Don't Give the Enemy a Seat at Your Table: It's Time to Win the Battle of Your Mind...

by Louie Giglio

I didn’t need to vindicate myself. I didn’t need to clear my name. I didn’t need to control this equation or work overtime to improve it. My task was to concentrate on the Good Shepherd, the One who owned the table.

My invitation was to put my trust in the One who prompted me to lie down in green pastures, the One who led me beside quiet waters and restored my soul. The Good Shepherd was guiding me along the right paths for His name’s sake.

The Good Shepherd would anoint my life with His favor and my cup would overflow.

The Shepherd was at the table, and He would see to it that I was going to dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

Even though bad things happen, I will still praise the Lord. Even though bad things happen, I will not let my mind be lost to the Enemy.

Any guesses why the water that the Good Shepherd leads His sheep to is specifically described as “still”? It’s because sheep lack self-awareness. If a sheep sees a roaring river, it thinks that’s a good place to get its thirst quenched.

The sheep gets so jazzed at the sight of any water that he sticks his head straight down into that rushing river. All fifteen pounds of wool become soaking wet. Kersplash. The sheep gets sucked straight into the roaring river. Now he’s heading for the rapids, looking back for a bailout from the shepherd . . . baaaa!

Whenever we start heading toward things that initially look good but ultimately lead to our destruction, Jesus pulls us back to safety.

He’s with us when a loved one gets sick. He’s with us when we bury someone we care for. He’s close when our heart is shattered. He’s close when we lose some sort of good thing we’d hoped for.

the good news is not simply that God will help you. That’s not the whole message. The message is that God is with you. He’s with you in the sickness. He’s with you at the grave. He’s with you when the job opportunity doesn’t come through. He’s with you when you receive hard news. He’s with you in the chemo ward. He’s with you in the storm, and in the wind, and in the trial, and in the valley.

How easy it is for us to forget—or never fully know—who our dinner companion truly is. Do you know who’s at the table with you?

Your real reward is being at dinner with Jesus. The wonder and power of Psalm 23:5 is that it’s not simply a nice passage of Scripture to embroider and stick on a wall. Seated at your table is God Almighty!

In less time than it takes to snap your fingers—if you’re not careful—the Enemy can pull up a seat at the table your Shepherd has prepared for you.

Rest assured: you have the power as a son or daughter of Jesus Christ to exercise faith that’s defiant of the Devil’s whisper. You can say, “In Jesus’ name, I won’t entertain your words, your thoughts, your influence.”

The Devil loves for you to look at your life and compare it with somebody else’s so you wish you had what they had.

the Holy One invited you here. Booked the table. Prepared the meal. Sat down to join you. And this reservation cost Him everything.

Generosity is impossible with closed fists. You can only give when you have open palms.

The Enemy wants to kill your dreams. He wants to bury the purpose God has placed inside of you.

CONDEMNATION IS A PATH TO FUTURE FAILURE. CONVICTION IS A HIGHWAY TO REAL CHANGE.

He’s walking in the cool of the evening in the garden of Eden, longing to talk with us like He’s done in the past, but we’re going to hide ourselves with fig leaves in a frail attempt to avoid Him.

No, the solution is not another rededication. The solution is surrender.

God. Will. Provide. A. Way. Out. That’s bedrock truth. A promise to you from Almighty God. We don’t need to allow the Enemy to pull up a seat at our table. We can live lives of victory. We can win the battle for our minds.