Mica Lopez

01/17/2017

New blogs coming soon! Stay posted! 💖

09/18/2016

One of the most overwhelming responses to suffering is to ask, and even demand, to know WHY it’s happening. We desperately try to find meaning in our pain, a purpose for the situation we are enduring. Unfortunately, we don’t often receive any answers, or at least not while we’re in the middle of everything.

Our experience is more like Job’s, who tried to trust God and accept the trials, but also cried out in frustration and bewilderment. Instead of offering any reason for allowing the trials, God reminded him of His wisdom and power, and impressed on Job how limited his understanding was as a man.

While God’s response to Job is awe-inspiring and humbling, it might not be reassuring for some of us. We know His perspective includes every factor we cannot see, that His might and intellect are beyond what we can grasp. But at the core of our questions, we’re eager, even aching to know whether we can trust the heart of the invisible Being who wields control of our lives. Can we trust our Maker - who claims us as His children - when He chooses not to protect us from pain and suffering?

Part of the answer lies in what we would trust Him to do. The difficult truth is that we can’t trust Him to fix every situation like we would want, because He never promised He would do so. He did promise to always be with us, and redeem everything that happens if we’ll trust Him - and oftentimes He’ll do it anyway, even if we gave up on Him, because He loves us so much.

But how do we trust the Lord when He doesn’t guarantee the things we want in this life?

In human relationships, trust is earned. God knows this, so He invites us to put Him to the test. Start with small things, see if He is trustworthy. Entertain the possibility that any small thing that goes right could be His blessing, an expression of His love and compassion for you.

Did you make that deadline? Perhaps He gave you the strength. Was someone kind to you? Maybe He prompted them to reach out. Is it a beautiful day outside? Consider the likelihood that He knew you needed it, and is inviting you to enjoy it with Him.

Slowly, you’ll start to see that He is good, even when life isn’t. Then someday, even if you don’t understand what He’s doing or why, you’ll trust who He is as your heavenly Dad, and it will be enough.

09/06/2016

How Quickly We Forget

More than once the children of Israel lost focus of how bad life had been when they had been in bondage—enslaved—and they wanted to turn back to Egypt.
How quickly we forget—when the wilderness feels too dark, too hard, too long. When we’re challenged with the season of uncertainty and the process of being made stronger so we can fight the giants ahead. There are times when we forget how hard shame-filled living is, and we’re tempted to yearn for what was familiar—to go back to our old ways. So we yield to the pressure.

We decide it’s time to open a bottle when an unforeseen disappointment surprises us, rather than call that person who’s willingly committed to helping us stay on course. Or, we answer that call we know we shouldn’t, and say yes to going out with the abusive boyfriend one more time—even when all of the warning lights are flashing on the dashboard of our hearts. Or, we grow tired of the discipline of believing what God’s Word says we are over the lies of mean people who have always said, “You’re just a loser—and you’ll always be a loser.”

No matter how bad our past, it’s always easier to default to our old behaviors than keep forging new ones. So many of us struggle with the same temptations. But there is no drive-through breakthrough. We all must go through the wilderness to get to freedom so we are strong enough to defeat the giants who fuel our shame.

Jesus died to secure our freedom—freedom from sin, freedom from death, freedom to live once again as Adam and Eve lived—in the garden—unashamed, having daily fellowship with our loving Creator and each other. In heaven we will fully enjoy that ultimate freedom. But we don’t have to wait to walk in freedom: Jesus offers us freedom from sin’s slavery now.

Jesus came not only for us to drop our shame-filled life, but also to lead us into a shame-free life. Free to walk into the fullness of every promise that He has for our lives. Free to be who He made us to be. Free to do all that He created us to do.

04/01/2016

Love Offers Grace

Jesus was the perfect embodiment of both love and truth. He never told a lie, but at the same time he was never cruel or judgmental with the truth. Every word he spoke was wrapped in love, so even when the truth hurt, he never broke anyone’s trust.

