CORAM DEO MONDAYS with MARISA
“Think often on God, by day, by night, in your business, and even in your diversions. He is always near you and with you; leave Him not alone. You would think it rude to leave a friend alone who came to visit you; why, then, must God be neglected? Do not, then, forget Him, but think on Him often, adore Him continually, live and die with Him; this is the glorious employment of a Christian. In a word, this is our profession; if we do not know it, we must learn it.”
-Brother Lawrence, 17th Century Monk
God never intended for us to emulate Christ’s walk without first imitating Christ’s continual focus. Christ’s heart and mind were simply not centered on His walk. They were constantly trained upon His Father. He lived coram Deo—before the face of God. Living coram Deo is not about self-control, heart-control, and mind-control. It’s all about where our heart, mind, soul, and strength are focused. It’s not about self at all. It’s all about self being buried, hidden, and fully occupied by Christ Who is in us. It’s not about reaching inside to find what it takes to live more like Christ. It’s about pouring out every last drop of self so that Christ Himself can fill us with an endless overflow of all that He has and is.
Jesus was completely coram Deo all the time. Indeed, His ‘self’ was crucified long before His body was. That’s because the eyes of His heart were not on self but on the Father. That was the key to His walk, and it is the key to our walk, also. We see this truth in the key verse for this book that we will be referring to often, Colossians 3:1-3. The very thing we are told to do in this verse is the very thing that Christ did while He walked on this earth. He set His heart and mind on things above:
“Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.”
Adapted from the Coram Deo Secret
http://www.marisarickerson.com/coram-deo.html
“Think often on God, by day, by night, in your business, and even in your diversions. He is always near you and with you; leave Him not alone. You would think it rude to leave a friend alone who came to visit you; why, then, must God be neglected? Do not, then, forget Him, but think on Him often, adore Him continually, live and die with Him; this is the glorious employment of a Christian. In a word, this is our profession; if we do not know it, we must learn it.”
-Brother Lawrence, 17th Century Monk
God never intended for us to emulate Christ’s walk without first imitating Christ’s continual focus. Christ’s heart and mind were simply not centered on His walk. They were constantly trained upon His Father. He lived coram Deo—before the face of God. Living coram Deo is not about self-control, heart-control, and mind-control. It’s all about where our heart, mind, soul, and strength are focused. It’s not about self at all. It’s all about self being buried, hidden, and fully occupied by Christ Who is in us. It’s not about reaching inside to find what it takes to live more like Christ. It’s about pouring out every last drop of self so that Christ Himself can fill us with an endless overflow of all that He has and is.
Jesus was completely coram Deo all the time. Indeed, His ‘self’ was crucified long before His body was. That’s because the eyes of His heart were not on self but on the Father. That was the key to His walk, and it is the key to our walk, also. We see this truth in the key verse for this book that we will be referring to often, Colossians 3:1-3. The very thing we are told to do in this verse is the very thing that Christ did while He walked on this earth. He set His heart and mind on things above:
“Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.”
Adapted from the Coram Deo Secret
http://www.marisarickerson.com/coram-deo.html
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