Let’s Start Over!
Jan 09
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.
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. ~ Genesis 1:1-2 NIV
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. … The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. ~ John 1:1-2,14 NIV
Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ for the faith of God’s elect and the knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness— a faith and knowledge resting on the hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time, ~ Titus 1:1-2 NIV
Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling council. He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him.” In reply Jesus declared, “I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.” “How can a man be born when he is old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb to be born!” Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. ~ John 3:1-6 NIV
… walk before Me as your father David walked, in integrity of heart and in uprightness … ~ 1 Kings 9:4 NKJV
Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, … Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice. Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity. Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me. ~ Psalm 51:1-4,7-12 NIV
Bring us back to you! Give us a fresh start. ~ Lamentations 5:21 CEV
Tags: apostle, apostle paul, ASK, bathsheba, beautiful woman, beginning of time, blank canvas, bones, book of genesis, book of titus, cev, circumstances, compassion, darkness, David, David was, desire, desperate man, disintegration, dwelling, earth, eternal life, faith, faith and knowledge, flesh, fresh start, friend, full of grace, full of grace and truth, girlfriends, God, godliness, heart, hearts, heaven, heaven link, heavenly father, holy spirit, hope, iniquity, integrity, Jeremiah, Jerusalem, Jesus, jesus answer, Jesus Christ, jesus christ the son of god, John, Joseph, King, King David, kingdom of god, knowledge, lace, lamentations, let's start over, limitless possibilities, love, lust, marriage, mistake, moth, nicodemus, niv, nkjv, pharisees, presence, prophet, prophet jeremiah, psalm, psalm 51, pure heart, relationship, reply, second time, servant, sin, sinful life, sins, sleep, son of god, stan, transgressions, trouble, unfailing love, Uriah, Victoria Robinson, wash, whiter than snow, womb, wonderful feeling, wonderment, Word of God 
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A Polite Conversation With Him
Jan 07
by Victoria Robinson
What in the world does learning how to use etiquette in conversation and learning how to converse with our heavenly Father have in common? Actually, quite a bit. Conversations with Him are what we think of as prayer. In the 1896 etiquette book, The Secret of a Happy Home, Christian author, Marion Harland, speaks of the satisfaction in telling one’s woes and sorrows to an interested listener.
“Undoubtedly there is a momentary satisfaction in telling one’s woes and sorrows to an interested listener. When the auditor is a friend, and a trusted friend, whose sympathy is genuine and whose discretion is vast, there is a comfort beyond description in unburdening one’s soul.”
Marion Harland, The Secret of a Happy Home 1896
Fortunately every one of us has a trusted friend we can unburden our souls to. King Solomon told us, “… there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.” The friend he is referring to is Christ, our Lord and Savior.
Our Lord and Savior gave us detailed instructions on having a polite conversation in prayer with our heavenly Father. He told us, “And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words.”
“Some people are always bored. May it not be because they look at everything animate and inanimate from a selfish standpoint, with the query in their minds, “How does that affect me?” The old definition of a bore as “a person who talks so much of himself that he gives you no chance to of yourself,” may apply not only to the bore, but to the bored. When you find yourself wearied and uninterested, be honest enough to examine yourself calmly, and see if the reason is not because your vis-a-vis is not talking about anything which interests you especially. Should he turn the conversation upon your favorite occupation or pastime, or even upon your personal likes and dislikes (which, by the way, might be an infinite bore to him), would he not at once become entertaining?”Marion Harland, The Secret of a Happy Home 1896
Listening to the other person is an important key to polite conversation. Nobody enjoys chatting with a boorish person who only is concerned with prattling on about themselves. Your heavenly Father is not interested in having a one-way conversation with you. Besides, if you are not listening during your prayer, you cannot possibly attain His wisdom for your requests. Conversing with our heavenly Father must always include listening. In her 1860 book, The Ladies’ Book of Etiquette and Manual of Politeness, Florence Hartley gives us instruction on the importance of listening while conversing.
“It seems paradoxical to observe that the art of listening well forms a part of the duty of conversation. To give up the whole of your attention to the person who addresses himself to you, is sometimes a heavy tax, but it is one which we must pay for the privileges of social life, and an early practice will render it an almost involuntary act of good breeding; whilst consideration for others will give this little sacrifice a merit and a charm.”Florence Hartley, The Ladies’ Book of Etiquette, and Manual of Politeness 1860
Genuine praise is another important aspect of good conversation. Marion Harland gives an excellent example of developing the habit of praising the one you are talking with.
“Ten girls whom I know formed a society for the repression of unkind criticism. The members themselves to try, as far as in them lay, to speak kindly of people when it was possible for them to do so, and when impossible to say nothing. At first it was hard, for self-conceit would intrude, and it is hard for one girl to praise another who dislikes her. Little by little the tiny seed of effort grew into a habit of kindly speech.”Marion Harland, The Secret of a Happy Home 1896
This story is reminiscent of the hardness that can develop in our hearts and hinder us from praising our heavenly Father during prayer. The enemy of your soul will always point out why God is not worthy to be praised. A direct contradiction to the Scriptures! The psalmist tells us, “I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised; So shall I be saved from my enemies.”
Just as Marion Harland reminds us that no true lady complains while conversing with others, neither should we bring our request to the Lord in a complaining manner.
“But if you do not feel this, for politeness’ sake refrain from making your listener supremely uncomfortable by your complaints. No true lady will so far forget her innate ladyhood as to be guilty of this rudeness.”Marion Harland, The Secret of a Happy Home 1896
An extremely descriptive picture of the perils of complaining while praying are found in the book of Numbers. The Israelites were whining about not having meat and my oh my did they ever get their request granted! The Lord said, “The LORD heard you when you wailed, “If only we had meat to eat! We were better off in Egypt!” Now the LORD will give you meat, and you will eat it. You will not eat it for just one day, or two days, or five, ten or twenty days, but for a whole month—until it comes out of your nostrils and you loathe it—because you have rejected the LORD, who is among you, and have wailed before him, saying, “Why did we ever leave Egypt?”’”
Polite conversation sometimes involves forgiveness. The person chatting with you may say something offensive and it is important for you to overlook the words that have wounded your heart. The Lord instructed us that prayer also involves forgiveness. In the book of Matthew, Jesus told us, “Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.” Our prayers will be hindered if we approach God and have unforgiveness towards others.
Dearest girlfriends, let us endeavor to develop polite conversation when we pray.
Give your burdens to the Lord, and he will take care of you. … ~ Psalm 55:22 NLT
Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about what happens to you. ~ 1 Peter 5:7 NLT
If you are having trouble, you should pray. … ~ James 5:13 CEV
A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother. ~ Proverbs 18:24 NIV
I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised; So shall I be saved from my enemies. ~ Psalm 18:3 NKJV
“Tell the people: ‘Consecrate yourselves in preparation for tomorrow, when you will eat meat. The LORD heard you when you wailed, “If only we had meat to eat! We were better off in Egypt!” Now the LORD will give you meat, and you will eat it. You will not eat it for just one day, or two days, or five, ten or twenty days, but for a whole month—until it comes out of your nostrils and you loathe it—because you have rejected the LORD, who is among you, and have wailed before him, saying, “Why did we ever leave Egypt?”’” ~ Numbers 11:18-20 NIV
A fool shows his annoyance at once, but a prudent man overlooks an insult. ~ Proverbs 12:16 NIV
And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. “This, then, is how you should pray: ”‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. ~ Matthew 6:7-13 NIV
You can read these antique etiquette books from the library of Girlfriend’s Café by clicking on the links below.
