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Frank Viola | Beyond Evangelical
Official Blog of Author & Speaker Frank Viola. Digging below the surface and moving beyond the shallows in today's Christianity.
Standing Against All Odds
3 Things That Break the Back of Envy
Thanks brother for sharing. This is a encouragement for sure. I appreciate you.
Life rocked along fairly easily for decades…but God has allowed deeper and more serious tests and trials further into our journey. Each time he is faithful and brings us through. I have no idea what else is ahead, but I resist fear. One of my favorite verses was found years ago when I was attempting to comfort a friend with high anxiety issues. I found Psalm 112:7 “They will have no fear of bad news…” I read the context of the chapter and the first verse identifies these people… Psalm 112:1 “…Blessed are those who fear the LORD, who find great delight in his commands.” I can fear HIM…or I can fear EVERYTHING ELSE…i choose to stand behind the biggest one in the fight!!!
Thank you for this encouraging word, Frank! Yes, God is faithful, and sometimes the Holy Spirit keeps us moving by reminding us of Paul’s words, “Why, we felt that we had received the sentence of death; but that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead; he delivered us from so deadly a peril, and he will deliver us; on him we have set our hope that he will deliver us again.” (2 Cor. 1) Though, I admit there are times I feel ‘twould be nice to be able to relax some more. 🙂
Maybe “high water” rather than Hiawatha.
Well sure, but honestly, it is very hard. In deep water, in a storm, in the fire it can be a long haul. And it is not always clear how the whole thing works. Were you promised an easy time? No. Were you promised relief by morning? No. When will He come and what is the manner of His coming? No one knows. I can only wait and it may not be in this mortal coil.
Jesus Christ is our rock, and if we stand on Him we will never be shaken. But this is only true if we are standing “in truth” of what He is and not what we think or expect Him to be. It is important to get the right perspective of the Lord in order to stand against the wiles of the enemy. I just have a feeling that we have yet to be tested in our faith. [Note from the Blog Manager: please read the rules for commenting. Links to your own posts have been deleted as they are spam. https://www.frankviola.org/rules ]
Amen, amen, and amen! Thank you!
Thanks Frank,
Fresh Manna from the Father through you !
Sometimes he delivers as we go through it…
I can testify that He has not only been with me as a rock helping me to find steady footage, but a rock to wrap my arms around in storms. Actually, he has been a rock to wrap my mind around, getting a closer look at him in trials, transforming me as I looked to Him to save me. The tumultuous noise of heart aching storms doesn’t change the steadfast, gentle, and rock of truth. And from this Rock poured new fresh understandings, given so personally, day by day and set me free from myself and wrong thinking and actions. I love to stand on my Rock, wrap myself around him and cling, and find the quiet shelter of life in the cleft of my Rock where waters of truth always flow
This post was a continuation in a series of prophetic encouragements to me yesterday to stand and only keep standing, though it’s dark and I am struggling as I wait to see God come through for me on what is my biggest faith step so far. Thank you for the reminder that some days to stand firm is enough; he will take the ground for us, he will fight on our behalf, and we have only to be still in order to see death give way to resurrection, hopelessness to hope and despair to joy. In him alone, it is done!
Encouraging post Frank! I needed to hear this today. Thanks!
I remember reading once, God does not want to be merely the God of prevention but the God of resurrection. Resurrection requires death, discouragement, and disappointment to be manifested. I think God puts us in humanly impossible situations to manifest His own nature- the Rock!
Amen brother. How glorious He is – even in the dark. Beautiful words of encouragement.
The Truth you write of in this article is the reason I close correspondence with:
“God is my Rock.”
Thank you!
Thank-you so much for this most encouraging post Frank!!
I wrote a blog post a few days ago about an elderly couple I was blessed to meet a few years ago – I sat with them in their living room as they told me about how they had been blessed with 5 sons and were a happy family for just a few years. Slowly they had to watch one son after the other die – some from illness – others because of tragic accidents – they had to burry all of their beloved 5 sons… I can’t describe what it was like to sit in their presence and listen to them speak of their love for their saviour and Lord – they truly were “baptized” by suffering and yet the Lord sustained them and delivered them through it… their faith transformed my own walk with the Lord. They showed me what a Spirit-led brother and sister look like and it is glorious beyond words…
“With their garments still smoking, they have said before God, mortals, and angels: ‘It is well with my soul. The enemy has thrown his best at me and I’m still here. I’m still on the Rock. I’ve not sunk. I’m still standing. I’ve not been destroyed.'”
