Coram Deo: In stating that the Lord gave and the Lord took away, Job did not “charge God with wrong” (Job 1:22). Job did not accuse the Lord of issuing a direct assault on his family, nor did he claim that God did an evil thing. Instead, Job recognized God’s sovereignty, understanding that everything we gain and everything we lose falls under the sovereign ordination of our Creator. He is in perfect control of all that happens, and because He is good, we can trust that He is good in His reign.
Coram Deo: God is sovereign and we are not. All things are from Him, through Him, and to Him, as Paul says in Romans 11:36. Therefore, everything that He does is for the sake of revealing Himself and His glory. It is a great honor, therefore, to be used of God for this purpose, for His glory is the most wonderful thing of all. That we are instruments for revealing this glory is a great privilege, and it will make all of our suffering worth it in the end.
We turn to the Old Testament because it’s one of the most important sources that you find anywhere in the universe on the nature and character of God. Reformed Christians tend to take the Old Testament very seriously because it’s such a vivid revelation of the majesty of God. —R.C. Sproul in Tabletalk Magazine
Coram Deo: The fall has introduced a certain degree of chaos, from our perspective, into this world. Although creation is never chaotic to the Lord and Maker of the universe, the presence of sin means that sometimes people suffer the effects of the fall in ways that are unrelated to their specific, personal sin. While our suffering may be due to a specific sin, this is not always the case, and we should not assume that our pain automatically means that God is displeased with us.
Coram Deo: Truth, if wrongly applied, can actually do more harm than good. Job’s friends were not wrong that God disciplines His children, but they did err in viewing all discipline in punitive terms. Such a view will lead to poor counsel that makes people look in vain for the sin that has led to their suffering or prompts in them feelings of false guilt as they try to explain their suffering. Let us take care not only to know the truth but also to learn to apply it rightly.
Hardly a week passes that we do not learn of another church leader who has been exposed in adultery, fornication, homosexuality, or pornography. —Joseph Pipa Jr. in Tabletalk Magazine
Coram Deo: We often act as if we know so much more than those who came before us simply because we have computers, advanced medicine, and the other benefits of the technological revolution. The truth of the matter, however, is that although we might have a greater quantity of known facts at our disposal, we are often sorely lacking in the wisdom of the faithful people of God throughout the generations. Let us seek to learn from those who came before us.
There is no one walking the earth who is not in need of the gospel. We are a part of humanity, each one of us heading toward either heaven or hell. It takes the power of the gospel to transform an image-bearer’s heart of stone and bring it into worship and delight of God. —Trillia Newbell in Tabletalk Magazine
Coram Deo: We can by no means continue to believe in the promises of the Lord if we do not know what they are. Thus, we must return again and again to God’s life-giving Word, turning to it both when we feel like reading it and when we find it hard to pick up a Bible. The Lord will bless His people with strengthened faith when they seek to know and trust God’s promises, so let us memorize and meditate on His Word.
To despise doctrine is to despise the Word of God. —R.C. Sproul
Coram Deo: The fact that God is not merely our friend is actually a great benefit for us. Mere friends cannot rescue us from sin. Good pals cannot provide the all-sufficient help we need to make it through our trials and tribulations. Only the sovereign Lord of all can give us such things. Let us take care to approach our Maker with the reverence and praise that He deserves, and may we always exalt Him as our loving and sovereign Master and King.
Many Christians have a “me-centered” view of eternity. They ask, What will the place be like? What will I do all the time? Eternity exerts its magnetic pull on us when we study Christ Jesus Himself as our all-consuming final destination. —Michael Rogers in Tabletalk Magazine
Coram Deo: When we enter the presence of the Lord, we must remember that we are sinners and have merited only the righteous wrath of our Creator. Thus, we should come before Him in a spirit of repentance, with sorrow for sin and longing for His mercy. We never come to a point in our lives on this side of glory when we do not need repentance, and thanks be to God, all those in Christ can be confident that He forgives us when we turn from our sin.
Coram Deo: It is not entirely inappropriate to fear being punished for sin. After all, the Bible warns us of such punishment. Yet that cannot be the sole thing that drives our repentance. We must come to the point that we are sorry for our sin primarily because we have offended our holy Lord. Our sin is heinous not because it will lead to damnation if we never turn to Christ; it is heinous because it is a violation of God’s holy character. May we ever keep the Lord as our focus in our repentance.
