Listen to Your Heart

Posted on April 27, 2020 by billtonnis
Image by PublicDomainPictures from Pixabay

We are spiritual beings in need of spiritual nourishment.

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

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John 6:27

“Do not work for food that perishes but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you.”

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Yes, we all need food for our bodies and our physical health.

But what Jesus is trying to get across to us is that we often ignore the food for our souls and our spiritual health.

“We are spiritual beings having a human experience.”

That’s a famous quote from the Jesuit priest and scientist Pierre Teilhard de Chardin (1881 – 1955) who was discredited by church leaders during his time.

But now his work is on the cutting edge of theology.

Many people operate as if they are only physical beings.

They keep trying to satisfy that deep, inner craving for more with physical things.

But that deep craving is not physical but spiritual.

The answer cannot be found out there – but inside you.

As Thomas Merton put it: “There is only one problem on which all my existence, my peace and my happiness depend: to discover myself in discovering God. If I find Him I will find myself and if I find my true self I will find Him” (New Seeds of Contemplation).

Jesus’ words and actions give us the spiritual food we need.

He shows us that the path to abundant life is through letting go of our egos’ self-centered desires.

“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).

Jesus also said, “What profit would there be for one to gain the whole world and forfeit his life” (Matthew 16:26)?

If you want the life meant for you, dying to self (or ego) is necessary.

Jesus gives us the perfect example to follow.

Then listen to the gentle voice inside you whose wisdom is Eternal.

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

Remember: God loves you!

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Share Life

Posted on April 24, 2020 by billtonnis
Image by Gordon Johnson from Pixabay

Our lives are all blessed and broken so that we might give them in service.

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

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John 6:11-12

Then Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed them to those who were reclining, and also as much of the fish as they wanted. When they had had their fill, he said to his disciples, “Gather the fragments left over, so that nothing will be wasted.”

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This is the story of Jesus feeding five-thousand people with only five barley loaves and two fish.

First off, realize that the gospel writers were not reporters dictating history but evangelists teaching spiritual lessons.

I’m sure there are many lessons to be learned from this story, but what I’d like to focus on is the following.

Jesus was demonstrating what each of us is capable of doing with our lives when we do it together.

When we become the broken bread distributed to all, when we give of our broken selves for the good of all, good things happen.

Others will be inspired to do the same…and so on and so on.

This is how the kingdom of God comes alive in the here and now.

And when our lives are poured out in love and fully given over, there will be fragments of goodness left over that will have a lasting impact.

Nothing will be wasted in the economy of God.

May we all give generously of our gifts and talents to others in this time of great need.

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

Remember: God loves you!

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Take Comfort

Posted on April 23, 2020 by billtonnis
Image by Ioannis Ioannidis from Pixabay

Trust that a Higher Power is leading you to new life.

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

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Psalm 34:19

The LORD is close to the brokenhearted, saves those whose spirit is crushed.

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The Christian narrative is beautiful and comforting.

In this religion, we see a God who wants to be intimately with us.

In the Gospel of Matthew, it says that Mary will have a son who will be named Emmanuel which means “God with us” (Matthew 1:23).

God is “made flesh” in Jesus.

And Jesus said that we could know God by knowing him (John 14:7).

And who do we see in Jesus?

Someone who reached out to the hurting and healed them.

Someone who advocated feeding the hungry, welcoming the stranger, clothing the naked and visiting the imprisoned (Matthew 25).

We see someone who stood up to the injustice of government and religious leaders but always in a non-violent way.

The way of Jesus was compassion.

Even when he is cruelly put to death, Jesus responded with forgiveness (Luke 23:34).

So if you are struggling, are feeling brokenhearted, or if you feel your spirit is crushed, come to Jesus.

Call out to him and be confident that his presence is readily available in each moment.

Set aside time for silent rest in his Healing Presence.

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Listen to the song of the day “Come to Jesus” on the Live to Love album by clicking HERE.

Stream and/or purchase my songs on Amazon Music 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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Encouragement

Posted on April 22, 2020 by billtonnis
Image by kien virak from Pixabay

While all things in this world are passing, our souls are in the arms of Eternal Love.

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Listen to my song “Love Will Always Lead You Home” on YouTube by clicking HERE.

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Psalm 34:5

I sought the LORD, and he answered me, delivered me from all my fears.

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It’s so hard to believe that there is nothing to fear.

But what about the current pandemic?

What about the uncertainty?

What about…(fill in the blank)?

Remember when the apostles were on a boat during a storm and Jesus was sleeping peacefully, they woke him in fear.

That’s when Jesus said, “Why are you terrified? Do you not yet have faith? (Mark 4:40)”

When you get down to it, the real fear is death.

We know that we don’t have control over when our lives will end.

But we have faith that when that happens – it will not be the end!

We know this by the resurrection.

I have also been comforted by the stories of the people known as “Near Death Experiencers”.

