Apart from Me You Can Do Nothing

"You shall follow the LORD your God and fear Him; and you shall keep 

His commandments, listen to His voice, serve Him, and cling to Him. Deut 13:4 

Abide in Me, and I in you...  apart from Me you can do nothing. John 15:4a-5b.

My Sisters, in faith, you have been prayed for this week, 


I have a question... is it normal to frequently ask questions while reading His word? I do. This week i hit the wall while reading John15. Verse 5 generated the sentinel question which stopped further progress. i heard... 'Arlene, do you believe this?'  i then had a great need to paraphrase the question:  'Do i truly believe apart from the Savior Himself, I can do nothing?' This leaves no room to hedge! But of course, if you were to come up to me and ask me this very question i would give the correct response. 'yes, i do.' Yet, Jesus said "by their fruit you shall know them'? How many 'works' such as teaching a Bible study, serving the poor, housing a missionary, giving financially, serving our family by cleaning, washing clothes, cooking, groceries.... are done in the strength of the flesh day after day after day?

If i am abiding in Christ it is 'not I but Christ', His life is flowing through me in all His glorious effortlessness; i will reap indescribable rest. Jesus work never fails and there is always the evidence of the sweetness of His love and grace about the work. The life of endeavor which is 'my serving Him because He has done so much for me' is not what the Heavenly Father accepts. Even the 'love' motive may be good; even high, but it is not adequate! It is not the motivation put forth in His word. The taint of the flesh is about it. I must go beyond the seemingly honorable 'love' motive, to the 'life' motive. My surrender, my yielding to Him in consecration will never be acceptable unless it is His life lived through me. "Not I, but Christ".

"Our consecration, surrender or commitment (our service) will never hold up if it is our responding to Him from any other motivation  than the response of His life in us. Yielding to Him on any different basis will simply amount to our 'trying' to live for Him in the self-life. And even if that were possible, He could never accept it, since in that realm there dwells no good thing (Rom 7:18) plus He has taken the old life to the cross and crucified it (Rom 6:6, Gal 2:20) M.J.S.

It isn't really about what we are doing, how successful we are, how great the crowds or how impressive our work but the real question is "by what power are we doing it?" This question speaks to my heart in Jesus words... "If anyone serves Me, he must follow me.."Jn 12:26 This connects with "If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me. Our flesh forever seeks to bypass the death sentence. To serve Him only, is to follow Him only and to follow is to deny my flesh and take up my cross. To take up my cross is to appropriate the Truth 'counting myself to have died' with Him and risen with Him. My cross cannot be separated from His Cross; nor His from mine. Anytime i side step the Cross, i am on my own and I can do nothing that will matter in eternity.


 I want to be a disciple... Disciple: One who receives instruction from another; a scholar; a learner; especially, a follower who has learned to believe in the truth of the doctrine of his teacher.

How easily i slide into doing things in the flesh. The flesh is easily at home, thriving in any situation, fooling many. What fuels this absurd effort is blatant, willful pride. Do i really believe my flesh is as bad as God's Word states? No. He must take me through trials that reveal my utter sinfulness. The only eternal thing i have to offer my precious Lord Jesus is what He has given me or done through me; as i am delivered unto death for Jesus sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in my mortal body. II Cor 4:11 It is as His death works in us that His life works through us to touch others. That makes me want to dance!

The Christian life is nothing short of the life of the Lord Jesus (Col 3:4). It is His life reproduced in us. The common conception of sanctification is that every area of the life should be holy; but that is not holiness, it is the fruit of holiness; holiness is the Lord Jesus Christ. M.J.S. 

When the Lord convicts me of pride I am inclined to think humility is the answer but it is not. The answer to pride is the Lord Jesus as He is the answer to every need i have and i am needy. I must not expect the Father to give me humility, patience, or love as separate gifts of His grace; He has given me the Lord Jesus and if I would simply trust Him, receiving moment by moment His life being lived through me, He will be patient and all else i need. A leader may have a zeal in serving God and influence others for good but weighed in His divine balances be found sadly wanting in love and humility. You may never hear sharp words or see their impatience. Their critical spirit toward others my be deftly hidden so too a need to be in 'control', it would but prove how little the Holy Spirit of Jesus has mastery over their life.

All-knowing One, You who know a word before it is on my tongue, You who see my hidden sins that i am in denial over, i run to You, knowing i am carefully and lovingly handled by You. You do not reveal my sin to shame me but to cause me to run to Jesus. You gently lead me to Yourself. so i run. i am needy. i want to love You perfectly but all i can do right now is cry out, "grow me Lord". Yet, i am overwhelmed by the Truth of being loved by You it continually sets my feet to dancing. i pray for my sisters and desire for each one to grow in You, getting beyond the birth truths onto the growth truths. Give them undivided hearts and a hunger that only You can satisfy in Jesus. Encourage the down hearted, be Strength to those in need and a Refuge for those who need a sanctuary. i pray they will bathe daily in Your word for we can only be Your disciples as we continue in Your word. Whisper Your love to each heart and leave them in awe of You Jesus. In this precious, priceless name I pray. amen

To serve is to follow + to follow is to + take up my cross= worship

az