The purpose of this blog

This morning, a snow day for teachers and students (!), I was reading through John Piper's book, The Dangerous Duty of Delight. The Lord used this book to end a time of longing, and begin a season of new, deeper longing.

I have experienced a deep and renewed longing in my heart for the Lord in the past few weeks and months, and have not known exactly what that tugging is for. That's not completely true - I do know what the longing is for, I just don't know how to satisfy that longing, because it is one that Satan and my flesh are willing to pull out the big guns to fight against.

I long to live a life that is poured out as a drink offering to Christ. I long to be so satisfied in Him that, as the song says,

"Turn your eyes upon Jesus,

Look full in his wonderful face

And the things of this earth will grow strangely dim

in the light of his glory and grace."

I know in my mind that this is possible, but I want to experience this. There have been glimmers - I remember moments in time that I have delighted to spend time in His presence more than I have delighted in the earthly things that I love. There is a battle for my affections, and right now, I love my own comfort than I love Jesus and more than I love others. But there is hope!

Betsie ten Boom looked at the Nazis who were laughing at her in her naked humiliation and who were beating to death a mentally ill woman, and felt deep compassion for their brokenness.

Darlene Deibler Rose lived in a Japanese prison camp, separated from her beloved husband. Upon hearing the news that he had died in another prison camp, she was summoned by the camp director, Mr. Yamaji, who on his first day as director had beaten a boy to death with a metal rod. She shared the gospel with him with great love in her heart.

Jim Elliot, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, Pete Fleming, and Ed McCully died 55 years ago at the hands of Waodani indians in the mountains in Ecuador. They had guns to defend themselves, but they did not do so - they were ready to meet Jesus, but the indians were not.

I could go on and on and on. There are so many saints who have gone before me whose stories have left a taste in my mouth - a taste for another world.

I am terrible at keeping up with things that have to do with computers and phones. Even so, I will attempt to keep up with this. I will post things that I have read or heard that have helped me to find delight in the Lord. You see, there are many things that I take more joy in at the moment, but they do not satisfy the longings of my heart. Here is the short list - coffee, chocolate, a good movie, a good book, my warm and comfortable bed, comfortable clothes (nice cozy sweatpants), good food, exercise, cooking, friendships, etc. None of these are bad, but when I love them more than I love Jesus, I am shirking on my duty to delight in the Lord. Not only is this sin, but this is totally missing out on that for which my soul was made.

And so my first official post will come right after this one. Consider this my thesis statement.

May the things that the Lord uses in my life to spur me on encourage you also in your journey to delight in him and in Him alone. Let us not delight in anything, unless God is somehow a part of that. That which we desire most, if not Jesus, is only to our detriment (Elisabeth Elliot paraphrase).