This quarter, we focus on healing in our weekly devotional series. This week's devotional comes from Mark chapters 1 through 7.
I love good news! What is more enjoyable than hearing a report or reading about something that makes you rejoice and causes your heart to leap? I love conversations that begin with the words, “Wow, I’ve got some good news.” I love the kind of news that makes me want to celebrate and laugh.
I love the Good News. The Gospel of Mark, likely the first of the Synoptic Gospels to be written, introduces the Galilean ministry of Jesus with these words: “After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. ‘The time has come,’ he said. ‘The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!’ " (Mark 1:14-15, NIV).
Remarkably, after Jesus selected His disciples, this gospel of the kingdom, or good news, was modeled for all to see: A demon was cast out, Peter’s mother-in-law was healed—many others were healed, and many demons were cast out in the evening. Demons were cast out as Jesus preached in Galilee, and Jesus also cleansed a leper.
The second chapter of Mark begins with the healing of the paralytic, and so it continues in the ministry of Jesus, continues through the gospel narratives, and so it was experienced in the ministry of His disciples and apostles.
It’s striking that the gospel of the kingdom, as preached by Jesus at the defining moments of His earthly ministry, is less doctrine, theology and apologetics, and more works that are transformational: healing, deliverance and miraculous encounters with the living God.
And while Jesus taught in Mark 1 and would teach, proclaim and cause the scholars of His and our day to marvel, His sermons took place within the context of the supernatural. Clearly, there were many, many people who encountered Jesus as He ministered in word and deed, and would tell others after this encounter, “Wow, I’ve got some good news!”
The Foursquare Church was birthed not only with a theological commitment to the baptism in the Holy Spirit with the attending gifts and healing as an ongoing work of God; but also we were birthed out of the very supernatural acts of God that were transformational—healings, deliverances, signs and wonders.
We have preached and continue to preach the gospel of the kingdom, and have expected and should continue to expect that the evidence of the presence of the kingdom attends our ministries.
This is who we are.
There are generations rising today that desire an authentic Christianity. What might be more authentic than people being healed, demons being cast out, the dead being raised, people being saved and our communities responding to this really, really Good News?
By: Jim Scott, vice president of global operations and director of Foursquare Missions International
Share your journey through the Gospels » Leave a comment below to share what God is showing you personally as the Foursquare family reads through the Gospels! Download the reading plan bookmarks for 2012, and you can also subscribe to the weekly Foursquare Leader Prayer email to receive insights and inspiration from Foursquare leaders around the world.
