Jambalaya For The Soul

For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is
THE POWER OF GOD.
1 Corinthians 1:18

Jambalaya For The Soul:

A Word of Rest

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 gave 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!

Jambalaya For The Soul:

'I Like Varicose Veins!'

Now, I want you to know that I don't ordinarily look at other women. I'm not the kind of guy who notices them. In fact, I don't notice much of anything around me unless it's really in my face. For me to notice something, it's really got to be right up in my face. I don't notice half the things that go on around me. Let me tell you what I'm talking about.

There was a woman at a department store Cathy and I went to one time, and she was just beautiful. She had just finished cutting a commercial for the store, and she was looking great. There were men standing around with their mouths hanging open and everything. You could hear their wives saying to them, "Close your mouth, honey."

Now, if Cathy thinks I might be looking at another woman, she always says the same thing: "Are you enjoying the scenery?" Well, Cathy saw this beautiful woman, but I didn't see her. The woman was tall with long legs and a short dress. She was a gorgeous woman.

Cathy said, "Just look at that girl."

I wasn't even trying to look at a beautiful girl; I was looking for a Chinese vase. I get my mind on something, boy, and that's what I'm focused on. I wanted to go get that vase - I didn't want to look at a beautiful girl.

But Cathy told me to look at this beautiful girl, so I said, "Where?" Then I saw this lady, and I saw all the men going, "Hoooooo hoooo."

All the women were going, "Pffft, pffft, pfff." You know how women are. They're like cats - their fur comes up a little bit, bless them. You can tell when they get territorial. They just go along looking distracted, saying, "Hmm, humm, humm." But you've got to watch them. You can hear them muttering, "hmmm, hummm," and all of a sudden, whack! They'll just slap a man in a second for looking at some other woman.

Anyway, I looked at that beautiful woman and said, "Boy, look at her. Cathy, she's the kind of woman men love."

Cathy looked a little distracted as I said that. She started going, "Hmmm, hmmm." That's when I knew I had to be careful. She was acting like a cat beginning to flex its muscles before the strike.

"Cathy," I said, "men go crazy over women like her. Men love that kind of woman, Cathy."

Boy, by that time I knew Cathy was getting stirred up. I could see it coming. So I said, "Cathy, you don't have to worry about that sort of thing with your husband here. I don't like that kind of woman at all."

She kind of smiled.

I continued, "I like short women, with fat, stubby legs and veins hanging out. I like those varicose veins; that's what I like."

"So why do you like varicose veins?" Cathy asked me.

"Well," I said, "if you're driving your car and you lose your map, all you've got to do is just read your wife's legs. Just follow those veins. Turn right. Okay. Now left."

I looked at Cathy, and she was saying, "Yeah, yeah, yeah," and laughing.
I

got myself out of trouble that way. I had to play down the beauty of that woman, and I used humor to do it. I wasn't telling my wife she had ugly legs or anything like that. I was just making fun of that situation. Sometimes humor is the best way to get you out of a bad situation. Humor can be your friend.

I made a joke out of that situation, but I still had to make my wife feel loved. Women need to be honored by their husbands. The Bible tells husbands to love their wives. That means husbands need to make their wives feel special.

Husbands, you need to make your wife feel like she's the most important girl in the room, even if there's a TV model in there with you. You've got to let her know that she's beautiful. That's called loving your wife, and she'll thank you for it. You'll see, I promise you!

Jambalaya For The Soul:

Apologizing to Beau Jacque

Cathy and I used to have a little French poodle for a pet. I hated that dog. I mean I hated that dog! Even though it was a male, Cathy would put bows in his hair and paint his toenails. He was a weird dog, you understand? I hated that dog, because he was a sissy. Cathy loved that dog, and my daughter, Jodi, loved that dog, but I couldn't stand him.

The dog's name was Beau Jacque, because he had classy blood. His father's name was Beau Wattley, so he was from a good bloodline. All that meant to me was that we had to spend a fortune for him. Even though he was a toy, miniature, white poodle, he cost a lot of money. That only made me hate him more.

Beau Jacque was a heathen, too. He was a heathen dog! I mean, I caught him messing around with the neighbor's dog. And the neighbor would say, "Reverend, your dog's been messing around with my dog."

"He's not saved," I would explain. "I'm sorry. He's a hot little heathen."
I

would have to call that dog over, and he'd just look at me. "You heathen!" I would yell at him. "You're going to hell! Messing around with all these dogs in the neighborhood..."

He would just look at me with guilt in his eyes. He'd be telling me, "I repent. I repent." But the temptation was greater than he could bear.

Cathy would wake me up first thing in the morning and say, "Go let Beau Jacque out." He had to go outside to do his business.

I hated letting that thing outside. I had to stand out there and watch him do his business, you understand. I'd say, "I don't want to go out there and watch that dog crunch up his back and all that kind of junk. I am an evangelist! I'm on television! People know me all over the country. And they're going to see me in the front yard with my dog's back all crunched up. That's embarrassing." "Listen," she told me, "we have to take him out every morning. You take him out."

