Lack of Abiding and Withered Branches - Part 12

Staying with the illustration, Jesus said, "I am the True Vine, you are the branches, and My Father is the Husbandman."  We must constantly keep these three elements in mind;  if we forget, we will get completely lost.  Now remember, this is the simplest type of illustration; you could not it in any simpler illustration than the branch and the Vine.  John 15:6 tells us, "If a man abide not in Me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned."  The branch that is not an abiding branch is only fit to be burned; it is worthless--totally and completely worthless!

Now someone asks, How do you correlate being worthless with the fact that if you don't abide, you do other works?  Remember, you are dealing with the fruit of the Spirit, which is an unnatural thing.  The natural thing is to do what Satan naturally does in us.  So, we are either bearing the fruit Satan gives us or bearing the fruit God gives us.

Now turn with me to Galatians5:17.  We find there the contrast between the fruit and the works that we have been talking about.  In this verse the matter of "works" comes up.  It says in Galatians 5:17:
"For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so ye cannot do the things that ye would."  It's entirely impossible!  There's only one way it can be done, and that is to rest, completely abiding in Christ.

Let each days study sink deep into our heart and stay abiding in Him and we will bear the fruit of the Spirit and not Satan's fruit of the flesh.  Tomorrow we will see what the fruit if the flesh is and we won't want any part of the works or fruit of the flesh.  I am sure you will agree with me.  Grandma Joan.