Gregory Dickow - It's Time to Move
A great greeting, and I’m so thankful for each and every one of you mothers. You may be seated. Let’s take a seat. Where are we seated? We are seated with Jesus in heavenly places. Amen.
We began talking about the shaking that is happening in the world today. It’s been occurring since the resurrection. In Matthew chapter 28, it says, «After the Sabbath, as the first light of the new week dawned, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to keep vigil at the tomb.» I am reading this from the Message translation, which states that Mary came to look at the grave, and behold, a severe earthquake had occurred, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and rolled away the stone, which, in and of itself, is a miracle, since it weighed up to 2,000 pounds. But he rolled away the stone-the angel did.
At this moment, the Bible says the earth shook. He rolled back the stone and sat on it, and shafts of lightning blazed from him, and his garments shimmered snow-white. Now, I am reading from the Message Bible, which says that the guards at the tomb were scared to death. They were so frightened they couldn’t move. The angel spoke to the women, «There is nothing to fear here. I know you’re looking for Jesus, the one they nailed to the cross. He is not here; he was raised just as he said. Come and look at the place where he was laid.»
You know the rest of the story, obviously, but I think it bears repeating that this great earthquake occurred. It is worth repeating that there was a massive earthquake that took place at the resurrection of Jesus. And it wasn’t just a geological tremor; it was a divine disruption, a shaking of every system that has stood in the way of closeness and intimacy with God. It is a shaking of a system. I want you to understand this, guys, and really grasp that the resurrection created an earthquake. The earthquake was simply the aftershock of Jesus rising from the dead. It shook this earth so profoundly that it is still shaking today. And the Bible says that everything that can be shaken will be shaken. Demonic power has been shaken; demonic authority has crumbled, and God has given us authority.
The devil will continue to reign terror in this world as long as believers don’t exercise their authority. But when Christians start understanding their identity, authority, and destiny, and they start moving toward those things, Satan has no power. Satan has nothing that can stop you. The Bible says, «Submit to God, resist the devil, and he will flee.» Amen. You have authority; you have more authority than the devil. Did you know you have more authority than the devil? Most Christians don’t know that.
«Oh, the devil’s powerful.» Maybe he is powerful, but we’re more powerful. The Bible says one can put a thousand to flight, two can put ten thousand to flight. Not only do we have authority over the devil, we have authority over all demons. Jesus said in Luke chapter 10:19, «Behold, I give you authority to trample upon serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means injure you, hurt you, or harm you.»
Think about that! Jesus says to his disciples, «I have given you authority.» Say, «Jesus has given me authority.» «Jesus has given me authority.» You say, «How do we know he’s talking to us?» Because we are his disciples too. And in 1 John chapter 4, it says, «As he is, so are we in this world.» He said, «Behold, I’ve given you authority to trample upon serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy.» If you weren’t sure, does serpents and scorpions represent the devil? Well, it really doesn’t matter, because you have authority to tread upon serpents and scorpions and all the power of the enemy.
So whatever power the devil has, you have authority over him. Woo! That should make you happy! That should make you realize that Jesus did enough and then gave you authority. You don’t have to live a defeated life; you don’t have to live with a defeated mentality. We’re here to dismantle in our minds the systems that Jesus dismantled in his resurrection. Did you hear what I just said? We’re here to dismantle the mindsets and the systems that Jesus dismantled at his resurrection.
The most important system that Jesus dismantled was the system of distance-to be distant from God, to be separated from God. How did Jesus do this? Once again, I just want to remind you, Jesus didn’t just shake the ground that day; he shook systems, powers, dominions, distance, fear, shame, and he shook time itself-the aftershocks of Jesus' resurrection.
We’re just, what, two weeks removed from Easter? Was it two or three weeks? We should be living in these aftershocks! Now we should be expecting the power of the resurrection to produce power in our everyday life. The aftershocks of the resurrection mean the grave couldn’t hold him, religion couldn’t contain him, guilt couldn’t accuse him, hell couldn’t keep him, and distance couldn’t separate him. Jesus destroyed the system of separation from God.
Jesus didn’t rise for us so we could behave better; he rose for us so we could come closer. I’m going to need a better Mother’s Day, amen, than that! Jesus did not rise from the dead so that we could behave better; he rose from the dead so we could come closer. Amen! And as we come closer, that will transform every aspect of our lives-one by one, by one, by one.
Hebrews 7:25 says, «Jesus ever liveth to make intercession for us.» It says, «Wherefore, he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God.» Hebrews chapter 7:2 in the King James Bible says, «He is able to save them to the uttermost, those that come unto God by him, seeing that he ever liveth to make intercession for us.»
