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

by Louie Giglio

My task was to concentrate on the Good Shepherd, the One who owned the table.

Dark valleys and hard times were part of those paths, yet He would be with me and see me through every threatening night.

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.

The Good Shepherd, who also happens to be God, is offering to lead you through every moment of your life!

When you allow Jesus to be your Shepherd, He steps into this stressed-out culture and becomes your replenishing guide. He leads you, watches over you, and gives you rest. Jesus gives you purpose.

We won’t solve all the problems around us. We don’t avoid every difficulty that comes our way. Yet we don’t need to fear any evil, because the Good Shepherd is with us. His rod and staff comfort us. Let’s not rush by this truth. Look at it slowly. Carefully.

God’s not chintzy. He doesn’t have a scarcity mentality. He has a generosity mentality, and everything tastes as wonderful as it looks.

He doesn’t promise to eliminate the conflict. He hasn’t removed you from the reality of trouble. But He has promised to prepare a table for you in the presence of your enemies.

Jesus is not some noodle-armed weakling. He’s the Lord of all creation.

Jesus wants your life to reflect the bounty of your table. He wants your life to overflow.

If the Devil sits at your table, sin can fill your mind and sour your conscience and ruin the intimate harmony you enjoy with the Lord.

Yet you also can’t go through life with blinders on, thinking the world is a neutral place. You have a real Enemy, and he’s putting harmful thoughts into your head all the time, with the ultimate goal of wiping you out.

Sin is not your pal, and sin is not your buddy. Sin is not on your side. Sin doesn’t have your back. Sin is never the magic elixir it claims to be.

When we entertain it, the thought muddies our relationship with the Lord. The thought itself occupies our mind and has the power to knock us off course.

The Devil shows you a lure. You bite the lure, but it doesn’t deliver what was promised. Instead, you end up in a downward sin spiral into shame, separation, and destruction.

Condemnation is done from a posture of hate. Conviction is done from a posture of love.

If you’re hiding from God, you’ve fallen for another ploy of the Enemy.

You are freed from sin’s quicksand by living in your new identity.

Train your mind and heart to see yourself as victorious in Christ.

Exchange the door marked Temptation for the door marked Invitation.

You can rest in the Shepherd’s care.

Victory is about examining the seeds that have been scattered in your mind and not letting them take root. It’s about pulling up and throwing away the thoughts that do not coincide with the heart of God.

Grace is the left hook that destroys the power of sin.

Your guilt is never removed when you hide. It’s only when you bring your guilt into the spotlight of Christ’s grace that your sins are atoned for and your guilt is removed.

The Enemy wants to define you by your scars. Jesus wants to define you by His scars.

Yet Jesus never focused on the failure. He focused on the restoration.

You are not the maker. You are made. God is not created in your image, how you might think He should be. You are created in His.