There are plenty of good leaders around. Here's how to recognise them: (1) Flexibility. True leaders have a teachable spirit and a servant's heart. They rejoice in our growth and aren't threatened by our development. They won't try to 'keep us in the nest' when it's clear that we're ready to fly. (2) Inclusivity. A good leader can acknowledge and connect with other people and appreciate their uniqueness. Look out for the 'only we are right' attitude. Leaders who are exclusive are generally paranoid about losing their status. (3) Servant-heartedness. Here is God's standard for leadership: 'Not pursuing dishonest gain, but eager to serve' (1 Peter 5:2 NIV); and 'worthy of double honour' (1 Timothy 5:17 NKJV). Look out for leaders for whom financial gain is their main measure of success. (4) Accountability. No matter how gifted we are, we all have blind spots and need to be confronted and counselled from time to time. Solomon said, 'Pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up' (Ecclesiastes 4:10 NIV).

Here's what Jesus said about the religious leaders of his day: 'Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be pulled up by the roots. Leave them; they are blind guides. If the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit' (Matthew 15:13-14 NIV). Let's not choose blind guides.

So what now? When choosing a leader, seek those who are flexible, inclusive, servant-hearted and humble. You need a leader with a servant's spirit who honours all.

We can imagine the victory laps Satan and his demons were doing the day Jesus was crucified. They really thought they'd stopped the greatest mission in history. They were convinced they had snuffed out the salvation plan of the Father. Lying in a cold dark tomb was their evidence - God's only Son, broken, bruised, beaten.

But Satan the deceiver was deceived. As Philip Yancey writes in The Jesus I Never Knew, 'In the most ironic twist of all history, what Satan meant for evil, God meant for good. Jesus' death bridged the gap between a perfect God and a fatally-flawed humanity. On Good Friday God defeated sin, routed death, triumphed over Satan and got his family back ... He took the worst deed of history and turned it into the greatest victory ... Between the cross and the empty tomb hovers the promise of history: hope for the world, and hope for each of us who lives in it.'

At the cross, Jesus cancelled the record of wrongs against us, nailing them up (see Colossians 2:13-15). And he disarmed the devil and all the spiritual rulers and authorities at his command, nailing them down. He comprehensively triumphed over Satan. In fact, it was a victory planned in Heaven: 'The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil's work' (1 John 3:8 NIV). Now who's doing the victory laps?

So what now? As you celebrate Jesus' resurrection, remind Satan of Jesus' victory over him and his works in your life. And thank Jesus that you are free indeed (see John 8:36).

Reconciliation = restoring relationships. That's what the cross does. It changes everything. The moment we give ourselves fully over to God because of what Jesus did for us on the cross, life changes completely. Nothing will ever be the same again. And if we think that stops at us, we're totally wrong. What starts in our individual lives has a ripple effect out into the lives of others.

Pastor Matt Chandler puts it like this: 'Think of the Gospel as a stone landing in a pond. The life, death and resurrection of Jesus are the cause of many ripples; they are the epicentre of God's work in the world.' And he reckons the ripples go out like this: the first one restores our personal relationship with God; the second helps us restore and create human-to-human relationships to make up the worldwide Church; the third ripple happens when we move ourselves out and take the message of Jesus to those who are not yet a part of the Church.

Essentially, Pastor Chandler is saying that God 'reconciles' us to himself, and that makes us able to go out and let him use us to restore other people's relationships with him. Once we're brought into beautiful relationship with God, it makes sense to share it with those around us.

So what now? Thank Jesus for the cross, the pivotal point in history where he came down to live with us as humans, and reconciled the world to himself. Thank him for doing this for you!

'Good Friday' always seems a strange way to refer to Jesus' death. The 'good' part is what Jesus dying on a cross achieves - that absolutely anybody can stand before the Father God and be declared righteous with the God-gifted rights of the innocent Son who gave his life for us.

Let's look at the criminal on the next cross over from Jesus. What better demonstration of God's grace than a criminal being told he'd be with Jesus forever! No action required. Not even a weeping confession. Just: recognition of who Jesus was, and one request: 'Remember me' (see Luke 23:42). The criminal was, literally, at the end of his life. He'd made some unwise decisions and was feeling hopeless... until he saw Jesus and could say, 'Remember me'.

Today we may feel like that guy on the cross, all hope gone and feeling like we deserve punishment of some sort. Let's turn our head to one side, look at Jesus taking everything we deserve and offering us Paradise. And let's just know that he remembers us. Or we may know someone who seems 'too far gone' to be saved. It is never too late, for us or the person we're praying for. Keep praying. There's time to see God move.

So what now? Take time out today to read the Gospel story of Jesus' crucifixion (John 17-19). If you can, be doing it over 3pm. Go somewhere quiet and allow the scene to unfold in your mind. Write down what you think and feel, then talk to Father God about it.

Self-help books and motivational speakers are like cheerleaders standing on the sidelines shouting, 'You can do it!' They are helpful, but if the 'you can do it' philosophy always held true, we wouldn't need God. The apostle Paul wrote, 'I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me' (Philippians 4:13 NKJV). He knew that discovering the will of God needs faith for the impossible and childlike dependence on him.

The Bible is full of men and women who saw their godly destiny fulfilled by doing things that would normally be impossible to do on their own. For example: (1) Noah and his impossible project. Noah was commissioned to build a ship the size of an aircraft carrier - by hand - and on land! (2) Abraham and his impossible promise. At ninety, after years of trying unsuccessfully to be a father, God told him his children would be as numerous as the stars in the sky and the sands of the sea. (3) Mary and her impossible pregnancy. Imagine telling a fianc, 'I'm pregnant, and the baby's father is the Holy Spirit.'

God has always chosen ordinary people to do extraordinary things. Each one was called to be part of something bigger than himself or herself. And because of their willingness to surrender to God and allow his purposes to be revealed in them and fulfilled through them, he used them in amazing ways..

So what now? Ask God to do things through you that only he can do, to reveal his greatness and goodness to a world that needs him.

If Caleb from the Bible were alive today he could easily qualify for 'Person of the Year', someone who's done so much to influence circumstances for the better.

Here's his story in his own words: '"I was forty years old when Moses...sent me...to explore the land...I brought him back a report according to my convictions, but my fellow Israelites who went up with me made the hearts of the people melt in fear. I, however, followed...God wholeheartedly...that day Moses swore to me, 'The land on which your feet have walked will be your inheritance'...So here I am today, eighty-five years old...as strong...as the day Moses sent me out; I'm just as vigorous to go out to battle now as I was then. Now give me this hill country that the Lord promised me..." Then Joshua blessed Caleb... and gave him Hebron as his inheritance...because he followed the Lord...wholeheartedly' (Joshua 14:7-14 NIV).

We can learn so many valuable lessons from Caleb. He had 'a different spirit' from those around him. He was a positive, optimistic kind of person. He believed that with God's help every giant that stands in our way can be conquered, even when others say they can't. He had a vision that he stuck to, even when he grew older and had to face tough circumstances. He was willing to wait and work for it even though it took 45 years to fulfil. He remained totally committed to God.

So what now? Ask God to give you the spirit of Caleb, especially in the harder, more negative-seeming times.