Are You a Good, Good Father?

Are You a Good, Good Father?
Happy Father’s Day to all dads today, whether you are a natural father, adoptive father or a father role model and mentor. You deserve a tribute if you have been and are a good, good father! Father’s Day brings me precious memories and so much gratitude for my own sweet daddy, my wonderful father-in-law and my precious husband who are celebrating this Father’s Day together in heaven. And especially for two amazing dads -- my two precious sons: Ryan Wuerch & Larry Wallace – men who are amazing fathers and who lead their families by God’s example to them. God bless you, Fathers!

I love the popular song “Good, Good Father”. Here’s why I think it’s so popular and resonates with so many of us. Maybe we had a very good representation of our Heavenly Father by the father we had on this earth. Or, maybe we had no representation of our Heavenly Father by any of the men in our lives. Whatever the case may be, we desire a good, good Father and we have one in our Heavenly Father.

I’m sure the inspiration for this song was because of so many in this generation who are fatherless and this song provides answers that only a good Father can provide. We are all finding our true identity in the love of our Heavenly Papa. We’re finding out that He's loving and caring and so close that we can be embraced by Him -- any time, anywhere.

As the song goes, we’re finding out He’s perfect in all of His ways…to us. He loved us before we loved Him. He has always been this way. This Father sent Jesus because He wants all of us to know that He loves us all exactly like He loves His Son. Jesus’ desire was that every person on the planet knows love by the love He shared among His followers. “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples if you love one another.” John 13:35. We are wising up to those “Love one another” words.

We’re finding out who we are in the Father’s embrace. This is what this song is about. And when we finally see Him as He really is, we find out that we’re not “dirty little sinners” to Him. We’re His new creation and old things have passed away. We are His beloved sons and daughters and the apple of His eye. We are learning to dance with Him and let Him lead. We are jumping up into His arms of peace, security, and safety. We are becoming obedient, faith-filled children and we’re making Him smile – an ear to ear smile as we bring Him pleasure when we love like He loves and gives like He gives.

Fathers – isn’t that what you desire of your children?

Here’s Chris Tomlin singing that wonderful song “Good, Good Father”! I pray that you settle the matter once and for all – let our Father embrace you, restore you and call you His beloved child. You’ll find out how GOOD, our good, good Father is to you!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OfJrxvVnmkE

What are Your Credentials?

I've seen friends posting about the newly graduated medical doctors in their families. They have credentials and titles now. They earned them after years of hard work, intense training, and much effort! Along with those credentials comes respect, plus enormous responsibility to medical ethics. Their new titles and credentials will forever be a part of their life story.

I don't have a suffix that could be added to the end of my name, but I DO have credentials, and if you are a child of God and earnestly follow Jesus....so do you. Here are mine, and yours, too!

Donna Wuerch, COG -- Child of God
“All of you are God’s children because of your faith in Christ Jesus.” Galatians 3:26

Donna Wuerch, NC – New Creation
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” II Corinthians 5:17

Donna Wuerch, AC -- Ambassador for Christ
"I am an ambassador for Christ." 2 Corinthians 5:20

Donna Wuerch, FD – Forgiven Daughter
“For this is My blood that establishes the covenant; it is shed for many for the forgiveness of sins.” Matthew 26:28

Donna Wuerch, WDF – Worth Dying For
“But God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8

Donna Wuerch, FB -- Fruit Bearer
"I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in Him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing." John 15:5

You can obtain those credentials, too. No tests required. Our God-given credentials don’t belong to us because of who we are, but rather because of to Whom we belong. We have a tremendous responsibility as representatives of Jesus Christ to exemplify Him in our attitudes, our character, and in our love for others.

Maybe we should have business cards made with our God-given credentials on them!

