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.

“I am the true vine,” Christ declared. He used the figure of the vine that as we look upon it, we may call to remembrance His precious lessons. Rightly interpreted, nature is the mirror of divinity.

Christ pointed to the vine and its branches: I give you this lesson that you may understand My relationship to you and your relationship to Me. There was not the least excuse for His hearers to misunderstand His words. The figure He used was as a mirror held up before them, that they might understand His connection with them.

This lesson will be repeated to the ends of the earth. All who receive Christ by faith become one with Him. The branches are not tied to the vine by any mechanical process or artificial fastening. They are united to the vine and have become part of it. They are nourished by the roots of the vine. So those who receive Christ by faith become one with Him in principle and action. They are united to Him, and the life they live is the life of the Son of God. They derive their life from Him who is life….

The heart must be united with Christ’s heart, the will must be submerged in His will, the mind must become one with His mind, the thoughts must be brought into captivity to Him. A man may be baptized, and his name placed on the church rolls, yet the heart may be unchanged. Hereditary and cultivated tendencies may still work evil in the character.

The regenerated man has a vital union with Christ. As the branch derives its sustenance from the parent stock, and because of this bears much fruit, so the true believer is united with Christ, and reveals in his life the fruits of the Spirit. The branch becomes one with the vine. Storm cannot carry it away. Frosts cannot destroy its vital properties. Nothing is able to separate it from the vine. It is a living branch, and it bears the fruit of the vine. So with the believer. By good words and good actions, he reveals the character of Christ. As the branch derives its nourishment from the vine, so all who are truly converted draw spiritual vitality from Christ. “Verily, verily, I say unto you,” He declared, “Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him” (John 6:53, 56).—Manuscript 78, copied June 17, 1898, “I Am the True Vine.”

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I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. John 6:35.

I am instructed to say that we must not look to any human being for power or experience, depending on them for strength and guidance. Christ says, “Look unto Me. I am the Light of the world. He that followeth Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the Light of life.” I speak to those who claim to be children of God. Is it not time that we know the Source of our strength and the Source of our power? Shall we not, from this time forward, make a record more pleasing to the Lord?

Scenes are presented to me that I can find no language to describe. Trials will come that will humble all hearts that are lifted up. Let no one feel that he is safe in following his own way, or in making man his trust. The Lord calls for men of experience, men who will carry responsibilities in His name and in His strength, men who will receive His grace with a realization of their accountability to impart it to others….

The Word of the living God is to be our guide. Each one is to realize his dependence upon Him, whose he is by creation and by redemption. Read and study the statements made in the sixth chapter of John. Pray for an understanding of these truths. I am alarmed as I see the spiritual weakness of those who have had such great light. Had they walked in this light, they would have been strong in the Lord. But they have not, and those who come into the truth through their efforts look to human beings for wisdom, instead of looking to Jesus Christ, “the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world” (John 1:9). When those who claim to believe in Christ receive Him by faith, He will be to them their sanctification, their righteousness, and their exceeding great reward….

The Lord’s agencies, the men of His appointment, are individually to receive wisdom from Him. They greatly dishonor Him when they trust in human devising as assurance. They are to see Him distinctly as their sufficiency, their strength.

Are you representing Christ? Have you broken away from the spirit and influence of worldly policy plans and from human devising? Are you eating daily of the bread of Life? …

Let the prayer come from unfeigned lips, “Make me to understand the way of thy precepts: so shall I talk of thy wondrous works” (Psalm 119:27). “Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee” (verse 11).—Manuscript 78, June 16, 1902, “The Health Food Question.”

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But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. Hebrews 3:13.

Dear Sister _____: … “we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil; whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, made an high priest forever after the order of Melchisedec” (Hebrews 6:19, 20).

We have every reason to trust in God, and to bring all our worries and anxieties to Jesus Christ, that we may become better acquainted with Him. It should not be a difficult thing to remember that the Lord Jesus is desirous that we should bring all our troubles and perplexities to Him. “Take it to the Lord in prayer,” and then leave your perplexities and burdens with Him. How much happier we should be would we do this. You may come to Him as a child comes to his parents, saying, “Here, Lord, I have carried my self as though I could save myself for a long time. My burdens are too heavy for me to carry longer. Thou canst bear them for me.” He says, “I will take them. With everlasting kindness will I have mercy upon thee.”

This love is [as] strong as it is tender. The love of Jesus is stronger than death, for He died to win your love, to have you lean upon Him fully and entirely, and to make you one with Him, mystically and eternally one. The love of Jesus is something expressed, more tender than even the love of a mother for her child. The most tender love we know is that of a mother for her child, but the love of Jesus exceeds this. She may change in her affection. Mothers may become unkind, but Jesus never, never will become unmindful or unkind, or cruel to His children.

