If

Romans 8:11

If the Spirit of Him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, He

that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal

bodies by His Spirit.

I was prompted by the Holy Spirit this morning to get this out to everyone so this will be done

differently. The following words come from the book, “If’ by Mark Batterson. I will comment

afterword.

All taken from page 83 of “If”. “The word quicken means to catalyze. Think chemistry.

Hebrews 4:12 says that the Word is living and active. The KJV says quick. Every other book in

my library is made of dead trees, most of them written by dead authors. The Author of

Scripture is alive and well. The same Spirit who inspired Moses, David, Peter and Paul as they

wrote inspires us to read. And when the Living Word is catalyzed by faith, a supernatural

reaction takes place that forgives sin, relieves fear, inspires ideas and births dreams.

Quicken also means to transfer possession. Think real estate. You can’t just put a contract on a

home; you have to go to settlement. By faith, we take ownership of the Word and the Word

takes ownership of us. When the Word is quickened, it seals the deal.

It means to sustain life, as in life support.

It also means to bring back to life, as in defibrillation.

Every time you read the Word of God, a little resurrection happens. It’s the way the Holy Spirit

brings our God-ordained dreams back to life. It revives faith, hope and love. It resurrects what

if.

One final meaning, and perhaps the most powerful, is to conceive.

Is there anything more miraculous than the moment of conception?

All the potential in the world is contained in that single-celled life. Encrypted in each cell is a

complete genetic code.

When the Word of God is conceived in you through the quickening of the Holy Spirit, it

impregnates us with possibilities. It changes your deepest desires, eradicates your worst fears

and fulfills your wildest dreams.

The quickening of God’s Word makes your heart break for the things that break the heart of

God. It forms the mind of Christ in you. And when the Word comes to full term, it gives birth to

what if.

Several years ago, I heard about a study that showed a massive difference in how

content a believer is based on how many days a week that person is in the Word.

If he or she was in the Word four or more days a week their level of contentment

versus people that were only three days or less was astronomical.

I know it has made a God-sized difference in my life. When I came to the Lord I

was in the Word sparingly at best but when I started reading the Word at least

four days a week, which actually happened well before I heard about this study,

things really started to change in my life.

It has also been amazing how, after getting closer to God, that I was able to really

hear that still small voice of the Holy Spirit. Much like this morning, that still small

voice was so loud to me it’s hard to believe it didn’t wake up everyone in a three-

square mile area.

Drew Bain