Uncovering the Love of Jesus: A Lent Devotional

by Asheritah Ciuciu

Experience New Growth this Easter

Do you feel like Easter sneaks up on you, as if you’re spiritually and emotionally unprepared to celebrate Jesus’ death and resurrection as victorious King?

In Uncovering the Love of Jesus, Asheritah Ciuciu invites you to reclaim the Lenten season with 40 devotionals that reveal the deep love of Jesus that's exhibited at the cross and tomb. Each daily reflection looks at Jesus’ personal interactions in Scripture and leads you in meditation on a new aspect of His love. Don’t let Easter pass by this year. Reflect, engage, and be transformed as you uncover the love of Jesus and learn to love your neighbor as He would.

Includes optional family activities to help you celebrate Jesus together.

Genres: Christian, Devotional, Holiday, Nonfiction, Christian Living, Religion, Christian Non Fiction

224 pages, Hardcover

Published January 7, 2020

About the author

Asheritah Ciuciu is a writer and speaker who helps women find joy in Jesus in the midst of an overwhelming life. She and her husband, Flaviu, grew up in Romania but now raise their spunky children in northeast Ohio. Connect with her at www.OneThingAlone.com.

Reviews

[Amanda (BookLoverAmanda) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Uncovering the Love of Jesus by Asheritah Ciuciu
3.5 Stars

I enjoyed this devotional during the season of lent leading up to Easter. I think this is great for families as it has some good family activities, scripture readings and daily devotions. I picked this up because it was a kindle buy last year and I have a goal to read several of my kindle only books this year. This book follows the story of Jesus leading up to his death on the cross and resurrection. This has some good basic discussions surrounding the Gospel of Jesus and practical daily devotions and prayers. While there wasn't anything groundbreaking for me personally and I would have liked a bit more "meat and potatoes" to the book we'll say, it had some really nice faith reminders I needed personally and is a good devotional to prepare your heart for Easter. I also would recommend this for someone who is new to their faith or those would like a good family lent devotional.

[Lou Allen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book contains some interesting devotionals on Jesus’ love. It also gives suggestions for Lent and Easter activities for families. It goes through Lent with a devotional entry for every weekday.

The book follows the story of Jesus. In the last week or so, it focuses on the events leading to his death.

[Elena · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a beautiful and Biblically sound devotional for the days leading up to Easter. It is comprised of forty devotionals that each reflect a different aspect of Jesus' love for humanity that led to His death and resurrection. Some of the daily reflections in the seven-week devotional include: Jesus loves perfectly, Jesus rejects no one, Jesus pays attention, Jesus honors the dishonored, Jesus drives out fear, Jesus loves the least of these, Jesus seeks out the lost, Jesus is patient, Jesus love the unlovable, Jesus offers hope, Jesus' love forgives, and Jesus sacrificed everything. On each of the seven Sundays of Lent, there is a special devotional with a Scriptural passage to read, questions to discuss, and a hymn to listen to or sing. The Monday through Friday devotionals includes a Bible story, a devotional that is two to three pages long, followed by a challenge (practical application), a prayer, and list of Biblical passages to study to dig further in that theme. Saturdays are for activities, and she offers a plethora of fun and creative ways that a person on their own or a whole family can celebrate Lent and Easter. She starts off the book with a chapter on the history and intentionality of observing Lent as Christians and how this devotional can be a resource to prepare hearts for Easter. Asheritah's love and knowledge of Scripture is clearly evident in this devotional. Her Advent devotional, Unwrapping the Names of Jesus, was just as wonderful and I am glad I used this Lent devotional for the days that led me to Easter.

[Monica H (TeaandBooks) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Do you observe Lent? In Uncovering the Love of Jesus by Asheritah Ciuciu, she starts the book talking about what it means to observe Lent and ways to observe Lent that create meaning in your heart. She ends the first section with a prayer based on Ephesians 3:16-24.


There are 40 days of reading, as you would probably expect, in Uncovering the Love of Jesus. Each reading includes a Bible verse and a Bible section to read, a short devotional reading, a challenge, a prayer and more Scripture to look up if you would like. One of the neat features of this book is that it can turn the season of Lent in to a family time of learning and growing in Jesus. There are activities for your family to do listed for each week.


