2026 Lenten Season - Day 29 - Temporal Eternity

We continue the tradition of 40 days of Lent-related devotionals (46 counting the Sundays).
Sharing "Journey to the Cross" by Paul David Tripp.
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Jesus was born with a cross in his future so that there would be such a thing as forgiveness for sin.

I have had some really bad jobs. One Christmas vacation, I worked as a garbage collector, and between the cold, snow, and rodents, it wasn’t my best celebration of the season. I worked one summer during college as an intern at a factory, cleaning the rust off exhaust systems with acid. I worked for a while as a “brickie,” carrying concrete blocks to masons and mixing concrete when it was so cold outside that we had to add antifreeze to it to keep it from freezing before it could be used. I worked one job that was so dirty my mom made me undress on the back porch before I was allowed to enter our home. But the thing that made those jobs tolerable was knowing I wouldn’t be doing them forever. They were hard, uncomfortable, unattractive, and physically exhausting, but I knew they were temporary.

I regularly think with sympathy about the people who have those kinds of jobs as their life's work. I have deep appreciation for them; our lives are made better by their work. But when I think of them, I almost always think of someone else. I think of the one and only perfect person who ever lived whose job description was to die. Think about that for a moment. What if you knew that you would not just do dirty and uncomfortable work for a season or have a hard labor job for your whole life, but that the ultimate purpose for your existence was to die a cruel and unjust death?

What was in Jesus’s future was not a surprise to him. The shocking nature of his capture, trial, and death was not a personal defeat. It was not a failure of God’s plan. It was not a triumph of the enemy. No, the death of Jesus on the bloody cross was a personal victory and a public indication of the complete success of God’s plan! From before his first breath on Earth, the plan was that Jesus would enter this broken world, suffer its brokenness, live a completely perfect life in every way, and then die on that cross.

There simply was no other way. Because of the moral rebellion of sin, righteousness had to be accomplished, and an acceptable penalty had to be paid. Christ’s death and resurrection had to happen so the righteousness of Jesus could be given over to the account of those who could never be righteous on their own, and so that forgiveness could be granted because a suitable penalty had been paid for their sin. In this way, sinners could be forgiven and accepted into relationship with God in a move of amazing grace that did not at the same time violate God’s justice. Listen to how Isaiah talks about this plan - reading Isaiah Chapter 53. 

"Who has believed what he has heard from us? 

And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?

For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him.

He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief;

and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows;

yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.

But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities;

upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.

All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way;

and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth.

By oppression and judgment, he was taken away; and as for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people?

And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death,

although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth.

Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.

Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities.

Therefore, I will divide him a portion with the many, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong,

because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors;

yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors."

What was in Jesus’s job description as Savior?

• to be despised and rejected

• to have a life of sorrow and grief

• to bear our griefs and carry our sorrows

• to be stricken, smitten, and afflicted by God

• to be pierced for our transgressions

• to be crushed for our iniquities

• to take our chastisement

• to be wounded for our spiritual healing

• to carry our iniquity

• to be oppressed without defending himself

• to endure oppression and judgment

• to be cut off

• to have a grave with the wicked

• to experience anguish of soul

• to pour out his soul to death

• to be numbered with transgressors

This is what your Savior was appointed to do. This was his redemptive job description. This was the only way for forgiveness to be granted, eternal life to be given, righteousness to be granted, acceptance with God to be guaranteed, and saving grace to be unleashed. He came willingly, and did it all without the faintest grumble or the smallest complaint. Jesus knew that his suffering would be temporary, but the fruit would be eternal, and he was willing.

During this Lenten season, stop and consider the depth of the love of your Lord, that he endured this for you. He suffered the unthinkable so we could experience the unreachable. Now that’s amazing grace!

GOING DEEPER

Reflection Questions

1. What was your worst job?

2. How do you think knowing he had come to die affected Jesus’s life and ministry?

3. How does the purposeful sacrifice of Christ transform your approach to your work and ministry life?

Reread Isaiah 53, and meditate on all that Christ did for you.

2026 Lenten Season - Day 28 - The Humanity of Christ

We continue the tradition of 40 days of Lent-related devotionals (46 counting the Sundays).
Sharing "Journey to the Cross" by Paul David Tripp.
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In order to pray with confidence and hope, you need to know who you’re praying to.

Imagine that I have something embarrassing, humiliating, and potentially anger-producing to confess.  Imagine I have been dreading having “the talk.” Imagine that I have had nervous days and sleepless nights ruminating about what I would say and how I would say it, and wondering when would be the best time. And then imagine that I have two people that I have to confess to. The first person I do not know at all. I do not know what he thinks of me, so I can’t anticipate how he will respond to my confession. The second person I know very well. I know that she is gracious, kind, patient, and forgiving. But most importantly, I know that she will love me and continue to love me no matter what.

Now think with me. Which person do you think is the source of my reticence and anxiety? The question is not hard to answer. It is obviously the person whom I do not know. Humble confession is always stimulated and ignited by the character and commitment of the person you need to confess to. It is his or her love for you that propels the honest transparency that fear crushes. It is not only pride that keeps us from admitting what we need to admit and confessing it without excuse or shifting blame—fear does too. So in this season of honest self-examination and humble confession, it is vital in those prayers to have a clear understanding of who is hearing your confession.

Listen to how the author of Hebrews talks about the one to whom you make your confession:

"Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need." Hebrews 4:14-16.

It is hard to find more comforting words than these. You and I are welcomed to come to one who not only knows us, but who is personally acquainted with everything we face. Let me unpack the logic of this hope-giving welcome.

1. Your Savior sympathizes with you. 

Read the previous sentence again. The King of kings, the Creator of all things, the sovereign Lord of glory sympathizes with you. He doesn’t look on you with irritation or impatience. He isn’t mad at you. He never looks on you with disgust. He is tenderhearted toward you. But there is more. The passage above says that he sympathizes with your “weaknesses.” It’s an all-encompassing word, covering weaknesses of every kind. Let’s be honest. You and I are a collection of weaknesses, held together and protected by grace. We all have weaknesses of mind, heart, soul, and body. None of us is independently strong. None of us is self-sufficient. The writer of Hebrews is telling us that our Savior sympathizes with our humanity. Why? The answer is clear: because in his incarnation, he took on humanity. Jesus took on weakness so that weak people could run to him and know that they would be understood and

tenderly cared for.

One of the most amazing and comforting aspects of Jesus’s work is his humanity. He became what we are, so that we could find what we need in him. The humanity of Jesus is a significant part of what he offers us. He knows our weaknesses, he knows them deeply and personally, and he meets us in our weaknesses with a tender and understanding heart.

2. Your Savior went through what you are now going through. 

Not only did Jesus become human just like you, he also willingly subjected himself to this fallen and dysfunctional world. He knows where you live, and he understands what goes on there. He is not surprised by what you face, because he faced it. He is not shocked by the temptations that greet you every day, because he faced them too. There is no troublesome situation or relationship that you and I will ever face that he is unacquainted with. He came to the world we live in knowing what he would face. He was willing to be tempted in all the ways that you and I are, so that in our temptation, we would have a place to run to where understanding and help would be found. Here is what this means. Every temptation that Jesus faced, he faced for you. Those temptations weren’t in the way of God’s redeeming plan. No, they were an essential aspect of it.

3. Your Savior went through what you went through without sinning.

Notice how the writer of Hebrews is building a case, stone upon stone, that our confidence that help is to be found in Jesus is well placed. Jesus sympathizes with who we are because he became like us. He understands what we are dealing with because he dealt with it too. But those two things would be hollow comforts without the third foundation stone that the writer lays down.

You see, we need more than sympathy and understanding; we need help. It is wonderful to know that we come to one who is tenderhearted, but it’s even more wonderful to know that he withstood what defeats us, he resisted where we give in, and he succeeded in places where we regularly fail. His track record is without blemish. He faced what we face without any wrong in thought, word, or action. He did what we could not do so that we would have help in our time of need. Every time he resisted temptation, he resisted for us. Every victory over sin was accomplished for us. He conquered sin, so that in his strength we would have the hope of conquering it too. His sympathy and his victory together are to cause us to run to him in our times of need.

4. When you come to him, he meets you with mercy and grace fit for that moment of need. 

Because of Jesus’s understanding, sympathy, and victory, we can rest assured that when we come to him, we will get just the help we need, in just the way we need it, and at just the right time. This means that no matter what you are dealing with, no matter what you need to confess, no matter how hard it may seem, no matter how weak you may feel, and no matter how many times you may have failed, you are never without help or hope, because you have a high priest, and Jesus is his name.

