Homeward Bound

Posted on March 18, 2020 by billtonnis
Image by Myriam Zilles from Pixabay

Trust that an Eternal Love is carrying you through troubled times.

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

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Deuteronomy 4:7

“For what great nation is there that has gods so close to it as the LORD, our God, is to us whenever we call upon him?”

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These are the words Moses spoke to God’s people as they wandered in the desert.

We may feel like we are now abandoned in some desert due to the restrictions placed on us by the Coronavirus scare.

But, just as God had not abandoned the Israelites, God is also not abandoning us!

God is always leading us – if we pay attention.

Struggles and hard times are not endings but the birth pangs of new life.

This is the time to lean-in to the Source of Life.

Our Loving Creator does not cause these difficult times but uses the ups and the downs to transform everything to good.

The Israelites wandering in the desert for 40 years had their ups and downs – but God never left them.

Impossible! God cannot leave us!

God is as close as our very breath!

Rest in that knowledge and trust that transformation is in progress.

The Israelites made it to the promised land.

Love never fails and since God is love (1 John 4:8), God never fails either!

Take some quiet time to sit in the silent Presence of God.

Have faith!

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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.

Remember…God loves you!

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The Way

Posted on March 17, 2020 by billtonnis
Image by Johannes Plenio from Pixabay

Allow the Light to lead you to peace.

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Listen to my song “I Want to Follow You” on YouTube by clicking HERE.

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Psalm 25:4

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

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We are in unchartered territory.

The Coronavirus has caused massive disruption to our way of life.

We need to do the things that the medical experts tell us are the best practices.

But we must now more than ever entrust ourselves to a Higher Power.

We need to turn to a fundamental Goodness, the Source of Life, the loving Creator of all, who many call God.

As it says in scripture, “God is love” (1 John 4:8).

We come from Love and will return to Love.

That does not mean we won’t encounter struggles and obstacles in life as we well know, but we have faith that Love wins.

Darkness will not triumph over the Light.

As it says in the Gospel of John, “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it” (John 1:5).

Jesus showed us that death is just a transformation to new life.

All struggles, all obstacles will lead us to new life – if we have faith.

Set aside some quiet time for contemplative prayer.

Turn off the noise, settle into the silence and rest in God’s presence.

Repeat today’s scripture verse to yourself: “Make known to me your ways, LORD; teach me your paths.”

Trust.

Have faith.

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

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

Remember…God loves you!

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Keep the Faith

Posted on March 16, 2020 by billtonnis
Image by Arek Socha from Pixabay

In trying times, Love will carry us.

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

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2 Kings 5:11

But Naaman went away angry, saying, “I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand there to call on the name of the LORD his God, and would move his hand over the place, and thus cure the leprous spot.”

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When Naaman was advised to go to Elisha to be cured of his leprosy, he didn’t expect Elisha to tell him to wash himself seven times in the Jordan River.

How preposterous, he thought!

How could something so seemingly silly cure his illness?

Yet Naaman was convinced by one of his servants to obey Elisha’s directions, and lo and behold, he was made clean.

Naaman was healed…despite himself!

It was grace.

Or should I say, Grace?

There is much fear now around the world due to the Coronavirus spread.

It certainly demands vigilance on the part of each of us because we see more than ever that we are all in this together.

We truly are “one human family” as the Catholic Social Teaching of “Solidarity” tells us.

But perhaps what we all need to remember most of all in these trying times is that Grace is holding us and carrying us.

God, or Love itself (1 John 4:8), “bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails” (1 Corinthians 13:7-8).

Be steadfast in Love.

Keep the faith!

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

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

Remember…God loves you!

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Harmonize

Posted on March 13, 2020 by billtonnis
Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

Let’s all share our gifts and talents for the greater good.

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Listen to my song “Shall We Dance” on YouTube by clicking HERE.

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Matthew 21:43

“Therefore, I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that will produce its fruit.”

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This is an eye-opening comment by Jesus.

It was part of a parable about tenants of a vineyard who mistreated the owner.

It points us to the importance of what we are doing now…in this time and place.

We are expected to produce the fruit of the kingdom of God.

It’s not about somehow securing a place in a future kingdom of heaven.

It’s about helping others to experience the kingdom of God now.

When we are acting out of selfishness or meanness, we will not experience the joy of the kingdom.

When we are acting out of love, compassion and justice, we will experience it.

It’s as simple as that.

In this time and place, with all that is happening in the world, with the Coronavirus spread, and with many in politics catering to the lowest common denominator, we need more than ever to be a compassionate presence to life as it unfolds.

If each of us would do this we just may hear the words of Jesus, “You are not far from the kingdom of God” (Mark 12:34).

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

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

Remember…God loves you!

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Love Your Neighbor as Yourself

Posted on March 12, 2020 by billtonnis

We are one human family.

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

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Luke 16:19-21

“There was a rich man who dressed in purple garments and fine linen and dined sumptuously each day. And lying at his door was a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who would gladly have eaten his fill of the scraps that fell from the rich man’s table.”

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In my opinion, Jesus isn’t trying to threaten you with the punishment of an eternal hell when you die if you don’t help those in need.

He’s simply trying to show you that what is happening now matters and has eternal repercussions!

If you miss the opportunity to help the person in need now…you missed it.

You will never have that opportunity again.

And when you miss it, you create a “hell” for the person in need.

I do believe you will have to face this in the afterlife – but in the light of Unconditional Love.

Remember, God is love (1 John 4:8).

Experiencing the sorrow of not helping those in need while standing in the light of God’s love will indeed be painful…but it is we who will inflict that pain on ourselves, not God.

