The House of the Lord

Today I will share from a dream I had six years ago.  It is about a work the Lord would like us to finish, and explains why this work stopped.

In the dream I was walking in rugged hills, separated from others and alone.  I was hoping others would find me soon because I was thirsty.  I looked out over the ridged mountains as I descended down a side from on high.  There was a royal cluster of 5 mountains in the distance, which looked like red marble with ribbons of white throughout it.  All the ridged mountains were made of the same marble-looking substance, but were low, though sharply ridged.  I understood that it was a time of judgment and I had been shown what was to take place in the land, for no matter how tall or great the mountains were, they would bear God’s judgment.

Then I was in a house that was being built.  It was on a mountain made of dirt (the usual things mountains were made of) and overlooked all the other mountains, and was high above them.  There was a room inside the house where wood was sawn (I saw the table with the saw on it), and the room had a window which overlooked all the other mountains.  A man came in briefly and talked with me but did not stay.  After he left I asked the Lord, saying “I wish you would give me just one man” (to labor there and finish the work).  End of dream.

The Lord said that the mountains in this dream were scarlet, and referred me to Rev 17:3.  He told me that I was walking in the city of the Great Prostitute, and that I had seen the 5 hills that were, and are no more (Rev 17:9-10).  He is speaking spiritually, for it is a spiritual city of unfaithfulness to God.  The white ribbons in the scarlet marble are veins of truth, for she, the Prostitute, was given truth yet became unfaithful to it.

The lower, ridged mountains are made of the same material as the 5 hills which are part of the 7 which support the Prostitute and represent spiritual unfaithfulness also. 

The house being built from wood on the highest mountain is the House of the Lord, being built on the mountain of the Lord.  The house is unfinished, and deserted.  I am praying for God to send laborers, for we need to finish the labors of those who went before us. 

The window is for seers, prophets, and those to whom the Lord will give eyes to see the hour and season we live in.  We are near the ending of a season, and the beginning of another.  We need to pick up the tools and finish what is appointed to us to do.  God is building His kingdom.

There is a prophecy about the house of the Lord in Isaiah 56:7.  It is exciting to think that the Lord is building a place of prayer and joy in our midst.  It is a place of offerings and sacrifices, where outsiders and those cut off are accepted by God (Is 56:3-7).  God receives all men who obey Him. Yet this is what caused the former workers on His house to cease their labors.  Men no longer receive one another, accepting the work God has done in them and through them.  Because men trust in themselves, they reject outsiders.

Jesus asks us to receive one another, and in doing so, receive their gifts, callings, and all the work God has done in them.

 “He who receives you receives me, and he who receives me receives the one who sent me.  Anyone who receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and anyone who receives a righteous man because he is a righteous man will receive a righteous man’s reward.  And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is My disciple, I tell you the truth, he will certainly not lose his reward.” (Mt 10:40-42). 

We cannot finish the work of the Lord in our cities and communities if we reject our brothers and sisters.  Though the past laborers were good at measuring and cutting, they were not good at measuring their brethren, and cut them out of the work of the Lord.  And so it sits unfinished.  When the workers hold God’s purposes for His house as valuable, they will build for Him and not for themselves.  The house will be for all who love and obey God, and at that time, when the house of the Lord is finished, people from all nations will enter in to worship Him.

The Day of Visitation

This morning I woke up, having had a dream from the Lord.  I’d like to share it with you.  In this dream the spirit of slander was released to wreak havoc.  In fact, everyone this spirit spoke to misunderstood anything I said to them, for the spirit had twisted it.  I woke up alarmed.  I was concerned as to how to stop this spirit of slander, not only from touching my life, but all our lives.

The quiet counsel of the Lord is full of wisdom.  He pointed out that slander has been in the earth to a certain degree since the beginning.  Satan is called the father of lies, and never ceases to lie to us about ourselves and others.  Because God sent this warning in a dream I asked Him for the weapons of our warfare, which are mighty to the pulling down of strongholds.

The scripture the Lord brought to mind was 1 Peter 2:12 “Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of wrongdoing, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation”.  In 1 Tim 5:25 we read that “ . . . good deeds are obvious, and even those that are not (obvious) cannot be hidden”.  Our good works glorify God and tell others that we are His.  In fact, it is written in Rev 3 to the Church at Philadelphia that those who said they were believers, but were not, were going to acknowledge that God loved the Christians which had good deeds.  

