Captivate the people you see

"Let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your Heavenly Father."                                        Matthew 5:16 New Living Translation  

Repetitious preaching and teaching can have the affect of being a hammer that is continually knocking a nail into a wall. It can seem tedious. However, it is needed. You will notice that many preachers, especially on the God channels, appear to teach on the same subject and text every week. I love listening and watching RT Kendall. In my opinion, his teaching is powerful and reaches me every time. However, he will teach on the same subject for many weeks. This is because he is expounding the scripture - squeezing every drop of it out for our benefit. 
You may find, that many daily commentaries do the same, including this one. When I seek God for what He wishes me to write each day, I wait until He has given me the instructions. Therefore, I must write what the Holy Spirit gives me, and the preachers and teachers we see, have to do the same.

The Apostle Paul teaches us on this subject: 'Finally my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. For me to write the same things to you is not tedious, but for you it is safe. ' Philippians 3:1. Paul is saying that this method of his teaching is important to safeguard them. There were many people out there, and still are today, who seek to mislead us, taking us away from the truth.

Therefore, let us once more look at Matthew 5:16. Jesus is saying in The Sermon on the Mount, 'Let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your Heavenly Father.'
Note the words 'everyone' and 'good.' It is God's desire that everyone, throughout this world, get to hear the Gospel of peace. With the technology that we have today, this is a great possibility, but there is more to do here, and this may be the person who lives next door to us.

The Greek word for 'good' here in our text is Kalos and means that a thing is not only good but it is also captivating, beautiful and attractive. Kalos draws people and charms them in a Godly way. It draws attention to God  - not ourselves. We should never be tempted to think how good a job we have done but thank God what He has done through us or enabled us to do.

This is the type of 'good' that the world needs and is seeking. People are searching for something but many don't know what it is. For some it may mean money, for others it may mean a better house than other people have. Yet others may be seeking sexual relations with as many people as they can. Drugs, booze and the wrong type of excitement. At the end of the day, what good will it do them if Jesus isn't their Saviour.

Notice Jesus in the Gospels. As He walks around (doing good - kalos) He captivates and draws crowds to Himself. People just couldn't resist Him because He had something, they hadn't, but wanted but they wasn't sure what. And this is what it is like today. People need Him. When they are in our presence, they know there is something difference about us but they just can't figure it out.

As we get closer to Jesus, and start to spread Kalos wherever we go, we too will captivate and draw people to us; not because of ourselves, but because of the fact that the Lord Jesus Christ lives within us.

Now that is 'good' news

Copyright 2019 Grahame Howard

dailylifewithjesus@protonmail.com