RESTORE – All Things New

My word for today is RESTORE: return (someone or something) to a former condition, place, or position. One of my all-time favorite reality shows is HGTV's "Fixer Upper", not just because I love the hands-on builder and interior designers, Chip & Joanna Gaines, a delightful couple with their four young kids (soon to be five), who live their personal lives in a raw, oftentimes hilarious, and authentic way, but also because I love seeing them RESTORE a dated or dilapidated, hopeless house and property into a gorgeous family home.

We hear about RESTORING a relationship, a house, an old car, and antique furniture. These all demonstrate RESTORATION. No question -- the most beautiful use of the word, is when someone turns from being a lost soul, without hope for today and tomorrow, to becoming a brand new man or woman as they become a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ. To receive salvation means that we have experienced the miraculous RESTORING power of God Who makes all things new in our lives – spiritually, psychologically, emotionally, and relationally.

AAll throughout the Bible, we see that God is in the RESTORING business. King David made some huge mistakes that really damaged his relationship with God. He needed and received RESTORATION when he prayed in Psalm 51:12 “RESTORE to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit to sustain me.” God promises “I will RESTORE you to health and heal your wounds.” (Jeremiah 30:12). Paul the Apostle declares, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creation, old things are passed away, behold, all things are new.” (2 Corinthians 5:17).

As we surrender our mistakes, failures, problems and challenges to our Master Restorer, our Heavenly Father, in prayer, He will make all things new for us. Our Master RESTORER, will heal our brokenness, RESTORE our lives with His unconditional love and mercy. The scars that came from the hurts and pains of our life's experiences, will be RESTORED to beauty as we place ourselves in the Master RESTORER’S hands -- even more beautiful than we were before. And, even beyond the beauty of the NEW you and me, is helping others to be RESTORED also. They can learn how we, through God's help, were able to turn our scars into stars, our tests became our testimony, our messes became our message to a world that needs RESTORATION so much.

Happy NEW Year -- NEW is the Word of the Day

I was checking in with Headquarters (God – my CEO) on what my assignment for 2018 would be, and the message I received was "Word of the Day”. My blogging began in 2010 and it started with daily posts that spoke of the faithfulness of God during our roller coaster ride that sure had its ups and downs in it. That was the year my Sweetheart battled Stage 4 Kidney Cancer until he received his "eternal" ticket to ride to his finish line, and go to his home sweet home. In any case, it was the NEW beginning of my blogging and daily posting on Facebook.

The next year, 2011, I asked God for my NEW “widow’s” assignment, still desiring to serve God in the best way I knew how, and I received the words ‘’This is your mandate – every day provide a positive, uplifting and encouraging message the first thing in the morning so that others will have those thoughts to hold onto in their new day.” So, here I am, starting my ninth year of blogging, and I still love greeting each new day with words that have the potential of altering the course of someone’s otherwise negative start or finish to their day. Since the beginning, I’ve received all kinds of encouraging comments from my friends and family – you know who you are! God bless you for being my cheerleaders! From that time to this – I’ve purposed to post before 6 a.m. every morning – only adjusting if I’m in a location that doesn’t permit easy access to Wifi. A few years later, 2015 to be exact – my assignment was to find a photo inspiration for each day and to write my post based on that photo.

Now – with 2018 ahead of me, the message I received from Headquarters, is what I’ll be doing – seeking God for 365 words for 365 days of 2018. I’m making a conscious choice to focus on ONE word for each day – and I hope and pray the words God gives me are THE WORDS that will encourage you and give you added fuel for your daily faith journey. This year starts with the word, “NEW”.

