When my dad, Mark Virkler, first told me he was writing a book on spiritual gifts, I didn’t think that had much to do with me. After all, don’t we normally associate words of wisdom and knowledge with prophets or evangelists? And isn’t healing something pastors release in church services and miracles something missionaries see on the mission field?
It all sounds well and good, but what does that have to do with the rest of us? Where do spiritual gifts fit in the context of regular people, in our regular, everyday lives?
What I ended up finding out though, is that I was already flowing in many of the gifts, and didn’t even realize it. And I think the same is true for you too! Because Holy Spirit does all the heavy lifting, and it’s so simple to flow with Him, we think, It can’t be this easy. We assume there must be more to it than that. But Jesus said we need to be like little children to enter the kingdom, so if we’ve made any aspect of our faith too difficult for kids, then it’s too difficult.
The exciting revelation is what the gifts of the Spirit actually are: simply an overflow of Holy Spirit’s life through us. When we release His perspective and thoughts, we call it a word of knowledge or prophecy. When we release His heart, we call it a gift of faith or wisdom. When we release His power, we call it the gift of healing or miracles.
So, these gifts aren’t something difficult to operate in, nor are they reserved only for special Christians in certain settings or at specific times. In fact, I learned it’s not even about the gifts as much as it’s about the giver Himself. Well, that’s something I do know about. Holy Spirit is my best friend, and I love doing life together with Him. I know you have His Spirit living in you too, which as I soon discovered, makes all this “spiritual gifts” stuff pretty simple for all of us to flow in. No seminary degree or superior certification required.
Cells of God
What is most important for us to understand is that we have 24/7 connection and communion with Holy Spirit. He lives in us, and wherever He is, His gifts are. Which means, wherever we are, His gifts are. We just need to live to our sacred union moment by moment, because that is scriptural truth (1 Cor. 6:17).
For example, imagine me asking, “How far away is my hand from me?” Or “How distant and separate am I from my leg?” That seems silly, because of course these are members of my own body. So too, we are members of the body of Christ (1 Cor. 12:27). Our life is hidden with Christ in God (Col. 3:3) and it is in Him that we live and move and exist (Acts 17:28).
So we are not seeking some power or gift that is separate from God or from us. We are simply living into our union with the giver. We live from our oneness with Holy Spirit, and then these “gifts” effortlessly flow. These supernatural manifestations are simply expressions of the giver Himself—living in and through us—His body (Gal. 2:20).
Like a grown man wearing child’s clothes—He overflows them. He’s in them “fully” but far exceeds and excesses and surpasses them. In fact, He enlarges and expands them. Ephesians 3:19b talks about being “filled with all the fullness of God.” He spills out and overflows us as we wear Him, as we “put on the Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom. 13:14a).
God’s fullness in us is like a cell of His body. We are partakers of His holy nature (2 Pet. 1:4). We have His identity, the DNA of divinity (1 Pet. 1:23). The fullness of His DNA is in each cell, yet obviously we know that the cell itself is not the fullness of God. Specifically, this is how Holy Spirit explained it to me.
From My Journal
“With regard to the gifts of My Spirit, they are simply a natural overflow of intimacy with Me. They are the natural overflow of conversation and fellowship with Me. As you live to your union with Me—you in Me, Me in you, our spirits joined as one—the natural fruit of that supernatural unity is My Spirit flowing out through you. Not just in you, but flooding and overflowing you:
—The overflow of My thoughts as you live to the mind of Christ. Those are words of knowledge and wisdom.
—The overflow of My feelings as you live from Father’s heart. That is faith and discernment.
—The overflow of My strength as you live out of My divine nature. That is the working of miracles and healing and power.
So, the closer you live to Me and with Me and in Me—the easier all of this naturally overflows. It’s not something you work up or manufacture. You know the river within flows without you pushing it. Instead, you just learn to position yourself to connect with the flow of My river in your heart.
The revelation that is most helpful to understand about the gifts of the Spirit is that you’re not going after something “out there.” You don’t have to go far off to heaven and carry them all the way back to earth. You know heaven is within you. You know I’m in you, too. Which means, all those gifts, those natural overflows of My divine thoughts, kingdom emotions and supernatural power are all inside you. Already.
It’s not far off and away. It’s not something distant. It’s just like the kingdom. It’s inside you. It’s just like eternity. I’ve placed it in your heart. It’s just like My nature and fullness and Spirit; it’s all within you already. And wherever I am, My gifts are, because they are not commodities separate from Me, they are expressions of Me.
Which makes all of this really easy. It’s back to simply living to your union with Me, out of your union with Me. Understanding that separateness is an illusion, you are a new creation in Me, and our spirits are one.”
Supernatural Oneness
We happily realize then that everything is available to all of us. It’s for us, accessible at any time, and altogether doable. Because it’s never been about the gifts; it’s always been about the giver.
It’s about Holy Spirit overflowing us as we learn to simply rest in our sacred oneness and live to our supernatural union with Him. {eoa}
Charity Virkler Kayembe has a doctorate in biblical studies, is passionate about the sacred supernatural and writes about the unfolding adventure that is walking by the Spirit on her blog at GloryWaves.org. She has been featured on Sid Roth’s It’s Supernatural!, Cornerstone TV, Charisma magazine and The Elijah List. Charity is the co-author of four books, including Hearing God Through Your Dreams, Unleashing Healing Power Through Spirit-Born Emotions and Everyday Angels.
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