Bad Thoughts

I think a lot of Christians don't believe they can be influenced or even Opressed by Satan. They can and he does, he delights in ruining a Christian especially.

Why does the Devil do this? I believe for a couple of reasons.

1. We were made in God's Image, he was not
2. There is no Salvation for him and his kind, but we have it through Christ

I try to subject every thought to the throne of Christ, if it won't bend it's knee and starts to squirm in your spirit, or mental thought process, its something you need to fight

It's also important to remember to renew your mind after Christ. Daily. Meditate on his word, and more importantly know the word. That way you can properly put on the full armor of God.

Good luck to you brother

 

I saw a good analogy and it works for me.

Imagine yourself sitting by a lake, watching your negative thoughts go by as you sit there. You are disconnected from the thoughts and you can assess them. You see those thoughts are not actually yours anymore. They are now seperate from you, and you see they go against what you actually want to achieve as a person.

 

Christianity tells you that there is good(God) and Evil(Devil) it explains that both are present and both compel you to act.
God explain reasons why you should follow him
Devil explains why you should follow him

So in essence this model describes the world, you ether do good or you do bad, each one has compelling reasons for and against.
It literally tells you that you live in a duality of events, and so you will always be exposed to both God and Devil.

Bible then makes very clear distinction between the two, it explains that difference between good and evil is.
Good presented in the image of God represents our purest nature and the best in all of us, something that leads to joy in life.
While Devil represents our darkest and destructive nature that leads to pain and suffering

You are then given allot of instruction, with examples of how to choose good or create joy in your life and avoid bad choices and reduce suffering.

This is done rather well, and the goal is to tell you that you will always face both God and Devil, in essence face choices where your decisions will lead to Good or Evil. And you need to learn how to choose well.
You can not ignore the bad, you have to respect it, it will always be with you. If you only had good choices - you would have no choices at all.