In Session 13 of the Voice of the Prophets event held in April, Katherine Ruonala, founder and president of Katherine Ruonala Ministries, stirs us to the reality of the life God has given us which is not intangible but tangible. The Spirit of the Living God is fanned into flame in us again in the truth that if we do not know what we have got, we do not know what we can give. In this week’s article, we are calling all believers to be a people who prepare themselves by faith in the Spirit so that when others hear the sound of our greeting or when they feel our touch, they experience the atmosphere of heaven.
Peter said, “Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk” (Acts 3:6).
Unless we actually start to come into this holy confidence – which is not arrogance – and we actually know Who He is and what we carry, then the world is missing out on what Jesus was so excited to see. He said, “It is better that I go away”, because His Spirit was going to come live in us. And the same works He did, and greater works, we’d do. That is how it’s supposed to be!
Jesus knew what He carried. When He spoke to the woman at the well, He said, “If you only know Whose talking to you, you would ask for Living Water.” He was not arrogant, but He knew Who He Was and He knew He had something to give her that would change her life.
The Holy Spirit is sending an awakening that is causing the sons and daughters of God to wake up and realize that it is no longer us who live but the actual Christ Who lives in us. We are going to start believing not just with a head knowledge but with a heart reality that as He is, so are we in this world (1 John 4:17).
Until we know Who we look like we cannot have the confidence to manifest Who Jesus is. As a man thinks in his heart, so is he (Proverbs 23:7). Instead of thinking, Well, I’m just a Christian. I’ve attended a few Global Awakening events. I’ve heard about healing. I could give it a go—it would be awesome if we reckoned ourselves dead and by the grace of God, alive to Him in Christ, not by our works but by His great goodness. It would also be awesome if we realized that today it is no longer us who live but Christ; the same Christ Who walked the earth and healed all who came to Him. As He is, so are we.
But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the Word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.
—James 1: 22-25
Have we forgotten what we look like? If we are not doing all the works of Jesus… If we’re not doing all the things the bible says we can do… It is not because we need to try harder, or we’re bad people, or we’re hypocrites, or we are somehow lacking in something. It is because we have forgotten what we look like. We have looked into the mirror of His Word then walked away and thought, Oh, I’ll get there one day. But if we look in the mirror of His Word and see Him, we discover what we look like. He is our mirror.
Let’s remind ourselves what we look like. The bible tells us in 2 Corinthians 13:18, “But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.” 2 Peter 1:3 says God’s power has given us everything we need for life and godliness, through our knowing the One Who called us to His own glory and goodness.
2 Peter 1:9 says that those of us who lack these things are shortsighted, even to blindness, and have forgotten that we were cleansed from our old sins. In other words, if we are lacking any of the virtues of the nature of God, the fruits of the Spirit, and the power of God in our everyday manifestations—it is because we have forgotten that we have been cleansed of our past sins. He took away our old life and gave us His life in exchange. That life is tangible. It is glistening life that we have to give away. It is the Word of life. The same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead, lives in us and we can say, “Such as I have give I thee.” Hallelujah!
“As [Jesus] prayed, the appearance of His face was altered, and His robe became white and glistening” (Luke 9:29, emphasis ours).
As you watch and listen to the video above, we pray that you be blessed. We pray that you would be healed in your spirit, soul and body. We pray that you would move forward in freedom. And we pray that you would experience the holy confidence that Jesus has in you.
Action Point: Having a holy confidence and being a doer of the Word is not “feel good theology”; it is “basic Gospel 101”. She points out how the world is waiting and longing for us as Christians to wake up. We are reminded how the world needs Jesus and He lives in us. So, what is it we have we forgotten? What is it we need to be reminded of?
Father God, when we forget who and Whose we are, remind us. Help us see You and how You see us in the mirror of Your Word. When we need to be reawakened to what grace is, tell us once again. Thank You that we belong to You. Thank You that You love us. Thank You that we are Your beloved. We commit ourselves to believing it. Amen.