I have a pair of pajamas that Cathy has faithfully tried to throw away for twenty years. They’re so old they don’t even have any elastic around the waist. It all wore off, so I have to either hold them up when I walk or tie a knot at the waist, or else they fall down on me. You know your pajamas are comfortable when they don’t bind up around your waist at all. How many of you have a pair of pajamas like that?
But those aren’t my good pajamas. I have some good pajamas that are new, and they stay up around the waist. They have pinstripes on them, and they look wonderful. It’s a good thing that they look so good, too, because I needed to look sharp one night when I was wearing them.
I put on those pin-striped pajamas one night because I wanted to practice faith. You see, I had to prove that I was feeling good. The devil was trying to attack me with fear, telling me I was going to die. He was trying to tell me I was having a heart attack, but I checked my heartbeat. It was still there.
So I just began to rebuke the devil. And do you know what else I did? I went for a jog. This was three o’clock in the morning. I said, “I’ll show you, devil!” I had on those good pin-striped pajamas, and I went outside and ran a mile. In my pajamas!
Well, I forgot that the police were out there at 3 o’clock in the morning too. They were wondering about me when they saw me running down the street at night in my pin-striped pajamas. They came up to me and said, “How are you doing, Reverend? Boy, we’ve never seen jogging shorts like those before.”
“These are my new pajamas,” I said. But I was thinking, “Oh, what am I doing out here? I shouldn’t be out here in my pajamas.”
The policeman just said, “We won’t tell nobody, Reverend.”
“Don’t worry about it,” I said. “I’ll tell the whole world about it next week,” and I ran off into the night in my good pajamas.
It was a good thing I had God’s favor with me that night! My circumstances turned around, and that which the devil had meant to use against me turned out to be a testimony for God. The devil tried to tell me I was having a heart attack, but I wasn’t. The devil tried to get me in trouble with those policemen, but he couldn’t.
Now, for Christians, that should always be the case. God can turn around a situation the devil meant to harm us. The Bible says that God will take that which was a curse and turn it into a blessing for us because He loves us (Deut. 23:5). God will do that for us every time. All we need to do is ask.
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.”