TargetPoint  Volume 4 of 32 

Todays Verse/Thought: Holy Fear, A Personal Testimony

Exodus 20:20 Moses said to the people, Do not be afraid. God has come to test you, so that the fear of God will be with you to keep you from sinning.

Life Implication:
As we progress in our study of fear, I want to first dwell on the area of wise or godly fear. This will be in contrast to most of our remaining volumes, where our emphasis will be on gaining freedom from negative fear. Our goal, in this series, is to move away from allowing negative fear to dominate us, and to move toward allowing Godly fear to dominate all areas of our lives.

As I grew up, I acted fearless about most things. I lived in and of the world, and thought I could dominate and manipulate most anything to my own advantage. In a very scaled down version of my story, I married my high school sweetheart, Cindy . . . Cindy subsequently found Jesus . . . I later accepted Christ as my Savior . . . but continued to live an unchanged life. Then came the breaking point. Cindy uncovered the secrets in my life that I was struggling to keep hidden. God's giant searchlight had landed on my sinful path, and I was dangerously close to losing the people I loved most in life, my wife and my children. I WAS MOST DEFINITELY AFRAID! This was Godly fear, a fear that became the beginning of wisdom. Almost like touching a hot stove, once you do so, you have wisdom about hot stoves that stays with you for a lifetime.

Let's head toward developing a positive and reverential fear of God . . .

Life Application:
To put us on the road from negative fear to positive fear, TRY WRITING OUT A NOTE TO THE LORD. It could go something like this: Lord, I do not want to be dominated by the negative aspects of fear. My desire is to know you better, to be directed by a true fear of You, to have you shine your search light on all areas of my life. Help me experience the incredible healing that comes as I develop and grow in wisdom and knowledge of You. Give me clear direction as I go through this series on fear. Please change my thoughts and tendencies from the unhealthiness of negative fear to a mind and heart that is clear of negative fearful debris. Thank You, Lord.

Tomorrow In TargetPoint:
Pick Your Fear and Toss It!

TargetPoint  Volume 3 of 32 

Todays Verse/Thought: Which Fear Is In Your Driver's Seat?

Proverbs 9:10 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.

Life Implication:
The Bible uses numerous words to denote fear: reverence; dread; fear; and terror. The New Bible Dictionary states that theologically, four main categories can be suggested.

1. HOLY FEAR: This is God-given, enabling us to reverence Gods authority, obey his commandments and hate and shun all form of evil. Our scripture reference above tells us that this kind of fear is the very BEGINNING OF WISDOM.

2. SLAVISH FEAR: This is strictly a natural consequence of sin as we mentioned in our TargetPoint yesterday. An adulterer fears they will be found out; a tax evader works hard to cover their tracks; an alcoholic fears losing their job, etc.

3. FEAR OF MEN: This can be positive in the sense of having a reverential awe and regard of men, as of those in authority over us; or, it can be quite negative, where we have a blind dread of other people because of what they have or can do to us.

4. FEAR AS THE OBJECT OF FEAR: This is a particular fear that terrifies us. The Greek word is phobos which is where our word phobia comes from. One of my closest friends lived in fear when his children were teenagers if they were out even one minute past their curfew. His imagination would go to the worst scenario he could think of, and he was sure it had occurred to his kids. As President Roosevelt said: Let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself.

The right kind of fear can be a good thing. The wrong kind of fear can devastate our lives. Of course, don't we all want to be dominated by holy fear, wise fear? Wisdom and knowledge is what we all want. That's most likely what Eve thought she was getting when she ate from that tree. But, God has given us the key to successful living Knowledge of Him!

Life Application:
As you review the different kinds of fear listed above, see if one or more descriptions trigger something inside you where you feel as though you can IDENTIFY PERSONALLY. ASK GOD TO REVEAL SPECIFIC CASES in your life where you have been dominated by a particular negative fear (or fears). WRITE DOWN THOSE SPECIFICS and then give them to the Lord. Ask God, as He sheds His light on those areas, to begin to remove and heal those specific fears, and replace them with His wisdom and love.

Tomorrow In TargetPoint:
Holy Fear, A Personal Testimony

TargetPoint  Vol. 2 of 32

Todays Verse/Thought: Fig Leaves For Sale
What Is Fear and Where Did It Come From?

Genesis 3:10 The man answered, ìI heard you walking in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid.

Life Implication:
In this scripture, Adam is talking to God. Why is Adam afraid? Here he is, created by a loving God, placed in a gorgeous garden, given the woman of his dreams, having authority over all living things, with all his needs (and wants) met, and he is afraid! Why?

We all know this story well. it is commonly referred to as The Fall of Man. In six cosmic days, God creates the heavens and the earth, man and woman, and gives them only one (not ten) requirement! They are not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Along comes the devil, telling Eve that eating of this tree is really no problem, it will just make her like God. So she does . . . Adam does . . . and sure enough, THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOOD AND EVIL ENTERS THEIR MINDS, AND FEAR ENTERS THEIR HEARTS!

They fashion fig leaves as a covering, the first human reaction to fear. Remember when you were a small child and it was dark and out of fear of the dark, you may have pulled the covers over your head? Our natural instinct is to cover-up when we experience fear. We do it physically, emotionally and spiritually.

Genesis 3:10 is the very first reference to the word fear in the Bible. The sad thing is that for us as human beings, because of sin, fear is natural! We all battle it in one way or another, no matter who we are, no matter what our personality, no matter how strong we think we might be. As we progress through this series on the subject of fear, we will address the many different ways all of us as individuals, negotiate through this minefield.

Life Application:
Start this very day, to ASK GOD TO OPEN YOUR MIND AND HEART to understand the subject of fear. Ask Him to REVEAL HIS TRUTH to you as you move through this series. Ask Him to SHOW YOU AREAS OF YOUR LIFE WHERE YOU MIGHT BE DOMINATED by fear.

Tomorrow In TargetPoint:
Which Fear Is In Your Drivers Seat?

TargetPoint Volume 1 of 32  

WELCOME!

You have signed up for a very important topic. This 32-Day series is specifically designed to assist you in understanding the topic of Fear. What is it? Where does it come from? And finally, how do we overcome its dominance in our lives? In one way or another, or at one time or another, we are all plagued by a sense of fear in our lives. The devil's plan is to use this most powerful and negative by-product of mankind's fall to stifle our relationship with God . . . and ultimately our relationship with each other.

This topic will encourage you to look closely at your life and it will help you identify areas where Fear incapacitates you. In these 32 volumes you will be exposed to some powerful ideas, each one building upon the previous, all of which are designed to assist you in GAINING FREEDOM FROM FEAR.

I want to encourage you to print out each devotional and keep notes on what God may be revealing to you throughout this important process.

My prayer for you is that you will become free from the bondage of fear and that you will walk effectively in that freedom!

Vince