’ Music on iTunes to the right.
CDs available by clicking “home” and then the “store” tab.
Remember…God loves you!

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Kenosis

Posted on May 16, 2014 by billtonnis

John 14:5-6
Thomas said to him, “Master, we do not know where you are going; how can we know the way?” Jesus said to him, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

True life happens through the process of letting go…letting go of all the stuff that you thought defined you…all the labels…all the masks…all the possessions…the things that our egos try desperately to hold on to. If you practice this process of letting go or “kenosis” (from a Greek word meaning the self-emptying of one’s own will and becoming entirely receptive to God’s will) and follow the One who said he was the way, the truth and the life…then the final letting go will not be difficult…but just another experience of resurrection and new life. For when we surrender our attachments to things that will not last…God fills us with the Life that never ends!

Suggested song of the day– “Breathe On Me” from the Listen to Your Heart album.
Hear free clips of Bill’s songs by clicking on Bill Tonnis’ Music on iTunes to the right.
CDs available by clicking “home” and then the “store” tab.
Remember…God loves you!

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Greatest Commandment

Posted on May 14, 2014 by billtonnis

John 15:12-13
This is my commandment: love one another as I love you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.

Jesus commands us to love each other. It seems that we make many things non-negotiable in the Church that Jesus never talked about. However…we seem to let this clear command slide. He commanded us to love each other…and our enemies as well! A command is non-negotiable. Jesus showed us how to love…all the way to the cross. He showed us how to love when being hated. He gave us the most extreme example…not as an end in itself…but as a model. Jesus tells us to do the same. This is the path we must follow. It’s the path to wholeness, oneness in God and becoming our true selves. In other words…it’s the path to salvation.

Suggested song of the day– “Salvation” on the Live to Love album.
Hear free clips of Bill’s songs by clicking Bill Tonnis’ Music on iTunes to the right.
CDs available by clicking “home” and then the “store” tab.
Remember…God loves you!

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Good Shepherd

Posted on May 13, 2014 by billtonnis

John 10:27-28
“My sheep hear my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish. No one can take them out of my hand.”

We are the sheep of the Good Shepherd who cares tenderly for each sheep. Jesus says he knows each of us. That means He knows both the light and the shadow side of each of us. Jesus doesn’t say we have to get rid of the shadow side before He will care for us. The love of God does not depend on our meriting it. It is total gift. Eternal life is a gift. Jesus promises that no one can take you out of His hand. Doesn’t that make you want to listen for His voice…and to follow Him?

Suggested song of the day– “I Want to Follow You” on the Listen to Your Heart album.
Hear free clips of Bill’s songs by clicking Bill Tonnis’ Music on iTunes to the right.
CDs available by clicking “home” and then the “store” tab.
Remember…God loves you!

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Be Your True Self

Posted on May 12, 2014 by billtonnis

John 10:10
“I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly.”

Jesus did not become human to give us an evacuation plan to heaven. He came that we “might have life (now) and have it more abundantly (now!).” Jesus showed us how to be fully alive as human beings. As St. Irenaeus said, “The glory of God is the human being fully alive.” If we follow Jesus and allow Him to shepherd us…we will have life to the full now. We will become our true selves. What a shame if we come to our earthly life’s end and have not become who we were made to be! If you are being you and living for the kingdom of God now…then when death does come…that moment will again be now…and we believe that life will indeed be abundant!

Suggested song of the day– “How Wonderful to Me” on the Live to Love album.
Hear free clips of Bill’s songs by clicking on Bill Tonnis’ Music on iTunes to the right.
CDs available by clicking on “home” and then the “store” tab.
Remember…God loves you!

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