Be Free

Posted on February 7, 2019 by billtonnis

What do you need to let go of…so you can truly live?

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

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Mark 6:7-8

Jesus summoned the Twelve and began to send them out two by two and gave them authority over unclean spirits. He instructed them to take nothing for the journey but a walking stick—no food, no sack, no money in their belts.

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How reckless to send people out on a journey with nothing!

Actually, this is an example of radical trust.

It’s ridding yourself of all attachments so that you can focus on the one thing.

Yes…this is radical. But Jesus is making a point.

Do you, as a follower of Jesus, trust in the care of God?

As Jesus put it later in this same gospel passage, “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat [or drink], or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds in the sky; they do not sow or reap, they gather nothing into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are not you more important than they?” (Matthew 6:25-26)

So why not let go of all that clutter…all that stuff that is distracting you from the one thing: being present to the Divine Presence.

This is the only way to be open to receiving and channeling the love of God in each moment in the unique circumstances of your life.

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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 iTunes by clicking HERE.

Remember…God loves you!

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Listen to Your Heart

Posted on February 6, 2019 by billtonnis

Each of us is called to be the unique person we were made to be.

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

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Mark 6:4-5

Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his native place and among his own kin and in his own house.” So he was not able to perform any mighty deed there.

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You know deep within your heart that you have a calling…at least, I hope you do.

If not…I’m letting you know right now!

You are here to share the love of God with the world in the unique way that only you can.

Hopefully, by grace, you are able to respond to the call or you will never have inner peace.

If you respond…you will have new life.

All it takes is being present to life as your true self.

That will mean letting go of all the attachments that are distractions from this path.

And that will mean making changes.

It will not be an easy road.

Those closest to you will likely not respond favorably to your changed ways.

Those in Jesus’ home town were first “astonished” by his teaching in the synagogue. But then they remembered how he was before he had left town…how Jesus had been a simple carpenter and the “son of Mary.”

Then they “took offense at him” (Mark 6:3).

Let this be a lesson to you: Do not look for approval or validation from someone before you follow the dream in your heart.

When you set off on a new course with enthusiasm, those close to you will feel their status quo threatened.

Most people do not want to change!

That’s okay…change anyway!

Listen to your life speak…and follow your dreams.

It’s never too late…or early to start!

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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 iTunes by clicking HERE.

Remember…God loves you!

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Saved

Posted on February 5, 2019 by billtonnis

The light of God’s love is eternally shining on everyone and everything.

(Listen to my song “I Stand in the Light” on the Mercy Reigns album by clicking HERE)

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Mark 5:36

“Do not be afraid; just have faith.”

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A synagogue official had just pleaded for Jesus to return with him to his home and cure his daughter who was ill.

But then others came to inform them that the girl had died.

That’s when Jesus said the above comment to the father of the girl.

Jesus often advised his listeners not to be afraid.

Another scripture put it this way: “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).”

Remember: “God is love” (1 John 4:8).

And Love drives out fear.

So when you are afraid…catch it immediately.

Observe it.

Allow God’s love to shine upon that fear until it disappears.

What’s the worst thing that could happen?

Death? It has no power!

St. Paul declared that death no longer has any sting: “We shall not all fall asleep, but we will all be changed” (1 Corinthians 15:51).

This is also the message of the thousands and thousands of Near Death Experiencers who have returned after being resuscitated following a medical death to assure us of eternal acceptance and joy in the hereafter. 

Death is merely a doorway to transition.

Allow this certainty to lift you and inspire you!

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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 iTunes by clicking HERE.

Remember…God loves you!

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New Life in Progress

Posted on February 4, 2019 by billtonnis

If it seems things are going wrong…you’re in the midst of a turnaround.

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

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Psalm 31:23

Once I said in my anguish, “I am cut off from your sight.” Yet you heard my voice, my cry for mercy, when I pleaded with you for help.

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Sometimes it takes hitting rock bottom before our egos will finally relinquish control long enough for us to actually be present to the Divine Presence.

It is only then that we have a chance to actually hear God.

Paradoxically, that is also when we can hear our true self.

As Thomas Merton said, “If I find (God), I will find myself, and if I find my true self I will find (God) (New Seeds of Contemplation).

For me, I had to become so miserable with my job and life in general before my ego would surrender.

It happened on a Friday in March of 1997.

That’s when I heard in the silence of my heart to “get your guitar”…a guitar I hadn’t touched in ten years.

I did pick up my guitar that day…and ten years later I released my first album of original music titled Listen to Your Heart.

Today I have four albums and a published book titled, Mercy Reigns: A Daily Devotional of Compassion, Comfort and Healing.

The music led me on a winding path that led to youth ministry, chaplaincy, jail ministry and social justice work.

God does hear us when we cry out.

God always hears us…it’s just that many times we are only listening to the constant chatter of our ego-controlled minds.

Now is the time to stop, take a deep breath, be present…and listen.

You are already perfectly loved and complete…right now.

Live from that place.

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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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Let Go

Posted on February 1, 2019 by billtonnis

The Love of God calls each of us to change so we can better love.

(Listen to my song “Take the Road Less Traveled” on YouTube by clicking HERE)

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Hebrews 10:32, 36

Remember the days past when, after you had been enlightened, you endured a great contest of suffering. You need endurance to do the will of God and receive what he has promised.

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Have you been “enlightened”?

Many times we have “aha” moments…but true enlightenment is not just a momentary inspiration.

It’s life-changing.

It’s a complete shift in a paradigm.

The meaning of your existence and all existence shifts.

The way you see…your consciousness…changes.

For me…I have to say that enlightenment is a process that ever deepens.

