Te•na•cious (verb): holding or grasping firmly; forceful and persistent; holding together firmly; tough or cohesive. Collins English Dictionary

Behold, as for the proud one, his soul is not right within him; but the righteous will live by his faith. Habakkuk 2:4

Your commitment makes a difference. The world right now needs people who have backbone, who persevere through challenging circumstances.

It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat. —Theodore Roosevelt, 26th President of the United States

The righteous live not by the mustering of one’s own human courage, but by faith. If you’ve received Jesus, tenacity has been downloaded into your heart. The resurrection power of Jesus is at work in you, and the power of God is looking for areas of expression in your life, but it has to be obtained by a tenacious attitude of faith. Sow to your spirit daily. Remember that you are a spirit being who has a soul and lives in a body. Pray in the Spirit and confess the Scriptures. God’s words are spirit and life (John 6:63), and they will sharpen the places that have been dulled by life.

Therefore, do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised. But we are not of those who shrink back to destruction, but of those who have faith to the preserving of the soul. Hebrews 10:35-36, 39

Perseverance is its own reward. Though life is brief, it has eternal consequences. Stop living a dull existence and get back into that gritty tenacious life for which you were designed. God can do a lot through one persistent, obedient, faith-filled person!

More than a conqueror,
Pastor Jeff Perry
St. Louis Family Church®

Copyright © 2011 St. Louis Family Church. All rights reserved. No part of this article may be reprinted or distributed in any form without prior written permission of St. Louis Family Church. Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture references are from the New American Standard Bible (NASB) Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. “tenacious.” Collins English Dictionary – Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition. HarperCollins Publishers. Dictionary.com

In any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me. (Philippians 4:12b-13)

CONTENTMENT. The Apostle Paul chose to rejoice instead of taking a viewpoint of want. If Paul learned the secret of being content while he was in prison, then so can we in our daily lives. We have to cast down imaginations, take every thought captive, and overwhelm doubt with the language of God’s faithfulness (2 Cor. 10:5).

DELIVERANCE. Paul endured despite heavy oppression: “For we do not want you to be unaware, brethren, of our affliction which came to us in Asia, that we were burdened excessively, beyond our strength, so that we despaired even of life” (2 Corinthians 1:8). Things were so tough for Paul, he knew he could not make it on his own strength. Instead, he chose to rely on God’s faithfulness, declaring that “God who raises the dead; who delivered us from so great a peril of death, and will deliver us, He on whom we have set our hope. And He will yet deliver us.” (1 Corinthians 1:9b-10). Remember the times God delivered you in the past; He will do the same with your present and future.

VISION. Become like Paul and learn the language of the overcomer. My heroes are people who walk with a limp, who have seen disappointments mount up around them but who forge ahead. If our church had quit after the flood of ’93, we wouldn’t have seen 3243 kids pour in for JUMP! We would never have put out 250 million video impressions of the Gospel per year in our city. We would never have reached out in Kosovo, or impacted Sri Lanka, or rebuilt homes after Hurricane Katrina. Lives are attached to your obedience, and there is victory on the other side of your battle.

Keep moving forward,
Pastor Jeff Perry
St. Louis Family Church®

Copyright © 2010 St. Louis Family Church. All rights reserved. No part of this article may be reprinted or distributed in any form without prior written permission of St. Louis Family Church. Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture references are from the New American Standard Bible (NASB) Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation.