I bought a book a couple of months ago, “Don’t Give the Enemy a Seat at Your Table” by Louie Giglio. I was intrigued by the title and the back cover description as it was in line with the book that I had recently published. https://titus345.com/my-books-2/Who-do-you-think-you-are/
From the back cover:
“You don’t have to let negative thoughts control your life. You don’t have to allow the enemy to influence your thinking. You have power through Jesus Christ to take control of your thoughts and emotions. Jesus invites you to a table the He has prepared for you – a table where the enemy is not invited.”
My original intent was to have this book as my summer study. I mean seriously ten chapters – 194 pages, just the right size for a summer study.
Oh my… was I wrong. This book has taken me through the summer and just into the fall to get through it all. It is so jam-packed with simple, yet such profound wisdom… so much needed in my life that I found myself reading and rereading the same pages… and some paragraphs. I found my thinking in these pages.
The most profound thought of this book is when you consider the words from Psalm 23, v5
“You prepare a feast for me in the presence of my enemies.”
Let’s break it down shall we!
You Prepare A Feast For Me – Who is the “YOU” this verse is talking about? It’s Jesus! HE is the You. The King of the Universe is preparing a feast for you, and for me! He isn’t having it catered in or having an Uber drop it off to us. NO. He is preparing it … for you and for me!
In The Presence Of My Enemies – And where and how is this lovely feast being set? It is being set right there, at center stage as it were. Right there in the PRESENCE of my enemies! You know, the enemy’s who are just waiting for you to stumble and fail so they can watch you swirl around in your troubles. They are waiting to watch you question and curse what is going on in your life. You know the enemy’s I’m talking about. We all have them. BUT…
It is essential to get this part here. Notice it doesn’t say that you are sitting WITH your enemy’s. NOPE. Jesus is preparing this feast IN THE PRESENCE of them. He is showing them His love and protection for His child as they stand and watch!
Notice the verse doesn’t say… “You prepare a place for US”. Nope. He isn’t inviting them to your table, and neither should you! Keep your focus on the One who is preparing the feast and not on those who are looking from the outside. Keep your eyes on HIM!
Are you thinking that perhaps you may have already invited an enemy to your table? Yes, from time to time we might just do that. I know that I am guilty of it. So, what if the enemy is already there? Did we unwittingly invite him to join us? What if we actually invited them to join us? After all, doesn’t the saying go, “… and keep your enemy’s closer?”
You might be asking the question; how do I know if the enemy is already sitting at my table? That wisdom comes when you recognize who is with you as you “walkthrough the valley” to reach the other side… versus who wants you to setup camp and stay in the valley. While Jesus is walking with you as you traverse through the valley… the enemy is helping you pitch your tent in the valley.
The enemy is right there. he knows your weaknesses, he knows your troubles, he knows more about you than you know, because you’ve told him with your own words. He knows that if he can distract you, make you lose focus and become distracted about the table, then he has won the battle… not the war… just the battle. And if he wins the battle for our thoughts and mind, then he can destroy us.
What can we do about this? Romans 12:2 “…be transformed by the renewing of your mind”. How do we do that?
We must first recognize the voice of our Savior. When we hear words other than what we know to be His truth, we can know that we’re listening to the lies of the enemy. Second, we must acknowledge the destructive power of those lies in our lives. Only then can we develop the tactics of how they can be extinguished in Jesus’ name.
And how do we extinguish the lies??? We replace them with the TRUTH of The Word. Remember, in order to recognize, acknowledge and replace those lies with the truth, we need to know what TRUTH is. We can only know that when we spend time with our Savior and in His Word. When we are armed with His TRUTH, we are then able to replace the ugly lies of the enemy with the TRUTH of what God has to say about His children.
As a child of the King, we have the power to exercise our faith that is defiant to the devil’s whispers and kick him from our table. “satan you are a liar. In Jesus’ name, I will no longer entertain your words, your thoughts, your influence. I belong to Jesus and in His Name, I am covered by His Blood. Be gone in the name of Jesus!”
Once we’ve recognized and acknowledged the lies, we’ve listened to, it’s time to sharpen our focus so as not to allow the enemy at our table ever again. We must understand what caused us to allow the enemy to pull up a chair in the first place. This comes through the lies we believe.
The Lie That You’re Doomed
If you’ve bought the lie that you’re not going to make it, the enemy is at your table. If you’ve said – I’m not going to make it… life is hopeless… there’s no way out… chuck it all, quit and die… he is at your table.
The Lie Of Worthlessness
If you’re hearing, I’m not good enough, the enemy is at your table. Yes, we are called to be humble. But it’s been well said: humility is not thinking less of yourself; humility is thinking of yourself less.
The Lie Of Me Against The World
When you believe the lie that everybody is against you, you are convinced everybody hates you. If you are hearing a voice telling you everybody is against you… the enemy is sitting at your table.
The Lie That There’s No Way Out
If you feel like you’re surrounded and there’s no way out, you know the enemy is at your table. The enemy will convince you there is nowhere to turn. Nowhere to run. No way forward. No chance you’re ever going to live free again.
Your enemy has taken up his positions, your whole world is surrounded by threats, accusations, missiles, and hate. But that is only half the story… the enemy’s half – where he is sitting at your table.
The Spirit of God is interceding for you. God has everyone and everything that’s surrounding you surrounded. Don’t give the enemy a seat at your table.