God will love us no matter what.

Who is the person in need lying at your door?

You may say that there is no one lying at your door, but in this day and age of technology we cannot claim ignorance of those living in poverty and in desperate need of help.

We are globally aware.

Just as the rich man in Jesus’ parable could not claim ignorance of the man who was lying at his door under his very nose, we cannot claim ignorance of people living in desperate need anywhere on the planet.

The question is: What is my response?

This is the question each of us needs to ask.

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

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

Remember…God loves you!

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Let Go

Posted on March 11, 2020 by billtonnis
Image by Patrizia08 from Pixabay

Trust that a Great Compassion will lead you if you allow it.

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

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Psalm 31:6

Into your hands I commend my spirit; you will redeem me, LORD, God of truth.

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Today’s scripture verse reminds me a lot of the adage: “Let go, let God.”

I know that when I am able to let go of my ego’s incessant desire to control everything – I immediately feel better.

A weight is lifted.

All I have to do is be present to what is happening and to allow a Higher Power to work through me.

This isn’t really a “doing” at all…but a “non-doing.”

It is not easy since we have pretty much always been trained to “take the bull by the horns” so to speak and get it done.

There is nothing wrong with having goals and setting your sights on some intention…but we need to first be present to the movement of God.

It’s a “both-and“.

Stop.

Pause.

Turn it over to the “God of truth.”

Allow an Inner Voice to speak to you…to nudge you.

This Voice will always be kind and gentle, not rude and harsh.

It will point you to the greatest good.

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Listen to the song of the day “Make Your Way” 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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Counter Culture

Posted on March 10, 2020 by billtonnis
Image by truthseeker08 from Pixabay

What if we all pondered how we can be of service?

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Listen to my song “The Way You Are” on YouTube by clicking HERE.

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Matthew 23:11-12

“The greatest among you must be your servant. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled; but whoever humbles himself will be exalted.”

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These words of Jesus turn our world’s idea of success on its head.

To be great in the eyes of God, you must serve.

And when you are humble, you will be praised by God.

It’s very hard to be humble on purpose.

Trying to be humble pretty much makes it disingenuous!

And serving others because it’s expected of you is also not what Jesus is talking about.

He’s talking about serving out of a pure desire to help.

It’s all about our motivation.

It takes being honest with ourselves and with God.

Listen to the words of Jesus in the gospels and allow those words to sink into your soul.

Then, take some time to simply be in the presence of the Divine Presence.

Allow God to love you just as you are.

Your heart will melt.

It seems you have to experience compassion in order to be able to give it.

May it be so!

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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.

Remember…God loves you!

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Good Vibrations

Posted on March 9, 2020 by billtonnis

When we serve others we receive unfathomable treasure.

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

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Luke 6:38

“Give and gifts will be given to you; a good measure, packed together, shaken down, and overflowing, will be poured into your lap. For the measure with which you measure will in return be measured out to you.”

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These words of Jesus sound a lot like Karma or the old adage, “What goes around comes around.”

St. Paul claimed that Jesus had also said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35).

Giving to others from your heart creates ripples of goodness or positive energy that in turn encourages others to also give.

Those ripples are bound to return to the giver at some point.

What a wonderful world would evolve if we all turned our attentions away from our egos’ self-centered desires…and toward our hearts’ yearnings.

Our deepest desires come from the true self.

And as Thomas Merton said in his book New Seeds of Contemplation, “If I find Him (God), I will find myself, and if I find my true self I will find Him (God).”

What could be more important than that?

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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.

Remember…God loves you!

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Trust in God

Posted on March 6, 2020 by billtonnis
Image by matlevesque from Pixabay

Let go into the Flow of the Love that animates and sustains all things.

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

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Psalm 130:7

For with the LORD is mercy, with him is plenteous redemption.

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I minister to many older people and what I see over and over are people who are afraid of God.

They have a deep-seated fear of punishment.

How sad this is when scripture tells us that “God is love” (1 John 4:8) and that “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).

We are immersed in the Love of God like a fish in water.

As St. Paul put it, in God we live and move and have our being (Acts 17:28).

And so we can reiterate today’s scripture verse that with God is mercy or we could also say endless love.

Therefore, do not fear as Jesus stated over and over.

God is in the redemption business.

We are being made whole moment by moment as we let go of our need to control, as we let go of all the masks we have fashioned to construct a “false self.”

Only then will we be able to live as the “true self” we are, the true self we were always made to be.

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Listen to the song of the day “Make Your Way” 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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Golden Rule

Posted on March 5, 2020 by billtonnis
Image by Hucklebarry from Pixabay

If we treated everyone as if they were us…the world would change.

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

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Matthew 7:12

“Do to others whatever you would have them do to you. This is the law and the prophets.”

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This saying from Jesus is known as “The Golden Rule.”

It is a concept shared by many of the world’s religions.

It flows from what Jesus proclaimed as the two greatest Commandments: To love God with your whole heart, soul, mind and strength; and to love your neighbor as yourself.

What if we actually practiced this?

Our relationships would all change for the better.

Our jobs would improve.

I’m thinking that our health would improve with all the other positive energy that we are taking part in.

There would be a positive ripple effect felt far and wide.

But to do this, we have to put our egos on the backburner.

We have to take note when they rise up and try to demand attention.

We might take note when we get easily offended or desire deeply to be proven right.

Simply note the feelings.

Take the proper action if necessary but don’t get swept up in a drama created by an ego-generated-mind-delusion.

Be present to others and yourself.

Forgive.

Allow Grace to overwhelm you.

You are loved eternally by God.

Pass it on.

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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.

Remember…God loves you!

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