Life's Daily Challenge Devotional

Established thoughts

“But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. Let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways," James 1:6-8.

“Commit your works to the Lord and your thoughts will be established," Prov. 16:3.

Dear thinker,

2 Corinthians 10:5 tells us that we are to take every thought captive to Christ's obedience. The mind is the battle ground between the will of the flesh, the will of satan, and the will of God. It is built so that it cannot focus on two opposing beliefs at the same time. When we entertain the fleshly and evil thoughts our mind vacillates back and forth. We are unstable because our faith is not being channeled in any one direction.

When we commit our works to the Lord our thoughts will be established. Committing them to Him requires release. They become His plans to direct, to change, to expand, and to develop. We cannot be tossed back and forth because what God owns, He will fulfill. They are His and we need to leave all of the specifics up to Him. Our job is to listen and to obey.

Many times plans go awry because we are not willing to release them to God. Though we want God's involvement, subconsciously we are afraid of totally releasing them to Him. We ask Him to bless our creations without giving Him full control of their development. If they are our plans then it is our responsibility to nurture, protect, and develop them. Every storm of negative circumstance causes doubt and confusion. Sometimes good plans are aborted simply because they were never surrendered to God. Sometimes they are carried to full term, but lack God's blessing and anointing because they were accomplished in the flesh.

Are your thoughts under God's control, or does your mind teeter back and forth depending on what the latest report is. Your thoughts can be established by God. It is possible to take every thought captive so the ones that you entertain flow in one continuous direction. If this is not the case in your life then you probably have not totally committed your works to the Lord. Releasing them entirely places all of the burdens and responsibilities on Christ's shoulders so you are free to walk in obedient relationship with Him.