First of all I have to say Uncovering the Love of Jesus is a beautiful small well-bound book. I love the gorgeous full color spring flowers bordering the title on the cover. This book would be easy to carry around with a Bible in a book bag if you want to get out and do your readings at a park or coffee shop. I like that each day's reading is challenging but not overwhelming. I think it is doable for many people and families to use. Most importantly, I think using Uncovering the Love of Jesus is good for keeping you and your family closer to Jesus during the time leading up to Easter Sunday.


I received a copy of this book from Moody Publishers. All opinions within this review are my own.

[Ada Tarcau · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good lenten resource for adults and families with school-age children alike, with daily devotionals on the life of Jesus and family activities and celebrations for the 7 weeks leading up to Easter (and the weeks after).
I enjoyed the focus on how Jesus embodied the love described in 1 Corinthians 13. Each of the 40 reflections invites you to meditate on a facet of His love and gives practical ideas of how you can walk likewise.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't love this as much as her Advent devotional. There were still some great gems in this though.

[Heather Lehman · Rating 5 out of 5]

For once I feel like Easter didn't sneak up on me! I especially enjoyed the list of activity ideas at the end of each week's reading. Each week there was one or two ideas I was able to do with my children and several I would love to do again and again. I'm thankful for the way this book helped me, and by extension my family, celebrate Easter more fully this year.

[Leah · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great devotional for individuals or for families.

I'll definitely be using her practical, creative celebration ideas in my home next year.

[Kate Meiners · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful devotional to prepare for Easter! The author also has many activities for families to engage in together.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Uncovering the Love of Jesus is a Lenten devotional by author Asheritah Ciuciu.

The Lenten devotional is divided into seven weeks. Each week has devotionals to read plus activities to prepare the reader for Resurrection (Easter) Sunday. The author gives daily invitations to open your own Bible and read the story for yourself.

Uncovering the Love of Jesus devotional is written to be shared among family members but could also be done individually. One of my favorite parts is the crafts.

I would recommend the Lenten devotional to friends and family members of every denomination. Uncovering the Love of Jesus is written for all Christians.

Disclaimer: I receive complimentary books from various sources, including, publishers, publicists, authors, and/or NetGalley. I am not required to write a positive review and have not received any compensation. The opinions shared here are my own entirely. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255

[Sentimentsbydenise · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful devotional that takes you through the Lenten season and celebrates Resurrection Sunday in a full and special way!
I chose this book after reading her Advent devotional at Christmas. The author takes the time to give biblical historical background on the passages she shares and dives deep into the spiritual and emotional aspects surrounding the events leading up to Christ’s death and resurrection.
An excellent resource for Lent or anytime.

[Sara Hollar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Disclaimer: we did not read every day. We read this as a family devotional over Lent. It's really written for adults, but I don't see why kids shouldn't listen in. It may be just a little long for small kids (my 5 year old didn't really engage). It had great family activities and a nice intro day ("Celebration Day") for each week. The 5 daily readings had a Scripture reading, the devotional, a challenge, and a prayer. I would read this again.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lots of adding to the gospel story...my spouse renamed it “Uncovering the Assumptions of Jesus”

[Jasmine Strite · Rating 4 out of 5]

At first I wasn’t sure about this author’s writing style. But in the end, I really enjoyed what she had to say. Her emphasis on the gospel story, and Jesus love was challenging.

[Megan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fabulous book/ devotional to read during the Lenten season. I can’t wait to bake the resurrection rolls 🥐 next year. ✝️

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

[Candy Shepard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic devotional to prepare your heart for Easter and beyond.

[Lisamarie Landreth · Rating 3 out of 5]

God & Glam Lent Experience 2023

Super accessible Lent devotional and the perfect companion for journeying to the cross.

