Throw, Gather, Gaze

When we tell people that we’re moving to Oregon, there is usually a series of questions/answers that take place:

“Why Oregon?”

“God called us there!”

“What are you going to do?”

“We’re going to do what ever God tells us to do!”

“So you don’t have anything specific?”

“Nope!”

There is absolutely nothing wrong with that- there needs to be a rise of people willing to just go and take the step that God is telling them to take.  The doors will open up as you go in faith and I hope our journey is a testimony to that!  That being said though, I am excited to say that I believe God has given us a strategy- it’s something He has been showing me over the course of a few years now, but I’ve just recently understood it more fully.

So ever since I started working for the company I work for now, whenever the clock struck 10:35, my eyes caught it, and it left a feeling of urgency inside of me.  After over a year of this happening and asking for some insight from Jesus on what this meant, if anything, I figured I’d look in the Bible to see where “chapter 10 verse 35” occurred.  The verse that hit my eyes with a rush of life was Hebrews 10:35-

35 Therefore do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward.

You can look at the context to see greater detail, but it speaks of Jesus coming back and how we need to be people who live by faith, and that those who aren’t living by faith have not had/will have no relationship with God.  To me, this speaks to two things- the confidence I have in my faith of Jesus, and the confidence I have in what faith in Jesus does for others.  Moving on…

The clock thing still continued to happen, and so I decided to see if there was more to it by looking into ancient Hebrew text and such, as numbers and letters often held significance and often related to each other.  I looked into the ancient Hebrew alphabet and found the 10th, 3rd, and 5th letters and looked into their own individual characteristics.  You can see in the pictures below of what I’m referring to specifically, and if you desire, you can click on the images to get a more in depth detail to each letter.

The 10th letter is “Yod”; As you can see, the earliest symbols of Yod were represented by an arm and hand.  After doing some research I found that this can be interpreted to symbolize throwing, etc.  It is also the smallest of the letters as you can see directly in the description below.   Keep these things in mind.

The 3rd letter is “Gimmel”; The earliest symbol of Gimmel was a foot.  After doing some research I found that this can be interpreted to symbolize walking, gathering, giving, etc.

Last but not least, the 5th letter is “Hey”;  Earliest symbols were represented by a person with raised hands.  I found that this can be taken as worship, gazing, beholding- essentially standing in awe of God.

Let’s summarize- 10-3-5, Yod-Gimmel-Hey, Throw-Gather-Gaze.

This was the “equation” or “format” that the Creator gave to me for telling people the Good News (or the Gospel; some might say, “for evangelism”). Throw+Gather=Gaze. To throw seed and spread the Good News, and to gather the ripe harvest and disciple tender plants, is to witness God at work- resulting in utter amazement, gazing upon the truth of Jesus and His Word. This isn’t calculus people! Doing the work of the Lord was ALWAYS meant to be easy! Jesus said, “My yoke is easy, and My burden is light.” -Matthew 11:30. He’s spoken parables thousands of years ago that have been recorded for us to learn from, speaking of seeds hitting different ground. He has told us of how the harvest is ripe and ready to be harvested. Should we not expect God to do great and wonderful things when we obey His commands, things that exceed our expectations? Well, that is what Danike and I are going to do. We are going to throw seed, gather the harvest, and gaze on what the Lord has done. In fact, He’s already done it; every good thing that is to come, has already been done.

Some weeks ago now, there was an individual at the house of prayer that Danike and I have been part of- he was speaking about how population has been growing exponentially, but eternally this population is not following suit. Our tactic to bring others to Jesus has been to be slow and gentle and not thought provoking, lest you be tested with tough questions. This doesn’t really work any more though, because people are dying all around us. It was some time after hearing this gentleman speak about this that Jesus spoke a directive to my heart. Danike and I are to go with Take Gather Gaze and bring it to the streets of Bend, Oregon- He spoke to me that we need to pray for 1,035 people within a 12 month period, planting seed and gathering the harvest in this manner. We will gaze upon what the Lord has done during this time, but we will especially look back after the 12 months and reflect on what has taken place. This will be a habit forming journey of reaching out to strangers in love and compassion. It will be a testimony to Christians all over who feel like they don’t know what to do or how to go reach people for Jesus. This will take place in 2014, as the first 3 months in our new place will be a time of establishing habits of prayer and worship, and simply spending time with God.

Some quick numbers:

1,035 people prayed for.. if 10% began living wholeheartedly for Jesus and took on their own Take Gather Grow, and prayed for 1,035 people each…107,122 people will have been prayed for. That is more than the population of Bend, Oregon people.

..if 25%…..267,806 people prayed for.
..if 50%…..535,612 people prayed for.
..if 75%…..803,418 people prayed for.
..if 100%…1,071,225 people prayed for. That’s more than a quarter of the population of Oregon.

yet, if 1% of the people we pray for gave their lives to Jesus, and live for Him…. that is 10 more people living lives to the fullest- no longer bound by chains of this life.

I debated whether we should share this with people openly, as I do not want people to think that we are trying to show off what we’re doing: in the end, if we have pride within us, the Holy Spirit will deal with us- but this is not something that is to be kept secret. People need to see how amazing obedience is- people need to understand that this life is for one thing and one thing only….and that is to worship the Lord in spirit and in truth; in faith and in works; in speech and in action. There are going to be trying times ahead for Danike and I, but oh how good it is to be tested and tried, that we might be found true in Jesus’ eyes.  I hope that as we walk out this directive from God, that others would be encouraged to listen for God’s directives to them- to step out in faith and obedience.

The Lord bless you.

We encourage you to ask us any questions you might have, or let us know how we can be praying for you, or anything else!

Prayer Points:

-Rest and peace as we near our move date.

-Full obedience to do God’s work and not get lost in ourselves when we are in a new place etc.

-That packing would happen now and be done (for the most part) before our party on the 28th.