{"id":1854,"date":"2022-08-03T09:58:49","date_gmt":"2022-08-03T13:58:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/js1cd06kre.onrocket.site\/?p=1854"},"modified":"2022-08-03T09:59:28","modified_gmt":"2022-08-03T13:59:28","slug":"starting-points","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/2022\/08\/03\/starting-points\/","title":{"rendered":"Starting Points"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Throughout the month of August, we\u2019re taking a close look at 23 verses of the New Testament.  They comprise Ephesians chapter one, which paints one of the Bible\u2019s most comprehensive pictures of what it means for ordinary people to be \u201cin Christ.\u201d  <\/em>
 

It\u2019s all about you.
 
That\u2019s the thesis of As a Man Thinketh<\/em>, a small book by British philosophical writer James Allen that helped launch a very big movement \u2013 the self-help revolution that has powerfully impacted Western culture over the past 100 years.
 
The title of Allen\u2019s 1903 volume comes from a verse in the book of Proverbs: \u201cAs a man thinketh in his heart, so is he\u201d (Proverbs 23:7, King James Version<\/em>).  After the title page, however, Allen\u2019s thoughts part company with pretty much everything else in the Bible.   
 
Allen is convinced that you have it within yourself, right now, to reinvent your own existence.  If you order your thoughts the right way, everything else will follow.  No one else can do this for you.  You will accomplish no more and no less than you\u2019re able and willing to do in your own strength. 
 
\u201cEach man holds the key to every condition, good or bad, that enters into his life,\u201d he asserts, \u201cand that, by working patiently and intelligently upon his thoughts, he may remake his life, and transform his circumstances.\u201d 
 
Allen wraps things up by suggesting that life can be like a journey across a storm-tossed lake.  Without mentioning Jesus, he alludes to the gospel account where the disciples have to awaken their sleeping Lord during a gale on the Sea of Galilee, whereupon Jesus miraculously calms the waters.  Allen declares that your \u201ccommanding master\u201d who has fallen asleep is really your own mind.  After we awaken him, we have the power to calm our own circumstances. 
 
The final line of the book is, \u201cSay unto your heart, \u2018Peace, be still.\u2019\u201d    
 
This is heady stuff. 
 
Allen\u2019s bestseller has helped inform and inspire multiple generations of self-help evangelists \u2013 from Norman Vincent Peale to Zig Ziglar to Tony Robbins to Joel Osteen.  Singer-songwriter Richard Marx considers As a Man Thinketh<\/em> his Bible, and always keeps a copy with him. 
 
When we turn to the actual Bible, however, we encounter a very different message:
 
It\u2019s not about you<\/em>.
 
Yes, Scripture enthusiastically applauds sound thinking, and certainly affirms James Allen\u2019s assertion that whatever people see of us on the outside<\/em> accurately reflects our thoughts and feelings on the inside<\/em>.  But when it comes to the starting point<\/em> for how a person should approach life, the majority of self-help influencers and the Bible\u2019s authors are light years apart.  The former insist that the ball is always in your court.  It\u2019s your move.  The latter insist that the true Actor in life is God.  And our primary task is to sit in wonder and grasp the reality that all the crucial moves are his \u2013 and they\u2019ve already been made.
 
That\u2019s the core message of the first chapter of Paul\u2019s letter to the Ephesians. 
 
Take a look at verses two and three: \u201cGrace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.  Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.\u201d<\/strong><\/em>
 
Letters in the ancient world usually began with a greeting.  \u201cGrace and peace to you.\u201d  Every one of the 13 New Testament letters attributed to Paul begin with the word \u201cgrace.\u201d  They all end with the word \u201cgrace,\u201d too.
 
Then the writer would offer a prayer for health.  That\u2019s because physical health was never guaranteed.  Life around the Mediterranean world during Bible times was short and precarious.  Plagues could wipe out most of a community within a matter of days.  It was considered good manners to wish one\u2019s readers the blessings of good health.
 