Then never, never will we show distrust and want of faith. So strong is His love that it controls all the affections of His nature, and [He] employs all His vast resources to do His people good. His love is durable, without variableness or shadow of turning. Never let us dishonor God by trying so hard to keep ourselves, fixing our eyes upon ourselves, and keeping ourselves constantly in view.

Look unto Jesus who is the Author and Finisher of our faith. Let us not do as we have done, make ourselves miserable over some supposed future tomorrow’s burden. Carry your duties of today cheerfully. Today’s faith, today’s trust in Jesus, we must have. Today I may look and live. Today I will put my trust in God. Today I will rest in quietude and peace kept by the power of God. Say, “The Lord will be glorified by my being cheerful and happy in His assurance of His love—today.”

In much love, Ellen G. White.—Letter 48, June 15, 1896, to a sister in need of encouragement.

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When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him. Isaiah 59:19.

Professing Christians who live cold-hearted, selfish lives are nauseating to Christ. Let us not be lukewarm Christians, heartless in our treatment of others. Let us surround ourselves with an atmosphere of courage and hope. Let us speak pleasant, encouraging words to those around us….

Let us cherish the truth of God. Unless we are successful in obtaining eternal life, it were better for us that we had never been born. Let us not refuse to avail ourselves of the privileges that are ours through the sacrifice of Christ. Although equal with God, He came to this world to give His life for us. On the cross of Calvary, He died a death of shame, that He might make an atonement for the sins of those who receive Him as their Saviour. To those who receive Him, and believe on Him, He promises to give power to become the sons of God.

Jesus loves you. He has purchased you with His blood. Had He not loved you, He would not have died for you. His heart of love is grieved when you work contrary to Him, because you are thwarting His plan for your salvation. God cannot bless those who oppose Him, those who refuse to accept the words of comfort and peace that would bring light and love to their souls.

To every man is given his work. Those who are connected with God will reveal their connection by working with Him. They are co-partners with God and with Christ. They are joint-heirs with Christ to an immortal inheritance.

If in this world we do our best, following our divine Example, overcoming in the strength that He gives, we shall be granted an abundant entrance into the courts above. There Christ will lead us by rivers of living water and teach us the meaning of the providences that in this world we did not understand. Then we shall be able to discern the love of God in what now seem to us adversities. We shall see that trials were permitted to come to us to remove our un-Christlike traits of character, and to strengthen our weak points.

God is calling upon you to surrender to Him. Will you not come? Will you not give Him your heart’s best and holiest affections? Will you not receive from Him gold tried in the fire, that you may be rich, and white raiment that you may be clothed? Will you not allow Him to anoint your eyes with His heavenly eyesalve, that you may see clearly?—Manuscript 114, June 14, 1903, “Duties and Privileges of a Christian,” a talk given at Calistoga, California.

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But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city. Hebrews 11:16.

I fear that aggressive warfare against the world, the flesh, and the devil has not been maintained. If we are going to exert a Christlike example, we cannot cheer on by a half-dead Christianity the selfish, covetous spirit of the world, sharing its ungodliness and smiling upon its falsehood. Nay! By the grace of God we are to be steadfast to the principles of the truth, holding firm unto the end the beginning of our confidence. We are to be “not slothful in business, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord.” One is our Master, even Christ. To Him we must look. From Him we must receive our wisdom. By His grace we are to preserve our integrity, accepting the Word of God as our standard, and standing before the Lord in meekness and contrition.

I long so much to see the deep moving of the Spirit of God. Will it ever come into our ranks as it has come in the past? “Thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones” (Isaiah 57:15).

The word of the Lord never represses man’s activity. It gives an increase of usefulness by guiding activity in the right direction. The Lord does not leave man without an object of pursuit. He places before him eternity, with all its solemn realities, and gives him a grasp on immortal, imperishable themes. He presents valuable, ennobling truth, that he may advance in a safe and sure path, in pursuit of an object worthy of the earnest engagement of all his capabilities.

Man will increase in power as he follows on to know the Lord. As he endeavors to reach the highest standard, the Bible is as a light to guide his footsteps heavenward. In that Word he finds that he may be a child of God, a member of the royal family, joint heir with Christ to an immortal inheritance.

The Guidebook points him to the heavenly country, and the unsearchable riches and treasures of heaven. By following on to know the Lord, he is securing eternal happiness. Day by day the peace of God is his reward, and by faith he sees a home of everlasting sunshine, free from all sorrow and disappointment. God directs his footsteps and keeps him from falling, sanctifying and elevating his energies.—Letter 45, June 13, 1901, to “Brother and Sister [J. A.] Burden.

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