When Jesus was sentenced to death, his followers dispersed in fear of meeting the same fate. Peter, however, decided to follow Jesus on an undercover mission to see what became of his master. But when he was recognized by several people, he passionately denied ever knowing Jesus. In Jesus’ moment of vulnerability, Peter betrayed him.

Crushed by his actions, Peter went away that night and wept bitter tears. He was ashamed of himself, and he was convinced that Jesus was probably ashamed of him too. Jesus died on a cross the next day, and Peter was convinced that the story was over and he’d have to live with his shame for the rest of his life.

But love always makes a way for healing.

Jesus conquered death, and after his resurrection he appeared to Peter. Against the tranquil backdrop of the sunrise, Jesus casually cooked breakfast on the shore while Peter, who was out on the water fishing, literally jumped out of the boat to get to his Savior.

When Peter got to the shore, Jesus asked him the same question three times: “Peter, do you love me?” Each time, Peter answered, “Yes, Lord. You know that I love you.” Each time, Jesus replied, “Then feed my sheep.”

Peter started to get offended by the third time of being asked the same question, but what he didn’t see in the moment was that Jesus was showing him love has the power to cover over our sins. Peter denied Jesus three times, and now, Jesus was extending the grace to allow Peter to affirm his love three times.

I don’t know what you’ve been through. I don’t know how you’ve been hurt or how you’ve been betrayed, and I don’t know what you’ve done to hurt and betray others. What I do know is that God loves you. God offers his grace to you, and he wants you to embrace his grace and then freely share it with others.

03/30/2016

Our Sacred Reflection

You know when your mirror is foggy after a shower and you really can’t even see your own face? Well, that’s often how we see ourselves; we aren’t getting a clear picture. We are seeing ourselves through a mirror dimly, but God is saying, “Just wait because some day you will see with perfect clarity.” And if you are calling God your Father, yet denying that you’re a princess, you’re saying more about Him than you are about yourself. You’re denying that He is King. We need to realize that God truly has made us beautiful and we are royalty in His eyes.

There are three different mirrors that we turn to in hopes of finding our sacred reflection: the mirrors of parents, peers, and culture. Starting from when we are born, and throughout most of our lives, we are looking into the mirror of our parents. We ask them, “Am I beautiful? Do you love me? How much am I worth?” and we base how we view ourselves on their projected opinion. Maybe you received a positive message from your parents. Or maybe not. But if you know how much you are worth and loved by God then no one’s opinion in this world should matter, not even your parent’s.

The second mirror is that of our peers. We tend to compare ourselves to others at work, school, church, and pretty much anywhere. We long to be like those ladies on social media who seem to have it all together – chiefly their appearance. We are subconsciously asking the world if we are beautiful when we post a selfie. We desire affirmation. We do it because we long for attention, we long to be liked.

The third mirror is our culture. Am I prettier than that model? Am I thin enough like that actress? We are comparing ourselves to random people that we don’t even know! We are bombarded by unrealistic pictures of what this world thinks we should look like. And in doing so, we are often comparing ourselves to a lie.

We are really searching for our sacred, truest reflection but we are only going to be able to find it in the mirror of Christ’s eyes. We will never see our true beauty if we keep turning to other mirrors. Only when we fix our eyes on Jesus we stop trying to fix ourselves, because then we are able to see our true worth.

Think about it: What mirror will you choose to look to today?

Verses for further reflection: 1 Corinthians 13 Hebrews 12:2 Psalm 45:10-11

03/28/2016

God Takes Your Problem and Makes It His

What is grace? That’s when God gives you what you need, not what you deserve. Grace is when God says, “I’m going to take your problem and make it my problem.” Grace is God’s Riches given to you At Christ’s Expense.

The Bible says, “God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it” (Ephesians 2:8-9 NLT, second edition). In other words, you can’t earn your way to Heaven. You can’t work your way in. It’s just a gift.

