Scripture
Then the Spirit of the Lord came on me, and he told me, “You are to say, ‘This is what the Lord says: That is what you are thinking, house of Israel; and I know the thoughts that arise in your mind…”(Ezekiel 11:5, CSB)
Thoughts
Ezekiel is telling the Israelites that God’s Spirit revealed to him the rebellion that was being planned by the leaders of his day. This is relevant to us today. As King David wrote,
You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
you discern my thoughts from afar.(Psalm 139:2, ESV)
God discerns our thoughts; he knows how we think. He understands every aspect of our lives. To me, it’s exciting that God knows our intent and understands our motivation. When people see our actions, they think they know our motives but only God truly does. It’s freeing to know that he knows because we can be real with him.
The thoughts of the righteous are just;
the counsels of the wicked are deceitful.(Proverbs 12:5, ESV)
Instead of rebellion filling our minds, we want our thoughts to align with God’s. When someone rubs us the wrong way, we can be intentional about controlling our thoughts so they don’t run amuck. Begin to take hold of unloving thoughts and ideas that sneak into your mind. These two translations of 2 Corinthians 10:5 are helpful for reminding us of this:
We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ.(ESV)
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.(NIV)
Application
What thoughts do you need to get hold of today? What attitudes are not in obedience to the Lord? In your conflict, or in other relationships, what thoughts dominate your thinking? I strongly encourage you to destroy any arguments and lofty opinions that “rise up against the knowledge” you have about God. Learn to capture your thoughts and make them submit to Jesus.
Prayer
Lord, help me to humbly identify my thoughts that need to go. Instead, I want to think about your truths and hold onto loving thoughts…. Continue praying