Love Wins

Posted on April 16, 2019 by billtonnis

When you do what is just and compassionate…you will never regret it.

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

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Isaiah 49:4

Though I thought I had toiled in vain, for nothing and for naught spent my strength, yet my right is with the LORD, my recompense is with my God.

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When you are called to do the right thing…what is just for the oppressed and the poor…you may not see “success” in the eyes of the world.

Remember…we’re not living for the world but for God.

We have a great role model in Jesus.

To the world…he appeared to be the ultimate loser.

He was rejected or abandoned by just about everyone (except for a few women), and was executed in the most cruel manner.

However…appearances are deceiving.

Jesus’ example is still being followed 2000 years after his death.

His teachings are still making a life-changing difference for many!

The way of Love is a force that patiently and persistently works.

It cannot be defeated.

This is the way of God.

It’s the way of Love.

Hang in there. New life is in the making!

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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 iTunes by clicking HERE.

Remember…God loves you!

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Social Justice

Posted on April 15, 2019 by billtonnis

Faith without works is dead. – James 2:17

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

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Isaiah 42:6-7

I, the LORD, have called you for justice, I have grasped you by the hand; I formed you, and set you as a covenant for the people, a light for the nations, to open the eyes of the blind, to bring out prisoners from confinement, and from the dungeon, those who live in darkness.

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In today’s scripture…the Prophet Isaiah was speaking of the coming Messiah.

Jesus later embraced these words (Luke 4:18-19) as his own mission statement.

If you identify as a Christian…then that means this is your mission statement as well.

Are you carrying out this mission?

Many Christians seem to be good church-goers…but I’m not so sure how well they are actually following Jesus’ mission.

Jesus called us to follow him…which would mean reaching out to the oppressed and all those in need.

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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 iTunes by clicking HERE.

Remember…God loves you!

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Let Go…Let God

Posted on April 5, 2019 by billtonnis

God’s love for us and everything is eternal.

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

(Buy my new devotional Mercy Reigns covering every day of the year by clicking HERE)

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Psalm 34:19

The LORD is close to the brokenhearted, saves those whose spirit is crushed.

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Have you heard of the word “panentheism”?

It is not the same as “pantheism”.

Here’s the difference: Pantheism is the belief that God and the universe can be equated; that God is the universe.

Panentheism states that all is in God; it says the Divine interpenetrates all aspects of the universe and transcends it.

St. Paul seemed to believe the latter.

He put it this way when talking about God: “In him we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28).

Since we also equate God with Love (1 John 4:8), then we literally are living and moving and having our being in Love itself.

God cannot abandon us. Impossible!

The feeling that we are separated from God is an illusion of our minds.

If you are feeling this…you are in good company.

Everyone experiences this at various points in their lives. Many saints did as well.

It’s called the “dark night of the soul.”

Mother Teresa endured years of this.

So if you are struggling…know that you are not alone.

You are being taken to a deeper place of God’s love.

Let go and fall into the all-consuming, all-embracing Great Compassion.

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Listen to my song “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!

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Your Calling

Posted on April 4, 2019 by billtonnis

Nothing is more important than being your true self.

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

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John 5:44

“How can you believe, when you accept praise from one another and do not seek the praise that comes from the only God?”

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Whose praise are you seeking?

Whose praise really matters?

Many of us are people pleasers.

We were conditioned to head down that road from our earliest childhood.

When did you…or have you ever…asked yourself: “What does God want from me?”

We have been loved into existence by Love itself so that we can be a channel of love to the world.

So when you are doing that…you are pleasing God.

Because that’s when you are in touch with your true self.

As Thomas Merton wrote in 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).”

If you are looking for a way to be compassion to the world…follow the example of Jesus or his closest follower Mary Magdalene.

If and when we do this…God’s praise is resounding in our souls.

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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 iTunes by clicking HERE.

Remember…God loves you!

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Gospel

Posted on April 3, 2019 by billtonnis

There is a Benevolence in the fabric of all that exists.

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

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Psalm 145:9

The LORD is good to all, compassionate toward all your works.

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Who is the most compassionate person you know?

Whoever that is…God must be a trillion times more compassionate.

Actually…that’s an understatement since God is eternally loving, merciful, forgiving and compassionate.

Since God is Love (1 John 4:8)…we know that this Love is what is giving everything life.

Love is in, through, and all around all that is.

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

That doesn’t mean that there won’t be struggles.

Sometimes we suffer because people have free will and can choose to do things that are hurtful.

Nature also has a freedom that can cause damage. (I’m thinking this is largely amplified by the amount of damage humans are doing to nature but that subject is for another time.)

But throughout all of it…there is an underlying Love holding all and including all.

Bodily death is not the end…but merely a transformation to new life.

Our souls go on safe and sound.

