Shalom

Posted on July 8, 2021 by billtonnis

Image by Avi Chomotovski from Pixabay

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“We can never obtain peace in the outer world until we make peace with ourselves.” – Dalai Lama

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Listen to my song “Make Me a Channel” on YouTube by clicking HERE.

Support my ministry by purchasing my songs and books (Mercy Reigns & Listen to Your Heart). Thank you!

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Matthew 10:12-13

“As you enter a house, wish it peace. If the house is worthy, let peace come upon it; if not, let your peace return to you.”

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We are meant to channel peace to the world.

This was part of the instructions Jesus gave his apostles as he sent them out.

He also told them to heal people, to restore them.

His followers were not simply to bring the message of peace but to embody it, to live it.

This is the Hebrew idea of “shalom” which connotes harmony, wholeness, and completeness.

We must first allow this peace and harmony to reign in us.

How?

By letting go.

By resting in the peace that surpasses all understanding.

It’s available always inside you.

Step back from your mind’s endless chatter.

Notice your mind’s behavior, how it wants to comment on everything and create endless narratives and stories.

You are not those thoughts and you do not have to be attached to them.

Simply notice them.

Detach from them.

Notice your breathing.

Follow each inhale and exhale.

Rest.

(Centering Prayer or other form of meditation is very helpful.)

In this place of presence, you are whole and complete.

You are one with all that is.

You are deeply loved by the One who made you.

Live from this place no matter how stormy your circumstances.

Be present to those you encounter.

Allow the sacrament of the present moment (Jean Pierre de Caussade) to bring peace and harmony.

If people are lost in the delusion and noise of the world, move on.

As Jesus said, “let your peace return to you.”

It’s not your job to change anyone.

Instead, allow this peace to change you.

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Listen to the song of the day “Make Me a Channel” on the Listen to Your Heart album by clicking HERE.

Stream and/or purchase my songs on Amazon Music by clicking HERE.

Purchase my new book “Listen to Your Heart: A Daily Devotional of Calling, Purpose and New Life” on Amazon by clicking HERE.

Purchase my book “Mercy Reigns: A Daily Devotional of Compassion, Comfort and Healing” on Amazon by clicking HERE.

Remember: God loves you!

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Peace Be with You

Posted on July 7, 2021 by billtonnis

Image by FelixMittermeier from Pixabay

“If you want to conquer the anxiety of life, live in the moment, live in the breath.” – Amit Ray

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Listen to my song “Breathe On Me” on YouTube by clicking HERE.

Support my ministry by purchasing my songs and books (Mercy Reigns & Listen to Your Heart). Thank you!

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Matthew 10:7

“As you go, make this proclamation: ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’”

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Jesus gave this instruction to his apostles before sending them out to do his ministry.

The phrase Jesus used probably needs updating to put it into modern language to fit our time.

I recently heard spiritual teacher Eckhart Tolle comment on this phrase.

He said a better word for kingdom today would be dimension.

I would choose two words: loving realm or loving community.

Tolle says the translation that got us the word heaven in the bible could also be translated sky and therefore really connotes spaciousness.

Tolle says Jesus was talking about the dimension of spaciousness.

I would put it, the loving realm (or community) of spacious peace.

Jesus says that this loving realm of spaciousness and peace is at hand, or in other words, right here.

It’s not somewhere-out-there-in-a-far-away-place.

Jesus also stated that the kingdom of God (or heaven) is among you or also (and probably better) within you (Luke 17:21).

In other words, the loving realm of spaciousness, where you are free of constant thoughts and attachments, where you are in the peace of the present moment, is within you.

This is the presence of God.

It is in you and me and everyone.

It is why Jesus told us to love your neighbor as yourself because this same Presence is in everyone – and everything!

Stop.

Just be in this moment.

Let go.

Listen.

The kingdom of heaven is at hand!

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Listen to the song of the day “Breathe On Me” on the Listen to Your Heart album by clicking HERE.

Stream and/or purchase my songs on Amazon Music by clicking HERE.

Purchase my new book “Listen to Your Heart: A Daily Devotional of Calling, Purpose and New Life” on Amazon by clicking HERE.

Purchase my book “Mercy Reigns: A Daily Devotional of Compassion, Comfort and Healing” on Amazon by clicking HERE.

Remember: God loves you!

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God Is Love

Posted on July 6, 2021 by billtonnis

Image by Christo Anestev from Pixabay

“There is no way of telling people that they are all walking around shining like the sun.” – Thomas Merton

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

Support my ministry by purchasing my songs and books (Mercy Reigns & Listen to Your Heart). Thank you!

