Life doesn't always go how we plan. Often, the worst possible things seem to happen at the worst possible times. Sometimes, we wake up and we question everything that we've done and that we've worked towards. We ask, "How did I get here? Is this really what I want? What if I had done this or that?" We hit a crisis, a crossroads, and we don't know what to do next. Regardless of whatever crisis you may face, Jesus remains the same. God's word and truth remain the same. If you build upon and rely on him, you can trust in his plan and his purpose for your life. If you build on your plans, goals, desires, etc., you'll eventually reach some kind of crisis, and things will crumble. But if we find our foundation upon the rock of Jesus and his promises, he will support us through anything. In our moments and seasons of crisis, we remember Jesus has brought us this far, he's with us every step of the way, his promises will crumble.

You have to reach the next level. You want to move up the ladder. You need to get that raise for your family to achieve their goals. You're behind on your life plan and you need to move up, or find a place you can move up. That new house with the pool is calling your name. If you can resonate with that, you're in the achieving stage of your life, and you are striving for the next best thing to reach your goals. Yet, often we can lose sight of the life God intends for us. In the middle of your striving, remember what God says about you. That he calls you to himself. That you matter, even if you don't hit your quota. Even if you're not where you want to be, God is using you for his purposes, which are greater than your goals. You can rest in God, because in Jesus, you have all that you could ever need. In the midst of your striving, God calls you to keep your goals in perspective, to remember who you are serving, and to rest in Jesus.

Life as a young family is hard. You may have to struggle just to make it to the next mile. You're life is turned upside down. You're torn in every direction, every which way. You don't know what you're doing or what your next step is, and it feels like everything is on the line! This is the stage of life, you have to grind through. At the same time, this stage of life is a gift. It's a gift from God, and you should savor every precious second. When it feels like a grind, when it seems like you're not achieving or doing enough or that you're not good enough for your spouse, your children, your parents, or whoever, remember that you serve a good and gracious God, who sees your simple acts of service, and uses it for his glory. God calls you to a life of service, who sees your simple acts of service, and uses them to do his work in your life.

The young life is about adventure. You strike out on your own. You experience everything you can. You become independent. You get the most out of life. Yet you can also stray from your roots. You can get into trouble. You make mistakes. You can even get hurt. You can also stray away from your faith, and who God has made you to be. No matter where you go or what you do, remember your roots. Go with God's blessing by living how he has called you to as you go out on your adventure. God isn't a wet blanket, he's your loving Father, who wants to protect and care for you, by allowing you to follow his design for your life. Go, remembering who God has made you to be. Go out on the open road of life with a sense of adventure, living as God has called you to, remembering who he has made you to be.

Normally bad news is just that. It's bad news. All too often in this world, we get just bad news. Things didn't go how we want. Something tragic happened. Life didn't pan out how we wanted it to. The job went to someone else. We lost the person that we loved the most. Bad news is all around us. Bad news happens often, and yet even though it is rare, good news happens too. Easter Sunday is all about the good news of Jesus! On Easter Sunday, we can rejoice that Jesus has come alive! The worst news int he world has turned into good news! Jesus' love overcomes more than just our heartache and pain, it overcomes death itself! Jesus lives, and we know we too will live, because he has loved us! Jesus' love, overcomes our grief, overcomes death, and sends us out to share his love with others.

Love is hard to find in this world. Love of a man for his friend. Love in families. Love in relationships that withstands anything. True love is hard to come by. Rather, we often as sinful people, end up loving and serving ourselves or loving things that we place above others. Jesus calls us to love and serve and care for others. We pray by the power of the Holy Spirit, we would love a fraction of the way he has loved us. Jesus loved us to the end. He loved his disciples as he dined with them, washed their feet, and even prepared to be betrayed by one of them. He loved his mother as he was dragged to the cross. He loved even those who put him to the cross. Through all of this, he showed his love for you. A love that was willing to completely give up everything, for you and I. Jesus loved to the end, by gifting us his promises, serving us, and dying for us on the cross.

It's easy to be drawn towards the glorious and attractive things in this world. It's easy to look at spectacles, brilliant displays, and amazing things, and turn away from the ordinary, normal, and mundane. The triumphal entry seems triumphant and glorious! Yet, all those who praised him would soon betray Jesus. We are often more concerned about the world, and what is great in the world, rather than what is glorious and great in the eyes of God. Not spectacle, but sincere faith in Jesus. Jesus' true glory is not the glory of the world. It's the glory of humility, weakness, abandonment, and suffering on the cross. We are not to look to the glory of this world, but to the true glory of our meek and humble savior who comes not to take the kingdom, but to be taken to death. The amazing actions he once did, are nothing, compared to the glory of what Jesus was coming and going to do! In this world, we do not follow the things that are glorious to the world, but we follow Jesus, to the cross, where we see his true glory.

Often in this life, things feel hopeless. Happy endings only exist in fairy tales. Life's bumps and pitfalls rock our worlds. Life is tough. Losses cannot be won back. What's gone is gone, and we cannot get it back. Hopes and dreams are just that, hopes and dreams that don't come true. We simply move on, and deal with life as it is. Difficult. Bleak. Yes, even hopeless. Jesus shows that his love extends even to the hopeless. Our loving Lord of life, gives hope to the hopeless, even when it's impossible. That's what he does for his people. He gives them hope even when life seems hopeless! He saves them even when they are beyond saving. In Jesus, we have a savior, who always gives us hope, and never leaves us out to dry. Even when life is hopeless, you have hope in Jesus' promises, that he has defeated death, he loves and gives hope to the hopeless, and he is coming soon to defeat all death.

Our sin often clouds our faith and our spiritual vision. When we are preoccupied with what matters to us or what God does not desire for us, we start to not see clearly. We become confused, lost, and eventually, we can become spiritually blind. We retain our spiritual vision and faith, by seeing Jesus love for us, and realizing he came to save us. Jesus came to make things clear to those who are walking in sin. He came to reveal himself so that we as sinners, may not only see the error of our ways, but the trust of who Jesus is: our savior and God. Jesus comes to make things more clear to us. To show us who he is. He is the one who comes to blind those who are arrogant and proud, and make those lost in sin, able to see him clearly. We see with spiritual clarity, when we avoid sin, see Jesus for who he truly is, and trust in Jesus' word over what we think we can understand and see ourselves.

All of us are outsiders to God. We do not follow him as well as we should. We do not live as he calls us to. We are outsiders in many ways, to God's love and his calling to live as his people. We walk in the darkness of sin, do what we please, but we also crave something more. Jesus loves even the outsider. He loves the Samaritan woman, though she is undeserving of his love. He takes time to talk with her, to care for her, to love her, and to tell her who he is. Jesus shows love to the outsider, by welcoming them into his presence, and into his kingdom (his rule and reign). As he did for the Samaritan woman, he does for you and I. We are outsiders, but his kingdom is for the outsider. We are all outsiders welcomed into the kingdom of God, by Jesus, through his love, called to welcome others into his presence and kingdom.