The Emergence (The Seasons that Birth Greatness)
By Apostle Joshua Selman

The believer in Christ is a product of encounters.

An encounter is the name given to any spiritual journey or process that makes a thing real to you. The goal of an encounter is to produce conviction.

There are four encounters that define your spiritual experience and your level efficiency.

1. In order of priority, number 1, is the encounter with the Lord Jesus Christ. Upon this encounter through salvation, you receive forgiveness of sin, the gift of righteousness and the life of God.
2. An encounter with the person and ministry of the holy spirit. John 16:13
3. Your encounter with the word of God Colossians 3:16, John 1:3, Colossians 1:16
4. You must encounter the body of Christ Ephesians 4:11 - 13

   Without the body of Christ, you will not have a balance of wholesome growth. Within the body of Christ are graces

How seasons birth the glory of God

Luke 1:80, Romans 15:4

There are a lot of lessons that can be learnt from history.

There are 2 ways a believer can be transformed:

1. Looking unto Jesus through His word and by the agency of the holy spirit
2. Looking unto men who have become worthy models who by reason of their alignments and sacrifices, the businesses they have done with God in the secret place, have been able to embody certain spiritual possibilities. Hebrews 6:12

Every character in the bible is a spiritual pathway that can be studied and followed to produce a certain kind of believer

Galatians 1:8, Ecclesiastes 3:1

There are 3 major seasons on the journey of greatness

1. The season of discovery and preparation

   If you do not discern seasons, you will miss them.

   This is a season where God, by His word, His spirit and through the instrument of men will begin to lead (if you allow him) through the path that lead to the point of discovery and preparation for the destiny that he has installed for you.

   There are things you have to discover in this season:

   Timing is important.

   1. You must discover God 1 Samuel 1:9&11, Acts 8:26
   2. You discover yourself Jeremiah 1:6 - 12

   3. You discover your abilities, your gifting and every spiritual ability God has put within you 2 Kings 4:1-2

      There are 2 things you must discover fast:

      1. What is in your house(it can be what is within you)
      2. what is in your hand.

      Philippians 2:13

   4. You must find your place in prophecies Psalm 42:7

2. The season of testing and pruning

   Deuteronomy 8:14-16, Psalm 66:12

   This season achieves 3 things. And until these 3 things are fulfilled, you will not get out of the season. So the earlier you align, faster you get out of the season.

   1. It reveals to you how insufficient your strength is outside the help of God.Psalm 27:1, Psalm 3:5

      So there is an exchange: Your weakness for his strength

   2. It plants in you compassion for others
   3. It builds trust and confidence

   God can use men to announce men, but God can use supernatural means, sometimes without the assistance of any man to announce.

3. The season of manifestation and appearing

   When you step into your season of appearance:

   1. Perpetually acknowledge God in the presence of those who celebrate you Proverbs 3:5
   2. Build a system that protects your conviction and a system that protect the spiritual activities(like prayers, your values, word study life) that maintain your fire Acts 6:4
   3. Build quality relationships. As much as possible, don’t throw away those who believed in you when you were nothing.
   4. Raise men who will preserve and extend your relevance

Listen to these messages: Ichabod, obtaining the grace to last, the strategy for consistency, the law of seasons