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Matthew 9:35-36

Jesus went around to all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and curing every disease and illness. At the sight of the crowds, his heart was moved with pity for them because they were troubled and abandoned, like sheep without a shepherd.

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What do you think the “gospel of the kingdom” is?

I bet there are a multitude of different answers to that question from people who identify as Christian.

Do you think this gospel (which means “good news”) was fire and brimstone, that if you aren’t good you’ll be cast into hell?

Jesus practically never talked about such a thing according to scripture.

Yes, you can find a few quotes that you can interpret as such, but you can also interpret them as ways to shake people out of their complacency.

Jesus often spoke in such exaggerations which was typical of Jewish rabbis of the time.

If we all are facing such a serious judgement from a harsh and condemning God, don’t you think Jesus would have been harping on it all the time?

Instead, Jesus focused on love and forgiveness.

He said the greatest commandments were to love God with all your heart, soul and mind and to love your neighbor as yourself (Matthew 22:36-39).

Since he also commanded us to love our enemies (Matthew 5:44), don’t you think God would as well?

Jesus told us that God was like the loving and forgiving father in the Parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32).

Jesus reflected God in his handling of the woman caught in adultery.

He didn’t threaten her with hell-fire, but said that he did not condemn her (John 8:2-11).

The ultimate reflection of God was when Jesus forgave his killers from the cross when they had not even asked for forgiveness (Luke 23:34)!

The gospel of the kingdom is the good news of God’s unconditional love.

That’s what changes hearts, not threats of eternal damnation.

That’s why Jesus was so moved seeing the crowds of people who “were troubled and abandoned, like sheep without a shepherd.”

Jesus realized that they didn’t know that, despite their troubles, they were deeply and eternally loved by their Creator.

People are still in desperate need of hearing that message.

Please share it!

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Listen to the song of the day “God Is” on the Give Praise and Thanks album by clicking HERE.

Stream and/or purchase my songs on Amazon Music by clicking HERE.

Purchase my new book “Listen to Your Heart: A Daily Devotional of Calling, Purpose and New Life” on Amazon by clicking HERE.

Purchase my book “Mercy Reigns: A Daily Devotional of Compassion, Comfort and Healing” on Amazon by clicking HERE.

Remember: God loves you!

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Restoration in Progress

Posted on July 2, 2021 by billtonnis

Image by danaz from Pixabay

“Humility is the surest sign of strength.” – Thomas Merton

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Listen to my song “Mercy Reigns” on YouTube by clicking HERE.

Support my ministry by purchasing my songs and books at the links following the scripture reflection below. Thank you!

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Matthew 9:11-13

The Pharisees saw this and said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” Jesus heard this and said, “Those who are well do not need a physician, but the sick do. Go and learn the meaning of the words, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ I did not come to call the righteous but sinners.”

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There goes Jesus hanging out with all the wrong people again.

This time, it’s the dishonest tax collectors of the day.

They were despised by the Jews because they were in collaboration with their Roman oppressors.

Jesus started out today’s reading by actually selecting Matthew, who was sitting at his tax collector’s post, to be a follower (Matthew 9:9).

Jesus was always including the people that the religious leaders, the Pharisees, were ostracizing.

When questioned about this, Jesus referred to a passage from the prophet Hosea in telling the Pharisees (and us) to go and learn the meaning of the words, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’

God’s great desire for all people is to know mercy.

Jesus wanted the Pharisees (and us) to know that God was not interested in their ritual sacrifices to obtain favor.

Note how God, through Jesus, had shown mercy to Matthew in calling him to be a follower while he was a sinner!

Jesus tells the Pharisees that he has come as the divine physician to assist the sick, not the well.

Which sets up a nice trap for the Pharisees (and us): Are you among the sick or the well?

The Pharisees held themselves above the others as paragons of virtue.

They were self-righteous.

The fact of the matter is, we’re all sinners.

This awareness is not so that we wallow in our faults and be guilt-ridden, but so that we can receive God’s unconditional love, mercy, and forgiveness.

Then we can grow in love so that we in turn can extend that same love, mercy, and forgiveness to others.

This is the message of the Gospel of Jesus.

Is it the Gospel we reflect with our lives?

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Listen to the song of the day “Mercy Reigns” on the Mercy Reigns album by clicking HERE.

Stream and/or purchase my songs on Amazon Music by clicking HERE.

Purchase my new book “Listen to Your Heart: A Daily Devotional of Calling, Purpose and New Life” on Amazon by clicking HERE.

