Humble Ascension – Dyed4you Art

Humble Ascension reminds us that as we faithfully yield to God, He moves through us mightily, and we are invited to ascend—to see more, experience more, be greater—all in Him. 

  • John 3:30 (ESV) He must become greater; I must become less.
  • Philippians 2: 5-8 (NASB) Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, as He already existed in the form of God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but emptied Himself by taking the form of a bond-servant and being born in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death: death on a cross.

A Meditation of the Word called “Walking in Humble Authority” from Elisa Eaton of Waiting in the Wings is connected to this.

Acts 3:6 (VOICE) Peter: I want to give you something, but I don’t have any silver or gold. Here’s what I can offer you: stand up and walk in the name of Jesus of Nazareth, the Anointed One.

In the ancient pictograph language, the Hebrew letter dalet represents a door or an impoverished and humble man. It is preceded by the letter gimel which is representative of a camel or rich man. Within this area of the Hebrew alphabet, there is the picture of a rich man who stoops down (like a camel with a burden) to give to a poor and humble man. It is the picture of our relationship with God, and our relationship with our fellow man. It is also a powerful key to flowing in the gifts of the Holy Spirit.

In Acts 3:6, Peter addresses a crippled and poor man. Peter’s pockets are empty of silver and gold. One could say that he is impoverished too. And yet, he gives the crippled man what he does have—and it’s certainly not chump change. Peter stoops down like a camel to lift the poor man up. Power from on high flows through Peter, and the man is miraculously healed! Peter’s physical pockets were empty, and yet he became the vessel that supernaturally met this man’s need!

Who was really the poor man in this account? I would have to say that both men were impoverished, and both were touched through the gift of the Holy Spirit. Peter was not the healer, but he became the vessel of our Heavenly Healer, YHVH Rapha. Peter had no earthly wealth but was rich in the Holy Spirit. In that moment, Peter followed in the example of the Messiah and emptied himself. All at once, he was poor and rich—his humility opened the door to the limitless power of God.

When we live in a lowly state, we make room for God to work in and through us. Yet lowliness means that we never take our eyes off the True Source. As Rebbetzin Chaya Nebel puts it, “Humility is not saying I’m nothing. Humility is knowing who you are and knowing where [you come] from.” To be a child of God means that we continually remain in need of our Father’s life-sustaining power and provision—just as our neighbor does.

We serve God best when we remember that the redemption of the earth doesn’t rest solely upon our shoulders. We are merely vessels, children who walk in humble authority and play our part. Like Peter, we can say to our neighbor, “I’ll give what I have. This power isn’t mine, but I know where it comes from.” Our wealth is drawn from an unlimited, eternal Source. Our Father, the Life-Giver of all is the True Source that sustains and restores.

2 Corinthians 4:7 (TPT) We are like common clay jars that carry this glorious treasure within, so that the extraordinary overflow of power will be seen as God’s, not ours.

A Meditation of the Word called “Making a Place for God” from Elisa Eaton of Waiting in the Wings is connected to this.

There is a Jewish teaching that speaks of how, in the beginning, God filled all things. In order to begin the process of creation, He had to “contract” Himself to make space for the universe. This is why one of God’s names is “Ha-Makom” or “The Place,” as God is the place of all creation. This concept has alway made me think of how women “make space” within themselves for the conception and growth of new life. 

The beauty in our relationship with God is that we are designed to reflect His nature. We too can “contract” or empty ourselves through the attribute of humility. Humility isn’t about stripping ourselves of our intrinsic, godly value. If anything, having a healthy sense of our self-worth helps us to recognize the value of others. From this place, we can joyfully step back and give someone else a chance to shine. Even more, we can “take a step” back in our hearts, thoughts, and daily activities so that God might shine through. You could say we have the opportunity to “return the favor” to Ha-Makom by making space for Him in this world.