Since sin is never defeated by denial and since confession is the doorway to getting help that really helps, fight fear and discouragement by reading Hebrews 4:14 –16 over and over again. Commit it to memory. Keep reminding yourself that you don’t need to be afraid, because your Savior is tenderhearted. And you don’t need to be discouraged, because he has what it takes to defeat what has left you discouraged.

GOING DEEPER

Reflection Questions

1. When was the last time you confessed to someone? How was that experience different from confessing to Christ?

2. How does God’s sympathy toward your humanity affect your prayers?

3. How does knowing that Jesus faced all the same temptations you do and overcame them help you to better face temptation?

Read Hebrews 4:14 –16 again, memorize it, and let it help you in your struggle against sin.

2026 Lenten Season - Day 27 - The Strength to Look Up

We continue the tradition of 40 days of Lent-related devotionals (46 counting the Sundays).
Sharing "Journey to the Cross" by Paul David Tripp.
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What allows you to humbly and honestly look back is the invitation to look up at the same time.

I wish I could say I asked you, but I didn’t.

I wish I could say I reached for you, but it didn’t happen.

I wish I had thought that I needed help, but my mind was elsewhere.

I wish I had sought your wisdom, but I saw myself as wise.

I wish I had leaned on you, but I thought I was standing up straight.

I wish I had cast myself on your grace, but in the mirror I looked like someone who didn’t need it.

I wish I’d begun each day with you, but I was too busy.

I wish I had ended the night with you, but I was too tired.

I wish I had spent more time in your word, but I had people to see, places to go.

I wish I had looked ahead to a pathway I couldn’t traverse alone, 

but I was too focused on the here and now.

I am older now with more life behind me than in front of me.

I mourn my assessments of strength, 

my appraisals of wisdom,

tagging myself righteous,

my quest for independence.

I regret the moments lost, opportunities gone, dreams now faded.

If it were not for your grace, I would spend my last days in the cloud of despondency, 

beating myself up, hoping to get back what is forever gone.

I would not be able to look up as I look back.

You went to the cross knowing every choice I would make, 

all that your mercy would need to cover.

I can be honest about my choices.

I can confess it all,

and I can rest because your grace is that thorough and your love has that much power.

Through the years, I have learned that to find the strength to look back,

I need the grace to look up.

GOING DEEPER

Reflection Questions

1. What are some of your biggest regrets in life? As you answer this question, do you consider spiritual regrets first, or as an afterthought?

2. Which of the regrets listed do you most resonate with?

3. Write your own “I wish” poem.

Read Acts 3:17–20, and let it refresh your heart as you repent and receive God’s forgiveness.

17 “Friends, I realize that what you and your leaders did to Jesus was done in ignorance. 18 But God was fulfilling what all the prophets had foretold about the Messiah—that he must suffer these things. 19 Now repent of your sins and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped away. 20 Then times of refreshment will come from the presence of the Lord, and he will again send you Jesus, your appointed Messiah.

2026 Lenten Season - Day 26 - Bad News First

We continue the tradition of 40 days of Lent-related devotionals (46 counting the Sundays).
Sharing "Journey to the Cross" by Paul David Tripp.
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Lent teaches us that sorrow is the only pathway to a life of true joy.

If someone called you on the phone and said, “I have very bad news for you,” you wouldn’t say, “Oh,  thank you, I love bad news!” No, your heart would sink as you waited to hear what you didn’t really want to hear. No one longs for bad news. We all dream of a life that is an endless stream of good news. But the storyline of Lent is counterintuitive: if you want to receive the best news ever, you have to accept the worst news ever. Lent teaches us that sadness is the only road to deep abiding joy. It confronts us with the reality that hopelessness is the only doorway to sturdy, unshakable hope. Rick and Emma’s marriage was a big, chaotic, and often conflictual mess. They were in debt, and their house was in disrepair. Their communication went back and forth between dysfunctional and nonexistent. Their relationship with their children was adversarial. Their spiritual life was a series of cold, formal religious habits. When they had sex, it was a physical act lacking in intimacy. When I first sat with them, I was aware that there seemed to be little warmth between them. The only reason they had asked to see me was the debt. It had grown and grown until it had become nearly impossible to handle.

As I got to know them, what blew me away was that their marriage and family had been this bad for a long time. They had learned to live with the mess. They had become masters at working their way around the dysfunction and keeping it all together. In fact, as I listened to them talk about their life together in matter-of-fact tones, I was impressed that they looked at the mess and didn’t see a mess. What should have stood out as abnormal and dysfunctional looked to them to be normal and functional. They weren’t crying out for help; they just didn’t like having all those big bills to pay. They weren’t desperate for change. In the middle of the mess, with bad news all around them, this couple was satisfied. If I had a magic button that I could have pushed that would have made their debts vanish, they would have been satisfied for everything else to stay the same. This dear couple did not see the evidence of the bad news that was all around them, so they were not hungry for the message of good news that could have transformed it all.

I am convinced that, for most human beings, satisfaction is a much bigger problem than dissatisfaction. Let me explain. We sinners have a scary ability to be satisfied with what shouldn’t satisfy us. Or let me say it another way. We are all too easily satisfied. We are able to be satisfied with conditions that are way less than God’s original design for us, or what grace now makes possible for us. We are often okay with living with things that are not the way they were meant to be. We are like the family that has lived three years with a broken toilet or with a car that has leaked oil for months. We live with the messed-up ankle or the overly sensitive stomach. Instead of fixing things, we find ways to use them even though they’re broken.

We see bad attitudes in our young children, but we excuse them away, telling ourselves that our kids are tired, teething, or a little bit sick. Bad things happen in our marriages that get dismissed as a misunderstanding or the product of busyness. We cut moral corners or step over God’s boundaries, telling ourselves that what God says is not okay, will be okay after all. Like the couple who came to see me, we all have the ability to look at the mess and not see a mess. We all have places in our lives where we’re all too easily satisfied. And here is how this is spiritually dangerous: when you are satisfied, you don’t reach out for help.

The cross of Jesus Christ yanks us out of our satisfaction. If things were okay, God would not have planned all that he planned and controlled all that he controlled, so that at a certain time in history his Son would do for us what we all desperately need but could not do for ourselves. The cross of Jesus  Christ is the result of God’s dissatisfaction with the condition of the world that he made and of the people that he placed in it. God was unwilling to be okay with what was not okay. So he moved, but not with the agenda to condemn but rather to redeem. God sent his Son to fix what was broken, to restore what had been destroyed, and to make dead things live again.

The cross is bad news for each one of us. It confronts us with the fact that there is something fundamentally broken inside us that we have neither the desire nor the power to fix without divine intervention. The cross calls us to admit that the greatest danger in our lives is to be found inside us, not outside us. Jesus came to be the perfect Lamb of sacrifice, paying the penalty for our sin. Why? Because the worst news of all is the bad news that sin not only distorts everything in our lives and separates us from God, but it also leads to eternal death. Sin is the bad news we have to accept. Sin is the thing that we have to confess. It is the bad news about all of us, and no one is an exception. You cannot understand the cross of Jesus Christ and be satisfied with pockets of sin in your life.

But the cross is also good news. The dissatisfaction of God is the hope of humanity. The cross tells us that God is willing to do whatever is necessary to fix what sin has broken. It tells us that God is going to move in love and pour out his rescuing, forgiving, transforming, and delivering grace. The cross welcomes us to look inside and around us and be dissatisfied. It welcomes us not to the dissatisfaction that leaves us hopeless, but a dissatisfaction that leads us to the foot of the cross, where mercy and grace are found.

Lent reminds us that to be satisfied, to say you are okay, and without need of help, you have to close your eyes and shut your ears to the bad news of sin that somehow confronts you every day. Lent welcomes you to bring a dissatisfied heart to your Redeemer, one who has seen and accepted the bad news, and then to reach out for the help that he alone is able to give.

Only those who willingly receive the bad news will then seek and celebrate the good news. Are you too easily satisfied?

GOING DEEPER

Reflection Questions

1. In what ways have you found this statement to be true: “For most human beings, satisfaction is a much bigger problem than dissatisfaction”?

2. What messes have you grown so accustomed to that you no longer notice them? What are you satisfied with that God isn’t? What would change if you became dissatisfied with it?

3. How can God’s dissatisfaction with sin and the resulting brokenness of this world lead us to hope and motivate us to action?

Read 2 Corinthians 5:16–21. 

How would these verses change your life if you let them inform you of your mess and brokenness?

16 So we have stopped evaluating others from a human point of view. At one time we thought of Christ merely from a human point of view. How differently we know him now! 17 This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!

18 And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him. 19 For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. 20 So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!” 21 For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.

2026 Lenten Season - Day 25 - Here's the Struggle

We continue the tradition of 40 days of Lent-related devotionals (46 counting the Sundays).
Sharing "Journey to the Cross" by Paul David Tripp.
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Lent is not about what you will give of yourself to God, but about what he, in grace, has so bountifully given to you.

