Baroni Bloggin’

My Help Comes From The Holy One

My help comes from the Holy One
My hope is far above
When storms and darkness threaten me
I’m anchored in His Love

My Faith has found a resting place
In Jesus Christ the Lord
Beyond what mortal eyes can see
I live by God’s own Word

And who in heav’n or on the earth
Compares with God Most High
Who laid aside His kingly robe
Through Mary born to die

The only One both God and man
Proclaimed God’s Kingdom come
The good news of redeeming Love
The Father’s will was done

They buried Him in borrowed tomb
Such sorrow on that day
But oh the joy came on the morn
The stone was rolled away

Christ rose into the heavenlies
At God’s right hand He reigns
And now we are complete in Him
Oh blessed be His Name!

My help comes from the Holy One
My hope is far above
When storms and darkness threaten me
I’m anchored in His Love
I’m anchored in His Love

(2007 David Baroni/ Kingdomsongs Inc./ BMI/CCLI)

If you would like a demo mp3 and a chord sheet for this song, email me at david@davidbaroni.com
Godrest and Godspeed,
David Baroni

I am emotional today.
Yesterday my son-in-law Ben and his bride, my daughter Bethany, introduced me to a song written by John Mark McMillan and led by Kim Walker called “How He Loves”.

I was blown away starting at the very first lines:

“He is jealous for me
He is a hurricane I am a tree
Bending beneath the weight of His wind and mercy…”

I highly recommend you acquiring this song, recorded live on the “We Cry Out” CD from Bill Johnson’s church in Redding, CA. Just go on Itunes and enter “How He Loves” and “Kim Walker” as the artist.

The freshness of the lyric, the obvious passion in Kim Walker and the well-done, heartfelt musical arrangement is a wonderful vehicle for the incredible love of God.

I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised, with all this time of walking with the Lord, but I am amazed and delighted and overwhelmed afresh with the sense of His fiery love. “God loves us” can’t remain merely a soothing, sappy cliche’ when we really get a glimpse of His passionate heart for us…

God’s love sets us free from, again in the words of the song, the need to “maintain our regrets
when we think about the way… He loves us, Oh How He loves us”!

I am emotional for another reason:
Our daughter Charity is moving to L.A. on Thursday, May, 1st to pursue her dreams of being involved in the entertainment field. We are so for her and I believe she will do well and wonderfully there and… I am going to miss her so!

Godrest and Godspeed,
David Baroni

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!

God will move us from fear of calamity to the Fear of the Lord.
From love of this world and distractions to the Love of God.

Perfect Love casts out fear.

There is an unholy spirit of fear that tries to attach itself to the child of God. That spirit of fear is manifested in worry, terror, a sense of foreboding or expectation of disaster or disease. It can be debilitating and draining and cause one to forget who he or she is as a royal citizen of the Kingdom of God through Jesus Christ.

Whatever you feed grows. If you feed the spirit of fear by too much television news, or being around fearful people all the time, or neglecting to hear what God says about you and about circumstances, fear gains a stronger influence in your life.

There is, thank God, an answer for unholy fear. That answer is to be filled with the “Fear of the Lord”.

The fear of the Lord is healthy. It is to be desired. The fear of the Lord is not terror or false humility- it is simply and profoundly to have a deep respect and reverence for Who God is. To be in His Presence and on the quest to know Him by His Spirit and Word is to learn to love what He loves and hate what He hates.

To be a recipient of grace is a wonderful and overwhelming thing. It is not, however, a license to be casual in our dealings with the Almighty.

Some may say to have the fear of the Lord is an old-fashioned, unenlightened way of relating to God. That is not what is taught by the Word of God:

“The fear of the Lord is the Beginning of Wisdom.”
The fear of the Lord is to hate evil. Blessed is the man or woman that fears (has proper esteem, reverence and respect for) the Lord. My FATHER is the King of the Universe. I know that He loves me unconditionally and will never reject me. I am safe in His love. As I get to know Him better, my awe and respect, yes my “fear” of Him grows as well. It’s a good thing. Indeed a necessary thing to fear the Lord.

