This quarter, we focus on healing in our weekly devotional series. This week's devotional comes from Mark 8 through 14.
In today’s economy we see so much failure, collapse, hurt, pain and disillusionment. We see churches shrinking, we see longer prayer lines and, what’s worse, we see many people leaving those prayer lines the same way they came.
It’s easy to let our environment affect our ability to see what God wants to do.
The Spirit of God is calling us to connect with Him on a deeply spiritual level. He calls us to renew our ability to see with the sight of the Spirit and not with physical eyes, physical eyes that can be tainted and moved by what they see.
In Mark 10, we read of a blind man named Bartimaeus, who was hanging out by the side of the road. I believe he was waiting on Jesus. The Bible doesn’t say that, but his actions show that he knew who Jesus was and where to find Him.
The closer Jesus got to Bartimaeus, the louder Bartimaeus yelled, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” (Mark 10:48, NKJV).
When Jesus responded to him, Bartimaeus jumped up, threw off his cloak and went to Him. Bartimaeus clearly couldn’t physically see Jesus. He was drawn to the voice of God and did not allow his circumstances to keep him from seeing fully.
Then, Jesus asked him, “What do you want Me to do for you?”
Boldly he said, “Rabboni, that I may receive my sight.” To which Jesus responded, “Go your way; your faith has made you well.” The text then states, “And immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus on the road.”
I think Bartimaeus saw better than most!
What could the Holy Spirit be trying to show us in this brief story? Like Bartimaeus, we must begin to cultivate an eye that is lined up with the spiritual and not with the flesh.
There is something significant about truly acknowledging and moving in a daily partnership with God, who dwells inside us. The same Spirit that split seas, consumed an altar drenched in water, brought down mighty walls, healed multitudes and raised Jesus from the dead dwells in us!
Like Bartimaeus, this world is waiting to see the sons of God reveal that which is of God. The focus is not on the miracles, but on whether or not we as His vessels are seeing and portraying that which He is revealing in the Spirit.
These are the eyes that see mountains moved, the lame walk and the unloved loved.
My encouragement and prayer for our Foursquare churches and beyond is that we will experience God’s resurrecting power, and that we will bring His healing to the lives of our ministers and our congregations.
By: Joe Harrison II, Director of Student Ministry at Connect4Life Foursquare Church in Waxahachie, Texas
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.
