How to maximize your season of visitation

How to maximize your season of visitation

2 Corinthians 3:17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty [emancipation from bondage, true freedom].

This passage opens our understanding to the fact that the Spirit of God is a Lord Spirit, and as with a king, the Spirit determines when to move and act. Ecclesiastes 8:4 tells us that the word of a king is authoritative and powerful, And who will say to him, “What are you doing?”

But beyond the fact that the Spirit of God decides when, where, and how to move, many factors can influence the move of God's Spirit, and I'll highlight just a few here.

1. The alignment of the vessel: 

The greatest challenge of God across the ages has always been the availability of vessels. It's difficult, except by God's mercy, for vessels to sustain the same level of alignment and yieldedness every time. And because not all possibilities are attainable at every level of alignment, the Spirit of God capitalizes on kairos moments to carry out His agenda.

God was more than eager and willing to save Sodom and Gomorrah, as we can see through the lens of the bargaining which shifted the quota from fifty (50) to ten (10). The number did not shift because Abraham was a skilled negotiator, but rather the love in the heart of the Father was what swung the pendulum. There was no other mention of Abraham negotiating anything else throughout scripture, not even the death or sacrifice of his only son, Isaac, was negotiated. But the entire Bible is littered with numerous evidence of God's love for and towards us. 

In Ezekiel 22:30, we see God about to destroy the land, but was ready to stand down execution, if only there was a man. A man could turn the heart of God on a matter. This means not only can God turn the hearts of men; as we see in Proverbs 21:1; God's heart too can be in the heart of an aligned man.

This matter of vessels is of great concern to the Father, in the equation of His move upon the face of the earth. There are many dimensions of God our dispensation is yet to witness because there are no vessels that have sustained sufficient alignment and capacity to trap those dimensions and become conduits of the same to the body of Christ and the world. This does not mean that those dimensions are not in God, nor does it negate the fact that He wants us to enjoy those possibilities which are present in Him.

As benevolent as we have heard, seen, and known the Father's love to be, there are certain principles His love for us will not override. Despite the gift of salvation, which is an act of His love and mercy, we still need to confess Jesus as Lord with our mouths for us to be saved, "because if you acknowledge and confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord [recognizing His power, authority, and majesty as God], and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved". Romans 10:9 AMP. 

No matter how much He desires to bless us, we still need to serve, to earn and deserve the blessings "You shall serve [only] the Lord your God, and He shall bless your bread and water. I will also remove sickness from among you". (Exodus 23:25 AMP). 

God's manifold blessing upon us in Deuteronomy 28 is hinged on our participatory contribution “Now it shall be, if you diligently listen to and obey the voice of the Lord your God, being careful to do all of His commandments which I am commanding you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth". Deuteronomy 28:1 AMP

There are many more in scriptures, to prove that God means good for us, but His love would not exempt our responsibilities.

There is more to God if only there are sufficiently aligned vessels.

2. Discern the season of your visitation:

"And they will level you to the ground, you [Jerusalem] and your children within you. They will not leave in you one stone on another, all because you did not [come progressively to] recognize [from observation and personal experience] the time of your visitation [when God was gracious toward you and offered you salvation].” Luke 19:44 AMP.

"The wind blows where it wishes and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it is coming from and where it is going; so it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” John 3:8 AMP

Jesus in His discussion with Nicodemus leaves us a silent key to unlock the parable of the time. 

We have already established that the Spirit is a king Spirit and as such, comes at His own time. This goes to say, if you must benefit from His visitation, you need to stay alert and prepared. 

The man at the pool of Bethesda was in the vicinity of the miracles, perhaps he had a front seat view of the signs that took place, but the difference between him and others who got healed was that he couldn't seize the moment when it mattered most.

The ten virgins in Matthew 25 were waiting for the Bridegroom, but the extra preparation of the wise five kept them alert and prepared to take advantage of any and every situation that eventually arose. 

You may have been praying for a specific breakthrough, a word of direction from God, a particular impartation, etc. But the day your word comes, you are either not in church or you were distracted. 