Purchase my book “Mercy Reigns: A Daily Devotional of Compassion, Comfort and Healing” on Amazon by clicking HERE.

Remember: God loves you!

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Big Picture

Posted on July 1, 2021 by billtonnis

Image by raychristy from Pixabay

“If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.” – Wayne Dyer

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Listen to my song “Changed” on YouTube by clicking HERE.

Support my ministry by purchasing my songs and books at the links following the scripture reflection below. Thank you!

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Psalm 115:5-6

They have mouths but do not speak, eyes but do not see. They have ears but do not hear.

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There is a form of contemplative prayer known as Lectio Divina.

It literally means “divine reading.”

The Contemplative Outreach website defines it as: An ancient practice of praying the Scriptures. During Lectio Divina, the practitioner listens to the text of the Bible with the “ear of the heart,” as if he or she is in conversation with God, and God is suggesting the topics for discussion.”

I have been practicing this form of prayer for years and it has been a source of great growth for me.

Today, in reading Psalm 115, the two verses above stood out to me.

Outside the context of the Psalm, the verses spoke to my heart.

I asked, “God, what is it you wish to say to me in these words?”

As I ruminated on these verses, I realized the universal truth in them.

There have been many times in my life when I have not spoken out when the Spirit was calling me to do so. There have many times I saw and heard what was going on but somehow missed the deeper truth.

(One such thing is the truth of “White Privilege.” I will not delve into that topic here and will leave that to you and your spiritual journey.)

There is a fun experiment called the “Monkey Business Illusion” that was conducted several years ago.

Volunteers watch a video of two groups of people, one dressed in white and the other in black, as they pass basketballs around. The volunteers are asked to count the passes among the players dressed in white while ignoring the passes of those in black.

What they aren’t told is that during the video, a man dressed like a gorilla walks through the scene and even beats his chest with his fists at one point.

The result was that 50 percent of the people completely missed the gorilla!

I would find it hard to believe if I hadn’t been one of them!

This test was done on the people attending a conference that I attended and I completely missed the gorilla.

It really gave me a sense of humility to realize that most of what I “know” is based on the cultural upbringing I had and the filters I had received.

It was very narrow.

It takes a lifetime of openness, curiosity, and the humility to realize I don’t know a whole lot – in order to grow as a human being.

God, Spirit, Love, Source – whatever name you want to use – is calling us on an adventure beyond our wildest dreams…if we are willing to be open and to change.

It’s your choice.

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Listen to the song of the day “Changed” on the Give Praise and Thanks album by clicking HERE.

Stream and/or purchase my songs on Amazon Music by clicking HERE.

Purchase my new book “Listen to Your Heart: A Daily Devotional of Calling, Purpose and New Life” on Amazon by clicking HERE.

Purchase my book “Mercy Reigns: A Daily Devotional of Compassion, Comfort and Healing” on Amazon by clicking HERE.

Remember: God loves you!

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Now Here

Posted on June 30, 2021 by billtonnis

Image by myungho lee from Pixabay

“Attachment is the source of all suffering.” – Buddha

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Listen to my song “Slow Me Down” on YouTube by clicking HERE.

Support my ministry by purchasing my songs and books at the links following the scripture reflection below. Thank you!

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Psalm 34:11

The rich grow poor and go hungry, but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing.

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This seems paradoxical.

The rich grow poor and go hungry?

Really?

It doesn’t seem like that’s what happens!

These types of teachings are much like the Zen Buddhist koans which are paradoxical riddles.

While those who are rich in monetary wealth and possessions may seem to be quite well off, they may actually be quite empty spiritually.

I believe this is why Jesus stated that “it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for one who is rich to enter the kingdom of God” (Matthew 19:24).

When you have lots of possessions it is much easier to allow those possessions to take over your life.

It is easy to become attached to them, to self-identify with them.

When this happens, Thomas Merton would say that you are living as a “false self.”

You are actually quite poor and empty of the spiritual riches that God wants for you.

The problem is not the possessions but the attachment to them.

When your mind is preoccupied with possessions and self-image, you are missing the current moment.

It takes a lot of letting go and self-emptying to paradoxically discover your true self, the unique divine reflection that you are of your loving Creator.

Some type of practice of letting go such as meditation or Centering Prayer is very helpful.

When you awaken to the now and can observe your mind’s addictive thoughts and not become attached to them, you have found the peace of Christ that surpasses all understanding (Philippians 4:7).

You truly “lack no good thing.”

