Christ Consciousness

Posted on June 7, 2019 by billtonnis

What if we channeled Love to others without regard to worthiness?

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

+++

John 21:17

Jesus said to Peter the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was distressed that he had said to him a third time, “Do you love me?” and he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep.”

+++

Jesus could have been angry with Peter since he had denied knowing Jesus three times right before the crucifixion.

Instead, Jesus offered forgiveness.

He allowed Peter to redeem himself by asking him three times if he loved him.

We can say that we love someone…but what does that really mean without a demonstration of that love?

Talk can be cheap.

True love calls for action.

Jesus instructed Peter to demonstrate his love for him by tending to the needs of the flock.

That would be everyone regardless of merit.

The only way some people may ever know the love of God…is through you.

+++

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.

Remember…God loves you!

Posted in God, inspiration, music, progressive Christianity, religion, spirituality, Today's Contemplation | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Good News

Posted on June 6, 2019 by billtonnis

Love is the beginning and the end.

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

+++

John 17:22-24

“I have given them the glory you gave me, so that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may be brought to perfection as one, that the world may know that you sent me, and that you loved them even as you loved me. Father, they are your gift to me. I wish that where I am they also may be with me, that they may see my glory that you gave me, because you loved me before the foundation of the world.”

+++

Allow these words of Jesus to set you free.

You come from Love…are being sustained by Love…and will return to Love.

That’s truly the Gospel.

+++

Listen to my song “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!

Posted in God, inspiration, music, progressive Christianity, religion, spirituality, Today's Contemplation | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Empty Yet Full

Posted on June 5, 2019 by billtonnis

To serve is to bring your true self to life.

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

+++

Acts 20:33-35

“I have never wanted anyone’s silver or gold or clothing. You know well that these very hands have served my needs and my companions. In every way I have shown you that by hard work of that sort we must help the weak, and keep in mind the words of the Lord Jesus who himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”

+++

When it came to service…St. Paul was all in.

He knew that following Jesus meant giving all of himself to those in need.

Paul said that Jesus “emptied himself” (Philippians 2:7).

When we empty our ego’s desires…we are free to see the needs of others.

If we don’t practice dying to our egos during our lives…death will finally do it for us.

As Paul put it near the end of his life: “For I am already being poured out like a libation, and the time of my departure is at hand” (2 Timothy 4:6).

You can practice a “daily dying” through a meditative practice.

As Jesus put it, “When you pray, go to your inner room, close the door, and pray to your Father in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will repay you. In praying, do not babble like the pagans, who think that they will be heard because of their many words” (Matthew 6:6-7).

This is the way to awaken your true self.

Then you can be free to serve those in need.

What is your unique mission?

+++

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!

Posted in God, inspiration, music, progressive Christianity, religion, spirituality, Today's Contemplation | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Grace

Posted on June 4, 2019 by billtonnis

You were, are, and always will be loved by God.

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

+++

Acts 20:22-24

But now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem. What will happen to me there I do not know, except that in one city after another the holy Spirit has been warning me that imprisonment and hardships await me. Yet I consider life of no importance to me, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to bear witness to the gospel of God’s grace.

+++

Paul speaks here of his attunement to the Spirit.

He knew the way of Christ…the way of self-emptying (Philippians 2:7)…letting go of his ego so that the Spirit’s desires could rise in him.

This is what led him to go to Jerusalem.

How often do we practice this self-emptying?

I would recommend some form of meditation. Centering Prayer is my practice…but you would be benefited by some practice that allows your ego to lose its grip on your life.

Note that Paul’s mission…as any Christian’s mission should be…was to “bear witness to the gospel of God’s grace.”

The Christian path is not about us trying to prove our worthiness or acceptability to God.

It’s about grace!

God loves us and everyone else and all creation unconditionally!

That is the gospel…the Good News!

Accept it.

Be free.

Then pass the message on to others!

+++

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 iTunes by clicking HERE.

Remember…God loves you!

Posted in God, inspiration, music, progressive Christianity, religion, spirituality, Today's Contemplation | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Sacred Presence

Posted on June 3, 2019 by billtonnis

God is not in some distant place…but intimately close.

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

+++

John 16:32

“Behold, the hour is coming and has arrived when each of you will be scattered to his own home and you will leave me alone. But I am not alone, because the Father is with me.”

+++

We all have times when we feel a certain closeness to the Divine.

You might call the Divine God or Jesus or Spirit or Source or Creator or the Transcendent. You might call it Allah.

But then we must go out into the world into the desert places where we encounter those who don’t have the beliefs that we do.

We are challenged to show unconditional love when we are rejected.

Jesus said that he and the Father (God) are one.

And this God is also always with us…even when it doesn’t feel like it.

Spend some quiet time allowing this truth to rise in your soul.

