Skunks Stink

Question to think about: Will you waver and revert to fear or respond in faith when the work of God is questioned?

Our house was skunked last night. We never saw the skunk; however, it left a stinkin' calling card. The stink permeated the air outside and crept inside our home. The smell is completely distinguishable. No one and nothing else can stink like a skunk.

Whether we like it or not, the presence of fear in our life is very similar to the stink of a skunk. Fear stinks. It messes with our personal life and impacts others. Fear is distinguishable.

Christ encountered a man that lived in fear rather than in faith:
Then the man went to find the Jewish leaders and told them it was Jesus who had healed him.(John 5:15, NLT)

What led the man to actively look for the Jewish leaders? Did he tell the Jewish leaders about Jesus out of faith or fear? Was the man trying to escape trouble from breaking the religious leaders' Sabbath rules?

Evaluate the process:
1. In his initial conversation with Christ, the man made excuses for unhealthy living for 38 years when he answered the "duh" question, "Would you like to get well?" (John 5:8b, NLT)
2. Christ did not enter into the excuses of the man but rather told him to:
"Stand up, pick up your sleeping mat, and walk!" (John 5:8, NLT)
3. When faced with making the choice of wellness he had . . . to choose the stance of health . . . to choose to change his unhealthy behavior by picking up the sleeping mat . . . and to choose to walk in health whether he felt like it or not.
Instantly, the man was healed! He rolled up the mat and began walking! (John 5:9, NLT)
4. The man's choice to be healthy was challenged: "You can't work on the Sabbath! It's illegal to carry that sleeping mat!" (John 5:10b, NLT)
5. The man did not confess his personal participation in the work of God. He said, "The man who healed me said to me, 'Pick up your sleeping mat and walk.' " (John 5:11b, NLT)
6. Jesus found the man and told him to stop sinning. "Now you are well; so stop sinning, or something even worse may happen to you." (John 5:14, NLT) The thing is, sin separates humanity from living a healthy and whole life. Something is always missing when someone lives apart from God, which is faith.
7. The man looked for the Jewish leaders to tell them it was Jesus who had healed him on the Sabbath.

Apparently, the man reverted to his old ways. He looked for an escape route to avoid responsibility for his choices, told the leaders that Jesus had been responsible for his healing on the Sabbath, and missed the point of the miracle. When all is said and done, fear was the root problem for excusing his behavior and dismissing his responsibility in the choice to live healthy.
The man was more comfortable with living in fear than in faith.
Fear leaves a stinkin' calling card.
Fear invades our body, mind, and soul.
Fear is contagious.
Fear strengthens as fear rules our thoughts, conversation, and behavior.
Refuse fear.
Choose faith.

Learning with you to refuse to stink with fear,
Shalom,
Kerrie
(All devotions written by Kerrie Palmer ©2008 All Rights Reserved)