Tenacity

“I will not let You go unless You bless me!”

Genesis 32:26

That is what he said to the Lord. Remember, he was wrestling with God.

“Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel; for you have struggled with God and with men, and have prevailed.”

Genesis 32:28

The word “Israel” literally means prince with God. God changed Jacob’s name from Jacob to Israel - Why? Because he had tenacity and perseverance. I looked up the word 'tenacity', it means: not readily relinquishing something, keeping a firm hold.

In the Zulu language, we call it 'isibindi' - which means stainless steel backbone. Persistence - that is what God is requiring from you and me in our lives today. We need to continue firmly or obstinately in an opinion or a course of action, despite difficulty or opposition... That is what persistence means.

Remember the friends of the paralytic who tried to get their friend to Jesus. They couldn’t get through because of the crowds. So what did they do? They took him up onto the roof of the house and they removed the tiles of the roof and let him down. And look what Jesus says in Mark Chapter 2:5:

“When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven you.”

And he was healed immediately. A young man that has made a tremendous impact in my life when it comes to not giving up, perseverance and tenacity, is a young Australian. He is 38 years old and his name is Nick Vujicic, he is an evangelist. He came to visit me on the farm, I will never forget that day as long as I live.

Two or three pickups came driving up the driveway on the farm and out came this man. This man has no legs and no arms. He is a very small man, remembering your legs and your arms are the most of your body, yet I have never seen a man so positive and so determined. A massive smile on his face and with a strong Australian accent he said: “Angus, I just wanted to come and greet you.” We put him on the table so that he could be eye-level with me sitting on a chair and he told me about the love of Christ.

Do you know that that man is happily married? Do you know that he has four children - two little boys and two little girls? He told me about what the Lord meant to him. He was waited upon by a group of young people who adored him, I could see that. This man cannot take a fly off his nose. If he has to go to the bathroom, they have to assist him and yet he is so positive.

He gave me a book as a gift, and he said, “Angus would you like me to sign the book?” And I looked at him with big eyes and I said: “Yes please.”

He took the pen between his teeth and he wrote in beautiful writing, better than I could ever write and he blessed me and he prayed for me then he went on with his entourage and I thought: “Lord, what a man of God!”

Go out today and don’t give up.

God bless you.

Then He put out His hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing; be cleansed.” Immediately the leprosy left him.” Luke 5:12-13

One genuine miracle is worth a thousand sermons - That is what we say at Shalom. You know Jesus is still the same today.

He is the same yesterday, today and forevermore.

Hebrews 13:8

Jesus was known more for His incredible miracles than what He preached. I only know of one sermon - the sermon on the mount. It was His miracle-working power that drew the multitudes to Him. I remember right here on this farm, Shalom, many years ago, one evening there was a tremendous thunder and lightning storm. The rain was pouring down as we were having supper in our little house. All of a sudden, I looked out of the window and there were a whole crowd of women with blankets over them and they were shouting. I ran outside: “What is wrong?”

And they said, “There is a woman who has been struck by lightning, she is lying in the hut and she is dead. Please come and help.”

I took the pick-up and we drove as quickly as we could up to that hut, a genuine old Zulu thatched hut. Lying there in the middle of the floor was a blanket covering a corpse. Now I don’t know whether she was dead or not but they told me she was dead, she had been struck by lightning.

Now, you know I used to speak to them and preach to these people about the miracle-working power of Jesus, they were very sceptical but now you see, they were desperate and they knew there was no other way. They asked me to please pray that Jesus would raise her. I wasn’t too keen to do that, I will be honest with you, I said: “Let’s just take the body to the mortuary.” They said: “No, we want you to pray. You keep telling us about this miracle-working God of yours.”

Well, I went in and I laid my hands on the body. I prayed a simple prayer.

I said, “Please Lord, show Your glory!” And I stood up and nothing happened. I felt the Holy Spirit say, “Pray once more.” I laid my hands on her. I prayed a second time and then I lifted her by her wrists and stood her on her feet and she was totally and completely healed.

Well, I want to tell you after that day I didn’t have to do any more preaching. They were singing hymns in the fields. They were praising the name of Jesus Christ, the Miracle-worker! No more questions after that - just praising the Lord!

Go out today and lay your hands upon the sick and pray the prayer of faith and trust God for a miracle.

God bless you.