In my personal experience, I’ve watched how powerfully the Holy Spirit moves when I intentionally make space for Him in my life. “Making space” often requires me to pause and lay down my own thoughts, motives, schedule, and agenda before taking action in a matter. It means making space for God in my day, my home, and my business. I invite His thoughts and motives to take up residence in my heart and mind.

When it comes to prayer, I try to remember that it doesn’t have to be a lonely, one-way conversation; God is faithful to respond when I give Him room to speak. And when I feel overwhelmed and unsure of what to do in a situation, I know that it’s time for me to realign; I pause, choose to become an empty vessel, and I invite Holy Spirit to have His way. He will move mightily when we step back and invite Him into any situation. 

Humility can be a joyful place to live from. Just as God didn’t cease to exist when He contracted and brought about creation, neither do we lose our value or purpose when we humble ourselves. If anything, our purpose and value is filled to overflowing when it is filled with the Presence of the Almighty God.

John 3:30 (ESV) He must become greater; I must become less.

Philippians 2: 5-8 (NASB) Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, as He already existed in the form of God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but emptied Himself by taking the form of a bond-servant and being born in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death: death on a cross.

A prophetic download from Nan DeNoyer is connected to this. It’s called “Your Presence.”

In the quietness of the woods
I seek His face most dear
In His presence I can hear
His powerful words become most clear
He smiles at me
So tenderly
He beckons me to come
In His presence, I overcome
As we walked, You gave me insight
With it, my heart took flight
With You, I find great delight
In Your tabernacle is perfect peace
Your beauty, power You release
In submission, I choose to decrease
That the world may see You in all of Your Glory!

An excerpt from our “Mighty Warrior” Dyed4you Art piece is connected to this. 

In the Hebrew pictograph language, the letter dalet represents a door or an impoverished and humble man. One could say that the key to opening the door to each new level of our spiritual development requires us to empty ourselves. We must decrease, that God may increase in us (John 3:30). Our moments of weakness and vulnerability ironically unleash God’s perfect strength. 

Indeed, there is no greater love that we can demonstrate to God than to lay down our desires and plans, and sincerely seek His desires and plans first. Being perfect love, He never demands His way. Therefore, our choice to yield, even when it hurts, is a sweet love offering before Him. For through Christ, the example was best set as He became the perfect epistle of unconditional love. God Himself demonstrated a grave-defeating might through the power of humility and death to self.

A Prophetic Nugget from “Daily Downloads from Heaven” by Meghan Williams is connected to this. It’s called “Humble and Yielded.

Psalm 149:4 (TPT) For he enjoys his faithful lovers. He adorns the humble with his beauty and he loves to give them the victory.

Beloved, I delight to bring victory to those who rejoice in Me. It gives Me immense pleasure to bestow such blessings on those who have held nothing back. Love Me lavishly, sweet one, and without agenda – simply love because I loved you first. 

Focus your heart on Me, and leave the battle plans to Me. Your role is humility – eyes and heart fixed on Me; My role is to be God and all that encompasses including knowing what is best for My children and leading them in that path as they yield. I have you, beloved. 

Psalm 149:4-6 (TPT) For he enjoys his faithful lovers. He adorns the humble with his beauty and he loves to give them the victory. His godly lovers triumph in the glory of God, and their joyful praises will rise even while others sleep. God’s high and holy praises fill their mouths, for their shouted praises are their weapons of war!

A prophetic download from Elisa Eaton is connected to this. It’s called “Consecrated to God.”

Romans 12:1 (AMP) Therefore I urge you, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies [dedicating all of yourselves, set apart] as a living sacrifice, holy and well-pleasing to God, which is your rational (logical, intelligent) act of worship.

{vision} I saw a woman waving her arms up and down in worship. Her eyes were closed, and I could sense she was fully enraptured and focused on God. I got the sense that as the motion of her arms was meant to symbolize the rising of incense, I could sense her soul ascending in some way and recognizing its oneness with God.

