I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit... Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine, no more can ye, except ye abide in me. [John 15:1-2, 4]

The words of Jesus here enjoins the believer, who has come into relationship with Christ to abide and remain in Him. Jesus likens the relationship between Himself and the believer as that which exists between a tree and its branch.

A branch on the tree has a perpetual, continual attachment to the tree. The link between the branch and the tree is an unbroken one which remains uninterrupted throughout the life of the branch on the tree. Any day and any hour the branch is spotted, it can ONLY be found abiding on the tree, the tree's location is the branch's location. The life of the tree is the life of the branch, the branch has no will, no desire of its own except that which emanates from, and is wrapped up within the desires of the tree, its desires remain within the confinements and allowance of the tree. The branch cannot take excuse from the tree to sever itself just for a day in other to dash out in search for something palatable elsewhere, because it knows that the moment it separates itself from the tree (even if it has lofty desires of coming back), it dies without remedy the same moment. In times of rains, sunshine, harsh or lenient weather, whatever the situation, the branch perpetually abides, and when the tree is to be finally cut down, the branch remains glued until death.
Is there a reason so weighty today for anyone, who once dwelt in the secret place of the most High to separate himself from the covering shadows of the Almighty? Many are leaving the Lord today for one reason or the other cogent enough before their eyes, many cut away from the True Vine thinking that they can survive on their own, but alas, no sooner had they departed, than they begin to dry up without remedy, and they lose the freshness they once enjoyed.


"Abide in ME..."

A branch must continually, day after day, abide in the Vine. Whatever the colour of any situation - beautiful or opposite, a glorious one or something that makes you cry, there must be an understanding in the believer that there is nothing so great or so big in life that is potent enough to cut the Lord's branch away from Him.


“I am the true vine,... Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit... Abide in me, ...”

Every branch is known to perpetually abide in the vine (the tree). A prospective traveller on a long journey, once he finds the right vehicle to his destination, enters into the vehicle and relaxes or even sleeps off during the journey, knowing surely that the Vehicle will take him safely to his destination. The traveller does not travel in his strength or by the energy of his legs, rather, he yields himself fully to the vehicle and abides therein, trusting that the vehicle will do the job for him, once he simply abides. But the foolish man who does not want to abide in the vehicle, but claims to know the route, and therefore departs from the vehicle to go in his own strength, sooner or later, he will get tired, he will get bored, his energy will be spent, he will expose himself to danger, he will eventually collapse on the road, and he will not have gone a halfway on the journey before his strength will fail, he will never arrive at the destination, because he trusted in his weak strength.

Energetic people, people who feel they are OK in themselves, brilliant people, people that are wise in their own conceits, people who believe that their brains can solve it all..., these people never go far, because there is no amount of energy that can carry a man far, except he abides in the Vine. It is only the Vine that has the power to carry you through while you remain in His bosom. A man needs to abide in Christ each and every time, because Christ is the one that knows the way and the route, and has the requisite capacity to finish the journey.


Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit...

There is the picture of a branch attached to a vine tree. Anytime you approach the vine tree, this particular branch always appears so healthy, you see lots of leaves on it, all green in colour. The branch is so robust, big and fat, the birds of the air all come to make their nests and abode on that branch, whenever you get to the vine tree, there are always sumptuous fruits on the tree, and most of those fruits the tree boasts of, are actually located on this particular branch in question. It looks as if this particular branch is the most fruitful of all the branches, the branch is so conspicuous, healthy and fruitful. Alas, a day comes in the life of this branch, it begins to feel very proud, it begins to reason within itself that "Without me, can this vine tree succeed?, if I am not here, will this tree be fruitful and productive?, I am the life wire of this tree, and without me this tree will have lost its name into oblivion, I am the one producing all the fruits on the tree, I am the one producing all the leaves that people come to pluck...". Little by little, the branch begins to sever itself from the tree, believing that it can abide and survive on its own, it begins to feel that its fruitfulness and health is a personal product of itself with or without the main tree, it thinks it doesn't need the tree, it feels it is now of age and can fend for itself. Inch-by-inch, it begins to cut itself away from the tree, it begins to reduce its point of contact and connection with the tree, eventually, it severs itself completely from the tree... AT THAT INSTANT, the branch dies.


There are 2 scenarios to this:

SCENARIO 1.

