Paul David Tripp - Journey to the Cross: A 40-Day Lenten Devotional

Day 34

Jesus s life saw no defeat, so we could know victory.

In your weakest,

most vulnerable,

seemingly helpless,

public-shame

moment,

hanging on a rough-hewed cross

between

heaven and hell,

nailed,

bleeding,

thirsty,

life ebbing out of you,

victim,

mocked and scorned,

you were a

conquering King

not defeated,

the victor.

Seemingly defeated,

you conquered

sin,

Satan,

death.

Put to shame,

you were putting to shame

all who would shame you.

Not cowering

in fear,

you were parading your

sovereign glory,

unleashing your

transforming grace,

expediting your

redemptive plan.

The darkest moment ever

became the brightest moment ever.

The greatest defeat

became the greatest victory.

The moment of death

was a triumph of life.

You were where you came to be,

doing what you came to do.

You did not surrender

for a moment

so that we could

stand firm for a lifetime.

You did not give into

defeat

so that we would experience

victory.

Everything you suffered was

for us.

Every battle fought was fought

for us.

Every victory won was won

for us.

In your moment of

apparent defeat

you became forever

our victor.

Reflection Questions

1. Taking stock of the past thirty-three days, what is God convicting you of?

2. What changes have you decided to make, and how are those changes going?

3. What fresh perspective have you gained on what the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus mean to you?

Read 2 Corinthians 5:1421, and rejoice in the gospel message.

This is all that weve come to expect and enjoy from Paul Trippa daily, fresh delivery of gospel comfort and hope. This will help us all to deepen our sense of appreciation and wonder at what Jesus has done for us.

Sam Allberry, Speaker, Ravi Zacharias International Ministries; Associate Pastor, Immanuel Church, Nashville, Tennessee; author, 7 Myths about Singleness

Paul Tripp has once again led us past feel-good platitudes and into focused, Christward reflection.Through tension and tenderness, lament and thanksgiving, the Lenten season will transform us when it leads us to the cross of Christ.

Ruth Chou Simons, Founder, GraceLaced Co.; author, GraceLaced and Beholding and Becoming ; coauthor, Foundations

Like so many others, I have benefited richly, and for years, from the ministry and writing of Paul Tripp. This latest work is no exception. Journey to the Cross is a precious reminderone worth returning to again and againof not only the rich benefits we receive through Christs humiliation, death, and burial, but also of his dignifying invitation to properly lament the wrong that is in the world and the wrong that is within us. The season of Lent is a special, forty-day season to enable and empower Gods people to do just that, and Tripp has provided us with a remarkable roadmap for the journey. I cant recommend this wonderful resource highly enough.

Scott Sauls, Senior Pastor, Christ Presbyterian Church, Nashville, Tennessee; author, Jesus Outside the Lines and A Gentle Answer

I cant imagine volunteering to take a journey toward a place of gruesome execution. Who would? But that is the kind of passage that Lent asks of us every year: a journey of evaluation, examination, and blessed humiliation that leads to new life and increased joy. So, if we must traverse this path, then I dont know anyone whom Id rather have as my tour guide than my brother, Paul Tripp. Through his decades of soul care, his transparent faith, and his deep love of God and his word, youll find yourself learning to stop, to listen, and ultimately to worship the one who walked this path before you.

Elyse M. Fitzpatrick, coauthor, Worthy: Celebrating the Value of Women

Journey to the Cross encourages us to be honest about our sin and embrace the cross of Christ, where we find mercy, grace, and salvation. As we linger on our need for a Savior, were prompted to rejoice again in the hope that we have in Jesus. I look forward to reading this beautiful devotional by Paul Tripp in every Lenten season.

Hunter Beless, Founder and Executive Director, Journeywomen podcast

This book understood me so well and convicted me so much I almost had to stop reading after day nine! Paul Tripp powerfully brings many truths home in this journey of reflections on Gods love at the cross. Perhaps the most relevant is the desperately needed good news that there is a godly appropriateness in mourning for a broken world and for our own broken and sinful hearts. We can mourn in earnest because God has compassion. We can mourn with confident hope because Christ works in our mourning to grow us into the joy of victory over sin.

J. Alasdair Groves, Executive Director, Christian Counseling & Educational Foundation; coauthor, Untangling Emotions

The greatest feasts are anticipated, and accentuated, by preceding fasts. Advent waits for Christmas, and when it comes, it is all the sweeter. And Lentthe long, winding, forty-day wilderness journey through the valley of the shadow of deathprepares our souls for the highest joys of the year, marking the greatest day in the history of the world so far: resurrection Sunday. For years both my wife and I have been guided, strengthened, and renewed by the ministry of Paul Tripp, as an instrument in Gods redeeming hands. Its both encouraging and sobering now to have this help from Tripp for the bittersweet trek along the path of Lent.

David Mathis, Senior Teacher and Executive Editor, desiringGod.org; Pastor, Cities Church, Saint Paul, Minnesota; author, Habits of Grace: Enjoying Jesus through the Spiritual Disciplines

Its incredible. Time and time again, Paul Tripps insightful reflections on Scripture help bring Gods truth into the here and now of daily life. Tripp brilliantly and gracefully illuminates why the Lenten season is so important as it points us to the greatest act of love in all of history. Journey to the Cross is Paul Tripps writing at its absolute bestI loved this book and you will too.

Shelby Abbott, author, DoubtLess and Pressure Points ; speaker; campus minister

Day 4

God intends suffering to pry open our hands so we let go of the things of this earth and hold more tightly to Jesus .

What has you in its hold? Dont rush to answer. Stop and give this question some consideration.

What do you feel you cant live without?

What has the ability to make or break your day?

What has the power to make you very sad?

What can produce almost instant happiness?

The loss of what would leave you a bit depressed?

What do you tend to attach your identity to?

What tends to control your wishes?

What do others have that causes you to envy?

If you could get just one thing, what would it be?

The absence of what tempts you to question Gods goodness?

What does your use of money tell you about whats important to you?

What fills your fantasies and your dreams?

What would the videos of your last six weeks reveal about what has you in its hold?

What physical idols tempt you most?

What relational idols attract you the most?

Is there a place where youre asking the creation to do what only the Creator can?

Lent is an important tool in the inescapable battle that rages in all our hearts between worship and service of the Creator and worship and service of the creation. Lent calls us to remember once again that sin reduces us all to idolaters somehow, someway. It gives us a season to take time and reflect on things that have taken too strong a hold on us, things that we have come to crave too strongly and love too dearly. It reminds us that often things that we are holding tightly have actually taken an even tighter hold on us.