How does God make believers and unbelievers alike change their hearts about God’s people?  I believe that God is saying to pray for a day of visitation. We have an example of this in Esther 6:1,2 where king Xerxes could not sleep so he had the chronicles, the record of his reign, read.  In this book was an account that Mordecai thwarted the assassination of the king.   King Xerxes then had Mordecai honored.  Not only was Mordecai’s life spared, but God’s plan for the salvation of the Jews ultimately was accomplished.  Though the Jews had been slandered by Haman as being a people who did not obey the King’s laws, the king found out Haman’s plan was to destroy Mordecai and his people. 

This story parallels the day of visitation concept;

good works – Mordecai saved the king

slander – Haman spoke evil of the Jews

day of visitation - discovering the good deed

honor - the person originally slandered is restored and the slanderer

          acknowledges their sin (God’s perfect plan is to bring to repentance

          the one slandering, and though Haman did not repent, in our second example, the false           believers in the Church of Philadelphia did)

We welcome the conviction of the Holy Spirit into our hearts when we have sinned, having access to the throne for cleansing of our hearts.  But our unsaved enemies do not have this privilege.  I believe it is God’s plan to personally visit those who have wronged us when we pray for them.  He will bring to light His works through His people and turn the unbelieving to Himself, if they are willing.  We are His witnesses of the Life of Christ living through us. 

If a believer slanders, the day of visitation will restore that one to the Lord and cause unity in the body of Christ.  The day when God visits the hearts and minds of Man to acknowledge His works and His people is meant to restore Man through repentance to God.  When the spirit of slander is at work, our prayer for God’s visitation is a good weapon to use!  Amen.

Increase Our Faith

Disappointment steals from us.  It leads to resignation, a passivity that does nothing about it’s situation.  The resignation causes one to lose the value of their life, and when we compare our lives with the lives of others, we grow to hate our own life, thinking it’s not worth anything.  We become angry and blame God for making it “this way” and for disappointing us and bringing bitterness.  But if we are thankful in all things and trust the Lord to work all things out to our good, then we do not have disappointment.  We have contentment, and joy.  The joy of the Lord becomes our strength (Ps 28:7), whereas the bitterness of disappointment and resignation becomes a strength-sapping pest in our lives.

Those things which frame our lives are the setting, the circumstances, the places of inheritance.  They are not the inheritance themselves but they are like a frame around the picture.  No one values the painting for the frame itself.  The frame enhances the painting, but it is the painting that carries the value.  It is the same with an inheritance.  If the setting causes a person great disappointment, they will come to hate the painting, and will not see it’s value. 

Disappointment will eventually lead a person to believe that God has wronged them.  They do not see the promises come to pass in their life, and all their expectations lay idle.  Hope deferred will make the heart sick (Prov 13:12).  Now, expectations are a part of faith.  Likewise is the belief in the sovereignty of God.  A humble man will bow his knowledge to the unknown and submit to God, holding the promises and yet not defining them according to his own understanding.  Disappointment comes when a man defines the promises of God according to his own understanding.  Think about the Jews who waited for the Messiah according to their own understanding.  They stumbled when their Messiah actually came.  They were looking for someone who would vanquish their enemies and set up the Kingdom of God on the earth, when it was not God’s time to do so.  And they missed the other prophecies about Jesus because of holding to part instead of taking the whole of what was said about Him.

It is a humble man who will be taught in his hour of waiting, for it is a trial that sorely presses on him.  And yet, it is the time when humility can be accomplished to the point of the man’s heart opening up to the understanding of God, and he will grow from glory to glory.  The kingdom of God is taken bit by bit, and understanding comes line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little (Is 28:9-10). 

Now every man who exalts himself begins with the thoughts of the good sense of doing what he has in mind to do.  For he sees the product he would accomplish or the project he would finish as being beneficial.  This is ambition.  When pride comes in, then ambition is for the motivation of exalting oneself.  When the servant-heart comes in, it is for the motivation of serving others.  Ambition in itself is not evil. 

