Suffering

In the Life of the Believer

2 COR 1:3-11 (NIV)

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God . For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows. If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer. And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort.

We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about the hardships we suffered in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life. Indeed, in our hearts we felt the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and He will deliver us. On Him we have set our hope that He will continue to deliver us, as you help us by your prayers. Then many will give thanks on our behalf for the gracious favor granted us in answer to the prayers of many.

PHIL 1:29,30 (NIV)

For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe on Him, but also to suffer for Him, since you are going through the same struggle you saw I had, and now hear that I still have.

1 PETER 3:13-15a (AMP)

Now who is there to hurt you if you are zealous followers of that which is good? But even in case you should suffer for the sake of righteousness, you are blessed--happy, to be envied. Do not dread or be afraid of their threats, nor be disturbed by their opposition. But in your hearts set Christ apart as holy and acknowledge Him as Lord.

1 PETER 3:17 (AMP)

For it is better to suffer unjustly for doing right, if that should be God's will, than to suffer justly for doing wrong.

1 PETER 4:12-19 (NAS)

Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you; but to the degree that you share the suffering of Christ, keep on rejoicing; so that also at the revelation of His glory, you may rejoice with exultation. If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. By no means let any of you suffer as a murderer, or thief, or evildoer, or a troublesome meddler; but if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not feel ashamed, but in that name let him glorify God. For it is time for judgment to begin with the household of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God? And if it is with difficulty that the righteous is saved, what will become of the godless man and the sinner? Therefore, let those also who suffer according to the will of God entrust their souls to a faithful Creator in doing what is right.

HEB 2:18 (AMP)

For because He Himself in His humanity has suffered in being tempted (tested and tried), He is able immediately to run to the cry of (assist, relieve) those who are being tempted and tested and tried and who therefore are being exposed to suffering.

1 PETER 2:19-23 (NAS)

For this finds favor, if for the sake of conscience toward God a man bears up under sorrows when suffering unjustly. For what credit is there if, when you sin and are harshly treated, you endure it with patience? But if when you do what is right and suffer for it you patiently endure it, this finds favor with God.

For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps, who committed no sin, nor was any deceit found in His mouth; and while being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously;

1 PETER 4:1,2 (AMP)

So since Christ suffered in the flesh (for us, for you), arm yourselves with the same thought and purpose, patiently to suffer rather than fail to please God. For whoever has suffered in the flesh, having the mind of Christ, has done with intentional sin--has stopped pleasing himself and the world, and pleases God. So that he can no longer spend the rest of his natural life living by his human appetites and desires, but he lives for what God wills.

JOB 36:15 (NIV)

But those who suffer He delivers in their suffering; He speaks to them in their affliction.

ACTS 5:41 (NIV)

The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name.

ROM 5:3-5 (NIV)

Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom He has given us.

2 TIM 1:8 (AMP)

Do not blush or be ashamed then to testify to and for our Lord, nor of me, a prisoner for His sake, but with me take your share of the suffering to which the preaching of the Gospel may expose you, and do it in the power of God.

ROM 8:17-23 (AMP)

And if we are His children, then we are His heirs also; heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ--sharing His inheritance with Him; only we must share His suffering if we are to share His glory.

But what of that? For I consider that the sufferings of this present time (this present life) are not worth being compared with the glory that is about to be revealed to us and in us and for us, and conferred on us!

For even the whole creation (all nature) waits expectantly and longs earnestly for God's sons to be made known--waits for the revealing, the disclosing of their sonship.

For the creation (nature) was subjected to frailty--to futility, condemned to frustration--not because of some intentional fault on its part, but by the will of Him Who so subjected it. Yet with the hope that nature (creation) itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and corruption, and gain an entrance into the glorious freedom of God's children.

We know that the whole creation of irrational creatures has been moaning together in the pains of labor until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves too, who have and enjoy the first fruits of the Holy Spirit--a foretaste of the blissful things to come--groan inwardly as we wait for the redemption of our bodies from sensuality and the grave, which will reveal our adoption (our manifestation as God's sons).

PHILIP 3:10,11 (NIV)

I want to know Christ and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in His sufferings, becoming like Him in His death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.

1 PETER 5:8-10 (NIV)

Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings.

And the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will Himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.

PROV 13:20 (NIV)

He who walks with the wise grows wise, but a companion of fools suffers harm.

1 COR 12:24b-27 (NIV)

But God has combined the members of the body and has given greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it. Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.

JAMES 1:2-4 (AMP)

Consider it wholly joyful, my brethren, whenever you are enveloped in or encounter trials of any sort, or fall into various temptations. Be assured and understand that the trial and proving of your faith bring out endurance and steadfastness and patience. But let endurance and steadfastness and patience have full play and do a thorough work, so that you may be people perfectly and fully developed (with no defects), lacking in nothing.

2 TIM 2:8-10 (NAS)

Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, descendant of David, according to my gospel, for which I suffer hardship even to imprisonment as a criminal; but the Word of God is not imprisoned. For this reason I endure all things for the sake of those who are chosen, that they also may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus and with it eternal glory.

REV 2:10 (NKJ)

"Do not fear any of those things which you are about to suffer. Indeed, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and you will have tribulation ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life."

PHILIP 3:8 (NAS)

More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish in order that I may gain Christ;

JAMES 3:13 (NIV)

Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise.

HEB 2:10,11 (NIV)

In bringing many sons to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the author of their salvation perfect through suffering. Both the one who makes men holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers.

HEB 10:32-35 (NIV)

Remember those earlier days after you had received the light, when you stood your ground in a great contest in the face of suffering. Sometimes you were publicly exposed to insult and persecution; at other times you stood side by side with those who were so treated. You sympathized with those in prison and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property, because you knew you yourselves had better and lasting possessions. So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded.

HEB 12:7-11 (NIV)

Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father? If you are not disciplined (and everyone undergoes discipline), then you are illegitimate children and not true sons. Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of our spirits and live! Our fathers disciplined us as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in His holiness. No disciplines seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.

1 COR 13:4a (NKJ)

Love suffers long and is kind;

GAL 5:22,23 (NKJ)

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.

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