Colossians 4:9
Joy’s notes:
Col 4:9
“I am also sending Onesimus,
(O-nes-i-mus) a faithful and beloved brother, one of your own people. He and Tychicus will tell you everything that’s happening here.”
O-nesimus was slave to Philemon.
Philemon was member of the Colossian church AND the church met in his home !!!
O-nesimus (the slave) ran away from from Philemon - & met Christ in Rome they Paul.
Slaves had hole in ear lobe & may have been placed in prison for short time— allowing him to meet Paul & ultimately JESUS!
Paul wrote letter to
O-nesimus’ master (Philemon) that he is RETURNING O-nesimus to him.
Historical accounts say he eventually became a bishop & an apostle!
———————
Flight• fight• freeze (freakout, fall-apart)
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A body’s natural reaction to danger
RUNNERS:
Hagar - Sarai
Jacob - Esau
Moses - his people
Jonah - God
Elijah - jezebel
Prodigal son
God had a special love for runaways
Fostercare story—
“Where were you going?”
Paul Convinced O-nes-i-mus that running from his problems wouldn’t solve them.
When God find runaways, he often sent them back to the very places and people from which they ran in the first place. (Jonah, Moses, Elijah, prodigal son)
Paul KNEW God took the runaways of the Bible back to where they began!!!
——> they LEFT broken.
——>they returned whole.
They RANAWAY broken,
but RETURNED whole!
Lie from Satan— Runaway… the ghosts won’t follow you.
Story of Hagar: (Gen16:6-15)
Sarai shares Abram with the SLAVE Hagar & becomes pregnant.
Sarai treated Hagar harshly
Hagar RUNS AWAY
ANGEL of the Lord found Hagar beside a spring of water (a well🙌)
The angel said “return to your mistress & I will bless you!”
The angel tells her about her future son
Hagar “used another name to refer to God” El Roi (El-RO -EE)“The God who SEES me.”
She named THE WELL “the well of the Living One who sees me.
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the angel of the Lord asked Hagar TWO QUESTIONS:
Where have you come from?
Where are you going?
ASK MYSELF:
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WHERE HAVE I COME FROM?
I came from insecurity, fear, control, anger, manipulation, deceit, hiding, mask wearing, people-pleasing, numbing out, idol worshiping, co-dependency, anxious thinking, shame based mentality, = A SLAVE (to sin)
WHERE ARE YOU YOU GOING?
Prov 29:18 “where there is no vision, the people perish.”
Psalm 23= “El-RO-Ee” (El Roi) God not only sees, but is guiding me as my SHEPHERD!
A good shepherd who sees us and guides us safely into our destiny!
P S A L M 23:
“ The Lord is my shepherd (Hebrew word El Roi), I lack nothing.
He makes me lie down in green pastures,
He LEADS me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul.
He GUIDES me along the right paths for his name’s sake.
Even though I walk
through the valley of dark, I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
—>your rod and your staff (small shovel)
they comfort me. (Boundaries give us protection & security)
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil; (OX STORY- the enemy attacks our HEADS most!!)
my cup overflows.
Surely your goodness and love will follow me
all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord
forever.”
——> Hagar Returned to where she came from, but FREE & WHOLE— because she had been SEEN by God!
(Just like O-nesimus)
Isiah 49:15
“Can a mother forget the baby at her breast
and have no compassion on the child she has borne?
Though she may forget,
I will not forget you!
— 12 oaks mall “let down”
— I forgot, but my body didn’t!
☀️ IMPOSSIBLE FOR GOD TO FORGET ABOUT ME!
unworthiness, insecurity,
Anita’s Notes:
