Humility and Seeing:

It’s Who You Are, Not What You Do

11/30/2023

We read yesterday in the Beyond Humiliation book that all of self must be surrendered to Jesus—that includes our faculty for reasonings and thought processes and natural likes and natural virtues and “strong points.” It is not just the bad and obvious stuff that must be surrendered and die, but even the stuff that seems commendable, virtuous, or attractive about us. The things that other humans would find lovable about us... if it originates from our self, our natural self, our flesh, then God doesn’t like it and is repulsed by it because it’s still flesh, tainted by flesh. Cultured, sophisticated, nice flesh is still flesh—and just as flesh as bad, degrading, evil flesh. It must die.

Also from Beyond Humiliation:

We shall do well to be on our guard against attempting to conquer self by any active resistance we can make to it by the powers of nature, for “nature can no more overcome or suppress itself, than wrath can heal wrath.” Our very efforts to overcome it, seem to give it new strength; self-love finds something to admire, even in the very attempts we make to conquer it. It will even take pride in what we mean to be acts of self-humiliation. There is no deliverance for us from this dread tyrant but in God.

Our self-sacrifice is utterly valueless unless it bears this stamp upon it, “For My sake.”

“Until,” says William Law, “you are renewed in the spirit of your mind, your virtues are only taught practices and grafted upon a corrupt bottom. Everything that you do will be a mixture of good and bad; your humility will help you to pride; your charity to others will give nourishment to your own self-love, and as your prayers increase so will the opinion of your own sanctity. Because till the heart is purified to the bottom, and has felt the axe at the root of its evil (which cannot be done by outward instruction), everything that proceeds from it partakes of its impurity and corruption.”

That’s WHY frantic XY religion can’t move a person even one inch up the Z-axis.

I know that one must have the Spirit of the Living God inside to be able to get off the XY axis, but is this “renewed in the spirit of your mind” something that can be/is happening moment by moment as we choose to take our eyes off ourselves and plant them on Jesus and His thoughts... choosing to live in His Smile instead of striving or feeding the flesh? Is it that this feeling of the “axe at the root of its evil” is as we are renewing our minds to see things Jesus’ way with His glasses—both the people and choices ahead of us and seeing that our righteousness of striving because we already “know” what is “right” is as filthy rags? So this renewing happens along the Way?

Yes. Who you are, not what you do. Choose not to do religion—but from Him and through Him and to Him are all things.

As we’ve discussed many times, dying to self, denying your very self, your identity, your future, your past, your reputation… Seeing past “the glass” of foolish molecules “of this present age.” Seeing what Jesus sees. Dead to the world and the world to you.

Looking at your own face or feelings or wants, or “saving face”—are sure-fire ways to not See His Face.

As a girl whose eyes were on the xy axis as far as appearances.... (I’m sure I still need to grow ;);))! But! The Z axis also allows you to see how your old xy eyes made false assumptions about this area and about the way others saw it. Your xy eyes think you are the one who can see. But when you choose to obey, to beg Him to show you more... Then when you do use His glasses and TRUST His people, it’s stunning how much you were missing! I used to think *I* was the free one. Like Mary Magdalene in that movie, “I’m free.” Hmm. “Are you?” was His question. I’m so glad He asks!!! The last year has been the most refreshing and FREE year of my life as it relates to appearance and how I view all that. His yoke is easy, and it’s because I stopped trying to do the xy thing about it all.

Z-axis is the place where the motives of the heart and sensual flesh are left behind because of Jesus glasses, whether it’s toenails or hair length or clothing. The XY axis makes choices based on what others think, or some rule or law (and then usually pushes the limits). The Z axis sees through Jesus’ eyes and lays bare the motives of the heart.

I know for myself, the real time following of Him is not complicated, but it does mean I ACTUALLY follow Him, versus my interpretations and justifications that XY tree of knowledge of good and evil can breed. Doing “whatever I want” within a framework of generally good (“biblical”) behavior to quell my conscience really does lead to death. But following His Song...

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  Z-axis Wicking into the Godhead: for the Pure in Heart