Saturday, January 14, 2012

two-fold purposes and a good song

this was today's failure moment:

at about 7:20pm i pulled into the davis commons shopping center, dodging a trillion cars looking for parking spots in the small lot of minimum occupancy ratio compared to its retail offerings.  on the one hand it's entertaining to see cars stalk people returning to their vehicles (only to find that their car is parked on the opposite side of the line) or the bright red flash of cars switching on their turn blinkers to indicate to the rest of the spot preyers that they've called dibs on the guy pulling out (except that they've miscalculated and the guy really only just arrived).  no doubt it's a mad scramble in that small space during friday night dinner hour.  lucky for me, one spot laid completely open on the outer edge of the lot.  first spot closest to the entrance of the shopping center too!  bizarre that no one else was clamoring for this prime location.. so i casually moseyed my way over and parked my silver dinosaur, no sweat.  score!!

the reason for this stop before fellowship tonight was two-fold.  one, i got home from work exhausted so i took a nap up until the time i needed to leave for davis.  waking up starving but with little time to spare, i made up my mind to stop at jamba juice for my favorite peenya kowlada and maybe a cheesy pretzel.  two, many of my coworkers have been coming to work sick so i wanted to reinforce my body with a dose of drinkable vitamins.

what i didn't expect after weaving through the mikuni and ben & jerry crowd was to find my hunger haven devoid of happy glowing lights.  whaaa?!?!?  disgruntled, i didn't even bother to see what the reason for closure was.  i think i just uttered the sound behhhh and made my way back through the crowds and back to my car.

defeat is the feeling of backing out of a most covetable parking spot that i'd only been able to experience less than 5 minutes of glory.  it was a very humbling moment..


streaming thoughts aloud..
and this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and the depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through jesus christ - to the glory and praise of god.
the more i think about this verse, the more juicy it seems.  it is evident in paul's ministry that everything he does is empowered by the holy spirit, for the sake of jesus christ, for the glory of god.  there is nothing "paul" about it.  therefore, to dissect the meaning of love (v.9) in our own human terms is futile.  debating whether it's a checks and balance ordeal or a chicken before the egg dilemma really just misses the point.

my friend john footnotes this biblical love in terms of that which is deeply rooted in the truth of scripture and is regulated by it - not of the sentimental froo-froo type.  in a sense, this is not very pretty..  ephesians 5 says live a life of love, just as christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering.  the gospels detail this horrifically beautiful sacrifice that, like my trip to jamba juice, was also two-fold.  one, by his blood we are saved from our sins and unified with christ, of whom without we would have no hope of life.  and two, that his humanity would be an example for us to follow - that others would see and know that he is good.

question 5d of tonight's study asks can you dislike someone and still love them?  thinking about the response to this question is so sobering.  paul always expresses himself with tears in his eyes and this moment, i think is no exception.  in his genial handwriting i feel like he's saying don't you see what christ has done?!?!  now you too, do the same!  mr. macarthur is right; in understanding the truth of the scripture, there is no question that the conviction to love abounds - to be great in number or amount.

ideally, the application of this knowledge is that all dislike and grudge and resentment and all that kinda stuff would go away.  HA  i guess that's why paul adds later on to continue to work out your salvation.. to keep pursuing obedience in the process of sanctification.

good good lesson.

when i was driving home, i thought this song really summarized the message of tonight.  also, just want to share the love of gungor with you all  ^__^

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