I know I don’t look like it today, but for three years I was a lifeguard. And every lifeguard knows you can’t save people as long as they are trying to save themselves. If somebody is drowning and flailing around in panic, a lifeguard knows to just stay back for a few seconds and wait until that person gives up. Because if you try to save others while they’re trying to save themselves, they will pull you under, too.

When they finally give up, they relax; you put your arm around them and just swim back to shore. It’s really quite easy.

God wants to save you. Jesus Christ wants to save you from your hurts, your habits, and your hang-ups. He wants to save you for his purpose and by his grace. But you’ve got to quit trying to do it yourself. You’ve got to relax. You need to let go and let God be God.

-devotional from Rick Warren on A Purpose Driven Life

02/29/2016

02/27/2016

Pain Is a Microphone

Suffering isn’t an obstacle to being used by God. It is an opportunity to be used like never before.

You’re actually better fit for ministry in the crucible of pain. You have a stronger voice to project and to declare, and it’s easier to belt from the diaphragm of your soul when you’re hurting. It’s counterintuitive, but in the middle of my hardest mess, I’ve found ministry to be a great strength waiting to be tapped into. It was welling up within me—a greater desire than ever before to tell the whole world that Jesus Christ can turn off the dark—because I experienced it myself. Right there, at ground zero, in the valley of the shadow of death. As hard as it was to claw our way through on hands and knees in those moments, Jennie and I found that when we poured our pain into ministry, whole new levels of usefulness opened up. There’s perhaps no time you are as powerful as when you minister in the midst of pain.

-Devotional, "Through the eyes of a lion" by Levi Lusko on the YouVersion app

02/08/2016

Destined for Impact

There is a calling on your life. A great, big, God-sized calling. God has plans for you and has been dreaming about them since before you were even born. You are destined for impact. My heart is racing just thinking about it! If you are reading these words, you have been given a unique, powerful, custom-built platform. A voice. As long as there is breath in your lungs, you have a microphone in your hands. There are things God intends for you to accomplish that no one else has been chosen for. Words he wants you to speak. Actions that speak louder than words. And through it all, he wants you to leave a mark, to put a dent in the universe.

Your potential is unlimited. God’s desire is to do through your life “exceedingly and abundantly above” what you could ask for or even think of (Ephesians 3:20). Whether you are sixteen or sixty, no matter where you have been or what you have seen, you haven’t even scratched the surface of all that God intends for you. There is music inside you waiting to burst out, poems you’re meant to write, horses you’re meant to ride, people you’re meant to touch, companies waiting to be launched, things you’re supposed to invent, clothing lines you’ll design—all to the glory of God.

01/25/2016

Fight the good fight w/faith!
It's tough being a woman. We have so much going on in our heads, it's a miracle that we haven't gone all loca. Lol!
But come on I'm just being real. W/the daily burdens of trying to "measure up" in this world, I can only imagine what others are going thru. Sometimes I take a look back & see other women struggling. It's written in their faces & tone of voice. Stress, addictions, personal struggles, worry about the future, insecurities, money, etc.
My heart goes out to women all around. But take heart beloved, God has a plan for your life. God did not put u in this world just to live this mediocre complacent life until u die! He put visions and dreams inside of u that are wanting to burst out for all to see. But u gotta take the next step of faith. It's hard & u may be limited but take that one step at a time. Hold on to your God given dream. I know it's hard. I know what it's like to feel lonely & trusting in a God u cannot see. But He sees u & He loves u. He has a better plan for u than u do for yourself. Trust Him. Don't give up!✊🏽//

01/09/2016

I second this! 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽
In the Women & Grace community we believe in taking care of our bodies.
God calls our bodies are temples & He said we must take care of them.
Pastor Rick Warren says it best... "Keeping your body in shape is a spiritual discipline. It’s not just about losing a few pounds, wanting to live longer, or trying to look nicer. God created your body, Jesus died for it, the Holy Spirit lives in it, your body is connected to Christ, and it’s going to be resurrected one day. When it is, God’s going to hold you accountable for how you managed what he gave you".//