Faith – Page 14 – Dobra Family Ministry

Chosen Devotional Outline

Our family enjoys The Chosen. We know people moved to faith or renewed in faith and driven to Gods word because of The Chosen. But there are some things to keep in mind.

Only God’s word is truth. All extra biblical media must point to the true word of God.

“Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.” John 17:17 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/jhn.17.17.ESV

Avoid “other” Jesus’ and gospels. Do not be drawn to “the Chosen” Jesus, but let the chosen draw you to the true Jesus as revealed in scripture.

“I wish you would bear with me in a little foolishness. Do bear with me! For I feel a divine jealousy for you, since I betrothed you to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ. But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ. For if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus than the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or if you accept a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it readily enough.” 2 Corinthians 11:1-4 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/2co.11.1-4.ESV

“For I would have you know, brothers, that the gospel that was preached by me is not man’s gospel. For I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ.” Galatians 1:11-12 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/gal.1.11-12.ESV

Always beware of false teachers, prophets pointing to false Christ’s.

“Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There he is!’ do not believe it. For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect.” Matthew 24:23-24 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/mat.24.23-24.ESV

Add nothing to God’s word.

“Every word of God proves true; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him. Do not add to his words, lest he rebuke you and you be found a liar.” Proverbs 30:5-6 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/pro.30.5-6.ESV

Jesus was not just an Angel as some false religions believe

“Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,” Hebrews 1:1-3 ESV (all of Hebrews 1) https://bible.com/bible/59/heb.1.1-3.ESV

Come and see TheChosen.tv

For a well thought out counter position read “The Chosen” Fiction

“The Chosen series is condemned by the Bible first and foremost because it adds man’s ideas (his beliefs, concepts, viewpoints, conceptions, images, perceptions, his religions, and especially his feelings, etc.) to what God alone has communicated. It makes no difference how far afield the additions are—even the smallest contribution would not be of God, but of man.”

For The Chosen response to critics:

“You Have Questions About The Chosen…” https://youtu.be/QiDdWe2Tb5I

Household Prayer: Thanksgiving

“Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name!”
Psalm 100:4 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/psa.100.4.ESV

Brothers, I’m giving thanks to God! I am thankful for our homeschool community. Thankful for all of you, and often pray for each of you. Thankful for engaged fathers and the kingdom impact it will have. I am thankful, Lord.

“Only strong families can weather the cultural storms of Babylon. “Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease” (Jer. 29:6)… How can you raise children in a pagan environment? In Judaism, there were strong fathers who took responsibility for the home. The father led his family in the Passover rituals; fathers were charged with teaching children the Word of God. And God knew that with strong fathers, grounded in the Word of God, these families could survive paganism. With strong families, God would have future seed, and the message of His gospel (as understood in Old Testament times) would flourish. God needed children so that a future generation would be able to return to the land and continue His work. So God said, “Have families in the midst of this pagan culture.” Thankfully, their children probably did not have to attend Babylonian schools.”
The Church in Babylon: Heeding the Call to Be a Light in the Darkness by Erwin W. Lutzer https://a.co/2p286Dr

Household Prayer: Community, city on a hill

Brothers, today I’m praying for the community in light of current events and the play to use administrative regulation to coerce private companies to enforce unlawful mandates. We may have those that lose jobs in our churches and community or otherwise have to wrestle with this decision. And if the state forces vaccines for children in government schools we may see many families needing help and encouragement to homeschool. I’m praying that we love and serve one another well in our CC and church communities through these times. Finally, I pray that our love for one another in our community would bear witness to the love of God in the larger community. “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.” Matthew 5:14

“Arise, O Lord! Let not man prevail; let the nations be judged before you!”
Psalm 9:19 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/psa.9.19.ESV

““You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden… In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”
Matthew 5:14, 16 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/mat.5.14-16.ESV

“The City on a Hill strategy shows that a small segment can have broad effects. One town—Magdeburg, Germany—probably saved the Reformation.”
The Confessional County: Realizing the Kingdom through Local Christendom by Raymond Simmons https://a.co/cP0eRdc

Household Prayer: Knowing God

To know God

“For what higher, more exalted, and more compelling goal can there be than to know God?”
J. I. Packer, Knowing God

Brothers, I am praying today that we would know God more, and that we would find joy in making Him known to our children. I pray that by making family worship and Bible study a priority in our homes their hearts would rejoice in knowing Him.

