Be Open

Posted on January 5, 2021 by billtonnis
Image by Günther Schneider from Pixabay

“Silence is God’s first language.” – St. John of the Cross

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Listen to my song “Slow Me Down” on YouTube by clicking HERE. Support my ministry by scrolling down past the scripture reflection and purchase my songs and books. Thank you!

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Mark 6:34

When Jesus disembarked and saw the vast crowd, his heart was moved with pity for them, for they were like sheep without a shepherd.

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Each of us has had the experience of feeling like a sheep without a shepherd.

I know there were definitely times I felt lost.

At the worst, it was generally because my ego had hijacked my life.

My mind was at its beck and call.

The non-stop chattering of ideas would circle and circle as to what my next step should be.

It wasn’t until I was thoroughly miserable at my ego’s plans that I was finally able to hear the silent voice of a Higher Power.

For me, it wasn’t until I truly took to heart the words of Jesus in the gospels and started to follow him that my life started to turn around.

Jesus and his ways remain my North Star to guide me.

And this has made all the difference.

But it required lots of changes and letting go.

As a follower of Jesus, I am called to also be open to having my heart moved with pity for others.

I think a better translation for the word pity would be empathy or compassion.

This requires that I join those who are in need – not simply care about them.

I must listen to them, empathize with them, be present to them and then stand with them in working for positive change.

For this to happen, a person’s heart must be open and not closed.

A person must be willing to listen and change.

The voice of the Spirit is gentle and quiet.

A contemplative practice such as Centering Prayer or meditation would be very helpful.

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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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Awaken

Posted on January 4, 2021 by billtonnis
Image by DarkmoonArt_de from Pixabay

“Walk as if you are kissing the Earth with your feet.” – Thich Nhat Hanh

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Listen to my song “God Is” on YouTube by clicking HERE. Support my ministry by scrolling down below the scripture reflection and purchase my songs and books. Thank you!

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From that time on, Jesus began to preach and say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

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After being baptized by John the Baptist, Jesus went into the desert for forty days.

Then John the Baptist was arrested.

That signaled the start of the ministry of Jesus.

It began with today’s scripture verse.

“Repent” means to change your direction.

He’s telling us to turn away from our worldly ways.

Turn away from seeking happiness in the kingdom of the world.

Instead, turn toward seeking happiness in the kingdom of heaven.

And note that he is not talking about this kingdom of heaven being off in a distant time when we die.

It’s at hand.

It’s right now.

That is Jesus’ message.

As scripture tells us: “God is love” (1 John 4:8).

This Love is available in the present moment.

It’s in your next breath.

It’s in the sunrise.

It’s in the sunset.

It’s in the eyes of a baby peering into yours.

It’s in the aroma of your morning cup of coffee.

It’s in the gently falling brown leaf from a tree in autumn or the sprouting of a new leaf in spring.

This Love is infinite and is always pouring forth upon us.

The most important commandments, as Jesus said, are to love God and our neighbor as ourselves (Matthew 22:35-40).

When we love others as if they were us, we remain in Christ and Christ remains in us (1 John 3:24).

And there we experience the Oneness of Love.

The kingdom of heaven is truly at hand.

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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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Let It Be Done

Posted on January 1, 2021 by billtonnis
Image by Val Rimang from Pixabay

“God comes to you disguised as your life.” – Paula D’Arcy

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Listen to my song “Let It Be Done to Me” on YouTube by clicking HERE.

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Luke 2:19

And Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart.

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This is the contemplative life.

God is alive in the present moment.

The Spirit is interacting with us.

Sometimes we are open to guidance and sometimes we are not.

Many are completely unconscious of this spiritual truth.

In order to discern this guidance, we have to pay attention to our experiences.

(Journaling would be a great way to do this!)

What direction do we seem to be getting?

What feelings did we have when this or that happened to us?

We need take Mary’s example by reviewing each day’s happenings and reflecting on them in our hearts.

Allow the events and conversations we’ve had to ruminate in our hearts.

Then rest in silence.

Perhaps your next step will emerge from this time of prayer.

In this new year, what if we enjoy the process of allowing life to unfold?

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Listen to the song of the day “Let It Be Done to Me” 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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Transformation in Progress

Posted on December 31, 2020 by billtonnis
Image by Comfreak from Pixabay

“Allow the fires of transformation to burn away all that doesn’t serve you.” – Heather Ash Amara

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Listen to my song “Sing a New Song” on YouTube by clicking HERE. Support my ministry by scrolling down below the reflection and purchasing my songs and books. Thank you!