[Lauren DuPrez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Uncovering the Love of Jesus is a Lent devotional by writer and speaker Asheritah Ciuciu. From my understanding, Lent is a tradition that has generally been observed by the Catholic church. In recent years, I have seen a growing number of protestants participating in Lent and I've been interested in learning more about it. Uncovering the Love of Jesus helps readers understand the history of Lent as well as its purpose. In the introduction to the book, Asheritah wrote, "Despite the resurgence of interest in rituals and traditions among evangelical millenials, Lent is not new, nor does it belong to any particular denomination. Historical records reveal the church has been observing a period of fasting and preparation before Resurrection Sunday since the time of the apostles, though it wasn't formalized as a universal practice until the First Council of Nicaea in AD 325," (pg.10). The daily devotionals begin with multiple Bible verses and a section titled Read the Story that includes a Scripture reference for the biblical text from which the devotional content is derived. I really enjoyed and am deeply grateful for this aspect of the book because unlike many devotionals, Uncovering the Love of Jesus actually encourages readers to open their Bibles and read them. Another aspect of Uncovering the Love of Jesus that really encouraged my heart is the book's emphasis on God's character which is clearly expressed in the titles for the devotions as well as their content. Some of these titles include: Jesus Drives Out Fear, Jesus Seeks the Lost, and Jesus Offers Hope. This devotional is faithful in pointing readers to who Jesus is according to the Bible and I really enjoyed it! As part of the book's introduction, Asheritah wrote, "I pray you will see and savor Jesus in a fresh way in the Gospels and in your life, and that your love for Him would 'abound' more and more in knowledge and depth of insight (Phil. 1:9), that He would become more precious to you, and that you would find yourself utterly enraptured with Him in a way that compels you to give of yourself toward others," (pg.13). This is a devotional that one can read through individually or together with family members. There are activities for families to do each week leading up to Easter that correspond with the daily readings. The activities follow the same outline and include prayer, Scripture reading, discussion questions, and a hymn for families to sing together. I look forward to doing these activities with my children when they are older. I enjoyed Uncovering the Love of Jesus and highly recommend it! I received Uncovering the Love of Jesus compliments of Moody Publishers in exchange for my honest review.

[Prairie Sky Book Reviews · Rating 5 out of 5]

Are you like me, with the Easter season always seeming to sneak up on us until we suddenly realize that Good Friday is only a few days away? This is often how I feel, and so when I discovered Asheritah Ciuciu’s new Lenten-season devotional from Moody Publishers, I was so excited to use it as a way to prepare spiritually for the celebration of Jesus’ resurrection.

“Uncovering the Love of Jesus: A Lent Devotional” is a beautiful little hardcover book with richly decorated, glossy pages that make you smile just to hold in your hands. But of course, even more important is the content... Divided into 7 weeks, with 5 days of devotionals per week, this book was created for use in a family. Activities for children of all ages are included, as are interactive prayers, daily reading from Scripture, comprehension questions, memory verses, hymns to sing, suggested Bible reading for further study, and more. I honestly can’t believe how much is packed into this pretty little book!

It was clear on every page that the author has a genuine love for Jesus, and her joy in sharing the Good News of His resurrection with her readers is contagious! Asheritah helps us reflect and draw near to Jesus as we follow Him during His last days on earth. However... while I most definitely benefited from this book, I feel that because I read it on my own (I’m not married with children) I wasn’t able to benefit from all the features that the author worked hard to include, namely those intended for younger children. While I didn’t feel that I was in the target audience, it did help me focus my reflection during the season of Lent. In any case, if you are looking for a new way to prepare for and celebrate Easter this year - especially if you have young children in your home - I highly recommend “Uncovering the Love of Jesus: A Lent Devotional”.

I received this book courtesy of Moody Publishers in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.

[Tara Rounds · Rating 5 out of 5]

I never knew what Lent was about until I received a copy of this book. In the book Asheritah has a section called Why Observe Lent?. This section tells a little about the history of Lent and the reason for this time. Another section is titled What should I sacrifice for Lent? Asheritah states, "Yet sacrificial love is precisely the heart of Lent because Easter is the story of Jesus' love poured out for us. Over the next few weeks, I invite you to join me in uncovering the love of Jesus-poured out for us, yes but also flowing out toward others. As we follow Jesus' footsteps in sacrificing our own comforts, our own desire to be seen and know and appreciated, we will more fully identify with Him and His sacrifice."
This book is broken into 7 weeks plus the day of Resurrection Sunday(Easter). Each week includes daily devotions (Scripture (daily readings and more for further study), challenges, and prayer), Weekly Family Celebrations and Activities for the Lent season. Uncovering the Love of Jesus can be used alone or with your family. This book isn't just for use during the Lent season but can be used as a devotional anytime during the year to study the life of Jesus and draw nearer to Him (learning from His time on Earth and applying it to our lives today). The book is easy to use. I love the simple illustrations, font, colors used in the book (purple and gold), plus the smaller size of the book makes it easy to carry with you anywhere.
I recommend this book for anyone seeking to draw nearer to Jesus whether you celebrate Lent or not. I received an advanced copy of this book for my honest review. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.

