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by
Louie Giglio
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September 8 - October 22, 2023
My destiny was set. I didn’t need to be afraid. 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. Day after day I sat with the truth of Psalm 23, letting it burrow its way into my soul. From 1 Peter 5:8, I knew that a major tactic of the Devil was to prowl around my life. So maybe I couldn’t stop the Devil from prowling around my table, but in Jesus’ name I definitely did have the choice whether I allowed the Enemy to sit down.
The Devil wants nothing more than to crush you. He wants to steal from you everything you value. He wants to kill everything in your life that’s good. Ultimately, he wants to destroy you. If he can claim the victory over your mind, he can eventually claim the victory over your life.
But the message of Psalm 23 is that the Good Shepherd prepares a table for you. It’s a table for two, and the Devil is not invited to sit.
“How faint the whisper we hear of him! Who then can understand the thunder of his power?” (Job 26:14).
your God has just told you that even though you walk through the valley of the shadow of death, you don’t need to fear any evil. Did you catch the operative word in this sentence: through? Your Shepherd didn’t just say you’re going to the valley.
The Good Shepherd says, We’re going through this valley, and I’m going to be with you all the way through. And guess what—we’re going to have a story to tell on the other side.
The
By His grace, you can start taking authority over the voices at your table and kick the Devil out of your dinner party. He has to flee in Jesus’ name.
We can either discard that thought or entertain it. If we discard it, good. But if we entertain it, that’s when the Devil sits at our table. The sin happens when we keep hold of that harmful thought and let it take root in our minds.
Here’s good news: one huge difference between God and Satan is that the Enemy will condemn you, but God will convict you. There’s a world of difference between the two actions. Condemnation is done from a posture of hate. Conviction is done from a posture of love.
(Romans 6:4). This is where the victory starts: by immersing yourself in the truth that you are a new creation. You are no longer a slave to sin. God will provide a way out. You have the victory in Christ. You do not have to give the Enemy a seat at your table.
But the message of the cross is far less about “Don’t sin” and much more about “Come, walk with God.” The gospel message is that through the work of Christ our sins are forgiven. We are new creations, and we can step into a relationship with Almighty God. Jesus offers us an abundant life that is life to the full (John 10:10). Paul, in 1 Thessalonians 3:8, said, “Now we really live.”
Though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. (2 Corinthians 10:3–5)
Psalm 119:11 tells you to store up God’s Word in your heart so that you might not sin. Joshua 1:8 tells you never to let God’s Word depart from you. You’re to meditate on it all the time. Colossians 3:16 tells you to let God’s Word dwell in you richly. Matthew 4:4 says you’re to live by God’s Word like it’s food for your life. Hebrews 4:12 describes God’s Word as living and active. John 15:7 says you’re to let God’s Word abide in you. Deuteronomy 11:18–20 encourages you to put Scripture into your heart and mind, writing it on hands and foreheads, teaching it to your children, talking about it
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Memorize Philippians 4:8,
Or grab hold of a specific scriptural truth for the day, such as these:
First John 3:1 says, “See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God. And that is what we are!” (italics added). That is your new identity. You are a son or daughter of God. You are a child of the King. You are written into God’s will, and you are an heir of everything God has. You are a beneficiary of the lavish love of God, which has changed you from failure to family. Grace not only cancels guilt and shame; grace redefines you. You are a beloved family member of God, and because of that you are given a seat at the table with Almighty God.
He says, That’s great. My grace covers your guilt. My grace changes your shame. I want you to become a leader in My church. I want you to feed My sheep. I want you to be a part of My mission. I want you to love God and love other people in My name. You do not have to sit in the back row for the rest of your life. You do not have to live in the shadows. You don’t have to build protective walls around yourself. You don’t have to hide from the people who love you and care for you. They’ll help love you and restore your integrity, and your call is to help take My name to the world, and I want you
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Saint Augustine said, “Thou hast made us for Thyself and our hearts are restless till they rest in Thee.”5
It may look like I’m surrounded, but I’m surrounded by You, Jesus.
the battle for your life is fought and won in your mind. God wants you to take control of your mind, in Jesus’ name, through the power of His Holy Spirit.
“For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace.”
Romans 12:2 says, “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”
“‘I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future’” (Jeremiah 29:11).
“You created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well” (Psalm 139:13–14).
He decided that He wanted you in His universe.
You are not accidental. Nor incidental. You are divinely crafted.
“We are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” (Ephesians 2:10).
God put you on earth for a purpose. Your life matters, to Him and to those He is positioning you to serve.
“If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away. Behold, the new has come!” (2 Corinthians 5:17 BSB).
“You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light” (1 Peter 2:9).
“God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:9–11).
“We know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28 NASB).
This is not a negotiation. This is a call to surrender completely to Jesus. You are completely open, completely available to Him. He has given you a new identity. Your call is to make Him known in the world.
The steps we take in faith activate the power of the Spirit.
