Thread by @jordanroten33

I’ve always been inspired by the way @BethMooreLPM brings God’s Word to life here on Twitter by sharing what she’s been reading, so here goes my first Twitter thread where I will try to explain why I was completely undone by my time in Scripture a few days ago.

I have been reading through the 13 letters of Paul, and since I read them slightly out of order, I ended in Philemon. I’ll admit that I had NO IDEA who Philemon was. This is not a book of the Bible I have spent much time in; however, it is now one of my favorites.

If you are like me and don’t know much about Philemon, here is a quick overview: Philemon (pronounced Fuh-Lee-Muhn) was a slave owner who lived in Colossae and was friends with Paul. One of his slaves, Onesimus, stole from him and ran away, which was punishable by death.

Then, in a crazy turn of events, Onesimus ended up in prison—right next to Paul. During that time of imprisonment, Paul actually led him to the Lord and built a fatherly bond with him.

So, the book of Philemon is a letter that Paul wrote to Philemon, imploring him to forgive his former slave, restore their relationship, and welcome him back not as a slave, “but as a dearly loved brother.”

Right before I started reading this beautiful story of forgiveness and restorative love, I felt like the Holy Spirit told me: “This is the way that Jesus talks about you to the Father.”

So, with that in mind, here are some of the verses that had me in tears:

“I am making this appeal on behalf of my child (v10). He is my very heart (v12). He was separated from you for a short time so that you could have him back forever. So welcome him no longer as a slave, but more than that as a dearly loved brother (v15-16).

Accept him the same way you would accept me. And if he has stolen anything from you or owes you anything, just place it on my account (v17-18).”

My heart can barely handle the magnitude of this appeal and it’s reflection of our relationship with the Father through the Son.

After the original sin, man had to be banished from the garden. Because if we had eaten from the tree of life while in that state, we would have lived forever in our sin, eternally separated from our Father (Genesis 3:22-24.)

We had to be separated for a short time—so that He could have us back forever.

And then, as part of the plan established before the creation of the world (1 Peter 1:20), Jesus came to restore that relationship through His death, burial, and resurrection.

He took all of our sins, and failures, and shortcomings and placed them on His account on the cross (1 Peter 2:24). And in doing so, He allowed us to be filled with the Spirit of Adoption, accepting us into His family as dearly loved brothers and sisters (Romans 8:15).

“Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.” — Galatians 4:7

Such a beautiful passage of Scripture! I pray I never cease to be amazed by fresh revelations in His Word. 🙌🏼♥️ #Scripture #GodsWord #HolySpirit