He ever liveth to pray for us. That doesn’t mean he’s praying certain prayers for us. It means he’s preserving the connection. When he says he intercedes for us, intercession means more than just prayer. Prayer is one form of intercession, but the intercession that God is talking about here is that Jesus is not in heaven now praying prayers for you. He ever liveth to preserve the connection between us and God forever and ever and ever. He will always be the connector, and he will always preserve our connection.
It’s not you; your sin can’t break the connection between you and God because Jesus ever liveth to preserve that connection. He is forever alive, preserving that connection throughout eternity. So when you think, «Oh, I really blew it!» or «Oh, I don’t really want God in my life! I’ve pulled back! I’ve backslid!» I’m here to tell you, Jesus is still interceding for you. He’s still standing in the gap, preserving the connection between you and God.
You can’t go far enough-there is no distance far enough for you to get away from this connection because Jesus ever liveth to preserve this connection. And there is no separating what Jesus is preserving. Oh man, does that set me free! That’s good for me! Hallelujah! Good! That’s a good word, Pastor. Thank you very much. I receive it!
Hebrews chapter 9:12 says, «With his own blood, not the blood of goats and calves, he entered the most high, the holy place, once for all time, and secured our redemption forever.» Hebrews 9:11 in the Message Bible says, «When the Messiah arrived, high priest of the superior things of this new covenant, he bypassed the old tent and its trappings in this created world and went straight into heaven’s tent, the true holy place once and for all. He also bypassed the sacrifices consisting of goats and calves' blood instead using his own blood as the price to set us free once and for all.»
Hallelujah! Can somebody give God some praise in this place? I’m so grateful for this scripture. I’m so grateful for a historical look at Jesus' blood and what it did and what it accomplished. When he ever liveth to make intercession for us, it is not through praying for us; it is through preserving our connection.
I want to tell you something, and I think it was Joseph-it was JD who mentioned this to me because we were talking about this topic. He said, «Sin and mistakes are inevitable, but distance is a choice.» Sin and mistakes, failures, shortcomings-they’re inevitable. But distance is a choice. Why is distance a choice now? Because God has created no distance between you and him. You might choose to be distant, but there is no distance between you and God. You may choose distance, but that’s 100% your choice. It has nothing to do with God. He did his part; all you need to do is thank him and praise him and minister to him with gratitude.
Ephesians 2:11 says, «Remember that once you were Gentiles in the flesh, called the uncircumcision by what is called the circumcision, made in the flesh by hands; that at that time you were without Christ, you were aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.» Well, that’s a miserable picture-aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope-not a little hope, no hope-and without God in the world.
But now! But now! We’re going to have to just get a little more Pentecostal right now! But now! I can’t hear you, Catholics! But now! What’s wrong with you, Presbyterians? But now! I’ve got one feeble «but now» over here, and everybody’s still waiting for me to call on you. All right! What’s going on with you, Methodists? But now, in Christ Jesus, you who were once far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ! Hallelujah!
I’m so grateful! If we would live in this reality, we would live in joy forever. If we would live in this reality, we would live in peace forever. If we would live in this reality, we would live in kindness forever. If we lived in this reality, we would stop being intolerant towards others. Don’t give yourself a cheap excuse to be intolerant of other people’s views and opinions. We’re not tied to other people’s opinions, and we shouldn’t even be tied to our own opinions. We’re tied to the Lamb of God. We’re tied to the throne. We’re tethered!
Who remembers tetherball as a kid? We’re tethered! This was a long time ago. There was always a taller kid and then a shorter kid. The tall kid hits it once, and it goes like this the whole time. The whole goal is to wrap the ball on a string until it’s all wrapped all the way in. And the tall kid just boom! And you’re like trying to reach it, and you just can’t. You don’t even get a chance! Oh, Zacchaeus would have had a hard time at that game!
The resurrection of Jesus did not just make God approachable; it made him available. Jesus said in John 20:17, «I ascend to my Father and to your Father.» He made his Father our Father. No more priests standing in the middle-direct access, daily closeness, and permanent connection. Boy, you walk out of here with that today, and you’ll walk out of here with a goldmine- pure diamonds: direct access, daily closeness, and permanent connection.
I should just end right here-I’m tempted to-but I am stronger than that temptation. Daniel 11:32 says, «Those who know their God shall be strong and take action, do exploits.» Take action, do exploits, take action, do exploits. When you know God, you will! And when you know that you’re no longer separated from him, when you know you have direct access, daily closeness, and permanent connection with God, you will do great things. You will be strong, and you will carry out great exploits!
