Days of Heaven Upon Earth

Devotional For

January 9

      "Not as I will, but as Thou wilt" (Matt. xxvi. 39).
      
      "To will and do of His good pleasure" (Phil. ii. 13).
      
      There are two attitudes in which our will should be given to God.
      
      First. We should have the surrendered will. This is where we must all begin, by yielding up to God our natural will, and having Him possess it.
      
      But next, He wants us to have the victorious will. As soon as He receives our will in honest surrender, He wants to put His will into it and make it stronger than ever for Him. It is henceforth no longer our will, but His will. And having yielded to His choice and placed itself under His direction, He wants to put into it all the strength and intensity of His own great will and make us positive, forceful, victorious and unmovable, even as Himself. "Not My will, but Thine be done." That is the first step. "Father, I will that they whom Thou hast given Me, be with Me." That is the second attitude. Both are divine; both are right; both are necessary to our right living and successful working for God.