The spiral begins this way: a temptation or thought that's not from God comes into your mind. Stop right there. Identify that reality. If a harmful thought enters your mind, it's not from God. We must be awakened to this. Those thoughts are from the Enemy, who often uses our own desires against us.

Day after day I sat with the truth of Psalm 23, letting it burrow its way into my soul. From 1 Peter 5:8, I knew that a major tactic of the Devil was to prowl around my life. So maybe I couldn't stop the Devil from prowling around my table, but in Jesus' name I definitely did have the choice whether I allowed the Enemy to sit down.

when a harmful thought or temptation comes into our minds, we have a choice. We can either discard that thought or entertain it. If we discard it, good. But if we enetertain it, that's when the Devil sits at our table.

as soon as you eat the fruit and hit guilt, shame, frustration, the Enemy changes roles. He shifts from being the enticer and promiser to becoming the accuser and the condemner.

We put on God by putting on His armor. Christ Himself wore and made the armor, and the Holy Spirit fits it to us and makes it ours. We must fight through to the end until we hold the field against Satan. Then we must go on the offense, attacking him.

Stay submitted to God by not becoming offended; resist the devil, and he will flee from you (James 4:7). We resist the devil by not becoming offended. The dream or vision will probably happen differently than how you think it will, but His Word and His promises will not fail. We only risk aborting them by our disobedience.

When you live for the will of God, you will not fulfill the desires of men. As a result, you will suffer in the flesh.

If Eve could be swayed in a flawless environment, what is our protection in the midst of corruption? It's none other than Scripture.

But though this be so, yet since things present and our fleshly appetite are such near neighbours one to another; and again, because things to come, and carnal sense, are such strangers one to another; therefore it is, that the first of these so suddenly fall into amity, and that distance is so continued between the second.

Now I thought, surely I am possessed of the devil: at other times, again, I thought I should be bereft of my wits; for instead of lauding and magnifying God the Lord, with others, if I have but heard Him spoken of, presently some most horrible blasphemous thought or other would bolt out of my heart against Him; so that whether I did think that God was, or again did think there was no such thing, no love, nor peace, nor gracious disposition could I feel within me.

Wherefore, it seems, O Mansoul, to be thy wisdom to take good heed what thou dost in this matter; for if you once yield, you give up yourselves to another, and so you are no more your own. Wherefore, to give up yourselves to an unlimited power, is the greatest folly in the world; for now you indeed may repent, but can never justly complain.

Then Apollyon straddled quite over the whole breadth of the way, and said I am void of fear in this matter. Prepare thyself to die; for I swear by my infernal den, that thou go no farther: here will I spill thy soul.