A prophet of God must handle the Word of God correctly, rightly dividing and rightly discerning it.  In addition to that, he must disseminate or disperse it.  There is one who takes the Word and runs with it (Hab 2:2).  So, the value must be found in the Word, and the desire must be there to give the Word to whom the Lord would have it given to.  The Word itself, and who to give it to must be from the Lord’s hand.  If a prophet receives a Word of God and his thoughts are ambitious as to how to use it for his benefit, then that prophet has sinned. 

Resignation to one’s circumstances works against prayer.  There is an acceptance that comes into the heart, taking adverse circumstances in.  But it is not an acceptance that precludes prayer.  If one will give thanksgiving, and also pray about those things which appear to be wrong, he is open for instruction and will hear God’s heart beat.  Either he will change, or God will change his circumstances.  But God will be glorified in his situation.  However, the person that is resigned has an angst in his soul, a giving-up, a hopelessness which settles into bitterness.  He develops a tolerance of the life that he eventually comes to hate.

Disappointment and Thanksgiving

Disappointment steals from us.  It leads to resignation, a passivity that does nothing about it’s situation.  The resignation causes one to lose the value of their life, and when we compare our lives with the lives of others, we grow to hate our own life, thinking it’s not worth anything.  We become angry and blame God for making it “this way” and for disappointing us and bringing bitterness.  But if we are thankful in all things and trust the Lord to work all things out to our good, then we do not have disappointment.  We have contentment, and joy.  The joy of the Lord becomes our strength (Ps 28:7), whereas the bitterness of disappointment and resignation becomes a strength-sapping pest in our lives.

Those things which frame our lives are the setting, the circumstances, the places of inheritance.  They are not the inheritance themselves but they are like a frame around the picture.  No one values the painting for the frame itself.  The frame enhances the painting, but it is the painting that carries the value.  It is the same with an inheritance.  If the setting causes a person great disappointment, they will come to hate the painting, and will not see it’s value. 

Disappointment will eventually lead a person to believe that God has wronged them.  They do not see the promises come to pass in their life, and all their expectations lay idle.  Hope deferred will make the heart sick (Prov 13:12).  Now, expectations are a part of faith.  Likewise is the belief in the sovereignty of God.  A humble man will bow his knowledge to the unknown and submit to God, holding the promises and yet not defining them according to his own understanding.  Disappointment comes when a man defines the promises of God according to his own understanding.  Think about the Jews who waited for the Messiah according to their own understanding.  They stumbled when their Messiah actually came.  They were looking for someone who would vanquish their enemies and set up the Kingdom of God on the earth, when it was not God’s time to do so.  And they missed the other prophecies about Jesus because of holding to part instead of taking the whole of what was said about Him.

It is a humble man who will be taught in his hour of waiting, for it is a trial that sorely presses on him.  And yet, it is the time when humility can be accomplished to the point of the man’s heart opening up to the understanding of God, and he will grow from glory to glory.  The kingdom of God is taken bit by bit, and understanding comes line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little (Is 28:9-10). 

Now every man who exalts himself begins with the thoughts of the good sense of doing what he has in mind to do.  For he sees the product he would accomplish or the project he would finish as being beneficial.  This is ambition.  When pride comes in, then ambition is for the motivation of exalting oneself.  When the servant-heart comes in, it is for the motivation of serving others.  Ambition in itself is not evil. 

A prophet of God must handle the Word of God correctly, rightly dividing and rightly discerning it.  In addition to that, he must disseminate or disperse it.  There is one who takes the Word and runs with it (Hab 2:2).  So, the value must be found in the Word, and the desire must be there to give the Word to whom the Lord would have it given to.  The Word itself, and who to give it to must be from the Lord’s hand.  If a prophet receives a Word of God and his thoughts are ambitious as to how to use it for his benefit, then that prophet has sinned. 

Resignation to one’s circumstances works against prayer.  There is an acceptance that comes into the heart, taking adverse circumstances in.  But it is not an acceptance that precludes prayer.  If one will give thanksgiving, and also pray about those things which appear to be wrong, he is open for instruction and will hear God’s heart beat.  Either he will change, or God will change his circumstances.  But God will be glorified in his situation.  However, the person that is resigned has an angst in his soul, a giving-up, a hopelessness which settles into bitterness.  He develops a tolerance of the life that he eventually comes to hate.

God's help

Often we wonder what our part is in winning a victory, and what part is the Lord’s.  Do we need to be perfect for God to help us?  Though that seems impossible, sometimes we do not believe our weakness warrants God’s intervention. 

