Year 7 | Pastor Geronimo Lopez-Lara

Devotional

Day 1: When the Furnace Feels Like Home

The darkest seasons often disguise themselves as dead ends. What looks like collapse becomes holy ground where purpose is forged. Trauma can blur memory, numb resolve, and make tomorrow’s sunrise feel impossible. Yet obedience in the ache—showing up when the bed feels safer than the battle—unlocks prophetic momentum. Scars remain, but so does the proof: survival births legacy. [30:05]

“So Jehu said, ‘If this is your thinking, then let no one escape or leave the city to go and tell the news in Jezreel.’ He hitched his horses to his chariot and rode out to the place where the kings lay dead. When he arrived, he asked, ‘Is there peace?’ Jehonadab answered, ‘Peace? What do you know about peace? Follow me and see.’” (2 Kings 9:15–19, ESV)

Reflection: What ache or uncertainty makes you want to hide today? Name one practical step—even if small—to “show up” where God has placed you this week.

Day 2: YouTube Videos and Unseen Battles

Revisiting old footage can resurrect forgotten grit. The dates on a calendar rarely reveal the private wars fought between Sundays. Ministry, parenting, or personal growth often feel like fumbling in fog—no applause, just the grind of choosing faith over sight. Yet hidden in those grainy recordings of your past is proof: you survived what tried to bury you. [31:33]

“I will remember the deeds of the Lord; yes, I will remember your wonders of old. I will ponder all your work, and meditate on your mighty deeds.” (Psalm 77:11–12, ESV)

Reflection: What “old footage” from your life (journal, photos, memories) reveals God’s faithfulness in a season you thought would break you?

Day 3: One Yes Erases a Thousand Nos

A single defiant “yes” to God can rewrite decades. Rebellion, apathy, or fear may litter your history, but redemption needs only one moment of surrender. Like a sword thrust into hard ground, decisive obedience cracks open hardened soil for new growth. The enemy trembles not at your perfection, but your persistence. [36:12]

“But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:13–14, ESV)

Reflection: What “no” from your past still haunts you? How might today’s “yes” to God shift your story’s trajectory?

Day 4: Purpose Isn’t Pretty (But It’s Necessary)

Calling often wears the face of inconvenience. Late nights, unpaid bills, and unanswered prayers litter the path to significance. Yet purpose thrives in the tension between “Why me?” and “Why not me?” The kingdom isn’t built on Instagram highlights but on the sweat of those who labor in the unseen. [38:45]

“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:10, ESV)

Reflection: Where does your current assignment feel unglamorous or exhausting? How might this very struggle be shaping you for greater fruit?

Day 5: Strike the Ground Until It Trembles

Obedience is a hammer. Every swing—prayers whispered, tables set, wounds forgiven—weakens the enemy’s grip. Victory isn’t seized in one heroic strike but in the rhythm of faithful blows. Seven years of swinging may feel futile, but underground, roots are cracking tombs. Keep striking. [40:51]

“And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.” (Galatians 6:9, ESV)

Reflection: What “ground” (relationship, habit, ministry) have you stopped striking? What would it look like to pick up the hammer again this month?

Sermon Summary

Grace Life Church’s seven year anniversary looks back at a story that did not start clean, easy, or pretty. The ministry began in 2019 in a small cramped room, with the altar close and the seats packed in tight, and only three months later everything felt like it blew up. The death of Pastor Kevin became a crossroads where no one knew what the next minute held, let alone the next few weeks, years, or seven years. The story does not pretend that faith always feels strong in those moments. The story says something much plainer and more costly: people just kept showing up.

The question at the center is what a believer does when it feels like the end. The dark season becomes the place where inconvenience carries prophetic significance. The things done when the heart feels broken, when getting out of bed feels impossible, when belief feels out of reach, may become the very things God uses to birth purpose. The quiet moments matter because God does not always give instant direction, and there are seasons where everything feels silent. In those moments, the call is to push back against the enemy, make the next faithful decision, and refuse to let pain write the final chapter.

The line “the process is not the end” becomes more than a title. The process may not be understood while it is happening. The process may not look like faith from the outside or feel like faith on the inside. But God can still be working beauty before there is any evidence of beauty. One yes can change the nature of the story moving forward. One decision to push back can interrupt years of disappointment, disobedience, and fear.

Purpose does not always make sense. Purpose can hurt, leave scars, and feel like a furnace. Yet God can work everything for good without giving approval to everything that happened. The prayers of parents, friends, children, and unseen warriors may have carried people into the present moment when their own faith could not carry them. The call is simple but heavy: do not walk out of purpose. Keep digging. Keep showing up. Keep striking the ground. Seven years stand as a witness that God is still faithful, still moving, and still able to birth something amazing on the backs of obedience.