“And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.”
John 17:3 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/jhn.17.3.ESV

““You shall therefore lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul, and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall teach them to your children, talking of them when you are sitting in your house, and when you are walking by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.”
Deuteronomy 11:18-19 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/deu.11.18-19.ESV

“Thus says the Lord: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the Lord.””
Jeremiah 9:23-24 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/jer.9.23-24.ESV

Household Prayer: community, love one another

“Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.”
1 John‬ ‭4:11‬ ‭ESV‬‬ https://bible.com/bible/59/1jn.4.11.ESV

Brothers, today I’m praying for the community. Praying that we love and serve one another in the grace and mercy of God because He first loved us. Every family in our CC community will have joys and challenges and I pray we love and serve one another and rejoice and morn with one another. Finally, I pray that our love for one another in our community would bear witness to the love of God in the larger community.

“In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us…
We love because he first loved us…
And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.”
‭1 John‬ ‭4:9-12, 19, 21‬ ‭ESV‬‬ https://bible.com/bible/59/1jn.4.9-21.ESV

“Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.”
Hebrews‬ ‭10:23-25‬ ‭ESV‬‬ https://bible.com/bible/59/heb.10.23-24.ESV

Household Prayer: faith to upend the world

“And when they could not find them, they dragged Jason and some of the brothers before the city authorities, shouting, “These men who have turned the world upside down have come here also,”
Acts 17:6 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/act.17.6.ESV

Praying that we embrace “[our] responsibility to raise up the next generation to know Christ and His world… steeping them in the truth, goodness, and beauty of Christ and His ways… training them to believe and obey the King of the world.” (1)

I pray that we and our children would “follow Jesus at all times and in all places… in marriage, vocation, education, military service, recreation, financial exchanges, and political decisions.” (1)

And I pray that our faith would be so strong that like Paul and the other Apostles people would say “These men.. have turned the world upside down” (Acts 17:6 ) and that our witness would “shutdown the very industry of idol making (Acts 19:27).” (1)

““Now this is the commandment—the statutes and the rules—that the Lord your God commanded me to teach you, that you may do them in the land to which you are going over, to possess it … You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.”
Deuteronomy 6:1, 7 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/deu.6.1-7.ESV

“The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein,”
Psalm 24:1 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/psa.24.1.ESV

“And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.”
Matthew 28:18 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/mat.28.18.ESV

“Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”
Matthew 6:10 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/mat.6.10.ESV

1. “Strong and Courageous: following Jesus amid the rise of America’s new religion” https://press.founders.org/shop/strong-and-courageous/

Household Prayer: work

Brothers, today I’m praying that God would establish the work of our hands. Wether our vocation, day job, the work in the home, or the work of educating and instructing our children. Whatever we do, may we “work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men,”

“Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men,”
Colossians 3:23 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/col.3.23.ESV

Creation mandate, cultural mandate, or dominion mandate: Genesis 1:26-28

The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it.”
‭‭Genesis‬ ‭2:15‬ ‭ESV‬‬
https://bible.com/bible/59/gen.2.15.ESV

“I perceived that there is nothing better for them than to be joyful and to do good as long as they live; also that everyone should eat and drink and take pleasure in all his toil—this is God’s gift to man.”
‭‭Ecclesiastes‬ ‭3:12-13‬ ‭ESV‬‬
https://bible.com/bible/59/ecc.3.12-13.ESV

“Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat their produce. Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease.”
‭‭Jeremiah‬ ‭29:5-6‬ ‭ESV‬‬
https://bible.com/bible/59/jer.29.5-6.ESV

““Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom his master has set over his household, to give them their food at the proper time? Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes.”
‭‭Matthew‬ ‭24:45-46‬ ‭ESV‬‬
https://bible.com/bible/59/mat.24.45-46.ESV

“Entwined in our natures as image-bearers of God, we have an integrated directive as vice-regents over God’s creation… God created the heavens and the earth and granted humans the privilege of work to order those raw materials and subsequent derivatives in a way that glorifies and honors him (1 Corinthians 10:31). We were not meant to sit idly and waste time, space, or resources. God intended for us to work and manage the assets he created—and it glorifies him when we do it well…
Creation Mandate: Why we work, how God’s labor directive permeates human culture, and the implications in your own life
https://answersingenesis.org/genesis/creation-mandate /

Household Prayer: eternal focus

Brothers, today I’m praying that we would be living for eternity and that our children would come to know that they are eternal souls. I pray that we can represent God and His eternal Kingdom well and that they would be more esteemed than the things of this temporary world.

