Pastor Leo Colon's Blog

Tag: Jesus

  • Get Understanding. Get Clarity.

    Beloved, Grace and Peace be unto you from God our Father and from the LORD Jesus Christ. Thank you for taking the time to visit our blog site.

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    Today I would like to revisit the blog posted a while ago. Proverbs 18 is a timely and relevant passage. Beloved, God demands that we be wise. He takes the time in the Old and New Testaments to encourage; some would say admonishes us to be wise. He also discourages foolishness. Let’s take a simple look at part of the text:

    NRSV

    Prov. 18:1 The one who lives alone is self-indulgent, showing contempt for all who have sound judgment.

    Prov. 18:2  A fool takes no pleasure in understanding, but only in expressing personal opinion.

    A person, who does not have to deal with people, may not be used to compromise. This text suggests that such a person is prone to self-indulgence. One of the meanings of indulgence is “to become involve with”. So the idea of self-indulgence suggests that the person who lives by themselves can become to involve with him or herself. Now we should not read into this text that paying attention to your self is in and of itself wrong. When we center right and wrong around the idea ‘what do I want,’ and refuse to consider the impact of our actions on others then our separation from others has taking its toll. The reason an idea sounds good is because we want to do a thing. When you live alone, there is no one externally available to offer an opposing idea. When this becomes the norm, sound judgment is just negativity. Sound judgment would offer a reason that does not begin and end under the rubric: what do I want, and because of that, I have a good reason to dismiss it. Now beloved, this is not scripture that speaks against anyone living alone. This text should not lead us to start a doctrine that says living alone is a sin. It should encourage us to always seek sound judgment, and not only your own counsel.

    Prov. 18:2 A fool takes no pleasure in understanding, but only in expressing personal opinion.

    We should constantly seek understanding. Get clarity in every part of your day. Know why you are doing a thing, and assess the virtue of a thing. What this journey into pragmatism has taught me is that I can use this approach in every part of my life. So many times, especially lately, since I am making a renewed effort to seek wisdom, I look back at some setbacks, both in my recent and distance past, and found that taking the time understand an issue better could have helped me avoid some mistakes. Beloved, mistakes cost. A fool takes no pleasure in understanding, but you are no fool. Get clarity; plan your day, live on purpose. Suppose you took the time to plan your day. Set a goal. What would be a wise thing to accomplish? Set objectives that will help you achieve your goals. Because you set a goal, now you can determine whether today was a successful day. What does today mean to you? How can wisdom help make today a better today? Try it; write down what needs to get done. I need to schedule 5 meetings today. Write for my book today. I need to workout today. Then go after it. Do it on purpose and not by mistake.

    Yours Because I am His,

    Leo Colon

    www.ihpfwc.org

    leocolon.wordpress.com

  • Day Twelve of our Twenty-One Day Journey:Are You Still Hungry?

    Grace and peace be multiplied unto you, through the knowledge of God and of Jesus Christ our LORD.

    Today we are on day number Twelve (12) of our twenty-one day fast. Beloved, you are now over the half-way point and are well on your way to achieving what God has called you to. You are to be commended. You are doing very well. I want to encourage you, drink as much water as possible, and least 10 to 12 glasses of water today. Have your bowl of soup and remember to pray from your prayer list. You want to be specific about what you would like God to do for you.

    Today, Pastor Maurice Johnson has submitted his entry for our blog for today. Please welcome, my colleague, friend and brother, Pastor Maurice Johnson, our guest blogger for today. He has submitted a word from the LORD to encourage us today. Join me in thanking him and don’t forget to leave a comment on the blog to let him know that God has bless you through this effort.

    Tomorrow, we are looking forward to an entry from our own Pastor Dorothy Colon.

    Again beloved, I want to encourage you early in the week to make plans to bring someone to church with you. Think about someone you would like to share the Gospel of Christ with and bring them with you to church. I said this on Saturday, no matter what church you belong to, evangelism is a vital part of every believer’s faith. Don’t come to church by your self. Bring a guest and share the Gospel. Why? Because Christ commands us.

    Luke 14:23 And the lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.

    God wants his house filled. Do your part. Be a part of God’s plan to fill his church. Think of 10 people you want to come to church with you this week. Write their names in your prayer list and make the sacrifice to get them to church. God commands it. Stay encouraged.

    Live Life on Purpose and not By Mistake,
    Yours Because I am His,
    Leo Colon
    pastor@ihpfwc.org
    www.ihpfwc.or

    Grace and peace be unto you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

    It is an interesting thought that something as simple as fasting can call into question your walk and relationship with the Lord. For example, did the Lord really call this fast or is this something that the pastor is trying to impose upon us, or, am I going to make it through these 21 days. Hunger has a way of testing more than your faith, it will test both your physical fortitude and your mental ambiguity, that is to say, you may question yourself as to how clear your commitment is to spiritual things. All of this stems not only from the fact that you have not eaten but that you are hungry as well, my question to you is, what are you hungry for or what would you like to eat.

    The Greek word “Peinao” means to hunger, be hungry, to suffer want, to be needy, metaphorically speaking it is to crave passionately, to seek with eager desire. I am pretty sure that by this time we have all thought or spoken about our physical hunger, but have you addressed your spiritual hunger. Let’s put this into some sort of perspective, if your yearly fast only consist of the first fruits of this 21 days consecration, you would have given a sacrifice of 5.75% of your year in the pursuit of spiritual things through abstinence of you daily cuisine. However, you are not one dimensional; you have a soul, which also needs to be given a balanced diet, I mean let’s think about it, how often do you stuff the soul with the food it craves.

    Psalms 42: 1 As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God. NIV

    The example given here by David seems to suggest that the true believer has within their soul an appetite for sustenance just as our temporal frame has an appetite. In one of the most profound, if not the most profound messages found in the scriptures, Jesus declares in the sermon on the mount this phrase.

    Matthew 5:6 Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.

    Again the scriptures indicate a hungry of the soul, so I wish to congratulate and encourage you for feeding the other side of you. You have seated your soul at the table of consecration, you are praying (eat), you are studying the scriptures (eat) and you are detoxifying your mind, body and soul from worldly things (EAT). Note the promise of Jesus given to the righteous in the passage, “you shall be filled,” and I pray all the goodly things of God be upon you as you persevere. As Pastor Leo has admonished us time and time again, “drink lots of water,” but do not forget to feed your soul, it too is hungry. You can make it, you must make it, you will make it, let the words posted by Pastors Leo, Dorothy, Paul and yours truly be food for your soul.

    According to the wisest man in Biblical history, Solomon, the commandments of the Lord “It shall be health to thy navel, and marrow to thy bones.” – Proverbs 3:8

    Bon Appetite!

    Pastor Johnson