June 14, 2021 

MERRY MONDAY BY PARRIS

“But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us” 2 Cor. 4:7

“Coram Deo is to live one’s entire life in the presence of God, under the authority of God, to the glory of God. To live in the presence of God is to understand that whatever we are doing and wherever we are doing it, we are acting under the gaze of God. God is omnipresent. There is no place so remote that we can escape His penetrating gaze. To be aware of the presence of God is also to be acutely aware of His sovereignty.” RC Sproul

Like Saul on the Damascus Road, when we are captivated by him, we don’t turn to Christ out of fear of punishment or reluctant obedience. We come in awe of his presence with gratitude. While we live for the glory of God, he in turn begins to untwist the tattered mangled broken pieces of our lives. He loves to make things beautiful!
The problem with Christians or should I just say me-is that we tend to compartmentalize our lives. At work we put on our work “attire” and have the attitude of “getting it done”; after work we get preoccupied in whatever our “free time” is; if we attend church we put on our spiritual component. The three never really connect, nor is there any “God direction” in most that we do!
When living Coram Deo our lives take on this fluid harmonious song flowing from Christ himself. Living in his face means we remain open before God. We should live for the audience of one! Again, Saul was so impacted that the whole world around him changed. His path changed, his talk changed, his behavior changed. Why do we do the things that we do? Hopefully to live out his glory to others!!!
The children we raise, the relationships we have, the way we serve, the way we act….when we live before his face, his love spills out to others through us.
Anger, lust, offenses, rejection, jealousy, backbiting are all works of the flesh. All of this comes out of being a part of the “dance” of the world.
John Calvin had another interesting way to say it. “If we, then, are not our own (1 Cor. 6:19) but the Lord’s, it is clear what error we must flee, and whither we must direct all the acts of our life.”
Calvin understood that “man’s nature is a perpetual factory of idols,” that the “mind begets an idol, and the hand gives it birth,” and that man’s heart is deceitfully wicked above all things (Jer. 17:9), he could do nothing but present his heart to God with outstretched hands, offering himself wholly to Him.
Our whole being belongs to Him—heart, soul, mind, and strength!