JULY 10, 2026

    “Do ordinary things extraordinarily well.” 

― Gregg Harris

Psalm 1-3

1Blessed is the man

who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked,

or set foot on the path of sinners,

or sit in the seat of mockers.

2But his delight is in the Law of the LORD,

and on His law he meditates day and night.

3He is like a tree planted by streams of water,

yielding its fruit in season,

whose leaf does not wither,

and who prospers in all he does. (1:1-3)

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 

There is a question every person eventually has to answer. What is the Spirit of God?

To many, it sounds mystical or imaginary, something reserved for religion rather than reality. Yet I cannot honestly explain my own life without it. There have been too many moments when strength appeared after mine was exhausted, peace settled into situations that made no logical sense, courage arrived when fear should have won, and love flowed toward people I naturally wanted to avoid. Those moments did not originate with me. They came through me.

That is perhaps the best way I know to describe the Spirit of God. It is not an emotion or an idea. It is the invisible power that produces visible fruit. Just as no one has ever seen gravity itself, yet everyone has witnessed its effects, no one has ever seen love, truth, or beauty with their eyes. We only see what they produce. The Spirit of God is known the same way. It transforms ordinary people into extraordinary servants. It produces power where weakness should prevail, love where hatred would be expected, and discipline where chaos once ruled.

Psalm 1 describes the person who meditates on God's Word day and night as a tree planted beside living water. The tree is not straining to manufacture life. It simply remains connected to its source. The fruit is the evidence that something unseen is nourishing it beneath the surface. The Spirit works the same way. We are not called to manufacture goodness. We are called to remain connected to God, and His life begins to flow through ours.

That is exactly what I see in Paul as he meets Timothy. Paul was not merely passing along information. He was passing along an echo of heaven. Every word of encouragement, every challenge, every act of courage carried something beyond human wisdom. The Bible itself has become that for me. Its words continue to awaken something inside me that I could never have produced on my own.

Years ago, while journaling, these words came to me: "The challenge of each day is first to surrender to greatness, which is the Spirit and essence of God. Then seek, identify, and grow the echoes of heaven."

I understand those words even more today.

Every day I encounter reminders that this world is not heaven. Pain, disappointment, conflict, death, and brokenness surround us. Yet scattered throughout that same world are undeniable echoes of another Kingdom. A breathtaking sunrise. A teacher who believes in a struggling student. A stranger's unexpected kindness. The brilliance of discovery and invention. A family restored. A forgiven enemy. They are all outposts of heaven breaking into earth. They remind me that another reality exists, even if it is not yet fully seen.

Perhaps that is the greatest argument for the Spirit of God. Humanity has always longed for something higher than survival. We hunger for justice, beauty, sacrificial love, forgiveness, purpose, and eternity. Those desires point beyond themselves. They are echoes calling us home. When I surrender to God's Spirit, I do not become less human. I become more fully what I was created to be.

Paul's words to Timothy continue to define that Spirit better than any philosophy ever could: "The Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline." If what I call "spirit" produces fear, pride, manipulation, or selfish ambition, it is not God's Spirit. But if it consistently produces courage, sacrificial love, humility, peace, discipline, and hope, then its source is something far greater than myself.

Today my calling is wonderfully simple. Stay rooted beside the living water. Surrender before striving. Receive before giving. Then become another echo of heaven in the ordinary moments of this day, trusting that God's unseen Spirit will accomplish what my visible strength never could.

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