THE ONE JESUS LOVES

• DAY 126
• Fear File: John The Beloved
• Scripture: JOHN 13:23

Now there was leaning on Jesus’ bosom one of His disciples, whom Jesus loved

John 13:23

There’s always that one person in every group that is awkwardly confident enough to give themselves a nickname and introduce themselves as that, no matter what anyone else says. They’d meet a new person and be like, “my name is Patrick but every one calls me the hammer.” And in your head you’re like, “there’s no everyone, you call yourself that, rest 🙄.” We have that fellow in our files today. 

It’s The Audacity For Me

As we study the disciples we come upon one who is referred to as the disciple that Jesus loved. He is called this throughout the book of John and no other place. The interesting thing is that the person writing the book of John is the same person referred to as the one Jesus loved. That means he gave himself that title and addressed himself as that regularly. Must have been tough being around such a guy. Not sure how he wasn’t teased and bullied ((but then again i was not there to know if he was)

Think about it for a moment. This apostle, out of the twelve, was the only one that chose to address himself the way Jesus saw him. He addressed himself the way God saw him. He believed so much in his relationship with Jesus that he asked to sit at His right side in Heaven. I guess, it’s because he was already doing that on earth. This apostle decided that he will define himself by the love of God rather than by anything else and he talked so much about love in all his writings. And incase you missed it, this disciple is Apostle John the son of Zebeedee.

Defined By God

Only people of faith embrace their identity this way -to the fullest, without hesitation. His other disciples probably thought he was doing too much. Maybe he was just being a little extra and his request to sit at the right side of Jesus sparked arguments in their midst. Yet he somehow didn’t drop the name. 

A couple times we’ve looked at defining ourselves through God’s perspective and finding our identity inHim. It is one thing to know who you are, it is another thing to proclaim it and live like it. Most of us are comfortable being who God says when we are alone but not so confident coming out boldly to declare who we believe we are in Him. We often choose to hide that part if it means disapproval amongst our peers.

The world has no problem with you hiding your Christ identity, they’d prefer it. And quite frankly, it would save you from all the unnecessary attention and confrontation. But that is how a fearful person thinks.

Out And Proud

I have said countlessly that this is the season to be bold and proud, not for us but for the world. The kingdom of God is at hand, Jesus is almost back and we need to be moved with so much compassion that we snatch people from the claws of darkness. It should break our hearts to see people deceived everyday and we do nothing because we are afraid. Souls are at stake and we need to stop playing church. 

Beloved, come out of fear and see yourself how God sees you. Address yourself by your identity. Be the awkward person in the group, what does it matter if it gets souls saved? Walk the walk and talk the talk. Stop hiding who you are. You are the salt of the earth, the light of the world, a city on a hill and a child of God. OWN IT!!

Shalom