Walking With The Greats - The Life of John

This week's service can be watched at
http://www.kbmlive.tv/

---

"Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come." 1 Corinthians 10:11

Have you ever felt like you have too many rough edges for God to use you?  Have you ever felt like you don't always seem to say or do the right thing?  Have you ever felt like you keep messing up?

Today we are going to look at the life of John.  Here is John's Resume:

• John was the youngest of 12 disciples
• John was the first cousin of Jesus
• John wrote 5 books of the New Testament
• John was only one at the cross as Jesus was dying
• John was the last to see Jesus suffer
• John was charged with looking after Jesus mother
• John was the first to recognize Jesus at the resurrection
• John was banished to exile on the island of Patmos, where he received the vision and recorded The Book of Revelation
• John lived the longest of all the disciples
• Paul called John a 'pillar of the church'

John's journey was a journey of change and development.  In Mark 3:14 Jesus appointed his twelve disciples.  John was one of the twelve and was called a 'Son of Thunder'.  This nickname was because he was like the proverbial "bull in a china shop".  In Mark 9:38-39, John told the person to stop driving out demons in Jesus' name and Jesus rebuked him saying, "If he's not against us, he's for us."  In Luke 9:54, John said they should call down fire from heaven.  Jesus rebukes him again.  John, James & Peter were considered Jesus 'inner circle'.  Judas, the one who was 'the money man', wasn't in the inner circle.  It isn't always those who have or handle the money that get close to Jesus.  It is the ones with the passion.  John was passionate for Jesus!

---

Life Lesson #1 -  Jesus Isn’t Looking for Perfection, But Passion

You may not always get everything right but if you have passion, God can work with you.  Jesus rebuked John, his own cousin, twice in a very short period of time.  John didn't respond by talking negative about Jesus or get offended.  He doesn't go and look for another leader to follow.  He doesn't go and join another church or start his own church.  John was teachable!  As Jesus disciples, we must be teachable.

Life Lesson #2 - Being Teachable in Every Situation Will Bring About Transformation

Jesus finds us in our imperfection - but He doesn't leave us that way.  He teaches us and as we become teachable, He transforms us.  In every situation, when you are teachable, your character will be transformed and you will move closer to your destiny, being refined into the person God has designed you to be.  He calls us with our bad tempers, pride, personal ambitions and selfish desires, old habits and hang-ups, to follow Him.  Jesus says, "Learn from me and what I teach you because I see your potential."

It doesn't matter who you are, but who you are becoming.
It's not where you've been, but where you are going.

When you go through a challenge, let it be a refining moment.  In Mark 10:35, just after coming down from the Mount of Transfiguration, James and John, the Sons of Thunder asked Jesus, "Do for us whatever we ask."  Jesus said "You don't know what you are asking."

Life Lesson #3 - Sometimes We Ask for Things and We Don’t Understand the Journey to Get There.

Have you ever noticed that if you ask for patience, you have to be patient in waiting for it to come?  There is a journey and you must be teachable in the journey.  Not everything you ask for will come the way you had in mind.  "You will have to be baptised with My baptism; you'll have to drink from My cup;"  James and John had no idea what Jesus was talking about.  They needed to understand that to receive what they asked for, they would have to go through some of the same things Jesus was about to go through.  Jesus wanted greatness for them and He also wants greatness for you!  But you need to understand what that greatness will require.  Greatness requires refining; it requires being misunderstood; there will be challenges.

Life Lesson #4 - It Is the Process of Present Challenges that Bring Eternal Changes

The challenges we are going through right know are bringing eternal changes.  In fitness, they say, 'No Pain - No Gain!'  How will you know if you have faith and trust God if everything always goes perfect?  It's the challenges that cause us to grow.  Refining brings lasting change.  John experienced some serious challenges:

• He had to witness his Saviour being crucified
• He saw his brother James be crucified for Christ
• He was beaten for his faith
• He was banished
• He was lonely

But in the midst of this process, his character was being transformed.  He goes from being called a 'Son of Thunder' to being called 'John, the beloved of Jesus', or 'the one Jesus loved'.  Now, the one who was quick to cast judgement with a lot of noise was healing people, blessing people and working miracles, all without a lot of noise.  Now, John is a man of faith and vision.  He records that vision as The Book of Revelation.  John went from being a stumbling block to others to being a pillar of the church.

In this Year of ACCELERATION God is Bringing TRANSFORMATION 

CHALLENGE: You have faced obstacles and challenges?  Don't despise the process you are in.  Don't get upset that you are on a journey.  You asked God to make you great.  That's exactly what he is doing.  He is causing your faith to grow through the challenges you are facing.  Embrace these challenges.  Allow God to refine and change you, to transform you in this Year of Acceleration.  You don't want to stay the way you are.  As a child of God, you must be transformed.  You are being prepared for greatness.  Who are you... becoming?

---

Please log your comments on how this week's message has been a blessing to you!  Simply click on the comments link immediately below this week's blog. Any comments already submitted will appear and you can comment below them.
(All comments are reviewed before publishing.) 

---

NOTE:
The Blogger Navbar includes a button called "Share". When blog readers visit the 'HWC Sunday Message' blog, they can click "Share" to post the blog's URL to Twitter, Facebook, or Google Reader. If they navigate directly to an individual blog post, clicking "Share" in the navbar also lets them share the post by email. Once you have left your comment, please share this post on Facebook. This will allow many others the opportunity to visit the 'HWC Sunday Message' blog and be blessed by the message.  You can also subscribe to the blog with RSS feeds.  CLICK HERE to subscribe to HWC Sunday Messages with RSS. 

---

Thanks for visiting!