“For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?”
Mark‬ ‭8:34-38‬ ‭ESV‬‬ https://bible.com/bible/59/mrk.8.34-38.ESV

“Come, O children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the Lord.”
Psalm 34:11 ESV https://www.bible.com/59/psa.34.11.esv

Fear God

“He is an awesome God. He dwells in unapproachable light (1 Timothy 6:16). He is a consuming fire (Hebrews 12:29). He makes mountains smoke (Psalm 104:32). He makes the waters divide. He created man from the dust. He gives life and breath to every living thing. And He has condescended to speak to us. If we do not fear God, then we cannot raise a generation to fear Him.”
Strong and Courageous: following Jesus amid the rise of America’s new religion https://press.founders.org/shop/strong-and-courageous/

Household prayer: providence and the work of our hands

Brothers, I’m praying our children will see God’s hand, His work and His power, in history. And I pray they will see their part in His story. Bless the work of our hands, Lord, to educate and instruct our children in the knowledge of God!

“Let your work be shown to your servants, and your glorious power to their children.

Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us, and establish the work of our hands upon us; yes, establish the work of our hands!”
Psalm‬ ‭90:16-17‬ ‭ESV‬‬ https://bible.com/bible/59/psa.90.16-17.ESV

“For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods. In his hand are the depths of the earth; the heights of the mountains are his also. The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands formed the dry land. Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker!”
‭Psalm‬ ‭95:3-6‬ ‭ESV‬‬ https://bible.com/bible/59/psa.95.3-6.ESV

End Times, Rapture, so what?

“The last days are here… let our lot be genuine life in Jesus Christ. Do not let anything catch your eye besides Him.”
Ignatius
Bishop of Antioch, appointed by Peter, companion of John, arrested by the Roman government and thrown to wild beasts in the Colosseum

If you find yourself obsessing over the news and sermons on the end times, maybe it’s time to ask yourself, “so what?“

So what if it is the end times?

What does that mean to me and my faith? So what should I be thinking? So what should I be doing?

So…

1. Do not be led astray!
When the disciples asked Jesus when the tribulation would happen, the very first thing he says is, “See that no one leads you astray.”
‭‭Matthew‬ ‭24:3-4‬ ‭ESV‬‬ https://bible.com/bible/59/mat.24.4.ESV

How do you keep from being led astray? Read, study, and know God’s word!

The rest are the same in these times or the end time…

Love God
“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.”
The Shema, Deuteronomy 6:4-7
Live for God
No longer walk as unbelievers do. Eph. 4:17
Put off your unbelieving way of life. Eph. 4:22
Be renewed in the spirit of your mind. Eph. 4:23
Do not be deceived by the sons of disobedience. Eph. 5:6
Love your neighbor
“‘Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?’ And he said to him, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.'”
Greatest commandment, Matthew 22:36-40
Love to the end
“But the one who endures to the end will be saved.”
Matthew 24:13
Proclaim the good news!
“And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.”
Matthew 24:14

“And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.'”
The Great Commission, Matthew 28:18-20

The clear sign the end is near: The Abomination of Desolation

An “image” of the antichrist. someone (a person) that seems to accomplish signs and wonders. He will require that he be worshiped, and anyone that doesn’t will be put to death. He will set himself up in the temple in Jerusalem.

Matthew 24:15-21, Revelation 13:15

Paul calls him “the man of lawlessness.” Simply a man with seemingly great powers given by Satan.

Do not be alarmed, do not be deceived!

“And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet.”
Matthew‬ ‭24:6‬ ‭ESV‬‬ https://bible.com/bible/59/mat.24.6.ESV

Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him, we ask you, brothers, not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by a spirit or a spoken word, or a letter seeming to be from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction
2 Thessalonians 2:3-9