Flexing the knee is a sign of humility, and humility is the required spiritual posture for prayer and devotion.\u00a0 A sound devotional life is sustenance for the soul.\u00a0You say, “Yeah, but how?”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Want some help? \u00a0Here’s my advice: Check out the current 5-volume set of \u201cThe Chosen: 40 Days with Jesus\u201d devotional series! “Why should I,” you say? [Are you always this snarky?] Well, let me offer a few words of praise<\/strong>, clarification<\/strong>, and guidance<\/strong> for using The Chosen<\/em> devotionals to deepen your connection with God and His Word.<\/p>\n\n\n\n PRAISE: As a lifetime Bible professor, I give \u201cThe Chosen<\/em>: 40 days with Jesus\u201d devotionals the same 5-star recommendation that I give to the show itself and all OTHER ancillary materials (incl., Bible round tables, Bible Study Guides, Aftershow discussions, message-laden artwork and \u201cChosen gear\u201d). Like the show itself, these OTHER ancillary materials are the product of a thorough knowledge of God’s word, a personal relationship with Jesus, and very careful reflective thought on the import of God’s Word for our eternal destiny and daily living. For navigating life\u2019s ups and downs, triumphs and tragedies nothing is more crucial than a sound devotional life. The Chosen and its OTHER ancillary materials will help you establish and maintain a sound devotional life!<\/p>\n\n\n\n CLARIFICATION: Careful readers may have noted the all-caps emphasis on the word \u201cOTHER\u201d above. Don\u2019t miss this important point: the episodes of the \u201cshow itself\u201d are but ancillary materials; The SHOW is NOT the endgame. So what is the endgame that the show and all OTHER ancillary materials serve? Just this: the Biblical witness to the gospel and all authentic proclamations of it. How so? How does The Chosen<\/em> serve the gospel and all authentic proclamations of it? First, it serves as \u201cBible Candy\u201d because it makes people want to READ the Bible cover to cover, instead of merely looking at the front cover on top of a coffee table or nightstand; second, it serves as a visual Bible commentary<\/strong> supplying relevant historical and cultural context for rightly interpreting the Biblical events it narrates; third, it serves as an illustrated sermon<\/strong> by helping us see ourselves in the story and encounter Christ by proxy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n GUIDANCE: To assist you in fulfilling your calling as a reproducing disciple of Christ, may I encourage you to regularly engage with as many as possible of the following: <\/p>\n\n\n\n (1) watch the The Chosen<\/em> (TC<\/em>) in its episodic sequence; <\/p>\n\n\n\n (2) Use The Chosen<\/em> devotionals to structure your daily alone time with God; <\/p>\n\n\n\n (3) Use The Chosen<\/em> Bible Study Guides to do deeper dives on the biblical themes brought out in each episode; <\/p>\n\n\n\n (4) purchase and wear \u201cChosen Gear\u201d to draw peoples\u2019 attention to the show and open opportunities to share the gospel. (If you\u2019re shy, don\u2019t worry! You don\u2019t HAVE to say a word. The Chosen gear will point people to the show, and the show will point them to Jesus and the Bible. Simple. Reassuring. Non-threatening. \u201cStreet Witnessing\u201d! <\/p>\n\n\n\n (5) Finally, in all of these, do not neglect to explore the fuller biblical context of the passages chosen (pun intended!) for the show, Bible study guides, and daily devotionals (i.e., read passage\/s that immediately precede and immediately follow the verses that begin the devotional). From my personal experience, \u201cNow that you know these things, you will be blessed, if you do them!\u201d (Jn 13:17). <\/p>\n\n\n\n P.S. [I have intentionally used John 13:17 \u201cout of context\u201d to illustrate the need for exploring the full context of Biblical citations. In this particular case, I have not violated the original intention of the quotation, but I have re-contextualized it. In its biblical context, \u201cthese things\u201d refers to the posture of humility and servanthood that should characterize all kingdom citizens, but especially Christian leaders. In my re-contextualized use of Jesus\u2019 charge to The Twelve, \u201cthese things\u201d refers to spiritual disciplines and tools for fulfilling God\u2019s calling as reproducing disciples of Christ!] If you are on board with this, \u201cGo, and do thou likewise\u201d (Luke 10:37 \ud83d\ude09 )<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Flexing the knee is a sign of humility, and humility is the required spiritual posture for prayer and devotion.\u00a0 A sound devotional life is sustenance for the soul.\u00a0You say, “Yeah, but how?” Want some help? \u00a0Here’s my advice: Check out the current 5-volume set of \u201cThe Chosen: 40 Days with Jesus\u201d devotional series! “Why should…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1694,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pgc_sgb_lightbox_settings":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[27],"class_list":["post-1692","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-biblical-themes","tag-the-chosen"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.robstarner.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1692","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.robstarner.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.robstarner.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.robstarner.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.robstarner.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1692"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.robstarner.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1692\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1697,"href":"https:\/\/www.robstarner.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1692\/revisions\/1697"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.robstarner.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1694"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.robstarner.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1692"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.robstarner.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1692"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.robstarner.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1692"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}