The scripture says, and the New American scripture says you will take action. So, Jesus, we started talking about last time how Jesus destroyed the system of passivity in humanity. The system of passivity in humanity has been destroyed. Now we need to dismantle passivity in our mindsets-being passive.
Let me give you this list. Passivity is the invisible prison. But Jesus shook that system and shook that invisible prison. We’ve become passive because of an invisible prison that doesn’t even exist. Jesus shook the system of passivity and destroyed the system of passivity by tearing the veil, as we know he did in Matthew 27. Jesus dismantled and destroyed the system of passivity by appearing personally to ordinary people. 1 John 20 tells us that Jesus destroyed the system of passivity by commissioning doubters and deniers to be his first preachers and evangelists. And Jesus destroyed the system of passivity by giving power to the formerly powerless.
Acts 1:8 says, «Behold, I give you power.» He said, «You shall receive power from on high when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you shall be my witnesses both in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the remotest parts of the earth-to the uttermost parts of the earth.» Jesus dismantled and destroyed this system of passivity.
We have the power to go! We have the power to go to him. We have the power to go to one another and pray. We have the power to go to the world and preach. We have the power to go to the world and pray and lay hands on the sick, and they recover. We have this power that we were formerly without! We were formerly without power, but now we’ve been given power. Why? Because he’s dismantled this passivity.
We can use the power we now have to fulfill the purpose God has for us. The system of passivity has been dismantled! So you have no excuse to remain inactive. You have no excuse to remain disengaged in the glory of the gospel, in preaching the gospel, and giving into the gospel.
You know, the Bible says at one point when David was running from Saul, who wanted to kill him, David could have killed Saul, but he didn’t because he respected the anointing in Saul’s life. The first king of Israel was Saul. This is a different Saul-obviously, everybody knows it’s a different Saul than Saul of Tarsus, who later became Paul.
The first king of Israel, Saul, became jealous of David, and he tried to kill David to keep his throne out of insecurity and fear. At one point, he went into battle with some of his men. David took some of his soldiers; they didn’t want to be taken by Saul, but they didn’t want to hurt Saul either. David said, «Let me take some men with me to take care of this battle.» Some were too tired to go, and they stayed by the baggage. It says they stayed by baggage claim, by the carousel; they stayed by the luggage.
When they went to battle and came back, David said, «Let’s give out the rewards and the pay for those who went to battle.» He gave the reward and the pay not just to the people that went to battle, but he gave it to the men who stayed by the baggage. Some of the guys that did the fighting said, «Wait a minute! Why are they getting what we’re getting? We did all the fighting, but they kept your baggage safe!»
They kept your luggage safe. They kept your possessions safe. They were just as much a part of going into the battle as you were. And I want you to know that though I’m the pastor, and I’m a preacher, we have a team of people that preach, and a team of people that speak, and some might say, «How can I be engaged?» When you give, you’re doing your part of the battle!
When you give your tithes, your offerings, your generosity, it’s not limited. When you give generously, you are sending us to the uttermost parts of the earth. You’re sending the gospel to the uttermost parts of the earth, and your reward will be the same as mine. Amen! Your reward will be the same as mine. In fact, I just hope mine is the same as yours.
Hebrews 12:22 says, «But you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. You’ve come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly.» He says to the church of the firstborn -that’s us! Say, «That’s me! I’m a part of the church!» Say that! «I’m a part of the church! I am the church of the firstborn.» We are the church of the firstborn. Jesus is the firstborn, right? We’re his church!
To the church of the firstborn whose names are written in heaven, you have come to God, the judge of all, to the spirits of the righteous made perfect. Verse 24 says, «To Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkling of blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.» See to it that you do not refuse him who speaks. Don’t refuse what God is speaking to you through the cross.
If they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we if we turn away from him who warns us from heaven. What is he warning us? He’s warning us not to take our eyes off of Jesus and not to put our faith in anything else for our salvation and our connection to God.
At this time, his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, «Once more I will shake not only the earth but also heaven.» We’re living in those days; it’s called revival. We’re living in the days that things are changing-things are shifting, things are moving, things are happening. Things are happening behind the scenes you don’t even know! Your prayers are making a difference. Your speaking makes a difference. You preaching the gospel makes a difference. You giving into the gospel is transformative. It’s shaking this world!
