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b'I had finished my six-month dental checkup and was walking back to the waiting room at the dentist\\u2019s office. To pass the time before my appointment, I had brought my Rubik\\u2019s cube. I\\u2019d been practicing with it, and I had solved two sides that day as I waited to get my teeth cleaned. I didn\\u2019t want to bring it into the exam room with me, so I left it on a small table in the dentist\\u2019s waiting area. I planned to grab it on my way out after the checkup was finished.\\nTo my surprise, the Rubik\\u2019s cube I discovered after my appointment looked far different from the one I\\u2019d left in the waiting room. No longer were the two sides I\\u2019d solved gleaming in their bright, uniform colors. Somebody had come in after me and jumbled all the squares. What I had worked to create, someone had undone in the short time I\\u2019d spent having my teeth cleaned.\\nIn a similar way, because of our sin, we\\u2019ve jumbled the lives God created and gave to us. On our own, we could never solve the mess we\\u2019ve made with our sin. But God has plans to restore and redeem.\\nChrist\\u2019s death in our place\\u2014paying the penalty and punishment for our sin\\u2014 gives us the opportunity to begin a relationship with our Heavenly Father as forgiven new creations (2 Corinthians 5:17). When we turn to Christ and entrust our lives to Him, by the power of the Holy Spirit, the restoration begins! We won\\u2019t remain mixed up and jumbled like that Rubik\\u2019s cube I left in the dentist\\u2019s waiting room.\\nGod is faithfully working out His plans to restore us as His people and to one day make all things new\\u2014free from sin and death (Philippians 1:6; 1 Thessalonians 4:13\\xe2\\u20ac\\u201c5:11, 23-24; Revelation 21:1-8). As we walk with Him day by day, He is fulfilling His good purposes in our lives (Romans 8:28-30). \\u2022 Allison Wilson Lee\\n\\u2022 No matter how big of a mess sin has created in your life, God can redeem that mess. To learn more about how Jesus restores and redeems, check out our \\u201cKnow Jesus\\u201d page.\\n\\u2022 As Christians, how can remembering the restoration God is accomplishing encourage us when we struggle with sin (Ephesians 2:1-10)? How does belonging to Him move our identity away from the things we do and to the things He has done (1 Corinthians 6:9-11; 2 Corinthians 5:14-21)? \\nFor it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose. Philippians 2:13 (NIV)\\n\\xa0\\nRead Verses:\\nPhilippians 2:12-16'