One of the synagogue officials named Jairus came up, and on seeing Him [Jesus], fell at His feet and implored Him earnestly, saying, “My little daughter is at the point of death; please come and lay Your hands on her, so that she will get well and live.” And He went off with him; and a large crowd was following Him and pressing in on Him. Mark 5:22-24

In Mark 5, an account is given of two people who were desperate and tenacious enough to seek God’s help. Jairus, a ruler of the synagogue, overcame prestige barriers and fell at Jesus’ feet to ask for healing for his 12-year-old daughter, and a woman with a 12-year hemorrhage overcame social and inferiority barriers to reach out and touch Jesus. Whether you are a big shot or a “nobody,” Jesus’ love and grace know no bounds.

Now a certain woman had a flow of blood for twelve years, and had suffered many things from many physicians. She had spent all that she had and was no better, but rather grew worse. When she heard about Jesus, she came behind Him in the crowd and touched His garment. For she said, “If only I may touch His clothes, I shall be made well.” Immediately the fountain of her blood was dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of the affliction. Mark 5:25-29a NKJV

What situation in your life seems desperate? Whatever it is, channel that drive toward God. He is faithful, responsive, and resourceful. “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever” (Hebrews 13:8). Jesus is the same consistent savior, healer, and deliverer that He was in the Bible and “no good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly” (Psalm 84:11).

We obtain miracles when our beliefs are based on the amazing Scriptures, on the reality of who Jesus is. When the woman with the hemorrhage heard of Jesus, she thought and said, “If I get in touch with Him I’ll get results.” Hold on to what you’ve been praying for and keep believing God for greater things. Don’t ever let up. Read Mark 5 and other biblical accounts of miracles so that you can develop clear thinking and believing, and then speak what God says about your situation.

God cares about you and knows how to restore things—even if it’s the 12th year of your problem. He knows how to dissolve cancer cells. He knows how to restore marriages. So get tenacious. Press through the crowd and fall at Jesus’ feet.

Keep fighting,
Pastor Jeff Perry
St. Louis Family Church®

Copyright © 2012 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.

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

A wide door for effective service has opened to me, and there are many adversaries. 1 Corinthians 16:9

Fulfilling God’s call on our lives elicits a response from the enemy. The devil doesn’t mind when we are blasé about our existence, but when we step up in obedience, there will be opposition.

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. For yet in a very little while, He who is coming will come, and will not delay. But My righteous one shall live by faith; and if he shrinks back, My soul has no pleasure in him. Hebrews 10:35-38

When God opens a door of opportunity, we are often tempted to halt at the door and throw away our confidence. An open door of effective service means hard work and greater responsibility.

But we are not of those who shrink back to destruction, but of those who have faith to the preserving of the soul. Hebrews 10:39

Get a tenacious attitude and step forward in faith (Romans 1:17). Get your mind activated with the thoughts of God (get in the Word!) to get backbone and vision. Refuse to be an idle dreamer but instead press through the door. There are many souls at stake.

Faithful is He who calls you and He also will bring it to pass. 1 Thessalonians 5:24

God bless you!
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.

Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. 2 Corinthians 5:17

I’d rather have the pain of moving forward than the pain of stagnation. God loves and accepts you right where you are, but He doesn’t want you to stay stuck there. When you become a Christian, you change and then you become a change agent to impact others’ lives. Some of you are encumbered by so many variables, and the stresses of life have been wearing you down, but don’t let the devil make you back away from a tenacity to push forward. Lift up your head, because Jesus has things figured out.

Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. Romans 6:4

As I’m advocating change, I’m talking about getting ready for increase. The purpose of the change is not about personal comfort, but about reaching souls. People who have been disinterested in the things of God are becoming interested because they have been shaken. Now we need to be ready. Nations and hearts that were closed are opening up, and God wants to gear you up to answer the problems in other people’s lives. This is not a spectator sport but the proper working of each individual part (Ephesians 4:16).

At some point you need to decide to trust God. Instead of succumbing to all the worries of the world, stay engaged in the presence of God and spend some more time in the secret place where you’ll find rest (Matthew 11:28). As you draw near to Him, He will draw near to you (James 4:8). And, as you wait upon the Lord, you’ll gain new strength (Isaiah 40:31). This Christian life of change and moving forward is not for the elite few—it is accessible to all who seek God.

Press forward!

Pastor Jeff Perry
St. Louis Family Church®

Copyright © 2009 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, 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.