The 260 Journey

Day 222Today’s Reading: James 5Can you imagine what we would miss if we stopped short on verses in the Bible and just read half of them? What if we only quoted the second part of John 3:16: “Whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life”? What makes it powerful is the first part: “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son . . .” To know that God loves me and...

Day 221Today’s Reading: James 4I was reading the story of a young man who had a call on his life to go on the mission field. The problem was that he still had an edge to him. He still had an independent spirit, which came out by what he did and the way he spoke to others. When he went to his leader to ask him about his call to be a missionary, the leadership wisely said to him, “Before you can be...

Day 220Today’s Reading: James 3If there is one book in the Bible that reminds us that our words matter, it is the book of James. In fact, the book of James has five chapters, and all five have something to say about the tongue. Let’s sample a verse or two from each chapter.From James 1: “Everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger. . . . If anyone thinks himself to be...

Day 219Today’s Reading: James 2In It Worked for Me, former Secretary of State Colin Powell tells a story about a time he slipped out of his office and past the secret service agents and snuck down to the building’s parking garage. He explains the set-up:“The garage is run by contract employees, most of them immigrants making only a few dollars above minimum wage. The garage is too small for all...

Day 218Today’s Reading: James 1In May 2012, a thirty-two-carat Burmese ruby-and-diamond ring—from the collection of Lily Safra, one of the richest women in the world—was sold at auction. The pre-auction estimate for the ring was $3 to $5 million, but the final sale price ended at $6.7 million. It is believed to be the most expensive ruby ever sold. As valuable as rubies are, the Bible tells us...

Day 217Today’s Reading: Hebrews 13Anything can happen before the year ends. You may meet your mate. You may get pregnant. You may graduate, start a new career, or move. You may have your first job interview. You may become an empty nester or attend your child’s wedding or have your first grandchild. You may start attending a new church or you may start a new walk with God.The bad stuff can come...

Day 216Today’s Reading: Hebrews 12Today’s chapter ends with the shortest verse of the chapter and probably of the entire letter. It’s about God’s nature: “For our God is a consuming fire” (Hebrews 12:29). That’s it, but that’s enough.God desires to set His servants on fire. He wants to consume them. One man He consumed with passion was Jim Elliot. Elliot was a missionary to a remote tribe of Auca...

Day 215Today’s Reading: Hebrews 11Hebrews 11 is known as the faith chapter. We don’t get but a few verses into this chapter when we are faced with creation. Which means that faith and creation go together. The writer of Hebrews says this in verse 3: “Faith empowers us to see that the universe was created and beautifully coordinated by the power of God’s words! He spoke and the invisible realm...

Day 214Today’s Reading: Hebrews 10I have heard this question many times: “Do I have to go to church to be a Christian?”The answer is obviously, “No, you don’t have to go to church to be a Christian.” But that’s not the entire answer. The end of the answer is this, “You do have to go to church to be a growing Christian.” One of my dear friends says it like this: “Only weak people think they are...

Day 213Today’s Reading: Hebrews 9 I was speaking to a major league baseball player once who was struggling with the idea of death. I told him, here is your anxiety about death, starting with the least and moving to the greatest anxiety:• The unlived life. You didn’t do your bucket list—so many things you wish you would have done. You start to realize what you didn't do and how much time you...