Thousands and thousands of people across the planet have had the experience of suffering cardiac arrest and then leaving their bodies with ease, and most have reported encountering a Light of Love that is beyond any love they have ever come close to experiencing.

Do you believe that?

Because if we did believe it…then fear would dissolve.

As scripture states: “There is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear because fear has to do with punishment, and so one who fears is not yet perfect in love” (1 John 4:18).

Remember: “God is love” (1 John 4:8).

So let go of any fear.

Let go of the scary narrative your mind is composing!

As soon as your mind starts telling you a scary story…catch those thoughts and simply press delete!

Rest in the present moment and find that your soul is being held in the perfect Love that sustains all things.

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Listen to the song of the day “Love Will Always Lead You Home” on the Mercy Reigns album by clicking HERE.

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

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

Remember: God loves you!

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Communion

Posted on April 21, 2020 by billtonnis
Image by Arek Socha from Pixabay

“What we have to recover is our original unity.” – Thomas Merton

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Listen to my song “All Are One” on YouTube by clicking HERE.

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Acts 4:32

The community of believers was of one heart and mind, and no one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they had everything in common.

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The first followers of Jesus who bound together after having an experience of the risen Christ lived as a family.

It was all about oneness.

They shared their resources to make sure everyone was cared for.

This must have been how it was like living with Jesus before he was crucified.

These same followers were hiding and fearing for their lives before encountering the risen Christ.

Then they no longer feared.

They knew that death was not the end.

They knew that life would go on but in a changed manner.

They knew that they needed to continue the work Jesus began in caring for the poor, the sick and the imprisoned.

They had been through quite a traumatizing time and now they knew they could handle anything.

We can take comfort in this as we and the people of the world are all going through the trauma of the current COVID-19 pandemic.

Great suffering has a way of making a person wake up and realize what things in life are important and what things are not.

Love lasts while possessions will disintegrate.

When you come down to it, everything that lives on this planet is in a relational matrix.

May we be of one heart and mind.

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

Stream and/or purchase my songs on Amazon Music 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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Amazing Grace

Posted on April 20, 2020 by billtonnis
Image by 💛 Passt gut auf euch auf und bleibt gesund! 💛 from Pixabay

Listen, let go, and be changed.

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

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John 3:8

Jesus said, “The wind blows where it wills, and you can hear the sound it makes, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes; so it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

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A Pharisee named Nicodemus came to Jesus in the secrecy of the night to ask him questions.

The Pharisees were religious teachers who upheld strict observance of traditional and written law.

Unlike the other Pharisees, Nicodemus recognized that Jesus was a gifted teacher.

Jesus told him that the only way he could see the kingdom of God was to be “born from above.”

Jesus was speaking of being “born of the Spirit” as he says in today’s scripture verse.

You need a higher awakening.

It’s not something you or I can accomplish.

It’s purely a gift of God.

But you must be open for it!

You must be willing to let go of all the black-and-white answers you’ve been clinging to.

The rules were a good foundation for your childhood religion, but not so much for an adult faith.

Life will hand you many challenges and at some point cause you enough suffering that you will one day simply let go and turn yourself over to a Higher Power.

That time may be in this current pandemic.

And in your disorienting dilemma, when your rules can’t save you, the Spirit will whisper words of comfort and new life to your heart.

So let go, listen, and be changed!

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

Remember: God loves you!

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Silence Speaks

Posted on April 17, 2020 by billtonnis
Image by ambroo from Pixabay

This isolation invites us to listen to the yearning in our souls.

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Listen to my song “Turn Off the Noise” on YouTube by clicking HERE.

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John 21:4-6

When it was already dawn, Jesus was standing on the shore; but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus. Jesus said to them, “Children, have you caught anything to eat?” They answered him, “No.” So he said to them, “Cast the net over the right side of the boat and you will find something.” So they cast it, and were not able to pull it in because of the number of fish.

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When I read this scripture before writing today’s reflection, it hit me like never before.

I suddenly realized that something similar had happened to me.

It had nothing to do with fishing!

Think about the scenario here where these seasoned fishermen have caught nothing and then this stranger on the shore tells them to try something so seemingly nonsensical as casting the net on the other side of the boat.

They must have said to themselves or even out loud, “You’ve got to be kidding!”

But they did it – and the result was astounding.

On the first Friday of March in 1997 after I had spent an exhausting week covering the massive flood of the Ohio River as a radio news reporter, I sank into my couch at home at the end of my rope.

(WLWT photo)

Despite my seeming success in my career, I was miserable.

I desperately needed a change.

And it was in the silence of my surrender to God on that afternoon that I heard in my heart a whisper that said, “Get your guitar.”

The message was so preposterous that I thought, “You’ve got to be kidding!”

I hadn’t touched my guitar in ten years.

It made absolutely no sense.

Well, it’s a long story but I did get my guitar that afternoon and slowly, very slowly, started to write songs.

