Overview 

1. Life is meant to be lived with Jesus
2. The key to making Jesus the center is knowing that He likes you!
3. Overcome every challenge with your eyes on Jesus
4. Live every day conscious of His finished work, not your failures

Life is meant to be lived with Jesus

As believers, it behooves us to make Jesus the center of our lives. But in the busyness of everyday life, it is so easy to go through our spiritual routines without truly connecting with Him. We might listen to our daily devotional or a sermon while getting ready for work, only to realize afterward that we barely remember what was shared because our minds were preoccupied with the day’s tasks.

Yet making Jesus the center is not simply about doing things for Him. It is about living life with Him.

Pastor Lian shared how a young church server received a powerful revelation after listening to a devotional in the Gospel Partner App titled “Make Jesus the Center and Mean It.” He realized that the whole point of life is to live in relationship with the Lord—depending on Him, talking to Him, and bringing everything to Him, rather than carrying life’s burdens alone.

This relationship does not mean every moment must feel dramatic or spiritual. Even through ordinary moments, tired days, and difficult weeks, Jesus is still there. There is a sweetness in walking with Him through both the miraculous and the mundane, experiencing Him in both our happy and sad moments, in our work, relationships, decisions, pressures, and uncertainties.

In the Bible, we clearly see this desire for God’s presence in King David’s life. In Psalm 132:3–5, David declared that he would not rest until he had found a dwelling place for the Lord. He wanted to bring the ark of the covenant, which represented God’s presence, into the City of David.

He appointed singers and worshipers to minister continually before the Lord because he wanted God’s presence at the center of Israel’s life and worship as well as his own heart. He would also go before the Lord, sit in His presence, and simply talk to Him. In 1 Chronicles 17:16, David came before the Lord and said, “Who am I, O LORD God? And what is my house, that You have brought me this far?”

This is a beautiful picture of the relationship we can enjoy with our Lord Jesus today! Wherever we are, we can sit in His presence, pour out our hearts to Him, and allow Him to speak to us.

David also showed us how we can give the Lord the firstfruits of our day. In Psalm 5:3 NIV, he spoke of directing his prayers to the Lord in the morning and looking to Him with expectation. Then in Psalm 92:2, he spoke of declaring God’s lovingkindness in the morning and His faithfulness every night.

In the same way, we can begin each morning remembering our Lord’s lovingkindness and end each night thanking Him for His faithfulness. We can bring our requests, concerns, and plans before Him, knowing that He is with us through it all.

This is the heart of what it means to be living with Jesus at the center—enjoying His presence, giving Him our full attention, and sharing every part of our lives with Him.

The key to making Jesus the center is knowing that He likes you!

King David was known as a man after God’s own heart. But what was it about his relationship with the Lord that made him desire God’s presence so deeply?

In 1 Chronicles 28:4 KJV, David spoke about how God had chosen him to be king over Israel. Notice how David described God’s choice: “He liked me to make me king over all Israel.”

God’s love is unconditional, but liking someone carries a sense of delight and affection. When we know that someone likes us, it’s natural to feel positively about that person and be more willing to spend time with that person. We do not have to force ourselves to enjoy being with them.

In the same way, when we know how much our Lord likes us, making Him the center of our lives becomes a natural thing. We want to run into His presence, talk to Him, and share every aspect of our lives with Him.

Interestingly, before David, God had also chosen Saul to be king over Israel. Yet while David saw God’s choice as an expression of His affection, Saul was more concerned with whether the people liked and accepted him.

We see this in 1 Samuel 15, where, after having disobeyed God’s instructions, Saul admitted that he had sinned because he feared the people and obeyed their voice. Even then, he pleaded with Samuel to honor him before the elders of Israel (1 Sam. 15:24, 30).

Both Saul and David were chosen by God, but David focused on how much God liked him, while Saul focused on whether the people liked him.

And we see how differently their lives unfolded. Saul became increasingly consumed by jealousy and fear, pursuing David relentlessly before his reign eventually ended in defeat (1 Sam. 18:8–12, 31:1–6).

Now, David was far from perfect and faced many trials of his own. Yet he continued to turn to the Lord, and God established his kingdom and remembered him as a man after His own heart (2 Sam. 7:8–16, Acts 13:22).

The lesson here is that where we place our focus determines the life we live and the kind of relationship we have with the Lord.

This is why we should not be consumed by whether people like us or not. Don’t let one criticism spoil your day or a hurtful remark become bitterness carried over many years.

When we know that Jesus likes us, we do not have to live at the mercy of people’s approval. Even if someone does not like us, we can confidently say in our hearts, “My Lord likes me. He loves me, and I am going to rejoice and see my victory!”

And when our hearts are no longer held hostage by what others think, it will allow us to become occupied with the Lord and His goodness and to make Him the center of our lives.

Overcome every challenge with your eyes on Jesus

When we are secure in knowing that God loves us and is for us, it will also change how we face life’s challenges. Instead of being overwhelmed by our circumstances, we know that we can turn our attention to the Lord and trust in His goodness and power to help us and deliver us.

Pastor Lian shared how she struggled with trusting in the Lord’s goodness while preparing for this year’s Rock Kidz Fest. With heavy rain and haze threatening the outdoor activities, she found herself increasingly stressed about what might happen. Although contingency plans were in place, many things remained beyond her control.