I hated that dog, and I told him so. I'd say, "I hate you, you understand. I can't stand your guts."

This dog was so spoiled that if you gave him a piece of meat, he wouldn't even chew it himself. No, you had to cut it up in little pieces for him so he could eat it. That's the truth. If I gave him a little chunk of meat (it didn't have to be big - the dog was flat-out lazy), he'd just hold it in his mouth. I'd say, "Eat it, fool!" He'd just look at me. I knew what he was saying. His eyes were telling me, "Cathy cuts it up smaller for me."

I hated that stinking dog! I wanted a big dog like a Great Dane, a Doberman pinscher or a pit bull. I wanted one that goes, "Houf, houf, houf," you know - not one that goes, "Wrrrrrf, wrrrrrrf."

I was out in the yard one time letting Beau Jacque do his business, looking around to make sure no one saw me, because if they saw me they would say, "How you doing, Reverend? Oh, yeah, I see what you're doing there. You're watching your dog do his business, huh?"

"Hurry up, Beau Jacque!" I would yell. "Get behind the monkey grass, you understand? Man!" I hated that dog. The Lord knew it, and the dog knew it!

One time I took Beau Jacque out to do his business, and this guy came by walking a huge pit bull. Little Beau Jacque saw that pit bull, and the pit bull saw Beau Jacque. They started to get territorial. The pit bull stopped and put a paw on Beau Jacque's grass. Oh, that sent Beau Jacque standing straight up. That made him mad. Beau Jacque went, "Hrrrrrrrrrr."

I said, "Woaaaaaa."

"Hrrrrrrrrr," he cried.

"Get down with your bad self, Beau Jacque!" I said. "Oh, you've got some Duplantis blood in you, do ya? Then go over there and take care of that big boy. Bust him!"

Man, that pit bull got all four paws on Beau Jacque's grass, and when he did, Beau Jacque went, "Hrrrrrrrrr," and took off. Beau Jacque ran over and bit that dog's toe.

That dog was a great, big pit bull, and little Beau Jacque just bit him. Then Beau Jacque started trying to chew on his throat! You could see that pit bull just standing there with this tiny poodle trying to attach itself to its throat.

But the big dog didn't do anything to Beau Jacque, except go "Hrrrrrph!" And with that, Beau Jacque fell on his back, going, "Hahhhhhhhh, ahhhhhhhh, ahghhhhhh, aghhhhhhhh."

The man walking the pit bull said, "I think your dog's having a heart attack."

I said, "Get up, Beau Jacque. Get up!" And I was thinking, "Attack! Attack the dog!"

Beau Jacque was still going, "Ahhhhhhhh." I had to go pick Beau Jacque up, because he couldn't even walk. His little heart was pounding, and you could see fear in his eyes. He was telling me, "Oh, thank you. That big dog almost killed me, man." It was embarrassing!

I had to take Beau Jacque in to Cathy, who took one look at him and grabbed him up, saying, "Mamma loves you, Beau Jacque." She was kissing him, and you could just see Beau Jacque panting and saying, "I almost died. Almost died."

Beau Jacque recovered, but I still hated him. So one day the Lord said to me, "I want you to call that dog over to you."

"What?"

He said, "That dog knows you have animosity toward him. He's one of my creations, and I want you to call him over."

"I don't like that dog," I said.

"I don't care," God said. "I sent him to you. Your wife and your daughter love that dog. He's part of your family. Now you call that dog here." God spoke this to me, whether you believe it or not.

He told me to apologize to that dog.

I said, "God, I ain't going to apologize to no dog."

"You apologize to that dog." He insisted.

Well, I felt so stupid. But I called him over and said, "Beau Jacque, come here." He jumped up and looked at me with these crying eyes. I said, "Listen..." And I could see it in his eyes. He was saying, "Go ahead, humble yourself." He knew what I had to do, and he wasn't going to make it easy for me.

"Beau Jacque," I continued, "You know I hate your guts, but the Lord said for me to do this." Now, whether you believe it or not, this is the truth. God made me do this, because I was wrong to that dog. I was wrong to one of His creations. I had hated that dog.

"Beau Jacque, the Lord told me to apologize." And I could see these tears start coming out of his little eyes.

He made a face like, "I forgive you. I've always loved you, but you never loved me." And so he tried to lick me.

"Don't you put your tongue on me!" I yelled. "I don't want your tongue on me. Heel! Beau Jacque, heel!"

"But, look," I said, "I'm sorry. I've shown you great animosity. You know I just want you to be a big dog. I want you to be mean and tough, you understand?"

He understood everything I said. I know he did. That dog had a brain.

So I promised not to be so cruel to him anymore. I promised him I would never wake him up again in the middle of the night and show him a newspaper.

See, if God can't get your attention with higher life forms, He will use lower forms to get your attention. He will make you see where you are from His perspective. We're all part of God's creation. God created every living creature, and He expects us to respect them.

I had to humble myself and start respecting God's creation. My wife and daughter loved Beau Jacque, and I wasn't respecting that. But God got my attention, and I changed. God taught me a lesson through that dog.

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