Last week Mark Bridle alerted us to this video in his growth group leaders notes. It's pretty awesome:

Are you letting God into your life to mould and shape you? Let Him continue to create His original masterpiece.

God doesn't make junk and loves us too much to leave us the way we are!

This video aptly continues my comments below on both the beauty and frustration of snow. Enjoy!

I find it hard to make decisions like many other people do. I used to always worry that if I chose the wrong thing God will stop helping me as I’ve done something wrong... but that’s a load of rubbish!

God will always be there no matter what you decide to do. We had a small session on his during FP training which I found really helpful. We were told to imagine a father and child walking around Bedford Park… and the child decides that they want to run out into the road where there are loads of cars driving by. The father wouldn’t just stand there saying ‘oh well that’s a shame I’ll miss my child’ NO! The father would guide the child on a different path which is better for them, he will guide them back on to the right path.

You see God is big enough to guide your paths if you trust in him as proverbs 3vs 5-6 says:

 ‘ ⁵ Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;

⁶ in all your ways acknowledge him,and he will make your paths straight.’

So even if you do make a wrong choice God is big enough to guide you back to his way. God will always be there with you through everything and he can put desires in our hearts for a reason. So when you are worried about making a decision ask your self this…’will this matter in 10-20years?’. Focus on the rest of eternity as our biggest problem has been dealt with at the cross!

This week we were reminded that as Christians we have gone through a massive transformation! The old has completely gone and we are new creations! It's an even bigger change than Eric Carle's 'The Very Hungry Caterpillar':

In Christ we are no longer sinners but saints. This is nothing we have earned or attained but is our status now as Christians. That means that no matter what we do, even if we crawl like caterpillars, instead of fluttering around like butterflies, our identity in Christ remains the same. The reason we fly instead of crawl is simple: we can! Jesus' salvation, won for us on the cross, has given us the right to live with Him and for Him- what an awesome free gift!

This week let this truth get into you and transform the way you see yourself: "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!" (2 Cor. 5: 17)

"I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." John 10: 10

When mankind disobeyed God and sinned we died!

This wasn't a physical death (straight away at least), but a spiritual death. This resulted in each one of us being disconnected with God.

Think of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Before the fall they had no concept whatsoever of fear, self-doubt, or rejection. Now, dead in our sins, each one of us is fighting those feelings, desperately searching for acceptance, significance and security, wherever we think we might find it.

The amazing good news of Jesus is that in His love for you and me, He died and rose again. This restores to us new spiritual life,. If you are alive in Jesus then security, acceptance and significance is yours! These aren't just things you feel but are the true reality of who you now are! Ask God to help you think of yourself like this. Get this truth into you, so you see yourself the way God sees you!