Discernment is a child of sensitivity. That you were able to discern the movement of God was because you were sensitive to the times. This was the factor behind the children of Issachar, they had an understanding of the times. They could discern times and seasons. They were sensitive to what was going on behind the scene. 

If we must maximize encounters, we need to be able to sense (perceive), know (be precise about) and seize (take advantage of) our moments of visitation.

One scary fact about God's visitation is that it is seasonal. And like the wind, you can't tell when it will blow neither can you identify the direction. If you miss your season, the circle may come back again, but it may be after another five (5) years. It could be more or less, but the constant is, the time has been lost.

God does not move everywhere every time. His movement is regulated by his sovereign will, howbeit, our ability to know the time of His visitation and maximize it could be the game-changer for us. Blind Bartimaeus was not shouting every time, he only shouted when Jesus was within earshot of his voice.

Suffice I to add, our hunger also can create alignments in our spirit. Just the way a hungry man is drawn towards food to quench his appetite, so also is the spirit of man drawn towards God, if God is the object of His affection. "As the deer pants [longingly] for the water brooks, So my soul pants [longingly] for You, O God."

Psalms 42:1 AMP

3. The move of God as well as His emphasis in that season:

Many times we are still where God used to be, and this is because we have failed to recognize that God's emphasis is strategic, systematic, and time-bound. That He is Sovereign doesn't mean He will do everything every time. There were times in scriptures when we noticed that Jesus was committed to teaching. It didn't mean He couldn't heal or cast out devils, but that was the emphasis on the heart of the Father, "So Jesus answered them by saying, “I assure you and most solemnly say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself [of His own accord] unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever things the Father does, the Son [in His turn] also does in the same way." John 5:19 AMP

There were other times we saw Him go all out against the forces of hell. He healed all manner of diseases, delivered the oppressed, opened blind eyes, made the lame walk, the deaf began to hear, the dumb started talking and lots more.

There are also times, He zoomed His attention on His disciples and taught them. This, we see Him do, after His resurrection. He left public ministry and got committed to mentoring the next generation of church leaders. Because He understood that the success of the predecessor was determined by the successor.

God has an emphasis on His heart, and this emphasis dictates His move. If you can discern His emphasis, to a large extent, you can predict with a high level of accuracy, the direction of the flow of His resources. When God was about to speak creation into existence, we see His Spirit; the custodian and administrator of His resources; moving. Again, when the Father was about to announce the Son to His world at the Jordan River, we see the same Spirit manifest again. 

The best way to enjoy the constant flow of God's resources (anointing, power, miracles, presence, favor, speed, etc) is to be at the heart of His emphasis. A classic example of being in the middle of God's emphasis for the season is a hose that conveys water from one point to another. The hose may seem useless and irrelevant in itself, but if you want to convey that water to your desired location, you may have to depend on that hose.

One blessing you can't take away from the hose is the fact that in conveying the water, the hose itself benefits from it. 

Just in allowing itself to be used to convey the water, it gets wet in the process, something that would never have happened to it if it was still in the garage or market. As long as the water was flowing, the hose was wet, but if for whatever reason, the hose refused to remain in the channel, it soon became dry, and in most cases, the hose was replaced. Rather than changing His plans, He would rather change a man.

To effectively maximize times and seasons, we must seek to search out, by the Spirit of Truth and revelation, what is in the heart of the Father. "For God has unveiled them and revealed them to us through the [Holy] Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things [diligently], even [sounding and measuring] the [profound] depths of God [the divine counsels and things far beyond human understanding]."

1 Corinthians 2:10 AMP

4. The spiritual climate of the territory.

Within the pages of the Bible, are recorded instances where God had to limit His manifestations to specific locations. 

When God wanted to show Abraham in Genesis 15:5, a token of His promise to him concerning his seed, God took him outside. 

To heal the blind man in Mark 8:23, Jesus had to take him out of the village. 

“Woe (judgment is coming) to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon [cities of the Gentiles], they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes [their hearts would have been changed and they would have expressed sorrow for their sin and rebellion against God]. Matthew 11:21 AMP

This shows that there are certain locations that, in themselves, limit the flow of God's power.

