Humankind, from the moment of birth, begins a struggle for survival, including the struggle against various viruses and disease. The greater the level of poverty and lack of sanitation, the higher the infant death rate. It is the same spiritually. The moment a person accepts Jesus as Savior, a struggle with Satan begins. Satan and his minions try to kill those who have just been spiritually born again. Such spiritual warfare rages throughout a Christian's life. In order to survive this spiritual fight against Satan and his minions, there are a few things we must remember.


1. Do not be proud (Ps 1:1)
   Pride is an over estimation of self and makes a person expect special treatment.
   It makes one arrogant.
  ?) The archangel Lucifer's pride, defeat, and ruin (Isa 14:12-15; 1 Ti 3:6; Pr 16:18)
  ?) The reason for Adam's fall (Ge 3:1-5)
  ?) Learn the humility of Jesus (Php 2:5-8)
  ?) Always humble yourself (1 Pe 5:6-9)

2. Revere the commandments (Ps 1:2)
   Although salvation comes unconditionally by faith through the grace of Jesus,
   a person must obey God's commandments in order to keep that salvation.
  ?) The Israelites who entered Canaan through God's grace disobeyed His
       commandments that led to their fall.
  ?) Commandments are the character and nature of God.
      (1) For two people to live together, their personalities must be in harmony.
           Many homes are destroyed because of irreconcilable differences.
      (2) In order to walk with God, we must keep God's commandments, the very nature
           of God (Lev 19:2,3).
  ?) The relationship between the commandments and life are like the one between the
       locomotive and railroad tracks. Going off the track leads to derailment.
       Abraham Lincoln said that he was tempted in many ways, but because of the
       commandments his mother impressed upon his mind, he was able to remain on track
       without derailing (Ps 119:9).
  ?) Once away from the commandments, a person enters Satan's minefields
      ?Ps 119:109,110;1 Pe 1:14,15; Jos 1:7).

3. Take in the nourishment of the Word (Ps 1:3)
  ?) When a person does not eat well, it leads to physical malnourishment, loss of
       resistance to disease, and ultimately to various illnesses.
  ?) Today, one of the reasons for longer lives in comparison to the people of the past is
       that people eat better and are not malnourished. The intake of vitamins acts as acid
       proof material.
  ?) The Word is nourishment for the soul (1 Pe 2:2; Ps 1:2,3).
  ?) The Word of the Lord is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path. It helps to prevent
       us from falling prey to the teachings of the world, Satan, and heresy
       (Ps 119:105; Pr 8:13).

4. Pray diligently (Ps 1:4,5)
  ?) No matter how much a married couple loves one another, lack of communication leads
       to loss of closeness. (A story of a couple that walked alongside different banks of a
       creek).
  ?) Today, many parents are not close to their children because of a lack of
       communication.
  ?) Prayer is communication with God (Pr 8:17; Lk 22:46; Ps 91:15; Jer 29:12).

5. Be filled with the Holy Spirit
  ?) A helping hand in this world
  ?) The Holy Spirit, the holy helping hand from heaven (Jn 14:16-18; Ro 8:26; Zec 4:6;
      ?Eph 6:11-12,17-18)

6. Do not depart from the faith community (Ps 1:6)
  ?) The church is a holy community where God resides (Jn 14:23).
  ?) A cell is the smallest unit of Christian community. The members of the Early Church
       broke bread together, and devoted themselves to the Word, to prayer, and to
      ?fellowship (Ac 2:42,46).
  ?) "Together we stand, divided we fall" (Ecc 4:12; Mt 18:19,20; Heb 10:23-25).


      Spiritually, Satan attacks us continually. In order to overcome such attacks and have greater growth in our faith, we must follow these six conditions.