There is just something about the start of a NEW year -- with a NEW journal or a NEW calendar. It's a clean slate. There’s something in us that naturally draws us toward fresh beginnings. 2017 was a doozey of a year for many its end brings the hope of a NEW start. I’m sure God engineered us for do-overs – fresh starts. Why would I start this year with NEW? Because even God seems to think new starts are pretty sweet. Here are some of God's "NEW" words from His WORD (the Bible), to help us enter into 2018 with a NEW beginning.

~~~ GOD MAKES US NEW: "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a NEW creation: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become NEW." 2 Corinthians 5:17

~~~ GOD GIVES US NEW SONGS OF PRAISE. “He put a NEW song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God." Psalm 40:3

~~~ GOD MAKES NEW WAYS FOR US “I am doing a NEW thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.” Isaiah 43:19

~~~ GOD’S MERCIES ARE NEW EVERY MORNING. "The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; His mercies never come to an end; they are NEW every morning; great is your faithfulness." Lamentations 3:22-23

We have a NEW year to be the best versions of ourselves that we can possibly be; NEW potential for achieving our goals; NEW clean slate to start fresh to show ourselves and others that we are a finisher – not a quitter; New will to overcome; NEW desires to trust God in the sun and in the rain; NEW goals to break OLD habits. It's time to begin again with NEW expectations of great NEW adventures and blessings up ahead. But most importantly to write some NEW stories that leave a NEW legacy for those who are following us -- a legacy of "I can" and "I will"!!

I’ve already started on my NEW chapter. At the end of 2018....I'll glance back at the victories won and the many, many NEW doors that opened up for me to great NEW opportunities! Today, I close the door to the past, open the door to the future, I take a deep breath, step on through and start a NEW chapter of my life. How about you?

How Can I Forgive and Forget?

How Can I Forgive and Forget?
A friend emailed me yesterday about “forgiving” and “forgetting”. It blessed me. How often do we get hurt by someone, or even, we’re the someone who hurt someone? We keep beating ourselves up about our mistakes, do our best to forgive ourselves and others, but still those mistakes we made or others made, just continue to linger with us. The past still plays havoc with our minds and we tend to carry the weight of those mistakes for way longer than we need to.

My friend attached this song to her email and I played it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZVjKrmvYYQ
I sensed the sweet presence of God as the words filled the room. I knew I needed to make this my post for today.

Our "Life Story" book is being written daily. The words on the pages may be words like: “You failed again. You lied again. You messed up again. You spoke those hateful words again. You’re a failure. You’re hopeless. You’ll never get over those mistakes.” But, then we go to God and admit our failures, we express our sorrow for the times we messed up. We ask for forgiveness. And the next thing we know…..we pick up our "Life Story" book and open the pages……and, incredibly, those pages are all blank. And, we realize God has wiped the slate clean – the pages in our book are blank. 2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come. The old has gone. The new is here.”

The TV screen in our minds is filled with words like “He hurt you again. She lied about you. He broke your heart. Never speak to her again. They’re no good. He is a loser. She doesn’t deserve your friendship.” But, then we go to God and ask Him to love through us. We ask for His heart to forgive in spite of whether or not they deserve forgiveness. We ask God to heal our minds from the hurt they caused. The next thing we know…..the TV screen is blank. Then we realize God has freed us from the pain that others caused us and we come to know that forgiveness is possible because of the price God’s Son paid on Calvary. He was our example as he prayed, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.” (Luke 23:34) “And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.” (Mark 11:25)

Listen to this song -- and where forgiveness is needed to today -- either for yourself or someone else -- know God's arms are open wide to forgive AND forget. The lyrics go like this:

"The past is playing with my head and failure knocks me down again.
I’m reminded of the wrong, that I have said and done,
And that devil just won't let me forget in this life.
I know what I’ve been, but I'm here in Your arms,
I know what I am -- I’m forgiven. I’m forgiven.
And I don’t have to carry the weight of who I’ve been
'Cause I’m forgiven.

My mistakes are running through my mind,
And I’ll relive my days in the middle of the night.
When I struggle with my pain, wrestle with my pride.
Sometimes I feel alone and I cry.
And in this life I know what I’ve been.
But here in your arms I know what I am
Well, I’m forgiven. I’m forgiven
And I don’t have to carry the weight of who I’ve been
'Cause I’m forgiven."

What are Your Credentials?