He says, «Once more» indicates the removing of what can be shaken-that is, created things-so that what cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful. Let us be grateful! Amen! And so worship God acceptably, with reverence and with awe.
The scripture goes on to say in verse 28 of Hebrews 12 that passivity is the spirit of passivity that doesn’t take action, doesn’t do great exploits. That spirit says, «Sit still! Don’t move! Don’t take risks!» But let me tell you why you should move and take risks. Not move geographically, but move the earth with your faith! Move this earth. Move this world system back and enforce the system of God!
We’re not of those who are caught up with social media’s fake world or the media’s fake portrayal of what’s happening in the world. We don’t get our news from them; we get our news from God! Stop getting your news from CNN! Stop getting your news from Fox News! Get your news from the gospel-the good news! Amen!
You should live in this life to be a mover -a mover of mountains, a shaker of demonic power over your families and your loved ones. It’s time to move! It’s time to take action! It’s time for us to be the kind of people that say, «I’m moving this earth! I’m pushing Satan’s power back! I’m moving Satan’s kingdom back! I’m taking this earth! I’m taking dominion! I’m taking this world! I’m here to do something great for the glory of God!» Woo! Say this out loud: «It’s my time! It’s my time! It’s my hour! It’s my hour to start moving! Start moving! Moving the earth! Moving the earth! Moving this world’s system back! Moving mountains! Moving mountains! Moving myself toward God’s purpose for my life
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I refuse! Say this: «I refuse! I refuse to listen to the voice of passivity -the voice of being bound by the kingdom of passivity.»
In 2 Kings chapter 7 and verse 3, there were four leprous men at the entrance of the gate, and they said to one another, «Why sit we here and die?» They were just sitting there, ready to die. But they started asking the right question. Boy, if you’re going to do something in life, if you want to do great exploits, if you want to take action, if you want to move things, if you want to make a difference, be a part of a movement, help contribute to that movement-you’ve got to ask the right question in your life: «Why am I sitting here just to die? Just to wait for death?»
They went on, «If we say, 'We’ll enter the city, ' the famine is in the city, and we shall die there. And if we sit here, we’re going to die anyway. Now, therefore, let us come and surrender to the army of the Syrians. If they keep us alive, we shall live; and if they kill us, all that can happen is we die, which we’re going to die anyway!»
So they rose at twilight to go to the camp of the Syrians. When they had come to the outskirts of the Syrian camp, to their surprise, no one was there. For the Lord had caused the army of the Syrians to hear the noise of chariots and the noise of horses-the noise of a great army. So they said to one another, «Look! The king of Israel has hired against us the kings of the Hittites and the kings of the Egyptians to attack us!» This is what the enemy thought. This is why they ran away.
But when did they run away? When did they hear the sound of horses and chariots? As soon as these men asked the right question: «Why are we sitting here to die? Let us go and make movement!» Let us go toward the problem. Let us go toward the future. Let us go toward our destiny. Let us go toward it. Whether we die in the process or whether something miraculous happens, we’re not going to sit here and die! We’re not going to stay under the control of Satan’s power! We’re not going to remain passive!
As they rose-whoa! It’s time for us to rise! As they rose and fled at twilight, they went to the camp of the Syrians. When they had come to the outskirts of the Syrian camp, to their surprise, no one was there! What happened? The Lord caused the army of the Syrians to hear a greater noise than they were even making! God is going to make the enemy hear something just because you start taking action! Just because you start moving things forward! Just because you start taking charge of your passivity! Say, «It’s not my passivity anymore!»
Take charge of anxiety and say, «It’s not my anxiety anymore!» Move forward, move mountains! Get involved in next steps; get involved in life groups; get involved in supporting the outreaches to the world! Get involved! As soon as you start making a movement beyond where you’re at right now, beyond the point of limitation, as soon as you start making movement, God starts making noise!
As soon as you start making movement, God starts making noise! And the enemy hears the noise of God! The enemy doesn’t hear your movement; he hears God, and he runs! And when he ran, it says they-these Syrians were like, «There’s a great army coming against us! We better get out of here!» And they literally ran away! When the lepers came- not only did they run away-therefore they arose, verse 7 says, «and fled at twilight and left the camp intact-their tents, their horses, their donkeys-and they fled for their lives!»
Look at what they left: everything intact! Their tents, their horses, their donkeys-everything! And they fled for their lives just because these four men made movement.
When these lepers came to the outskirts of the camp, they went into one tent and ate and drank, carried from it silver and gold and clothing, and went and hid them. Then they came back and entered another tent, carried some there also, and went and hid it. Then they said to one another, «We’re not doing right! The day is a day of good news, and we remain silent! If we wait until morning light, some punishment will come upon us. Now therefore, come, let us go and tell the king’s household of Israel.»
