Table Of ContentBE TRANSFORMED
Published by David C. Cook
4050 Lee Vance View
Colorado Springs, CO 80918 U.S.A.
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David C. Cook U.K., Kingsway Communications Eastbourne, East Sussex BN23 6NT, England David C.
Cook and the graphic circle C logo 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
The Big Idea: An Introduction to Be Transformed by Ken Baugh A Word from
the Author
1. The Sovereign Servant (John 13:1–35)
2. Heart Trouble (John 13:36—14:31)
3. Relationships and Responsibilities(John 15:1–17) 4. What in the World Is the
Spirit Doing? (John 15:18—16:16) 5. Let There Be Joy! (John 16:16–33)
6. The Prayer of the Overcomer (John 17) 7. Guilt and Grace in the Garden
(John 18:1–27) 8. “Suffered under Pontius Pilate” (John 18:28—19:16) 9. “Even
the Death of the Cross” (John 19:17–42) 10. The Dawning of a New Day (John
20:1–18) 11. The Power of His Resurrection (John 20:19–31) 12. Transformed to
Serve (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 character—you 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
you’ve 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, that’s too bad. This is the final.”
The student said, “This is not fair, and I’m not going to take it.”
The professor said, “You have to—you’re the student, I’m the professor. You
have to take this exam, or I will flunk you.”
The student replied, “That’s fine, you just go ahead and fail me.”
Then the professor said, “All right, you fail. What’s your name?”
And the student looked at the professor indignantly, took off his shoes and
socks, rolled up his pant legs, and said, “I don’t know, you tell me!”
Ahh, if only I’d 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 you’re ready until it hits. Jesus prepared
His disciples for three years, but in John 13—21 we find them needing a bit
more. They weren’t 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). That’s
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 13—21 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 God’s 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
God’s 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.
Habit #4: Pray. In John 17, Jesus modeled for His disciples the importance
of prayer. Prayer is simply talking to God. It is a conversation that we can
partake in constantly. The apostle Paul tells us to “pray continually” (1 Thess.
5:17), meaning that we should stay in constant contact with the Lord through
prayer. Jesus relied on prayer as a means of strength, direction, and fellowship
with the Father, and so must we.
If you want to be prepared for whatever trouble is coming your way, these
are the four habits that will enable you to remain in Jesus. If you practice these,
you will be ready no matter what tests come your way.
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