Paul goes a step further.  He offers a spiritual<\/em> health assessment<\/em> that begins in verse 3 and doesn\u2019t stop until verse 14.  In the original Greek, this is the kind of run-on sentence that your middle school English teacher warned you never to write.  But Paul can\u2019t help himself.  He\u2019s overwhelmed by the blessings we have received through Christ, and he can\u2019t bring himself to put down his pen.  What we end up with is something like a seven-layer lasagna: richly textured and nourishing, but quite a bit more than anyone should expect to handle during a single meal.
 
As we prepare to dive into Paul\u2019s powerful statement, let\u2019s step back a bit.  It\u2019s helpful to appreciate the landscape of Ephesians from 30,000 feet.  Is there an overall structure to this book?
 
The Chinese evangelist Watchman Nee became known for a sermon called \u201cSit, Walk, Stand.\u201d  He saw Ephesians as a three-part drama.
 
\u201cSit\u201d is comprised of chapters one, two, and three.  Here Paul essentially says, \u201cSit down.  Don\u2019t move.  If you trust Jesus, then stop trying to be<\/em> somebody and simply absorb the truth that God has already made<\/em> you somebody by what he has done in heaven and on earth.  You are his called, chosen, forgiven, and deeply loved child.  Just sit and take that in.\u201d 
 
In chapters four, five, and the first half of six, Paul says, \u201cNow get up on your feet and start walking.  Live the way God wants you to live.  Since you are God\u2019s called, chosen, forgiven, and deeply loved child, there can\u2019t be any more lying.  And no more fighting or bitterness or hissy fits.  And no more sexual line-crossing.  Learn to be a spiritual grown-up.\u201d 
 
\u201cStand\u201d comes in the second half of chapter six.  We are called to take our stand against spiritual evil \u2013 whether demonic spirits, principalities and powers, or systemic injustices that are bent on derailing our lives with God.
 
Sit, Walk, Stand.  In that order.  We launch our study of Ephesians knowing that if we don\u2019t begin by seeking to know God as he really is \u2013 what he has done for us and what he really thinks about us \u2013 everything else is going to be a mess.
 
Notice that there is nothing in Paul\u2019s grand opening statement about what we<\/u><\/em> think, what we<\/u><\/em> are doing, or what we<\/u><\/em> are planning next.  This is all about God<\/em>. 
 
Which means that we don\u2019t begin with ourselves<\/em>. 
 
First we think rightly about God.  If we do that, everything else will fall into place.  In fact, the exact nature of our relationship with God rises and falls according to what we think God thinks about us.  In the opening verses of Ephesians, Paul aims to make that very clear \u2013 something we will explore in the days ahead. 
 
During a family visit to a local pumpkin patch, a dad watched his young son trying to pick up a large pumpkin.
 
The boy was frustrated.  He had his heart set on delivering that pumpkin to the checkout stand.  But he couldn\u2019t get enough leverage to lift it, and definitely didn\u2019t have the strength to carry it.  Finally he gave up.  His father came alongside him.  \u201cHey, buddy,\u201d he said.  \u201cWhat\u2019s wrong?  Can\u2019t you carry that pumpkin?\u201d 
 
\u201cNo, I can\u2019t,\u201d he answered.  The father asked, \u201cHave you used all the strength that\u2019s available to you?\u201d The boy nodded that he had.
 
Then his dad got down beside him and said gently, \u201cNo, you haven\u2019t.  You haven\u2019t asked me to help you.\u201d  Without another word he crouched behind his son, put his arms around both child and pumpkin, and stood.  Together they cradled their prize and walked it to the end of the pumpkin patch.
 
Life is not a series of self-help projects and self-made disasters that we have to face in our own strength.
 
Remember that your Father \u201chas blessed you in the heavenly realms with every blessing.”  Ask for his help.
 
Ask today<\/em>.

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Throughout the month of August, we\u2019re taking a close look at 23 verses of the New Testament.  They comprise Ephesians chapter one, which paints one of the Bible\u2019s most comprehensive pictures of what it means for ordinary people to be \u201cin Christ.\u201d    It\u2019s all about you. That\u2019s the thesis of As a Man Thinketh, a small book by British philosophical writer… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1855,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[480,482],"class_list":["post-1854","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-ephesians","tag-god-the-actor"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1854","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1854"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1854\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1857,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1854\/revisions\/1857"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1855"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1854"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1854"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1854"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}