God Is Good

Posted on February 4, 2020 by billtonnis

Know that the Love that made the universe will triumph.

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

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Psalm 86:4-5

Gladden the soul of your servant; to you, Lord, I lift up my soul. Lord, you are good and forgiving, most merciful to all who call on you.

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When you are trying to serve God it is very easy to get burned out.

That’s because it feels like there is so much opposition and that little is getting accomplished.

In this current political climate that seems to lack any sense of compassion and decency…it can be very demoralizing.

But know this: it is not our job to change the world.

God will do this through many avenues that each of us knows little about.

Love is indeed winning…but it may happen in ways that we cannot fathom.

It may take more time than we have in our lifespan.

So don’t be so concerned with outcomes.

Have goals but know that it’s not for us to see results.

It’s up to each of us to do the work – to do the next just and compassionate act.

Take time to silently rest in the Divine Presence through Centering Prayer or other contemplative activities.

Feel the unconditional love being poured out to you.

Allow God to minister to you.

Empty yourself so God can refill you.

Know that you are God’s beloved child…with whom God is well-pleased.

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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.

Remember…God loves you!

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Eternal Love

Posted on February 3, 2020 by billtonnis
Image by Manfred Richter from Pixabay

There is hope within your deepest struggle that won’t let go.

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

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Mark 5:18-20

As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed pleaded to remain with him. But Jesus would not permit him but told him instead, “Go home to your family and announce to them all that the Lord in his pity has done for you.” Then the man went off and began to proclaim in the Decapolis what Jesus had done for him; and all were amazed.

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Sometimes you have to go through troubled times before you are able to help others.

The term “wounded healer” was created by psychologist Carl Jung.

The idea states that an analyst is compelled to treat patients because the analyst is “wounded” also.

So it is with the possessed man in today’s scripture who is healed by Jesus.

The healed man, who had been suffering terribly and separated from his community, was whole again.

He can now share the story of his unmerited healing.

As it says above, “the man went off and began to proclaim…what Jesus had done for him.”

And the result?

“All were amazed.”

What struggles have you been through?

What struggles are you going through now?

Be present to what’s happening.

Do not let your mind tell you gloom and doom stories with depressing outcomes about what is happening.

They are all stories!

Not true!

Stop.

Be present.

Trust in the healing power of Love which is always sustaining you.

Healing and new life are just ahead.

You will have quite the story to tell…and quite the service to provide.

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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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Love Changes Everything

Posted on January 31, 2020 by billtonnis

The world is being positively transformed with each small act of compassion.

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

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Mark 4:26-27

Jesus said, “This is how it is with the kingdom of God; it is as if a man were to scatter seed on the land and would sleep and rise night and day and the seed would sprout and grow, he knows not how.”

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The kingdom of God is a state of being when love is at work.

You can’t see it.

As Jesus put it, “The coming of the kingdom of God cannot be observed, and no one will announce, ‘Look, here it is,’ or, ‘There it is.’ For behold, the kingdom of God is among you” (Luke 17:20-21).

Like a seed sprouts and grows, the kingdom of God is happening covertly.

It’s actually always happening…but it is we who don’t perceive it.

We must first be awake and aware.

When there is a loving or compassionate act…suddenly you will experience God’s reign.

The Holy Spirit is at work…undercover.

When we serve those in need…we are scattering seeds of God’s kingdom.

Those acts of service will have a ripple effect.

There will be fruit from those acts whether you see the results…or not.

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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!

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Transforming Grace

Posted on January 30, 2020 by billtonnis
Image by Comfreak from Pixabay

Our struggles and imperfections are turned to blessings in the light of Unconditional Love.

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Listen to my song “I Stand in the Light” on YouTube by clicking HERE.

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Mark 4:22

“For there is nothing hidden except to be made visible; nothing is secret except to come to light.”

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Jesus had just made the point that a lamp should not be hidden but placed on a lampstand when he made the statement above.

When we hide things about ourselves that we don’t want others to know, when we try to keep things secret, they are not hidden from God.

It is usually the things that we want to keep hidden, the things that we think people would be appalled at if they knew about them, that end up being the keys to our transformation.

Let the light shine on the things in the shadows.

God is not going to punish us…but love us.

God wants to use those very things that we are ashamed of to transform us!

God loves us unconditionally.

When we experience the light of this love in our struggles and imperfections…we open the possibility of change.

We experience grace!

It is only then that we can bring that same unconditional love and mercy to others.

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Listen to the song of the day “I Stand in the Light” 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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Listen

Posted on January 29, 2020 by billtonnis
Image by олег реутов from Pixabay

Silence just may be the key to changing your life for the better.

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

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Mark 4:7-8

“Some seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it and it produced no grain. And some seed fell on rich soil and produced fruit. It came up and grew and yielded thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold.”

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This passage is from Jesus’ “Parable of the Sower.”

The sower’s seeds stand for the word of God.

If the soil is bad…the seeds will not take root.

However, if the soil is well-nurtured and good…the seeds will produce fruit.

God’s word is coming to us every day in many ways, but if we are not paying attention…we won’t hear it.

And if we are not creating a receptive heart inside…that word will have no effect.

We need to stop, listen and reflect.

We have to pay attention.

We need to set aside time for silence, a time when we can actually let go of our agendas and our ego’s desires.