“When the enemy tells you you’re not smart enough, you’re not strong enough, you don’t have the right background, you’re not pretty enough, you don’t matter enough … look up and lock eyes with the King. Hear Him say, Daughter – Son – there’s nowhere I’d rather be than at this table with you. His words are the words of life (John 6:68). His voice thunders from Heaven (Psalms 68:33) His voice drowns out every enemy lie. By His grace, you can start taking authority over the voice at your table and kick the devil out of our dinner party. He has to flee in Jesus’ name.”[i]
Just how did the enemy get invited to your table? Most likely we invited him. While I don’t personally believe that a child of God can be indwelled by the enemy, he can do his level best to manipulate circumstances around us. Causing frustration and anger and resentment… all those ugly emotions. Perhaps we might have even spoken out words about how miserable, or ugly, or lazy, or worthless we think we are. And boom… there it is. We’ve just invited the enemy into our mind.
If you believe you are created in the image of God. Ponder these:
Has God called you to greatness? Are you God’s perfect workmanship? Are you a child of the King, and does God wants to set you free from anything that’s holding you back and does God wants you to live in the fullest potential that He has for your life?
Then… it’s time you got serious about victory. God has given you the opportunity to ask, How is the opposition coming against me? What is the enemy doing to me? What adjustments can be made? How do I proceed and succeed for the battle for my mind?
Do I have unchecked thoughts?
Soberly and honestly, we must examine if we have given the enemy a seat at our table.
The enemy hates God and wants to destroy everything he can that bears God’s image. As a born-again, blood-bought child of the King, you bear His image. The enemy want to kill your dreams. He wants to bury the purpose God has placed inside of you. He wants to steal your sense of self-worth and confidence and hope. He wants to destroy marriages and erode relationships with family. He wants to ruin your good reputation and slander the name of Christ in the process. he’s got all kinds of time and no mercy. The way he start us down this road of destruction is by putting a thought in our minds that is contrary to God’s best for my life and letting those thoughts entice me and fester.
Fishing Lessons
The enemy is crafty. He is not going to announce his plans to lure and entice us. No, he is going to sneak in the side door. The hooks and lures are never obvious. They are never seen for what they are… but they are an incitement. The devil holds the fishing pole. he casts the lures.
The enemy works in our lives by luring and lying. he promises things he can’t fulfill. he challenges God’s truth. he attacks God’s character and intention. he appeals to our basic human needs – acceptance, worth, satisfaction, fulfillment, and happiness. he uses other people to encourage hasty and wrong choices. By the way, it may be time to remove toxic people – both family and friends from our lives, or at a minimum recognize the problem and keep it at arm’s length.
Hand To Hand Combat
It is not a sin when harmful thoughts or temptation first enter your mind. However, what we do with those thoughts makes the difference. We have a choice… discard or entertain. When we entertain those thoughts is when the devil comes to sit at our table. Sin comes when we let the harmful thought take root.
Entertaining a harmful thought is as bad as doing a harmful deed. We might not think so, because we aren’t doing “it”, but… the thought itself falls short of the glory of God. The frightening reality is this: once we let a harmful thought pitch a tent in our mind, eventually that temptation is acted on.
“There’s a way of life that looks harmless enough; look again—it leads straight to hell. Sure, those people appear to be having a good time, but all that laughter will end in heartbreak.” Proverbs 14:12-13 MSG
Sinful pleasures don’t provide peace or fulfillment. They lead to harm, separation, disappointment, and shame.
So, what is the solution?
The solution is not rededication … the solution is a complete surrender. Surrender comes when we raise our hands and say God, I just can’t do it any longer. I can’t hide from You. I can’t fix this. I am going to open my heart up to You and Your love and Your solutions and to the investigative and restorative work of the Holy Spirit. I am going to follow You and Your leadership, Jesus. This is resurrection power at work. This is how God invites us to victory.
God. Will. Provide. A. Way. Out.
We don’t have 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.
You may be thinking… if I am a child of the Most High God, then why does God set the table in the presence of our enemy’s… why not just remove them? Why do they get a ringside seat? Why not just crush them? Change the circumstances. Because in the midst of the battle, He is there and available and accessible.
He is inviting you to as deep a relationship with Him as you desire. He wants to spend time with you. Read that again.
AS DEEP A RELATIONSHIP WITH HIM AS YOU DESIRE.
Realize that the power of this table is not what’s on it, but who’s at it. You’re sitting with the King. The King of the age, the God of the cosmos.
So, what are my take-away’s from this book.
I want more. I want a all that God has to offer me in this life. I want a life fully devoted to Him. I want to know my King in a deeper level. I want a life, not just as a fan or a follower, I want a life as His disciple and I really don’t want to settle for less than that.
Other lessons from this book…
“EVEN THOUGH… I WILL”
I personally learned in this study that I need to work on developing my “even though” focus kind of faith. “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil…”
Even though… has a lot to do with where we position our focus. We can develop this kind of faith, in Jesus’ name. The development of this faith is the foundational principle behind not giving the enemy a seat at our table.
For example, when we read Habakkuk 3:17-18
“Even though the fig trees have no blossoms, and there are no grapes on the vines; even though the olive crop fails, and the fields lie empty and barren; even though the flocks die in the fields, and the cattle barns are empty, yet I will rejoice in the Lord! I will be joyful in the God of my salvation!
EVEN THOUGH… I WILL
The powerful cause-and-effect relationship is a remarkable example for us to follow. Even though it may seem like there is no end in sight. Even though this illness is taking it’s toll, Even though my child has run off the rails. Even though it seems that everything is spinning out of control…. I WILL!
I WILL trust
I WILL praise
I WILL worship
I WILL sing
I WILL give glory
I WILL honor
I WILL rejoice
I WILL… I WILL… I WILL
What I will NOT do is: worry, dread, fear, question, fret, doubt, panic. I WILL not give the enemy access to my emotions. I WILL keep my eyes focused on my Savior. I WILL keep my eyes focused on HIS promises.
I guess you can tell from this writing that I would completely endorse this book to anyone that wants to dine with their King. For anyone who wants to be seated at the table across from HIM!
Saved Because of His Mercy 