Choosing.

Hebrews 10:32
Remember the early days that you were in the light, when you endured a great conflict in the face of suffering.

Job 36:21
Be careful not to turn to iniquity, for this you have preferred to affliction.

Psalm 84:10
For better is one day in Your courts than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than to dwell in the tents of the wicked.

Matthew 5:10-12
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. . . .

Matthew 13:21
But since he has no root, he remains for only a season. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, he quickly falls away.

Acts 7:24, 25
And when he saw one of them being wronged, Moses went to his defense and avenged him by striking down the Egyptian who was oppressing him. . . .

Acts 20:23, 24
I only know that in town after town the Holy Spirit warns me that chains and afflictions await me. . . .

Romans 5:3
Not only that, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance;

Romans 8:17, 18, 35-39
And if we are children, then we are heirs: heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ--if indeed we suffer with Him, so that we may also be glorified with Him. . . .

2 Corinthians 5:17
Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away. Behold, the new has come!

Colossians 1:24
Now I rejoice in my sufferings for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is lacking in regard to Christ's afflictions for the sake of His body, which is the church.

2 Thessalonians 1:3-6
We are obligated to thank God for you all the time, brothers, as is fitting, because your faith is growing more and more, and your love for one another is increasing. . . .

2 Timothy 1:8
So do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, or of me, His prisoner. Instead, join me in suffering for the gospel by the power of God.

2 Timothy 2:3-10
Join me in suffering, like a good soldier of Christ Jesus. . . .

2 Timothy 3:11, 12
my persecutions, and the sufferings that came upon me in Antioch, Iconium, and Lystra. What persecutions I endured! Yet the Lord rescued me from all of them. . . .

James 1:20
for man's anger does not bring about the righteousness that God desires.

1 Peter 1:6, 7
In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in various trials, . . .

1 Peter 4:12-16
Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial that has come upon you, as though something strange were happening to you. . . .

the people.

Hebrews 4:9
So there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God.

Psalm 47:9
The nobles of the nations have assembled as the people of the God of Abraham; for the shields of the earth belong to God; He is highly exalted.

1 Peter 2:10
Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

the pleasures.

Job 20:5
the triumph of the wicked has been brief and the joy of the godless momentary?

Job 21:11-13
They send forth their little ones like a flock; their children skip about, . . .

Psalm 73:18-20
Surely You set them on slick ground; You cast them down into ruin. . . .

Isaiah 21:4
My heart staggers; fear makes me tremble. The twilight of my desire has turned to horror.

Isaiah 47:8, 9
So now hear this, O lover of luxury, who sits securely, who says to herself, 'I am, and there is none besides me. I will never be a widow or know the loss of children.' . . .

Luke 12:19, 20
Then I will say to myself, "You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take it easy. Eat, drink, and be merry!"' . . .

Luke 16:25
But Abraham answered, 'Child, remember that during your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things. But now he is comforted here, while you are left to suffer.

James 5:5
You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in the day of slaughter.

Revelation 18:7
As much as she has glorified herself and lived in luxury, give her the same measure of torment and grief. In her heart she says, 'I sit as queen; I am not a widow and will never see grief.'