Writing Again Because I Should

Yesterday, Ben played a biographical sermon about David Brainard by John Piper. In the Q&A afterward, Piper encouraged everyone to write, write, write. Brainard spend much of his time doing three things: reading the bible, praying, and writing about what he was learning. What's strange is that we don't have any of his books. We just know of the impact he had on others, like Jonathan Edwards.

So, I am going to start writing again. I want to pray/write about what I'm reading in my daily reading plan. The reading is often enough to fill the time, but when there is extra time left, I'm going to write again. It will sharpen my thoughts, clarify my ideas, and hopefully inspire my life.

Gospel Passage
Romans 3:21-26 - Righteousness Apart from the Law

Offerings that Cost Me Nothing

from 2 Samuel 24:24

"But the king said to Araunah, No, but I will buy it from you for a price. I will not offer burnt offerings to the Lord my God that cost me nothing. So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver."

David decided in his heart that his offering to end the wrath of God against his people could not be one that cost him nothing. This is a striking moment in the story.

But what has happened so far?

• Israel was continuing to sin against God, leading God to anger.
• God incited David to sin by not stopping him from counting the people of Israel.
• David sinned in pride and power, trying to count his people and assess his strength and majesty. He wanted to claim for himself what was rightly God's.
• God punished Israel as a result of David's sin, killing 70,000 men by the plague.
• Then, as David went to offer the sacrifice that would appease God's wrath, he insisted that it cost him something.
  

Destruction, Returning, and Flight

Joshua 10
God commanded Joshua to destroy all the nations that he displaced from the land. That was one bloody time. The men, the women, even the children, dead. Would our God do such a thing? I suppose, yes, given that he is more concerned about his glory than he is about anything else.

Isaiah 14
God does not let Israel's oppressors maintain power over them forever. Eventually "Babylon" will be destroyed.

1 Timothy 6
Flee wealth. It is the source of much evil.

Ai, Exaltation

Joshua 8
Once Joshua cleansed the evil from among the people of Israel, he was able to defeat the people of Ai.

Isaiah 12
Drink deep from the well of salvation.

Purification, Peace, and Work

Joshua 7
God purified the Israelites from the sin in their midst. He did so violently and publicly, for the sake of his name.

Isaiah 11
I can't wait for the peace that God promises here. And in the most important way I don't have to wait. I get to experience that peace in my own heart through Jesus Christ.

2 Thessalonians 3
Avoid idleness. Work quietly and earn your own living. Pray that God would work in others like he's worked in you.

Stones and Peace

Joshua 3-4
God stops the Jordan river from flowing, so that the Israelites can pass over on dry land. On the way, God commands them to pick up stones to remember their passage, to remember his miracle. I love the purpose of the stones:

For the Lord your God dried up the waters of the Jordan for you until you passed over, as the Lord your God did to the Red Sea, which he dried up for us until we passed over, 24 so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the hand of the Lord is mighty, that you may fear the Lord your God forever.

Isaiah 9
The power and influence of the coming Messiah would completely overturn every exile, and his government and peace would never end.