Devotional Archive
by Pastor Lopez
All I Need…Is A Hammer
Really, that’s all I need. No matter what situation I find myself in, just give me a hammer. No matter how complex the problem might be, just hand me a hammer. No matter how big the dilemma, all I really need is a hammer.
Well, let me be more specific. Not just any hammer will do. With most hammers, I’ll just create more problems than I already have. With an ordinary hammer, I would probably end up damaging things, hurting other people, and possibly injuring myself as well. No, the hammer I need is different from what is found in our natural tool-boxes.
“Is not My word like a fire?” says the LORD, “And like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?” (Jeremiah 23:29)
Recently, a friend and I were discussing a difficult situation with which we both found ourselves involved. As we were confessing our faith that God would bring us through the situation, I made a remark to him that I have found to be truthful in all areas of life. I simply said, “If I can get God’s word into my situation, I know everything will be all right.” I know it sounds too simple to be true, but it really does work.
By His word, God created all that we see and know. By His word, creation continues to exist. By His word, the affairs of men are ordered and arranged. The Bible even declares that the word is exalted above His name.
For You have magnified Your word above all Your name. (Psalms 138:2)
Wow! If God values His word even above His own name, how much value should I place on God’s word? How much trust and confidence should I have in what the word of God declares? The answer: complete trust and complete confidence.
So, if I’m in a tight spot and don’t know what to do…I grab a hammer and start pounding away. It doesn’t matter how large the boulder that rests in front of me; I have a hammer that has the power to destroy every obstacle. It doesn’t matter how heavy the chains of the oppressor are; I have a hammer that brings liberty. It doesn’t matter how hopeless the plight: I have a hammer that breaks through hopelessness and brings light and victory to even the darkest night.
Is there a good hammer in your toolbox?
The Fight of Faith
The Apostle Paul, in 1 Timothy 6:12, penned words that forever challenge every believer when he wrote that we should, “Fight the good fight of faith…” Faith is the foundation of all that we are and all that we do. If you were to remove faith from our lives, we would cease to have any confidence in God or His word. As a result, we would be estranged from any of God’s promises or blessings.
The statement, “The just shall live by faith” is found four times in the Bible. Every time it is used it conveys the simple truth that a believer’s continued spiritual existence is based on his or her ability to continue to believe in God and in God’s word. We have the ability to live as Christians because of our faith that God is real and that His word is true.
Since faith is so important, no wonder the devil makes it a point to attack us so often in this area. When Jesus told Peter of satan’s plan to destroy him and of Peter’s impending failure and denial of the Christ, He also spoke words of comfort to Peter when He said, “But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren.” Notice that the main concern of Jesus was not that Peter would deny Him but rather His concern was for Peter’s faith. Jesus prayed that Peter’s faith would not fail even though Peter certainly would. As a result of His confidence in Peter’s faith, He told Peter to strengthen the brethren when, not if, he returned to his place of commitment.
Faith will carry you through the darkest valleys, past the tallest mountains, and across the largest seas. Faith will keep you when you have failed and feel like giving up. Faith will encourage you when you are in your worst trial and you are wondering if God still cares about you. Faith will strengthen you when you have reached the end of your natural ability and you have nowhere to turn and no one to turn to for help.
If God has ever given you a promise, fight the good fight of faith to see that promise become a reality. If the word of God declares victory for you in your situation, fight the good fight of faith until the victory is yours. Anyone can give up and quit; that’s easy to do. But a good soldier will keep on fighting and fighting and fighting the good fight of faith.
Joseph
Joseph is one of the most intriguing characters of the Bible. When we study his life, we learn so much about honesty, integrity, forgiveness, the value of a right spirit, and God’s incredible faithfulness.
Joseph was the son of the patriarch Jacob and was the second youngest in son in the family. He was Jacob’s favorite son and was given a place of prestige over his much older brothers. Of course, this did not earn him any goodwill with those brothers.