My songwriting led me on a journey that led me out of radio and into ministry including producing four original music albums.

There have been so many blessings since that day when I heard a voice tell me to do something that made no sense…but has made all the difference in my life.

What is God calling you to do?

You’ll never know if you don’t listen.

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

Stream and/or purchase my songs on Amazon Music 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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Working for Oneness

Posted on April 16, 2020 by billtonnis
Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

Stand up to injustice with both fortitude and non-violence.

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

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Luke 24:36

While the disciples were still speaking about this, Jesus stood in their midst and said to them, “Peace be with you.”

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When Jesus finally appeared to the majority of his disciples for the first time, he was not angry.

He didn’t scold them or express his disappointment that they had all abandoned him at the cross.

Instead, Jesus offered them peace.

He was not interested in reprisals or getting even.

The disciples’ actions were all forgiven…even when they had not asked for forgiveness.

Jesus continued to show us the way of non-violence.

He also showed us that death leads to new life.

They are complementary not opposites.

There is nothing to fear.

Now that they saw, and we have seen, that death does not have the final say, Jesus calls us to follow him on that same path.

It’s the path of standing up for the poor, the excluded, and those unjustly treated…but to do it peacefully.

Each of us is called to be a channel of peace in this troubled world while at the same time to be activists for justice.

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

Remember: God loves you!

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Blessed and Broken

Posted on April 15, 2020 by billtonnis
Image by congerdesign from Pixabay

To live we must lay our lives down.

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Listen to my song “How Magnificent, Wondrous and Glorious” by clicking HERE.

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Luke 24:32

Then they said to each other, “Were not our hearts burning [within us] while he spoke to us on the way and opened the scriptures to us?”

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After the resurrection of Jesus, two of his followers were walking to the village of Emmaus.

Women had reported that Jesus had risen but they were not believed.

The men headed to Emmaus were still numb and overcome by all that had happened.

That’s when a man began to walk with them.

It was Jesus…but they did not recognize him.

Since it was late, they invited this stranger to stay with them for an evening meal.

When the man “took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them,” they suddenly recognized that this was Jesus himself.

It was in the breaking of the bread, the same ritual Jesus performed at the Last Supper when he gave his followers his broken body as their food.

Is this not what we are all called to do?

Are we not all called to become bread broken and given to others?

Are we not all called to lay down our lives in love, mercy, forgiveness and compassion for the good of all and the world?

We are seeing this literally playing out before our eyes now with all the selfless acts being performed by doctors and nurses on the front lines of helping those infected with COVID-19.

God became incarnate not only in Jesus but in the bread and wine, the basic sustenance of that time.

And then this incarnation of the divine is eaten and we become it.

As they say, ‘You are what you eat!’

And then we come to see that God is incarnate in all things.

There is no separation between the profane and the sacred.

The kingdom of God is everywhere for those who are awake.

May our hearts all burn with the knowledge of God’s incarnate Love for us and for everything!

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Listen to my song “How Magnificent, Wondrous and Glorious” on the Mercy Reigns album by clicking HERE.

Stream and/or purchase my songs on Amazon Music 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 April 14, 2020 by billtonnis
Image by Frauke Riether from Pixabay

Allow life’s struggles to awaken your true self.

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Listen to my song “Take the Road Less Traveled” on YouTube by clicking HERE.

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John 20:16-17

Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni,” which means Teacher. Jesus said to her, “Stop holding on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am going to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”

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We continue with the ‘Mary Magdalene’ theme from yesterday.

In the Gospel of John’s account, you can’t miss the particularly intimate portrayal of her encounter with the risen Christ.

At first, she doesn’t recognize Jesus, not until he calls her by name: “Mary (exclamation)!”

And then comes his request to stop holding on to him.

So, she must have run into his arms.

But, alas, we cannot remain static.

We cannot simply stay where we are and try to keep the status quo.

Life involves change.

It involves struggle.

Let’s face it: Without the struggles many of us would not have the courage to move forward into the unknown.

I know I wouldn’t have!

It seems to be the only way we can grow!

We must be willing to let go of what was so that we can experience what has yet to be.

It’s the space of creativity.

It’s that vulnerable, liminal space that is so uncomfortable – yet necessary for us to blossom.

As Jesus put it, “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).”

For something new to start, something old must end.

That’s the creative evolutionary process of the universe.

For whatever mysterious reason, that’s the way of God.

Perhaps the current upheaval in life that this pandemic has caused across the world is just the thing to spur a major transformation in us all for the better?

Take courage!

For as today’s scripture tells us: God is the God of Jesus, you, me, and everything.

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Listen to the song of the day “Take the Road Less Traveled” on the Live to Love album by clicking HERE.

Stream and/or purchase my songs on Amazon Music 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!

Posted in faith, inspiration, Self Help, spirituality, Today's Contemplation | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment