This quarter, we focus on healing in our weekly devotional series. This week’s devotional comes from Matthew chapters 8 through 14.
Sometimes my faith is too much in my head and too little in my hands. I fail at times to present my body, as living worship, to God—especially as life is increasingly experienced in virtual reality.
One of the great things about being Pentecostal is not just that we speak in tongues, but that we believe in the embodiment of the gospel in all areas of life.
We see faith embodied in the book of Matthew, where the word “touch” is ubiquitous. In the short space of a few chapters (Matt. 8–14), it is reported that Jesus physically touched a leper, Peter’s mother-in-law and two blind men, healing them and “all who were sick” (Matt. 14:35, NKJV). We also read of many others who pressed in to touch Jesus, such as in Matt. 9:20.
This is a powerful reminder of what the Foursquare gospel looks like when it is actually believed and lived out in the real world—through physical touch, physical healing and physical worship. We believe in the seamless merging of the spiritual and the physical, the kingdom of God and present reality. We believe in the healing of the outer as well as the inner person. Moreover, we contend that belief and action are one organic whole.
The late author Jacob Bronowski famously said: “We have to understand that the world can only be grasped by action, not by contemplation alone. The hand is more important than the eye … the hand is the cutting edge of the mind.”
Lord, we pray that You would bring Your kingdom into all our earthly ways; as we lay hands on to pray, and raise hands up to worship—bring Your healing touch to our bodies, for “as many as touched [the hem of Your garment] were made perfectly well” (Matt. 14:36).
By: Sam Rockwell, supervisor of Foursquare’s Gateway District
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