James 1:12 - Happy Is The Person Who Remains Faithful Under Trials!

Jam.1:12: Happy Is The Person Who Remains Faithful Under Trials!

James 1:12 (TEV)  Happy is the person who remains faithful under 
trials, because when he succeeds in passing such a test, he will receive 
as his reward the life which God has promised to those who love 
him. 

Temptation comes from evil desires inside us, not from God. It 
begins with an evil thought and becomes sin when we dwell on the 
thought and allow it to become an action. Like a snowball rolling 
downhill, sin grows more destructive the more we let it have its way. The 
best time to stop a temptation is before it is too strong or moving 
too fast to control. [Life Application SB] 

Peter's fall was not instantaneous, but gradual. Self-confidence 
led him to the belief that he was saved, and step after step was 
taken in the downward path, until he could deny his Master. Never can 
we safely put confidence in self or feel, this side of heaven, that 
we are secure against temptation. Those who accept the Saviour, 
however sincere their conversion, should never be taught to say or to 
feel that they are saved. This is misleading. Every one should be 
taught to cherish hope and faith; but even when we give ourselves to 
Christ and know that He accepts us, we are not beyond the reach of 
temptation. God's word declares, "Many shall be purified, and made white, 
and tried." Dan. 12:10. Only he who endures the trial will receive 
the crown of life. (James 1:12.)  
Those who accept Christ, and in their first confidence say, I am 
saved, are in danger of trusting to themselves. They lose sight of 
their own weakness and their constant need of divine strength. They 
are unprepared for Satan's devices, and under temptation many, like 
Peter, fall into the very depths of sin. We are admonished, "Let him 
that thinketh he standeth, take heed lest he fall." 1 Cor. 10:12. Our 
only safety is in constant distrust of self, and dependence on 
Christ.  
It was necessary for Peter to learn his own defects of 
character, and his need of the power and grace of Christ. The Lord could 
not save him from trial, but He could have saved him from defeat. 
Had Peter been willing to receive Christ's warning, he would have 
been watching unto prayer. He would have walked with fear and 
trembling lest his feet should stumble. And he would have received divine 
help so that Satan could not have gained the victory.  
It was through self-sufficiency that Peter fell; and it was 
through repentance and humiliation that his feet were again established. 
In the record of his experience every repenting sinner may find 
encouragement. Though Peter had grievously sinned, he was not forsaken.     
Peter's repentance was accepted by the sin-pardoning Saviour.  COL155,6