Reading Jesus Centered

I'm always looking for ways to improve my Bible reading experience, and ways to help others in the same way. Check ou Two Simple Steps for Changing the Way You Read the Bible by Stephanie Hillberry at Lifetree

I’m just going to come right out and say it: applying the Bible to our lives is overrated. When we apply it to Jesus instead, we unlock unexpected insights that prove to be more valuable than practical application. But learning to read the Bible in this new way can take a little practice, plus a few good tools. Here’s what helped me make the transition:

Two simple steps for how to read the Bible with a Jesus-centered approach

First, get a Jesus-Centered Bible.

I mentioned that a few good tools help to shift our focus off ourselves and onto Jesus while reading the Bible. The Jesus-Centered Bible is one of those tools because of its’ unique features that make focusing on Jesus easier.

But first, if you’re thinking, “isn’t my Bible already Jesus-centered?” the answer is Yes–of course it is. There are references and insights about him all the way from Genesis to Revelation, and you can start digging deeper into them right now.

But if you have trouble spotting his story in the Old Testament (which most of us do), or if the epistles of the New Testament seem like they’re as much about the apostles and the early Christians as they are about Jesus, then the Jesus-Centered Bible can help in a way that other Bibles don’t. Because it was created exclusively to frame all the books of the Bible with Jesus as the central character, he’s easier to spot. Blue letters, for instance, reveal him in the Old Testament, and red letters highlight his name in the entire New Testament (a really simple feature that’s surprisingly eye-opening). And throughout all the pages you’ll find commentary and questions directly about Jesus. Even the year-long Bible reading plan features chapters that uniquely focus on Jesus.

Sure you can find him in other Bibles, but the Jesus-Centered Bible makes it really hard to miss him. And that’s what we want.

Second, get a journal.

Whether you normally journal or not, you’re going to want to jot down new insights about Jesus as you read. You can use the journaling method that works best for you, or start with some ideas based on what’s worked for me lately. Regarding the latter, here’s what I do when I’m reading a Bible chapter.

>> I read through the text once just to get the overview.
>> Then I reread it with a question in mind. My favorite questions to ask while reading come from Rick Lawrence’s suggestions in The Jesus-Centered Life. They include:

• What’s one thing for sure I know about Jesus based on what I just read?
• What did Jesus do/see/say here? What didn’t he do/see/say?

>> Then I write my observations. Personally I’ve found it helpful to write them like I’m having a conversation with Jesus. For instance, from Colossians chapter three I might write:

(v1) You raise us to new life with you.
(v1) You sit in heaven in a place of honor at God’s right hand.
(v3) You’ve hidden our lives with you in God. You’re a protector, a guardian.
(v4) You’re all that matters. Anything that isn’t about you doesn’t matter.
(v11) You forgive us. You’re forgiving in nature. You don’t hold a grudge.
(15) You offer peace to rule our hearts. You don’t offer strife or anxiety. You are the source of peace.
(v16) Your message is rich and fills our lives. Your message isn’t shallow. It isn’t deficient. It’s better than the messages from the world/culture.
(v17) You appointed us as representatives. You’re trusting. You’ve entrusted your message to us. You believe in us.

Do you notice how focusing on Jesus in this way shifts the entire perspective? After years of writing more “me’s” than “you’s” in my prayers and journals, this simple tweak has been powerful. In a culture that constantly preaches self-fulfillment, it’s refreshing to realize how liberating it is to not put ourselves at the center. Call it a paradox or heavenly wisdom, but Jesus wasn’t lying when he said that when we die to ourselves, we’ll actually find ourselves. Or, rather, we’ll find him, and our lives tucked in with his.

This Jesus-centered approach to reading the Bible sounds simple enough to start, right? Get your Bible and journal today and spend the next thirty days practicing these two steps. 

Prayer for De-Clutered Lives

From Scotty Ward Smith- A Prayer For De-Cluttered Lives

Dear Lord Jesus, a little work in my attic and garage, closet and drawers this week made these words of yours start blinking at me like a bright neon sign on a dark night—unavoidable. Where did all of this stuff come from? Clutter is like zucchini; it just seems to keep spreading and multiplying. How did I accumulate all these things? Once a “treasure,” now most of these things are just a bother.

