Test and trials come to make you strong.

James 1:2-4 _AMP Consider it nothing but joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you fall into various trials. ³ Be assured that the testing of your faith [through experience] produces endurance [leading to spiritual maturity, and inner peace]. ⁴ And let endurance have its perfect result and do a thorough work, so that you may be perfect and completely developed [in your faith], lacking in nothing.

Are you Praising and thanking God for the test?

Test: for measuring the skill, knowledge, intelligence, capacities {how much can you be entrusted with}, or abilities of an individual (2): a procedure, reaction, or substance used to identify or characterize a substance

You can be tested on your reaction to a situation to identify what’s really imbedded in you. Just as a washing machine that agitates the dirt for cleaning. God is getting out of you what’s still in you that’s adverse to the Word.

How you react to stuff of the world identifies your mindset/Spiritual character. Does it line up with Kingdom?

• Test is a critical examination, observation, or evaluation
• Test is an ordeal (trial, suffering, tribulation, test) or oath(promise) required as proof of conformity (compliance, obedience) with a set of beliefs (the Word of God)

Trial: a test of faith, patience, or stamina through subjection to suffering or temptation. To test the quality, value, or usefulness of (something).

Trials will let God know if you really trust Him or not. Is your faith in Him or mankind(self)?

The Word of God lets us know the 3 main areas we will be tested by. As He too was tested by in the wilderness.

Matthew 4 _KJV Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.

Tempted: entice or attempt to entice (someone) to do or acquire something that they find attractive but know to be wrong or not beneficial. Have an urge or inclination to do something. Attract; allure. Risk provoking (a deity or abstract force), usually with undesirable consequences.  

Wilderness: a neglected or abandoned area of a garden or town. (Garden of Eden)

So, Jesus was led back to the wilderness from the beginning to be tested in the very ways that we are all tested by today. Jesus overcame the test with the Word of God.

1 John 2:15-17 _KJV  Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.

And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.

Trials are to evaluate how determined you are to endure in gaining strength thru sorrow, grief, misery, and temptation of the flesh. All that is required to purify you for the Kingdom.

Do you qualify to be used by God for the Kingdom?

Kingdom is royalty. Royalty is people of royal blood or status. The status or power of a king or queen. Majestic Glory.  

Test and trials are given to make known the wisdom that God has entrusted you with. Your response will determine if you move to the next level in Glory.

Your next level may require more then you expected. More studying, more fasting, more praying, more of your time. What you expect may not be what God has done.

Will you stand in the test and trial that’s at hand?

Standing: 1. position, status, or reputation.

2. used to specify the length of time that something has lasted or that someone has fulfilled a particular role. {gaining Endurance}

Our role in Christ is to preach the Word of God to the upmost parts of the world. Live a life free from sin and be holy as the Lord God is holy.

• Remaining in force{Spirit} or use; permanent. {Everlasting}

~God dwells in eternity.

• Be stagnant or still. {Dead to flesh, undisturbed by wind, sound, or current; calm ~remain humbled in the storm}

Endurance: the fact or power of enduring an unpleasant or difficult process or situation without giving way. {Sufferance, patience, determination}

The capacity of something to last or to withstand wear and tear. {Longevity}

Have you a made-up mind to be in Christ Jesus for eternity?

1 Peter 1 _AMP

 Peter, an apostle (special messenger, personally chosen representative) of Jesus Christ,

To those [elect—both Jewish and Gentile believers] who live as exiles, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia [Minor], and Bithynia, who are chosen ² according to the foreknowledge of God the Father by the sanctifying work of the Spirit to be obedient to Jesus Christ and to be sprinkled with His blood: May grace and peace [that special sense of spiritual well-being] be yours in increasing abundance [as you walk closely with God].