When a branch is attached to the tree, by its attachment, it has life because the tree has life, and it gets its life from that tree, it has nutrients because the tree supplies it, it is strong because the trees holds it, it bears leaves because it is not alone, it is viable and fruitful because it is abiding on the tree. There is NO LIFE in any branch, the TREE is the source of life. A branch that is cut off from the tree soon withers. Therefore, if any man begins to trust in his prowess and ability and expertise, and cuts himself away from the source of grace, no matter what height he has ever reached, he will collapse with a very mighty fall, all the fruits that were blossoming on him before begin to decay and rot. No matter how hard he tries to keep the fruits fresh, the wherewithal for freshness is not present in him, it is only present in the tree from which he has detached himself, so, he may use boldface, use energy, he may use some scientific methods to make the fruits appear as if they were still alive, but the truth of the matter is that life has finished, life is not transferable from the tree to the branch, the branch only got life due to its continual attachment, and as the life has gone, so also has the freshness.

No man can actually do the work of God, only God can do His own work THROUGH man. The power of performance, the energy of divine operations is not available in the man. Man does not produce the grace needed for life and ministry, the anointing to keep a spiritual life running is not located in any man, it is rather located in God. A man that is detached from the source of grace today will die out in a moment, the number of years he had perpetually abode in grace does not matter, once he severs himself from the source of grace and life, he begins to wither immediately. Years of expertise, years of ministry, years of grace are no alternatives to standing firm in the Lord. 10, 20, 40 or 70 years in the Lord IS NOT what keeps a man alive or what establishes him spiritually, the sustenance of the man is not the expertise he has learnt, it is not the exploits, it is not the number of good years, it is ONLY GRACE, and grace is ONLY LOCATED in God, you MUST continually abide and remain attached before the grace can flow.

Man is only a vessel for transmission of whatever God has at His disposal, man is not the source, neither is he a form of reservoir to hold or retain as much power for usage, no, he is only a pipe that either permits or prevents the flow of the anointing. Man is not the worker, God is.

There is no reservoir of grace, there is nothing in me that can store up grace for later use, just as there is nothing in the branch that can store life for use after it is detached from the tree. Grace is highly volatile, and cannot last beyond a time bound, the whole will soon be spent. The grace of yesterday is sufficient only for yesterday. Grace cannot be stored up in me, for reuse at a later date. No man can store up grace in himself, because Grace is not present in the man, grace is only available in God, therefore to get or use grace, a man must be perpetually attached to God, and be flawless enough for requisite divine grace to flow from the Lord into His life.

Grace is like the manna in the wilderness, that must be gathered on a daily basis. The grace of yesterday is already stale today, yesterday's grace is not fresh for today's consumption and usage, yesterday's grace, like the manna that has stayed overnight, has got worms and maggots in it, and rather than bless the life in whom it is working, it harms him, because it is corrupted and stale. God has enough in His storehouse for the life of man, no wonder the prayer Jesus taught us is "give us THIS DAY, our DAILY bread".

There is fresh bread for today and sufficient for today, I must seek for it today, early in the morning for sustenance through the day. No matter how much divine treasures were released unto me yesterday, it could only take as far as yesterday lasted, I must retreat into the bosom of the Father today through my point of attachment to Him (just as the branch is attached to the vine) for the fresh Bread of heaven designated for today, yesterday's bread is already growing moulds and worms, it is not fit for today.


SCENARIO 2.

What if the branch was still attached to the tree, but refuses to receive or accept the flow of sap - the food, the nutrients - that is coming from the tree, that branch will still dry up.
Note therefore that it is NOT only our mere attachment to the tree that keeps us alive. Without a regular flowing sap from the tree, we are still as good as dead. The sustaining power of any child of God is not just because he is connected, he must also be flawless enough, receptive enough to be able to receive the live-giving flow. Of course I have to be connected before the oil will flow, I must maintain a constant solid prayer life, a closet life, a sweet daily communion with the Father, who is the source, before grace can actually flow, but, I must have a clear understanding that it is not my prayer that keeps me going, it is His grace. If God does not help me, I am not helped. Several people today believe so much in their abilities, they trust in their strength and skills, they rely on their own abilities without any recourse to God. Praying has become an end in itself for them, they never look up to Jesus, instead they look to their own prayers, but prayer is not the solution, prayer is only a means to the solution. We need to stick to God in prayers UNTIL the grace flows.

How is your point of connection with the Father, the Source of grace? How is that point of daily communion with God, where you meet Him in prayers and in-depth study of His word? Are you beginning to get busy, even with church and ministry, and you are cutting yourself away little by little from the point where grace is released into the life of a man?