Fresh Harvest, New Strategies and Strategic Foundations in 2025

by Nathan Shaw

2025 will be a year of fresh harvest, new strategies and strategic foundations. Although the harvest will be significant, it is the releasing of new strategies, and the laying of strategic foundations, that will lead to a dramatic increase in our effectiveness as workers in God’s harvest fields. Often there has been an over-emphasis on “reaching” and an under-emphasis on “seeing.” People know when we see them. When we reach first without really seeing, the result is converts. When we see first and then reach, the result is disciples. Seeing followed by reaching opens a door of invitation in the spirit. That’s when the work of harvest truly kicks in. Seeing leads to reaching, and reaching leads to gathering.

Genesis 2:7 tells us that God breathed and Adam came into existence: “And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.” The first thing Adam saw was God’s face. In beholding God’s face Adam understood who he was. The more he looked, the more awakened he became. Like Adam, we are created in the image of God. When we see God we discover who we are. The more we look, the more awakened we become. Paul put it this way: “But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory” (2 Corinthians 3:18).

The benefit of looking at God is much greater than just discovering who we are. When we look at Him we also start to see others through His eyes. People know when they are truly seen and it causes something to wake up on the inside of them. Each individual person is God-breathed and unique, but this is also true of generations. Each generation has its own unique spiritual DNA from God. When we see an individual person as God sees them, we become empowered to awaken that person. When we see each generation as God sees them, we become empowered to awaken that generation. It all starts with seeing.

The importance of seeing was modeled by Jesus Himself: “When He saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to His disciples, ‘The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into His harvest field’” (Matthew 9:36-38). It’s important to notice the sequence. First, Jesus saw the harvest. Second, He was moved with compassion. Third, He spoke to His disciples. When Jesus spoke to His disciples He gave them some simple wisdom: You do the asking, God will do the sending. Jesus described a partnership with defined roles. What some people miss is the nature of the asking and the nature of the sending. Both the asking and the sending are motivated by eyes that see and hearts that beat with compassion.

In another incident Jesus said to His disciples: “Do you not say, ‘There are still four months and then comes the harvest’? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest!” (John 4:35). It was all too easy to assume that the harvest was not ripe, but Jesus made it clear that this wasn’t the issue. He revealed the real issue by using three verbs that are all to do with seeing. In the original Greek all three verbs are in the imperative tense. Using the imperative tense is like putting an exclamation mark after the word. In essence Jesus said: “Behold! Lift up you eyes! Look!” Here is the principle: Individuals and generations can seem unripe until we truly see them.

It’s time for a revival of seeing and then reaching. It is a primary purpose of prophetic ministry to tell people who they are. When we tell people who they are, they wake up. When we confront people with their sin, but don’t tell them who they are, they slowly die. When John the Baptist and Jesus said, “Repent, for the kingdom of God has come near,” they were reminding Israel that they were indeed sons and daughters of the kingdom (Matthew 3:2, 4:17). The exhortation to repent had little meaning apart from their identity as sons and daughters of the kingdom. If the message of repentance doesn’t tell us who we are, it leads to condemnation. If the message of repentance tells us who we are, it stirs, awakens and transforms.

Genesis 2:7 tells the story of God getting in Adam’s face. It is a story about identity, intimacy, wonder and meaning. The simple truth is this: God never stopped getting in the face of humanity. It’s time to call forth fresh harvest, new strategies and strategic foundations. The fresh harvest will be a first-fruits of that which is to come. The new strategies will help us see and then reach. The strategic foundations will establish us in the movement of the Father’s heart toward all of humanity.

© 2024 Nathan Shaw.

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