Daily Devotional for Sunday March 26, 2017

The Struggle

(Luke 22:42)

***DAILY PERSONAL PRAYER FOR YOU: Dear Lord, help me to be a blessing to someone I meet today. Help me to not be so self-absorbed that I miss the opportunity to be a good witness for you. Today, I yield myself to you. Use me for your glory! In the name of Jesus...AMEN!!!

The struggle. Every day, I try to do my best to bring you exactly what the Holy Spirit puts in my heart to share that day. From time to time, there is something so important that you need to print it out, read it often, and share it with everyone you know. This is one of those occasions. The struggle that defines our very life, the ultimate battle each person who lives faces daily (including a struggle Jesus faced daily) is between our will and God's will. If you want to break down the Christian life to one basic issue, this is it. Our will....or God's will?

Every day we make many decisions. Whether you realize it or not, every time you make a decision, you are deciding whether it will be His will or your will. If you start to think of your decisions in this way, you will quickly see how it is possible to live the life Christ has called for each one of us to live. When we choose His will, we are following Him and fulfilling our purpose. When we choose our will, we are living in rebellion apart from God. The original sin was Satan choosing his will over God's will. Our sin nature has been inherited from our father Adam who chose his will over God's will. When you commit sin in your life, you are choosing your will over God's will. It really breaks down this easy. It is not very complicated at all.

My purpose today is to simply help you open your eyes, and begin to focus each day, even with each decision, on whose will you are actually following. Is it yours or His? You see, God gave us the free-will to choose. Otherwise we would be little more than robots. You can very easily simply say, 'I will do it my way.' You can very easily say, 'it is my life and I will live it the way I want.' God has given you that ability. But my friend, you then are responsible for the consequences of your choices. Many today are dealing with the pain and heartache of decisions made years ago when they chose their way instead of God's way.

I can only challenge you today, encourage you today, that God has given you the freedom to choose, but with each choice there are consequences. When you choose God's way, the consequences are blessing, peace, joy, the abundant life He has promised His children. When you choose your way, there is pain, suffering, heartache, and struggles. Again, the choice is yours, as are the ramifications of your choice. Oh, never forget. When you accepted Christ as your Savior, you gave your life to Him, it is NOT YOURS ANY LONGER.

I love you, and care about you deeply. I do my best each day to challenge you, encourage you, and make you look at yourself and your life from a very real perspective. As only the Holy Spirit can do, today I have broken down the essence of the Christian life in one simple question. Is it His will, or your will? Jesus had that challenge in the Garden just hours before His death on the cross. He lived a perfect life because that day He did what He had always done, simply told God, "not my will, but thy will be done". Therein lies the challenge for each one of us today and every day, with each decision we must make. Will it be our will, or God's will?

In His love and service,

Your friend and brother in Christ,

Bill Keller