Jesus knows your thoughts. He knows if your thoughts are unified in love of God and pursuit of His kingdom. He knows if your thoughts are unified in chasing after worldly pleasures. He knows if your thoughts are divided – loving God and pursuing righteousness in some ways while loving the world and pursuing your own pleasures in other ways.

 When you ask Jesus for help, are your motives pure or mixed? Are you like the double-minded man described in James, “When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures. You adulterous people, don't you know that friendship with the world is enmity against God?” (James 4:3-4)

 The Holy Spirit explains the path out of double-mindedness: “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double minded. Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.” (James 4:7-10)

 If the verses in the devotion today are not for you, then who are they for? Praise Jesus if you already have the log of double-mindedness out of your own eye. Then you can see clearly to help your brother remove the speck from his eye. Double-mindedness, divided loyalties, and divided thoughts are rampant in Christian communities. Ask the Lord to show you who you can encourage today to cry out to Jesus in repentance and ask for a unified heart to fear and serve Jesus and his kingdom.

Dear Heavenly Father,

Thank You that Jesus knows my thoughts, even better than I do, since my heart is so deceptive. I confess I have often been fooled thinking I was single-minded in my pursuit of righteousness and Your kingdom. But since You know my thoughts, I pray that You would reveal them to me so that I can repent of any love of the world or double-mindedness. And I pray that if I am too slow to hear and see my faults, that You would send brothers and sisters and preachers to correct me according to Your Word. And once I have turned back, I pray that I would be useful in strengthening my brothers and sisters. In the Name of Jesus, I pray. Amen.

Embrace this truth that Jesus knows your thoughts, and be open to the Holy Spirit revealing them to you and restoring you to whole-heartedness, especially if you began following Jesus some time ago. Let the living water continue to wash you, so that you can live with confidence in God and be the aroma of His life to those around you.