This quarter, we focus on healing in our weekly devotional series. This week’s devotional comes from Mark 15 through Luke 5.
I am on the other side of youth by a lot of years! Just check out the white hair and the very s-l-o-w walk. Being this old makes it possible for me to have a very long memory, especially about important truths like this one: Jesus Christ is our Healer.
This week, we read Luke 4:31-37, and remember again Jesus’ encounter with the unclean spirit and the possessed man. We see how Jesus responded and brought healing. It wasn’t a performance for Jesus. He simply spoke with authority and power, and the spirit came out of the man.
Praying for the sick and the possessed does not require showmanship, but it does require one to trust in the Lord and His Word, and staunch obedience to Him.
My memory goes back far enough that I can remember Sister McPherson teaching us the doctrine firsthand: Jesus Christ, the only Savior, Jesus Christ the Baptizer with the Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ the Great Physician, and Jesus Christ the Soon-Coming King.
I also remember students reciting together the Foursquare Declaration of Faith regarding divine healing:
We believe that divine healing is the power of the Lord Jesus Christ to heal the sick and the afflicted in answer to believing prayer; that He who is the same yesterday, and today and forever has never changed but is still an all-sufficient help in the time of trouble, able to meet the needs of, and quicken into newness of life, the body, as well as the soul and spirit, in answer to the faith of them who ever pray with submission to His divine and sovereign will.
—Aimee Semple McPherson from Declaration of Faith
Scriptures that support this doctrinal stance can be found in Mark 16:18 and James 5:14-16, and in both examples the Bible says that God “will” heal. These verses do not say that He “may heal” or that He “can heal.” Further, as we look carefully at the two verses that precede Mark 16:18, we notice that Jesus is speaking directly to those who believe and are baptized (see Mark 16:16-17). That’s you and me!
When He healed the possessed man in Luke 4, Jesus showed us how to pray for results. The account does not imply that Jesus yelled, waived His arms or pounded something. Instead, it says that Jesus spoke with authority, and the man was delivered.
I may not pastor a church or teach in a Bible college any longer, and I know that being young is very important these days. But after all these years, I know for certain that God will heal, if we will pray. God has given us the same authority that Jesus used in Luke 4—the authority to pray in faith, trust His word and believe God will heal.
By: Dorothy Jean Furlong, Foursquare ForeRunner, Bible college professor, evangelist, pastor and teacher
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