Tag Archives: Matthew 6:33

02.18.18
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Will You Be Found Wanting?

Nicole Headshot in blue shirt

Nicole D. Hayes, Founder, Voices Against the Grain

Tekel (means “weighed”): You have been weighed on the scales and found wanting. –Daniel 5:27, New International Version

The New Living Translation uses the words “have not measured up” and the New American Standard Bible uses the words “found deficient.”

The Gill’s Exposition commentary on Daniel 5:27 gives the meaning on ‘Tekel’:

“though art weighed in the balances: of justice and truth, in the holy righteous law of God; as gold, and jewels, and precious stones, are weighed in the scales by the goldsmith and jeweler to know the truth (the integrity) of them, weighed with great exactness, to know the worth of them… where a person’s principles, practices, are to be weighed; and it is sad where they are found light and wanting…pretending to be righteous and holy and will be found wanting of that holiness and righteousness…his works will be found wanting, and not answerable to the demands of a righteous law, and he without the wedding garment of Christ’s righteousness, and so naked and speechless. The fire of the word will reveal, try, and burn up and being able to stand against it; and if these are weighed in the balances, they will be found wanting of real truth and goodness, and be but as chaff to wheat…”

Daniel 5:27 along with the commentary, references those whose works, intentions of their heart and their lifestyle has been counterfeit and unrighteous in the eyes of God.  They pursued vanities and not the truth; not the true oil to fill their lamps. Their living will be measured against God’s standards and found to be deficient. Their vain living and works absent of the righteousness of Christ will be burned up in the fire like hay or wood. The fire will test what work each has done, and if anyone’s work is burned up he will be saved but only through the fire. However, those robed in Christ’s righteousness, who have operated in the truth, will be like pure jewels and stones whose works when measured on the scales will not be deficient but of lasting, enduring, eternal substance and significance.

scales Daniel 5-27

1 Corinthians 3:11-15 also references those who build their lives on foundations other than the true foundation of Christ Jesus. In doing so, no matter their worldly accolades and achievements, they will come up short in their eternal impact.

That which we love, we seek. Many people pursue the vanities of worldly significance, ignorant and oblivious to what will truly be of significance/weight/value in the eternal. This grave and irreversible reality is sealed after they have died, have been eulogized and unable to do no more. They will be without excuse.

Paul also says “each man’s work will be revealed by fire (1 Corinthians 3:13),” and what will remain? The nearer you draw to God in THIS LIFE, it sets your course on your role with GOD in Eternal Life. As Believers, we will not be judged for our sins but our work will be judged. What work did we do for Him? In Matthew 6:33, Jesus told us to “seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness” and to be near to Him, and to love Him. We are establishing an eternal inheritance for ourselves.

Introspection

Sometimes I am led to expand more in my writings but have not felt that leading here. The message is piercing and sobering. It calls us to take a serious account of our living thus far; to ask God to reveal to us areas where we are falling short. To seek and pursue Him with everything we have. To yield ourselves to the Holy Spirit’s leading into truth and to follow in the right direction. We want to hear those words, “Well done, thy good and faithful servant.”

Will your work be sustained or burn up? Will you be found wanting on the scales? Your folly will be made manifest at a time in which there are no “do overs”; the window of “redo” will have closed as you find your living and works deficient, if you are found wanting on the scales according to God’s standards.

Have you lived as God calls us–to be holy and righteous? Have you provided people with sufficiency, weight and truth? What fruit have you produced in their lives that will give them eternal weight?

-Nicole

 

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05.06.16
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I’ve Been Reckless

Nicole Headshot in blue shirt

Nicole D. Hayes, Founder, Voices Against the Grain

Audacious. Incautious. Reckless. Yes, I’ve been reckless. In pursuing and thirsting after the Lord, I’ve had a reckless abandon to Him. Since He called me as a child and truly more in these past five years, I’ve made choices that by the world’s standards would label me as “reckless.” In my love to serve the Lord, I’ve sidestepped worldly opportunities that would have advanced me professionally and would’ve made my credentials really shine.

In my love for the Lord Jesus Christ, I’ve purposely chosen discomfort over comfort. These choices have taken me to the edge at times, making me wholly dependent upon Him for everything, and I mean everything. By the world’s standards, I’m considered a fool. Yes, then, I am a fool…a fool for Jesus in a time when people choose to be fools for foolish things. I am a fool for the Great I AM.

I’ve been exposed and vulnerable to help others in His Name, in times when people prefer to be cloaked and preserved from being viewed as “less than.” In speaking His Truth to a deceived world, I along with my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, have forgone the desire to be liked by the world, risking being falsely perceived by others as a “bigot” or “judgmental.”

Reckless Abandon

I’ve taken risks that say “I’m all in” for a God whom I’ve never seen in the flesh—but I HAVE seen Him. I’ve seen Him show up in ways that are impossible to put into words here. I feel His Presence daily. I hear Him in my spirit. He guides my steps. I’ve trusted Him when I haven’t always been able to trace Him. But I know He’s there, beside me and ahead of me, taking care of me. In going “all in” and walking to the edge in His Name, He has promised me, “If you do my work, I will take care of you.” And He remains faithful to His promises.

In Matthew 6:31-6:33, Jesus tells us, “So do not worry saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32- For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33- But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”

There’s an allure of the world’s offerings of fame, influence, pleasure, position and power. There’s a desire to be liked by and accepted by the culture. To pursue these worldly desires, as a dear sister in Christ says, “one has to trade down” and end up with less instead of trading up to the abundant life offered through relationship in Christ Jesus. Trading up to a life in Christ will indeed cost you to lose favor with the world but gain favor in Christ Jesus.

If God is calling you for His work, your purpose in God will not be achieved without risk, without stepping out of comfort zones, without stretching, without the comfort of seeing the entire staircase before you. You’ll have to be okay when you’re labeled a “fool” or “reckless” for decisions that pit you against the security offered by this world.

In having a reckless, audacious, incautious, “all in” abandon in serving the Lord, I promise you, there is no greater joy and adventure! As our ministry turns “3” later this month, I’m all the more excited and reckless toward what He wants to do through me and the Body of Christ to awaken a slumbering world! I am grateful for my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ who serve Him in reckless abandon! Will you join us in being reckless for Christ?

prison-weedINVITATION: Are you being a light to others in their darkness? Are you sharing Christ as the key to release someone from their spiritual prison of deception and brokenness? If you are, how will you receive those who are freed from their prisons? Will you receive them joyfully or reluctantly? Whether you need to be empowered in sharing God’s Truth or renewed in your compassion to embrace others seeking a way out of their spiritual prisons, or simply want to hear our message on this topic, I invite you to listen to this week’s Voices Against the Grain radio show, “Consequently.”

God bless you and continue to be a voice against the grain for Him,

Nicole

Nicole D. Hayes is the founder of Voices Against the Grain, a bold teaching ministry launched in May 2013. Nicole’s purpose in creating Voices Against the Grain is to be light in darkness, to boldly instruct truth amid confusion so as to bring clarity and restoration.

Learn more about Nicole D. Hayes here.