Healing and Citizenship
I want to share with you something that I think will help you when you are laying hands on the sick.
Your citizenship is in heaven. Philippians 3:20 in the King James Version says that our “conversation” is in heaven, but almost every other translation renders that word “citizenship.”
John 17:14-16:
I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.
They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
Though you are in the world, you as Jesus’ disciple do not operate under the “world system.” Your needs are not provided by your employer, Wall Street, the government, or anyone else, even if God uses them as intermediaries. GOD is your source as a believer. You are not to operate in financial fear and greed as the world does. Your supply is now from HEAVEN, not from THIS WORLD, even when it is still “men” who “give unto your bosom” when you’re a giver (Luke 6:38). You are an ambassador for Christ, and we all know that an ambassador’s supply comes from the home country, not the host country.
You are a set-apart one. That’s what “saint” literally means! You are one of God’s own special people. The world has been crucified to you and you to it (Galatians 6:14)!
You are DEAD as far as this world is concerned! You are risen with Christ as a new creature, exempt from the devil’s dominion and the world’s power over you.
Most Christians live in the flesh and see themselves as simply forgiven sinners. That mindset will really hinder you from laying hands on the sick! Even some “faith people” live carnal lives (as they did in Corinth) that are hard to distinguish from the world because they don’t have a revelation of who they REALLY are.
You must see yourself as part of God’s kingdom, which rules over all!
Psalm 103:19:
The LORD hath prepared his throne in the heavens; and his kingdom ruleth over all.
The things you SEE are subject to change, but the Word is NOT subject to change. That which is not subject to change can change that which IS subject to change!
Romans 8:29 tells us that our destiny is to be conformed to Jesus’ image! Jesus was not a sinner who wallowed around bemoaning how dirty and rotten He was. You are not “a beggar telling another beggar where to get bread” – you are more than a conqueror. You are no longer identified as a sinner but as a saint. Your destiny is to look like Jesus to this world! If you are not convinced of that, please read Conformed to Christ’s Image. We should represent Jesus accurately to the world, offering healing in His name just as He offered healing to all.
The church is “the fullness of Him who fills all in all” (Ephesians 1:23). For us to be His fullness on the earth, we need to do what He did. Otherwise, we are not His fullness and it was NOT to our advantage that He went away and sent the Holy Spirit, as He said that it would be (John 16:7).
It helps if you remember these things when you lay hands on the sick. You are operating in a realm that controls the natural realm. You are a duly authorized distributor of Holy Spirit power. You are not just some miserable sinner saved by grace. You were created in God’s image in true righteousness and holiness (Ephesians 4:24). Christ left you an example that you should follow in His steps (1 Peter 2:21). (While that refers primarily to how you handle persecution, truly following in His steps would go beyond that.)
So realize that you are operating in a superior realm as you lay hands on a sick person. You are causing something in the natural realm to bow to the more powerful supernatural realm – something Jesus gave you the authority to do in His name.
Remember that you are an ambassador – a representative of heaven, which is now your true native country if you are a Christian. (If you are not a Christian, heaven does not allow illegal immigration – you need to come through the door, which is Jesus, to be saved from your sins.) You are duly authorized to act on behalf of your home country (heaven).
Maybe that will help you and maybe it won’t, but I know it’s helped me!