As I was praying and playing piano before the Lord this morning I realized that God in His goodness was giving me the grace to put off the unholy fear that has been subtly (and sometimes more overtly) paralyzing me, and receive a fresh baptism of the fear of the Lord.

We become like that which we behold.

I have been allowing myself to be consumed by distractions, a love for entertainment for example. It isn’t that I have been watching things that are blatantly sinful, it’s just that I have allowed myself to be distracted by the unimportant in an attempt to fill up what only God can satisfy. I am asking the Lord to refill and refocus me on Him. Ministry doesn’t ultimately satisfy, good works, money, even cherished relationships can’t fill up the part of me (and you) that is reserved for God alone.

“…we with open face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord are changed into the same image from glory to glory even as by the Spirit of the Lord” 2nd. Cor. 3:18

So Lord, thank you for replacing unholy fear with your Holy fear, and replacing earthly distractions- other loves- with Your Love. Your Perfect, Mature Love.
Thank you for giving us a singleness of heart.

“One thing I have desired of the Lord, that will I seek after- to behold the beauty of the Lord and to dwell in Your Presence forever.”
Perfect Love casts out fear.

I love paradox. Here is a lyric from the new CD release: The Songwriter Sessions. It is a new song called “O Beautiful Fear”.
Godrest and Godspeed!
David Baroni

“O Beautiful Fear”
David Baroni/ Kingdomsongs Inc./CCLI /BMI/ 2007

O Beautiful Fear stunned in your Presence
Trembling here bowing in reverence
You hold out Your sceptre
And bid me come near
Now I’m not afraid
I’m not afraid
I’m not afraid anymore
Beautiful Fear Beautiful Fear

O Beautiful Fear O Joy that enfolds me
Holding me near like no one else holds me
Your heart like a flame
Has drawn me here
Now I’m not afraid
I’m not afraid
I’m not afraid anymore
Beautiful Fear Beautiful Fear

O the flavor of Your favor
How I savor the wonder of You
My lover my King
You make my heart sing
Incredibly You
Are in love with me too!

O Beautiful Fear O Love beyond measure
To know I am Yours
There’s no greater treasure
Gazing at You
Everything’s clear
Now I’m not afraid
I’m not afraid
I’m not afraid anymore
Beautiful Fear
Beautiful Fear

“Godrest and Godspeed”.

I add this signature to almost every letter or email.

The order of the words are important. Godrest

“He that has entered into His rest has ceased from his own works, even as God did from His.”

As I travel around the globe and around the United States I get to meet people from many different denominational backgrounds. One thing I have noticed (and of course it is also evident in my own life), is that a lot of God’s people are just plain tired.

It’s not just because the world has gotten more demanding, bill collectors are louder in their cries to be paid, we need to learn restraint in our consumption, etc. etc.; those things may be true, but the weariness goes a whole lot deeper than that.

We have a “soul-weariness” because we have been trying to do the will and work of God in our own strength. As my friend Steve Fry says, we must learn to do Father’s work His way.

Watchman Nee, in his masterpiece “The Normal Christian Life” puts it this way: “Only Jesus Christ has ever lived the normal Christian life and only He can.” So let’s stop trying to live for God and let Him live His Life in us!

He is the One who makes us lie down in green pastures, He leads us beside the restful waters, He restores our soul (mind. will and emotions.)

That’s what I mean when I say Godrest.

From a place of rest then we can live with “Godspeed”-

In other words, what God commands, He gives grace for.
As the Psalmist David says: “Through my God I can run through a troop and leap over a wall. Through my God I will do valiantly, for it is He Who overcomes my enemy.”

Rather than ask God to bless what we are doing, we ask Him to show us what He is on His heart for His world and his people, and ask for grace to flow with His purposes! Seek first the Kingdom!

Godrest and Godspeed,
David Baroni

Rita and I spent Friday at a dear friend’s home whose husband was dying of cancer. We watched them say their goodbyes, talked about the funeral plans, and left in the evening to give them their last few hours together.

The phone call came at midnight, Rhonda told Rita that Jerry had just “gone home”.

