Listen Then Follow

Posted on September 5, 2019 by billtonnis

To live your calling requires spiritual openness and attention.

(Listen to the song of the day “I Want to Follow You” on YouTube by clicking HERE)

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Colossians 1:9-10

We do not cease praying for you and asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding to live in a manner worthy of the Lord, so as to be fully pleasing, in every good work bearing fruit and growing in the knowledge of God.

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This is certainly St. Paul’s wish…not only for the congregation at Colossae…but for all people today reading it.

Read it again…but this time substitute your name for “you”.

His prayer is then: “We do not cease in praying for (your name) and asking that (your name) may be filled with the knowledge of God’s will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding to live in a manner worthy of the Lord, so as to be fully pleasing, in every good work bearing fruit and growing in the knowledge of God.”

We need to let go of our ego’s desire to be right…and allow God’s wisdom to be revealed to us so as we might then live the life we were meant to live.

Is your life “bearing fruit”?

Are you “growing in the knowledge of God”?

Make sure to spend time in silent meditation…listen to the yearnings of your heart…and then…follow.

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Listen to my song “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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Divine Physician

Posted on September 4, 2019 by billtonnis

Lay your struggles in the hands of a Higher Power.

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

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Luke 4:40

At sunset, all who had people sick with various diseases brought them to Jesus. He laid his hands on each of them and cured them.

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Jesus made quite a splash in Capernaum.

He taught the people with authority, cast out a demon from one man, and then cured another woman of a fever.

That’s why the people brought all those in town who were sick to him.

Can you imagine?

But Jesus never wanted payment.

He never wanted fame or attention.

He simply wanted to bring comfort to the afflicted and marginalized…as well as to restore the sick to wholeness.

If you are in need of healing…bring yourself to Christ in prayer and meditation.

Let go.

Allow him to be balm to your pain.

Then…be Christ to those you meet.

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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.

Remember…God loves you!

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The Way of Christ

Posted on September 3, 2019 by billtonnis

Let’s work together for the good of all.

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

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1 Thessalonians 5:11

Encourage one another and build one another up, as indeed you do.

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We can all take these words of St. Paul to heart.

He was exhorting the followers of Christ in Thessalonica to persevere in their trials.

Paul did this through encouragement.

This is much needed in today’s world.

We all need encouragement to do what is good, just and compassionate.

Instead of looking at the world through the lens of criticism, try looking through the lens of love and compassion.

May this outlook guide our actions.

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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.

Remember…God loves you!

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Grace Is Free

Posted on September 2, 2019 by billtonnis

Receive God’s unconditional love…then pass it on.

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

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Luke 4:16-19

Jesus came to Nazareth, where he had grown up, and went according to his custom into the synagogue on the sabbath day. He stood up to read and was handed a scroll of the prophet Isaiah. He unrolled the scroll and found the passage where it was written: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord.”

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When Jesus read this passage in the synagogue…he told the people: “Today this scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing” (Luke 4:21).

Basically…Jesus was telling them that he related to being the person that the prophet Isaiah was talking about.

That passage above is his mission statement.

So he’s offering you glad tidings, release from captivity, new sight and freedom.

Which begs the questions: Who or what is holding you captive?

What are you blind to?

What has you confined?

And the second thing is this: If you are a Christian…as in a follower of Jesus…you are also called to his mission.

Each of us has to sit with that passage and ask ourselves: Am I bringing glad tidings to the poor?

Am I proclaiming liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind?

Am I helping the oppressed go free?

Am I proclaiming a year acceptable to the Lord?

This is what we are supposed to do with our lives in whatever small and big ways we can.

May it be so!

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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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Open Your Heart

Posted on August 30, 2019 by billtonnis

Many are missing their lives because they’re stuck in their heads.

(Listen to my song “Breathe On Me” on YouTube by clicking HERE)

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Matthew 25:13

“Stay awake, for you know neither the day nor the hour.”

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This is one of the many times Jesus exhorts his followers in his parables to “stay awake” or “be vigilant.”

He also said this when asked when the kingdom of God would come: “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).

In other words, the “Peaceable Realm of God”…is right here.

It’s available now…but only to those who are awake.

Are you present to your life…or are you lost in your mind’s incessant commentary and ramblings?

Take a moment or two to simply let your mind’s activity cease.

Look at a flower or a tree.

Really look at it.

Be totally attentive to someone who is talking to you without thinking about how you are going to respond.

Sit and simply pay attention to your breathing.

An experience of the Divine…is at hand.

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Listen to the song of the day “Breathe On Me” 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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Rooted in Love

Posted on August 29, 2019 by billtonnis

We are called to be whole-makers.

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

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1 Thessalonians 3:12

May the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all.

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This prayer from St. Paul to the church of the Thessalonians is for all of us.

If you are a follower of Christ…then you are called to be a missionary of mercy and love…but also justice for the oppressed and marginalized.

God is love (1 John 4:8) and the gospel message is to love God and neighbor as yourself (Matthew 22:36-40).

Neighbor, of course, means everyone…including your so-called enemies (Matthew 5:44).

This is what we are called to do as Christians.

We are followers of Jesus.

