Thematic Bible: Afflictions made beneficial
Thematic Bible
Afflictions made beneficial » In furthering the gospel
But Saul began ravaging the church [and assaulting believers]; entering house after house and dragging off men and women, putting them in prison.
Meanwhile those who were scattered because of the persecution that arose in connection with Stephen had traveled as far away as Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch, without delivering the message [concerning the attainment through Christ of salvation in the kingdom of God] to anyone except Jews. But there were some of them, men of Cyprus and Cyrene, who on returning to Antioch spoke to the Greeks also, proclaiming [to them] the good news (the Gospel) about the Lord Jesus. And the presence of the Lord was with them with power, so that a great number [learned] to believe (to adhere to and trust in and rely on the Lord) and turned and surrendered themselves to Him.
Now I want you to know, believers, that what has happened to me [this imprisonment that was meant to stop me] has actually served to advance [the spread of] the good news [regarding salvation].
for that [gospel] I am suffering even to [the point of] wearing chains like a criminal; but the word of God is not chained or imprisoned!
At my first trial no one acted in my defense [as my advocate] or took my part or [even] stood with me, but all forsook me. May it not be charged against them! But the Lord stood by me and strengthened me, so that through me the [Gospel] message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. So I was delivered out of the jaws of the lion.
Afflictions made beneficial » In leading us to seek God in prayer
Then the Israelites cried out to the Lord [for help], for Jabin had nine hundred iron chariots and had oppressed and tormented the sons of Israel severely for twenty years.
“I have surely heard Ephraim (Israel) moaning and grieving,
‘You have chastised me, and I was chastised,
Like a bull unaccustomed to the yoke or an untrained calf;
Bring me back that I may be restored,
For You are the Lord my God.
The Lord has done what He planned; He has carried out and finished His word which He threatened and decreed in the days of old. He has demolished without pity; He has made the enemy rejoice over you and has exalted the might of your foes. The hearts [of the inhabitants of Jerusalem] cried to the Lord. [Then to the congregation, I, Jeremiah, cried, addressing the wall as its symbol] O wall of the Daughter of Zion, let tears run down like a river day and night; give yourself no rest, let not your eyes stop [shedding tears]. Arise [from your bed], cry out in the night, at the beginning of the watches; pour out your heart like water before the face of the Lord. Lift up your hands toward Him for the lives of your young children, who faint from hunger at the head of every street.
For I will be to Ephraim like a lion, and like a young lion to the house of Judah. I, even I, will rend and go on [rending]; I will carry off and there will be no one to deliver. I will return to My place [on high] until they acknowledge their offense and feel their guilt and seek My face; in their affliction and distress they will seek, inquire for, and require Me earnestly, saying,
Afflictions made beneficial » In humbling us
He humbled you and allowed you to be hungry and fed you with manna, [a substance] which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, so that He might make you understand [by personal experience] that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord.
He fed you manna in the wilderness, [a substance] which your fathers did not know, so that He might humble you [by dependence on Him] and that He might test you, to do good [things] for you at the end.
If I shut up heaven so no rain falls, or if I command locusts to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among My people, If My people, who are called by My name, shall humble themselves, pray, seek, crave, and require of necessity My face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven, forgive their sin, and heal their land.
Afflictions made beneficial » In leading us to confession of sin
I acknowledged my sin to You,
And I did not hide my wickedness;
I said, “I will confess [all] my transgressions to the Lord”;
And You forgave the guilt of my sin. Selah.
So the people came to Moses, and said, “We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against you; pray to the Lord, so that He will remove the serpents from us.” So Moses prayed for the people.
For I am conscious of my transgressions and I acknowledge them;
My sin is always before me.
I was brought forth in [a state of] wickedness;
In sin my mother conceived me [and from my beginning I, too, was sinful].
Afflictions made beneficial » In exercising our patience
After all, what kind of credit is there if, when you do wrong and are punished for it, you endure it patiently? But if when you do what is right and patiently bear [undeserved] suffering, this finds favor with God.
And He inclined to me and heard my cry.
And not only this, but [with joy] let us exult in our sufferings and rejoice in our hardships, knowing that hardship (distress, pressure, trouble) produces patient endurance;
Be assured that the testing of your faith [through experience] produces endurance [leading to spiritual maturity, and inner peace].
Afflictions made beneficial » In testing and exhibiting our sincerity
“But He knows the way that I take [and He pays attention to it].
When He has tried me, I will come forth as [refined] gold [pure and luminous].
For You have tested us, O God;
You have refined us as silver is refined.
The refining pot is for silver and the furnace for gold,
But the Lord tests hearts.
Afflictions made beneficial » In exhibiting the power and faithfulness of God
Many evils confront the [consistently] righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all. He keeps all his bones; not one of them is broken.
We are hedged in (pressed) on every side [troubled and oppressed in every way], but not cramped or crushed; we suffer embarrassments and are perplexed and unable to find a way out, but not driven to despair; We are pursued (persecuted and hard driven), but not deserted [to stand alone]; we are struck down to the ground, but never struck out and destroyed; Always carrying about in the body the liability and exposure to the same putting to death that the Lord Jesus suffered, so that the [ resurrection] life of Jesus also may be shown forth by and in our bodies. read more.
For we who live are constantly [experiencing] being handed over to death for Jesus' sake, that the [ resurrection] life of Jesus also may be evidenced through our flesh which is liable to death.
