West End Stories 008 | Johnny

Imagine you built your dream home. Then, after its completion, an aggressive infestation of poisons, burrowing bugs made this home uninhabitable. I hope you would not easily abandon your dream and walk away from the house. Some people would. After all, extermination would be costly and the structure may need repair. It surely would no longer be the pristine dwelling that you poured your time and resources into. But, would you give up on your dream, even if it isn’t quite how your dreamed it?

We are God’s temple (2 Cor 6:16). Sin has kept us from being habitable (Isaiah 59:2), but the scripture shows us that God is not the type to give up on His dream, EVER. (Exodus 6:6) He is determined and able to create something new and better out of our broken sinful state.

When the darkness that sin brings is in our hearts, it can seem impossible to know His goodness. For some of us, darkness looks like being depressed despite having a good job, good life and comfortable home. For others, darkness looks like: everything going wrong in life, no matter how much we try.

Regardless of what circumstances you are in, God loves you and wants to be your Redeemer. You are a masterpiece made by a prolific Creator. Your sin has not made you worthless. God spent the precious blood of His only Son to redeem you. He places so much value on you while your were lost in sin, that He was willing to suffer a humiliating and excruciating death that you might know His Life.

How blessed we are to know His kindness and believe His love for us. For many of us, we still are learning to believe in God’s enormous love for us. For those of us who do believe it, let us learn to love others enormously. Be inspired by the One who put us before His own self (John 15:13).

At West End Church, we know we are works-in-progress. We know we will, at times, fail. But, we believe that God’s faithful love and grace will sustain us (Philippians 1:6). We will support each other as God leads us on His path of Life.

West End Stories | Johnny