Don’t Give Up Your Seat at the Table
When we discern an enemy, our first instinct is often to get as far away from them as possible. Our flesh says, “Block, unfriend, and delete.” And if our friends don’t follow suit, we question their loyalty. But Kingdom friendship doesn’t operate by earthly standards.
Proverbs 27:6 reminds us, “Faithful are the wounds of a friend, but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful.” A true friend will wound you—not to harm, but to heal. You need discernment to know the difference between the one who wounds to make you better and the one who kisses to keep you blind.
Sometimes, we confuse the two. We call truth-tellers enemies and deceivers friends because they make us feel comfortable. But in this season, God is sharpening our discernment—not so we can run from people, but so we can recognize the purpose of both friends and enemies in our story.
Psalm 23:5 says, “Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies.” The Lord doesn’t remove your enemies before He blesses you—He reserves them a seat. Why? Because the table He prepares isn’t just about you eating—it’s about God revealing His glory through you.
There are three things we must discern about this table:
Is this the table the Lord prepared, or one I set up myself?
Am I aware that my enemies will have a seat too?
Will I stay in my seat, even when I’m uncomfortable?
Too many of us give up our seat because we don’t like who’s sitting across from us. But that seat holds your next level of anointing, authority, and overflow.
Jesus modeled this perfectly in John 13. He came to the table fully aware that His hour had come. He didn’t hide from betrayal—He faced it with understanding. He knew Judas would betray Him and Peter would deny Him, yet He still served them both.
We need the discernment of the sons of Issachar in this hour—to know the times and seasons of God for our lives and those connected to us. Some people are Peters—they may fail you, but they are meant to be restored. Others are Judases—they have a role to play, but they cannot go where you’re going.
Jesus never exposed Judas to the others. He treated him with love, knowing he was a vessel of dishonor with divine purpose. That’s maturity. That’s surrender.
Matthew 5:44 tells us to “love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you.” When we do this from a place of pain and persecution, it purifies our hearts and perfects God’s love in us.
God is calling us higher—to a table of maturity. He’s separating us from our Judas connections and restoring us to our Peter relationships. But remember: the presence of your enemies at the table is not punishment—it’s proof that God trusts you to sit and stay.
Don’t give up your seat because of who’s watching you eat. Don’t let bitterness make you push back from the table the Lord has prepared. God saved you a seat—not just a crumb.
The woman who came to Jesus for her daughter’s healing understood this. Even when He said she wasn’t part of the Kingdom, she pressed in by faith. She said, “Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.” That kind of faith moved Jesus.
But here’s the truth—many of us stop at the crumbs. We call crumbs breakthrough when God is inviting us to the full feast. Healing was her miracle, but deliverance was her inheritance. Don’t settle for the crumbs when God has given you a chair.
Be grateful for progress, but don’t stop there. He’s calling you higher—out of survival, into sonship. Don’t give up your seat. Sit down, eat, and let His glory be revealed in the presence of your enemies.