It is a way of life.

You and I have been loved into existence in order to share love through our creativity and service.

Love dissolves delusions of barriers and divisions so that we can live in the truth of our oneness in God.

We are called to be “whole-makers”.

Start now…by doing the next loving thing.

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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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Higher Consciousness

Posted on August 26, 2019 by billtonnis

Laws can be both enforced and tempered with compassion and human dignity.

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

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Matthew 23:13

Jesus spoke to the crowds and his disciples, “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You lock the kingdom of heaven before human beings. You do not enter yourselves, nor do you allow entrance to those trying to enter.”

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Jesus was very sympathetic to those who were cast out by society…those who were looked down upon and rejected.

Some of those people were ostracized because they had broken laws.

Jesus treatment of them wasn’t about ignoring laws and giving a free pass to those who did wrong…but it was about restoring those people to wholeness and dignity.

That requires a “both-and” mindset…someone who is able to both uphold standards and be compassionate in his or her response.

After all, those people are all infinitely loved by God.

That’s why Jesus could reach out to the woman caught in adultery both holding her accountable…and telling her that he does not condemn her (John 8:1-11).

The Pharisees, the religious leaders of the time, were hypocrites in the eyes of Jesus because they held so-called “sinners” in contempt with no measure of compassion…while seeing themselves as pure and without sin.

They “locked” human beings out of “the kingdom of heaven” because they refused to give them the key of forgiveness.

Forgiveness opens the gates of heaven and allows someone to experience it right now…and forever.

We each carry that key.

May we use it generously.

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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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Open Your Heart

Posted on August 23, 2019 by billtonnis

What if everyone made love their top criterion in life’s decisions?

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

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Matthew 22:35-40

One of the Pharisees [a scholar of the law] tested him by asking, “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?” He said to him, “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. The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.”

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This reminds me of the great gap we have between people who are stuck in their heads and those who are able to access their hearts.

For some…their faith is strictly about beliefs and “black and white” rights and wrongs.

Such were the Pharisees in today’s scripture reading.

In attempting to trap Jesus into ranking one of the Ten Commandments as greater than the others…Jesus drops from his head to his heart.

He goes with loving God.

And…he adds a second: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

Jesus apparently cherry-picked that one from a slew of rules given in Leviticus (Leviticus 19:18) including, “do not sow a field of yours with two different kinds of seed; and do not put on a garment woven with two different kinds of thread” (19:19) as well as “Do not clip your hair at the temples, nor spoil the edges of your beard” (19:27).

Obviously…rules can get so oppressive as to choke the spiritual life out of you!

Jesus made it quite simple: Life is all about love.

Love God and your neighbor as if your neighbor was yourself.

And by the way…your neighbor is everyone!

Remember…Jesus also commanded us to love our enemies (Matthew 5:44)! (Yeah…that’s the one hardly anyone pays attention to.)

If everyone decided to follow these two greatest commandments…the world would change overnight.

Each of us can make that decision…at any moment.

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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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All Are Welcome

Posted on August 22, 2019 by billtonnis

God invites everyone to the party. Who are we excluding?

(Listen to my song “All Are Welcome” on YouTube by clicking HERE)

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Matthew 22:10

The servants went out into the streets and gathered all they found, bad and good alike, and the hall was filled with guests.

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In this parable…Jesus likened the “kingdom of heaven” to a king giving a wedding feast for his son.

Many of those invited ignored the invitation.

But the king wanted his party…telling his servants to invite “whomever you find.”

So they came…the bad and the good alike.

Jesus keeps showing us how accepting and magnanimous God is.

But we human beings are not so open.

We don’t always want to be with…well, you know, “those people.”

We may only want to be with people like us…you know…like republicans…or democrats…or white people…or Christians…or straight people, etc.

The kingdom of heaven is open to all without exception.

Only those who don’t want to be with everyone will find themselves in the “darkness” where there will be “wailing and grinding of teeth” (Matthew 22:13).

I suspect the invitation to return…will always stand…because what else would Love do?

May we reach out beyond all lines of division in solidarity as one human family.

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Listen to the song of the day “All Are Welcome” 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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Love Unlimited

Posted on August 21, 2019 by billtonnis

Our calling is to mirror the Mercy that God is.

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

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Matthew 20:14-15

“What if I wish to give this last one the same as you? [Or] am I not free to do as I wish with my own money? Are you envious because I am generous?’”

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People are still infuriated at this story Jesus told.

He starts off the parable by saying, “The kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out at dawn to hire laborers for his vineyard.”

The landowner proceeds to hire people at various times of the day to work in his vineyard.

But when it comes time to pay them all in the evening…the landowner gives all the workers the same amount of money.

That’s when those who worked longer grumbled about the late-comers who got the same pay.

The landowner then responded with today’s scripture verse above.

Jesus says this is an example of “the kingdom of heaven.”

God is the landowner who wants to lavish an eternal amount of love on everyone…now…and always.

It has nothing to do with us earning it.

This love is always given to each of us.

So why would we be upset that another fellow human being is also welcomed into this place of eternal Compassion…at whatever time they happen to arrive?

May others experience this love and acceptance…through you.

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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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