part 6 of “Don’t Give The Enemy A Seat At Your Table”
From time to time, my kids will come home and tell us something that was said at school. If what was said doesn’t seem to make sense or seems fishy in some way, I typically the question - “who told you that?” This isn’t to be mean or anything to my kids, it is simply asked to find the validity of what they said and how much research I should do. If they say that one of their peers said it, then more research might be needed than if a teacher had said it.
When we look at the story of Adam and Eve, we see this question asked by God. After they had eaten the fruit of the tree, they realized that they were naked and they felt shame. They also felt fear and guilt because of what they had done. When they heard God walking in the garden, they hid from Him in the trees. When God called out to them, Adam finally answered and says:
“He replied, ‘I heard you walking in the garden, so I hid. I was afraid because I was naked.’” - Genesis 3:10 NLT
This was different. God had walked in the garden a lot of times with Adam and Eve. But this time they were guilty, ashamed, and afraid. So God responds to Adam:
“‘Who told you that you were naked?’ the Lord God asked. ‘Have you eaten from the tree whose fruit I commanded you not to eat?’” - Genesis 3:11 NLT
God asked the question “who told you that?” The things they were experiencing were not coming from Him. You could go further and say that God was asking “who told you that you should be afraid? Who told you that you needed to hide? Who told you that you were guilty? Who told you that?”
They were experiencing things straight from the enemy. The enemy acted like their friend and planted that seed of doubt about God’s goodness. Then the enemy just waited for it to take root. When it finally did, the enemy switched sides and then started accusing them. “You know you should be ashamed of what you did. You ate the fruit that God told you not to eat. You should feel guilty. I can’t believe you did that. God isn’t going to like that you did that. You should probably hide in the tress or something.”
This is the same thing the enemy does to us. He plants seeds in our minds and he just waits for them to take root and derail us. The enemy’s main objective is to go after our thoughts. He wants us to think the things he is telling us are true. Whether it’s about God or ourselves, the enemy wants us to think about what he has planted so that those thoughts will eventually take us out.
The enemy might plant seeds in our mind like:
“You’re worthless.”
“You’re unloved.”
“You’re pathetic.”
“You will feel better if you sin.”
“You’re always going to lose that battle with the addiction. You can’t beat it.”
“You can’t break the cycle. You’re just like your parents.”
“You are what they say.”
“You have no one on your side. You are alone.”
Then slowly as those seeds take root they start to sound like this…
“I am worthless.”
“I am unloved.”
“I am pathetic.”
“I will feel better if I sin.”
“I am always going to lose that battle with my addiction. I can’t beat it.”
“I can’t break the cycle. I am just like my parents.”
“I am what they say.”
“I have no one on my side.”
“I am alone.”
This is where we need to start asking the question - who told me that? Put the thought to the 2 Corinthians 10:5 test…
“we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. - 2 Corinthians 10:5b NIV
We have control over what thoughts we entertain in our minds. We have the power to take captive every thought, as the verse says, and find out who told me that?! So when we hear the thought “I am alone” ask the question “who told me that?” The Bible says that God, the Good Shepherd, will never leave you (Deuteronomy 31:6). The Good Shepherd is there to lead us and guide us (Psalm 23).
When the thought “I am worthless” creeps in - “who told me that?” The Bible says that you have value to God, the Good Shepherd. You are His masterpiece (Ephesians 2:10, NLT) and you were worth the price of His one and only Son (John 3:16).
When the thought “I am unloved” comes into your mind - “who told me that?” The Bible says that God, the Good Shepherd, loves us with an unending love (Jeremiah 31:3, NLT) that nothing can separate us from (Romans 8:38).
When the thought “I have no one on my side” shows up in your mind - “who told me that?” The Bible says that God, the Good Shepherd, is on your side so who can be against you (Romans 8:31). God is holding us up with light hands (Isaiah 41:10). God is us until the end (Matthew 28:20b). You don’t need to fear because God is with you (Psalm 23:4).
When we take captive our thoughts and find out their source, we can win the battle in our minds. We need to know our Shepherd’s voice (John 10:27). This way we can hear His voice as we sit at the table with Him and ignore all the voices that come our way.
