We think we think in words. However, Words are just codifications or symbols of thoughts already thought somewhere between our subconscious and our conscious mind.
If you would hook yourself up to a lie detector machine, you would soon notice that the lie detector has a response to your thoughts a fraction of a second before you actually are having the thoughts in your stream of word-thought. This means you actually "thought" the thought before you were conscious of "thinking" the thought.
This is how Lucifer, or God's spiritual tester, can influence our behavior. By skillfully planting just the right thought at the right moment, Lucifer can start a stream of thought that will just keep stimulating more and more of the same thoughts. These thoughts then lead to emotional responses that then feed more thoughts of the same nature. Watch your thoughts very closely whenever you are tempted to do what you know you should not be doing. Keep watching and you will become aware of little thoughts that seem to come out of nowhere which incredibly are just the right thoughts at just the right moment to have a good chance at moving you along the path of no return in the direction you do not spiritually want to go.
Anytime you dance with these Luciferian thoughts all the way to the end of the music, to the point you said you would not go again, at that moment, listen for another thought. This will be the thought of the Holy Spirit reminding you that you should not have done what you just did. It also reminds you that you KNEW that you should not have been doing what you did while you were doing it. The thoughts of the Holy Spirit are very quiet and matter-of-fact. It states the truth and then shuts up. All you can do is acknowledge the truth and say to yourself, "Yes, I did it again. I will do better next temptation." At this point all you can do is forgive yourself for dancing with Lucifer and make another commitment to do the right thing the next time Lucifer comes calling with a test.
The thoughts of Lucifer can come VERY quietly all the way to actually SCREAMING in an attempt to get you to fail the spiritual test. However, at different points during the test, you will be VERY aware that you are starting to dance with Lucifer. At these points of awareness, you will know you can consciously say "NO" to Lucifer, or be very aware that you are choosing to dance more and more with Lucifer during the test. You can almost hear Lucifer laughing at you for your weakness in the face of Lucifer's cleverness. However, the more sincere your desire and commitment is to walk the spiritual right-path, the less Lucifer will be able to influence you to dance at all.
We cannot have an emotion without a thought or a stream of thoughts leading up to and stimulating the emotion. It is never the "Devil that made you do it". It is always your choice to continue to entertain the thoughts that influence your emotions. Then your emotions stimulate more of the same thought that stimulated your emotions. The circle of thought, emotion, thought, emotion just keeps turning faster and faster, the web of Lucifer's dance keeps getting tighter and tighter.
We are the observer of our thoughts. It is like we are sitting in a rocking chair watching the stream of thought or the thought train parade in front of us. We choose which thought we will entertain. We choose which thought train we will get on and ride.
Each train of thought is like a railroad train of many railroad cars. Between each car of the railroad train there is a space. Between each thought in OUR train of thought is a space. We will have numerous moments of awareness of the fact that we are on a train of thought we spiritually do not want to be on. At these moments of awareness, we will be aware of the gaps in our train of thought. At these moments, we need to force-feed between the gaps the spiritual thoughts we know to be true. Keep force-feeding these spiritual thoughts between the cars of your Lucifer thought train and you will influence your thought-train to start going in the direction you know it should spiritually be going.
You must be diligent, watchful and sincere. When you do ride a thought-train to a station you did not want to go, always forgive yourself and re-commit to do better next time. Be assured that there WILL be a next time. You must forgive yourself when you fail the test or the negative thought-train of guilt will be another way Lucifer wins.
Keep striving and you will go further spiritually than you ever imagined and will become aware of things you did not know even existed.
Just remember that you are not your thoughts - you have thoughts. Which thoughts you choose to dance with is the choice you have. It IS your choice. The devil does not make you do it. You choose to dance with the devil.