³ Blessed [gratefully praised and adored] be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant and boundless mercy has caused us to be born again [that is, to be reborn from above—spiritually transformed, renewed, and set apart for His purpose] to an ever-living hope and confident assurance through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, ⁴ [born anew] into an inheritance which is imperishable [beyond the reach of change] and undefiled and unfading, reserved in heaven for you, ⁵ who are being protected and shielded by the power of God through your faith for salvation that is ready to be revealed [for you] in the last time. ⁶ In this you rejoice greatly, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, ⁷ so that the genuineness of your faith, which is much more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested and purified by fire, may be found to result in [your] praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. ⁸ Though you have not seen Him, you love Him; and though you do not even see Him now, you believe and trust in Him and you greatly rejoice and delight with inexpressible and glorious joy, ⁹ receiving as the result [the outcome, the consummation] of your faith, the salvation of ^[a]your souls.

¹⁰ Regarding this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace [of God] that was intended for you, searched carefully and inquired [about this future way of salvation], ¹¹ seeking to find out what person or what time the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating as He foretold the sufferings of Christ and the glories [destined] to follow. ¹² It was revealed to them that their services [their prophecies regarding grace] were not [meant] for themselves and their time, but for you, in these things [the death, resurrection, and glorification of Jesus Christ] which have now been told to you by those who preached the gospel to you by the [power of the] Holy Spirit [who was] sent from heaven. Into these things even the angels long to look.

¹³ So prepare your minds for action, be completely sober [in spirit—steadfast, self-disciplined, spiritually and morally alert], fix your hope completely on the grace [of God] that is coming to you when Jesus Christ is revealed. ¹⁴ [Live] as obedient children [of God]; do not be conformed to the evil desires which governed you in your ignorance [before you knew the requirements and transforming power of the good news regarding salvation]. ¹⁵ But like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves in all your conduct [be set apart from the world by your godly character and moral courage]; ¹⁶ because it is written, “You shall be holy (set apart), for I am holy.”

¹⁷ If you address as Father, the One who impartially judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves in [reverent] fear [of Him] and with profound respect for Him throughout the time of your stay on earth. ¹⁸ For you know that you were not redeemed from your useless [spiritually unproductive] way of life inherited [by tradition] from your forefathers with perishable things like silver and gold, ¹⁹ but [you were actually purchased] with precious blood, like that of a [sacrificial] lamb unblemished and spotless, the priceless blood of Christ. ²⁰ For He was ^[b]foreordained (foreknown) before the foundation of the world, but has appeared [publicly] in these last times for your sake ²¹ and through Him you believe [confidently] in God [the heavenly Father], who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are [centered and rest] in God.

²² Since by your obedience to the truth you have purified yourselves for a sincere love of the believers, [see that you] love one another from the heart [always unselfishly seeking the best for one another], ²³ for you have been born again [that is, reborn from above—spiritually transformed, renewed, and set apart for His purpose] not of seed which is perishable but [from that which is] imperishable and immortal, that is, through the living and everlasting word of God.

 ²⁴ For, “All flesh is like grass,
And all its glory like the flower of grass.
The grass withers
And the flower falls off,
²⁵ But the word of the Lord endures forever.”

And this is the word [the good news of salvation] which was preached to you.

(Let he who has an ear hear what the Spirit is saying to the church, and may it be a fruitful blessing.)

The best position to remain in while enduring a test & trial is in worship with your life. Praise the Lord anyhow! He has already won the VICTORY!

Scripture for encouragement.

Philippians 4:4-9 _AMP

Rejoice in the Lord always [delight, take pleasure in Him]; again I will say, rejoice! ⁵ Let your gentle spirit [your graciousness, unselfishness, mercy, tolerance, and patience] be known to all people. The Lord is near. ⁶ Do not be anxious or worried about anything, but in everything [every circumstance and situation] by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, continue to make your [specific] requests known to God. ⁷ And the peace of God [that peace which reassures the heart, that peace] which transcends all understanding, [that peace which] stands guard over your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus [is yours].

⁸ Finally, ^[b]believers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable and worthy of respect, whatever is right and confirmed by God’s word, whatever is pure and wholesome, whatever is lovely and brings peace, whatever is admirable and of good repute; if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think continually on these things [center your mind on them, and implant them in your heart]. ⁹ The things which you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things [in daily life], and the God [who is the source] of peace and well-being will be with you.