The husband had been caught in adultery. It was humiliating for him and devastating to his marriage. He didn’t confess until he was caught. Jerry and his wife came to me for help. They both seemed to want to save their marriage. He spoke words of brokenness to me and seemed to be repentant. Mary was willing to hang in there as long as Jerry was turning from the entanglements of sin and turning toward his Lord and her with new commitments of faith. But as I continued to meet with them, I began to be concerned. Truly repentant people are overwhelmed with the rebelliousness and destructiveness of what they have done, while at the same time, they are blown away by the magnitude and consistency of God’s mercy and grace. They tend to experience the love of God in deeper and fresher ways as they tend to embrace in new ways the truth that they could never do anything to earn that love.

But when I would meet with Jerry, the thing Jerry talked about the most was Jerry. He talked about all the things he was giving up for the Lord, the length and depth of his new devotional life, the Christian books he had purchased, and the new ways he was serving his wife. He kept telling me how he was “all in” for the Lord. The more he told me, and the more he patted himself on the back, the less I believed it. It wasn’t, “God, be merciful to me a sinner,” but rather, “God, look at what I am doing for you.” He had an attitude of the heart that the grief of real confession and the humility of true repentance would never produce. When I began to write this devotional, I thought of Jerry, and here’s why.

The season of Lent is about offering yourself to God in new or deeper ways. It’s about new submission and deeper devotion. Lent is about mourning the ways your heart has wandered. It is about confessing the hold the world still has on you or the places where you have succumbed to temptation’s draw. It is about identifying places in the heart where you need to give yourself more fully to God. There is a necessary self-focus to Lent because you are examining your heart, your life, your relationships, and your daily decisions to see where God is calling you to give up something or to take up something in devotion to him. Lent is about willing self-sacrifice as you pursue the one who made the ultimate sacrifice for you. Lent isn’t a formal season of temporary sacrificial devotion, but rather an opportunity to address things in your life that need to be addressed but that often get lost in the busyness and distraction of everything else you’re doing. But here’s what is so important to understand about Lent: it is not about what you are doing or are committing yourself to do for God, but about what he has done and is now doing for you.

The story of Lent is the world’s most important and most wonderful generosity story. Lent is about one who not only lavishly gives what is desperately needed, but who also offers himself as the ultimate gift.  But the story of Lent is not just about generosity; it is the one story where the giver and the gift are the same person. The hope and security of Lent is not to be found in the size and consistency of what you give to God; it is about the stunning gifts of grace he has given and will continue to give you. It is God’s generosity that is primary and transformative, not ours. We love because he first loved us. We give because he first gave to us. We lay down our lives because he first laid down his. We are willing to suffer for his sake because he first suffered for us. We obey because in his obedience we are given hope. We fight temptation because he fought it and defeated it on our behalf. We are willing to humble ourselves and serve because he left the splendor of eternity, humbled himself, and served up to - and through - the point of death. Everything we ever give of ourselves happens only because of the primacy of his gifts to us. He is the ultimate giver. No matter how great our sacrifices or how much we give, we will never give to him the magnitude of what he has given us. As we seek to give ourselves more fully during Lent, every gift we give is a celebration of the transformative storehouse of what he has given us. Lent is all about sacrifice: his, not ours.

Pride in the sacrifices you are making not only crushes the spirit of this wonderful season of spiritual reflection and growth, but it also quenches the work that the Holy Spirit would do in your heart as you open it up to him. Pride doesn’t mix well with the grief over sin that propels confession. Pride doesn’t sit well with the humility that fuels true repentance. A self-congratulatory attitude turns sacrifice into a reason to convince yourself that you’re pretty righteous after all, and righteous people don’t need the divine sacrifice that this season is all about. Pride flips the Lenten season on its head.

Now, here’s the struggle. Whenever you focus on yourself, even in examination and confession, pride lurks right around the corner. It is so tempting to take credit for desires, choices, and actions that you would never have taken if you had not been rescued and changed by God’s grace. If pride is self-congratulatory, then it is also self-reliant. But the whole message of the gospel of Jesus Christ is that you and I were not created to be self-reliant, and in our struggle with sin, we have no ability on our own to defeat what needs to be defeated. This is why the sacrifice of Christ was essential. He came to do for us what we could not do for ourselves, even in our deepest moments of sacrifice and devotion.

So in this season of new and deeper sacrifice and devotion, resist the temptation of turning the tables.  That is, don’t make the lavish gifts of another become about what you give. You can’t stand at the foot of the cross and consider the magnitude of what was done there and hold onto the pride of personal sacrifice. Pray for grace to make every sacrifice, every gift given, a celebration of both the ultimate gift and the most generous giver.

GOING DEEPER

Reflection Questions

1. Jerry’s story illustrates an important test for genuine repentance. Would you pass the test? Is your repentance more about what you have done or what God has done?

2. In what ways does Lent often lead to pride?

3. What are some practical ways to guard yourself against the tendency for the Lenten season—and spiritual disciplines any time of the year—to become a source of pride?

Read James 4:6–10, and let it lead you to genuine sorrow over your sin.

6 And he gives grace generously. As the Scriptures say, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”
7 So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Come close to God, and God will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, for your loyalty is divided between God and the world. 9 Let there be tears for what you have done. Let there be sorrow and deep grief. Let there be sadness instead of laughter, and gloom instead of joy. 10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up in honor.

2026 Lenten Season - Day 24 - Why Would We Fast?

We continue the tradition of 40 days of Lent-related devotionals (46 counting the Sundays).

Sharing "Journey to the Cross" by Paul David Tripp.
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The purpose of fasting is not to earn God’s love, but to more deeply surrender to it.

Why would anyone ever fast? What is to be gained from giving things up? What is the purpose of not eating for a period? Why withhold from yourself what you know you’re going to return to in a matter of time? Is fasting an essential spiritual discipline? Does fasting bring you closer to God? Is fasting a way to defeat sin? How do I know when to fast and what to fast from? Is there a biblical theology of fasting? How do you fast in a way that is more than a temporary denial of physical desire, but is also spiritually helpful? Does God require us to fast?

Fasting is a topic that motivates and encourages a few but confuses many. Since Lent is a season of fasting, it is worth giving it a practical, biblical examination. My first encounter with regular and intense fasting had nothing to do with spirituality. One of my closest friends in high school was a wrestler.  Because Sam was winning like crazy, there was a bit of a small town media buzz around him. He was a little guy, but he had become big man on campus, and he loved it. The problem was that he was growing fast, and his growth spurts made it hard for him to stay within the boundaries of his weight class. So  Sam was always fasting. His big, luxurious meal would be Jell-O.

Although there was nothing spiritual about Sam’s fast, it did have “spiritual” benefits. Because he fasted, he was more focused. Because he fasted, he became more and more committed. Because he got used to this sacrifice, other sacrifices didn’t seem so hard. The pain of sacrifice brought a whole catalog of benefits to Sam and his wrestling career. I knew there was a theme of fasting in the Bible, but hanging around Sam got me thinking about the benefits of fasting as a teenager.

So why would anyone ever fast? Primarily, fasting is about focus. We all live busy lives, with so many plans and so much on our schedules. We live with constant distractions all around, and now with cell phones in our hands, there is a huge temptation to fill even the smallest quiet moment with anything. We feel compelled to keep checking Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. We feel the need to make sure we are in moment-by-moment contact with the news. And we want to make sure the weather hasn’t changed in the last five minutes. Along with this, we are all still in possession of wandering hearts. Things in our lives rise to levels of importance way beyond their true importance. Temptations seduce and seize us. Our desires wander off God’s pathway. Envy sows seeds of doubt and bitterness in our hearts. Spiritual amnesia grips us; in the busyness of life, we forget who we are and what we have been given. Our devotional lives are kidnapped by the tyranny of the urgent. What we want collides with what God wants for us. And the gap enlarges between what we say we believe and how we actually live.

Fasting can be spiritually arresting, a divine interruption that is one of God’s tools to call us back to remember, to confess, to rest, to commit, and to celebrate. Fasting is one of the ways God reaches down into our frenetic lives and pulls us out to be closer to him. Fasting is much more of a welcome than it is a regulation. It is a gift from a God who knows us; he knows how we operate, what we face, and what we need. Fasting is God’s invitation to all of his children to refocus, recharge, reengage, and repent.

So what is fasting? Fasting is giving up food (or something else) in order to focus on God and your walk with him (see Psalm 35:13; Ezra 8:23; Nehemiah 1:3– 4; Matthew 4:1–11; Luke 2:37). We need to remember two important points. First, there is no magic in fasting. Giving up food won’t instantly make you more godly. Fasting allows you to give yourself to other spiritual disciplines that will bear a harvest of good fruit in your life. Second, you don’t fast in order to gain God’s favor, but to help bring your life into even greater surrender to him and a greater appreciation of his favor. Fasting is spiritual warfare. It is one way that God has provided for you to fight for your own heart.

So how do you fast?

1. Give yourself to prayer. 

One of the primary purposes of fasting is to be able to give yourself more fully to prayer. The normal routines of food selection, preparation, and eating are replaced by new routines of prayer. It is this more focused communion with God that produces some of fasting’s best fruit. 

2. Don’t make a show of it. 

Fast in private. Don’t announce it. Don’t broadcast it after. Pride in fasting robs fasting of its spiritual benefit. Seek God; don’t seek the approval of others for seeking God in this way.

3. Bathe yourself in God’s word. 

Fasting can give you time to meditate on God’s word. In our busy lives, most of us spend very little time in actual Scriptural meditation. Biblical meditation is not like Eastern meditation. In Eastern meditation, you empty your mind. In Christian meditation, you fill your mind with God’s word, chewing it over and over again until you are digesting spiritual morsels you have never digested before. 

4. Make sure you’re ready. 

There are no spiritual benefits to damaging your body or putting your health at risk. Make sure you are physically, financially, and situationally prepared for whatever fast, for whatever period, you are about to undertake. 

5. Be quiet before the Lord. 

Since fasting is about ceasing participation in a particular thing, your fast shouldn’t be filled with activity. Fasting is a time to wait on the Lord. And as you wait, remember that for the Christian, waiting is not about what you get at the end of the wait, but more importantly, about what you become as you wait.

6. Confess what has been revealed. 

As you seek God in prayer, as you meditate on his word, and as you are quiet before him, the Lord will reveal your heart. Fasting is a way to fight the spiritual blindness that affects us all. So be ready to confess new areas of sin, weakness, and failure that God has revealed as you have fasted.

7. Make new commitments. 

If confession is turning from the old way, then commitment is turning your heart and life to God’s new and better way. At the end of your fast, think about where God is calling you to new commitments of faith and discipleship where you live and work every day.

8. Be thankful. 

Thank God for how fasting is an indication of his welcoming, patient, perseverant love, continually drawing you into even closer, more heart-satisfying communion with him.

So, fast this Lenten season. Receive God’s welcome to fight for your heart and to learn to rest in the grace of your Savior more fully and more deeply. You will be glad you did.

GOING DEEPER

Reflective Questions

1. Do you usually think of fasting as “more of a welcome than it is a regulation”? What has colored your perceptions of fasting?

2. Do you fast? Why do you or don’t you engage in this spiritual practice?

3. What benefits does or would fasting offer for you? In what areas do you long for more focus or spiritual effectiveness?

Read Matthew 6:16–18, and ask the Lord if he is calling you to fast.

16 “And when you fast, don’t make it obvious, as the hypocrites do, for they try to look miserable and disheveled so people will admire them for their fasting. I tell you the truth, that is the only reward they will ever get. 17 But when you fast, comb your hair and wash your face. 18 Then no one will notice that you are fasting, except your Father, who knows what you do in private. And your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.

Two-fisted Faith Fight

Heal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed; Save me, and I shall be saved, For You are my praise.
Jeremiah 17:14 NKJV

Ten years and two months plus a few days ago, I had a full hip replacement surgery. It did not go well. I got an infection with weeks and weeks of antibiotics, one of which almost killed me. When I was finally able to walk again, I was diagnosed with Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS). The pain associated with CRPS is most often at the top of the McGill Pain Scale. When the water from the shower hurts you, clothes - anything - touching your skin, sheets, blankets must be the softest possible to be even close to bearable. Sometimes, the very breeze from a fan could send me over the edge. 

By the grace of God, I have a high tolerance when it comes to pain, but I cannot tell you the number of times I cried myself to sleep, begging God to just let me die rather than go through one more day of it! Nevertheless, Thy will be done...  And faithful friends and family prayer warriors, without whose prayers I would have been undone.

For the first couple of years, I questioned my purpose for being alive. I wallowed in the pain and self-pity. Then, as I stopped navel-gazing and asking why, I finally recognized the truth that nothing comes into my life without going through God. I surrendered it to Him instead of trying to fight it by myself. There were days when I considered it a victory to just get out of bed. I remember one night in particular, crying out to God that there was no way I could do this the rest of my life, and I felt in my heart that He asked, "Can you do it just for today? Today is all I ask of you." So, that's what we did. One day at a time. I didn't know if I would ever catch my healing on this side of Heaven, but I learned that every day I woke up, I had purpose. If only to encourage one person. If only to offer a Promise for Today. If I could be a listening ear. Hold a hand. And God's grace poured out. Grace enough for today. To embrace His Word, such as our text for today. And 2 Corinthians 12:9, that His grace is sufficient, and numerous other verses to stand on the foundation of His Word. 

THEN, I woke up one morning recently and there was NO nerve pain. I thought perhaps I had died, but when I opened my eyes, I was still here. For 3 days, it was like being in shock. I'd forgotten what it felt like to be without violent nerve pain. It's indescribable. And I am beyond grateful to God!

This is the shortened version, but know that I have received the miracle of healing from Complex Regional Pain Syndrome. Ten years and two months plus a few days later. Don't give up, Dear Ones. As long as you are drawing breath, you have purpose. God is faithful.

Prayer:

Father,

          Thank You that everything is a teaching moment with You, to strengthen our faith and trust in You, to bring us closer to You, to open our eyes to see beyond our circumstances, and learn who You are in Your fullness. Thank You that Your power is made perfect in our weaknesses. It is Your breath in our lungs and we praise You with every one. Help us to always keep our focus on You and our hearts receptive to Your leading. And help us to see those around us who have needs. We want to be Your hands and feet and love extended. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen

2026 Lenten Season - Day 23 - Sacrifice

We continue the tradition of 40 days of Lent-related devotionals (46 counting the Sundays).
Sharing "Journey to the Cross" by Paul David Tripp.
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No sacrifice that you and I will ever make is as great as the sacrifice that was made for us and for our redemption.

Everyone makes sacrifices—

for physical beauty,

for body health,

for athletic victory,

for career advancement,

for relational unity,

for sound investment,

for a physical dwelling,

for the hope of fame,

for parental love,

for spiritual growth,

for environmental health,

for political power,

for a noble cause,

for a dark addiction,

for the cause of peace,

for liberation from bondage,

for making a point,

for exposing an evil,

for meeting a need,

for offering mercy,

for settling a score,

for extending a hand.

Every day sacrifices are made.

Everyone does it.

No one can avoid it.

Life requires it.

Good calls you to it.

Evil demands it.

Sometimes we’re willing.

Sometimes we’re resistant.

Sometimes we regret it.

Sometimes we sacrifice with great joy,

sometimes with deep sorrow,

sometimes in the bright light,

sometimes in the darkness of night,

sometimes private,

sometimes public,

the young and the old,

men and women,

girls and boys,

of every language,

of every ethnicity,

from every place on the globe,

from every period of history.

But in all of those places,

with all of these people,

in all of those epochs of time,

with innumerable sacrifices,

there is only one man

who had sacrifice as his solitary purpose.

There was only one man

whose sacrifice would meet everyone’s need.

There was only one man

who paid for what he did not do

so others would get what they did not earn.

There was only one man

who was qualified.

There was only one man

who was the God-man,

Son of God,

Son of Man.

There was only one man.

who would live a righteous life.

There was only one man

who would die an acceptable death.

There was only one man

who would satisfy God’s requirement.

There was only one man

who would not only make that sacrifice

but who would be that sacrifice.

There was only one man

who would be the Lamb of God.

There was only one man

whose sacrifice would change everything.

Sin defeated.

Life given.

Hope restored.

Destiny secure.

God and man reconciled,

once for all.

“It is finished.”

Billions of sacrifices made;

only one sacrifice

for life now

and for all eternity.

Going Deeper

Reflection Questions

1. Think about the goals you’re working toward right now. What are you sacrificing to reach them?

2. Does your level of sacrifice to develop your relationship with God match the level of sacrifice you make to do other things? Why or why not?

3. What sacrifice did Christ make for you? List out all that he endured, and thank him specifically for those things.

Read the account of the crucifixion in Matthew 26:20–27:53 [included below in its entirety].

20When it was evening, Jesus sat down at the table[a] with the Twelve. 21 While they were eating, he said, “I tell you the truth, one of you will betray me.”

22 Greatly distressed, each one asked in turn, “Am I the one, Lord?”

23 He replied, “One of you who has just eaten from this bowl with me will betray me. 24 For the Son of Man must die, as the Scriptures declared long ago. But how terrible it will be for the one who betrays him. It would be far better for that man if he had never been born!”

25 Judas, the one who would betray him, also asked, “Rabbi, am I the one?”

And Jesus told him, “You have said it.”

26 As they were eating, Jesus took some bread and blessed it. Then he broke it in pieces and gave it to the disciples, saying, “Take this and eat it, for this is my body.”

27 And he took a cup of wine and gave thanks to God for it. He gave it to them and said, “Each of you drink from it, 28 for this is my blood, which confirms the covenant[b] between God and his people. It is poured out as a sacrifice to forgive the sins of many. 29 Mark my words—I will not drink wine again until the day I drink it new with you in my Father’s Kingdom.”

30 Then they sang a hymn and went out to the Mount of Olives.

31 On the way, Jesus told them, “Tonight all of you will desert me. For the Scriptures say,
‘God will strike the Shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’

32 But after I have been raised from the dead, I will go ahead of you to Galilee and meet you there.”

33 Peter declared, “Even if everyone else deserts you, I will never desert you.”

34 Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, Peter—this very night, before the rooster crows, you will deny three times that you even know me.”

35 “No!” Peter insisted. “Even if I have to die with you, I will never deny you!” And all the other disciples vowed the same.

36 Then Jesus went with them to the olive grove called Gethsemane, and he said, “Sit here while I go over there to pray.” 37 He took Peter and Zebedee’s two sons, James and John, and he became anguished and distressed. 38 He told them, “My soul is crushed with grief to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.”

39 He went on a little farther and bowed with his face to the ground, praying, “My Father! If it is possible, let this cup of suffering be taken away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.”

40 Then he returned to the disciples and found them asleep. He said to Peter, “Couldn’t you watch with me even one hour? 41 Keep watch and pray, so that you will not give in to temptation. For the spirit is willing, but the body is weak!”

42 Then Jesus left them a second time and prayed, “My Father! If this cup cannot be taken away[d] unless I drink it, your will be done.” 43 When he returned to them again, he found them sleeping, for they couldn’t keep their eyes open.

44 So he went to pray a third time, saying the same things again. 45 Then he came to the disciples and said, “Go ahead and sleep. Have your rest. But look—the time has come. The Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. 46 Up, let’s be going. Look, my betrayer is here!”

47 And even as Jesus said this, Judas, one of the twelve disciples, arrived with a crowd of men armed with swords and clubs. They had been sent by the leading priests and elders of the people. 48 The traitor, Judas, had given them a prearranged signal: “You will know which one to arrest when I greet him with a kiss.” 49 So Judas came straight to Jesus. “Greetings, Rabbi!” he exclaimed and gave him the kiss.

50 Jesus said, “My friend, go ahead and do what you have come for.”

Then the others grabbed Jesus and arrested him. 51 But one of the men with Jesus pulled out his sword and struck the high priest’s slave, slashing off his ear.

52 “Put away your sword,” Jesus told him. “Those who use the sword will die by the sword. 53 Don’t you realize that I could ask my Father for thousands of angels to protect us, and he would send them instantly? 54 But if I did, how would the Scriptures be fulfilled that describe what must happen now?”

55 Then Jesus said to the crowd, “Am I some dangerous revolutionary, that you come with swords and clubs to arrest me? Why didn’t you arrest me in the Temple? I was there teaching every day. 56 But this is all happening to fulfill the words of the prophets as recorded in the Scriptures.” At that point, all the disciples deserted him and fled.

57 Then the people who had arrested Jesus led him to the home of Caiaphas, the high priest, where the teachers of religious law and the elders had gathered. 58 Meanwhile, Peter followed him at a distance and came to the high priest’s courtyard. He went in and sat with the guards and waited to see how it would all end.

59 Inside, the leading priests and the entire high council were trying to find witnesses who would lie about Jesus, so they could put him to death. 60 But even though they found many who agreed to give false witness, they could not use anyone’s testimony. Finally, two men came forward 61 who declared, “This man said, ‘I am able to destroy the Temple of God and rebuild it in three days.’”

62 Then the high priest stood up and said to Jesus, “Well, aren’t you going to answer these charges? What do you have to say for yourself?” 63 But Jesus remained silent. Then the high priest said to him, “I demand in the name of the living God—tell us if you are the Messiah, the Son of God.”

64 Jesus replied, “You have said it. And in the future you will see the Son of Man seated in the place of power at God’s right hand and coming on the clouds of heaven.”

65 Then the high priest tore his clothing to show his horror and said, “Blasphemy! Why do we need other witnesses? You have all heard his blasphemy. 66 What is your verdict?”

“Guilty!” they shouted. “He deserves to die!”

67 Then they began to spit in Jesus’ face and beat him with their fists. And some slapped him, 68 jeering, “Prophesy to us, you Messiah! Who hit you that time?”

69 Meanwhile, Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard. A servant girl came over and said to him, “You were one of those with Jesus the Galilean.”

70 But Peter denied it in front of everyone. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said.

71 Later, out by the gate, another servant girl noticed him and said to those standing around, “This man was with Jesus of Nazareth.”

72 Again Peter denied it, this time with an oath. “I don’t even know the man,” he said.

73 A little later some of the other bystanders came over to Peter and said, “You must be one of them; we can tell by your Galilean accent.”

74 Peter swore, “A curse on me if I’m lying—I don’t know the man!” And immediately the rooster crowed.

75 Suddenly, Jesus’ words flashed through Peter’s mind: “Before the rooster crows, you will deny three times that you even know me.” And he went away, weeping bitterly.

27 Very early in the morning the leading priests and the elders of the people met again to lay plans for putting Jesus to death. 2 Then they bound him, led him away, and took him to Pilate, the Roman governor.

3 When Judas, who had betrayed him, realized that Jesus had been condemned to die, he was filled with remorse. So he took the thirty pieces of silver back to the leading priests and the elders. 4 “I have sinned,” he declared, “for I have betrayed an innocent man.”
“What do we care?” they retorted. “That’s your problem.”

5 Then Judas threw the silver coins down in the Temple and went out and hanged himself.

6 The leading priests picked up the coins. “It wouldn’t be right to put this money in the Temple treasury,” they said, “since it was payment for murder.” 7 After some discussion, they finally decided to buy the potter’s field, and they made it into a cemetery for foreigners. 8 That is why the field is still called the Field of Blood. 9 This fulfilled the prophecy of Jeremiah that says,
“They took the thirty pieces of silver— the price at which he was valued by the people of Israel, 10 and purchased the potter’s field, as the Lord directed.”

11 Now Jesus was standing before Pilate, the Roman governor. “Are you the king of the Jews?” the governor asked him.

Jesus replied, “You have said it.”

12 But when the leading priests and the elders made their accusations against him, Jesus remained silent. 13 “Don’t you hear all these charges they are bringing against you?” Pilate demanded. 14 But Jesus made no response to any of the charges, much to the governor’s surprise.

15 Now it was the governor’s custom each year during the Passover celebration to release one prisoner to the crowd—anyone they wanted. 16 This year, there was a notorious prisoner, a man named Barabbas. 17 As the crowds gathered before Pilate’s house that morning, he asked them, “Which one do you want me to release to you—Barabbas, or Jesus who is called the Messiah?” 18 (He knew very well that the religious leaders had arrested Jesus out of envy.)

19 Just then, as Pilate was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent him this message: “Leave that innocent man alone. I suffered through a terrible nightmare about him last night.”

20 Meanwhile, the leading priests and the elders persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas to be released and for Jesus to be put to death. 21 So the governor asked again, “Which of these two do you want me to release to you?”
The crowd shouted back, “Barabbas!”

22 Pilate responded, “Then what should I do with Jesus who is called the Messiah?”
They shouted back, “Crucify him!”

23 “Why?” Pilate demanded. “What crime has he committed?”
But the mob roared even louder, “Crucify him!”

24 Pilate saw that he wasn’t getting anywhere and that a riot was developing. So he sent for a bowl of water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying, “I am innocent of this man’s blood. The responsibility is yours!”

25 And all the people yelled back, “We will take responsibility for his death—we and our children!”

26 So Pilate released Barabbas to them. He ordered Jesus flogged with a lead-tipped whip, then turned him over to the Roman soldiers to be crucified.

27 Some of the governor’s soldiers took Jesus into their headquarters and called out the entire regiment. 28 They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him. 29 They wove thorn branches into a crown and put it on his head, and they placed a reed stick in his right hand as a scepter. Then they knelt before him in mockery and taunted, “Hail! King of the Jews!” 30 And they spit on him and grabbed the stick and struck him on the head with it. 31 When they were finally tired of mocking him, they took off the robe and put his own clothes on him again. Then they led him away to be crucified.

32 Along the way, they came across a man named Simon, who was from Cyrene, and the soldiers forced him to carry Jesus’ cross. 33 And they went out to a place called Golgotha (which means “Place of the Skull”). 34 The soldiers gave Jesus wine mixed with bitter gall, but when he had tasted it, he refused to drink it.

35 After they had nailed him to the cross, the soldiers gambled for his clothes by throwing dice. 36 Then they sat around and kept guard as he hung there. 37 A sign was fastened above Jesus’ head, announcing the charge against him. It read: “This is Jesus, the King of the Jews.” 38 Two revolutionaries were crucified with him, one on his right and one on his left.

39 The people passing by shouted abuse, shaking their heads in mockery. 40 “Look at you now!” they yelled at him. “You said you were going to destroy the Temple and rebuild it in three days. Well then, if you are the Son of God, save yourself and come down from the cross!”

41 The leading priests, the teachers of religious law, and the elders also mocked Jesus. 42 “He saved others,” they scoffed, “but he can’t save himself! So he is the King of Israel, is he? Let him come down from the cross right now, and we will believe in him! 43 He trusted God, so let God rescue him now if he wants him! For he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’” 44 Even the revolutionaries who were crucified with him ridiculed him in the same way.

45 At noon, darkness fell across the whole land until three o’clock. 46 At about three o’clock, Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” which means “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?”

47 Some of the bystanders misunderstood and thought he was calling for the prophet Elijah. 48 One of them ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, holding it up to him on a reed stick so he could drink. 49 But the rest said, “Wait! Let’s see whether Elijah comes to save him.”

50 Then Jesus shouted out again, and he released his spirit. 51 At that moment the curtain in the sanctuary of the Temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. The earth shook, rocks split apart, 52 and tombs opened. The bodies of many godly men and women who had died were raised from the dead. 53 They left the cemetery after Jesus’ resurrection, went into the holy city of Jerusalem, and appeared to many people.

2026 Lenten Season - Day 22 - The Love and Grace of Warnings

We continue the tradition of 40 days of Lent-related devotionals (46 counting the Sundays).
Sharing "Journey to the Cross" by Paul David Tripp.
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On this side of eternity, it is easy to love the gift more than the giver.

Parents instinctively know that issuing warnings is an important part of true love. Parents who love their children spend a lot of time over the years warning them. From the early warnings about things that are hot, sharp, dirty, or poisonous, to the later warnings about the temptations of a fallen world, one of the ways that parents regularly express love for their children is by warning them of the dangers ahead. I have two granddaughters, and when I am with them, I find myself doing this all the time. Sometimes those warnings are attached to the rules that children have been taught and asked to obey. These warnings carry with them the threat of consequences or judgment. But warnings are not the same as judgment. If all I wanted to do was judge you, I wouldn’t warn you. I warn you because I love you, and I don’t want you to have to experience the consequences of your disobedience. When you are warned, you are being loved. To be warned is to receive grace.

Scripture warns us about a subtle kind of idolatry that masquerades as the worship of God but is really driven by the love of things. The war between worship of God and worship of things is not always as apparent to us as we think.

A seminary professor of mine told of a moment in his church when his brothers and sisters were enjoying a time of public praise. One woman stood up and shared how she had been facing bills that she could not pay, that she had prayed, and that God had supplied the money necessary to pay them all. Then she said, “I am just so thankful to God for his faithfulness.” It seems that everything was right in this moment of praise, except my professor kept thinking, “What if he hadn’t?" What if God, for his eternal glory and her spiritual good, had allowed her to face the stress of the even greater financial consequences of those bills being unpaid? Would she have still stood up and thanked God for his faithfulness?

Now, it may seem like a judgmental way of hearing this woman’s gratitude, but the professor’s observation points us to how subtle and deceptive the war for our hearts can be. Could it be that we are most excited about God’s presence in our lives when he has met a physical need or delivered to us something that we want? Could it be that there are ways in which God has been reduced from the one that we love to the deliverer of the thing that we love? Could it be that love of the world masquerades in our hearts as the worship of God? After we get what we want and we thank God for it, we think we are worshiping him, but perhaps, in reality, what has captured our hearts is not God but the thing.

The world around us is filled with sight, sound, touch, and taste attractions. We also find delights that are not physical, like affection, success, position, respect, power, and control. All of these created things, both material and immaterial, appear to give us life. They seem to have the power to produce joy and satisfaction or, when absent, sadness and discontent. So it is quite tempting to reach for them,  hoping they will do for us what they were never intended to do. It is tempting for all of us to look around and say, “If only I had _____ then my life would be ______.” Whatever sits on the other side of your “if only” is the thing you are living for at that moment and the thing that you think will give you the peace of life that you think is missing. Consider these heart-revealing questions.

When does God excite me most?
When do I shout the loudest, “God loves me!”?
When am I most thankful that I am one of God’s children and the object of his fathering care?
When does my relationship with God provide me the most joy?
What does God need to do for me in order for me to be content?
When do I tend to question God’s love?
When do I struggle the most to believe that God is faithful?
When am I tempted to envy others or to think God has favorites?
When does my praise of the Lord feel empty?
What causes me to feel that my prayers go unheard?
What would God have to do to produce real joy in me?

I don’t know about you, but I find these questions to be uncomfortable and revealing. I don’t think of myself as one who loves the gift more than the giver, but perhaps there are ways in which I do. Do I really believe that God is good, does what is good, and gives what is good to all his children all the time? Is it really true of me that because of the joy and satisfaction of knowing him and being loved by him, I am able to live with plenty or live with want? Does the withholding of what seems good cause me to question if he is good? Can I stand next to someone who has what I think I need and still love my Lord and rest in his love for me? Are there things that I have set my heart on, the absence of which will cause my faith to waver and my praise to be silenced? Where does my heart still live under the rulership of the gift rather than the righteous and loving rule of the giver?

During this season when you are letting go of the things of the world, confessing areas of sin and weakness, and running to your Savior for rescue and help, perhaps you should also confess one of the subtlest forms of idolatry. Perhaps it would be good to confess that what appears as worship may not be worship at all. It may be worship of the thing that reduces God to the delivery system for what your heart really craves. And remember, God sent his Son not only to forgive our sins, but also to liberate our hearts from the bondage to anything but him. He is not shocked or disgusted by your struggle. He will turn not away from you, but toward you with love and grace.

So today, hear this loving warning. Could it be that the confession of ongoing struggles of idolatry, no matter how subtle, is the first step toward a heart that is consumed by the worship of God alone?

GOING DEEPER
Reflection Questions

1. When have you found yourself closest to God? When have you been tempted to love him for the gifts he has given rather than for himself?

2. How can you grow in satisfaction in God himself while still being thankful for the gifts he gives?

3. What do you need to confess as an area where “what appears as worship may not be worship at all”?

Read Psalm 50:8–15, and hear God’s heart of love that longs for relationship, not empty sacrifice.

Psalm 50:8–15

I have no complaint about your sacrifices or the burnt offerings you constantly offer. But I do not need the bulls from your barns or the goats from your pens. For all the animals of the forest are mine, and I own the cattle on a thousand hills. I know every bird on the mountains, and all the animals of the field are mine. If I were hungry, I would not tell you, for all the world is mine and everything in it. Do I eat the meat of bulls? Do I drink the blood of goats? 

Make thankfulness your sacrifice to God, and keep the vows you made to the Most High. Then call on me when you are in trouble, and I will rescue you, and you will give me glory.

2026 Lenten Season - Day 21 - Confession

We continue the tradition of 40 days of Lent-related devotionals (46 counting the Sundays).
Sharing "Journey to the Cross" by Paul David Tripp.
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It is impossible to excuse, deny, or minimize your sin without telling yourself that you do not need the grace of Christ Jesus.

Bill and Jenny had hit the wall again. A misunderstanding had devolved into a nasty, name-calling, trust-shattering fight. The air in their house was thick with tension, and the awkward silence between them was suffocating. It had been three days since the horrible fight, but there had been no rapprochement between them. Bill spent much of those three days telling himself that Jenny was the problem, and that all he was doing was defending himself against her attack. Jenny told herself that she was the victim of an emotionally abusive husband. They could not reconcile because they were unwilling to see their own sin, let alone to confess it to God or one another. Each denied their attitudes and actions, each excused his or her sin by pointing the finger of blame at one another, and both told themselves that what they did wasn’t so bad, given the circumstances.

It was a familiar scene for them, repeated again and again. There was never much true confession, but somehow they would move on without the wrongs against one another being addressed and then march to the next debilitating battle. But even more tragic than the toll on their marriage was their denial of their need for the rescuing, forgiving, and empowering grace of Jesus. In refusing to confess their sin, they told themselves that they did not need the grace of Jesus, purchased for them on the cross of Calvary. Because they did not own their sin and cry out to their Savior for his forgiveness and help, they did not grow in grace and love toward one another. Their marriage was stuck in a cycle of sin and hurt. Cynicism had replaced hope, self-defensiveness had replaced trust, and a repeated cycle of hurt hardened hearts that were once tender and loving.

