John 2:23 Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many believed in his name when they saw the signs that he was doing. But Jesus on his part did not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people and needed no one to bear witness about man, for he himself knew what was in man.
John 1:48 Nathanael said to him, “How do you know me?” Jesus answered him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.”
John 5:42 But I know that you do not have the love of God within you. I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not receive me.
John 6:61 But Jesus, knowing in himself that his disciples were grumbling about this,
Matthew 9:4 But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, “Why do you think evil in your hearts?
Matthew 9:25 Knowing their thoughts, he said to them
Psalms 44:21 would not God discover this? For he knows the secrets of the heart.
Psalms 33:13-15 The LORD looks down from heaven; he sees all the children of man; from where he sits enthroned he looks out on all the inhabitants of the earth, he who fashions the hearts of them all and observes all their deeds.
Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.
Proverbs 15:3 The eyes of the LORD are in every place, keeping watch on the evil and the good.
Jeremiah 17:10 “I the LORD search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds.”
1 Chronicles 28:9 for the LORD searches all hearts and understands every plan and thought. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will cast you off forever.
If we truly believed what these verses are proclaiming would our thoughts, words, and actions be different? How would people treat you if they knew some of the thoughts that you harbored in your mind about them? How would people look at you and judge you if they knew the thoughts you allowed to anchor in your mind? Greed, lust, pride, hate, worry, fear, etc…. If these were exposed for all to see would you even want to leave your house? We know what these private thoughts are and we hide them. We may not let others know of them because we would be greatly embarrassed were they exposed for all to see. The thing that we don’t think about is the fact that when these thoughts are in our minds, God knows. He knows the root of the thought and the purpose and intent your heart is taking thinking about it. He sees it clearly as if your thought was spoken or written out or the action taken. He Knows!!! Nothing is hidden from Him. What we think is hidden within the dark privacy of our mind is fully and clearly seen by Him.
Because of our sinful nature, we cannot stop wicked and evil thoughts from popping up in our head but we certainly can recognize them, take them captive, and discard them as fast as they came in.
The problem is we don’t recognize them or we choose to recognize but we explain them away. We just grab a hold of a thought and allow it to run its course over and over again in our minds. It can soon become an endless loop and at some point what we think has been just a thought becomes action. Words spill out of our mouth or we take action. This will happen when we do not believe Jesus sees and knows all of our thoughts and what we allow to take root. Scripture, God’s Word, will expose thoughts, intents, and actions that are not honoring to Jesus Christ. His Word will expose the areas in our thought life that need to be confessed and turned away from. His Word is a light into our hearts, mind, and soul. We will do well by spending more and more time in His Word so that we can recognize and take captive those thoughts that are not honoring or in obedience to Jesus Christ.