In Psalm 18 King David tells us that, although his enemies were too strong, God helped “according to my righteousness. According to the cleanness of my hands He has rewarded me.” (Ps 18:20).  David goes on to tell us that he did not do evil by turning from God. (vs 21).  These words may seem to be saying that David had a righteousness of his own.  As Christians, we know that is far from the truth.

We have our righteousness apart from the law.  It is by faith in Jesus Christ and what His shed blood did for us.  God actually wants us to ask Him for His help when we are weak and when we fail.  Being covered in the blood of Jesus is how we win our battles and maintain our victories.  In Revelation 12 we read that the first way we overcome our enemy, satan, is with the “blood of the Lamb.” (Rev 12:11)  It is our enemy that intimidates us with his accusations, and it is God who makes us acceptable by Christ’s blood.

When Jesus spoke to the Church at Laodicea, He gave them an understanding of how to overcome and sit on the throne with Him.  Their complacency had caused them to become blind, pitiable, wretched and naked.  But through earnestness and repentance they could have fellowship with Him and sit on His throne (Rev 3:17-21).  When we feel weak and wretched, God offers us the opposite of our shameful state.  We get to a pitiful state through carelessness of heart and attitude of mind.  But through our earnest and sincere repentance, we are covered by the blood of the Lamb once again.  Our former weakness is not what God responds to; He will answer our prayer for help.  When our heart is earnest in repentance, we become clothed in Christ’s righteousness.  Then, like King David, we have clean hands.

When our enemy tries to turn us away from God by intimidating us about our failures, that is the time to turn to God and ask for His help.  He will rescue us.  God delights to show Himself strong to those who give Him the opportunity (2 Chron 16:9).

The Grace Side of Love

One thing I have learned is that our enemy wants us to beat ourselves up over losing individual battles, before the war is over and done with.  Today the Lord reminded me of a time when I could not maintain victory over resentful thoughts, even though I kept forgiving the person.  I felt defeated and asked the Lord why I kept fighting the same old battles without victory.  His answer was that I had maintained my right to my anger, and therefore He couldn't do a lasting work.  Though I would have peace for a little while, my enemy would bring resentful thoughts back again.  Then the Lord said that whenever I decided to yield up my right to remain angry, I would have His help.  Though torment is like being in jail, God was handing me the key of release.

You'd think I would take the key and get out of jail, rejoicing in giving up my right to anger.  But I soon found out that anger was not only a stronghold in me, but it was also a powerful stronghold in my family.  And though the Lord never told me that the hurtful things that happened to me shouldn't make me angry or sad, He challenged me to then turn those emotions and the right to them over to Him.  He wanted me to know the grace side of love.

Before the Lord offered His grace in exchange for my right to anger, my love and hate had been bouncing up and down like a ping pong ball.  Since accepting His grace, I have many more victories. I notice my anger more, and that I can exchange it for His grace in hurtful situations.  But this exchange is a harder choice than forgiveness combined with my right to anger.  To me, forgiveness seems like it involves justifying evil deeds.  We can always find reasons why people act as they do, so we conclude that we ought to forgive them.  But the mental consent to forgive is only the first in a series of choices we make, and not the final act that releases us from the jail of anger.  It is in giving up our rights to anger that we secure the forgiveness we intend to give.  It is harder to give up our rights to an anger that seems justified, and yet when we release it to God, He puts His grace into our hearts; grace to love and to maintain forgiveness.

There are Christian counselors who hold out hope that we will exit our jail cells of tormenting thoughts when we "realize" why a painful event occurred.  But the mental exercise of realization does not heal the pain we are going through.  Only God's grace is sufficient for it all.  It is the grace-side of love that brings freedom from torment, joy in sorrow, and endurance in suffering.  Let us remember that God offers His strength to us by handing us Grace on a daily basis.  And His Grace enables us to love.  Amen.

Love

With Valentine’s Day drawing near, our thoughts turn towards love.  Paul wrote a nice description of what love is and what love isn’t.  Though no one except God is an expert on love, for He is love, we learn from our life’s experiences about this wonderful vehicle of our life’s dreams.  I’d like to share some thoughts about this.