It makes sense that you and I simply do not reach out for help that we do not think we need. We don’t long for what seems unnecessary. How is it possible to hold the cross as the epicenter of our formal theology while functionally denying our need for this radical sacrifice of love and grace? When you sin as a believer, your conscience will bother you. What you experience is the convicting grace of the Holy Spirit, and there are only four ways to respond to this gracious warning that you have done something wrong. 

Let’s look at each response in light of what the cross requires us to see and admit about ourselves.

1. Excuse. 

It’s hard to admit that you have done wrong, that it’s your responsibility alone. It is so easy to alleviate your guilt by pointing to someone or something else as the reason you did what you did. Here’s why blame-shifting seems so plausible and is so tempting. You live in a fallen world with broken things all around you, so there are many excuses to be found. You live with and near people who are less than perfect. They don’t always say and do the right things. They don’t always have good attitudes. They don’t always keep their promises. They are not always committed to your best interest. They are just like you, people in need of God’s rescuing grace.

You live with all kinds of systemic brokenness in your neighborhood, on the highways, at work, in government and education, at the stores where you shop, and the list could go on and on. In case you hadn’t noticed, this is not paradise, and the world doesn’t function the way paradise will someday function. Yet in all of this, God meets you with his heart and life-changing, empowering grace. It really is possible to do what is right in a world that has gone wrong. This life of right begins with recognizing your need for God’s grace, and that begins with a commitment to not deny your need for God’s grace by searching for excuses for the wrong that you have done.

2. Deny. 

It is also tempting to rewrite the history of a certain situation to make yourself look way more righteous than you actually were. This may sound needlessly repetitive, but it is worth thinking about: the ultimate denial of sin is denial. Saying that it never happened makes you hopelessly unapproachable, resistant to the thought that you need to change, and self-congratulatory when you should feel guilty. It leaves you without any neediness for God’s forgiving, restoring, and enabling grace. Denial never goes anywhere good; it is never good for your heart, it never deepens your relationship to God, and it never produces good in your relationships.

3. Minimize. 

One of the most tempting ways of escaping responsibility for your sin is not to excuse it or deny it, but to minimize it. Wrong becomes more palatable to your heart when you are able to minimize its size, importance, or impact. When you are able to make your sin look something less than a conscious moral rebellion against God or a willingness to wrong your neighbor for your own good, it doesn’t then feel so wrong to you. If you can make your sin look to you something less than sin, then you don’t need the grace that God offers sinners. You simply cannot minimize your sin without, at the same time, devaluing God’s amazing grace.

4. Confess. 

In the face of having done what is wrong in the eyes of God, this is the only option that the cross of Jesus Christ leaves open. If sin is excusable, deniable, and not really a big deal, then the cross of Jesus Christ is not necessary. Confession always recognizes the inescapable sinfulness of sin. Sin cannot be excused, it cannot be denied, and it is not honest to diminish its significance, so it must be owned and confessed to one who has the power not only to forgive, but also to deliver us from its hold on our hearts.

What is confession? Confession is admitting personal responsibility for your words and actions, without excuse of any kind or shifting the blame to anyone else. Confession is a welcome into a deeper appreciation of the presence, promises, and grace of God. It is a welcome to more humble, honest, approachable, and loving relationships with others. It is a welcome to no longer being afraid of knowing yourself or being known, because you know that nothing will ever be known or revealed about you that hasn’t already been covered by the blood of Jesus. Confession is an invitation to a life of internal rest and external peace.

So this season, as you reflect on the sacrifice of Christ on your behalf, and as the Spirit begins to reveal your heart and conviction sets in, don’t defend yourself with excuses, denial, or minimizing, and in so doing run from the grace of your Savior. Run to him, owning what you have done as you rest in the grace he offers to all who come to him in this way. “Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, / but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy” (Proverbs 28:13).

GOING DEEPER

Reflection Questions

1. You probably would give verbal assent to the idea that you need God. But do your actions, your attitudes, and your prayer life support that?

2. How do you usually respond when you are confronted with your sin—excuse, deny, minimize, or confess? What factors contribute to how you respond at different times?

3. What have you noticed are the effects of each of these responses: excuse, deny, minimize,  confession?

Read Psalm 62:5–8, humbling yourself in prayer before the Lord.

Let all that I am wait quietly before God, for my hope is in him. He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress where I will not be shaken. My victory and honor come from God alone. He is my refuge, a rock where no enemy can reach me. O my people, trust in him at all times. Pour out your heart to him, for God is our refuge.

2026 Lenten Season - Day 20 - To Silence Complaint

We continue the tradition of 40 days of Lent-related devotionals (46 counting the Sundays).
Sharing "Journey to the Cross" by Paul David Tripp.
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It is good to silence complaint in your life by sitting down and taking the time to count your blessings.

So many blessings, so many graces, so many gifts, so much love. There is no rational explanation; there is no human reason; there is no scientific formula; no evolutionary theory; no political machinations; no cultural privilege; no chance; no fate; nothing earned; nothing achieved; nothing deserved; no right; no entitlement; no family inheritance; no right of passage; no reward for work done; no prize for achievement; no deserved recognition.

There is a miracle operating here; there is amazing favor; there is unprecedented mercy; there is boundless love; there is only one explanation; there is but one rationale. Blood was shed outside the city walls, a perfect man with the criminal element nailed to a torture tree, hung there by those he made. No words of defense, no actions of resistance. Favored Son, now willing Sufferer, carrying the sin of multitudes. Mocked by onlookers, forsaken by the Father, willing Lamb, acceptable sacrifice, planned from eternity, accomplished in time, so we would know so many blessings, so many graces, so many gifts, so much love.

During this season when you are thinking about the hold that the world still has on you, when you’re confessing your struggle with sin, and when you’re focusing on the suffering and sacrifice of Jesus that secured your hope in this life and the one to come, take time to count the many right-here, right-now blessings that the work of Jesus has delivered to you. You probably don’t need me to tell you this, but I will: it is more natural for sinners to complain than to give thanks. If you listen to yourself, you'll find that this is true. Our tendency to complain is one of the results of the selfishness of sin. Complaint reminds us that we keep sticking ourselves in the center of our worlds and making life all about us.

Gratitude is a powerful weapon against complaint. It is impossible to give thanks and complain at the same time. The more you spend time counting your blessings, the less time you’ll have to number your complaints. Complaint is a distorted and inaccurate way of looking at your life. For the child of God, a life of grumbling is the result of a factually inaccurate way of assessing life. It is factually inaccurate because it misses the ultimate facts of your existence: the intervention, operation, and generous blessings of God’s amazing grace. It focuses on what you don’t have and forgets the marvelous blessings that are yours that you could have never earned, achieved, or deserved in your own strength or based on your own performance. God’s grace unleashes into your life blessings that are too many to number. No matter what difficulties you are facing, they are outweighed by the storehouse of blessings that are yours in Christ Jesus.

So take time out of each day, if only for a few moments, to count your blessings. Buy a journal or open a Google Doc, and each day catalog the blessings in your life, from the smallest and most mundane to those that are huge and life-changing. Fight the battle with complaint by developing a day-by-day habit of gratitude. Begin counting your blessings, and watch how the practice begins to alter the way you look at your life. No one is more worthy of your praise than your generous, loving, faithful, wise, and gracious Savior.

Gratitude silences complaint.

GOING DEEPER
Reflection Questions

1. Looking at a typical day, what percentage of your time is spent grumbling and what percentage is spent giving thanks?

2. Why do you think it is so difficult for us to remember to give thanks? What practical things can you do to draw your heart away from complaining and toward praise?

3. Have you ever kept a gratitude journal? What benefits did this have—or could it have if you haven’t tried it yet—for you?

Read Psalm 103, and thank the Lord for his many blessings.

A psalm of David.

1 Let all that I am praise the Lord; with my whole heart, I will praise his holy name. 2 Let all that I am praise the Lord; may I never forget the good things he does for me. 3 He forgives all my sins and heals all my diseases. 4 He redeems me from death and crowns me with love and tender mercies. 5 He fills my life with good things.My youth is renewed like the eagle’s!

6 The Lord gives righteousness and justice to all who are treated unfairly. 7 He revealed his character to Moses and his deeds to the people of Israel. 8 The Lord is compassionate and merciful, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. 9 He will not constantly accuse us, nor remain angry forever.10 He does not punish us for all our sins; he does not deal harshly with us, as we deserve.11 For his unfailing love toward those who fear him is as great as the height of the heavens above the earth.12 He has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west.