It’s a time when we can allow our minds’ constant chatter to cease.

It’s the only way to actually hear what the Spirit is saying to you.

It takes much practice…but over time you will notice much fruit.

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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.

Remember…God loves you!

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Bridge Builder

Posted on January 28, 2020 by billtonnis
Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

We are all in this together.

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

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Mark 3:35

“For whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.”

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Jesus was teaching a crowd inside a house when he was told that his mother and family were outside asking for him.

That’s when he told the people sitting around him that they were his mother and family, and then he stated the scripture passage above.

Jesus was definitely not putting down his family standing outside…but he was trying to make a metaphorical point.

We are all in this together.

We are all one family in God.

As Thomas Merton said in his final address to a conference of Asian monks in Calcutta shortly before his untimely death: “We are already one. But we imagine that we are not. What we have to recover is our original unity. What we have to be is what we are.”

We must see through the delusion of separation.

St. Paul spoke about this mystery when he said, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free person, there is not male and female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28).

Since God is love (1 John 4:8), then doing God’s will would be to channel love in our words and actions.

This is not always easy…especially in times of conflict or where injustice is being done.

But Jesus made it quite clear: “I give you a new commandment: love one another” (John 13:34).

And if that wasn’t clear enough, he also said: “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you” (Matthew 5:43-44).

That is our challenge as followers of Christ.

I have to allow this challenge to change me so I can see all people as my family…even those who I don’t want to like.

Especially those people!

Only then can I be a messenger of mercy and truth to the world.

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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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God Calling

Posted on January 27, 2020 by billtonnis
Image by Thomas Mühl from Pixabay

How are you being called to serve?

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

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Psalm 89:21

I have chosen David, my servant; with my holy oil I have anointed him.

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Did you know that you have also been chosen to be God’s servant?

You, too, have been anointed.

Serving God starts now.

It means to be a channel of love, mercy, grace, forgiveness, compassion and truth wherever you are and in whatever you are doing.

As you do this – pay attention to the movements of your heart.

What issues or causes are you attracted to?

Who are the people in need who you feel most drawn to?

What do you do that whenever you do it you feel most alive?

You must live into your calling as a servant of God.

Your job is not to change others but to allow God to change you.

Practice letting go of your ego’s desires through Centering Prayer or other forms of contemplative prayer and meditation.

Be patient…and then follow your heart.

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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.

Remember…God loves you!

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Peace Be with You

Posted on January 24, 2020 by billtonnis
Image by Adina Voicu from Pixabay

In troubled times…know that the Love that created everything is holding you.

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Listen to my song “I Will Give You Rest” on YouTube by clicking HERE.

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Psalm 57:2

Have mercy on me, God, have mercy on me. In you I seek refuge. In the shadow of your wings I seek refuge till harm pass by.

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Sometimes life is hard.

We experience sorrows and losses.

We sometimes make mistakes that we regret.

We sometimes feel lost and without direction.

How comforting it is to know that God is not a harsh judge but a loving parent!

As one of my favorite scripture passages states: “God is love” (1 John 4:8).

And as St. Paul stated: “Love is patient, love is kind. It is not jealous, or pompous or inflated. It is not rude, it does not seek its own interests, it is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over injury, it does not rejoice over wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things” (1 Corinthians 13:4-7).

This is a description of God.

In this Love we can bring our burdens and find rest.

Be a channel of this Love to the world.

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Listen to the song of the day “I Will Give You Rest” 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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Love Wins

Posted on January 23, 2020 by billtonnis
Image by Rudy Anderson from Pixabay

All struggles and losses are birth canals leading to new life.

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

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Psalm 56:13-14

I have made vows to you, God; with offerings I will fulfill them, for you have snatched me from death, kept my feet from stumbling, that I may walk before God in the light of the living.

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Death to life…death to life…death to life.

This is a pattern that repeats itself over and over.

It is the way of God.

It’s God’s creative pattern.

All things die and turn to dust giving way to the sprouting of new life.

We experience many dyings and risings in our lifetimes.

Think of times when you experienced the end of one thing that somehow led to the beginning of something else.

One door closed so another door could open that you could pass through.

This is the process of growth.

It is also the process of an ever deepening understanding of who you are.

Darkness leads to light…but only if you let go and trust in the process.

There is nothing to fear.

Love will always lead you home.

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Listen to my song “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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Glory Be

Posted on January 22, 2020 by billtonnis
Image by Oberholster Venita from Pixabay

When you are creative…you are connected to the Sacred.

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

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Psalm 144:9

O God, a new song I will sing to you; on a ten-stringed lyre I will play for you.

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God is the Creator.

God is constantly creating.

And since scripture tells us that God is love (1 John 4:8), then we can deduce that Love itself is constantly creating.

Love created you and me.

Each of us is invited to create as well…to be a part of this creative masterpiece in progress.

Creativity takes many forms whether it is writing, drawing, painting, singing, playing an instrument, playing in general, planning parties, cooking, solving problems, building relationships, building buildings, etc., etc.

For me…I love to write these reflections and to write songs.

When I sing I am simply opening a channel to the creativity of God…or Love…and then cooperating with that Creativity.

If we all did this…what a wonderful world it would be.

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Listen to the song of the day “Shall We Sing” 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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