Let's face it, the proof is in the pudding! The only Jesus some people will ever see is the Jesus in you or the Jesus in me. The only way they will understand His love is by seeing it in action through His Body.


The Apostle Paul said, Ye are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read of all men:

"Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart" (2 Cor. 3:2-3).

What are epistles? They are letters or messages for the world to read! As Paul spoke of the Corinthians being epistles, we too are living letters.

A Living Letter is an unfinished life. The last page will not be written until the Kingdom and the will of God are done on the earth.

Every person who is born again can reveal a side of Jesus that the world has never seen. Every believer is made in His image, and all have uniqueness in Him. Our lives should be read like a page of large, clear print that will lead them to quick, calculating conclusions.

I have been in meetings where some people get boisterous while praising Jesus. Others in the same meeting barely move, yet seem to enjoy the service just as much. The loud one wonders why the quiet one isn't moving. He asks himself, "What's the matter with this guy? Is he dead?"

No, he's not dead, he is just a side of God that you are not used to. When we are critical of other believers, we are critical of Jesus. He lives in them and has given them a uniqueness only they possess.

Luke said in Acts 1:1, "The former treatise have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach." In other words, the twelve disciples were going to show a side of Jesus that the world had never seen.

A human life is the medium in which God's voice utters divine truths. Jesus began the work when He was on earth and is still continuing through the Body of Christ. When your life is finished on this earth, that part of Christ's job is finished.

While jogging the other day, God told me something that made me stop running. He said, "Jesse, do you know that you've never lost a battle to the devil? The devil has never defeated you, and the devil cannot defeat you."

I said, "I don't want to shake the throne here, but let me show You where the boy knocked my socks off a few times."

But God said, "The devil didn't knock your socks off. How can he knock your socks off when he's under your feet? You are undefeatable. All of My people are undefeatable."

I asked, "What do You mean?"

He said, "Many have thought that they lost battles with the devil. The devil is under their feet. They lost the battle of faith. I told you to fight the good fight of faith. It's a good fight. The devil didn't beat you, you just quit fighting with faith."

I said, "It's hard, Lord."

He said, "It's not really hard if you are dealing in the realm of the Spirit. You have tried to get your flesh to fight the fight of faith. I told you to live by the faith of the Son of God, I didn't tell you to live by your faith."

Paul said in Galatians 2:20, "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me."

Have you ever studied the faith of the Son of God? A living letter is more than a memory or an indication of what Christ did. It is living revelation of the Word of God. It is the power of the cross, revealed in human flesh. When you live by the faith of the Son of God, you will truly be a living epistle, read by all men. You can't lose with that kind of faith.

The power of the cross is something that shines in the eyes, trembles in the voice, and throbs out of your every movement.

Paul said, "For me to live is Christ" (Phil. 1:21). With his back bleeding, he and Silas sang about the goodness of God. Every fiber of his being throbbed with the fullness of Jesus Christ.

The power of the cross trembles in the voice. My wife, Cathy, used to hate to testify. She hated it because as soon as she'd start speaking, the tears would come gushing.

The pastor would ask, "Does anyone have a good testimony?" Most people didn't, but they stood up anyway. They'd say, "The devil has been kicking my brains out. He hit me with a pick-up truck today, but I made it to church! Yeah, we lost our house. My husband got mad and shot the dog, the cat and tried to kill the kids but they just wouldn't die."

Cathy would get up and begin, "I want to say...." She could never finish her testimony, she would always tremble, break down in the middle of it and cry. She would get so embarrassed.

That happens to many people. When the cross is so meaningful to you, it trembles in your voice and you become speechless.

The power of the cross is something that shines in the eyes. People can see it. You don't have to say a word to be a walking revelation of the Word of God.

A Living Letter is a revelation of the Word of God.
How many times have you read the Bible and found it was only words? Before you were saved you probably thought the Bible was boring. The Word of God is only words unless it has a medium of expression.

Blotted, blurred or hard-to-read lives fail to communicate the message of your life to the reader. Some of you are barely-getting-by Christians. You compare the scars the devil put on you with other barely-getting-by Christians. You tell everyone what the devil's done to you, instead of what Jesus has done for you.