But, Jesus, what concerns me far more than my attic and garage, are my mind and heart. The older I get, the less storage space there is; and I don’t want to finish my journey into eternity with a distracted mind and a cluttered heart. So Lord, help me de-clutter and re-center on you. I want to live more like Mary in a Martha world (Luke 10:38-42). In a world of multiple distractions, I want to finish my days with one great consuming affection, Lord Jesus—making and keeping you my treasure.

I love you because you first loved me; and I’ll treasure you, to the extent I really believe you treasure us (and me), as your beloved Bride and eternal inheritance. So by the Holy Spirit, once again, rearrange the price tags in my heart, Jesus. Once again, let my uncluttered spirit and re-centered heart say, “I consider all things rubbish compared to the surpassing excellency of knowing Jesus” (Phil. 3:7-10).

Once again, let my relationships and schedule, attic and garage demonstrate my delight in you, and desire for you. Jesus, I am so glad that you love me the same, with or without my clutter; but I know I will love you much better with much less clutter. So very Amen I pray, in your triumphant and tender name.

The Benefits and the Benefactor

"There is a center to the Bible and its message of grace. It is found in Jesus Christ crucified and resurrected. Grace, therefore, must be preached in a way that is centered and focused on Jesus Christ Himself. We must never offer the benefits of the gospel without the Benefactor Himself. For many preachers, however, it is much easier to deal with the pragmatic things, to answer “how to” questions, and even to expose and denounce sin than it is to give an adequate explanation of the source of the forgiveness, acceptance, and power we need.

It is a disheartening fact that evangelical Christians, who write vast numbers of Christian books, preach abundant sermons, sponsor numerous conferences and seminars, and broadcast myriad TV and radio programs actually write few books, preach few sermons, sponsor few conferences or seminars, and devote few programs to the theme of Jesus Christ and Him crucified. We give our best and most creative energies to teaching God’s people almost everything except the person and work of our Lord and Savior. This should cause us considerable alarm, for there is reason to fear that our failure here has reached epidemic proportions.

We need to return to a true preaching to the heart, rooted in the principle of grace and focused on the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. Then people will not say about our ministry merely, “He was an expository preacher,” or “That was practical,” or even “He cut open our consciences.” Instead, they will say: “He preached Christ to me, and his preaching was directed to my conscience. It was evident that he gave the best of his intellectual skills and the warmth of his compassion to thinking about, living for, and proclaiming his beloved Savior, Jesus Christ.” This is what will reach the heart! And when you have experienced such preaching, or seen its fruit, you will know what true preaching is. And you will agree that its fruit lasts for all eternity."

           - Sinclair Ferguson, in Feed My Sheep:

HT Peter Cockrell &  Erik Raymond

At the Center

"There is nothing in the Gospels more significant than the way in which Jesus deliberately places Himself at the very centre of His message.

He does not say with other teachers, ‘The truth is everything, I am nothing’; He declares ‘I am the truth.’ He does not claim, with the founders of certain ethnic religions, to suggest answers to the world’s enigmas; He claims to be the answer — ‘Come unto Me, and I will give you rest.’ He does not offer the guidance of a code or a philosophy to keep men right through the uncertainties of an unknown future; He says, ‘Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.’ "

— James S. Stewart  A Faith to Proclaim  (Vancouver, BC: Regent College Publishing, 2002), page 122

HT: Of First Importance

The Gravity That Holds Us Together

"We’re like the solar system without the sun. The sun is so massive it can hold all the planets in their orbits, but we’re not the sun. We simply don’t have the gravity to hold our lives together even when we expend a lot of effort trying. What we need is the good news of Jesus Christ, the good news that we can look outside ourselves at last because God has provided everything we need in Jesus. God has sent his glorious Son into the world to be everything for us, to be the center of our lives, to draw us into fellowship with the living God. And it’s all by grace."

-From Missing Jesus: Find Your Life in His Great Story, by Charles and Janet Morris

Hat Tip: Tim Challies

The Hub

"...The hub of Christianity is not 'do something for Jesus.' The hub of Christianity is 'Jesus has done everything for you.'.......Don't get me wrong - what we do is important. But is is infinitely less important than what Jesus has done for us."

