God Is with You

Posted on March 30, 2020 by billtonnis
Image by John Hain from Pixabay

Awareness of your minds’ habitual, conditioned thoughts frees you.

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

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Psalm 23:4

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me.

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With the current pandemic, many people can relate to feeling like we’re walking through a “dark valley” as today’s scripture verse is sometimes translated.

But there are also lots of people who can relate to it being literally like “the valley of the shadow of death.”

I’m sure the people being treated for the Coronavirus in ICU’s across the country are feeling that way.

I’m also sure the many nurses and doctors treating them can relate.

There was a woman I had been visiting for months who had terminal cancer who literally told me numerous times that she realized she was “in the valley of death.”

I was profoundly touched by her seeming calm.

I could sense in my heart her deep faith that a Higher Power was with her.

It was more like an Abiding Love.

Fear seems to rise when we are confronted by a situation that could emotionally or physically harm us.

But what if we observed the fear as soon as it started to rise?

What if we became aware of the fearful thoughts that followed?

These thoughts are simply a fictional narrative that our minds are telling us about what might happen.

Become aware of that!

What if we stayed firmly planted in the present moment and immediately stated the first line of today’s psalm: “The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I lack.”

Repeat that line to yourself and carry it with you like a treasured friend.

An Abiding Love is holding you and will never let you go.

Never!

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

Remember…God loves you!

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Trust

Posted on March 28, 2020 by billtonnis
Image by Dimitris Vetsikas from Pixabay

There is a Great Love carrying us through rough waters.

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

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Psalm 7:2

Lord my God, in you I take refuge; rescue me; save me from all who pursue me.

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Many people can relate to the words of today’s psalm.

It feels as though we are under siege from the Coronavirus.

As we find ourselves cooped up in our homes…we can become somewhat paranoid.

“Rescue me, O God!”

Fear is what happens when we allow our minds to start manufacturing stories.

Usually the stories are about bad things happening.

They are all fiction.

God is still God and is very much so with us.

Allow Jesus’ words that he spoke to the fearful apostles as he walked on water to calm you: “Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid” (Matthew 14:27).

St. Paul said this: “We know that all things work for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28).

When we trust in a Higher Power, a God who is love (1 John 4:8), we know all obstacles can be turned into opportunities.

Ponder this quote from Stephen Levine’s book, “Who Dies?”:

“If we can say that grace is a sense of connectedness, that it is the experience of our underlying nature, then we may see how what is often called tragedy holds the seeds of grace.”

We are in the midst of these “seeds of grace.”

Have faith and allow the seeds to be nurtured and to sprout.

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Listen to my song “Make Your Way” off 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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Share Grace

Posted on March 27, 2020 by billtonnis
Image by Myriam Zilles from Pixabay

May each of us be a light in the darkness.

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Listen to my song “May I Be Light” on YouTube by clicking HERE.

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John 7:27

Some of the people in Jerusalem said, “But we know where he is from. When the Messiah comes, no one will know where he is from.”

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Jesus did not get the respect of many.

They had their minds made up about the coming Messiah.

Who did this Jesus think he was?

Following your calling isn’t easy.

Many people will reject you.

If you are trying to make a difference, if you are trying to stand up for people who are ostracized by society or who are considered outsiders…watch out.

The powers that be will not take kindly to you.

But this did not stop Jesus.

He stood up to those who opposed him – but not with any violence.

Instead, Jesus spoke words of truth and he continued to heal and befriend those who were outcasts.

We are all called to follow in the footsteps of Jesus.

People are in need of help…especially now.

How can God help them if not for us?

Do you hear God calling you?

Stop.

Be still.

Listen.

What are you being called to do to spread compassion and truth in this time and place?

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Listen to the song of the day “May I Be Light” 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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God’s Will

Posted on March 26, 2020 by billtonnis
Image by Dean Moriarty from Pixabay

Let Love lead you as you live life’s questions.

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

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John 5:36

“The works that the Father gave me to accomplish, these works that I perform testify on my behalf that the Father has sent me.”

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Read Jesus’ words above again, but this time, read them as though you are saying them about yourself.

Read them again.

Let the words become your own.

I think this is our calling: to accomplish the works God has given us.

I spent many years as a radio news journalist trying my best to inform listeners and when I could to uplift them.

But as the years dragged on and I achieved a level of success in my career, something inside me was crying out.

There was a deep yearning from my inner core to be my true self.

It became clearer and clearer that I wasn’t accomplishing the works that God gave me.