[Katarina Celkova · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book that motivates every Christian to fast and prepares them for Easter.
I would like to point out that the word ‘ everyone ’ is the most important to me in the previous sentence.
It is intended for anyone who wants to survive the pre-Easter period in the Christian spirit.
Tips are amazing, and they're very inspiring. The entire text of the book is divided into seven weeks
and every week, the reader can read about a specific period of Jesus'
life, his teachings, which the author recommends to be read with Bible. Behind each description of
Jesus' life is there is a challenge, a prayer, and discussion questions that the reader can
carry out with their loved ones, family, or friends. Part of the text is tips and great
ideas on how to feel the fast even more spiritually, for example: Baking different dishes, and pretzels,
or buying flowers to a person we don't like, to help the elderly.
To the people... is their unrepentance. In addition, it lists in each chapter its own website where
they'll find other ideas to celebrate this period. Some types are intended for children or
can be adapted so that good deeds can also be done by children. (The author herself states this).
I think it is a Christian motivational literature that will help anyone who is looking.
Before I started reading, I didn't know what the book would be about, but I have to say,
that it motivated me immensely, and I chose from the author's postmortem tips.
Thank God I read it at the right time. I don't recommend it 100%.

[Create With Joy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Uncovering The Love Of Jesus is an engaging Lenten and Easter devotional with daily Scriptures, devotions, challenges and prayers to take you through the season. What distinguishes this book from most of the other seasonal devotionals on my bookshelf, however, are the weekly activities at the end of each section.

While many of these creative activities pertain specifically to the Lenten and Easter season, others do not and can be woven into the fabric of our lives at any time. For this reason, the usefulness of this book extends well beyond the Lenten and Easter season and is a great resource not only for learning more about the life, death and resurrection of Jesus but also for putting your faith into action.

So many times, great books go unread because they are designated as seasonal, and we often find ourselves well-intentioned but too busy to follow through during the season they were meant to be read in.

Uncovering The Love Of Jesus is a book well worth reading, in season or out.
This excerpt is taken from the original review that is published on my blog. To read my review in its entirety, please visit Create With Joy.

I received a copy of this book to review from Moody Publishers.

[Bethany McIlrath · Rating 4 out of 5]

This year, Asheritah Ciuciu's devotional Uncovering the Love of Jesus is helping us focus, celebrate, and reflect throughout the Easter season, also called "lent."

Thoroughly grace-filled, Christ-honoring, and Biblical, the devotional provokes thought and praise for all the love Jesus showed us through His perfect life, His sacrifice, and His victory over sin and death.

Some things I appreciate about the devotional include:

• Focus on grace, not works; the gospel, not religious structure.
• Walks through stories and examples of Jesus' love throughout Scripture
• Call to sacrifice sinful attitudes and habits in order to love others, rather than giving up "stuff"
• Concise, creative, and adaptable format for families with or without kids, and individuals

Quotes I appreciated include:

• "We are called to love...not so they will apologize to us. Not so they will see how spiritual we are in loving them even though they've wronged us. But to love them simply so they will experience God's love anew."
• "Personal relationships with messy people is the way of love."
• "Jesus doesn't require steadfast faith to ensure His steadfast love."

If you'd like to marvel, treasure, and explore Jesus' remarkable love throughout the Easter season, I recommend this devotional.

[Heidi · Rating 5 out of 5]

This little book was, by far, the most priceless Lenten devotional I have ever used.
The author digs deep into familiar Scriptures about Jesus' miracles, parables, words and actions, mining them for all they're worth. In doing so, I saw more deeply into the love of Jesus for those he interacted with on earth that last week of his life - and into His remarkable, shocking, sacrificial, gracious love for me.
She supplements her devotional thought with a challenge to think through, and a sample prayer - both of which were often helpful to me in approaching God with what he was showing me. She also lists other Scriptures to look up, related to the story/lesson. Some of those Scripture references really helped me see more deeply into Jesus' mind and heart as well.
There are also sections each week that include activities and ideas for celebrating with your family, with your children. I didn't have need to use any of those, but they looked helpful and creative.
I cannot recommend this book highly enough.
And honestly, it would be a great devotional for any time of the year, for any time you want to see more of the love of Christ and explore what that means for you.

