The Branch's Helplessness - Part 22

The problem here is manifested in the first part of th sentence, where it speaks of our attempt to attach ourselves to Christ.  When the branch is attached to the Vine, who does th attaching?  The Husbandman.  The Problem comes when I think I can attach myself to the Lord Jesus Christ and I want to do it my own way.  And of course when I attach myself to th Vine my own way, I certainly don't take the difficult, painstaking way of going through the grafting process.  Why?  Because not only does the parent stalk have to be wounded, but if I'm going to be grafted in, I have to be severely pruned--wounded--too.

They don't take a gigantic branch which has borne all kinds of fruit and just graft it in.  No, they prune that branch down; they trim it, cut it and fit it into the wound; then they bind it into the wound of the parent stalk.  As a result, the branch begins to receive entirely new nourishment.  Now if I did this myself, I would say, "Lord, let's just you and I walk together.  I'll need Your help a little along the way.  I really am sinecre and I think I can make it, but I will probably need Your help a little bit."  Unfortunately, this is the Christian philosophy of many, many people.  "Just stay close by, Lord, because whenever I stumble and get into difficulty I'll need Your help.

Jesus said, "Without Me ye can do nothing."  And so, as Jesus was talking to His disciples that last evening.  He was trying to help them understand their helplessness.  Do you understand your helplessness?  Do you?  This is the important question, and many do sense it, since they talk to me about their helplessness. We must all feel our utter dependence upon God.  What does the word "utter" mean?  Extreme; it means our extreme dependence upon God.

Do you understand your extreme helplessness?  I am not sure I do.  I was raised to do it yourself, and that means that I have to do the work of attaching myself to the Vine.  I see that I cannot do that.  So now I guess the best thing to do is to ask God to attach me to Christ.  Am I ready to be pruned and wounded so that I can be grafted in? This is a good question for me and maybe for you.  Think about it, it is something that all of us must do to be saved.  Sounds hard doesn't it?  Yes, I agree but if the Father is the Husbandman and He does it, then it must not be out of our reach.  Read on tomorrow.
Grandma Joan