Very few people have gotten to the place of total transformation, perhaps because there aren’t many willing to pay the price. But before the Lord takes me home, I want to get there.
A young pastor from Nigeria once asked me a powerful question. He said, “Is it possible to become one with God, and have you known people who were one with God?” I told him that of course it’s possible because that was the prayer of the Lord in John Chapter 17.
“Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; that they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me” (John 17:20–21, KJV).
I have known of three people who were one with God. All of them were women: Basilea Schlink, Corrie ten Boom and Kathryn Kuhlman. Let me tell you a little about each of them.
Basilea Schlink
Basilea Schlink was born in Germany in 1904. Her university studies included a thesis on sin consciousness and its effect on faith. A leader in the Student Christian Movement, she came under investigation by the Nazis during World War II for her stand in defense of the Jews. After the war ended, Schlink understood the importance of repentance for the atrocities committed by her homeland. She decided instead of marrying, she would remain single and devote her life to Christ. In 1947 she co-founded The Evangelical Sisterhood of Mary and served there until her death in 2001, sharing her faith with others and authoring 10 books.
I went to the place she founded, called Canaan, in Darmstadt, Germany. The presence of the Lord in that place was so powerful that I began to weep. I went to the chapel, and I did not want to walk out. It was like being in heaven inside that chapel. It was empty, but the presence of God in that place was so glorious, so real, that it felt as if I had gone to heaven and was walking with the Lord in glory. I felt that presence because Basilea Schlink walked in total transformation. She knew the Lord and was one with the Lord.
Corrie ten Boom
Corrie ten Boom was born in the Netherlands in 1892. A watchmaker by trade, following in her father’s profession, she was part of the Dutch Reformed Church and served the people of her neighborhood and established a youth club. After Germany invaded the Netherlands in World War II, youth clubs were banned and Jews were persecuted. The ten Boom family took in Jewish refugees, hiding them from the Nazis. For this, she and other members of her family were arrested; she and her family were confined in German concentration camps. Some did not survive the war, but she did.
When ten Boom preached, her face glowed, and I was mesmerized that Jesus walked into the room when that lady walked on the platform.
Kathryn Kuhlman
Kathryn Kuhlman was born in Missouri in 1907. She began preaching at the age of 14, traveling with her older sister and brother-in-law. In the 1940s she began holding healing crusades and continued her crusades into the 1970s. Her weekly television program, I Believe in Miracles, extended her ministry’s outreach, and she authored several books over these years. An estimated 2 million people reported healings through her ministry. She was diagnosed with a heart problem in her late 40s but refused to allow this to impact her ministry.
Kathryn Kuhlman embodied total transformation and oneness with the Lord. I can’t tell you how often I sat in her meetings at First Presbyterian Church of Pittsburgh and saw her face glowing. The presence of the Lord was manifested within her in such a glorious way that it is difficult to describe in words. This total transformation made Jesus a reality in her daily life. When Kuhlman walked on the platform, the reality of Christ in her life was now in the whole building. The presence of Christ Jesus saturated the entire place, and it immersed everyone in it.
Now think about what would have happened if there were no such reality of Jesus in her life when she walked onto the platform. The crowd would have gotten entertainment, signs, wonders and good preaching, but those things can’t change us. The reality of the Lord Jesus is what changes us. The reality in Ms. Kuhlman’s life combined with the power on her, and when she walked on the platform, the power on her transmitted the reality in her.
When the power of God comes on you, it transmits what’s inside you to everyone around you. They sense it; they feel it; they become part of it. {eoa}
Pastor Benny Hinn is known around the globe as a noted evangelist, teacher and the author of bestselling books, including Good Morning, Holy Spirit; Prayer That Gets Results; Blood in the Sand and Lamb of God. His television program, This Is Your Day, is among the world’s most-watched Christian programs, seen daily in 200 countries. His popular website and ministry app reach millions of people every single day in areas of the world that may not otherwise hear about the gospel. Through his ongoing multimedia outreach, Pastor Benny continues to take the message of God’s life-saving and miracle-working power around the globe, and to go “into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15).
Read articles like this one and other Spirit-led content in our new platform, CHARISMA PLUS.