vine Archives - Daily Thoughts about God

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God…The Word became flesh and lived for a while among us.” (Read John 1:1-4).

For a long time I treated the Bible as a self-help book. I would read the instructions given and work as hard as I could to obey them. And I would fail miserably. Then I’d get upset with myself: Why couldn’t I do it? And I would get upset with God: Why wasn’t He blessing my efforts?

One day it dawned on me: it doesn’t depend on my frantic self-efforts to live the Christian life. The Bible is not a self-help book, but a revelation of the Living Word: Jesus Christ (John 1:1-14) He said,

“I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever lives in Me and I in him bears much (abundant) fruit. However, apart from me [cut off from vital union with Me] you can do nothing” (John 15:5 Amplified).

A branch in a tree doesn’t worry about staying alive or how much fruit it will bring. It is totally dependent on the sap that comes to it from the tree. As long as it abides in the tree, it will have all it needs to flourish and bear fruit.

We are to be like that branch totally dependent on the Christ-life within us working through us.

How comforting this is when I face a challenge that is beyond me.

“Dear God,” I pray, “You know that in myself, I can’t do this. You said so yourself: ‘without me you can do nothing.’ But Christ in me can do this. Now I depend on him to work through me.”

The result is often amazing: Not only was the thing done, but there was joy in doing it.

Jesus, I am so prone to doing my own thing. Remind me, again and again, that without You I can do nothing, but with You I can do all things

by Helen Lescheid
Used by Permission

We can come to Jesus when we are hurting and He will soothe our pain.

We can come to Him when we are joyful and He will share our joy and multiply it many times over. In all things, at all times, we can come to Him, no matter what. He is all we need when we need it and our deepest desires find fulfillment in Him alone.

While the world says to be self-sufficient, confident and always “look out for number one,” true confidence comes from knowing that we are complete in Him. Apart from Him, we can do nothing.

The world has us looking for fulfillment and completion in all the wrong places for rewards that by comparison are minuscule compared to all he has to offer.

J. Wilbur Chapman often told of the testimony of a man in one of his evangelistic meetings. The man said

“I got off the Pennsylvania depot as a tramp. For a year I begged on the streets for a living. One day I touched a man on the shoulder and said ‘Hey Mister, can you give me a dime.’ As soon as I saw his face, I was shocked to realize that the man was my own father. I said, Father, Father, do you know me? Throwing his arm around me and with tears in his eyes, he said ‘Oh my son, at last I have found you! I’ve found you. You want a dime? Everything I have is yours.’ I was a tramp. I stood begging from my own father for ten cents, when for eighteen years he had been looking for me to give me all he had.”

That is a small picture of what God wants to do for His children. His supreme goal in bringing us to Himself is to make us like Himself by filling us with Himself, with all He is and has.

Without Him, we can do nothing, but the world tells us to look in all the wrong places for the things that ultimately do not matter. We go around begging for dimes while ignoring the riches He offers just a prayer away.

Turn to Jesus and reap riches that surpass anything on this broken and fallen world. Faith that makes a difference is faith that fixes its eyes on the ultimate rather than the immediate. We all need to learn to cultivate the eternal perspective.

By John Grant
Used by Permission
John Grant is a former Florida State Senator and is a practicing attorney

The best way to get to know God is to invite Him into your life to be the director of your life. He will take care of all your needs. Do you want to do that right now? You can by sincerely praying this prayer.

Lord Jesus, I want to know you personally. Thank you for dying on the cross for my sins. I open the door of my life to you and ask you to come in as my Savior and Lord. Take control of my life. Thank you for forgiving my sins and giving me eternal life. Make me the kind of person you want me to be.

Does this prayer express the desire of your heart? You can pray it right now, and Jesus Christ will come into your life, just as He promised.

The Living Word Inside Me Makes the Difference

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God…The Word became flesh and lived for a while among us.” (Read John 1:1-4).

Further Reading

Come to Him

We can come to Jesus when we are hurting and He will soothe our pain.

Further Reading

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The Living Word Inside Me Makes the Difference

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God…The Word became flesh and lived for a while among us.” (Read John 1:1-4).

Further Reading

Come to Him

We can come to Jesus when we are hurting and He will soothe our pain.

Further Reading