Warren W. Wiersbe - Be Transformed. Christs Triumph Means Your Transformation

BE TRANSFORMED

Published by David C. Cook

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David C. Cook U.K., Kingsway Communications

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are registered trademarks of Cook Communications Ministries.

All rights reserved. Except for brief excerpts for review purposes,

no part of this book may be reproduced or used in any form

without written permission from the publisher.

Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are taken from the King James Version of the Bible. (Public Domain.) Scripture quotations marked NASB are taken from the New American Standard Bible , Copyright 1960, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission; PH are taken from J. B. Phillips: The New Testament in Modern English , revised editions J. B. Phillips, 1958, 1960, 1972, permission of Macmillan Publishing Co. and Collins Publishers; and NIV are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version . NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved. All italics in Scripture are added by the author for emphasis.

LCCN 2008937433

ISBN 978-1-4347-6738-7
eISBN 978-0-7814-0615-4

1986 Warren W. Wiersbe

First edition of Be Transformed by Warren W. Wiersbe published by Victor Books
in 1986 Warren W. Wiersbe, ISBN 978-0-89693-352-1

The Team: Karen Lee-Thorp, Amy Kiechlin, Jack Campbell, and Susan Vannaman

Series Cover Design: John Hamilton Design

Cover Photo: iStockphoto

Second Edition 2009

This book is for

Bob and Gertrude Spradling,

special friends who are a lot of fun to know.

Contents

: An Introduction to Be Transformed by Ken Baugh

1. (John 13:135)

2. (John 13:3614:31)

3. (John 15:117)

4. (John 15:1816:16)

5. (John 16:1633)

6. (John 17)

7. (John 18:127)

8. (John 18:2819:16)

9. (John 19:1742)

10. (John 20:118)

11. (John 20:1931)

12. (John 21)

The Big Idea

An Introduction to Be Transformed
by Ken Baugh

I heard a story once about a student who was unprepared for his final exam in ornithology, the study of birds. It was a tough class and the professor was renowned for being a formidable characteryou know the type, the kind of professor who takes pride in making the class as difficult as possible. Well, the final was coming, and this student thought he was prepared, but you never really know if youve studied enough with a professor like this, and on the day of the final he walked into the classroom but saw no bluebooks on the desks, no questions written on the board, nothing. Instead, as he looked around the room, he observed twenty-five pictures of birds feet. He had no idea what was going on.

After the rest of the class arrived, the professor stood up and said, For your final exam you have to identify the species of all twenty-five birds by looking only at their feet.

The student went ballistic. He said, This is crazy. I studied really hard, I thought I was prepared for this, but nobody could pass a final exam like this.

The professor said, Well, thats too bad. This is the final.

The student said, This is not fair, and Im not going to take it.

The professor said, You have toyoure the student, Im the professor. You have to take this exam, or I will flunk you.

The student replied, Thats fine, you just go ahead and fail me.

Then the professor said, All right, you fail. Whats your name?

And the student looked at the professor indignantly, took off his shoes and socks, rolled up his pant legs, and said, I dont know, you tell me!

Ahh, if only Id had the courage to do that with some of my professors!

Preparing for a test or a difficult season in life is tricky. You can plan and prepare, but you never really know if youre ready until it hits. Jesus prepared His disciples for three years, but in John 1321 we find them needing a bit more. They werent quite ready for what Jesus knew was coming. So from this point on, Jesus turned His attention away from the crowds and concentrated on further preparing His disciples for their final exam, when He would leave them to carry on His work. And in these remaining chapters, we discover that the Big Idea is being prepared for the inevitable difficulties of life.

Jesus promised, In this world you will have trouble (John 16:35). Thats not a promise most of us want to name and claim, but it is a promise nonetheless, a reality that we need to prepare for. So what can we do? What are some practical steps to preparing ourselves for the inevitable trouble that will come our way in this life? I think the answer to this question can be summed up in one phrase: Remain in Jesus . Every follower of Christ can prepare for future trouble if they remain in Jesus. And here in John 1321 we discover how to do this, especially in chapter 15.

John 15 is one of my favorite chapters in the Bible because it is here that Jesus reveals the secret to being prepared for whatever trouble comes our way: If we remain in Him we will always be ready. But what does it mean to remain in Jesus? That word remain ( NIV ) is also translated as abide ( KJV ) or dwell in other English translations, and it is an important word that John uses throughout his writings. It occurs eleven times in chapter 15, forty times throughout the gospel of John, and twenty-seven times in his letters: 1, 2, 3 John and the book of Revelation. The word means to stay with, to be steadfast, to hold on to no matter what. In other words, Jesus is telling His disciples, including you and me, that the secret to being prepared for whatever trouble comes our way is found in total dependence on Him. But how do we live out this dependence? What are some practical ways that we can grow in our ability to depend on Jesus? I suggest four habits that will keep you dependent on Jesus and prepared for whatever trouble may come.

Habit #1: Trust in Jesus Word. Jesus said, If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you (John 15:7 NIV ). We are able to remain in Jesus words as we read and study our Bibles daily. As we do that, we will know Gods will and be better able to pray and act accordingly.

Habit #2: Love one another. Jesus said, My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you (John 15:12 NIV ). None of us can do life alone. God created us to need each other, to need fellowship. I define fellowship like this: to hang out with other disciples of Jesus, other people who share your hunger for Gods Word and passion to do His will. Fellowship provides the right environment that helps to spur one another on to love and good deeds. When Jesus commanded His disciples to love each other as He had loved them, He was simply telling them to love each other sacrificially. Biblical love is to look out for the best interests of the other person, and as we do that for others and as they do the same for us, we are energized to face anything, knowing that we are not alone.

Habit #3: Rely on the work of the Holy Spirit. Jesus told the disciples that He would send them the Counselor, the Holy Spirit (John 16:7). The word counselor here refers to one who comes alongside us. The Greek noun comes from the verb paracaleo, which means to exhort, encourage, comfort, and console. Each of these words provides us with an understanding of the various roles the Holy Spirit plays in our lives. When we need to be challenged to obedience, the Holy Spirit exhorts us, when we need to be strengthened, He encourages us, when we are sad, He comforts and consoles us. Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to be with us always, and He promised to never leave us nor forsake us.