Key Takeaways

1. Keep showing up in the furnace The furnace is not a place anyone would choose, and it is not something that should be dressed up as easy. Still, the quiet faithfulness of showing up can become the hand of God holding a ministry, a family, or a soul in place. Purpose often survives because someone stayed when leaving would have made more sense. [37:18]
2. The process is not the end The process can feel like the final word when pain is loud and God seems quiet. But a believer does not need to understand the whole process to take the next faithful step. God can be working beauty before there is any visible evidence that beauty is coming. [36:12]
3. One yes can change the story A single decision to push back against the enemy can change the direction of a life. That yes may not erase what happened, but it can change what happens next and what the story becomes. Faithfulness can begin again in one moment, even after years of disappointment or disobedience. [35:52]
4. Purpose is not always pretty Purpose can be necessary in the eyes of God while still being painful in human eyes. God working all things for good does not mean every event receives approval or becomes easy to explain. It means surrendered pain can still be gathered into a story God refuses to waste. [38:26]
5. Keep striking the ground The call is not always to make a dramatic move, but to keep digging, keep believing, and keep striking the ground. Obedience may continue long before fruit is visible. The hidden labor of faithful people can become the ground where God births something amazing. [40:51]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[28:23] - Celebrating Seven Years
[28:56] - The Beginning of Grace Life
[29:31] - A Small Room and a Big Start
[30:05] - When Everything Felt Like the End
[31:05] - Looking Back at the First Word
[33:09] - Inconvenience and Prophetic Significance
[34:48] - Moving Without Instant Direction
[35:52] - One Decision Can Change the Story
[36:12] - The Process Is Not the End
[37:18] - People Kept Showing Up
[38:26] - Purpose Is Not Always Pretty
[39:50] - Do Not Walk Out of Purpose
[40:51] - Keep Striking the Ground
[42:14] - The Best Is Yet to Come

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading

Romans 8:28
“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.”

2 Kings 13:18-19
“Then he said, ‘Take the arrows,’ and he took them. And he said to the king of Israel, ‘Strike the ground with them.’ And he struck three times and stopped. Then the man of God was angry with him and said, ‘You should have struck five or six times; then you would have struck down Syria until you had made an end of it, but now you will strike down Syria only three times.’” [40:45]

James 1:2-4
“Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” [39:35]

Observation questions

In Romans 8:28, what does the verse actually promise God will do with “all things,” and who is that promise spoken to? [38:51]
In 2 Kings 13:18-19, what did the king do when he was told to strike the ground, and why was the man of God angry with him?
What were some of the details of the church’s beginning and the crisis that came only three months later? [29:31]
What repeated actions or phrases stand out in the message when life feels unclear or painful? [40:34]

Interpretation questions

Romans 8:28 says God works all things together for good. How is that different from saying that God approves of everything that happens? [38:51]
The phrase “the process is not the end” points to a long season that did not make sense at the time. What does that phrase suggest about how believers should view a painful season before they can see any beauty in it? [36:30]
In quiet moments, when there is no instant direction, a believer may still need to make a decision and push back against the enemy. What might that look like in real life without becoming reckless or self-driven? [34:48]
“People just kept showing up” became part of the story’s survival. What does that reveal about the value of ordinary faithfulness during a furnace season? [37:18]

Application questions

Where does life currently feel most like a furnace for you—grief, family, calling, health, work, or faith—and what would “keep showing up” look like this week in that exact place? [39:50]
Is there an area where you have been waiting for a huge revelation before obeying the next simple step? What small act of obedience may already be in front of you? [34:40]
One yes can change the direction of a story. What is one specific yes to God that needs to happen now, even if it does not change the past? [35:52]
Some seasons are so quiet that faith feels weak. When your own strength feels low, whose prayers, encouragement, or spiritual support have helped carry you? Have you let anyone know you need that kind of support right now? [38:58]
“Do not walk out of purpose” is a serious warning. What are the pressures or disappointments that most tempt you to pull back from what God has called you to do? [40:13]
“Keep striking the ground” speaks of ongoing obedience before fruit is visible. Where are you most tempted to stop too soon, and what would perseverance look like over the next month? [40:45]
Purpose is not always pretty and may still leave scars. How have pain and disappointment shaped your view of purpose, and where do you need God to help you trust that He will not waste that pain? [38:34]

Sermon Clips

42s

#KeepShowingUpForYou

“``The the furnace was not easy. It it it hurt, and and and we still have scars to today. But if there's anything you can take away, is that you need to keep showing up for you because we all have purpose at stake. We all have significance at stake. And I can't save your significance. I can't push you into purpose. You have to choose that for yourself.”

60s

#PurposeRequiresFaith

“sometimes purpose is not pretty. Sometimes purpose does not make sense. Sometimes purpose leaves you in a state where you don't know what's next. But always purpose in the eyes of God is necessary. So when the bible says that God will work everything to your good, it doesn't mean you'll get the approval of everything that happens in life. But it means that if you hold on to God and if you trust God, even when you're you don't really feel it, right, and you have to lean on the faith of everyone else in your circle, the prayer warriors of your parents, the parents that were praying for you that they didn't even tell you that they were praying for, That when you were in rebellion, it's the prayers of your friends, the prayers of your parents, maybe the prayers of your children that have gotten you to this place today. And”

56s

#OneDecisionChangesEverything

“Because whatever comes after that quiet moment is the thing that may not be able to change your past. It may not be able to change what you went through, but it can change what happens or it can change the nature of your story moving forward. That what happens when you make a decision can erase the past twenty years of your life, can erase twenty years of disobedience. It can erase five years of disappointment. It can erase ten years of saying no to God with one yes in one instant moment, in one decision to push back against the enemy, in one decision to say no. Can change your faith, and it can change your story.”

62s

#MoveBeforeYouSeeIt

“That what happens when you make a decision can erase the past twenty years of your life, can erase twenty years of disobedience. It can erase five years of disappointment. It can erase ten years of saying no to God with one yes in one instant moment, in one decision to push back against the enemy, in one decision to say no. Can change your faith, and it can change your story. The title of the message that I preached seven years ago was the process is not the end. And you know what? I'll be completely honest. I don't even know if I believed it at the time. but sometimes we have to move even before we see the beauty or the evidence of the beauty miracle that God is working in the process.”

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