Reflections on God's Word

by Victoria Robinson

In the beginning … ahhh those famous first words recorded in the book of Genesis. Beginnings so often start with a sense of great hope and wonderment. This was the fresh starts of all fresh starts. A blank canvas with limitless possibilities. Girlfriends, don’t you just love a fresh start? A chance to begin anew with no past mistakes. There are times when we just need to start over.

Spiritually speaking, a new beginning is found in the book of John. That new beginning is found in putting our faith in Jesus Christ, the Son of God. The apostle Paul spoke of this transforming faith in the book of Titus. he said, “… a faith and knowledge resting on the hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time …” Acknowledging that a new life is only possible through Jesus Christ is the only way to have a fresh start. In fact, Jesus said to a man named Nicodemus, “I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.” Born again—let’s start over! If this is your desire, click on this Heaven link and learn more. Heaven

If you already have a relationship with Jesus Christ then you surely know what a wonderful feeling it is to be able to “wipe the slate clean” and start over. King David came to a place in his life when he desperately needed to start over. Troubles surrounded him due to his disintegration into a sinful life. The enemy of his soul had enticed him to indulge in lustfully gazing upon a beautiful woman named Bathsheba. This led to sleeping with her apart from marriage as set forth in the Word of God. Once it becomes known to him that Bathsheba is pregnant, we see the actions of a desperate man. So panicked by his circumstances that he engaged in a murderous plot to kill Bathsheba’s husband, Uriah. If ever a person needed to start over it was King David.

The good news is David repented and turned his heart back to the Lord. David’s fresh start resulted in the Lord speaking these kind words about him after his departure from this world, “… walk before Me as your father David walked, in integrity of heart and in uprightness …”

King David whose life was ravaged by his sinful choices, but who got a fresh start from the heavenly Father, has been memorialized by the Jewish historian, Flavius Josephus.  He wrote, “David was truly a man after God’s own heart.”

This is an encouraging story when we reach a point in our life where we need a new beginning. If that is where you are today, then praying the very words King David prayed after he repented are appropriate. In the book of Psalms David wrote, “Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.”

Near the end of Lamentations, a book of poetry written to lament the destruction of Jerusalem, the prophet Jeremiah makes a plea to the Lord. He says, “Bring us back to you! Give us a fresh start.” What a wonderful way to cry out to the Lord when we have a remorseful heart and want to start over!

Dearest girlfriends, let us turn our hearts towards our heavenly Father and receive a new beginning.

by Victoria Robinson

There is a story of a person of small stature who became a big person after an encounter with our Lord and Savior. This amazing change started with a sycamore-fig tree. Our little friend Zacchaeus climbed up in the tree so that he might get a glimpse of Jesus. Much to his surprise, Jesus looked right up at him and invited himself over to his house. Zacchaeus excitedly welcomed him to his house and did something that would transform him from a little person to a big person. He repented of his sins! Zacchaeus said to the Lord, “Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.” His repentance led to salvation. Jesus told him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.” Notice that Zacchaeus not only repented with his words, but also his deeds. The apostle Luke told us we should prove our repentance with our deeds when he said, “… I preached that they should repent and turn to God and prove their repentance by their deeds.”

When you think about a big person I bet you think about someone in your life you admire greatly spiritually speaking. Height of stature has nothing to do with having spiritual stature. The Lord told Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have refused him. For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”

Girlfriends, whether you are saved or lost, showing the Lord you have a repentant heart is a sure way to become a big person. If you need salvation to come to your house today click on this Heaven link. If you are already saved it is still important to have a repentant heart. Dearest girlfriends, let us become a big person right now by repenting of any sins in our life.

by Victoria Robinson

In the 1939 screwball comedy, Midnight, Claudette Colbert plays Eve Peabody a down and out American singer who impersonates Hungarian royalty in order to infiltrate the Parisian jet set.  John Barrymore plays the very rich, George Flammarion, who knows Eve is pretending to be someone she is not. He engages her to help him with a scheme of his own. At one point in this charade she tells him, “You forget, every Cinderella has her midnight.” Soon enough, he warns her, “It’s midnight!”, meaning she has been found out.

The Word of God warns us that pretending to be someone we are not will result in our own “midnight”. Midnight came for the Pharisees when Jesus confronted them about their pretentious spirituality. Midnight also came for the man who showed off his false spirituality in the book of Luke.

Some ways the Word of God shows people pretending to be something they were not are:

• People posing as being spiritually mature. (Boasting about righteousness is not mature.)
• People posing as being godly for their prayers. (They were only trying to impress others.)
• People posing as generous givers. (A true generous giver does not tell everyone.)
• People posing as Christians. (They only did this to hurt the Apostle Paul.)

While all of these are wrong, the saddest of these is pretending to be a Christian. The “midnight” that is coming for that person will be eternal damnation in hell. If you do not have the assurance of eternal life, please click on the Heaven link and find out how you can receive God’s wonderous gift of Heaven. Heaven 

Scheming to get our way and pride are two reasons we pretend to be something we are not. Girlfriends, there is a sense of freedom when we quit masquerading as someone else. Think about it. It takes a lot of effort keep the spiritual mask on. Dearest girlfriends, I pray we would allow our heavenly Father to search our hearts and eliminate any pretentious behavior in our lives.

by Victoria Robinson

There are lots of things to believe in. The Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy, even a rotund jolly man named Santa Claus. Yet the most important thing to believe in is really just a bunch of words. However, these are not ordinary words. These words are divine in nature and the most trustworthy things you can believe in. From these words come the ability to believe in all sorts of things. Your future, heaven, and most importantly, the creator of the universe.

To believe is to have faith. In the Greek, the word faith translates as pistis, which means to have conviction of the truth. That is where the words come in. Faith is the conviction of the words spoken by God.

The book of Romans states, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.” Do you really believe what you see when you read the Word of God? Remember, the Word of God is not a fairy tale. It is instead the divinely inspired words spoken from God. The Greek word for believe is pisteuo which means: to think to be true, to be persuaded of, to credit, place confidence in.¹

We will be at peace when we come to the place in our lives where we believe, just simply believe every word we read in the Scriptures. Whether the divine words we are reading tell us about trusting our heavenly father for everyday decisions and provisions or something much loftier like a place called heaven.

The most important thing you can believe in is God and henceforth His Son, Jesus Christ. The Scriptures tell us that, “… if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” If you need to believe in Jesus Christ, click the Heaven link.  Heaven

Dearest girlfriends, I pray you would allow the words of God to be, “a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.”

by Victoria Robinson

Another day is coming for all of us. Just what that day will bring depends a great deal upon you. While you reside here on this earth, another day will hold the consequences of your actions today. That can either be good or bad. When you have breathed your last breath on this earth there will be another day known as eternity. Again, your actions now will determine what that day will bring. The Word of God speaks about this as a day of rest for those who have a relationship with the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. It also describes this day as a day of torment for those who have not received God’s gift of eternal life.

Girlfriends, make no mistake, God never told us that if we behave correctly, then there will only be good things in store for us. What He did tell us is that we will be rewarded for our good actions. You might perform great deeds today, and yet tomorrow have a rotten day. But, we are not to lose heart, for the reward of those good deeds will eventually come. One benefit we will always have immediately is a sense of peace, knowing we have conducted ourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ.

Dearest girlfriends, I pray we would take stock of our behavior and understand the consequences. If you are wondering what your eternity holds, click on the Heaven link and find out how to have eternal life. Heaven