Yesterday we went to 2 high school graduations, not our own children, but friends of the family. The ritual was familiar (I guess that’s part of what ritual is), and the time was special. Hugs all around, some tears (yes, even macho me.)

Today, my wife and I practiced a song we are singing in a wedding celebration next weekend.

All different events with one major thing in common: this is the stuff of life.

Traveling to the far corners of the world, meeting people that don’t look like me, smelling different smells, watching as other cultures worship God- that’s exciting and rewarding and tiring and wonderful and sometimes lonely.

Today, I celebrate the ordinary. The living, the graduating, the falling in love and marrying, and yes, the sad goodbye of death.
It’s all a part of this incredible gift we have been given by our Creator/Father/God.

The gift of life.

Be it sad and hard sometimes, joyous and exhilarating, peaceful or sometimes just ordinary, today is, in one sense, all we have.

I don’t want to just read or write about life, I won’t be content just to sing or speak or hear about it.

I want to live it!

Celebrating Today,

Godrest and Godspeed,
David Baroni

There is a rash of identity theft being reported in the last few years. On-line hackers break into your computer, steal your passwords and personal information, then use it to buy things on-line- sometimes running up thousands of dollars of debt using your name.

But that’s not the identity theft I want to talk about…

Jesus said “You shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free.”

God says that before He formed you in the womb, he knew you. You and I have unique personalities, we are created in the image of God. When we accept the new life that Jesus Christ gives, we are free to be the people we were originally intended to be.

So often in life, however, we can relate to what Mufasa told Simba in “The Lion King”: “You’ve forgotten who you are.”

So how is our identity stolen?

One way is having words spoken to us that we take into our souls.

“You are so stupid”.

“Why can’t you be more like your brother (or sister)?”

“You will never amount to anything”.

The list goes on. The more we hear these harmful words, the more we tend to believe them and they become self-fulfilling prophecies. Over time, our identities as beloved children of God are stolen.

So what is the remedy?

Ask God to help us see Him as He is, and see ourselves as He sees us. Hear the words that God says to us and over us through His Word and the Holy Spirit.
Our Father says:

“If you could see you how I see you, it would free you to be you. Then you will know me, for I will show you Who I am and who you are”!

Godrest and Godspeed,
David Baroni

My wife started singing a song under her breath as she cleaned the kitchen.

My daughter Celeste, who had been singing a different song, soon began to sing the same song as Rita- again, this was unconscious on both their parts. They were no more aware of the singing than they were of breathing.

Sometimes Rita will say to me, “Guess what song is on my mind.”

Then she will sing some song that I wish I had never heard, some silly commercial or cheesy love song from the 80’s and… I can’t get that song out of my mind! I have to consciously replace it with another song and even then, when I least expect it, the cheesy song shows up in my brain (and sometimes on my lips) again.

Why?

Because God has given us music that comes with the gift of memory built-in.

So we can remember beer jingles and TV themes? No, so we can remember His Word and His goodness.

I think that music and memory is so engrained in us that we often take it for granted and we forget how powerful an influence it has on us. I want my mind and heart to be filled with the music of heaven, the sounds of the Kingdom of God.

Maybe that is one reason the scripture says “…be filled with the Spirit, singing and making melody in your heart- singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs.”
Spread the sounds of the Kingdom.

Godrest and Godspeed,
David Baroni

“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things unseen.”

The things of the Spirit of God are discerned with more than just our natural senses.
The real you is a spirit. Man is a spirit, has a soul (the seat of the natural mind, will and emotions) and lives in a body. We don’t live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.

In other words, the Living Word of God is the sustenance for our spirit man, the real us.

Jesus said “except you eat my body and drink my blood you have no life in you”.
He was not speaking about cannabalism, He was speaking of our being totally dependent on Him as the Source of Life!

I am too easily distracted by the things I engage with my natural senses, but as God grows in me I am learning to be “naturally supernatural.”

Rita and I leave tomorrow for Kuwait to minister at Lighthouse Church for the next 10 days.
We are excited and would certainly appreciate your prayers!

Godrest and Godspeed,
David Baroni