Introduction to Philemon

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 11-12-02

 

My Worship Time                                                      Focus:  Intro to Philemon

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  Philemon1-2

 

            Message of the verse:  “1 Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother, To Philemon our beloved brother and fellow worker, 2 and to Apphia our sister, and to Archippus our fellow soldier, and to the church in your house:”  (NAS95)  “1 This letter is from Paul, in prison for the preaching the Good News about Christ Jesus, and from our brother Timothy.  It is written to Philemon, our much loved co-worker, 2 and to our sister Apphia and to Archippus, a fellow soldier of the cross.  I am also writing to the church that meets in your house.”

            This is one of three divinely inspired letters that Paul had written to individuals that is recorded in the Bible.  It is written to his friend Philemon who lived in Colosse, and had a church meeting in his house.  He owned a slave, Onesimus, who had stole some money and ran away to Rome where he meet Paul.  Paul quickly became friends with Onesimus and found him very useful for the cause of Christ, however he knew that he would have to return him to his rightful owner.  That is the reason for this letter to Philemon, for Paul wanted Philemon to forgive Onesimus for leaving and for steeling money from him.

            Paul starts out his letter by identifying himself as a prisoner of Christ Jesus and not as an apostle of Jesus Christ.  Paul could have used his authority to make sure that Philemon would deal well with his slave Onesimus, but he wanted Philemon to forgive him because he wanted to.  Paul mentions Timothy in the greeting of this letter.  He did this in some of his other letters and probably because Timothy would be the one who would take over Paul’s ministry when Paul would go to be with the Lord at his death.  He also mentions Philemon’s wife and son in the greeting and also the church that meets in their house, and wants Philemon to read this letter to the church too. 

           

            Spiritual meaning for my life:  The theme of this letter is forgiveness and a person must demonstrate it because he chooses to forgive someone.  Forgiveness means not holding a grudge against the one that you forgive.  God has forgiven me of my sins because Jesus Christ has paid the penalty for them at the cross.  If I then am freely forgiven of my wrongdoing I should also demonstrate true forgiveness to those who offend me.  Forgiveness is something that at times is very hard to do, but if it is not done in a Biblical way then bitterness will spring up in my heart and this is sinful and can have a very bad effect on my life.  God has to change my heart so that I can forgive someone, and He gave me a new heart when He saved me.

 

The Word of God has given me instruction as I studied it this morning.

 

My Steps of Faith Today:  I know that I am upset about going to the dentist today because of IBS.  I want to handle this in a way that will bring honor to my Lord and not a victory for my enemy.  I want to trust the Lord to get me through this appointment today.