So trust…and live in that awareness.

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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 iTunes by clicking HERE.

Remember…God loves you!

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Now Here

Posted on April 2, 2019 by billtonnis

Peace is always available in the Divine Presence.

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

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Psalm 46:2

God is our refuge and our strength, an ever-present help in distress.

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The key words here are “ever-present.”

God is always in the now…at least in our human experience.

We, too, must be present if we are to experience God as our refuge, strength and help in distress.

How often are we actually present?

How often are our minds running a mile-a-minute, rehashing and rehashing one topic or another?

Most of us, I’m afraid, are attached and obsessed with those thoughts…actually believing that we are those thoughts.

Stop for a second and observe those thoughts.

Who is the observer of your thoughts?

The real you…that’s who!

Let go of those endless streams of thoughts and actually experience presence…….

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Now…rest in the Presence of the One who always loved you…and will never stop.

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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 iTunes by clicking HERE.

Remember…God loves you!

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Live Your Life

Posted on April 1, 2019 by billtonnis

Plug in to the Creative Flow.

(Listen to my song “Shall We Sing” 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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God is always creating.

It’s been on-going for…well…13 to 14 billion years.

That’s how long ago scientists have estimated that the so-called “big bang” occurred and the universe began.

Of course, we don’t know what happened before that.

There is a Life Force behind creation…an Animator…that is always at work.

Or you might call it…play.

Each of us has a choice: Will you be a co-creator…or not?

Will you accept the invitation to the Grand Dance?

Follow your interests…follow your bliss in service to others.

It’s your path to joy and gladness.

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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 iTunes by clicking HERE.

Remember…God loves you!

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One Body

Posted on March 28, 2019 by billtonnis

The law of love calls us to include…not divide.

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

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Luke 11:23

“Whoever does not gather with me scatters.”

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Jesus was a “whole-maker.”

He went around curing people…thereby making them whole.

This also returned them to the community that had discarded them as “unclean.” This also restored wholeness to the community.

Jesus crossed all boundaries and spent time with people considered outcasts.

The only people Jesus openly criticized were the religious leaders who were holding people to the letter of the law with no sense of compassion.

Jesus said to love your neighbor as yourself…meaning as though your neighbor was yourself.

Because in God’s eyes…your neighbor is you!

All of us are part of one body of Christ.

Such inclusiveness is difficult and can get you into lots of trouble.

But it’s part of being a Christian.

Are you gathering or scattering?

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Listen to the song of the day “All Are One” on the Mercy Reigns album by clicking HERE.

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

Remember…God loves you!

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Just Be You

Posted on March 27, 2019 by billtonnis

Your true self is a masterpiece of God.

(Listen to my song “Glorify You with Me” on YouTube by clicking HERE)

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Psalm 147:12

Glorify the LORD, Jerusalem.

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How do we “glorify” God?

By being our true selves.

Each of us is a unique and beautiful child of God…just as we are.

Under all the masks we have put on, beyond all the titles bestowed on us by society, or labels pasted on us by others…lies the pure and beloved soul that God crafted.

So allow it to come forth.

Let go of all the false trappings that you have let define you.

All living things are simply being themselves fully and completely.

Do the same with joy!

When you do…you will be reflecting the glory of God in the way that only you can!

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Listen to the song of the day “Glorify You with Me” 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!

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Grace Happens

Posted on March 26, 2019 by billtonnis

Trust in a Higher Power…with each step into the mystery.

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

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Psalm 25:4-5

Make known to me your ways, LORD; teach me your paths. Guide me by your fidelity and teach me, for you are God my savior.

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We all want answers.

Lord…please just show me the right way to go!

But…this is not what usually happens.

We seldom get a clear answer from God.

We usually don’t see how a Benevolence helped guide us until we look back in hindsight.

I’m thinking that’s because God wants each of us to live into the answer.

The whole point of our existence is to grow…to learn…to experience love and be changed by it.

That’s tough work!

You can’t just jump from question to answer.

If someone gave you the easy answer it would erase the growth you were supposed to experience on your journey.

It’s like the story of the caterpillar that was turning into a butterfly but was struggling to escape from its cocoon. A little boy thought he’d help by getting a scissors and cutting the cocoon to make it easier for the butterfly to get out. Unfortunately, the butterfly dropped to the ground. It had a swollen body and shriveled wings. It would never be able to fly.

What the boy didn’t understand is that the butterfly needed the struggle to escape the cocoon.

That was the only way it could build strength in its wings so that it would be able to fly.

God’s ways are not our ways.

The important thing is to trust that there is a Great Love drawing us forward.

Be attentive to that Higher Power.

Go with the Flow of Love.

You will then be in the midst of living the answer you are seeking.

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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 iTunes by clicking HERE.

Remember…God loves you!

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