Well said! I actually checked Google to see if this was a classic quote. 🙂
Glad you liked it that much.
Great post Frank. It can be easy to feel like a victim in the wake of so much trouble and pain, but the truth that Christ has carried me through makes me anything but a victim. I am strong because He is strong! I started to cry a little at the end of your post. It IS well with my soul. Christ is my Rock and I will never let go of Him.
Wow Frank, God through you just put my armour on for the day. I’m ready to go out now and face Goliath. What a tremendous word of encouragement and endorsement.
Yesterday was an incredibly difficult day…one of the worst I’ve faced in a long time. Then I came into work this morning and heard that a co-worker’s father passed away. That’s when I realized that as bad as things are, someone always has it harder. As I sat down at my computer and read this blog, I was literally moved to tears as I felt in my spirit that the Lord was speaking directly to me. I’m overwhelmed at how much the Lord truly loves me. Sometimes when we face a storm, we wonder why such devastating things come upon us. Then I’m reminded that it is during these storms that Jesus comes to our rescue, lifts us out of the boat, and allows us to walk through those treacherous waters. I can only imagine how Peter’s faith grew after he walked on water, especially knowing that his Savior was right there to catch him. Thank you so much for this post. Thanks also for “Pagan Christianity.” It radically changed my life!
Yes! Short, sweet, and to the point! I can attest to the fact that YES He often delivers us from the trouble…but even more often, He delivers us THROUGH the trouble. Amen. I also really like how you define spiritual as Spirit-Led. Very good stuff.
Keep it up Frank, you consistently allow the Wind to blow through you into us!
Blessings!
mmmh mh mh. Indeed, if God is for us then who can stand against us? If the creator of Heaven and earth is for us then who can stand against us? If the Alpha and Omega is for us then who can stand against us? If the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ is for us then who can stand against us? Does he who wishes to stand against us even have a standing, I mean can we consider he who will want to be against the creation of God to even have a microscopic chance of being against the will of God? IMPOSSIBLE I SAY!
As we are in Christ we take great comfort in knowing that he is our shepherd, counselor, our life. Nothing we face can diminish his presence, strength, and comfort that we all have in him.
Paul’s legacy provides us a sterling example, he was tested, tried, and in and through it all his life was found in Christ. And Jesus is the same then as now, and forever!
Amen and again I say amen! As a cancer survivor with a life sentence of a cancer drug that hopefully will keep me cancer free for some years to come is that it is not in my own strength that I stand but in His. God in his great grace enables us to stand as we trust in Him alone. We accomplish this in prayer for his power which is made perfect in our weakness. Ephesians 6:13, 14 is bookended by this truth. In verse 10 we read “be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.” In verse 18 we read “And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests.” If not for God’s strength that works in me I would not be able to say “it is well with my soul” In my weakness when I don’t pray for God’s sustaining grace for the day I can lose hope. It is then that I contemplate the “gain” that Paul speaks of when he says, “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.”
Psalm 42:5 – Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him for the help of His countenance.
While we’re meditating on classic hymns, I was reminded of a stanza from How Sweet The Name Of Jesus Sounds by John Newton.
When we see Thee as Thou art,
We’ll praise Thee as we ought.
We, that are IN Christ, can live by Man who has ALREADY overcome and is ALREADY victorious. Because of Him, we can stand as you have stated so confidently Frank.
Great post.
Praise Him, the Lamb upon the throne!
Yes! Awesome.
Ahhhhhh, yes. It is well with my Soul! Don’t know whether I’ve been through the worst humankind can handle, but it certainly seemed like it at the time! What resounded in my mind was the old hymn, “I surrender all”, and as that filtered down into my whole being, then I fully, “Turned my eyes upon Jesus, and looked full in His Glorious Face…..’, and you guessed it, ” all those things grew strangely dim!” He is my rock, it’s in Him I live and move and have my being. It’s not the circumstances I find myself in, but that I am in Him and Christ in me! I fail, but His love never does..
Blessings Frank.
G’day from Australia!
It’s a good encouragement. If He is our Rock, what can shake us? Moreover, Psalm 91, which also talks about Him as Rock and Fortress, tells us that God surrounds us with His angels, who guard us in all our ways. Truly, we are established against all odds and all enemies.