13 The Lord is like a father to his children, tender and compassionate to those who fear him. 14 For he knows how weak we are; he remembers we are only dust. 15 Our days on earth are like grass; like wildflowers, we bloom and die. 16 The wind blows, and we are gone—as though we had never been here. 17 But the love of the Lord remains forever with those who fear him. His salvation extends to the children’s children 18 of those who are faithful to his covenant, of those who obey his commandments!

19 The Lord has made the heavens his throne; from there he rules over everything.

20 Praise the Lord, you angels, you mighty ones who carry out his plans, listening for each of his commands. 21 Yes, praise the Lord, you armies of angels who serve him and do his will! 22 Praise the Lord, everything he has created, everything in all his kingdom.

Let all that I am praise the Lord.

2026 Lenten Season - Day 19 - Not a Simple Occasion

We continue the tradition of 40 days of Lent-related devotionals (46 counting the Sundays).
Sharing "Journey to the Cross" by Paul David Tripp.
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You and I have three problems that only the Redeemer has the power and willingness to solve.

Psalm 51:1-17

"Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin! For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment. Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me. Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being, and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart. Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones that you have broken rejoice. Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit. Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will return to you. Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, O God of my salvation, and my tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness. O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise. For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; you will not be pleased with a burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise."

Psalm 51 records one of the most important prayers in the entire Bible. It is a prayer that everyone should emulate, because it is a model of the heart of true confession. King David, a chosen servant of the Lord, had used his position, power, and resources not only to take another man’s wife, but to murder that man as well. It unpacks for us the kind of confession that comes from a truly sorrowful heart. 

You see the character of this confession from the very first verse. David immediately acknowledges that his problem is not simply this occasion of sin, but something larger and more deeply serious than that.  How do we know this? We know this because of the three words David uses to describe what he is dealing with: transgression, iniquity, and sin. These words are not synonyms but careful descriptions of the different aspects of the nature of sin. Sin is a trifold problem, not just an occasion of wrongdoing. Let’s examine these together.

1. Transgression. 

Sin is much more than a moment of weakness that leads to doing what is wrong in the eyes of God.  Surely, we all have those moments. But transgression concerns something deep inside us that makes us susceptible to temptation’s draw and that weakens us in our battle with sin. A transgression is a willful stepping over of God’s boundaries. Transgression is seeing the No Trespassing sign and climbing the fence anyway because there is something you want to get to on the other side. Transgressing is intentionally parking in the No Parking zone because you would rather save a few steps than obey the law. Transgression is yelling at your wife when you know it is wrong because you want something from her and will do whatever it takes to get it. Transgression is pilfering pens from work when you know very well that they weren’t supplied for your personal use.

Transgression is a spirit of rebellion. It’s putting yourself in God’s place and writing your own rules. It’s wanting your own way more than submitting to God’s way. Transgression is a condition of the heart that turns every sinner into a rebel in some way. True confession confesses to more than weakness; it confesses to the rebellion of heart that causes you to be weak in your struggle with sin.

2. Iniquity. 

Something even deeper than a spirit of rebellion lives in me. It is the thing that causes me to be rebellious. Consider the words of Titus 1:15: “To the pure, all things are pure, but to the defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure; but both their minds and their consciences are defiled.” The only way we would ever perfectly obey God is if the thoughts, motives, desires, and intentions of our hearts were completely pure. But sin defiles the heart. Iniquity is moral uncleanness. It is like water that is no longer pure, but has corrupting elements in it. Iniquity is like breathing polluted air. You can’t see it, you don’t realize it, but it contains impurities that will harm you. I wish I could say that my heart is pure. I wish I could say that there are no artifacts of moral corruption in me, and because there aren’t, I am impervious to temptation. But sadly, I cannot say that, and neither can you as long as sin still resides in your heart. So confession doesn’t just admit to a moment of wrongdoing and a spirit of rebellion, but it also acknowledges the moral impurity of heart that is the seedbed of that rebellion.

3. Sin. 

Finally, our confession of sin is a confession of a specific instance of weakness and failure. The word sin connotes falling short of God’s wise and righteous standard. It’s more than pulling the bowstring back and missing the target. It is pulling the bowstring back again and again, and every time falling short of the target. Confession of a specific sin against God and others is an admission of weakness. It is an admission that, when left on our own, even in our best moments, we would still fall short of God’s holy requirements of us. Embedded in the word sin is a cry for help. It is a cry to be rescued from your bondage to yourself. It’s a plea to not be left to your own weakness, but to be forgiven and rescued by one greater and more powerful than you will ever be. Confession of sin carries with it a commitment to be ever more dependent on the Redeemer for the help that he alone can give. Confession of sin is an admission that this instance of weakness and failure stands as a testament of your ongoing need for God’s grace.

So in this season of personal reflection and confession, may your confession be as deep and broad as David’s. And may these three biblical words, transgression, iniquity, and sin, guide that confession. And as you confess, may you be comforted by God’s promise that he will never turn his back on you. He will never despise one who comes to him with a truly broken and contrite heart. Confession is God’s welcome to enter into a deeper experience of the majesty of his grace.

GOING DEEPER

Reflection Questions

1. In the last week, how have you transgressed God’s law, rebelling in spirit against him?

2. When was the last time you confessed your iniquity, your general impurity? If this is not a regular part of your prayer life, how might you incorporate it more often?

3. Does your confession of sin often feel like a cry for help? Why or why not?

Return to Psalm 51 at the top of this post, and use it again as a template for prayer, allowing the definitions of transgression, iniquity, and sin to deepen your time of confession.

2026 Lenten Season - Day 18 - Surprised Again

We continue the tradition of 40 days of Lent-related devotionals (46 counting the Sundays).
Sharing "Journey to the Cross" by Paul David Tripp.
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The story of our redemption is historical proof of God's unstoppable sovereignty.

Surprise is a normal part of life for all of us. We are greeted with mystery again and again. We get caught up short, unprepared for what is coming down the line. The redemptive story confronts us with the fact that God is not like us. He saw our need, he planned how to meet that need, and everything happened just as he planned. In the vast expanse of time, the huge company of people, and the multitude of locations that were the setting for his plan of grace, he was never surprised, never unprepared, and
always in control. Christ’s march to the cross reinforces for us that our rest and hope are not in our knowing, but in his ruling. The God who knows no surprises will surprise us again. But it is okay,
because what we don’t know, he knows; what we can’t control, he controls, and because he does, we can live with mystery and surprise and not be afraid.

May the words below stimulate rest in the middle of surprise.
Surprised again. Quiet conversation erupts into heated debate.
Surprised again. Sickness interrupts well-being.
Surprised again. A loved one is unexpectedly lost.
Surprised again. A long-trusted leader falls.
Surprised again. An unexpected gift alleviates need.
Surprised again. Opportunity’s doors open wide.
Surprised again. A sleepless night plunders rest.
Surprised again. Sudden conflict crushes peace.
Surprised again. An emergency alters the day’s schedule.
Surprised again. Divine provision propels a plan.
Surprised again. Sudden mystery sows confusion.
Surprised again. Grace proves too big to grasp.
It is the story of my life. I am surprised again and again.

Surprised again, reminded again and again, that I am not sovereign. I am surprised again but not afraid. My surprise, my misguided expectation, the mystery I live with, my lack of control, does not mean my world, my life, my present, my future, is out of control. Yes, I will be surprised again and again, but I am not afraid, because You, Lord, are incapable of being surprised.

GOING DEEPER
Reflection Questions

1. Do you like surprises? Why or why not? What emotions do surprises evoke for you?

2. When has life surprised you? When has God surprised you?

3. How can a perspective on God’s sovereignty help you deal with the surprises of life? What are some things you can do to live with joy and hope amid the uncertainties of life?

Read Isaiah 46:5–13, Take courage and comfort in the (ofttimes surprising) sovereignty of God.

Isaiah 46:5-13 New Living Translation

“To whom will you compare me? Who is my equal?
Some people pour out their silver and gold and hire a craftsman to make a god from it. Then they bow down and worship it! They carry it around on their shoulders, and when they set it down, it stays there. It can’t even move! And when someone prays to it, there is no answer.  It can’t rescue anyone from trouble.

“Do not forget this! Keep it in mind! Remember this, you guilty ones. Remember the things I have done in the past. For I alone am God! I am God, and there is none like me. Only I can tell you the future before it even happens. Everything I plan will come to pass, for I do whatever I wish. I will call a swift bird of prey from the east—a leader from a distant land to come and do my bidding. I have said what I would do, and I will do it. Listen to me, you stubborn people who are so far from doing right. For I am ready to set things right, not in the distant future, but right now! I am ready to save Jerusalem and show my glory to Israel."