Christian Living
The Walk is Daily
Peggy Kannaday
Luke 9:23, "And He said to them all, If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me."
I have read the above Scripture hundreds of times, but when I heard it today; the word "daily" hit me very hard. Why? It was because I had been hearing words to the contrary by many people recently.
We are taught in The Word of God to take one day at a time, and this is very important to our victory in The Lord.
People that I had been hearing regularly were saying that salvation is a one time commitment, and then after that; we are not responsible, but we are under God's grace which keeps us until the day when we receive our eternal reward.
This idea sounds very good, but it is not Biblical, and it does not line up with the bulk of Scriptures.
We must learn that it is the whole Word of God that is the Truth. God is a God of love and grace, but He is also a God of truth and justice.
Psalm 119:160, "The sum of Thy Word is truth; And every one of Thy righteous ordinances endureth for ever."
Taking God's magnificent grace for granted is very dangerous. It is the sin of presumption which deceives people into thinking that they can rebel, disobey God's pure and holy Word, and do their own thing and still receive all of God's benefits and His glorious grace.
The whole character of God is being ignored when we presume upon God's salvation.
Romans 11:22, “Behold then the kindness a,nd severity of God; to those who fell, severity, but to you, God's kindness, if you continue in His kindness; otherwise you also will be cut off.â€
You see the word "if" in the above Scripture. God's great and glorious promises are conditional, and we should never forget the "if's" that we find in God's Word. Our walk with God is a daily walk; not a one time experience.
We are told to take one day at a time. We are told to take up our crosses daily. Salvation is ongoing, and our salvation should be worked out by us with fear and trembling.
"Wherefore, My beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in My presence only, but now much more in My absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure" (Phil. 2:12, 13, KJV).
God does the work, but we must surrender all of our own will, desires and rights to Him, and then in turn The Lord will do His mighty work of salvation. It is not automatic, but we must yield everything to Him in love and obedience "daily".
We also must be sanctified daily. Sanctification is also a process of being made holy, righteous and set apart from the world. We are told that the Word of God sanctifies us, but we must study it "daily", and we must know it, and we must walk in its tenets.
John 17:17, "Sanctify them through Thy truth: Thy word is truth."
It seems that many people (even the demons) know The Word of God intellectually, but by the condition and morality of our society; it seems that very few walk it out, and live by The Word of God.
Knowing the Word of God is relatively easy as it can be learned by rote memory. However, to do and obey The Word of God takes strength of character, courage and the grace of God. Walking in the Word of God is part of the dying process of denying ourselves, taking up our crosses daily and following Jesus Christ.
Those that continue daily in their walk with God will receive their glorious eternal reward. When one of God's special warriors has a bad day, and he or she slips into sin; it is the immediate repentance that will bring him or her back onto the strait and narrow road again.
Mat 10:22, "And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved."
I a person that is called a "Christian" falls into open rebellion against God even though they have known His grace, His love and His mercy; and they continue on their slippery slide; it become very difficult for that person to repent. Please do not ignore this very crucial Scripture from The pure and holy Word of God.
Heb 6:4, "For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost,
Heb 6:5, And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come,
Heb 6:6, If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame."
The Lord has given us a very clear way back to Him when we fall short of the glory of God, and that is to be in prayer that The Holy Spirit will reveal all sins to us "daily", and then we must confess them, and turn from them. This is also a daily process of repentance and sanctification.
1Jn 1:8, "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
1Jn 1:9, If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
Knowing the Word of God is the first step, but it is in "doing" the Word of God that we enter into the maturing process of becoming more Christ-like daily. Christ is then allowed to increase in our lives, and we and our own self-centered ways decrease.
This daily walk with God brings benefits which are out-of-this-world. We start entering into the blessings of the beatitudes as the fruit of The Holy Spirit increases in our lives. The Holy Spirit brings us into all Truth, and it is The Truth that will set us free from any and all bondages of our old man.
What freedom, liberty, and what glorious purposes are brought about through this walk of total faith, trust and obedience to our Lord Jesus Christ.
Dear Father,
I pray that each and every person will not only pray the sinner's prayer, but each person will be able to work out their own salvation with fear and trembling daily. I pray that each person will understand the whole Truth of The Gospel message, and they will be able to triumph through Your mighty work on the cross in Jesus Christ's precious and holy Name. Amen.
Peggy Kannaday is the Managing Editor of The "Church Growth International" Ministry headquartered in Seoul, Korea.
Contact at: 803 547-2164, [email protected]
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