-Tullian Tchividjian, One Way Love: Inexhaustible Grace For An Exhausted World, page 21

Don’t Let Christmas Distract You From Jesus

Some wisdom from Jared Wilson:

There is a great danger this Christmas season of missing the point. And I’m not referring simply to idolatrous consumption and materialism. I’m talking about Christmas religiosity. It is very easy around this time to set up our Nativity scenes, host our Christmas pageants and cantatas, read the Christmas story with our families, attend church every time the door is open, and insist to ourselves and others that Jesus is the reason for the season, and yet not see Jesus. With the eyes of our heart, I mean.

I suppose there is something about indulging in the religious Christmas routine that lulls us into thinking we are dwelling in Christ when we are really just set to seasonal autopilot, going through the festive and sentimental motions. Meanwhile the real person Jesus the Christ goes neglected in favor of his plastic, paper, and video representations. Don’t get distracted from Jesus by “Jesus.” This year, plead with the Spirit to interrupt your nice Christmas with the power of Jesus’ gospel.

Centered Advice

“Don’t ever degenerate into giving good advice unconnected with the good news of Jesus crucified, alive, present, at work, and returning."

              — David Powlison,  Seeing With New Eyes
                   (Phillipsburg, NJ: P & R Publishing, 2003), 43

HT: Of First Importance

Look to Jesus

N. T. Wright - On Reading the Gospels.



 HT The Work of the People

It's All Jesus

“There is no such ‘thing’ as grace! Grace is not some appendage to Christ’s being. All there is is the Lord Jesus Himself. And so when Jesus speaks about us abiding in Him and He abiding in us – however mysterious it may be, mystical in that sense – it is a personal union.

Christianity is Christ because there isn’t anything else. There is no atonement that somehow can be detached from who the Lord Jesus is. There is no grace that can be attached to you transferred from Him. All there is is Christ and your soul.”

 — Sinclair Ferguson message on John 15 at the 2007 Banner of Truth Ministers’ Conference

Hat Tip: Internet Monk,  Of First Importance

Deconstructed by Jesus

More from Tullian Tchvidjian's new book Glorious Ruin: How Suffering Sets You Free:

"When the goal becomes conquering our sin instead of soaking in the conquest of our Savior, we actually begin to shrink spiritually....The tragic irony in all of this is that when we focus so strongly on our need to get better, we actually get worse." (page 82)

"I've said it once and I'll say it again and again, because I need to be reminded myself.: Christianity is not first and foremost about our behavior, our obedience, our response, and our daily victory over sin. It is first and foremost about Jesus! It is about His person, His substitutionary work, His incantation, life, death, resurrection, ascension, and promised return. We are justified - and sanctified - by grace alone through faith alone in the finished work of Christ alone. Even now, the banner under which Christians live reads, 'It is finished.' Everything we need and everything we look for in things smaller than Jesus, is already ours in Christ." (page 83)

"God is not interested in what you think you should be or feel. He is not interested in the narrative you construct for yourself, or that others construct for you. He may even use suffering to deconstruct that narrative. Rather, he is interested in you., the you who suffers, the you who inflicts suffering on others, the you who hides, the you who has bad days (and good ones). And He meets you where you are. Jesus is not the man at the top of the stairs. He is the man at the bottom, the friend of sinners, the savior of those in need of one. Which is all of us, all of the time, praise be to God." (page 92)

Radically Jesus Centered

More quotes from Gospel-Centered Discipleship by Jonathan Dodson:

"The word disciple is used more frequently than Christian to refer to believers in the Bible....Disciple is an identity; everything else is a role. Our roles are temporary but our identity will last forever." (Page 29, italics in original)

"Christ-centered repentance and forgiveness is something to be heard and applies, not just once, but for the entirety of a disciple's life. at the risk of oversimplification. we could say that the Great commission commands us to learn the gospel by the gospel. We learn the breadth and depth of the good news by continually situating ourselves in it, through repentance and faith in Jesus Christ as Lord." (Page 35, italics in original)

"The gospel is for not-yet disciples and already disciples. The gospel people believe to be baptized is the same gospel people believe to be sanctified (through the work of the Spirit). Followers of Jesus make and mature disciples by going with the gospel, baptizing disciples into gospel community and teaching the gospel....Jesus is the ground of our going, the goal of our baptizing, and the gospel of our teaching. Making disciples is radically Jesus-centered." (Page 35)

