Contrary to popular opinion, the devil is not permanently attached to anyone. There may be periods of intense demonic activities in someone’s life, to subdue him or her. However, for those who have learned to hold their ground in the word of God, such seasons quickly pass. We notice that after Satan’s barrage of tempting Jesus, the scripture says that the devil left Him for a season. Although his goal is to steal, kill, and destroy, he does not have the luxury of waiting on an individual indefinitely. He is neither omniscient nor omnipresent. So where he is not making headway, he goes somewhere else.
“No one can rise higher than the quality of their thoughts and words.”
Rather than pitch his tent permanently with people, Satan would rather set up a system that runs autonomously. We have already identified his threefold mission of stealing, killing, and destroying. He does these in three principal ways. Firstly, he invades people’s thoughts. Proverbs 23:7 tells us that as a man thinks in his heart, so is he. A destructive thought pattern can never produce a successful life. Secondly, he provokes people to speak unwholesome words. Like thoughts, words are seeds. What you sow is what you reap. No one can rise higher than the quality of their thoughts and words. Lastly, he perverts people’s choices. He makes them choose ways that seem right as opposed to the right ways. Once the devil achieves these in anyone, he leaves them because he has already set them on the path of destruction. He simply moves to try his luck on other probable victims.