What kind of trial can you endure? How long can you endure trials? How do you endure trials? Some people display anxiety and distress while they are going through adversity. Other people complain about why bad things are happening to them? How can we endure affliction and prevail?

Jesus had endured temptation by the Devil before he started his ministry. In the beginning of the book of Luke, Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, was led to the desert to be tempted for forty days without eating any food. Physically he went through starvation and was tempted to eat by turning a stone into a loaf of bread. But Jesus refused to yield to the Devil’s temptation. He quoted the Word of God, “Man does not live on bread alone” (v. 4). Next, the Devil took him up and revealed to him  the kingdoms of the world. Jesus was tempted emotionally. Only if he bowed down to the Devil, the glory of the world would be rewarded to him. Jesus rebuked the Devil, “Worship the Lord your God and serve him him” (v.8). Then Jesus was being tempted spiritually. The Devil told Jesus to jump down the top of the temple in Jerusalem if he was the Son of God. The Devil even used God’s word to test Jesus. However, Jesus responded, “The Scriptures also say, ‘Do not test the Lord your God’” (v.12). Finally the Devil left depressingly.

Jesus could have lost the battle ground to the Devil if had not led by the Holy Spirit  at the beginning of the battle. And during the fight with the Devil or spiritual warfare, the word of God was the best weapon he could use to defeat his enemy. If Jesus, Son of God, needed the Spirit and Word of God to cast out the Devil and resist temptation, how about us? Without a doubt, to fight temptation we must be filled with the Holy Spirit and mediate on His word all the time.