+++

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 iTunes by clicking HERE.

Remember…God loves you!

Posted in God, inspiration, music, progressive Christianity, religion, spirituality, Today's Contemplation | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Genuine Christianity

Posted on May 31, 2019 by billtonnis

Compassion is the way to a transformed life.

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

+++

Romans 12:13-15

Contribute to the needs of the holy ones, exercise hospitality. Bless those who persecute [you], bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.

+++

What St. Paul says here speaks to the importance of being in relationship with others…as well as loving your neighbor.

This is the economy of grace…where the kingdom of God breaks into the present.

It’s how Jesus lived.

St. Paul calls on us to follow Jesus by caring for others and responding to persecution with a blessing…not with a curse or violence.

This is what it means to follow Jesus who offered forgiveness to those who crucified him.

This is a narrow path that few choose but all are called to follow.

We are called to be with others in good times of rejoicing as well as bad times of weeping.

This is what Love looks like.

This is why we’re here.

This is how we experience God in our midst.

May it be so.

+++

Listen to the song of the day “There Is Three” on the Mercy Reigns album by clicking HERE.

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

Remember…God loves you!

Posted in God, inspiration, music, progressive Christianity, religion, spirituality, Today's Contemplation | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Called

Posted on May 30, 2019 by billtonnis

We all have been created for an infinite purpose.

(Listen to my song “You’ll Lead Me” on YouTube by clicking HERE)

+++

Ephesians 1:17-18

“May the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation resulting in knowledge of him. May the eyes of [your] hearts be enlightened, that you may know what is the hope that belongs to his call.“

+++

This was the prayer of St. Paul for everyone.

May we all pray for a spirit of wisdom and revelation resulting in the knowledge of God.

And may the eyes of our hearts be enlightened, that we may know what is the hope that belongs to God’s call.

Are you seeking God in your daily life?

The sacred is everywhere.

What is your call?

Seek God always…and you will be led to your call.

+++

Listen to the song of the day “You’ll Lead Me” on the Listen to Your Heart album by clicking HERE.

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

Remember…God loves you!

Posted in God, inspiration, music, progressive Christianity, religion, spirituality, Today's Contemplation | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Breathe

Posted on May 29, 2019 by billtonnis

Let go…and awaken to life.

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

+++

Acts 17:26-28

“(God) fixed the ordered seasons and the boundaries of their regions, so that people might seek God, even perhaps grope for him and find him, though indeed he is not far from any one of us. For ‘In him we live and move and have our being.’”

+++

Paul was speaking to the people of Athens who had idols of various gods everywhere.

Today’s scripture verse is what Paul said to describe the Christian God to them.

Paul’s understanding of “God” is clearly not of some old man with a beard somewhere out there looking down at us!

Paul tries to put into words what cannot be put into words.

He seems to be saying that God is everywhere…but not easily grasped.

Our God is not far away…but so very close to us…as close as our very breath.

Rest in that knowledge.

+++

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 iTunes by clicking HERE.

Remember…God loves you!

Posted in God, inspiration, music, progressive Christianity, religion, spirituality, Today's Contemplation | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Let Love Lead You

Posted on May 28, 2019 by billtonnis

At the core of our being is Infinite Compassion.

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

+++

Psalm 138:3

On the day I cried out, you answered; you strengthened my spirit.

+++

It seems we are programmed to call on a Higher Power.

When we encounter trouble…we instinctively cry out to God for help.

I know I do.

However, seldom is there a sudden and miraculous resolution Divinely sent.

God does not act like Superman or like Santa Claus.

But I can tell you…I have often felt my spirit strengthened.

I know that I know that I know that there is a Benevolence…a Compassion that is upholding and embracing me in the midst of my trials.

And the message I hear in my heart is that despite being in what appears to be the valley of death…I am being safely led home.

+++

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 iTunes by clicking HERE.

Remember…God loves you!

Posted in God, inspiration, music, progressive Christianity, religion, spirituality, Today's Contemplation | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Enter the Flow

Posted on May 23, 2019 by billtonnis

The Source of Compassion is Infinite.

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

+++

John 15:9

“As the Father loves me, so I also love you. Remain in my love.”

+++

God, who is Love (1 John 4:8), self-empties the Love (that God is) into Jesus…who in turn self-empties that Love into us.

As St. Paul put it: (Christ Jesus) emptied himself…coming in human likeness (Philippians 2:7).”

We are then asked to also self-empty that Love in how we live our lives.

Egos must be set aside.

When we live from this place of Love…being present to everyone and everything…the kingdom of God comes…on earth as it is in heaven.

This kind of Love cannot be stopped.

It would change the world…if it was ever tried.

+++

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 iTunes by clicking HERE.

Remember…God loves you!

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