This vision came to me as I was meditating on the subject of aliyah, the immigration of the Jewish people in the diaspora to the Land of Israel. In Hebrew, “aliyah” means “ascent.” As I shared in my post, “Our Songs of Ascent,” my studies of Scripture through a Hebraic lens have given me a deep appreciation for God’s promise to Abraham and his descendants. And while I, along with many others in Christ, eagerly await the fulfillment of God’s promises to manifest in the earth, I always find there’s much to learn about our spiritual pilgrimage through events in the natural.

As my friend author Meghan Williams often says about the story of Scripture, “All along God has only wanted one thing: that He would be our God and we would be His people.” From Genesis to Revelation, we see the lengths that God has been going to in order to restore humanity to oneness with Him. He desires to make His dwelling place with us. Humankind sins, yet again and again, God makes a way to redeem us; He makes a path for us to return to Him.

Much like the Jewish people’s return to the Land of Israel, our spiritual return to God is an ascent. Through Christ and the path of holiness and righteousness, God lifts our lives out of the captivity of sin and into His marvelous light of freedom. Yet this ascent to the Jerusalem Above is a daily process, a walk that is paved with grace. Like the children of Israel in their cycles of captivity, our aliyah requires consecration. As Psalm 24:3-4 says, “Who can possibly ascend the mountain of the Eternal? Who can stand before Him in sacred spaces? Only those whose hands have been washed and hearts made pure, men and women who are not given to lies or deception (VOICE).”

What I sense from my vision of the worshipper about aliyah is our need to continually consecrate our lives to the Eternal. The worshipper symbolizes what it means to be a living sacrifice. We must close our eyes to the physical realm in order to realign with what is true—the fact that our lives are hidden in Christ and He now lives through us. Like the worshipper lifting up her arms, we willingly give our hands (our everyday actions) to the service of the King.

Many Jewish scholars share how keeping the commandments are meant to elevate the mundane activities of life and make them spiritual. When Israel sinned and was carried into captivity, their return back started with a return to the covenant of God. We too can see that, through our own repentance and redemption, we receive the Holy Spirit, and God writes His commandments upon our hearts. Our actions, great and small, suddenly become elevated as we are led by the Spirit. We become pleasing in the sight of God.

Yet, in order to be led by the Spirit, we must make room for the Spirit. There are always new areas where God desires to redeem us from captivity and cause us to return to Him. Therefore, we must clear our minds, turn our focus upon the King, and expand our hearts so that He can write more of His Word upon it. Much like the children of Israel before Mount Sinai and the followers of Christ before the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, there is a call to consecrate and prepare ourselves to come up higher in the things of the Spirit. God desires to flip our perspective so that we come to see our everyday lives through heaven’s eyes.

Beloved of Christ, God desires enlarge your heart to receive more of His Kingdom. This paradigm shift will elevate the mundaneness of everyday life onto the level of the holy. For He has called you to be a king and a priest, to live a life that is set apart and pleasing to Him. Receive the fresh revelation the Spirit is pouring out. Allow Him to write His Word upon the tablets of your heart so that His ways become your ways, your hands become His hands, and your actions become His actions. Allow Him to flow through you, move you in a new way so that you act as one. Tarry and make room to receive more of the Kingdom of Heaven.

Exodus 19:10-11 (NKJV) Then the LORD said to Moses, “Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow, and let them wash their clothes. And let them be ready for the third day. For on the third day the LORD will come down upon Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people.

Luke 24:49 (NKJV) “Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high.”

Acts 2:1-2 (VOICE) When the holy day of Pentecost came 50 days after Passover, they were gathered together in one place. Picture yourself among the disciples: A sound roars from the sky without warning, the roar of a violent wind, and the whole house where you are gathered reverberates with the sound.

Revelation 21:2-3 (NKJV) Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God [is] with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them [and be] their God.

Father, may our hearts remain steadfastly yielded to You. May you be made known in our lives and through our faithfulness may Your faithfulness be vibrantly alive to all around us. Be made great, oh Lord. We love you with all our hearts. May our lives be testimonies to the wonders of Your love.