When we take captive and interrogate every thought, we can see which ones are from the Good Shepherd and which ones are from the enemy. Then we can nurture the thoughts of the Good Shepherd so they grow in our minds and hearts and we can throw out the thoughts of the enemy so they don’t destroy our minds and hearts.
The way that we do that is by knowing what the Good Shepherd says about us. This means knowing the words of the Bible. God speaks to us through the Bible. The Bible is our greatest weapon against the enemy. This is why Paul lists it in the Armor of God (Ephesians 6:17b). Jesus also used the Bible when He was battling the enemy in the wilderness (Matthew 4). The enemy tried hard to get a seat at Jesus’ table, but He fought the enemy off with God’s words. We can do the same! Much like I did in the earlier paragraphs of this post. (By the way, all of those Scriptures references are in full at the end of the post.)
One of the verses that is good to have in our memory is found in Philippians 4. In the verse, we see Paul list some things that we should turn our thoughts to…
“And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. - Philippians 4:8 NLT
Paul encourages us to think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. So this is just another filter we can use to test the thoughts that we have. Is the thought lovely, pure, right, noble, honorable, admirable, or true? This is a good test to know if our thoughts are from the Good Shepherd or the enemy.
One final thing, an exercise to take with you. This is quoted straight from the book and I’ll leave you with this. Hook on to these daily truths! In the book, Pastor Giglio says this…
“Grab hold of a specific scriptural truth for the day, such as these:
Monday - My God knows my name (Isaiah 43:1)
Tuesday - My God goes before me (Deuteronomy 31:8)
Wednesday - I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me (Philippians 4:13)
Thursday - My present suffering pales in comparison to my future glory (Romans 8:18).
Friday - No weapon formed against me will prosper (Isaiah 54:17)
Saturday - I am a child of God (Romans 8:16)
Sunday - The same power that raised Jesus from the dead lives in me (Ephesians 1:18-20)”
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**This series is based on the book Don’t Give The Enemy A Seat At Your Table” by Louie Giglio. The thoughts and ideas in this post come from the book, but are put into my own words and are not directly quoted. All direct quotes from the book will be noted as such and identified. You can pick up a copy of the book wherever you buy your books.
Scriptures referenced in this post. All Scripture is taken from the YouVerison Bible app. The YouVerison Bible is available for free wherever you download your apps.
“So be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid and do not panic before them. For the Lord your God will personally go ahead of you. He will neither fail you nor abandon you.”” - Deuteronomy 31:6 NLT
“The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake. Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” - Psalms 23:1-6 NIV
“For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.” - Ephesians 2:10 NLT
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” - John 3:16 NIV
“Long ago the Lord said to Israel: “I have loved you, my people, with an everlasting love. With unfailing love I have drawn you to myself.” - Jeremiah 31:3 NLT
“And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love.” - Romans 8:38 NLT
“What shall we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us?” - Romans 8:31 NLT
“Don’t be afraid, for I am with you. Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand.” - Isaiah 41:10 NLT
“And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”” - Matthew 28:20b NLT
“My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.” - John 10:27 NLT
“and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” - Ephesians 6:17b NLT
“But now, O Jacob, listen to the Lord who created you. O Israel, the one who formed you says, “Do not be afraid, for I have ransomed you. I have called you by name; you are mine.” - Isaiah 43:1 NLT
“Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord will personally go ahead of you. He will be with you; he will neither fail you nor abandon you.” - Deuteronomy 31:8 NLT
“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” - Philippians 4:13 NKJV
“Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will reveal to us later.” - Romans 8:18 NLT
“But in that coming day no weapon turned against you will succeed. You will silence every voice raised up to accuse you. These benefits are enjoyed by the servants of the Lord; their vindication will come from me. I, the Lord, have spoken!” - Isaiah 54:17 NLT
“For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children.” - Romans 8:16 NLT
“I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand the confident hope he has given to those he called—his holy people who are his rich and glorious inheritance. I also pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of God’s power for us who believe him. This is the same mighty power that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at God’s right hand in the heavenly realms.” - Ephesians 1:18-20 NLT
