Every Sunday celebrates Easter. First-century Christians transferred the day of worship from Saturday to Sunday. This year is special, for the days and dates of the Passion Week align with our calendars.
Because the Bible and history offer specific details, we know that Jesus Christ was crucified on April 3, AD 33.
It takes years for the calendar to roll around and allow for the exact dates of the Passion Week to align with our own calendars. This year it’s happening.
Here’s a simple chronology of the Passion Week’s events with the days and dates they occurred.
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On Jesus’ final journey to Jerusalem, He passed through Jericho. Leaving town, He would have walked between the palace buildings of Herod the Great, the king of Jews when Jesus was born.
The opulent palace straddled the ancient road Jesus traveled and connected to itself across a bridge that spanned the road. When Jesus passed beneath the bridge between the buildings of Herod the Great, He must have considered this paranoid king who tried to kill Him as a boy in Bethlehem.
Ironically, King Herod died in this Jericho palace while the true King of Israel lived to pass between its walls on His way to lay down His life.
As Jesus and His disciples leaned uphill toward Jerusalem, they walked a well-traveled road called the “Ascent of Adummim.” This wasn’t the first time Jesus walked this road.
Nor was it the first time He used it as a setting for teaching us a lesson.
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The main advantage of archaeology lies in its ability to bring twenty-first-century readers into physical contact with the cultures in which Jesus and his apostles lived and ministered.
Our plans are no less ours because they are His.
Only when one is connected to one’s own core is one connected to others, I am beginning to discover. And, for me, the core, the inner spring, can best be refound through solitude.
God’s design for a tree includes winter as much as summer. In fact, the dormant season remains essential for a tree’s growth. In a way, we are very similar to a tree.
(Photo: By zause01. Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons)
God has gifted each Christian for a purpose. But like a tree, our gifts have seasons—and sometimes certain gifts may lie dormant for a time—untapped.
In my last post, I offered 3 perspectives to consider when you aren’t being used to your full potential. Here they are:
- Remember who your gifts are for—the church, not you.
- Seek fulfillment in faithfulness rather than in the exercise of your gifts.
- Refuse to get your identify from your gifts. See yourself as God’s servant.
In this post, we’ll add 3 more to the list—including one truth that has set me free when it seems my potential is untapped.
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In life, you seldom drift into a good spot. If you don’t have vision and don’t take initiative, you will likely be marooned in mediocrity.
You are gifted. God has made you unique and given you a number of natural abilities and spiritual gifts “for the common good” (1 Cor. 12:7). There’s just one problem.
You feel you have much more to offer than your situation allows you to contribute. Am I right?
Honestly, I think most of us—all of us—find ourselves not utilized as much as we could be. In fact, the Bible shows 3 reasons your full potential isn’t being tapped.
(And why that’s a good thing.)
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Ministry—of the truest kind—isn’t about impressing unknown strangers with spotless presentations and a flawless life. It’s about exposing the hidden imperfections and giving others permission to do the same. Becoming a fellow struggler who delivers zero judgment but abundant grace.
Michele Cushatt is one of the best writers I’ve read in a long time. And her newest book, Undone, gives more than good writing. It’s a great subject.
The book hooked me early on. I read. And read. And read. Refreshing, real, raw. She had me laughing and crying often on the same page.
The message of the book is wonderful. The fairytale we want out of life isn’t real. It never was. If you’ve ever struggled with shattered hopes, a fearful diagnosis, a wayward child, a dysfunctional church, or the silence of God, Undone will walk beside you as a companion.
Here’s why I liked it–and why I’m sure you will.