As a young man, Joseph dreamed two vivid and exciting dreams. In his youthful ignorance, he shared his dreams with his family only to be rebuked and reviled all the more. You see, his dreams, if understood correctly, meant that Joseph would one day rule over his own family.
After several frustrating turns in life, Joseph finds himself locked up in an Egyptian prison for a crime he did not commit. While in prison, he correctly interprets dreams for two fellow prisoners. Later, he correctly interprets two dreams for the Egyptian Pharaoh and is elevated to the second-in-command position in his government.
As a young man, it does not appear that Joseph had a good ability to interpret dreams. Had he understood what his dreams meant, he probably would not have been so willing and eager to share his dreams with his family. No, he dreamed dreams that he himself didn’t fully comprehend.
However, when we meet Joseph later in life, he is very confident and skilled in understanding and interpreting dreams. Where and when did he acquire this ability?
When all seemed lost and he felt completely forgotten by God and his family, Joseph had two dreams that he could go back to over and over again. No doubt, many nights he laid awake and pondered the meaning of those dreams. No doubt, many times he prayed for God to give him understanding of the significance of those dreams. And in seeking to understand what God was trying to do in his own life, he gained the ability to see what God was trying to do in the lives of others.
As Christians, we need to become aware of what God is trying to accomplish personally in all of us. When I begin to recognize God’s plan and working in my own life, I now gain the ability to help minister in the lives of others. If I never develop my own relationship with God, I will never be able to aid others in their walk with the Lord. Jesus summed it up best when he stated, “first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye.”
As we all strive to be ministers, let us first strive to be Christians. “God, first do Your work in me…then I will be able to be used by You to help others.” Just like Joseph.
Finding God
As Job was enduring a time of suffering and anguish, he uttered a most profound and telling statement.
Oh, that I knew where I might find Him… (Job 23:3)
At times in our walk with the Lord, we have all felt just like Job. As we searched for God, it seemed like we couldn’t find Him anywhere.
Look, I go forward, but He is not there, and backward, but I cannot perceive Him; When He works on the left hand, I cannot behold Him; When He turns to the right hand, I cannot see Him. (Job 23:8-9)
During these times, it seems that even our prayers are ineffective in reaching God’s ears. How many times has it seemed like our words didn’t even get past the ceiling, let alone into God’s presence?
Yet, it is during these time of seeming aloneness that we must come back to the truth that we are never alone.
I am with you always, even to the end of the age. (Matthew 28:20)
During those times when it seems that God cannot be found, take rest in the knowledge that He is still right by your side. He will not abandon you in your turmoil, nor will He forsake you in your trial. Rather, He will be an unfailing comfort and strength as you walk through your dark nights and long days.
I have set the Lord always before me;
Because He is at my right hand I shall not be moved.
Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoices;
My flesh also will rest in hope. (Psalms 16:8-9)
Where do you find God when it seems like He can’t be found? Right where He said He would be: at your side, holding your hand, guiding your steps, as he brings you through every circumstance and situation. Though we can’t always recognize Him, He is always with us as a faithful Father and Friend.
The Danger of Distractions
As a pastor, I have spent a lot of time studying the dangers that face our Christian walk. Since it is my responsibility to help people make it to heaven, I have made it a priority to discover what things take people off course in their walk with God. What exactly causes us to lose our zeal, to become cold-hearted, and to walk away from God’s love and grace?
There are many habits and lifestyles that I could point to as potential dangers. I could warn you about many desires and lusts. Yes, there are many jagged rocks ready to tear up the bottom of our spiritual ships. Yet, all of these hazards have one thing in common – they creep up when we lose our focus, when we become distracted.
Paul used the analogy of a soldier in combat to discuss how we should keep our lives uncluttered and unhindered.
No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier. (2 Timothy 2:4)
Jesus conveyed the same thought when speaking the parable of the sower to His disciples.
