"Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death." James 1:13-15 (KJV).

God, the Father may allow us to go through every trial which we go through. It does not seem that any of them are of His origin. There were many trials which Abraham went through. For example; upon entering the Promised land he had built an altar or two to the Lord and realized this was the land to which he was supposed to come and was given as an inheritance to his descendants. However, when a famine came into the land, he evidently became worried, and went down into Egypt. There, he built no altar. There he accumulated things, and people, and one of those people was most likely Hagar, a servant to Sarah. This one act of leaving the place of promise became a source of more trials and tribulations.

There are none of us  immune to making bad choices or decisions which do not glorify our Lord.

James writes in verse 14 of our text, "But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed." Let me give you an illustration of being "drawn away". When I was a boy in High School I was in the Future Farmers of America. For my projects I had milk cows and raised hogs. I don’t guess that I was a real good hog farmer, because we never had a fenced off place for them, and they ran wherever they wanted to go. I did buy hog feed and fed them on a regular basis; I think every evening. I would go out, lift my voice in a shout that echoed through the hills and hollers of our farm, and in a few minutes they would be there eating.

When it came time to do some work on them; such as ring their snouts; or when it came time to sell them, they were accustomed to coming when I called, expecting feed, and most of them would come. That is when the feed was in the pen, and they would enter, we shut the gate and they were caught.

That is how we are often "drawn away". There are things in this life which entice us. There is a green, papery substance which catches our eye, and if we are not careful it can have a draw on us and draw us away from our hope and destination. Believe it or not the devil knows our weaknesses and he will "entice" us with those weaknesses. It would be great for us to know our weaknesses, deal with them, and when the devil comes luring, drawing us away from God and His truth, then we will be ready and stand against him.

The things of this world can lure us away from God’s plan for our lives. We are tempted to go after those things rather than walk with God. The walk with God is so much more rewarding. His rewards are eternal. The things which so often entice us and lure us away from God are only temporal, and will burn in the fires of judgment.

"Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death." James 1:13-15 (KJV)

Trials and rough circumstances and situations come into every life. When James writes his epistle he is writing to Jewish Christians of his day and time, but these words are very applicable to all Christians of any era.

There is blessing, even genuine happiness and fulfillment in being a Christian who stands strong during the time of trials and persecution. James has just told us so in the previous verse, "Blessed is the man that endureth temptations…" As we look at the three verses for today we must assume that there were some in the day of our author, that accused God of being the instrument of being tempted to leave the faith. Let’s get one thing abundantly clear; God never tempts anyone to leave Him, or His faith.

In most cases God doesn’t even cause the trials in our lives. Think about this for a moment. Most of the trials which come into our lives come as a result of our own foolishness. Many financial hardships are brought about because of spending more than we have; then, comes payday. Many of us don’t eat properly, then our health fails us. There are many times health is completely out of our hands; and that we trust to the Lord’s care. It should be trusted to the Lord’s care, because the physicians are only practicing. :>).

How you and I, as Christians, handle our trials is left to our strength and faith in God. Do we continue to trust Him through every moment, every aching muscle, every trying step we take, every day in surgery, every day with screaming kids? or do we just blame it all on God, say "He doesn’t really care", and just leave His caring, sheltering arms? The trials that come into our lives will give us that option. Where is your faith today?

"Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him." James 1:12 (NKJV).

The blessed man who has endured temptation, and passed the test, being approved will in that last day receive a prize. The prize in this case is called the "crown of life". This is a special crown or reward. It will be given to those who have endured life threatening trials, and came through them with their faith in tact and stronger than it was before entering that trial. That is truly the heart of every Christian. This could be the only crown that some Christians will receive.

There are rewards for those who will be faithful to the end. There are other rewards given in Scripture to those who are faithful. Understand these are not given for salvation, but for our works after our faith in Christ has been established.

Our salvation has been given and secured through the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. There will be no judgment concerning our sins, because they have all been judged by the Father. God, the Father of our Lord Jesus, judged sin upon His Son in the fullness of His wrath. For anyone to believe that they will face judgment for sin in heaven once we arrive before the throne is to disdain the cross of Christ and to count it as meaningless.

The crown of life is given to all those who love Jesus Christ, and have trusted Him as their personal Lord and Savior. They have witnessed the resurrection of Christ by the power of their changed lives, and their growing undivided love for Him. They are growing in their faith for Him daily.

