~ Erin, YouTube Podcast

“Apart from me, you can do nothing.”  I have known about this promise, this principle, for years and years, but like so many of the principles or the promises that you read at a certain time in your life, whether it was significant or just something that you were intrigued about, I never get over the fact that each time my Husband brings a promise to mind (any particular promise or principle), how it can take on a brand new meaning.

If I had to guess, it’s probably because His Word is alive—it's living. This means that each time we read or meditate on it, it constantly feeds us, energizes us, blesses us, and renews our minds—and it just never stops. 

Today, I am very, very tired because I didn't get much sleep. Not getting much sleep at all often means you’re being set up for Him to do something special or incredible in your life. Why? because God says when you're weak, then you're strong.

“Apart from Me, You Can Do Nothing”

Let’s begin with this promise, shall we? The promise “apart from Me, you can do nothing” has taken on a far greater significance to me. It's just very significant right here and now. And, this might be something that you also are thinking, "Wow, that is so true, 'Apart from Him, I can do nothing.'” 

Yet here’s the thing, it’s also true that we may be able to do it. We may be able to accomplish it and struggle with it and get it done, but ultimately, if He isn't the One who does it, it just doesn't have substance. 

There are several places in the New Testament where it talks about things being burned up and these are referring to everything that we do in the flesh, in our own strength. When we do whatever it is apart from Him. It may be our plan or even His plan, but whenever we run off ahead of Him and take over how we can get it done “apart from Him,” it’s doomed. Ultimately, like everything, it has to go through the fire and what is left often is nothing—nothing at all. 

Recently, I was pondering this because, when I was just twelve, my family and I faced a fire and lost our home. At that time, it was just the youngest three in our family living at home. 

Thankfully, we didn't lose everything, but we lost most of the front portion of our house, which was either destroyed by fire or by the water they used when putting out the fire. And so I think about this experience: when things are burned up in a fire, only the solid things, things like gold and metals, will remain. But not just any metals. Years before our house burned down, our neighbor's house caught fire, and in the end, only the brick shell remained. While going through the house days later, I saw a metal hanger on a door, and the heat alone had melted it, so it left a pool of metal on the floor that became solid when the fire was put out.

Things that are solid, no matter how hot the fire is, those perfect things, those solid things, those things that are going to remain, will remain; everything else will go away, burn up, or melt away.

So, I want to encourage you today in this living lesson to make sure that whatever you do—do it with Him. Don’t go off on your own, don’t realize His plan, and then set off to accomplish it “apart from Him” because, in the end, it will be worth nothing.

If you can just come away with this one thing, this one promise, this one principle, this one concept, this one truth and bury it deep in your heart and your soul and you meditate on it day and night, you're going to succeed in it. You will find that everything you do, you do with Him, you can’t help but prosper.

“I am the Vine and You are the Branches” 

Another promise that’s similar and what helps us to understand this truth, even more, is when He’s talking about how “He's the vine, and we are the branches,” so when we couple this promise with “apart from Ne, you can do nothing” it’s becoming more clear. Let’s think of it and picture it in this way: If there were vines, like grape vines, and you see branches on the ground that have been broken off—they're no longer a part of the vine, right? Are they going to continue to grow? Will they produce any more fruit? Of course not. 

So when there’s a lack of fruit in your life or in your ministry, go to the Source and ask God if you’ve failed to remain part of His vine, if you’ve been venturing off doing things, even simple things, without acknowledging that He’s right there. 

Remember, He’s not up somewhere in heaven because He’s omnipresent, meaning He’s everywhere. Nevertheless, He’s silent and will wait until you call on Him, acknowledging Him. Ever since I was seven years old, I’ve been fellowshipping with Him—discussing anything and everything right in my own heart—all day and all night, which is something I hope to encourage you to do as well.

Let’s take this concept of the vine and the branches further. Many times, the gardener cuts back the vines until there’s only a stub left, and interestingly, we got to see this firsthand when we had our farm, and we actually had grape vines along one of our small fences. We saw that the only way for it to produce any fruit whatsoever was to cut it back till it was just stubs. I was sure when I first saw it, it would die. But instead, the next year, it came back stronger, more lush, with more fruit.

An expert gardener doesn’t just cut a few vines. He keeps cutting until reaching the healthy wood to remove dead, diseased, or damaged growth. He cuts cleanly and often won’t even leave a stub, which can easily invite bugs and diseases. Now compare this to your life or your ministry.

What’s amazing is how the vine itself isn’t destroyed; neither are you nor your ministry. Instead, with everything dead and diseased gone, the vine is designed to come back and to come back even stronger, producing even more fruit. This is true with grapes, which is what He often refers to in His parables; cutting back and pruning is the only way to produce fruit. 

Living on a farm with grape vines, we learned that it would take at least three times cutting the vines back to basically nothing before you could expect to get any fruit worth consuming. So if you're discouraged and you think, “Oh my gosh, every time I feel like getting somewhere in my journey, I can't get anything done.” And you're trying desperately to keep working hard, I would say, “Just give up and just let Him do it.”

Just keep telling Him over and over, “Darling, I can't do this. Apart from You, I can do nothing.” This is my remedy; it’s the way I live my life. I tell Him I can't do it and leave it all to my Husband, my Maker.

As I recorded this podcast, I'm in the process of having to move again. He has set me up to move every three weeks for over a year, which means packing everything I own again and again, with no end in sight.

This is another reason I'm exhausted from having to do it and mentally exhausted because I can’t go home. Where I am is home. What I have is all I own. 

Instead of getting stronger or even getting more organized, He leads me to keep letting go of more and more. Realizing how little I can live without. 

Yet one thing I cannot live without is Him and doing anything apart from Him. Without Him, I can do nothing. So because I lack sleep, because I’m exhausted from moving every three weeks for over a year, I really can’t do anything apart from Him. As I ponder this, I hope that I don't have to come to that place of exhaustion in order to put this into practice and to live like this when I stop moving. I want to live like this every day and every moment of my life because if I do, then everything I do will end up being worthwhile. It will be significant, and it will hopefully help encourage you, too. So, I hope you also will be encouraged and ponder this truth before moving on to the next Living Lesson.