The Jesus Habits: Exercising the Spiritual Disciplines of Jesus

by Jay Dennis

“What would Jesus do?” Perhaps the place to start is by answering another question: “How did Jesus live?” The promise in looking at the life of Christ is the thought that it is a life that can be imitated. Jay Dennis has unlocked the secret in The Jesus Habits. The author presents the disciplines that shaped Jesus’ life. They were his priority and the touchstone to the rhythm of his day. They have been practiced for centuries by mystics, monks, and saints, but they can often be overlooked and undervalued in our fast-paced, hurried-and-harried modern lives. These habits are for everyone—the busy executive to the stay-at-home mom. These Jesus habits form distinguishable patterns in the life of Jesus that can become a reality in the life of any Christian.

Genres: Christian, Nonfiction

240 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2005

Reviews

[Kevin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Great potential...poor execution.

[Eduardo · Rating 5 out of 5]

El mejor hábito siempre fue el amor

[Deborah · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book might be good for a young Christian, but I felt it was too basic. I didn't finish it.

[Tim Doppel · Rating 2 out of 5]

Predictable. Disappointing.

[Ron · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this book, the author looks at Jesus' life and gives short (3-5 pages) descriptions of various Jesus Habits. There are 31 in the book. Here are some examples: Seclusion, Relationships, Listening, Having Fun, Rest, Fellowshipping, Using Scripture. The book is an easy read and each section gives you a description of the habit, enemies of the habit, how to develop the habit. I found the book to be very useful in preparing adult education classes.

[Bruce Stopher · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Kindle version needs help!

I was highly distracted by the poor formatting of the Kindle version. There are 10s of breaks in sentences, almost every chapter.
It also felt like the pastor author had been collecting little stories and was looking for somewhere to put them. This wasn't the right place for most of them.
The author also quoted verses that didn't actually make the point he was saying. The words probably, maybe, and could would have been appropriate.

[Sarah Gautam · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really liked this book. An unusually good companion to your spirituality as an elder. Inspired by this book, I have also written a blog on Spiritual Habits. You must also read my blog, it is very interesting Visit Here

[Angel C. · Rating 4 out of 5]

The title of this book pretty much gives a full explanation of what the book is about lol!! I thought this was a nice, little book with easy to read chapters. I liked some of the quotes too. My critiques are that it felt a bit receptive & that some of the suggestions felt a bit oversimplified.

[Argawal · Rating 2 out of 5]

Fluffy at times. In others author shows a severe lack of knowledge regarding true Christian values and the nature of governments (and how many times they collide against each other). He dedicated a whole chapter to advise that as Christians we shall 'worship' the government and give thanks to God for it...and blindly obeying it as its (according to the author) a 'God instituted organization'. That's TERRIBLE ADVISE! The author goes on further digging his grave when he states that DISTRUST IN THE GOVERNMENT IS AN ENEMY. Come on now are you serious? Didn't the founding fathers advised the contrary? Of course they did! They had recently just experienced the burden, corruption and bondage of the British Crown from which with understanding reason sought safe haven and established the 13 colonies... and further- they defied/rebelled against the British government leading us to the eventual Declaration of Independence. Anyways my stomach turned when I read that chapter and for that reason I didn't like this book and rated it low. The rest of the book is pretty shallow too. Nice title, but nothing deep nor highly spiritual as I wished it was.

[Marilyn Eichorn · Rating 5 out of 5]

How do we measure up?

Jesus' habits should be our habits because we are to be Christlike. This book states Christ's habits that give me the opportunity to compare my habits with His.

[Bayron]

Buenoo y practico.

[Maglia Lynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

A little fluffy at time (e.g., one habit is exercise since Jesus walked a lot) but a worthwhile read.

[Jackie · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was a good book with great habits for living.

[Glen]

The word I would select for this book is, "solid". The writer has chosen 31 characteristics of Jesus lifestyle upon which to elucidates. Each chapter follows a format of relevant biblical materials (passages from the gospels primarily), impediments to us implementing the habit, followed by recommended steps we can take to assimilate the habit in daily our lives.

Dennis writes with a devotional tone that calls for deeper intimacy with Christ. His ample quotes of spiritual leaders throughout the text adds a rich texture to the compact chapters. One can easily use this book as part of a devotional meditation in your abiding time.

While the treatment of the spiritual patterns is nowhere near exhaustive (the book doesn't pretend to be a thorough examination of spirituality), it is a valuable resource for giving you a global perspective of what Jesus did in His daily life here on earth. Application of these principles is emphasized in each chapter and the reader is given ample suggestions for ways to grow in the 31 habits. I found the book beneficial for my own processing.