We often wonder if love is delusional, and if the endurance of love depends on a mixture of denial and self-interest.  For the world, perhaps that is true.  For the Christian, we should be able to separate out our interests, and if the relationship is poor, our denial.  In the long run, denial will buy us time, but not happiness nor fulfillment.  Inside we will always feel a bit robbed of what we want, and we will know in our inner person that something is wrong.

Paul writes in 1 Corinthians that love does not delight in evil but rejoices in the truth (1 Cor 13:6).  When we deny that there are problems in our imperfect human relationships, it is actually we who are robbing the relationship of the benefits that come through rejoicing in the truth.  Though focusing on the problems and trying to fix them may seem the only door to happiness in our relationships, love goes in an entirely different direction.  Love isn’t a sure way to change the other person.  Though love hopes for the good of the other person, love carries within it the deep and strong desire to stick with him or her in the hard times.  The benefit of rejoicing in the truth isn’t that the pain of painful truth is good for us in some way; it is that the truth is mixed with God’s love in a powerful presence of His nature as He brings words, prayers and righteous acts into the relationship.  Love is strong enough to endure pain, and triumph.

Paul also writes that love always protects, trusts, hopes and perseveres (1 Cor 13:7).  A person who loves seeks to protect the weaker brother or sister, longing for Christ’s nature to be formed in them.  The truth is not a club to beat the other person with, nor a whip to motivate them.  The truth becomes an inner strength that motivates the stronger Christian to have compassion for the weaker.  Love trusts this process and hopes in God’s ability to work in the relationship for the good of both people.  And though denial can help us to last longer in a dysfunctional relationship, perseverance can only come with loving another person so much that the goal of mutually shared and triumphant love becomes a greater prize than the temporary anesthesia of blocking out the pain.

When we choose to join our lives with another person, love will endure because of the commitment each person makes towards the other.  Without commitment, love cannot endure the trials.  Do we need blind and delusional love in order to enter into such a relationship? Not at all.  We need God’s love.  I am convinced that, because God first loved us, His love enables us to love as He does (1 Jn 4:19).  He is committed to us.  To paraphrase Renee Zellweger’s quote from the movie “Jerry McGuire”, God completes us (Phil 1:6).  This is His hope, that we will be formed by love.  In the same manner, let us live in our relationships with the hope that our love will bring our relationships into perfection.  Amen.

Identity Crisis

Though young people search for their identity, far more older people go through an identity crisis.  As Christians, our lives are hid in Christ, in God (Col 3:3).  It becomes an adventure as we discover what He has put inside of us, and the life we are called to live.  Yet there is old baggage that we try to take along the journey with us.  It is called “self-image.”

Sometimes people’s image of what they would like to be is dearer to their hearts than who they are in Christ.  Although finding our new image is exciting, over time we find a way to fine-tune that Christ-like image so that it embodies who we want to be, and how we want to live our lives.

I have a friend who holds dear the image of kindness.  She puts herself in the roll of helping most of the time.  Though a teacher and a leader in the past with many giftings from the Lord, now that she is in her 60's she avoids roles of mentoring, teaching, or leadership. The result of her fine-tuning was two-fold: everyone thought she was wonderful . . . they loved her . . . but her spiritual identity became traumatized by her life-style.  She not only set no boundaries on her helping, but she had made no time for her gifting to be ministered to others.  With all the wisdom and discernment of over 40 years as a Christian stored in her, she had chosen a field of children to be kind to.  The children weren’t the ones who badly needed her wisdom and discernment.  Her other areas of help were with her family, who only wanted her “nice” self.

Though having people think we are wonderful and nice could be seen as a beautiful sunset to a busy life, eventually it causes identity crisis.  Ministering to the needs of our fellow Christian does not always please them.  Jeremiah wrote that “the Word of the Lord has brought me insult and reproach all day long.”  However, “if I say ‘I will not mention Him or speak any more in His name’, His Word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones.  I am weary of holding it in; indeed, I cannot.” (Jer 20:8-9)

Perhaps we cause more damage trying to fine-tune our self-image into what is dearest to us than if we let the hidden nature of our Christ-identity be fully born on this earth.  When we hold back our God-given identity to please others or ourselves, there is the fire of God raging inside, wanting to be expressed in our lives.  My friend had a break-down and dealt with bitterness, even having a second near-break-down before she heeded God’s call to return to who she was in Him.  The praises of those who loved her for her kind works are not the sole motivation for her life, and the counsel of God is shared with her family and others.  She not only reaches out to those wiser than herself for their ministry, but in turn, she ministers to others.  And this has brought peace to the area of crisis in her heart.

