Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God:
I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee
with the right hand of my righteousness. -Isaiah 41:10

     The word conquer has several definitions – all of which are very interesting because they describe exactly what has to be done to drive intimidating fear out of our lives.  Webster defines conquer as “to overcome by force, especially by force of arms; to gain control over by surmounting impediments; to overcome or surmount by mental or moral force; to be victorious: to win.”  I especially like those words, “to win,” because we are going to win the war against intimidation and gain control over all of its negative aspects.

     Sometimes it seems as though the devil focuses a great deal of his energy on trying to intimidate us, and many people, including Christians, struggle with fear and intimidation.  Intimidation is not from God, and we must resist it in the power of the Holy Spirit.  How?  The only power that can meet and conquer intimidating fear is faith!

    I am determined to be an overcomer in life, and I believe that’s what you want too.  When I decided to do a study on the subject of intimidation, I started by establishing the actual definition of the word intimidate in Webster’s dictionary.  I discovered that it means “to make afraid, to daunt, to force or detour with threats of violence.”  Think about that phrase – to make afraid.

     Almost everyone has experienced some measure of intimidating fear in his or her life, and if you’re anything like me, it wasn’t a good feeling.  In fact, I was surprised at just how many areas in my own life had been influenced in some respect by intimidation.  It is tormenting and uncomfortable, and if we don’t purpose in our hearts to conquer it, we will never accomplish much for God.  Once I recognized the source of these negative feelings, I had to put a stop to it in my own life and try to help others whose potential greatness is yet to be tapped. 

     I don’t want anything in my life to give the devil satisfaction, and I know he loves it when we’re intimidated.  In fact, I believe intimidation is one of his most powerful weapons.  He delights when we shrink back from accepting God’s great plan for our lives.  He loves it when we timidly back away from doing anything that will significantly contribute to the advancement of God’s kingdom on earth – whether it’s pulpit ministry or joining the choir.

     When we see ourselves as unqualified and insignificant, lacking confidence and feeling insecure, we play right into Satan’s hands.  Why do we let him influence us?  What he tells us isn’t important.  It isn’t even true!  John 8:44 says there is no truth in him.  He isn’t capable of speaking the truth.  So when he says, “You can’t do that!”  “Who do you think you are?” – he’s lying!  This scripture goes on to say …When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.

Check back next month for the continuation of this teaching.