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Listen to the song of the day “Slow Me Down” on the Mercy Reigns album by clicking HERE.

Stream and/or purchase my songs on Amazon Music by clicking HERE.

Purchase my new book “Listen to Your Heart: A Daily Devotional of Calling, Purpose and New Life” on Amazon by clicking HERE.

Purchase my book “Mercy Reigns: A Daily Devotional of Compassion, Comfort and Healing” on Amazon by clicking HERE.

Remember: God loves you!

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Circle of Life

Posted on June 29, 2021 by billtonnis
Traditional wooden waterwheel near Werfen in Pongau valley, Austria.

“Your purpose will only be found in service of others, and in being connected to something far greater than your mind/body/ego.” – Wayne Dyer

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Listen to my song “Pour Me Out” on YouTube by clicking HERE.

Support my ministry by purchasing my songs and books at the links following the scripture reflection below. Thank you!

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2 Timothy 4:6

For I am already being poured out like a libation, and the time of my departure is at hand.

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We are a part of a sacred creation that is constantly in flux.

We breathe in the oxygen of life provided to us by a magical collaboration between sunlight with plankton in the ocean as well as the trees, plants and grasses on land, and then we exhale the carbon dioxide of life that helps all vegetation to grow and thrive.

It is a giant system of giving and receiving, like a never-ending-waterwheel of life.

All things in nature are filled with the gift of life, and then empty themselves in death thereby allowing the circle of life to continue.

Human beings have advanced in consciousness to where we have the choice as to whether to take part in this sacred dance of life.

Each day we have the free will to either take and accumulate possessions, and whether to give them away.

We have the free will to decide whether to give of ourselves.

St. Paul deeply understood and took to heart what Jesus had said about living life: “For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it” (Matthew 16:25).

For Paul, following Christ by pouring out his life in the service of others was how he found his true self.

In losing his former life he had found a bounty of life that he didn’t know was possible.

He was confident that as his physical, earthly life drew to a close, a new life was on the horizon.

Paul realized that nothing could separate him from the love of God because he experienced it in his daily self-emptying.

His very life became an offering of praise to God.

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Listen to the song of the day “Pour Me Out” on the Give Praise and Thanks album by clicking HERE.

Stream and/or purchase my songs on Amazon Music by clicking HERE.

Purchase my new book “Listen to Your Heart: A Daily Devotional of Calling, Purpose and New Life” on Amazon by clicking HERE.

Purchase my book “Mercy Reigns: A Daily Devotional of Compassion, Comfort and Healing” on Amazon by clicking HERE.

Remember: God loves you!

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No Strings Attached

Posted on June 18, 2021 by billtonnis

Image by Please Don’t sell My Artwork AS IS from Pixabay

“Where there is love there is life.” – Mahatma Gandhi

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Listen to my song “Show Me, Me” on YouTube by clicking HERE.

Support my ministry by purchasing my songs and books at the links following the scripture reflection below. Thank you!

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Matthew 6:21

“For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be.”

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Jesus has a way of cutting to the heart of the matter.

What is your treasure?

Each of us would do well to ask ourselves this question.

Is my treasure my possessions; my 401(k); my car; my house; my profession; my title; my physical appearance; my health?

Is it sports, social media, or possibly political beliefs?

How about religious beliefs?

All these things, even beliefs, will fizzle when your physical body dies.

Beliefs are of little importance if they don’t lead to compassionate action.

The only thing that will survive physical death is love.

As St. Paul famously said, when all else fails, “faith, hope, and love remain, these three; but the greatest of these is love” (1 Corinthians 13:13).

It has been my deep honor to visit a man over the last year and a half who is dealing with a terminal illness.

While terribly difficult and painful, at the same time it has been greatly inspiring and beautiful to see him come to the realization that, although he had great monetary treasure, his real treasure is his family and his love for helping others.

As the trappings of the world dissolve, the true treasures are fully manifesting.

Through this experience, I have realized more deeply that my treasure in life is nothing more than love.

When I’m truly present to this awareness, my heart is indeed full.

I am rich beyond measure.

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Listen to the song of the day “Show Me, Me” on the Listen to Your Heart album by clicking HERE.

Stream and/or purchase my songs on Amazon Music by clicking HERE.

Purchase my new book “Listen to Your Heart: A Daily Devotional of Calling, Purpose and New Life” on Amazon by clicking HERE.

Purchase my book “Mercy Reigns: A Daily Devotional of Compassion, Comfort and Healing” on Amazon by clicking HERE.

Remember: God loves you!