The vessel may be sufficiently aligned, it may be your season for visitation, and you are in the middle of God's emphasis for the season, but if your spiritual climate is wrong or faulty, it may impede that flow from the throne.

There are certain locations you find yourself and it becomes difficult to trust God, consequent upon the fact that the location instills fear rather than faith into your inner man.

Certain locations may have a dense cloud of anger and bitterness embedded within, and in such situations, your joy; which is the fetcher you use to draw out of the wells of salvation; becomes adulterated.

In some cases, your location determines your needs. We see through scripture that the different places where the children of Israel found themselves, en route to the promised land, affected their desires. At some places, all they wanted was food. At other places, their primary concern was water. 

"For I will pour out water on him who is thirsty, And streams on the dry ground; I will pour out My Spirit on your offspring And My blessing on your descendants;"

Isaiah 44:3 AMP. God is committed to meeting our needs, but His supply is based on our demand certain locations impose on you a certain measure of rest, not because you have attained the height of your calling, but you stumbled upon an environment where you were better than others and decided to plateau at that pedestal. The prophet, Amos, warned us against this; "Woe (judgment is coming) to those who are at ease and carefree in Zion (Judah) And to those on the mountain of Samaria who feel secure, The distinguished men of the foremost of nations, To whom the house of Israel comes". Amos 6:1 AMP

The location may be called Zion, but there is always a beckoning to come up hither.

5. Faith

There are three levels of faith I want to draw our attention to, under this subject. 

(a) There is the faith that believes "if only you can touch my situation, it will change." They believe it strongly and it works for them. "While He was saying these things to them, a ruler (synagogue official) entered [the house] and kneeled and worshiped Him, saying, “My daughter has just now died; but come and lay Your hand on her, and she will live.” Matthew 9:18 AMP

(b) "As Jesus went into Capernaum, a centurion came to Him, begging Him [for help], and saying, “Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, with intense and terrible, tormenting pain.” Jesus said to him, “I will come and heal him.”  But the centurion replied to Him, “Lord, I am not worthy to have You come under my roof, but only say the word, and my servant will be healed". Matthew 8:5‭-‬8 AMP

This kind of faith does not require physical touch, just a word spoken in that direction is sufficient to create the desired effect. Even Jesus admitted that He had not found so great faith, in the nation of Israel.

(c) In Matthew 9:20, we encounter not just another kind but another dimension of faith. "for she had been saying to herself, “If I only touch His outer robe, I will be healed.” Matthew 9:21‭ AMP.

The woman with the issue of blood didn't have the luxury of a face-to-face encounter with Jesus or a healing service. All she needed, to draw upon the healing virtue in Jesus, was her faith.

This faith was so forceful that it beat the discernment ability of Jesus. The master could not help but ask, " who touched me?". Like 8:45.

Jesus admitted His vulnerability to our faith when He said, “Because of your little faith [your lack of trust and confidence in the power of God]; for I assure you and most solemnly say to you, if you have [living] faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and [if it is God’s will] it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you." Matthew 17:20 AMP

This is so true because Hebrews 11 is a compendium of the lives and strange acts of men who wrought all manner of great things, all on the irrefutable basis of faith.

"But Jesus looked at them and said, “With people [as far as it depends on them] it is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” Matthew 19:26 AMP.

And

"Jesus said to him, “[You say to Me,] ‘If You can?’ All things are possible for the one who believes and trusts [in Me]!” Mark 9:23 AMP

These two scriptures show us that the only place we see all things being possible is in the realm of God and Faith. 

This shows how forceful, compelling our faith is. It sustains within itself, the capability to bring us into the realm of God.

In summary

God is our Father, and His compassionate heart of love has made Him leave us titbits of how we can maximize our season of visitation. 

For God to move, He needs aligned vessels, whose humanity will not interfere with the force of divinity surging through our lives. We; on our part; have to be sensitive enough to discern when our season of visitation is here and ensure that we are at the core of God's emphasis. Above, taking the shield of faith. There is something about our faith that God cannot resist. 

With these five forces in place, we can influence the move of God on our behalf.

Grace and Mercy!!!

Amb. Emmanuel Etukudo

Kingdom Wealth Ambassador