I'd like to share with you the greatest revelation I've ever received, from Brother Kenneth Copeland.

When he came to my hometown in Shreveport, Louisiana in l969, I was running from God. I knew I was called to preach, but I didn't want to preach.

Carolyn was born again, filled with the Holy Ghost and serving God with all her heart. She just refused to allow our lives to go on a path that was not the will of God, so she was praying for me constantly.

When Brother Copeland came, my wife begged me every day to go hear him preach. Finally, the last night, just to keep her quiet, I said, "I'll go on one condition. We will sit in the back row, closest to the exit, and when he starts telling all those "tear-jerking" stories and begging for money, that's when I'm leaving and you can get home the best way you can. Is that a deal?" She said, "That's a deal!"

So we went, and I sat on the back pew, already prepared not to believe anything he said. Finally, they sang one more song, and turned it over to Brother Copeland.

I'll never forget it as long as I live - Brother Copeland walked up to the platform, took his Bible and threw it on the podium. Then he grabbed the side of the podium and said, "Don't ever sing that song again in my presence. It is embalmed with unbelief!"

When he said that, suddenly I became a defender of the faith! It made me mad. I said, "Who does he think he is? We can sing whatever we want to in our church." Suddenly, it became my church. From that point on, I was on the edge of my chair listening to every word he said, which was God's plan to get my attention.

I walked away that night saying, "I've never heard the gospel like that before!" Suddenly, God seemed real. Suddenly, Jesus was not in the same category as Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny. Suddenly, the Bible was no longer just a storybook or a history book. In one service, it all came alive to me.

I didn't run to the altar that night and surrender my life to God. I was too prideful to do that. I went to my paint and body shop the next day under deep conviction, told my employees to go home, grabbed that Bible that my wife had put on my desk a long time ago, walked into the shop restroom, sat on the floor and cried like a baby all day long.

Finally, at 3:00 in the morning on February 11, 1969, I lifted both hands and said, "Jesus, I can't run anymore. If there is anything left in me that you could possibly use, here it is. But I want you to take a good look. I'm already a failure."

I'll never forget what He said. "Don't worry about it, son. I'm a Master at making champions out of failures!"

Immediately, I wanted to know God. I wanted to know Jesus. I wanted to know the Holy Ghost. The Lord said, "Now, shut your business down and treat the Word like it's your business. You spend the next three months in this bedroom, no less than eight hours a day studying My Word, and when you come out of there I'll make a preacher out of you."

I listened to those tapes of Brother Copeland from one end to the other. I dissected them. I fed on them. I listened to them until I almost wore them slick. And I want you to know, three months later, I came out of that bedroom with the fire of God in my eyes, the Word of God in my mouth, and the power of God in my hands. I only had one problem. There wasn't a soul in my town that wanted to hear a word I had to say.

Now while I'm studying all of this, I had a lot of questions. But for some reason, no one could seem to answer them. So, I thought, "If I could just have the opportunity to ask Brother Copeland, then I would know."

Well, Brother Copeland came back to town, and I was given the opportunity to talk to him about my life. He said, "Jerry, the Lord showed me that you've got some questions you need answered. What is it?"

Well, I was so shocked, I couldn't even think of my name much less my list of questions. Finally, I said, "Brother Copeland, I have no problem believing God for healing. In fact, I'm walking in divine health. My family is walking in divine health. But Brother Copeland, would you please tell me how do you talk God into meeting your needs financially?"

And he responded by saying, "God's already done everything He's going to do about your finances."

I said, "You're kidding. He's not going to leave me in this mess, is He?"

He said, "That isn't what I'm talking about." And then he shared something with me that absolutely made no sense I whatsoever.

He said, "Jerry, the shadow of a dog never bit anyone!" And then he walked away!

What? I thought, "That's the craziest I thing I've ever heard in my life. He's worked too hard. He needs to rest. His mind is slipping. That's the revelation I've been waiting to hear? Thank you, Brother Copeland, my problems are solved." I had no idea what he meant by that statement.

But I could not get rid of that thought. I thought about it day and night. "The shadow of a dog never bit anyone!" The only scripture I could think of that even mentions a shadow was Psalms 23: "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death... " "The shadow of a dog never bit anyone!" I still didn't understand.

"Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death... Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death... Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death..." I was meditating the Word. "Though I walk through the shadow... the shadow... the shadow of death..."

It doesn't say, "Though I walk through the valley of death..." It says, "Though I walk through the valley of the "shadow" of death..." "Jerry, the shadow of a dog never bit anyone." I still didn't understand it. I knew I was getting somewhere, but I didn't get it. I thought, there has to be something here with that word shadow. So I looked it up.

The definition of the word shadow is "a definite area of shade cast upon a surface by a body intercepting light rays; the dark image made by such a body".

When I read that definition, here's how I applied it: Satan's tactic is to intercept the light coming from the Word of God before it can reach my soul and my spirit; thereby casting a dark image on my thoughts so I will be controlled by fear.

The entrance of the Word gives light. Have you ever heard the phrase, "It dawned on me"? You can be studying the Word, and things that you have read for years and years suddenly dawn on you. What does that mean? Light came! Your mind was illuminated.

So what does Satan do? He'll try to stand between you and the Word to cast a shadow in your mind to cause your thoughts to be darkened and create fear. When you have fear, Satan has come between you and the Word! A shadow is Satan's "smoke screen".

In Matthew 14:27-30, we see an example of this. The disciples are in a terrible storm on the water and Jesus comes out to meet them.

"But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer, it is I, be not afraid. And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water. And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on water to go to Jesus."

Notice Peter was a success as long as he kept his eyes on Jesus. Verse 30:

"But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid."

What is the wind attempting to do? Intercept the light rays from the word "Come"; cast a dark shadow between him and his destiny; and get his eyes off of Jesus.

The shadow did exactly what it was designed to do - create fear. What has wind got to do with walking on water? Is there some law that says you can walk on water unless it's windy? What happened? The wind had absolutely nothing to do with Peter's success. It was only a shadow.

A shadow is also defined as something without reality or substance. In other words, shadows have no substance. That wind had no substance. It had nothing to do with whether Peter could walk on water or not. He gave substance to it through fear and began to sink.

Now when Brother Copeland said, "The shadow of a dog never bit anyone," he was saying, "Jerry, you're dealing with shadows. The devil's trying to convince you that your needs financially will never be met. It's nothing but a smoke screen. It's nothing but a shadow and shadows have no substance. Shadows can't hurt you. Dogs bite but their shadows don't."

I want to encourage you the way Brother Copeland encouraged me. You're not in this alone. Jesus is by your side. You may have been told, "There's not enough money." That's a shadow. "You'll never be healed of that disease!" That's a shadow! "Your kids will never be off drugs." That's a shadow!

The next time Satan tries to discourage you with the lack of finances, sickness or whatever it may be, just let him know from the start that his threats are nothing but a shadow and shadows cannot hurt you. Don't be deceived, keep your eyes on the Word and God will see you through!