"Faces Around the Cross" Ebook Now Available

Dr. Ray Pritchard
Dr. Ray Pritchard is the president of Keep Believing Ministries, an Internet-based ministry serving Christians in 225 countries. He is the author of 29 books, including Stealth Attack, Fire and Rain,… More

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Published Feb 25, 2017

We have just released "Faces Around the Cross," our brand-new Lenten devotional. You can download your free here. Here's the introduction to the whole series:

Were you there?

That’s the question asked by a beloved spiritual: “Were you there when they crucified my Lord?”

No, we weren’t there, but we have the next best thing. We have the stories of those who were there when Jesus entered Jerusalem for the final time. We know who they were, what they said, what they did, and in many cases, we know why they did it.

In this Lenten series we will meet the men and women who were the “faces around the cross.” Our journey begins with a blind man who found the miracle he needed, and it ends with a man who could see but couldn’t recognize Jesus on the road to Emmaus. In between, we’ll meet a woman who poured perfume on Jesus’ feet and then wiped his feet with her hair. Herod thought Jesus was a joke, while Pilate’s wife couldn’t keep him out of her dreams. We’ll meet a thief who didn’t believe and one who did. We’ll spend several days thinking together about Judas. We know what he did, but after two thousand years, we still wonder why he did it. Many other men and women will cross our path as we walk with Christ on the road to the cross and the empty tomb:

Caiaphas who came so close to the truth.
Martha who served Jesus with her good deeds.
Peter who loved Jesus and then denied him.
Thomas who doubted and then believed.
Barabbas who lived while Jesus died.
The naked man who ran away.
Pilate who tried to do right but gave in to the crowd.

Through all these different “faces around the cross,” we’ll gain a new picture of our Lord Jesus. My prayer for you this Lenten season is that these daily devotions will help you to believe all over again.

Each day I’ve added a link to a YouTube music video. I hope you’ll take a few moments to watch the videos because the music reinforces the message of the written devotions.

The forty-seven devotionals take us from Ash Wednesday all the way to Easter Sunday. Since the dates of Lent change each year, we have numbered the days so this devotional will fit during any Lenten season.

No one who met our Lord ever stayed the same. That’s still true today. As we begin, let’s make a simple prayer of commitment: “Lord Jesus, I am ready to follow you!”