“I’m bringing you into your Amos 9:13 season.” Those were the words I heard clearly in my spirit, and they couldn’t have been more pronounced had I heard them audibly spoken. As I awakened early in the morning, I reached for my Bible. I had no idea what was written in Amos 9:13.
Still drowsy, I read: “Indeed, the days are coming, says the Lord, when the plowman will overtake the one who is reaping, and the treader of grapes the one who is sowing the seed; the mountains will drip sweet wine, and all the hills will flow with it.”
I said aloud, “Thanks, I suppose.” Then I placed the Bible aside and tried to return to sleep. But those words would not leave me. They continued to swirl in my spirit until I walked downstairs to the study.
Once there, I reached for The Message Bible. I have often gained insight and inspiration from this interpretation of God’s Word, and I wanted to see how it rendered Amos 9:13. It read:
“‘Yes indeed, it won’t be long now.’ God’s Decree. ‘Things are going to happen so fast your head will swim, one thing fast on the heels of the other. You won’t be able to keep up. Everything will be happening at once—and everywhere you look, blessings! Blessings like wine pouring off the mountains and hills.'”
As I absorbed that Old Testament passage back in the summer of 2012, I became aware of the Holy Spirit leading me into a redefined paradigm of living, accentuated by three promises I heard spoken into my spirit:
“I will exceed all you expect.”
“I will increase all you invest.”
“I will accelerate time to accomplish My kingdom purpose through your life.”
What I felt then was beyond mere emotional fervor. I experienced what I call a “faith resurrection.” Suddenly, I was moved into a zone of remarkable trust and confidence in God.
I had not experienced that level of miracle faith in quite some time, even though throughout my ministry I had seen miraculous blessings in every realm of life. This was the beginning of the most remarkable time I had known in nearly four decades of ministry. With no exaggeration, I lived a miracle every day of that particular year and have continued to see unprecedented miracles ever since.
I was introduced to what I came to identify as “the Amos paradigm.” This was more than a season. It was a new way of living. I was discovering life at the speed of favor. I came to understand by the Spirit, which was confirmed by the Word of God, that as sure as there is a speed of light and a speed of sound, there is a speed of favor—a divine pace at which God sovereignly pours out His blessings upon us.
God will exceed all you expect. He will increase all you invest. And He will accelerate time to accomplish His kingdom purpose in and through you. That is the word the Lord gave me early one morning in July 2012. Since then, He has done that and more in my life, and He has revealed that the promises of Amos 9:13 are not reserved only for me. They are for anyone who takes Him at His Word and obeys His promptings.
God is releasing this season of unprecedented favor and accelerated increase to bring in His end-time harvest. Yet as He builds His kingdom, the overflow of His favor will touch your life and mine. We will see miraculous provision, supernatural breakthrough and unparalleled blessing—”things are going to happen so fast your head will swim.”
If you are a child of God, these troubled times are nothing to fear. God is pouring out His Spirit and releasing His favor at breakneck speed. Nothing can rival the speed of His favor.
Timeless Promises
It is important to understand that God’s words to Israel, though spoken almost 3,000 years ago, are relevant to His children today. In Scripture, some prophecies are fulfilled in the short term while others take years, sometimes even decades, to manifest. Although numerous biblical prophecies are specific to a particular people, place and time, other prophecies fulfill a dual purpose. These unique prophecies may very well speak to the times of the initial utterance while also speaking to a time period yet to come. So it was and is with Amos 9:13.
The promise of accelerated favor most certainly applied to ancient Israel. However, never think for a moment that this promise isn’t applicable to you as well. This promise transcends time, culture and need.
Paul clarified that we as God’s children are heirs of promise as part of the “Israel of God” (Gal. 6:16b, MEV). He affirms the same truth with these words, “Now you, brothers, like Isaac, are children of promise” (Gal. 4:18, ESV). To be clear, as Christians we have not replaced Israel in the divine plan and providence of God, but we have been gloriously brought in to this promise by adoption and inheritance through Christ Jesus.
I challenge you to blow the ancient dust off Amos 9:13, take hold of it personally and allow it to be activated in your life now.
Four Promises
Every promise appropriated from heaven needs to be activated on earth. Every few years, the bank I use sends me new debit and credit cards with the instructions to call a specific number in order to activate the account.
Nothing works until I take the few moments necessary to do my part. Similarly, you and I must personally
activate God’s generous promises.
With any promise given from the heavenly Father, it is our responsibility to recognize it, rely on it and rest in it. Jesus said in Mark 11:24 (MEV), “Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you will receive them, and you will have them.”
I am convinced as never before that this is the day of overflow for the kingdom of heaven. God is accelerating His work among His people in these last days, and it is by no accident that we are alive at this epoch in history. We were chosen to be a life-giving generation with a life-changing and prophetic word to this world.
We have been given these promises, and we are to declare them to others. They include a promise of:
Accelerated harvest. As Jesus told His disciples in John 4:35, indeed the fields are already ripened for the harvest. As Amos prophesied about a time when the reapers would be overtaken by those ready to plow and sow the fields again, this powerful word from the Lord completely describes the current ingathering that is happening around the world. Don’t believe the naysayers and pessimists. An unexcelled and unprecedented wave of missions is spanning the globe. Just as one generation completes its labor, a new and younger generation with greater energy, resolve and boldness is on the heels of the previous one ready to reap another harvest.
Accelerated opportunity. We are in a season of opportunity unlike any the church has ever known. The complexities of national and world events combined with a spiritual climate rarely seen in our lifetime all lend themselves to unprecedented open doors for Christ to be made known. An increased wave of immigration has brought the world to the doorsteps of America, and now the United States is literally a “nation of nations.” This fact alone creates exponential kingdom possibilities. Many new immigrant believers become amazing missionary evangelists not only to their own communities in the United States, but also to their homeland. As we fix our eyes on Jesus, He will enable us to see and seize the opportunities He brings our way.
Accelerated restoration. I feel a burden to tell you that you have entered into a day of divine recovery. Just as God promised Israel through the prophet Joel, He will restore all that the enemy of your soul has devoured (see Joel 2:25-27). God’s promise to Israel was a complete restoration of the years that had been taken away. His promise to them and to you is a restoration of lost time. I’m not talking merely about days and months, but even the years of lost health and peace previously stolen by your adversary.
Accelerated power. God has promised us unusual power for unusual tasks. In Luke 4:18, Jesus said, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed.”
Here we see a clear link between task and anointing. It seems that throughout Scripture, a strong case is made to support the fact that God provides power commensurate with a task. In Acts 10:38, Peter said, “God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.”
Without a doubt, the Holy Spirit has endowed us with favor for these times. So why should any believer yield to the intimidation of Satan? Jesus made this promise: “Look, I give you authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy. And nothing shall by any means hurt you” (Luke 10:19).
Friend, God is for you! He has empowered you, and you have no reason to be afraid. Abide in relationship with Him and receive His boldness to powerfully advance His kingdom. Indeed, this is life at the speed of favor. {eoa}
Tim Hill is an ordained bishop in the Church of God and currently serves as the general overseer.
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