Stop

15th of September

This title has rung in my ears since I asked God for His will regarding this writing. I am just as curious as you are. What does He want to say underneath such a title. I am so dependent on the Holy Spirit. He takes from Heaven and brings it down to us here on earth.

It is quite obvious that the Holy Spirit wants to cry out a warning. It might be to people who walk around in circles or to people who are way out of course. They might even be on their way to hell. I recently heard that some of my former friends and acquaintances belong to one of these groups. I am not pointing any fingers at them, but I get very sad and sorry and that leads to sincere prayers for these people. The devil is not to get the last word.

You might think that you are on the right track doing the right thing, but God actually wants you on another path doing other things. You just continue without taking any time for reflections. I will mention a well known man from the Bible who thought he was on the right track, but was totally wrong. This person was Saul who was later called Paul. He was very religious and self-righteous, but he believed in the wrong things. He was very eager and he persecuted the Christians. He went as far as to kill them. God had other plans for Saul and he was really stopped by God. This happened when he was very close to the city of Damascus. A light from heaven shone around him and he fell to the ground. At the same time he heard a voice saying: “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” Saul wondered who this person was and he said: “Who are You, Lord? Then the Lord said: “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. It is hard for you to kick against the goads.” Saul wondered and asked the Lord: “What do you want me to do?” He was told to get up and go into the city, but when he stood up, he understood that he had been struck blind. He was led into the city by his friends and he neither ate nor drank for three days. (Acts 9) In the city there was a disciple with the name of Ananias and he was told by the Lord to go to Saul and lay hands on him and pray for him. Ananias hesitated since he knew about Saul and the way he persecuted the Christians, but the Lord said to him: “Go, for he is a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My name before Gentiles, kings and the children of Israel. I will show him how many things he must suffer for My name’s sake.” Ananias went and Saul was filled with the Holy Ghost and he received his sight. He was later called Paul, the name we are so familiar with. Paul has written more books in the Bible than any other person. He had a tremendous calling on his life and we who call ourselves Gentiles can thank him for the Gospel. If Paul had not been stopped, millions would be without the Gospel of Jesus and the consequences would have been devastating for Paul himself and for us. The same could be true for us. Is it necessary to be struck blind before we stop? Can we stop before a heavenly light appears?

When we are out driving, we have to follow many signs, one of them is a stop sign, saying full stop. We must look to both sides then and be sure that nothing is on the road that could possibly disturb us. I believe that we need quite a few similar signs on our “life road.” Jesus says that He is the way. Are we on this road or on a sidetrack?

Quite a few churches and religious groups have made up their own rules and regulations and many of their members will rather follow these instead of seeking the truths in the Bible. I just watched a television program yesterday. That was about two families who belonged to a religious group who forced their members to read the Bible in a language they didn’t understand so well and they were not allowed to evangelize. These two families had started to study the word of God and they wanted others to know about Jesus. They were persecuted and banned.

Others are not seeing the warning signals along the road. This time it is not God Who has blinded them, but the devil. This goes for both believers and non-believers. I personally know people who have received Jesus as their Lord and Savior, been baptized in water and by the Holy Spirit. They had also received spiritual gifts, but in spite of all that, they chose to live in a secular and fleshly way. It might start by skipping their daily devotion. The Bible and praying are not so important. Others have started to drink a few beers during the week-ends. This might increase and others might even play with stronger stuff. Others are tempted by sex demons and one live with a married man. Some people seek pornography on the net or buy magazines and films. The devil is spreading his material in so many different ways. Some of my former friends clung to their families, but the devil is now getting more and more room in their lives and their wife and children are not important any longer. They are no longer interested in the Lord and in the gatherings of the saints. No, they have put themselves in the centre of their lives and they say: “We are going to satisfy ourselves in any way we can.” The Holy Spirit puts up many warning signs both for believers as well as non-believers, but these are often ignored. The devil might even blindfold people so they do not see them.

One morning I woke up from a dream. I was preaching in a church and I was warning the people. I warned them and said that they must not go into alternative treatments that are inspired by the devil. If you give the devil a small chance, he will take more and more territory. Go to the roots of the treatment before you become a receiver of it. What you willingly receive, comes into you and becomes a part of you. This is meant as a stop sign before you continue any alternative treatment that you are not familiar with.

Many people are complaining about boredom. Also Christians might think that life is dull and they feel that they lack excitement. But they do not stop, but continue on the same treadmill. That might last for months, years and for some it might last the entire life. They might not do so many wrong things, but they never go on in life. Does the treadmill have to brake in order for you to fall off before you make a stop? Some people cling to the secure. Are you afraid of getting off the treadmill? Others like to be in the secure and do not trust the Lord. Are you going to live by fear and disbelief? Who is your Lord?

I have a daughter who loses interest in her job when she has been there too long and knows it too well. She asks the Lord then if He has something else for her or if she can make her job more interesting. You do not need to wait for another person to put up a stop sign. You can stop by yourself. Since we have the Word of God and the Holy Spirit is our “Helper”, we should not need any stop signs, but we do not always live by the Spirit.

When God puts up a stop sign, it is done because He loves us. He sees that we either are in danger or way out of course. He stops us because we are ruled by our flesh. We might be proud or stubborn. If there was a dangerous cliff in the nearness, would you allow your small child to walk by itself? If you did, I would say that you are irresponsible. I would also say that you do not care much about your child. Thank God for the fact that He is not a father like that. God will sometimes say stop by showing you a word from the Bible or He will speak to you directly. Other times He uses other people. We should not be controlled by other people, but when we are stopped by them, I think we should ask the Holy Spirit if they are sent by God or the devil? The devil can also stop us when we are in the middle of God’s perfect plan. We must therefore ask the Lord:“Who has put the stop signs up?”

LISTEN TO THE VOICE OF THE LORD AND ALLOW HIM TO GUIDE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mother Else