"A disciple of Jesus, then,  is someone who learns the gospel, relates the gospel, and communicates the gospel. In short, disciples are gospel centered." (Page 38, italics in original)

Jesus Over Idols

Know what your idols are, but know Jesus your Savior better!  From Josh Blount at Blazing Center:

An accurate working knowledge of the idols of our hearts is essential. I see this played out in my own life and in the lives of others around me. A conflict with my wife spirals hopelessly down what my senior pastor calls “the tunnel of chaos” until the moment God shines a spotlight on my heart: this conflict isn’t who said what. It’s about my idolatrous desire to always be right. The tunnel of chaos begins to dissipate. Repentance can be sought not blindly but intelligently. Knowing our idols is important.

But it’s not the heart of the Christian life. Jesus, the perfect Savior and Redeemer, is at the heart of our faith – not our own idol hunt. Ed Welch, in his blog post “Who Talks About Idols Among Friends?” makes a great point. While the quote is about biblical counseling, it’s equally as applicable to how we do “self-counseling.”

Idolatry isn’t at the heart of biblical counseling, Jesus is. Biblical counseling is not a process of lying in wait for the idols of someone’s heart. It is the application of the good news to everyday life, especially to the stubborn trials and sufferings of life. As such, the death and resurrection of Christ is the one thing that is always in view. It animates all encouragement, wisdom, illumination, trust, love and hope.

Today, what have you thought about, pondered, and given the most mental energy to – your sins, whether expressed outwardly in actions or buried deep in your heart through idolatrous desires? Or your Savior, who has completely atoned for your sins and is perfectly content with His own pace as He unfailingly transforms you into His image? Yes, there is a place for self-examination and consideration of our sins, but never as an end in and of itself.

Self-examination or idol-hunts as ends in themselves don’t lead to hope and are dead-ends. Considering Jesus, pondering His work and glorying in it, brings life, joy, and hope. So know your idols – but know your Savior even better!

The Hero of the Story

Here's a good and necessary reminder from TullianTchvidjian that the Bible is not about us; It's the story of Jesus:

..we often read the Bible as if it were fundamentally about us: our improvement, our life, our triumph, our victory. And as a result we treat it like a book of timeless principles that will give us our best life now if we simply apply those principles. We treat it, in other words, like it’s a heaven-sent self-help manual. But by looking at the Bible as if it were fundamentally about us, we totally miss Jesus–like the two on the road to Emmaus. In fact, unless we go to the Bible to see Jesus and his work for us, even our devout Bible reading can become fuel for our own narcissistic self-improvement plans.

So, if we read the Bible asking first, “What would Jesus do?” instead of asking “What has Jesus done” we’ll miss the good news that alone can set us free.

As I’ve said before, the overwhelming focus of the Bible is not the work of the redeemed but the work of the Redeemer. The Bible is the portrait of Jesus. It’s a picture of who he is and what he’s done. The Bible tells one story and points to one figure: it tells the story of how God rescues a broken world and points to Christ who accomplishes this. The OT predicts God’s rescuer; the NT presents God’s rescuer. In all of its pages and throughout all of its stories, the Word of the Lord reveals the Lord of the Word. The plot line of the Bible, in other words, is Jesus-centered. He is the Hero of the Story.

That fact that it is not about us, about me, is better for us in the long run.

From Eternity to the Eschaton

"From eternity to the eschaton, it is all about Christ."

"Scripture everywhere teaches about Christ. His life, death, and resurrection are the hinge on which the drama of Scripture turns."

— Peter J. Leithart, Athanasius, (Grand Rapids, Mi.: Baker Academic, 2011), xvii

Hat Tip: Of First Importance

Don't Miss Jesus Because of Jesus

A wise Christmas season warning from Jared Wilson :

There is a great danger this Christmas season of missing the point. And I’m not referring simply to idolatrous consumption and materialism. I’m talking about Christmas religiosity. It is very easy around this time to set up our Nativity scenes, host our Christmas pageants and cantatas, read the Christmas story with our families, attend church every time the door is open, and insist to ourselves and others that Jesus is the reason for the season, and yet not see Jesus. With the eyes of our heart, I mean.