For we who live are constantly [experiencing] being handed over to death for Jesus' sake, that the [ resurrection] life of Jesus also may be evidenced through our flesh which is liable to death.
Afflictions made beneficial » In teaching us the will of God
It is good for me that I have been afflicted,
That I may learn Your statutes.
In the night my soul longs for You [O Lord],
Indeed, my spirit within me seeks You diligently;
For [only] when Your judgments are experienced on the earth
Will the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness.
The voice of the Lord shall call to the city [of Jerusalem]—
And it is sound wisdom to heed [solemnly] and fear Your name [with awe-filled reverence];
“Hear, O tribe [the rod of punishment]. Who has appointed its time?
Afflictions made beneficial » In promoting the glory of God
As He passed along, He noticed a man blind from his birth. His disciples asked Him, Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he should be born blind? Jesus answered, It was not that this man or his parents sinned, but he was born blind in order that the workings of God should be manifested (displayed and illustrated) in him.
So the sisters sent word to Him, saying, “Lord, he [our brother and Your friend] whom You love is sick.”
I assure you, most solemnly I tell you, when you were young you girded yourself [put on your own belt or girdle] and you walked about wherever you pleased to go. But when you grow old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will put a girdle around you and carry you where you do not wish to go. He said this to indicate by what kind of death Peter would glorify God. And after this, He said to him, Follow Me!
Afflictions made beneficial » Exemplified » Israel
Therefore, know in your heart (be fully cognizant) that the Lord your God disciplines and instructs you just as a man disciplines and instructs his son.
He humbled you and allowed you to be hungry and fed you with manna, [a substance] which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, so that He might make you understand [by personal experience] that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord.
Afflictions made beneficial » Exemplified » Joseph
Now do not be distressed or angry with yourselves because you sold me here, for God sent me ahead of you to save life and preserve our family.
God sent me before you to preserve for you a posterity and to continue a remnant on the earth, to save your lives by a great escape and save for you many survivors. So now it was not you who sent me here, but God; and He has made me a father to Pharaoh and lord of all his house and ruler over all the land of Egypt.
Afflictions made beneficial » In rendering us fruitful in good works
For [our earthly fathers] disciplined us for only a short period of time and chastised us as seemed proper and good to them; but He disciplines us for our certain good, that we may become sharers in His own holiness. For the time being no discipline brings joy, but seems grievous and painful; but afterwards it yields a peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it [a harvest of fruit which consists in righteousness -- "in conformity to God's will in purpose, thought, and action, resulting in right living and right standing with God].
Afflictions made beneficial » Exemplified » hezekiah
But Hezekiah did not make return [to the Lord] according to the benefit done to him, for his heart became proud [at such a spectacular response to his prayer]; therefore there was wrath upon him and upon Judah and Jerusalem. But Hezekiah humbled himself for the pride of his heart, both he and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the wrath of the Lord came not upon them in the days of Hezekiah.
Afflictions made beneficial » In turning us to God
When you are in tribulation and all these things come upon you, in the latter days you will turn to the Lord your God and be obedient to His voice. For the Lord your God is a merciful God; He will not fail you or destroy you or forget the covenant of your fathers, which He swore to them.
Afflictions made beneficial » Exemplified » Manasseh
But when he was in distress, he sought the Lord his God and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers.
Afflictions made beneficial » In purifying us
It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting, for that is the end of all men; and the living will lay it to heart. Sorrow is better than laughter, for by the sadness of the countenance the heart is made better and gains gladness.
Afflictions made beneficial » In trying our faith and obedience
After these events, God tested and proved Abraham and said to him, Abraham! And he said, Here I am. [God] said, Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah; and offer him there as a burnt offering upon one of the mountains of which I will tell you.
Afflictions made beneficial » Exemplified » Joseph's brethren
And they said to one another, “Truly we are guilty regarding our brother [Joseph], because we saw the distress and anguish of his soul when he pleaded with us [to let him go], yet we would not listen [to his cry]; so this distress and anguish has come on us.”
Afflictions made beneficial » Exemplified » Josiah
because your heart was tender (receptive, penitent) and you humbled yourself before the Lord when you heard what I said against this place and against its inhabitants, that they should become a desolation and a curse, and because you have torn your clothes and wept before Me, I have heard you,” declares the Lord.
Afflictions made beneficial » In keeping us from again departing from God
For has anyone said to God, I have borne my chastisement; I will not offend any more; Teach me what I do not see [in regard to how I have sinned]; if I have done iniquity, I will do it no more?
Afflictions made beneficial » Exemplified » Prodigal son
Afflictions made beneficial » In convincing us of sin
And if they are bound in fetters [of adversity] and held by cords of affliction, Then He shows to them [the true character of] their deeds and their transgressions, that they have acted arrogantly [with presumption and self-sufficiency].
Afflictions made beneficial » Exemplified » Jonah
“When my soul was fainting within me,
I remembered the Lord,
And my prayer came to You,
Into Your holy temple.
Related Topics
- Acknowledge, Sin
- Afflicted Saints, Examples Of
- Afflictions
- Afflictions, Benefits Of
- Beneficial Affliction In Furthering The Gospel
- Beneficial Afflictions For Humility
- Chastisement
- Christ's Disciples Will Suffer
- Conviction Of Sin
- Endurance