Quickening
“But if the Spirit of him that
raised up Jesus from the dead dwelleth in you, he that raised up Christ Jesus
from the dead shall quicken also your mortal bodies through his Spirit that
dwelleth in you.” (Romans 8:11)
Quicken used here also says in
some translations “give life.” It is the
Greek word zóopoieó, Strongs # 2227.
It means to make alive, to give life, cause to live through the life-giving
power of the Holy Spirit. Here it is
clear that the Holy Spirit, residing within you will bring you to life or cause
you to flourish.
The law requires of you, where
grace enables you.1 So often
we want to make it about what we do. But
it is more about what He does within us as we surrender rather than resist his
work. These verses in Romans go on to
note that we are not to live by the flesh anymore that is resistant against God’s
work, but put this to death so that we may live.
Live here is zaó and it
means to come alive or be revived. As we
put to death the flesh, life springs forth.
Galatians 5:19-21 tells us what works of the flesh look like. It says, “Now the works of the flesh are
manifest, which are these; adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry,
witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings,
murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like.”
Flesh is the Greek word sarx,
and it means the human nature, or physical rather than spiritual elements. It is born of this world. Our flesh is corrupted and filled with sin if
we let it run rampant. It is the Word
of God that is the dividing line (Hebrews 4:12). It cuts away the flesh and breathes life into
us. Psalm 19:7 says that the law of the
Lord is perfect, reviving the soul.” When
we gaze upon the Word of God, it revives us.
It is packed with power and has everything we need to bring us to life.
Ever think about this?: The process of spiritual transformation is setting
us free from this natural world. It is
not living by its terms but lives in the place of faith and trust that is
rooted outside this world. Like Enoch,
we are being released from this world to walk with God. In its fullness, we are more and more being
taken up with God into heavenly realms.
If we feel spiritually dead or we
are entangled with greed, envy, centrality or other sin, reading our word and interacting
with it is the answer. It has power to set us free if we follow it
faithfully. It will literally breathe
life into us.
Self-control is the ability to
choose life rather than death. Kanisha
writes that, “self-control is not our ability to control ourselves, but a
decision between two choices, spiritual or flesh. The choice we choose, dictates outcomes.” She goes on to note that it comes from God
and, like all the fruit, is produced by the Holy Spirit.2
In this sense, self-control is
agreement with God and our will to humbly submit and follow Him. Rather than
our ability to grit our teeth and white knuckle it in the natural, it is the
ability to surrender to the control of God as we resist and restrain our
natural impulses, emotions, and desires.
It helps us to sever ourselves from the natural response so that we can
live greater in the spiritual realm by faith.
It comes into play when we submit
our wills to God and resist the devil so he flees (James 4:7-8}. Rather than
doing what we want and feeding our natural nature by responding in fear, anger,
indulgence, or lust, we allow His peace to guide us into all goodness. As we do this, we draw near to God and are
cleansed from sin. (vs. 8)
Here is the deal with this, it
doesn’t feel good to deny the flesh. It
isn’t invigorating. You don’t get the
momentary natural rewards that come with gratifying the flesh. It feels like dying because it is. You are dying to this world so that you can
live greater in the eternal world. And as you submit and hold to God’s will, it
takes time to see fruit produced from it.
When we deny our flesh, it is
always from the place of faith. It is
trusting that God is a rewarder of those who seek Him and even if He doesn’t reward,
it is a position of pleasing Him to not shrink back from death. Our road is meant to be one filled with death
to self and also filled with faith.
As a result, our lives are meant
to come alive and flourish. So what does
it mean to flourish? As I have been looking at this as an outcome of Spirit-led
leadership, I have determined that it is packed with the life and Kingdom of
God. It is an invitation and a
blossoming into rather than a demand. It
means to be fully alive--bear the fruit of the Spirit and also the power of the
Spirit. It is a place of multiplication,
causing flourishing in others.
So
what keeps us from this flourishing and causes us to live in less than
this? What are the encumbrances that we
need to lay aside?
Maybe
our encumbrance it is just believing for the sake of others. The spies that saw the Promised Land just
failed to believe for themselves and others that they could have this and so
they never entered it.
Years
ago, my hearing-impaired son went to a camp and his hearing was healed while he
was there. We tested it and there was a
clear difference. I was dumbfounded and
just silent as I didn’t know what to say.
It felt like hype but God clearly did something. Then when I went to take him home, my mother
was in the car and he innocently told her about it. She just couldn’t believe it and spoke out criticism
for the staff and the belief. While she
was speaking, his hearing impairment came back and he needed his hearing aids to
hear. It was not her intention to cause him harm but protect him. But doubt
came in bigger than belief and he has always needed his hearing aids since this
time.
All
that to say that it is easier to live in doubt than belief and it is easy for
faith to be swallowed up by what we know in the natural. We fail to see with eyes of faith and even
receive the invitation that we are given to have more. We have not because we do not ask and then
when we finally do ask, it is with wrong motives corrupted with sin.
My
husband is legally blind and struggles to see.
It has been over ten years now since we found out. At the time, they told us that he would be
totally blind in five years. Yet, all these
years, he has kept some of his vision and been able to get around the house and
out with me just fine (as long as I am watching for obstacles in his path).
I
pray for his eyes every day and revel in the sight he has that God has given
him all these years. It is a miracle at
work! Yet my husband fails to believe
for his eyes. He thinks my prayers for
his eyesight are a waste of time and sometimes even gets annoyed with it. I
wonder how much this keeps him from having full sight.
Ironically,
while I have been praying daily for him over the years, my eyesight has
improved substantially. It is 2/3 better
than it was ten years ago. Now I only
wear one contact for long range adjustment and can get by without any
correction if I forget to pop the contact in.
Lord, help us to live into the fullness of all that you provide to us. Let us daily revel in Your goodness and power.
1. Bill Johnson. 2024. In The Water: 60 Days in the Overflowing Presence of the Holy Spirit. (Witaker House, New Kensington, PA).
2. Sanders, Kneisha. 2020. The Fruit of a Spirit-Led Leader. WestBow Press.
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