“I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.” (John 15:5)

Has the Lord been good to you? Has he brought you from afar and caused you to sit at a prepared table? Has He lifted you out of a dunghill and set your feet on The Rock? Has He preserved your coming in and your going out? If the Lord Jesus Christ has been better to you than you’ve been to yourself, give Him praise. But don’t lose sight of the fact of His Sustaining Grace.

So often we testify that God is good. We tell of where we had been because of our own devices; how we were led astray by the allurements of sin; until we were deceived and ensnared by our own wicked hearts. “But God,” we say, and we tell how He has turned our situation around, turning a test into a testimony.

But then Pride resumes in our wicked heart, and we kick Jesus off the throne, claiming praise that rightfully belongs to Him. “Not so!” you say. “God forbid!” How do we do this open act of defiant blasphemy?

We cut grace short in our lives. We take responsibility for our own prosperity after an experience of grace. We say, “He has… so now I can…”

We need to realize that grace is not bound or limited. It does not end just because we no longer see a need for it. We sing that Amazing Grace “hath brought me safe thus far” and forget that it is that same Amazing Grace that “will lead me home.” Again, we sing that “I can’t even walk without you holding my hand.” It is the Grace of God that carries us through every minute of every day.

Jesus reminds that, without Him, we can do nothing. This is before, during, and after a trial. At no point are we strong enough to stand alone; never will we not need the Grace of Jesus Christ. And He does not prepare us to not need Him. Our life is bound up in His. Praise God!

Without Him, we can do nothing; but we can do all things through Christ, who strengthens us (Philippians 4:13).