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Psalm 96:1

Sing to the LORD a new song.

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As we get ready to say goodbye to 2020, we know that the dawn of a new year means new hope.

This has been a really tough year for many, but we know that you have to go through the valley to get to the mountaintop.

You have to go through the struggle to experience growth.

Death leads to life.

We see it in the seasons as the dead of winter leads to the rebirth of spring.

We see it artificially each day as night gives way to a new dawn.

The Christian faith tells us that love poured out does not die, but is resurrected.

No one truly dies.

We are simply reborn into a transformed life where Love is supreme.

I believe that…and it makes me want to sing a new song.

How about you?

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Listen to the song of the day “Sing a New Song” on the Live to Love 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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Contentment

Posted on December 30, 2020 by billtonnis
Image by Ildigo from Pixabay

“Peace is the result of retraining your mind to process life as it is, rather than as you think it should be.” – Wayne Dyer

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Listen to my song “The Way You Are” on YouTube by clicking HERE. Support my ministry by scrolling down past the reflection to purchase my songs and books. Thank you!

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1 John 2:17

Yet the world and its enticement are passing away. But whoever does the will of God remains forever.

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We know this scripture to be true in our hearts.

And yet, I would say the vast majority of people live as though this is not true.

Whole economies and markets are based on people buying and buying and buying.

The advertising industry is built on enticements.

We are surrounded with the message that you would be happy if you only had this or that.

What you really need is this or that.

Each of us has an emptiness that we mistakenly believe can be filled with buying something or attaining something.

It might be another job or a dream house or the perfect relationship.

And yet, why don’t we know that none of those things will satisfy our deep craving?

None of us is operating at perfection.

And we’re not meant to!

We’re meant to help each other.

Our souls are longing for a loving connection.

Our souls are longing for the Oneness that we find only in the Love that made us.

This Oneness is not somewhere out there, but inside each of us.

We don’t have to earn it or achieve it.

It’s freely given.

You are already loved infinitely as is.

You are already enough in God’s eyes.

Live in that truth.

Rest in that truth and experience the joy of: “The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I lack” (Psalm 23:1).

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Listen to the song of the day “The Way You Are” 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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Called to Change

Posted on December 29, 2020 by billtonnis
Image by StockSnap from Pixabay

“Worship of Jesus is rather harmless and risk-free; actually following Jesus changes everything.” – Richard Rohr

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

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1 John 2:4-6

Whoever says, “I know Jesus,” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoever keeps his word, the love of God is truly perfected in him. This is the way we may know that we are in union with him: whoever claims to abide in him ought to live just as he lived.

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What strikes me is that many people may know a lot about religion, but know very little about Jesus!

You can know all about rituals, doctrines, dogmas, beliefs, etc., and go to church regularly, but be fairly clueless about who Jesus was.

To know him requires knowing how he lived and what he said.

Reading the gospels would be a must!

But as today’s scripture points out, to know Jesus requires that we have more than knowledge alone.

It requires action!

Jesus was always instructing people to follow him.

By following him, we make an attempt to live as he lived.

Jesus was someone who stood up to the powerful and stood for the poor and marginalized.

Do we?

Jesus reached out to sinners with compassion so as to restore them to wholeness.

Do we?

When Jesus was asked what the greatest commandment was, he replied: “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:37-39).

You cannot love God if you don’t love your neighbor (meaning everyone).

Following Jesus requires changing the way you live your life.

You cannot change Jesus to fit your politics and economics.

You are called to change your politics and economics to fit Jesus.

As G.K. Chesterton said: “The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting. It has been found difficult; and left untried.”

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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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Love Changes Everything

Posted on December 28, 2020 by billtonnis
Image by PopcornSusanN from Pixabay

“Within every hopeless situation and every seemingly hopeless person lies the possibility of transformation.” – Desmond Tutu

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Listen to my song “Changed” on YouTube by clicking HERE. Support my ministry by scrolling down past the reflection to purchase my songs and books. Thank you!

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1 John 1:5-6

Now this is the message that we have heard from him and proclaim to you: God is light, and in him there is no darkness at all. If we say, “We have fellowship with him,” while we continue to walk in darkness, we lie and do not act in truth.

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This same letter of John tells us that God is love (1 John 4:8).

God is Love itself.

