Personal Log 8.7.20

 The past couple of months have been really busy for me, most of the time working 12 – 15 hour days on various projects for some elderly people in my neighborhood; 'had a case of heat stroke for a few days & earlier this week I finally wrapped everything up & took some time off to recover & relax.

I had not been entirely encouraged during this time, actually since around the first of the year when every time I attempted to talk to people about recording they just weren't interested & when I tried to record new music & lay down some tracks, something would go wrong (pc issues, tech issues, hardware/software issues, musical equipment issues, etc), when I tried to force something to happen, it just got worse & I began to lose interest myself as I became a little discouraged so I laid it all on the altar & walked away, waiting for the time to be right. I fully expected to wait a year or two for “that time” to come around...

Well, earlier this week while in morning prayer, I felt the Lord directing me to revisit the music and to take it more seriously than I did before. I was a little surprised as He was well aware of my past frustrations in the recording department however this time was different. There was a different air about it now & I was much more encouraged than I've ever been, purposing in my heart to fulfill all that I felt the Lord calling me to. 

So I spent a day & a half at the music studio cleaning up some junk, replacing the old desktop pc w/ a newer laptop, hanging sound panels & doing a little rearranging all while listening to several hours of my pastor's video teaching on how to read the Bible. What was really surprising was in that day & a half two of the musicians I had been in contact w/ for the last year & were rather ambivalent about recording before were now very excited about recording a CD and were all for it!

It's funny how God works & how/when He moves...

It was when I received the word AND purposed in my heart to do it that things began to change so I wanted to give a few examples in the Bible of people who “purposed in their heart” & it made a difference:  

DAVID PURPOSED TO PRAISE

Psalm 57:7 KJV

“My heart is fixed (kuwn = securely determined) O God, my heart is fixed; I WILL sing and give praise.”

AMP “My heart is steadfast...”

CSB “My heart is confident...”

CEB “My heart is unwavering...”

ISV “My heart is committed...”

David also said that he would bless the Lord at all times, that His praise would continuously be in his mouth. David was well aware of the importance in & the power of, praising the Lord. 

DANIEL PURPOSED NOT TO DEFILE HIMSELF

Daniel 1:8a KJV

“But Daniel purposed (suwm = lay violent hands on, direct toward, set in place) in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king’s meat, nor with the wine which he drank...”

It's amusing how one of the meanings of the Hebrew word suwm is “lay violent hands on”, sometimes an aggressive posture is what it takes to be unwavering & settled about something while carrying it through...

ISAIAH PROPHESYING “SET HIS FACE LIKE A FLINT”

Isaiah 50:7 KJV

“For the Lord God will help Me, therefore shall I not be confounded; therefore have I set (suwm = lay violent hands on, direct toward, set in place) My face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be ashamed” 

Flint is one of the durable quartz on the planet, it was used to make stone tools & knife blades, when struck, it also produces enough sparks to start a fire. Think about the spiritual parallels here...

JESUS SET HIS FACE TOWARD JERUSALEM

Luke 9:51 AMPC 

“Now when the time was almost come for Jesus to be received up [to heaven], He steadfastly and determinedly set (stērizō = place firmly, make firm, to render constant one's mind) His face to go to Jerusalem”

I have always liked this verse and how Jesus was so focused, so determined to keep His appointment w/ the Cross that nothing & no one (though they tried) could distract Him.

BARNABAS EXHORTING THE NEW CONVERTS 

TO PURPOSE IN THEIR HEART TO CLEAVE UNTO GOD

Acts 11:23 KJV

“And when he came and had seen the grace of God, he was glad and exhorted them all that with purpose (prothesis = a setting forth of a thing, placing of it in view) of heart they would cleave unto the Lord”

What hit me about the Greek word prothesis is it's meaning “placing of it in view”, it reminds me of the Scriptures “write the vision down” (Habakkuk 2:2) & “where there is no vision the people perish” (Proverbs 29:18).

PAUL PURPOSED TO PREACH THE GOSPEL

Philippians 3:14 KJV

“I press (diōkō = to run swiftly in order to catch a person or thing, to pursue [in a hostile manner]) toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”

Acts 20:24 CEV

“But I don’t care what happens to me, as long as I finish (teleioō  =  to carry through completely) the work that the Lord Jesus gave me to do. And that work is to tell the good news about God’s great kindness”

Carry. Through. Completely. It's been said that many people have a starting anointing but very few have a finishing anointing, they simply do not finish what they started for whatever reason: lack of interest, it's arduous, they lose sight of the goal, they're not steadfast or settled or securely determined to do what they set out to do. I don't want to be one of those people & after this week, I don't think I will be.