She realized how easily our minds can become consumed with trying to figure everything out. Even while praying, we can still be thinking, “What am I going to do? How am I going to make this work?”

Then the Lord reminded her of David standing before Goliath with only a sling and five smooth stones. Imagine if David had been preoccupied with when to release the stone, at what speed, and in which direction… He would have been overwhelmed by the pressure of getting everything right!

But David’s focus was not on figuring out every detail. It was on the goodness of God. He knew that although he could strike the giant, it was God who would give him the victory (1 Sam. 17:46).

This helped Pastor Lian choose to rest in the Lord and trust Him with what she could not control. And when Rock Kidz Fest Sunday finally arrived, it proceeded smoothly with no disruption from the rain or haze.

Making Jesus the center does not mean we stop planning or taking practical steps. It just means that everything we do is undergirded by a heart that says, “Lord, my eyes are on You.”

We see this same confidence in David when his life was in danger. In 1 Samuel 19:9–17, Saul tried to kill David with a spear. After David escaped, Saul sent men to watch his house and kill him the following morning.

Yet Psalm 59, written in connection with this incident, revealed what occupied David’s heart. He cried out to the Lord for deliverance and declared, “You are my strength, I watch for you; you, God, are my fortress” (Ps. 59:9 NIV).

Notice where David’s attention was—he was not watching his enemies; he was watching for the Lord! Even with danger surrounding him, David looked to God as his strength, defense, and refuge.

And despite his circumstances, David ended the psalm with praise, declaring that he would sing of God’s power and mercy because the Lord had been his defense in the day of trouble (Ps. 59:16–17). Eventually, God made a way for David to escape with the help of his wife, Michal, who deceived and stalled Saul’s men.

What a beautiful picture of a man who kept the Lord at the center of his life in both prosperity and adversity! When things were going well, David sat before the Lord and poured out his praise. When his life was threatened, he still turned to the Lord as his strength and defense.

Let’s take David as our example. When things are going well, remember to praise and worship the Lord. And when challenges arise, bring our concerns to Jesus, keep our eyes on His goodness, and rest in the assurance that He is with us and for us.

Live every day conscious of His finished work, not your failures

Even though David was a man after God’s own heart, his first attempt to bring the ark of the covenant home with him ended in tragedy. Instead of following God’s appointed way, he transported the ark on a cart. When the oxen stumbled, a man named Uzzah reached out to steady the ark and died (2 Sam. 6:3–7).

Seeing how Uzzah died, David became afraid, yet he did not allow this failure to be the end of his efforts to bring the ark home. He knew that God was still good and faithful. Likewise, whatever mistakes or painful experiences we have faced, we can continue looking to the Lord, knowing that He loves us, likes us, and is for us.

In his second attempt to bring the ark home, David did it according to God’s order, offering sacrifices after those bearing the ark on their shoulders had gone six paces (2 Sam. 6:13).

Pastor Lian highlighted that these blood sacrifices point to Jesus and His finished work. In our Christian walk, our confidence must not be in our own efforts, but in what Jesus has accomplished for us.

To understand the significance of the blood, consider the ark itself. Made of acacia wood overlaid with gold, it beautifully depicts the Lord’s perfect humanity and divinity. Covering it was the mercy seat made of beaten gold—again a picture of Jesus, who was beaten and bruised for us.

On the Day of Atonement, blood from the animal sacrifice was sprinkled on the mercy seat (Lev. 16:14–15). Beneath it were the three reminders of Israel’s failures: Aaron’s rod that budded, representing God’s rejected leadership; the pot of manna, representing His rejected provision; and the tablets of the law, representing His rejected holy standards.

Yet all these failures were covered by the mercy seat, where the blood of the sacrifice was sprinkled. The cherubim above the mercy seat looked toward the blood, not the failures the seat covered. What a beautiful picture of God’s mercy! Today, through the blood of Jesus, our perfect sacrifice, all our sins are forgiven, and we have been made completely righteous before our heavenly Father.

Pastor Lian also shared how her brother, who had caused their family much grief, eventually received Jesus after a life-threatening medical emergency. As he listened to Pastor Prince’s sermons and learned about God’s grace, one truth deeply touched his heart. He marveled that there was a God who would save and love a man like him.

This is why we need to continually remember Jesus’ finished work, especially when we fall short. Every day, we fail and make mistakes. We lose our patience, say hurtful things, or do things we regret. But beating ourselves up and condemning ourselves will never produce good fruit.

Instead, we are to turn our attention to our Lord Jesus and His finished work and declare that because He has shed His blood for us, we are forgiven, forever righteous, and loved.

And as we keep beholding His love, goodness, and grace, we will begin to rise above our failures. Rather than dwelling on what we have done wrong, keep our hearts focused on what Jesus has done for us, and He will cause His grace to flow into every area of our lives.

So friend, let’s endeavor to live with Jesus at the center—by continually beholding His perfect, finished work, believing that we stand righteous in Him, and knowing that He loves and likes us.

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These sermon notes were taken by volunteers during the service. They are not a verbatim representation of the sermon.