But there was a moment…an epiphany…after which my life would never be the same.

I can easily go back to that moment and see that my old life died…and something new was born in that moment.

But it was not easy.

The old ways of life no longer made sense to me.

I had to change a number of behaviors and beliefs.

That brought more than a little pain and anguish…a “great contest of suffering.”

But now…looking back at what I endured…I see that God was leading me to new life.

I am very grateful!

You can’t manufacture enlightenment. Life delivers it.

As Paula D’Arcy said, “God comes you to disguised as your life.”

If you know in your heart that you are being called…let me tell you: Listen to that inner yearning.

Surrender to it. Open your heart.

Go where you are led and know that you are being led safely to wholeness (salvation) and your true self.

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Listen to the song of the day “Take the Road Less Traveled” 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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Go with the Flow

Posted on January 31, 2019 by billtonnis

Life is meant to be a continuum of giving and receiving.

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

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Mark 4:24

“The measure with which you measure will be measured out to you…”

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What Jesus was saying is…the more you give…the more you receive.

It’s the law of the Universe.

It’s the law of Love.

It’s the way of the Trinitarian God: a non-stop-Flow of giving and receiving.

God creates this way.

All things blossom then wither in giving themselves in the making new life.

Jesus demonstrated this self-emptying model with his whole life.

As St. Paul described it, “He emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness; and found human in appearance, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross” (Philippians 2:7-8).

This is the path of kenosis that we are all called to give-ourselves-over-to.

Enter the Flow…and love everyone and everything.

Give freely.

Only then will you truly be you.

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Listen to the song of the day “Pour Me Out” 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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Christianity 101

Posted on January 30, 2019 by billtonnis

Caring for the poor, the stranger and those in prison is a mandate of Jesus.

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

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Mark 4:20

“But those (seeds) sown on rich soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it and bear fruit thirty and sixty and a hundredfold.”

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When seeds are sown on rich soil…we know the results: lots of growth.

It’s that way with people when they are raised on loving environments with lots of resources readily available.

But not all people are that fortunate.

Many people are raised on hostile environments that aren’t safe and secure.

They don’t have access to resources.

Christians are called to watch for those people.

We are called to seek them out and to extend a helping hand.

We are called to not only pray for them and wish them well…but to form relationships with them.

As Jesus said, “Whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me” (Matthew 25:40).

And who are these “least” ones?

The hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, the naked, the sick and those in prison (Matthew 25:35-36).

Jesus was very specific.

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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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Now Is the Time

Posted on January 29, 2019 by billtonnis

God is always present. Are you?

(Listen to my song “Sing a New Song” on YouTube by clicking HERE)

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Psalm 40:2, 4

Surely, I wait for the LORD; who bends down to me and hears my cry, and puts a new song in my mouth, a hymn to our God.

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When we want help…we usually want it now.

We certainly are in no mood to wait.

But when we wait…we are truly present.

And when we are present…we discover God.

God is always present with us.

It’s impossible for God not to be.

As St. Paul said of God, “In him we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28).

So cry out to God…and open your heart to receiving something new.

Whatever it is that God gives you (perhaps a song?)…share it with great joy!

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Listen to the song of the day “Sing a New Song” 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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Rejoice

Posted on January 28, 2019 by billtonnis

Did you know that you are eternally loved by God?

(Listen to my song “My Lord and My God” on YouTube by clicking HERE)

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Psalm 98:4

Shout with joy to the LORD, all the earth; break into song; sing praise.

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There is much to be grateful for…so why do we focus on the negative things?

We need to attend to the things that are unjust and in need of restoration…but why not do it from a place of praise?

We have life!

We have eternal life! (That’s ETERNAL!)

Death and life are part of a continuum.

There really is no death…just a transition…a rebirth to new life.

This is the lesson Jesus taught us…and so do the thousands of Near Death Experiencers who have given their testimony.

I have met several of them and have read dozens and dozens of accounts.

They experienced the death of their bodies but were later resuscitated.

And what they learned from their NDE was that their consciousness did not die…but went to an eternal realm of love and beauty.

I experienced just a tiny taste of this myself in what could be described as an STE or Spiritually Transformative Experience.

It happened during my lowest moment when hospitalized for a ruptured appendix.

That’s when I experienced a Wave of Love that enveloped me.

When you know that you are loved thoroughly and unconditionally forever…your life changes.

And you really can’t help singing and praising God!

God loves you, everyone, and all creation the same way.

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Listen to the song of the day “My Lord and My God” 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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Be a Light

Posted on January 25, 2019 by billtonnis

Being a fan of Jesus…is not the same as being a follower.

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

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Acts 9:1-2

Now Saul, still breathing murderous threats against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, that, if he should find any men or women who belonged to the Way, he might bring them back to Jerusalem in chains.

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Saul was terrorizing the first Christians.

He thought that was what God would like since they were not adhering to strict Jewish practices.

These disciples of the crucified Jesus weren’t even known as Christians yet…but as people of the “Way.”

That’s because it was a way of life…not simply a set of beliefs.

They followed the way Jesus lived.

They actually did the things he taught…like feed the poor, comfort the sick, visit the imprisoned, free the oppressed, etc.

Saul, despite his complete lack of worthiness, was transformed by an act of Grace.

He had a mystical encounter of the risen Christ on the road to Damascus.

Over time…Saul’s eyes were open to a God who loves all people equally and unconditionally.

Saul’s name was changed to Paul and he became one of most zealous followers of Jesus…making a difference in countless lives for generations.

Who are the “Sauls” of today who might experience a transformation through an encounter with Christ…through you?

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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 iTunes by clicking HERE.

Remember…God loves you!

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