CORAM DEO MONDAYS with MARISA
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“One is pronounced blessed when God is present and involved in his life. The hand of God is at work, directing all of his affairs for a divine purpose and thus, in a sense, such a person lives coram Deo, before the face of God.” – 16th century reformer
Why is it so easy to be so centered on God while we are worshiping or praying or attending a conference, but so hard to keep that same focus when we leave to go about our daily business? Most concede that because of our humanity, our sin nature, and this fallen world, we just can't possibly live focused on God like that.
The Lord had taken me through a 40-day fast. This had required my heart’s eyes to be trained on God nearly every moment in order to make it. So for months after the fast my heart had not been satisfied with that concession. If it was possible to have a heart wholly focused on Christ now that the fast was over I wanted like nothing else to find out how to do it.
I was not expecting God to reveal it all at once, in one simple 2-word phrase. But He did. The simple phrase was coram Deo, Latin for “before the face of God.”
The whisper of God’s Spirit was like a deafening, consuming roar as He made it plain that living before the face of God moment by moment, thought by thought, action by action, was the way we were born again in Christ to live. At that very moment I resolved to live coram Deo with all my heart, all my mind, all my soul, and all my strength. Every minute. Every breath. Coram Deo!
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“One is pronounced blessed when God is present and involved in his life. The hand of God is at work, directing all of his affairs for a divine purpose and thus, in a sense, such a person lives coram Deo, before the face of God.” – 16th century reformer
Why is it so easy to be so centered on God while we are worshiping or praying or attending a conference, but so hard to keep that same focus when we leave to go about our daily business? Most concede that because of our humanity, our sin nature, and this fallen world, we just can't possibly live focused on God like that.
The Lord had taken me through a 40-day fast. This had required my heart’s eyes to be trained on God nearly every moment in order to make it. So for months after the fast my heart had not been satisfied with that concession. If it was possible to have a heart wholly focused on Christ now that the fast was over I wanted like nothing else to find out how to do it.
I was not expecting God to reveal it all at once, in one simple 2-word phrase. But He did. The simple phrase was coram Deo, Latin for “before the face of God.”
The whisper of God’s Spirit was like a deafening, consuming roar as He made it plain that living before the face of God moment by moment, thought by thought, action by action, was the way we were born again in Christ to live. At that very moment I resolved to live coram Deo with all my heart, all my mind, all my soul, and all my strength. Every minute. Every breath. Coram Deo!