Years ago, I was in Dallas, and my wife and I stopped at a restaurant to grab a bite to eat. When the waitress came to the table to get our drink orders, I asked for water, and soon after the waitress brought me a glass.
Although the water was a little yellow, I didn’t pay any mind. When you travel as much as I do, you know that water is different everywhere you go. Some places have yellow water, while others have light brown. The worst water in the world is in Monroe, Louisiana. Their water is so oily, it slips down your throat before you can taste it! They may call it artesian, but I call it polluted.
Anyway, I didn’t really pay any attention to what shade of yuck the water was that the waitress had just brought to the table. I just thought, Well, maybe that is the way their water is. So I took that glass and swigged back a mouthful. And when I did, I tasted scotch and water. I was shocked. I held that booze in my mouth, not knowing what to do. I hadn’t tasted scotch in years. Then I yielded to the flesh a little. I leaned my head back and gargled. Cathy’s eyes darted to my throat.
Her eyebrow shot to the sky as she slowly hissed, “Spit it out. Spit it out now!”
I held it in my mouth.
“Spit it out!” she said again – but this time with a little more intensity in her voice. I started looking around for somewhere to spit. The devil said, “Go ahead, swallow it.”
I thought, Naaa, I’m not going to swallow it. But I’ll just hold it in my mouth for a while. I hadn’t felt that burn on my throat in years.
I heard my wife again, but this time she was growling, “Spit it out! I don’t care if you spit it on the floor! You spit it out!” She was staring me down bad!
So I grabbed my glass from the table and spit right back into it. “This is…this is…terrible,” I said, not so convincingly.
“Don’t you lick your fingers!” my wife scowled. “Give me those fingers, bless God!”
I called the waitress over. “That’s liquor,” I said, pointing.
“Well, didn’t you ask for scotch and water?”
“No, I asked for water. I’m a preacher!”
“Oh,” she said, but she didn’t look that startled that she’d just served scotch to a preacher. I wondered how many had been there drinking.
“Ma’am,” I said, “I used to drink a lot years ago, but I don’t do that now.”
She didn’t say anything, but she went and got me a new glass, except this time it was filled with water, clear as crystal.
That day was a big temptation for me. I believe that had I not had a fierce loyalty to God, I would not have had the anchorage I needed to spit that scotch out. You see, as I mentioned before, I’d been a big drinker before I gave my life to God. And no matter how much my wife would’ve griped, if I hadn’t considered what God had done for me, I probably would have swallowed that booze like it was no big deal. I probably would have thought, So what? One swallow of scotch won’t kill me!
But do you know what? That kind of reasoning wasn’t available to me, because a long time ago I made a decision to be a man of principle. It was principle that kept me from breaking the promise I made to the Lord back in 1974 – the promise that I’d never drink or do drugs again if He’d only come into my life and change me.
But do you know what? I never had to work at keeping that promise. Jesus supernaturally delivered me from my addictions to alcohol and drugs. He rehabilitated me in about ten seconds flat when I gave my life to Him. No withdrawals, no shakes, no sweats – nothing but freedom!
Now, how could I hurt my Jesus by going back on my promise? I couldn’t! My loyalty to Jesus is just too strong to let some hell-bent flesh ruin what He has done for me! It is loyalty that makes me say no to temptation.
How about you? Do you feel that your loyalty to Jesus is so strong that it anchors you down when the winds of temptation blow? Do you feel in your heart that you are a person of principle, willing to resist temptation in order to please God?
If you are the least bit unsure, take time to pray and ask God to help you out. Ask Him to renew your spirit by His Word and to help you be a faithful person who is uncompromisingly loyal to His Word. He’ll do it! God loves you! He cares about your life, no matter what is going on. I know God can change you, just like He changed me those many years ago.
No, God’s not finished with me yet. I’m still growing and learning, even though I’m a preacher. God’s still working on me. Day by day, I just live my life and read my Bible and talk to Jesus. He’s my friend, a part of my everyday life.
That’s what I hope Jesus will become for you – a friend who is part of your everyday life. That’s the beauty of a personal relationship with God. It can get you through all of life’s crazy challenges and turn you into something better than you ever thought you could be. It can help you be a person of principle who has fun living life too!
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.”