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Let Go

Posted on June 17, 2021 by billtonnis

Photo by Jaesung An on Pixabay

“For contemplation is nothing else than a secret and peaceful and loving inflow of God, which, if not hampered, fires the soul in the spirit of love.” – St. John of the Cross.

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Listen to my song “Listen to Your Heart” on YouTube by clicking HERE.

Support my ministry by purchasing my songs and books at the links following the scripture reflection below. Thank you!

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Matthew 6:7-8

“In praying, do not babble like the pagans, who think that they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them. Your Father knows what you need before you ask him.”

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When I was a boy, I was taught that praying was mostly about reciting already-written prayers.

Despite that, I know that even as a child I was privately talking to God.

When Jesus was asked directly by his followers how they were to pray, he gave them a very direct answer, the one in today’s scripture verse.

And just before that, he said: “Go to your inner room, close the door, and pray to your Father in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will repay you” (Matthew 6:6).

Your inner room is metaphorical.

It’s your interior, your heart if you will.

(I’m no expert, but I’ve read that there were few if any “inner rooms” in the typical home during Jesus’ time.)

Not that using words in prayer is wrong, because speaking is part of any dialogue.

But I think we many times forget that the other half of dialogue is listening.

The other powerful point that Jesus makes in today’s verse is that God already knows what you need.

What if we simply sat quietly, closed our eyes, and rested in the Divine Presence?

What if we practiced what Jesus preached?

“Not my will but yours be done” (Luke 22:42);

Lose your life to find it (Matthew 10:39);

“Unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat; but if it dies, it produces much fruit” (John 12:24).

When we actually practice letting go and letting God, we are practicing wordless prayer.

This is contemplative prayer.

There are many forms of meditation including the Christian practice of Centering Prayer.

Schedule a time for it each day.

But know that you can rest in God any time.

Just stop.

Be quiet.

Let go.

Listen.

Trust the Flow of God’s Grace.

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Listen to the song of the day “Listen to Your Heart” on the Listen to Your Heart album by clicking HERE.

Stream and/or purchase my songs on Amazon Music by clicking HERE.

Purchase my new book “Listen to Your Heart: A Daily Devotional of Calling, Purpose and New Life” on Amazon by clicking HERE.

Purchase my book “Mercy Reigns: A Daily Devotional of Compassion, Comfort and Healing” on Amazon by clicking HERE.

Remember: God loves you!

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Sacred Purpose

Posted on June 16, 2021 by billtonnis

Image by Clker-Free-Vector-Images from Pixabay

“To follow Jesus is to be a wholemaker, essentially to love the world into new being and life.” – Ilia Delio

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Listen to my song “Mercy Reigns” on YouTube by clicking HERE.

Support my ministry by purchasing my songs and books at the links following the scripture reflection below. Thank you!

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2 Corinthians 9:6

Consider this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.

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St. Paul is not preaching the prosperity gospel here.

When you look at the big picture of Jesus’ life and his teachings, he was not telling us that financial gains were rewards from God.

This type of thinking is where capitalists contort Jesus’ teachings to fit their philosophy.

St. Paul and the rest of the disciples obviously did not preach that.

In today’s scripture verse, Paul is talking about sowing the seeds of love and compassion.

When you live from a heart of love, you carry out the Corporal Works of Mercy: feed the hungry; give drink to the thirsty; clothe the naked; give shelter to the homeless; visit the sick; visit the imprisoned; and bury the dead.

The kingdom of God is built on the economy of grace, not the economy of consumerism.

When we sow love we are taking part in the mission that Jesus started.

We bring loving presence to all that is.

Love transforms the world to a loving place.

The aim is wholeness.

The returns on such sowing multiply in ways we cannot fathom.

And this treasure is eternal.

As Near Death Experiencers have said over and over, you will revisit the loving things you did as well as the not-so-loving-things when you return to God.

As they have also repeatedly said, you will realize that Love was all that really mattered.

Your material wealth as well as your worldly prestige and power will have dissolved into nothingness.

But the love that you gave will fill you bountifully.

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Listen to the song of the day “Mercy Reigns” on the Mercy Reigns album by clicking HERE.

Stream and/or purchase my songs on Amazon Music by clicking HERE.

Purchase my new book “Listen to Your Heart: A Daily Devotional of Calling, Purpose and New Life” on Amazon by clicking HERE.

Purchase my book “Mercy Reigns: A Daily Devotional of Compassion, Comfort and Healing” on Amazon by clicking HERE.

Remember: God loves you!

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