Now these are the ones sown among thorns; they are the ones who hear the word, and the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things entering in choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. (Mark 4:18-19)
Distractions may not always be willful acts of sin, love for the world, or consuming greed. In fact, a distraction may be something that is seemingly innocent and harmless. However, anything that takes our attention off of Christ will bring us great harm in the long run. Allowing “the desires for other things” to creep into our hearts will soon cause us to let go of the One for whom we are supposed to live every day.
The writer of Hebrews gave us the remedy for distractions:
Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith… (Hebrews 12:1-2)
Christian Life Center is continuing to move forward in an extended time of prayer and fasting. While our minds and bodies may be growing a little weary, it is important that we continue to push aside distractions. God is doing a great work in our midst – we can’t afford to lose our focus now. Instead, with renewed passion and love, let’s look unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.
For God So Loves…
Why? Why would a great, big, powerful, mighty, and majestic God leave the comfort of heaven for the harshness of earth? Why would this Almighty God limit Himself to the frailty of humanity? Why would this holy God delve into a world filled with wickedness and unrighteous? Why would God go through all the trouble and effort of manifesting Himself in the person of Christ Jesus? Why? The answer is simple: love.
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. (John 3:16-17)
God’s love for fallen humanity caused Him to do the unthinkable – to humble Himself and become one of us in order to save us.
Who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. (Philippians 2:6-8)
The Bible makes it clear that Jesus had one main goal in mind as He came to earth – the salvation of human beings like you and me.
For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost. (Luke 19:10)
God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself… (2 Corinthians 5:19)
At Christian Life Center, we have been in an extended time of prayer and fasting. Under the leadership of our pastor, we have set our faces towards God. We have drawn close to God and as a result we have also grown close to His heart. That is why so many of are feeling a burden to reach out to lost souls. That is why so many of us have begun praying for a great harvest in 2008. That is why so many of us feel the responsibility of seeing God’s kingdom grow. We have drawn close to God’s heart, and He is sharing with us His love and concern for the world.
The prophet Amos asked, “Can two walk together, unless they are agreed?” As we walk with the Lord, it impossible to not be in agreement with Him that souls need to be saved. Why should we love the people of this world? Because God loves them, that’s why. For God so loves the world…
Eli Lopez
Hungry and Thirsty
In the second and third chapters of the book of Revelation Jesus addressed the seven churches of Asia Minor. As he spoke to each church, he was very honest and frank in His estimation of their spiritual condition. While he rebuked five of the seven churches for various offences, he saved his harshest criticism for the church of the Laodiceans.
You say, ‘I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing’ — and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked…
(Revelation 3:17)
Jesus was aggravated by their false belief that they were fine they way they were. They felt that they didn’t need anything else to be a successful church. In other words, they had arrived.
You say, ‘I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing.’
At Christian Life Center, we reject any view or belief that says that we’ve arrived or that we don’t need anything else. We reject the concept of complacency and the feeling of self-satisfaction. Rather, we embrace a hunger and thirst for more of God, for more of His presence in our midst, and for a greater working of His Spirit in our lives.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, For they shall be filled. (Matthew 5:6)
We don’t ever want to get to a place where we are satisfied with where we’re at and what we’ve accomplished. Yes, God has blessed us with tremendous growth and with many wonderful miracles. But, according to the word of God, there is still more that God wants to do in these last days.
And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, That I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh. (Acts 2:17)
We are hungry to see God do exactly what He wants to do: pour out His Spirit on unsaved souls without measure.
As we continue with our month of prayer and fasting, help us pray for God to give Christian Life Center the type of harvest He desires to give us – a bountiful harvest that crosses all social, racial, and economic boundaries. Let’s hunger and thirst together for God to do His will in us and through us.
Eli Lopez
Catching the Blessing
Learning how to play catch with a ball may seem like an easy thing to do. As young children, we began throwing things to each other as soon as we had the ability to do so. Often, if we did not catch what was thrown, we ended up with a black eye, a swollen lip or a busted tooth. Through the pain of that experience, we learned how important it was to catch whatever was thrown our way.