And today’s passage tells us that God is light.

Those known as Near Death Experiencers, who tell of passing from this life to the afterlife only to return when their body is revived, often tell us of experiencing a dazzling Divine Light.

They claim that in this Light they experienced an overwhelming, all-encompassing love beyond all description.

In this Light, these people tell us that they realized that – despite their sinfulness – God loved them without condition.

They realized that their lives on Earth were not to achieve some sort of perfection but to allow God’s love to transform them.

They realized that they were meant to be humbly open to bringing any darkness or self-centeredness into the Light so as to receive forgiveness and to then in turn offer this forgiveness to others.

This is the Good News, the truth, we are called to share.

It would transform the world – one person at a time.

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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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Good News

Posted on December 24, 2020 by billtonnis
Image by Ria Sopala from Pixabay

“You are forever being born, O God! The whole universe is a Christmas story.” – Ilia Delio, Christmas Reflection

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Listen to my song “Lift Up Our Voices” on YouTube by clicking HERE. Support my ministry by scrolling down past the reflection to purchase my songs and books. Thank you!

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John 1:14

And the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.

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Christmas reminds us of the incarnation.

God’s Word became flesh in Jesus.

This allows us to begin to understand that there is no separation between the sacred and the profane.

It is all mingled.

The incarnation has been ongoing throughout all creation.

The first words in the Book of Genesis are: “In the beginning, when God created the heavens and the earth…”

Then after each newly created thing, it reads: “God saw that it was good.”

This includes human beings.

All of it is seen as “good” in God’s eyes.

Love is creating out of Love for the sake of Love.

God is hidden in creation itself.

Each of us is also an incarnation of this Love.

When we awaken to this truth, we want to share who we are with the world.

May you be a living sign of this Love in this time and this place.

Blessings to all!

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Listen to the song of the day “Lift Up Our Voices” 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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Wholeness

Posted on December 23, 2020 by billtonnis
Image by Jackie Samuels from Pixabay

“The present moment is filled with joy and happiness. If you are attentive, you will see it.” – Thich Nhat Hanh

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Listen to my song “The Way You Are” on YouTube by clicking HERE. Help support my ministry by scrolling down past the reflection and purchasing my songs and books. Thank you!

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Psalm 25:4

Make known to me your ways, LORD; teach me your paths.

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To believe that you need to find some path is to believe you are lost.

This is truly a delusion.

You are right where you need to be.

You are whole and complete – your soul-self.

You need nothing more.

You are completely and eternally loved by God, the Love that created everything, just as you are.

Right now is all you have.

It is the eternal now.

It is always now.

And right now, you are enough.

Awaken to the knowledge that you are the beloved of God.

Live from that place.

Let go of the ego’s insatiable need to have more to somehow acquire an identity or happiness.

Those things are all trappings of this earthly plain.

Engage in them as you wish but always knowing that those things will dissolve at some point.

Right now, you are alive and cherished.

So, let go.

As Jesus said: “Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses it will save it” (Luke 17:33).

Breathe deeply.

The path is here – everywhere and nowhere.

You are whole.

Be grateful.

Be.

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Listen to the song of the day “The Way You Are” 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 December 22, 2020 by billtonnis
Image by SuperHerftigGeneral from Pixabay

“No one has ever become poor by giving.” – Anne Frank

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Listen to my song “Pour Me Out” on YouTube by clicking HERE. Please support my ministry by scrolling down past the reflection to purchase my songs and books. Thank you!

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Luke 1:53

“The hungry he has filled with good things; the rich he has sent away empty.”

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There is something about giving and receiving that is built into the fabric of the universe.

All things give themselves away for the benefit of what comes next.

It creates this cycle of giving and receiving.

When you pour-yourself-out for the benefit of others, you are able to then be filled again.

There seems to be some type of “karmic” principle at work.

That which you give, you in-turn receive.

As Jesus put it, “Give and gifts will be given to you…For the measure with which you measure will in return be measured out to you” (Luke 6:38).

Jesus demonstrated how to live a life of generous giving.

As St. Paul put it: “He emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness; and found human in appearance, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross” (Philippians 2:7-8).

When you pour yourself out without any ego-generated self-interested motive, you receive back life to the full.

The Divine plan is for the hungry to be filled, and those that are filled to be empty.

This requires relationship and action.

Give what you have to those in need, and then graciously accept what returns with open arms.

Give and take part in the cycle of Divine life!

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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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