If you enjoy looking at each other's scars, you need prayer. There is a world around you dying and going to hell, and you've got the life jacket to save them.

Those in the world don't like people who are doubled-minded or wish-washy. To blow hot and cold with the same breath is an abomination to the world and the Word. James 3:10 says, "Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be."

Christians should make the truth seem more true. We should make a lie seem more false. We should not only carry a message, we should be that message.

I hate it when people are overly interested in the details of my sinful past. I've had preachers say, "Brother Jesse, you've lived a pretty sinful life, haven't you? Being a musician, I'm sure you lived really bad, huh? I guess you've been around a lot of women...groupies, I mean."

I'd say, "Yeah, I was pretty bad."

They answer, "That's terrible, tell me about it." They want to know! But I don't like to talk about what the devil has done. I like to talk about what Jesus has done!

When someone asks me to describe my past, they are basically telling me they don't hate sin, they like it. They hate what sin does to them, they hate the wages of sin, but they do not hate sin. If it tickles your ears and you enjoy hearing about it, you don't hate it. Sin is an attraction for some, and if they aren't careful, soon they will find themselves in it.

Do you know why people mess up in immorality?
It is because they aren't wearing their underwear!
They talk about their helmet of salvation, their breastplate of righteousness and their sword of the Spirit. Their feet are shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace, but they never say anything about their loins being girded about with truth. That's what holds everything together! Your loins must be girded about with truth. If you are walking in truth, you will not sin. So put your underwear on and keep it on!

I believe the reason there are so many divorces in America is because we are not marrying women and men, we are marrying parts. We see parts and say, "Oooohh. Look at those parts." Let me make an announcement: Parts wear out!

Many people don't see their mates as persons; they see them only as a pile of parts. When some of those parts wear out, or when they just get tired of looking at them, they go to another part store.

Don't marry for looks. Eventually, it's all going to fall down. You need to marry someone because you love them. It doesn't matter if she has 900 varicose veins on her legs!

Once a man told me, "My wife's legs look like a United States map." I said, "What about all those red blood vessels on your nose? You look like you have interstates on your face!" Have you ever noticed when men start getting old, their noses start getting big and red, and lines start coming out on them.

I said, "If you want to look at parts, you better look at yours. What's the matter with you? You are running head on into sin. You are not an epistle of Jesus Christ; you are a stop sign! You aren't moving with the flow of Christ; you are stopping to try to find something." That man wasn't a living epistle, he was only interested in parts.

God created the first man and woman and called them Adam. God did not name Eve. Adam named Eve. When God created male and female he called them both Adam! He chose the female Adam to procreate. She was called woman, which means "man with a womb." God did not create Eve from Adam's foot; He created her from Adam's side! God made woman to stand side by side with a man to such a degree that their prayers would be hindered if they argued.

At the fall of man, God told Satan point blank that he would send one born of woman's seed that would bust his head. Women don't have seed, men have seed! For the birth of Jesus, God did not need a man. He needed man with womb; He needed a woman. That went right over Satan's head!

Ever since Satan died spiritually, he hasn't had a lick of sense! When you deal with the devil in the flesh, he will beat you, because he has years of experience. But, when you deal with him in the Spirit, like Jesus did, it totally confuses him. That is why it is so important to walk in the Spirit and fill yourself with the Word of God.

Throw scripture at him like Jesus did! "It is written, it is written, it is written." Jesus refused to take the devil out from under His feet. Satan did not understand what God told him in the garden until Jesus died, was resurrected and ascended. Then Satan said, "If we would have known, we never would have crucified Him!" Satan had been warned early on about one who would be born of woman's seed, yet he was too stupid to recognize Him when He came.

Throughout His life on earth, Jesus was a Living Letter to the world. John 1:1 says, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was
God."

Even in his death, Jesus was a living example of God's love to the world. After He was betrayed, ridiculed, beaten and nailed to a cruel cross, He prayed, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do (Luke 23:34). It takes a great living letter to bless those who curse you, and pray for those who despitefully use you.

Source: The Ministry of Cheerfulness by Jesse Duplantis
Excerpt permission granted by Harrison House Publishers