Copyright
© 1994
Warren Litzman.
From the book Christ-life Healing for Body and Soul by Warren Litzman. Used by permission.
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Gratitude Opens the Door to Christ-life Livingby Warren Litzman
Some time ago, I received a letter from a Christ-life believer who said he had been feeling low and very depressed. He declared that there seemed to be no answer to any of the problems he presently had in life. Because he was a person who wanted to live victoriously, he realized he needed to get back on the Christ-life track and he knew that his only hope was for the Holy Spirit to show him how.
Consequently, he turned to the Word. He knew that only the Word could neutralize and destroy the error permeating his mind. The letter went on to say that in just a short period of time the neutralizing effect of Christ, the Word, was filling his mind. He began to join with the Christ-spirit in him, and a whole new perspective began to take place. This believer said it was necessary at the time to harmonize Christ's truth, the Word, with the Christ-life. The mental renewal brought about a radical change in his viewpoint of the outer problem and in time, the mind of Christ began to rule over the outer problems. The low feeling and the depression gave way to the Christ who lived within him.
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His letter went on to say that in this process, he came to the understanding that he had never really been an unhappy mortal self governed by outer circumstances and situations, but had merely had a lapse in consciousness that permitted this untruth and lie to temporarily operate. The facts were that the Christ within not only ruled him, but also ruled all outer things, for all things were made by Him and for Him (Colossians 1). He had been dwelling on the problem and, in his mind, had rehearsed over and over again the negative circumstances. As a consequence he had begun wallowing in self-pity. The deliverance actually came when he realized he was not an independent self but, regardless of what was happening, he was a Christ-person at all times and in everything.
The final statement from this letter was that, in the process of renewing his mind from seeing the lie of outer things to seeing Christ the truth, he had become directed by the Spirit to thanking God and being thrilled with the beautiful things all around him. The writer said, "I was suddenly grateful for my garden which had beautiful flowers in it, and saw myself delivering them to my friends, and could see the expression and the love flowing from them back to me. I suddenly realized that gratitude had been the one thing that was my key to Christ-consciousness, and that my lack of gratitude for the beautiful things in my life had opened the door to depression and defeat." It is actually such a simple thing as this that can trigger the renewal of the mind and bring forth the Christ within.
Gratitude has become a lacking virtue of Christ in many today because the sensuality and lust for material things has destroyed its beauty. There is nothing more beautiful for a Christ-life believer than to be filled with the awe and splendor of the God-given created things all about us. When one's mind begins to dwell on self, the works of the flesh will come forth. There is no rest in the flesh. There is no beauty in the flesh, which is the reason why God finds no glory in flesh and no man can glory in his flesh in the presence of God.
When we open the mind to self-pity and selfishness, we revert to self-independence. This breeds sickness, depression, and of course, low esteem of one's self. When we open the door to the fact that God is all and has manifested His all in the Person of Christ, we now have the intention of God working as our true self. When the mind of Christ becomes the only mind we have, we enter into that transformation which only Christ can bring.
This transformation is vividly spoken of by Paul in Colossians 1:13, when he speaks of how God hath delivered us out of darkness into the kingdom of His dear Son. The word that Paul uses is "translated." We have been translated from darkness to the kingdom of Christ, and this is the best explanation we can give for what transformation is. We are transformed by the understanding that we have been translated, bodily, with soul and body put into another, Christ.
It is good to remember that all human life and experiences are made up of numerous small things such as our garden, and our envisioning ourselves as being a blessing to others by the flowers which we give them. These small things often become the force of the transformation, and the action that brings forth this translation into the kingdom of His dear Son by actual experience.
The spiritual believer will always express his gratitude twofold. First, he will do this by praising, singing, and worship to God. The Scriptures are filled with praises unto God, for everyone in the Scriptures who saw God and saw through His creation a better way to live, praised and worshiped God for all things. We also praise and worship God by being thankful to Him for all things that take place in our experiences. Paul was able to say that in everything he gave thanks, and that he gloried in his tribulations and afflictions. This meant he had gratitude for those things which in their negative appearance devastated him. But he also knew that it took the negative and positive working together for there to be any force by which he could live this earthly life.
To be able to thank God for the negative things and for our tribulations and trials is very difficult, but in this gratitude we acknowledge that God rules over all and has Satan under His control even though the circumstance declares that Satan is working. The beginning of the renewed mind is seeing that God has a hand in all the devastating things, He controls them and is directing them. His purpose is not to destroy the believer, but that the believer might see that the overwhelming power is by the positive Christ within him.
The joining of the negative and the positive creates the force that brings the believer to healthy Christian living. Only by seeing that all outward negative forces are under God's control can we see Satan defeated, for if we turn God's control and power over to a satanic act we have denied the Christ within us. God's plan is never turned over to Satan, and His control of our lives in the universe is never turned over to Satan. The Christ-life believer knows that Satan is out of him as his once-ruling nature and is now defeated by the Cross.
So, in the light that all things are of God, we accept the things around us that we can do nothing about bringing us to happiness and peace that can only come by the Christ within us, operating as us. We rejoice and praise God for all things. Like Israel of old, after they had crossed the Red Sea and begun to sing praises unto the God who had delivered them, so do we. Our earthly deliverance is ultimate and complete, and all we are doing by life experiences is living out that glorious deliverance one step and one day at a time. We must never allow any one step or any one day to be so dark that it destroys the glorious deliverance that is already ours through Christ. Only as we see that every apparent enemy and every hurt and pain is but one more step to ward the ultimate deliverance, can we live in victory.
Also, as we thank God for every step and every day, regardless of what it brings, we see Christ through it all. Oh, how wonderful to know that victory and total inheritance is ours, and by knowing this we are able to thank God for every step of the journey!
Copyright © 1994 Warren Litzman; used by permission. The Bible text in this publication, except where otherwise indicated, is from the King James Version. This article appears on the site: http://www.peterwade.com/.
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