JULY 10, 2021

 “Do ordinary things extraordinarily well.” 

― Gregg Harris

Psalm 1-3

7“Brace yourself like a man;

I will question you,

and you shall answer me.

8“Would you discredit my justice?

Would you condemn me to justify yourself?

9Do you have an arm like God’s,

and can your voice thunder like his?

10Then adorn yourself with glory and splendor,

and clothe yourself in honor and majesty.

11Unleash the fury of your wrath,

look at all who are proud and bring them low,

12look at all who are proud and humble them,

crush the wicked where they stand.

13Bury them all in the dust together;

shroud their faces in the grave.

14Then I myself will admit to you

that your own right hand can save you.(40:7-14)

ACTS 16:1-15

1Paul came to Derbe and then to Lystra, where a disciple named Timothy lived, whose mother was Jewish and a believer but whose father was a Greek. 2The believers at Lystra and Iconium spoke well of him. 3Paul wanted to take him along on the journey, so he circumcised him because of the Jews who lived in that area, for they all knew that his father was a Greek. 4As they traveled from town to town, they delivered the decisions reached by the apostles and elders in Jerusalem for the people to obey. 5So the churches were strengthened in the faith and grew daily in numbers. (16:1-5)

JOURNAL 

I often find that very subtly this sense of arrogance creeps in my thoughts. It comes in the form of questioning God and not being grateful for the blessings of my life and my talents. It is so easy to slip into a frame of mind of discouragement. Reading through God's words to Job...reaffirms that I know very little and have very little power to do anything. However, infused with the power and love of God...everything changes.

In this part of Acts, Paul meets Timothy. The book of Timothy has been a great blessing for me, his letter to him in 2 Timothy has been a critical cornerstone in my faith. In essence Paul's words and all the words of the Bible are an echo of heaven.

Those words hit me this morning, echo of heaven....I jotted down the following as I was waiting for our car to be fixed at the dealership..."The challenge of each day is to first surrender to greatness ( which is the spirit and essence of God ) ...then its to seek, identify and grow the echoes of heaven."  

Each day I am bombarded with the reality that this is not heaven, whether from my own aches and pains, to the news, to social media, to death and destruction...all of it screams that this world is far from the idea of paradise that stirs deep in my soul. Yet also within the stark reality of a world that fails to match this hope are glimpses of that hope and promise. The beauty of nature, the kindness of a stranger, the amazing technologies that swirl all around us...they are there as outposts of God's promise. They are there to encourage, build hope and stir us to keep going, keep hoping, keep loving and keep living. 

The day awaits, God has provided...it is my privilege and joy to live it to the full!

6For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. 7For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline. 8So do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord or of me his prisoner. Rather, join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God. 9He has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace.

2 TIMOTHY 1:6-9