We are all tempted by our flesh to be partial pursuers of righteousness. But God wants holistic obedience powered by the good news of Christ’s atonement. He is working in us by His Spirit. The Spirit’s ministry is not to send us on a pietistic wild goose chase. It is gritty and ordinary. His ministry is to call us to repent of our sinful desires and actions, and to empower us to honor our Savior through renewed desires and actions. —Owen Strachan from this weekend's devotional in Tabletalk Magazine
Coram Deo: Although Jesus is far more than a friend to us, we are blessed indeed to be counted as friends of His (John 15:13–15). Because His love is not finally grounded in what we are but who He is, we can be confident that Jesus is the one friend who will never leave us or forsake us. He is with us in every adversity, having promised never to leave us or forsake us. Other people will let us down, but Jesus will remain with us even on our darkest days.
Prayer is the secret of holiness. —R.C. Sproul
Coram Deo: As believers from the Reformed tradition, we firmly confess the sovereignty of God and the surety of His promises. Simply put, He cannot fail to preserve His people. Nevertheless, we do not deny the role of responsible human agents in this preservation. Through the efforts of faithful church officers, mothers, fathers, and mentors, the Lord hands on His truth from generation to generation.
We are to use our gifts for the good and the well-being of all, in our homes, our jobs, in our communities, and throughout the world, as we have opportunity. This is what it means to be salt and light in a dark and unsavory world. —Ken Jones in Tabletalk Magazine
Coram Deo: The consequences for ingratitude and hypocrisy are great indeed. Because the wilderness generation never offered genuine repentance for these sins, the people of that era did not live to see God’s great blessing in the land. We must be on guard against the ingratitude and hypocrisy of our own hearts, or we will prove ourselves to lack genuine persevering faith. Let us examine ourselves and seek to follow the Lord in truth.
Coram Deo: Given the sins of God’s people and the often sorry state of the church, we sometimes believe that the covenant community of today is uniquely unfaithful to the Word of the Lord. Yet although we do not want to minimize the problems that the church actually faces today, we do not want to exaggerate them either. There have been periods of history in which God’s people have been less faithful than they are today. Remembering this will give us a more realistic view of our own era and help us to be grateful for the Lord’s work in the present.
Confession should be a daily activity for the Christian, whose entire pilgrimage is characterized by the spirit of repentance. —R.C. Sproul
Coram Deo: Our great God ushered in His kingdom not with a show of force but through the humble Jesus, the Lamb of God who laid down His life to save His people from their sins. This Jesus is the only leader who can guide us in perfect righteousness, and it is in Him alone that we have a sure hope. May we bow to His sovereign reign today, seeking to follow His will, and may we also yearn for His coming to consummate His kingdom.
As Christians, we may be required to tolerate ungodly behavior, but the moment we begin to endorse it, we too become suppressors of the truth. You cannot love your neighbor and want to see them excluded from the kingdom of Christ (Eph. 5:5). —Joe Carter in Tabletalk Magazine
Coram Deo: Those who live in societies that are characterized by great wealth and abundance must take special care not to make gods out of their appetites. There is nothing wrong with having nice things, but if we think those nice things will make us content, we will never find ourself in a place of happiness. The more that we own, the greater the temptation to make what we own the source of our contentment. But Christ alone can satisfy us permanently.
Are we holding on to something—some issue in the past that continues to eat us up from the inside? If so, we must resolve immediately to have a forgiving spirit. Nothing must come between us and our Savior’s love. “As the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive” (Col. 3:13). This is not negotiable; it is a requirement motivated by the gospel. —Derek W.H. Thomas in Tabletalk Magazine
Coram Deo: As the God who is truth Himself, it should be no surprise that one of God’s utmost concerns is with the truthfulness of all of our interactions with others. Christians are to be people who are scrupulously concerned with the truth to the point that they are fair and just even in the smallest economic matters, such as not accepting more change from the cashier than is actually owed. We are to use honest measures and treat others as we would want to be treated.
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