According to the MACARTHUR STUDY BIBLE on crown of life. "Here, it denotes the believer’s ultimate reward, eternal life, which God has promised to him and will grant in full at death or at Christ’s coming." p. 1927.

When one has put their faith in Jesus Christ, endured the trials of life, loving Jesus Christ, have been approved, ie., passed the test; and has grown and is growing in the faith; upon death or at the second coming of Jesus will receive the crown of life. This is the reward that every Christian will receive. It is reserved for all "those who love Him."

"Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he is approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him." James 1:12 (NKJV).

When James writes telling us "Blessed is the man who endures temptation…" we could get the impression he is merely speaking of simply hanging on until the trial is over, but it must be deeper than that. We must think of what he has previously written, "Count it all joy when you fall into various trials…" (v.2).

A Christian may "endure" through a trial of circumstances but be very nauseous in their complaints about what they have been through; seeking the sympathy of others, or merely enjoying the attention from complaining. This kind of "endurance" is not the endurance that is "approved"; or as the King James Version says, "…for when he is tried…", after the test is over, and he has passed the test. Let’s understand something here and now; God never blesses complainers.

Throughout the wilderness wanderings of the children of Israel, after their deliverance from Egypt, there were many times that a group of them would get together and complain. They complained about Moses’s leadership (Numbers 16); they complained about having no meat to eat (Numbers 11); and with the complaint there followed judgment - Read these chapters. They were certainly not "counting it all joy" were they?

The one’s who are approved endure through the trial, with their faith growing, glowing, and blossoming through their push through the surface to gain the strength that only comes from faith in God. We should understand that questions of the sincere kind are for the purpose of knowing the will of God. It is okay to ask God, "What is Your purpose for this test/trial?", or "I don’t understand Father, but would you give me understanding through all of this?" Questions which challenge the power and the authority of God in our lives are not questions of faith; such as, "Who gives You the right to make this determination and cause me/us to go through this horrible event?" or "God, Don’t I deserve better than this? Haven’t I been a righteous person, and always done what is right in Your sight?"

To be approved by God, "passing the test" is to go through the trials of the Christian life with one’s faith and coming out having become more and more like our Lord and Savior. The resurrection of Jesus Christ was the evidence of God’s approval of the work of His Son. It was also evidence that proved that everything which Jesus said was the truth. Read Romans 1:1-4. The one who has endured with approval is the one who has "successfully and victoriously gone through his trials, indicating he is genuine because his faith has endured like Job’s" MACARTHUR STUDY BIBLE, p. 1927.

"Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him." James 1:12 (NKJV).

This verse is full of thought and thoughts. Let’s, for example, think on the word "Blessed". The Bible is full of "Blessed". It is a word which means happy. Much of the time when we hear the word "Happy" or the condition of "Happiness" we see a lot of laughter, and sometimes things going on which should not be going on. Many today think happiness is obtained by things, ie., material things; and some think that happiness can only be achieved by doing drugs or drinking and parties of all kinds of lewd behavior.

As far as the culture of our day is concerned happiness is fleeting. You have it, then, it is gone. It may last for a minute, an hour, a day, even a week, but then it is gone; and in some people’s minds never to be seen again.

Jesus spoke of these "Blessed" in Matthew’s gospel, and He began with, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of God." Matthew 5:3. This type of happiness comes only from God. The "poor in spirit" are those who know they have nothing before God, and go to Him on His terms, in His time and way. Jesus gives us a total of nine "blessed" or beatitudes. The "blessed" Jesus tells us of is not a fleeting happiness, but is attained only through faith in Him. It is much more than laughter, parties, and losing one’s mind to never think on matters of life. It is truly having meaning in life with Christ for all of eternity.

There is another "Blessed" which I must mention. "Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful…" Psalm 1:1 (NKJV). The "Blessed" of the Bible are not fleeting. They do not pass away, but are the happiness which is only found by faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ.

The "Blessed" of today’s text is "Blessed is the man who endures temptation". These "temptations" are trials which, as Christians, we will suffer, and by faith endure. Trials will include sickness, disease, financial hardship, loss of a job, loss of a family member, divorce, infidelity by a spouse, and it may include persecution for your faith. The "blessed" Christian individual will hang on to their faith no matther what trial or circumstance of life comes along. These trials come to us all. How we handle them; how we come through them can be blessing.

By enduring through them; coming through them with praise and thanksgiving in our heart to our faithful Creator and Savior and Lord is not only a "Blessed" moment in time, but also a "Blessed" happy time in eternity.