It took deep soul pain for my ego to finally surrender.

And from this little death that my ego suffered on the first Friday of March in 1997, came new life.

These words surfaced out of nowhere into my consciousness: “Get your guitar.”

It was a guitar I hadn’t touched in ten years and had hardly played since I was a kid.

It made no sense!

But fast-forward over 20 years later – and I now have a life I never could have imagined.

I have four albums of original inspirational Christian music and am about to publish my second devotional book of scripture reflections.

In carrying out ministry to the sick, homebound and the incarcerated, I have experienced God’s love in deeply profound ways.

What are the works God has given you to accomplish?

If the question baffles you, simply do the next loving thing.

Take the advice of the poet Rainer Maria Rilke: “Be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves, like locked rooms and like books that are now written in a very foreign tongue. Do not now seek the answers, which cannot be given to you because you would not be able to live them. And the point is, to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps you will then gradually, without noticing it, live along some distant day into the answer.”

Amen.

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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 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 Calling

Posted on March 25, 2020 by billtonnis
Image by Gabriela Piwowarska from Pixabay

What is your unique mission in manifesting Christ’s presence in this time and place?

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

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Psalm 40:7

Sacrifice and offering you do not want; but ears open to obedience you gave me.

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God is not interested in our sacrifices per se.

Scripture notes that here and in the Book of the Prophet Hosea (Hosea 6:6).

Jesus quoted Hosea when he said, “Go and learn the meaning of the words, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice’ (Matthew 9:13).

Hosea said God wants our loyalty.

Jesus is translated as saying God wants our mercy.

When we lay down our egos’ desires in favor of the greater good, we are giving God our loyalty and we are showing our mercy.

It’s in trying times like this when we truly need to ‘let go and let God.’

That doesn’t mean to sit idly by and simply pray.

Praying is good, too! But prayers alone are not enough.

God usually works through people.

It takes “ears open to obedience.”

We need to take time to actually listen to what God is saying to us.

What does God want us to do so God’s presence can manifest in this time and place?

Set aside 20 minutes of silence to simply be present to the Divine Presence.

Be silent.

Listen.

May each of us be a unique living sign of God’s love to a hurting world!

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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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Inner Peace

Posted on March 24, 2020 by billtonnis
Image by skeeze from Pixabay

We are sustained by a Love that is eternal.

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Listen to my song “Give Praise and Thanks” on YouTube by clicking HERE.

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Psalm 46:2-3

God is our refuge and our strength, an ever-present help in distress. Thus we do not fear, though earth be shaken and mountains quake to the depths of the sea.

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What strikes me about today’s scripture verses is in the first sentence:

“ever-present.”

Is God ever-present to you?

For the psalmist, God was refuge and strength in times of distress.

This is the difference between believing God is somewhere out there instead of being right here.

God is as close to you as your very breath.

The name “Yahweh” is breath itself.

Try breathing in while saying “Yah” – then breathe out saying “weh”.

Yahhhhhhhhhh, wehhhhhhhhhh.

Yahhhhhhhhhh, wehhhhhhhhhh.

Yahhhhhhhhhh, wehhhhhhhhhh.

Feel the calming begin.

Your soul is safe and sound in the arms of your loving Creator.

There is nothing to fear.

Give praise and thanks!

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Listen to the song of the day “Give Praise and Thanks” 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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Eternal Truth

Posted on March 23, 2020 by billtonnis
Image by marcisim from Pixabay

The only treasure that lasts is love.

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Listen to my song “God’s Love Is All You Need” on YouTube by clicking HERE.

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Isaiah 65:17-18

See, I am creating new heavens and a new earth; The former things shall not be remembered nor come to mind. Instead, shout for joy and be glad forever in what I am creating.

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Nothing of this world lasts.

Our current situation with the Coronavirus pandemic is making that very clear.

The illusion created by our consumer culture is that our life is made of all the stuff we accumulate, the prestige we accrue and the control we unceasingly strive to possess.

One virus can make it all crumble.

So can a sudden health issue.

Jesus speaks to this in what is called the “Parable of the Rich Fool” (Luke 12:16-21).

The man has a bountiful harvest and plans to build larger barns so he can store it all up for “many years” so he can “rest, eat, drink and be merry.” But not so! God says to the man, ‘You fool, this night your life will be demanded of you; and the things you have prepared, to whom will they belong?’