The dynamics involved in catching a ball are amazing. The human mind, with the help of the eyes, has to determine the trajectory and speed of the ball. The mind then tells the body how to move in order to intercept the ball before it hits the ground. As the electrical impulses from our brain order our body into action, our muscles respond and begin to move almost instantaneously with the brain’s orders. If all goes well, we will simply reach out and catch the ball.
God is throwing something special towards Christian Life Center. The Head is sending a message to the body to move into action. If all goes well, we will position ourselves to catch what God is desirous to give to us. However, if we are disconnected from the Head, then we will miss out on our opportunity to be recipients of God’s great blessings.
“He is the Head of the body made up of His people-that is, His Church…” Colossians 1:18 (TLB)
It is imperative that we stay connected to our Head. If we will listen, He will give us, the body of Christ, the direction we need to be in the right place to receive a great outpouring of His Spirit. If we will be sensitive to His voice, we will be in the right position for the healings, blessings, and anointing that He has promised us.
As we move into a month of prayer and fasting, help us move with God’s Spirit as we position ourselves to catch what God is sending our way. Let it not be said of us as what was said of Jerusalem by our Lord: “You did not know the time of your visitation.” Rather, with great expectation and desire, we recognize that God is doing a great work in our midst. With great faith we reach out to grab a hold of every good gift that is from Him.
Eli Lopez
Another Happy New Year | Jan 2008
As we move into a brand new year, some things never change. It will take us about a month to stop writing “2007” on our checks. We will make resolutions to do the things that we should have been doing all along. Some of us will start diets, purchase gym memberships, and will swear off desserts (for about a week). We will examine ourselves and commit to fixing the flaws that we see. Why? Because a new year brings new hope for a better future for all of us.
During this time of reflection and resolution, let us not forget the most important aspect of our lives. Getting in shape physically is good. Getting in shape spiritually is great.
For bodily exercise profits a little, but godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come. (1 Timothy 4:8)
If there is one area of life that all of us should focus on in 2008, it is our spiritual walk with God. This is a great time of year to recommit to daily prayer and Bible reading. It is a great time of year to reestablish faithfulness to the house of God. It is a great time of year to reconnect with other believers in one of our many Small Group meetings. It is a great time of year to reach out to friends, coworkers, and neighbors who do not know Christ. It is a great time of year to refocus our attention on eternity and the life God wants us to live here on Earth.
So teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom. (Psalms 90:12)
Before we know it, 2008 will be coming to an end. We will stand around and wonder where the time went and how a year could pass so quickly. If you’re going to make the best of this year, don’t delay one moment longer. Start today to again make God and His word the center of your life. Start right now by recommitting, refocusing, and resolving to be the Christian God wants you to be in ’08 and for the rest of your days.
Eli Lopez
Senior Associate Pastor
A Right Christmas | Dec 2007
As a young person growing up in this church I can remember Bishop Kenneth Haney preaching the same message every December. Like clockwork, as soon as we were in the bustle of the holidays, he would step to the pulpit and deliver a familiar refrain titled: I’m Dreaming of a Right Christmas.
I didn’t always understand the importance of this message. However, now that I have a family to watch over, it is very apparent to me how easily one can get distracted during this time of the year. Christmas has become overtly commercialized and the entire holiday season has taken a secular bent. Lost in all this noise is the real reason we celebrate Christmas – the birth of humanity’s Savior.
A right Christmas is a Christmas that keeps Christ as the center of all we do. In the long run, toys, presents, trees, and lights will have very little impact on our lives. Yet, we invest so much time and money trying to get everything just right for the holiday while neglecting the One who is the source of all our blessings in the first place.
At Christian Life Center we are committed to having a right Christmas. Our services will still be led by the Spirit, the preaching will still be straight and truthful, and God will be exalted in all we do. It’s not enough to recognize the birth of our King; it’s imperative that this King sits on the throne of our hearts every day of the year.
During this time of year when so many are busy and overwrought, take some time and realize that Christ desires to have your attention in spite of all the commotion. I’m dreaming of a right Christmas . . . I hope you are too.
Eli Lopez
