Baroni Bloggin’

Rita and I are having a great time here in Kuwait. Here are some of the thoughts that I shared in one of the meetings earlier today:

Two months after I resigned the only salary paying job I ever had as an adult, I found myself in a worship conference in Singapore as a “musicianary”. I told the attendees that I had always hoped for the right circumstances to be in my life so that I could just coast for the rest of my life.

I said that if I could just have the right financial circumstances or an encounter with God on a mountaintop that would make me forever peaceful, maybe that would bring contentment at last.
Then I told them that I knew that there wasn’t such an encounter or set of circumstances.

Why?

Because then I would trust in the encounter or circumstances and peace, a resting place, can only be found in a relationship with a Person… His Name is Jesus!
(By the way, God provided for us and our family wonderfully at that Christmas-time trip to Singapore!)

Jesus said “Man shall not live by bread (natural circumstances or provision-my paraphrase) alone- but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.

In this day of the rapid proliferation of (mostly) useless words, it is easy for us to forget that words have power. God’s Word is what created the universe and holds it together!

In the encounter on the stormy sea when the Lord came walking upon the waves toward the disciples and they didn’t believe it was flesh and blood Jesus, but a “ghost”; Peter asked Jesus, “If it is really you, Master, then bid me come to you on the water.”

Jesus said one word: “Come!”

P.S. Look for our Freshword Teaching Series to be available any day now as downloadable MP3s at our online store!

Rita and I just arrived in Kuwait City, Kuwait. We will be part of a worship conference hosted by a great church: The Lighthouse here in Kuwait. http://www.tlckuwait.com/new/index.html
This church has people from 55 nations and is true to it’s name here in this Middle Eastern nation.

We are looking forward to our time here and will soon be joined by our friend Karry Godwin, the guitar player/teacher and all around good guy (not to mention he has never met food he didn’t like!)

Pray for Rita and Karry and I and the folks here at the Lighthouse.

Godrest and Godspeed,
David B.

Time for some sleep…!! zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Jesus said…”the Kingdom of God comes not with observation (natural perception), behold- the Kingdom of God is within you.”

George Warnock, in his powerful book, “The Feast of Tabernacles” talks about the great privilege that those who have received Christ and are led by the Holy Spirit have been given.

These new creations in Christ, the sons of God-

See the invisible

Do the impossible

So many times I am reminded that I have lived far beneath my calling and empowerment as a son of God. As Simba’s father Mufasa in the Lion King reminds his wandering son:

“You have forgotten who you are”

and

“You are more than you have become”.

As I study the power of thoughts and words. I am reminded often that the realm of spirit is more real than the realm of the temporal, “earthy”. The Apostle Paul writes:…”for we look not at things which are seen but things that are invisible, for the visible things are temporary but the invisible things are eternal.”

Reality is far beyond the physical realm. It includes (of course) the physical, but the “sense” realm is just the beginning. That’s where faith comes in. Faith calls things which are not as though they are through the power of the word of God.

We carry great capacity to bless- by our presence (or more specifically God’s Presence in us), by our words, and by faith-motivated actions. Sometimes, in fact most times, we are not aware of the power of our presence, words and actions. That’s probably a good thing as it relates to our pride, but not so good as it pertains to our lack of intentionality to live, as the Reformers said, coram Deo - before the Face of God.

Conversely, we can also bring damage and death by our presence,words and actions if we are not aware of the realm beyond the natural. Even believers in Christ can unwittingly be used by the enemy to speak word curses and bring “dis-ease” and strife if we are not aware of the importance of our God-given ability to influence the atmosphere and peole around us.

This is not to say that I advocate a paralyzing legalism or acute self-consciousness. Jesus said “You shall know the Truth and the truth shall make you free.” Through the death, resurrection, ascension and indwelling of Jesus Christ in us by the power of the Holy Spirit we are free to live without fear, alert to His goodness, and make a difference for the exalting of God by merely being!

Rita and I leave for Hawaii tomorrow! We will be ministering at Sure Foundation Churches in Hilo and Puna and also at Glad Tidings Church. We will be also be ministering in a marriage retreat hosted by Glad Tidings at the King Kam Hotel in Kona.

We will also have some time to take walks on the beach and have some recreation and relaxing time as well.

Then we leave for The Lighthouse church in Kuwait toward the end of this month. We will be traveling with my good friend Karry Godwin and look forward to returning to Kuwait- we had a wonderful time in the Lord there last year.

Pray for us and don’t forget to download the free MP3 and songsheet of the month: “Blessed Be The Lord God Almighty”.

Godrest and Godspeed,
David Baroni