Shouldn’t we be kind?  Of course we should.  But whenever we fine-tune our lives in such a way as to eliminate other aspects of our nature, and of Christ’s nature, we will suffer an identity crisis.  This is a time of healing, of returning to that which Christ has put within each man, woman and child.  Let us lay down our self-images and be excited once more with all we are in Him.  Then we will have peace and be effective ministers of the Lord.  Amen.

The Positive Attitude

We have been hearing about the benefits of having a positive attitude for at least a generation.  Some men have turned to mind sciences and believe that their minds can set positive things into motion.  Others believe that thinking positive is evidence of faith, which will in turn set positive things into motion.  And on the other end of the spectrum of opinions about positive attitudes, some believe that, though we should rejoice in the truth, the truth is not always joyful and therefore we should not be in denial about the negative things in our lives.

Today’s lesson is from Psalm 84 in which we read about weeping being turned into strength.  The Psalmist writes;

“Blessed are those whose strength is in you, who have set their hearts on pilgrimage.”(vs 5)

People who trust in the Lord know that He will take them through life’s ups and downs.  They see their life as a journey and not as a destination.  This is a mind-set, and a heart-set, which might also be called our “attitude”.

“As they pass through the Valley of Baca, they make it a place of springs; the autumn rains also cover it with pools.”(vs 6)

Baca is translated as meaning “weeping.”  People who walk with God on a pilgrimage through this life will walk through trials that make them cry.  But, because of their attitude, they turn their tears into pools of refreshing.  Not only can their own thirst be satisfied by what they have experience, but others who walk behind them will find the pools of water.  Autumn rains are gentle and bring the harvest to its final growth.

“They will go from strength to strength, till each appears before God in Zion.” (vs7)

These verses from Psalm 84 hold promise for those who “set their heart” on walking with God through the hard times.  When we determine to have an attitude of trust and faith, we will grow in His strength. Paul writes that being “made new in the attitude of your minds” is part of putting on our new nature in Christ (Eph 4:23-24).

I believe that, if we set our attitudes to trusting God, we will see Him work things out for our good (Rm 8:28).  At the same time, we will grow in strength and relationship with God.  Trust is a positive attitude, knowing that it is God, and not what we think or do, that can work in our lives for ultimate good.  Amen.

Faith and love

Have you ever lacked faith to hear from God?  Sometimes we feel as if the things we do for God should build our faith.  If you have obeyed God’s voice, and yet find yourself lacking in faith, then this lesson is for you.

Faith is the spiritual embodiment of God’s nature and how it expresses itself here on the earth.  All of God’s works and every word that is from Him fills up our faith. The link to that faith is love of God, and love of our fellow man.

Faith does not depend on our obedience to God.  Yes, the more we do what God asks us to do, the more He will entrust to us.  However, those works of obedience aren’t a requirement to have faith in God.  If they were, then we would only have faith to hear God when we were laboring for Him. If our great works inspired faith in others to believe in God, then the Egyptians, who followed the Israelites onto the dry land in the Red Sea would have lived.  But faith does not grow by imitating what men of faith do, nor by doing works of obedience.  In the quiet times and times of rest, even when we have not obeyed, God still speaks.  If our hands are empty, still we can have faith in God.

Sometimes we measure our faith by what we do for the Lord. Many men think that great works beget great faith, and yet faith is evidence of the unseen (Heb 11:1). In the proud and ambitious, works whet the appetite for greater works. These men are discontent in stillness.  They cannot comprehend God’s still quiet voice when He asks them to come aside, and just listen.  Always planning, they become busy doing, and each work becomes a stepping stone to believe for the next and greater work.

Surely God appoints great works to men, and yet, all men are known by the personal fruit they bear (Mt 7:15-17).  If they are led by love, they will do their neighbor no harm (Rom 13:10).  If they are led by their aspirations, they will accomplish their goals by using the people around them and neglect to minister to them.

Those who love will find it easy to hear God, for love of God builds faith, and love of our fellow man expresses it in works (Gal 5:6).