Tags: 1 peter, ASK, book of matthew, bore, burdens, cev, charm, closer than a brother, comfort, companion, companions, contradiction, conversations, discretion, earth, enemies, enemy of your soul, etiquette book, father in heaven, fish, forgive, forgiveness, girlfriends, God, good breeding, guilt, happy home, heart, hearts, heavenly father, Israel, israelite, israelites, Jesus, King, king solomon, likes and dislikes, listener, lord and savior, marion harland, niv, nkjv, nlt, pagans, paradox, pastime, pens, Peter, polite conversation, prayer, prayers, privilege, proverbs, psalm, psalm 18, psalm 55, psalmist, ruin, sacrifice, scripture, scriptures, sin, Solomon, sorrow, sorrows, standpoint, temptation, tent, the psalmist, tick, trouble, true lady, trusted friend, unforgiveness, Victoria Robinson, wisdom, woe, woes, worries
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Thought Catchers
Feb 24
by Victoria Robinson
The Word of God is like a sentry catching and tossing out ungodly ideas that try to enter our minds. Our Lord and Savior exemplified this so perfectly when Satan gave Him thoughts that were pure Scripture. To which Jesus responded with the Word of God. Sounds convoluted. How can one fight the Word with the Word? In this case Satan was distorting the Word and Jesus was correctly handling it. Using the Word of truth, He was able to catch these thoughts before they gave birth to sin.
Not all thoughts that need to be taken captive are wonderful sounding such as the scriptures Satan quoted to Jesus. Most are subtle ideas that lead towards sin and inevitable death. While still others are obvious to discern and yet if we savor them for even a moment they can destroy us. Dearest girlfriends, I pray we would strive to correctly handle the Word of truth so that the wrong thoughts that come to our minds would get caught by the truth of the Word.
We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. ~ 2 Corinthians 10:5 NIV
Those who are dominated by the sinful nature think about sinful things, but those who are controlled by the Holy Spirit think about things that please the Spirit. If your sinful nature controls your mind, there is death. But if the Holy Spirit controls your mind, there is life and peace. For the sinful nature is always hostile to God. It never did obey God’s laws, and it never will. That’s why those who are still under the control of their sinful nature can never please God. ~ Romans 8:5-8 NLT
Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus … ~ Philippians 2:5 NKJV
Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written: ”‘He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’” Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’” Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.” Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’” Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him. ~ Mathew 4:1-11 NIV
Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth. ~ 2 Timothy 2:15 NIV
Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death. ~ James 1:15 NIV
… Fix your thoughts on what is true and honorable and right. Think about things that are pure and lovely and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. ~ Philippians 4:8 NLT
Tags: 2 corinthians 10, Christ Jesus, forty days and forty nights, holy spirit, inevitable death, lord and savior, nkjv, philippians, pretension, romans 8, satan, sentry, sinful nature, subtle ideas, tempter, thought catchers, using the word, Victoria Robinson, Word of God, word of truth
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♥ Many Waters Cannot Quench Love ♥
Feb 14
by Victoria Robinson
Song of Songs is a book written in the form of a lyrical love song. Within this romantic poetry we see such beautiful thoughts as, “Many waters cannot quench love …” In many ways the sentiments found in this book are a reflection of the love our heavenly Father has for us. His love can never be quenched. A comforting thought knowing we have the security of never being abandoned by the one who loves us more than anyone else ever could, after all, God is love.
A love that cannot be quenched is trustworthy. The love of our heavenly Father is the most wonderful love we all desire. His love for us stands eternal. Dearest girlfriends, as we celebrate this Valentine’s Day let us have a heart of thankfulness for the secure and everlasting love our heavenly Father so graciously lavishes on us.
Set me as a seal upon your heart, As a seal upon your arm; For love is as strong as death, Jealousy as cruel as the grave; Its flames are flames of fire, A most vehement flame. Many waters cannot quench love, Nor can the floods drown it. If a man would give for love All the wealth of his house, It would be utterly despised. ~ Song of Songs 8:6-7 NKJV
And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence … ~ 1 John 4:16-17 NIV
The LORD appeared to us in the past, saying: “I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness. ~ Jeremiah 31:3 NIV
Tags: 1 john, beautiful thoughts, cannot quench love, cruel as the grave, flames, floods, god is love, heavenly father, jeremiah 31, love lives, love song, loving kindness, many waters, nkjv, romantic poetry, sentiments, song of songs, strong as death, thankfulness, valentine s day, Victoria Robinson
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