Your Past Lessons Taught You! 10-4-26

Welcome to the word for the week. It is easy to ignore the lessons in our lives. It is easy to think certain things will never happen to us. It is easy to read the bible and say that was then but things are different now. It is easy to say only some things happen to some people. The list of reasons to look the other way goes on and on. However, the bible is clear to us that the things we read about in the bible are for our examples today. They are things we should learn from. If we ignore the past lessons then history is sure to repeat itself until we do learn. There are two particular passages of scripture for us to look at and then we can move on. The first one is Romans 15:4 and the second is 1 Corinthians 10:6-11. Take a look at those and then come back to this. Trust me, it will help to make sense of the rest of this word.

What we see in this world today is not new. The bible says there is nothing new under the sun. The things that have been are as we speak. The things that are have already been. The only two things different about anything are the times in which they happened and the people who it happened to. The first murder is in the book of Genesis and it is a brother killing his own brother. The first act of rebellion is in the book of Genesis. The first lie told is in the book of Genesis. So that this does not paint the story as doom and gloom, the first act of worship is in the book of Genesis. The book of Genesis in the book of beginnings. In that very book of beginnings are the first of so many things we still see in our daily lives. What have we learned from all of this? How do those stories impact you today? Do you read them as simply things that have happened or do you read them as instructions for your own life?

You and I have no excuse to be falling in the things that someone else already fell in. It was for your example. We have learned since Adam that we can repent to God and not do those wrong things anymore. We have learned from Terah, who is the father of Abraham, that there are times when you will have to break away from family. We have learned from Noah that the first thing we should do when God has spared us is to worship Him. We have learned from Jacob that we do not have to manipulate our way through life. We have learned from the brothers of Joseph that God will keep His promise rather we like it or not. We have learned from Joseph that it may take time but everything God said will happen just the way He said it. All of these examples are in the first book of the bible. You do not have to figure out where it starts in the other sixty-five books. It starts in the very first book and it confirms itself throughout the rest of the other sixty-five books. For sixty-six books straight, the bible confirms that what God begins He is God enough to finish it!

When we quit on God it is like slapping Him in His face. He has done too many things before to show us today He is faithful. We can even see the promise of the Savior in the book of Genesis. One can never know the promises of God if they do not read their bible. One cannot understand the promises of God if they do not pray. All of us have been through some extremely tough moments in life. It is easy to wonder where was God then. Let me challenge you with this next step. You may wonder where God was then but have you considered that He never left you? How do you think you got through those moments? Who carried you when you could not carry yourself? Who kept you covered from the same things that could have happened to you? Who spared your life for a time such as this? Yes, it hurts and it hurts a lot. But God is always and forever faithful. Mistakes are not made on His part. It is our lack of understanding that is the mistake on our part. There is an old song that says and we’ll understand it better by and by. When I was younger that did not make complete sense. Today, I completely get it. There will come a day when the answer will be in front of you. You just have to give it time for you to get to a point where you can handle it.

May the Lord continue to bless and keep you in His grace,
Bishop Carlos J. Lennon