Without Me you can do nothing

Jesus confirmed He is the TRUE VINE, and we are the branches. 

John 15:5-8

⁵ “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. ⁶ If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. ⁷ If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. ⁸ This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.

 

The Hebrew word for ‘vine’ is ‘Gephen’. It means ‘twining’. Look at the vine and you will see how the branches twine around each other. The branches and the stem intertwine. They need support so that they can grow up in a circular way and not be pulled down by the force of gravity. 

 

Waiting on God is a form of entwining your life with God. Your will entwined with His will; your purposes entwined with God’s purpose. They that wait or entwine their lives with God shall renew their strength!

 

 A branch that is truly entwined and connected to the vine cannot be removed. The life sap of the vine flows through the branches and brings forth fruit. The loose branches that appear to be part of the vine, are not part of it. The vine dresser will remove those branches and cast them into the fire because they use sap of the vine but do not produce any fruit.

 

Jesus spoke this parable about the vine on the night that He was betrayed. He washed the feet of the disciples after Judas left the room to betray Him. Jesus told the disciples you are part of Me. But Judas was not part of Him, and He knew that. He did not wash Judas’ feet.

 

John 15:3

³ You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you.’

 

Those whom He washed were made clean because of the words they received from Him and because they were part of Him. Judas wasn’t. There are many people who appear to be part of a church body, but they are not. They bear no fruit that would bring glory to God the Father. God gives them grace for many years but eventually they get cut off and cast away.

 

The branch cannot bear any fruit by itself. It needs to stay attached to the vine. That is why Jesus claimed, ‘without Me you can do nothing.’ He encouraged them to abide in Him and let His words abide in them. It’s a simple strategy. You keep your eyes on Jesus and read the Word of God. He abides in you, and you abide in Him. the Word of God. He abides in you, and you abide in Him. You are part of His body, the church of which He is the Head.

 

By acknowledging that you are part of the vine you allow the Vine Dresser to prune you. Pruning is a form of purging that allows the branch to produce bigger and better fruit, yes to bear much more fruit. Without pruning a vine, it becomes useless, and the grapes dry out.

 

God is glorified if you bear much fruit. Jeremiah 5:7 says the Lord rejoices over His vineyard.

 

Factors that prevent fruit bearing and spiritual growth:

1.    Deception comes through false teaching and lies of the devil

2.    There is no denying of self or taking up the cross

3.    Jealousy, envy, competition

4.    No patience to wait causing frustration and irritation

5.    Ungratefulness for all that God has done

 

If we can do nothing without Him, we need to confess, ‘It’s no longer I that live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live I live by faith in Him.’

 

God promised us that we would inherit vineyards that we never planted! There are so many churches relating to our network and there are more coming! But without Him we can do nothing.