Have you ever had somebody come up to you and say, “Uh, excuse me, but the Lord gave me a word for you?” How many of you have ever had that happen to you? The first thing your mind does when you hear that is to look at the person giving the word and see if they look right or not.
Because if they look like they could have a good word from God for you, you might listen. You’re judging whether or not what this person has to say is really from God.
That happened to me one time. I had a young preacher come up to me and say, “Brother Jesse, I…” but he couldn’t even finish his sentence because he was blubbering and crying so much. I thought, What’s the matter with this kid? “Brother Jesse,” he said, “just let me minister to you. You have helped me so much in my life, I just want to minister back to you. You’re such a blessing.”
“Well, thank you,” I said.
“I’ll tell you one thing,” he blubbered. “I want to be just like you.”
“Now, stop,” I said. “You don’t want to be like me, because I make mistakes. You want to be like Christ. He doesn’t make any mistakes.”
“You’re right, Brother Jesse,” he said. “I want to be just like Jesus, but I want to minister to you. I don’t know if this is the voice of God or not, but I believe God has given me a word for you.”
Okay, son, I thought, Give me what you’ve got. I was ready to do what I always do when someone says he has a word for me. You probably do the same thing yourself. If it is good, I put it on the shelf. And if it works out to be right on, then fine. But if it turns out to be right off, then I let it fall off the shelf.
“Okay, give me what you’ve got, and let me see if it bears witness with my spirit,” I told him.
So this kid said, “I believe God’s telling me this, but I don’t know, Brother Jesse. You judge it.”
I certainly will, I was thinking to myself. I didn’t tell him that, but that’s exactly what I was thinking. “Well, okay, play it, son. Give me what you’ve got. What has the Lord told you for me?”
He was so nervous. “I just…you know…I’m young, and I just want you to listen to it.”
“Okay, get on with it, son.”
“Oh, the Lord told me to tell you that the devil can’t stand before you. You run right over him. You kick his head off. Why, you just run at him with everything you’ve got. You beat his brains out!”
This kid’s right on! I thought. C’mon, boy. This is bearing witness.
“The devil,” he continued, “doesn’t run over you; you just run over him. You bust him in the head. He sticks his ugly head up, and you just nail him, binding him and walking all over him. You just keep on doing the things God told you to do. Does that bear witness with you?” he asked me.
“Son,” I said, “that’s revelation knowledge. You are right on!”
“Okay,” he said, “but I’ll tell you what else God told me. God told me that the devil quit trying to get in front of you.”
“Yeah, tell it, kid!” I said.
“The devil has started getting behind you.”
“I know it, son. Now you’re preaching.”
“Now the devil is pushing you from behind,” he continued. “He’s saying, ‘Come on, minister, preach! Feed the sheep!'”
Kid, I thought, you just slipped out of the Spirit. You better get back in the flow, man. What happened?
He continued, “The devil is telling you, ‘Don’t sleep! Why should you sleep? You’re a faith man. You don’t need to sleep. There are people dying and going to hell, and you’re trying to rest your body! What’s wrong with you? Get up! Go preach this gospel. There are people dying and going to hell right now. Get out there! There’s no time to rest. Preach this gospel. Heal the sick. Raise the dead. Cast out devils!'”
Then he stopped speaking over me. I was speechless, but the kid still had more to say.
“You see, Brother Jesse,” this young man told me, “if the devil can’t defeat you from the front, he’ll go behind you. He’ll start pushing you. Is that right?”
“Uhhhhh. Whewww,” I finally said. This kid was right on the button. I had averaged maybe two hours of sleep a night for two and a half years. I hadn’t taken a Sunday off since 1978. Sometimes I preached five times on Sunday alone. Cathy usually had to drag me to bed. I was abusing my body, and the Lord knew it. I was headed for a burn-out.
Not anymore. After I heard that, I decided to take a rest. God was telling me that I wouldn’t complete my ministry unless I learned how to rest my body.
Did you know that it is considered spiritual to rest? You have got to do it. God did it. The Bible says that after He finished working, God took out one day just to rest. That’s our pattern for living. We’re supposed to rest regularly.
The morning after I heard that word from that young preacher, my body was thanking me – I let myself sleep in!
Excerpt permission granted by Harrison House Publishers
Jesse Duplantis, minister of the Gospel, motivational speaker, television personality, and best-selling author, has been in full-time ministry since 1976 and is the founder of Jesse Duplantis Ministries, located in the Greater New Orleans area of south Louisiana in the United States of America. With over four decades of sharing his unique blend of humor and faith around the world, generations of believers have been inspired by his messages and countless numbers have come to know Jesus Christ as Savior through his ministry.
Known for his unflinching, status-quo-breaking messages and humorous take on experiences in the life of the believer, Jesse continues to draw large audiences of believers through social media, television, and meetings held around the world. With speaking engagements booked years in advance, Jesse Duplantis continues to keep an intense traveling schedule, flying throughout the United States and the world preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ. With no booking agents pursuing meetings for him and no set fees imposed upon churches for speaking engagements, Jesse chooses his outreach meetings based on the same two criteria he always has: invitations that come in and prayer over each one. This uncommon way of scheduling in today’s world means Jesse’s many followers may find him speaking in some of the largest churches and venues in America and the world, as well as a great many small and growing congregations, too. No church is too big or small for the Holy Spirit, as he says.
Side by side with his wife Cathy Duplantis, the co-founder and chief of staff of Jesse Duplantis Ministries and the senior pastor of Covenant Church in Destrehan, Louisiana, Jesse continues to fulfill his life’s calling by daily taking up the Great Commission of Jesus Christ: “Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15). Through social media, television broadcasts, books, and other ministry products, as well as through many evangelistic meetings, the JDM website, the JDM app, and Voice of the Covenant magazine, Jesse Duplantis continues to see growth in his ministry and expand each year while maintaining his roots. Jesus is the center of his life. The salvation of lost people and the growth of believers is the purpose of his ministry. And for both he and his wife, every day is another day to “Reach People and Change Lives, One Soul at a Time.”