I suppose there is something about indulging in the religious Christmas routine that lulls us into thinking we are dwelling in Christ when we are really just set to seasonal autopilot, going through the festive and sentimental motions. Meanwhile the real person Jesus the Christ goes neglected in favor of his plastic, paper, and video representations. Don’t get distracted from Jesus by “Jesus.” This year, plead with the Spirit to interrupt your nice Christmas with the power of Jesus’ gospel.

 Hat Tip:  Already Not Yet

Because He Sat Down .

Have you ever read Hebrews 1:3?  Do you believe it?

He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.        -- Hebrews 1:3

Listen to these words about this verse from Jared at The Gospel-Driven Church: 

Wow! If this is true:

It means we ought to ditch the dualism rampant in Christianity where we think Jesus is battling Satan, relying on our prayers and good works to win. Jesus isn't Tinkerbell, needing our applause to survive. He won. He wins. He owns Satan.

It means no more worry about the end of the world. Is global warming happening? Who knows. But if it is, it isn't the end of the world!

It means we ought to repent of the arrogance in our thinking that this world is what we make it. We don't sustain the universe; Jesus does.

What I think this line of thinking leads to in hearts that love Jesus is faith, not fatalism. Knowing this information, we are now free to obey, love others, work towards the good, etc. knowing that despite our sins and imperfections, God is in control.

If Hebrews 1:3 is true, we need to rethink everything: our assumptions, our philosophies, our agendas.

The New & Better

True & Better from Peter Artemenko on Vimeo.  Tim Keller Summarizes the Old Testament- It's All about Jesus, the "True and Better"

 "Jesus is the true and better Adam who passed the test in the garden and whose obedience is imputed to us.

Jesus is the true and better Abel who, though innocently slain, has blood now that cries out, not for our condemnation, but for acquittal.

Jesus is the true and better Abraham who answered the call of God to leave all the comfortable and familiar and go out into the void not knowing wither he went to create a new people of God.

Jesus is the true and better Isaac who was not just offered up by his father on the mount but was truly sacrificed for us. And when God said to Abraham, “Now I know you love me because you did not withhold your son, your only son whom you love from me,” now we can look at God taking his son up the mountain and sacrificing him and say, “Now we know that you love us because you did not withhold your son, your only son, whom you love from us.”

What Camping Missed

In all has searching of the Bible for numbers, codes and calculations of dates, Harold Camping seems to have missed something very important. In fact, he missed the center of the Bible's message - He's missed Jesus!

From Cranach: The Blog of Veith:

"...it is what a certain Mr. Harold Camping missed this weekend. I’m certain that you’ve heard of him. The media has paid an unusual amount of attention to him and his prediction that the end of the world was going to begin yesterday. I don’t want to go into the details of all that he said. But you know what he missed? Christ. Not that he’s not a Christian. I’m not saying that. I don’t know what’s in his heart. But in all his study of the Bible, he looked for numbers and clues and codes and all sorts of things . . . but he missed Christ. And that’s what the Scriptures are all about. They’re not about hidden clues, secret teachings, mysterious numbers, and being able to calculate days and times. They’re all about Jesus. About his death and resurrection. That dying and rising with Jesus is the truth, and the way to eternal life."

That's something important for all of us to remember:  If your thought and message are centered on anything other than Jesus, you've missed the point.

How to Be "the Right Kind of Christian"

Love this quote.  This cannot be said to often!

I’ve known a lot of Christians in my life. I’ve known them to pursue many different courses. Sadly, I’ve known too many who diverged from the narrow way.

I’ve known Christians who went seeking for spiritual gifts, but they lost their focus on Jesus and fell into error.

I’ve known Christians who went seeking for spiritual experiences, but they failed to test their experiences against the Scriptures and drifted away from truth.

I’ve known Christians who went seeking for spiritual authority, but they thought too much of themselves and became prideful and unteachable.

I’ve known Christians who went seeking for spiritual service, but in their busyness, they forgot whom they were serving, and their actions went for nothing.

On the other hand…

I’ve known Christians who went seeking for Jesus above all, and they not only found Him in abundance, but they received spiritual gifts, experiences, authority, and direction for service.

If Jesus is our all, He is faithful to make all of what is His ours.

From Christians I Have Known–And How to Be the Right Kind | Cerulean Sanctum by Dan Edelen

Right on, Dan, right on!