Our Will is the Key…..

“Endure suffering along with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus.  Soldiers don’t get tied up in the affairs of civilian life, for then they cannot please the officer who enlisted them.”  II Tim. 2:3-4  NLT

The chief requirement of a soldier is the surrender of his will.   Other things are irrelevant.  

The disposition of his time, his duties and his responsibilities is entirely in the hands of his commander, and they are not his business.

If Jesus has my will, He will also have my body, my mind, my strength, my ambitions, my inclinations, my attitude and my ALL.   MY will is the key.   The choice is my whether to surrender it or hold it.   Can I surrender it always or will I take it back for my convenience or when God’s will does not align with my desires?

When I am tempted it is in the will that the victory will be won or lost!

Temptation gives me alternatives: I can submit and lose or resist and win.   There is ample power for either.    The Holy Spirit gives me power to resist; my old nature gives me power to submit.   But the key is my will!

If I choose to resist, the Holy Spirit will empower me as He has promised; if I choose to submit, I only need to let the old nature take over.  Whoever has my will is my master!

I therefore must decide daily, hourly: shall Jesus have my will or shall it be some other master?   The decision is instantaneous; the results are eternal.

My hope is based on the twofold action of God: “God….is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure” (Phil. 2:13).  

While God does not make up my mind, He strengthens my resolve.   Even more, He brings my resolution to a finished product “for His good pleasure”.   Thus, I can honor the Lord’s intent and say, “It can be done!”