[Bridget · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the best Lent devotional that I have ever read. And if this book is any indication of this author’s writing and the rich content she offers, then I will be reading all of her books. This book was divided out into 7 weeks, intending to take the reader from Ash Wednesday through Resurrection Sunday (and beyond). There are devotions for 5 days of each week (less for the first and last weeks, since they don’t cover a full week). Each passage talks about a different Biblical story from the Gospels. The author provides a lot of rich insight, amazing details, and helps the reader to read each of these stories with fresh eyes. At the end of each devotional passage, there is also a challenge, a prayer, and Bible verses for further reading. The author also provides activities for the weekend days. These are things that help you to focus on Lent and Easter and all that they mean. You can do them alone, or with your family. The devotions can be read at any time of year. They don’t have to be reserved for Lent. This book is absolutely wonderful. I cannot recommend it enough. You will grow closer to Jesus and see His love for you from a new perspective.

[Hillary Baden · Rating 5 out of 5]

Asheritah does it again...Another amazing book that I absolutely loved reading.
If you've ever wondered what Lent is all about, this is an incredible resource. Broken down into 40 daily devotionals focusing on the love of Jesus, Asheritah guides the reader into an experience of preparing your heart for Easter, just as you would prepare your heart for Christmas, through the Advent season.

This book can be gone through individually or with your family (ideally Elementary age and up) and includes resources and links to several activities to do throughout your time of observing Lent. At the end of each reading there is an application challenge as well as a guided prayer. With it's beautiful design and graphics, it would make a great gift!

I look forward to going through this again more slowly and will mostly likely make it a yearly tradition because it is a wonderful way to prepare my heart for Easter, before it "sneaks up on me" as it often does!

*I received a free digital copy of this book in exchange for my honest review

[Michele Morin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Coming into the celebration of Lent next week with Ash Wednesday, we will be reading Uncovering the Love of Jesus: A Lent Devotional around our dining room table. Asheritah Ciuciu brings the observance of Lent into everyday life with daily devotions and suggestions for fun family activities and celebrations.

The love Jesus put on display was characterized by sacrifice, the embodiment of a selfless my-life-for-yours. Viewed through this lens, Lent becomes a participation in sacrificial love. The question, “What should I give up for Lent?” is no longer an “equation of earning; it’s a response of gratefuless.” (15) We don’t give up chocolate or Netflix or social media to earn more of God’s love or favor. God’s love is already given in full measure.

What if, instead, we all entered into our Lenten celebration with the question, “Who is God calling me to love?”

Many thanks to Moody Publishing for providing a copy of this book to facilitate my review, which, of course, is offered freely and with honesty.

[C.L. Burger · Rating 5 out of 5]

Few devotionals express the season of Lent as well as Ciuciu’s Uncovering the Love of Jesus. I am impressed by the amount of time, work and love the author poured into writing such a quality book. This Lenten devotional includes scripture, prayer and family celebrations. The author also includes insightful questions as well as hands-on activities, which offer a tangible understanding of the intention of Lent.

Let’s admit it. Many Christians prefer to skip over Lent and get right to the celebration of Easter. However, the joy of resurrection dims if we ignore the full journey. Her daily devotionals move the reader beyond the dread of Lent to the glory of God’s great love. Ciuciu says, “Lent itself will not bring you closer to God. But in the hands of our heavenly Father, Lent becomes an invitation to uncover the love of Jesus in a far greater way than we had ever imagined.” The reader and all those who walk with Jesus through this thought-provoking devotional will uncover his love and celebrate Easter with deeper gratitude and joy.

[Samantha · Rating 5 out of 5]

After reading Uwrapping the Names of Jesus at Christmas time, I was super excited to see Uncovering the Love of Jesus for Easter time. This book has been key to helping me and my family focus on Jesus during the Easter season. However, it's been more than just our typical reminder book. We have learned new things about Jesus and the Bible that we had previously missed. Our eyes were also opened to new perspectives we hadn't considered before. I would highly recommend purchasing this book. Even though Easter is right around the corner and the purpose of the book is to prepare your heart for Easter over several weeks, you can still get it and read what you can now or store it away for next year! (That's what we did with the Christmas book. It was a nice surprise the following Christmas season. Haha!) I would recommend marking on your calendar for next year when to pull it out and start it though so you don't miss out on any of the goodness.

[Jennifer K · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am so grateful that I had a chance to read this devotional. While designed for the season leading up to Easter, this book can be read at anytime due to the focus on the gospels. The daily readings are manageable and include short prayers. I appreciated the thought provoking reflections and the practical application questions. The book contains weekly family activity ideas and bonus material is available online. I enjoyed all seven weeks. The devotional is refreshing without being overwhelming. I plan to use it again. I was given a copy of this book by the publisher. All opinions are my own.