My sweet BFF, Sheila Michie, is shout-from-the-mountain proud of her son AND his new credentials, M.D. (Doctor of Medicine). He earned that title and suffix after his name, following many years of hard work, intense training, preparation, and much effort! Joseph worked hard for the right to place them next to his name. and along with those credentials comes respect, plus enormous responsibility to medical ethics. Joseph's new title and credentials will forever be a part of his life story, but they don't define him. He is also a husband, a daddy, friend, son, nephew, etc.

While I don't have a suffix that could be added to the end of my name, I DO have credentials, and if you are a child of God and earnestly follow Jesus....so do you. Here are mine, and yours, too!

Donna Wuerch, COG -- Child of God
“All of you are God’s children because of your faith in Christ Jesus.” Galatians 3:26

Donna Wuerch, NC – New Creation
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” II Corinthians 5:17

Donna Wuerch, DW -- Doer of the Word
"I am a doer of the Word and blessed in my actions." James 1:22,25

Donna Wuerch, AC -- Ambassador for Christ
"I am an ambassador for Christ." 2 Corinthians 5:20

Donna Wuerch, LW -- Light of the World
"I am the light of the world." Matthew 5:14

Donna Wuerch, MC -- More than a Conqueror
"I am more than a conqueror through Him Who loves me." Romans 8:37

Donna Wuerch, FD – Forgiven Daughter
“For this is My blood that establishes the covenant; it is shed for many for the forgiveness of sins.” Matthew 26:28

Wuerch, FWM -- Fearfully and Wonderfully Made
"I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well." Psalm 139:14

Donna Wuerch, WDF – Worth Dying For
“But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8

Donna Wuerch, FB -- Fruit Bearer
"I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in Him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing." John 15:5

How can you obtain those credientials, too? We don't have to take a test or do anything special to deserve such distinctions. Our God-given credentials do not belong to us because of who we are, but rather because of to Whom we belong. And, like the responsibility that Dr. Joseph Michie carries with his new title, we have a tremendous responsibility as representatives of Jesus Christ. We exemplify Him in our attitudes, our character, and in our love for others.

Maybe we should have business cards made with our God-given credentials on them!

Brand New Life

Day 81 of Photo Inspirations -- Brand New Life
Yesterday, in front of me in church, I saw a little bit of heaven.....it was a precious newborn baby.  He drew all of us into his world -- a least those of us who sat near him.   When he was born, his Mama said "he looks like the other puppies In the basket!"  She would know -- he's the 5th "puppy" to come along into this beautiful family.

We were oohing and aahing at his every little move and facial expression he made, and a dear friend held him close for a few moments and I could tell she was feeling so close to God as she gazed upon his sweet little face.   I know that feel and I know that smell.  He still has heaven's scent on him.  What inspires me the most about this "brand new life"  is his preciousness, his sweetness, and his purity.  Nothing has tainted his innocence.  

Yes, I was inspired and I knew this would be my photo inspiration for this day.  I've added an additional photo from his Mama's FB page -- it is her Mom looking into the beautiful face of her grandson -- the oldest life looking at this precious "brand new life".

I've been posting a great deal about the coming of  Spring and the freshness and beauty of the "brand new life" we see all around us.  But of all the beauty that is seen in all the evidences of Spring, still nothing compares to someone that comes to a brand new life in Christ.  2 Corinthians 5:17 "Therefore, if anyone. is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!"   It's possible for us to have a "brand new life".  We can take confidence in knowing that God forgives us and gives us a clean slate, and then He gives us full access to His everlasting love and abundant life.  A brand new life in Christ brings love, joy, peace and a renewed sense of purpose for living.  Isn't that REALLY what this season is all about?  In just two weeks, we'll celebrate Easter -- Resurrection Sunday -- He Who was crucified, was buried and rose again.....brings us SPRINGTIME and gives us a "Brand New Life".

My daughter wrote and recorded this beautiful song "Brand New Life" -- listen to these words and may you "Come As You Are" to Him who will make "all things new your your life.
http://staciwallace.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/02-Brand-New-Life.mp3