And then Jesus delivers the moral of the story: “Thus will it be for the one who stores up treasure for himself but is not rich in what matters to God.”

All the so-called treasures of this world will dissolve.

What matters to God is how we love.

Love is what matters!

Sadly, it seems to take tragedies before many people wake up to this fact.

Love is the only thing that will last…right into eternity.

The cycle of death and life is part of God’s creative pattern.

Both are necessary for the on-going creative process.

All things – including us – are part of this.

All of us are called to pour ourselves out in love as Jesus showed us.

It’s the path of love.

The good news is that love doesn’t end in death…but in new life!

That’s the message of Easter!

God is always creating a “new heaven and a earth.”

All dying leads to rising!

Love will not be defeated!

There is no final death!

May we “shout for joy and be glad forever”!

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Listen to the song of the day “God’s Love Is All You Need” 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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True Security

Posted on March 21, 2020 by billtonnis
Image by Jills from Pixabay

Do not fear because God’s love is both now and forever.

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

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Luke 18:14

“For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”

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This is one of Jesus’ teachings that throws the world’s teachings upside down.

In God’s eyes, it is the humble person who is exalted…not the brash and boastful.

It’s times like these when we realize the futility of trusting in all the trappings of this world.

The three “P’s” – power, prestige and possessions – are all meaningless in the long run.

They are delusions of grandeur.

They are mirages of security.

When they all fall to the wayside, what is left?

The real you, your true self as Thomas Merton would have called it, the beloved child of God that you are.

All the power, prestige and possessions in the world can do nothing for your soul…for the spiritual being that you are!

They will completely dissolve when our earthly bodies die.

Why do we invest so much of our time and energy into these material illusions?

The Coronavirus has certainly delivered a rude awakening to all of us who trusted in all the false so-called securities of this world.

The blessing is that we now clearly see that the only true security is God’s love for us and our love for each other.

When all the trappings are cleared away, we see ourselves as the one body of Christ that we are…and we are transformed.

The love of God is the one constant that each of us can indeed be certain.

May we share it with all!

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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.

Remember…God loves you!

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Have Faith

Posted on March 20, 2020 by billtonnis

Hope springs eternal.

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

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Psalm 81:8

In distress you called and I rescued you.

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We’ve been crying out to a Higher Power for millennia.

God’s words from the psalmist remain true today.

Many people across the Earth are in distress from the Coronavirus pandemic.

Many are in need of help.

When we yearn for help, for comfort, for peace amidst the storm, that yearning is from deep within.

At our deepest core, it is the Spirit that is yearning for wholeness in God.

We are already safe in the heart of our Creator.

God is love as it says in 1 John 4:8.

Be still.

Take a deep breath.

God or Love itself is sustaining you.

Your physical body is susceptible to the ups and downs of this world, but your soul is always safe and sound in the arms of God.

As you read these words and are present to the moment, all is well.

And “All shall be well” in the words of Julian of Norwich!

Love is winning.

The problems we are experiencing are actually opportunities for us to come together and experience new creative ideas in sharing compassion and care for each other.

May each of us be an instrument of help to those around us.

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

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

Remember…God loves you!

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Mercy Reigns

Posted on March 19, 2020 by billtonnis

Compassion is rising all over the world as we realize our oneness.

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

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Psalm 89:2

I will sing of your mercy forever, LORD, proclaim your faithfulness through all ages.

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Do you know how I know that God is merciful and loving?

Because of all the merciful and loving people I have encountered.

It seems like there is always a time or two (or more!) in our lives when we hit rock bottom only to have someone pop up to extend a hand of mercy.

I distinctly remember one time when I was hospitalized with a ruptured appendix and was very sick.

It was the middle of the night and I was not doing well.

I have to admit that I was afraid.

That’s when there was the most kind and compassionate nurse who returned over and over to my room to attend to my needs.

During my 8-and-a-half days in the hospital, that was the only overnight that she was working.

I will never forget that angel of mercy.

During the darkest times, we are most impacted by the light of love.

Times like now as we deal with this Coronavirus pandemic.

I stopped this morning to buy a cup of coffee at a small business that is still open for carry-outs and there I encountered two young men also getting some coffee.

At an appropriate distance, we shared some uplifting comments.

One of the young men said that times like this remind us to be kind to each other.

He said it in such a heart-felt, genuine manner.

How true!

God’s compassion was truly present.

We are all in this together.

God’s love and mercy are constant and forever.

Let us proclaim that in our words and actions.

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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.

Remember…God loves you!

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