To invite Jesus to cleanse the temple of our hearts
is not to ask for guilt and shame.
It is to ask for healing.
The same Lord who overturned tables did so
not to destroy and humiliate,
but to reclaim and restore.
He interrupts only that which obstructs.
He removes only that which hinders life and worship.
His cleansing is never punitive; it is always redemptive.
~Scott Sauls from “What Would Jesus Overturn in Your Life?”

To live 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.

There is no place so remote that we can escape His penetrating gaze.

To live all of life coram Deo is to live a life of integrity.
It is a life of wholeness that finds
its unity and coherency
in the majesty of God.

Our lives are to be living sacrifices,
oblations offered in a spirit of adoration and gratitude.

A fragmented life is a life of disintegration.
It is marked by inconsistency, disharmony, confusion,
conflict, contradiction, and chaos.

Coram Deo … before the face of God.
…a life that is open before God.
…a life in which all that is done is done as to the Lord.
…a life lived by principle, not expediency; by humility before God,
not defiance.
~R.C. Sproul from “What Does “coram Deo” mean?”

We cannot escape His gaze…all of us, all colors, shapes and sizes…
Created in His image, imago dei, so He looks at us as His reflections in the mirror of the world.

What we do, how we speak, how we treat others
reflects the face of God.
Jesus is the embodied temple, bringing His sacrifice to the people,
rather than people coming to the temple with their sacrifices.

I cringe to think how we hide from His gaze.
All I see around me and within me is:
inconsistency, dishonesty, disharmony, confusion,
conflict, contradiction, and chaos.

Everywhere, everyone is saying:
only I know what is best.

We call hypocrisy on one another,
holding fast to moral high ground when the reality is:
we drown together in the mud of our mutual guilt and lack of humility.
All that we have done to others, we have done to God Himself.

It is time for us to be on our knees asking for cleansing,
for the temples of our hearts to be overturned,
our corruption scattered.

Jesus comes to cleanse, repair, reclaim and restore – us.

Kind of takes one’s breath away.

This year’s Lenten theme:

…where you go I will go…
Ruth 1:16

VERSE 1 It is not death to die
To leave this weary road
And join the saints who dwell on high
Who’ve found their home with God
It is not death to close
The eyes long dimmed by tears
And wake in joy before Your throne
Delivered from our fears
CHORUS O Jesus, conquering the grave
Your precious blood has power to save
Those who trust in You
Will in Your mercy find
That it is not death to die
VERSE 2 It is not death to fling
Aside this earthly dust
And rise with strong and noble wing
To live among the just
It is not death to hear
The key unlock the door
That sets us free from mortal years T
To praise You evermore
Original words by Henri Malan (1787-1864).
Translated by George Bethune (1847)

Angels, where you soar
Up to God’s own light
Take my own lost bird
On your hearts tonight;
And as grief once more
Mounts to heaven and sings
Let my love be heard
Whispering in your wings