You can do nothing
Ezekiel said about vine branches, "The word of the LORD came to me, saying: “Son of man, how is the wood of the vine better than any other wood, the vine branch which is among the trees of the forest? Is wood taken from it to make any object? Or can men make a peg from it to hang any vessel on? Instead, it is thrown into the fire for fuel; the fire devours both ends of it, and its middle is burned. Is it useful for any work?” " Eze 15:1-4.
When we are having thoughts of promoting ourselves or trying to become someone of importance, we are clearly eating from another tree. We are not abiding in the vine. We know this because, of itself, the branch of the vine is nothing. When we are "carving" a name for ourselves, we are eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Nothing can be carved from a branch of the vine.
We must heed, and take serious note of, the words of Jesus, "Without Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered, and they gather them and throw them into the fire and they are burned." Joh 15:5-6. We cannot continue trying to be what the Father has not named us to be.
We are the branches. Christ is the Vine. We have no life in ourselves. When we abide in the vine, the life that we live by is the life of Christ. Paul expressed it this way: "I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me." Gal 2:20.
When we are having thoughts of promoting ourselves or trying to become someone of importance, we are clearly eating from another tree. We are not abiding in the vine. We know this because, of itself, the branch of the vine is nothing. When we are "carving" a name for ourselves, we are eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Nothing can be carved from a branch of the vine.
We must heed, and take serious note of, the words of Jesus, "Without Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered, and they gather them and throw them into the fire and they are burned." Joh 15:5-6. We cannot continue trying to be what the Father has not named us to be.
We are the branches. Christ is the Vine. We have no life in ourselves. When we abide in the vine, the life that we live by is the life of Christ. Paul expressed it this way: "I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me." Gal 2:20.