So they went and called the gatekeepers of the cities and told them, saying, «We went to the Assyrian camp, and surprisingly no one was there. Not a human sound, only horses and donkeys tied, and the tents intact.» And the gatekeepers called out, and they told the king’s household inside. So the king rose in the night and said to his servants, «Let me now tell you what the Syrians have done.»
He goes into some explanation because he doesn’t realize what God has just done. My point is, these lepers went into the enemy’s camp. You know, we used to sing that song. I don’t know if you remember that song: «I went to the enemy’s camp, and I took back what he stole from me.»
I’m not going any further than that, but I just want to illustrate: they took all that belonged to the enemy because they took action. They thought, «We’re going to die anyway!» That’s taking risks! Let’s go bold! Let’s preach the gospel! Let’s give hilariously! Let’s take risks and stop being limited by the tithe and go beyond!
Stop being limited by the law! We’re not bound by the law! I don’t mean the laws of our land, the laws of society; I’m talking about we’re not under the control of and the oppression of not being able to keep the commands. We must draw closer and must make movement! We must take this hour and take this moment, take this season as an opportunity. God is calling us closer to him, and he’s made a way forever so that we never have to be distant from him again.
And he’s calling us to make movement in this earth-to move toward him and to move mountains-to move toward him and to move things-to move toward him and move ourselves forward! To move toward him and go forth a little! Take action a little! Jesus went forward a little!
We have to take our next step! We have to take the next chapter of our lives! We’ve got to move forward! We’ve got to stop trying to surround ourselves with comfort and start getting uncomfortable. Be comfortable with being uncomfortable! Start moving the ball, moving in our direction, moving the things that God wants for us to do!
Stop thinking that you’re disqualified! That’s a lie from the devil! That passive spirit-that devil! He’s telling you to just be patient! Passivity is a prison disguising itself as patience! Passivity is a prison disguising itself as patience! Jesus doesn’t reward our passivity; he disrupts it! He disrupts it!
Who’s ready to be a mover? A mover! A mover of mindsets! A mover of mountains! A mover of demons! We move demons out of the way! We move obstacles out of the way! We go over them, we go under them, we go through them, we go around them, we go above them! We just go forward and become the people that do exploits for God!
And this year, we have a few months to really do something amazing! The second half of your life is always better than the first! The second half of a year is always better than the first if you’re going in the right direction! The last seven months of this year-we’re going to turn the world upside down! And the only way to do that is to see ourselves the way God sees us-as people who know him and do great exploits for him!
Stop letting your failures disqualify you! Everybody that God used in scripture was a massive failure-besides Jesus himself! Every person God used in scripture was a massive failure! But God refused to let their failure be their disqualifier! And in fact, their failure helped qualify them because their trust wasn’t in self; it was in God!
Let’s stand together! If you’re here-Life Changers Chicago, Life Changers Hoffman, Life Changers Global-if you’ve never received Jesus as the Lord and Savior of your life, I want to lead you in this simple prayer, and then we’re going to prophesy that passivity off of ourselves one more time today. But if you’ve never received Jesus into your life, if you’re not sure you’re going to heaven when you die, please, no moving around unless it’s an emergency! Please, just out of respect for the people around you. If you’ve never prayed this prayer, everybody pray it together.
Let’s bow our heads and give people an opportunity to pray this prayer. Let’s pray this with them out loud. This might be your first time praying this. God’s going to come into your life; you’re going to be born again! Jesus is going to come into your life; you’re going to be born again simply by this prayer. Say: «Heavenly Father, I invite Jesus Christ into my life as my Savior. I believe Jesus is Lord. Jesus is risen! Jesus is risen! And I believe his blood has cleansed me from all my sin. And the blood of Jesus makes me whole. The blood of Jesus makes me a new creature in Christ. From this day forward, I am a part of God’s family. In Jesus' name!»
If you prayed that prayer for the first time, on the count of three, with every head bowed, on the count of three, if you meant it when you prayed that out loud, the Bible says if we confess Jesus before men-Jesus said, «If you confess me before men, I’ll confess you before all the angels in heaven and my Father in heaven as well.»
On the count of three, if you prayed that prayer for the first time, raise your hand up. One, two, three! Come on quickly! Right where you’re standing! God bless you! God bless you! Who else? Put your hand up! God bless you! God bless you here! God bless you here! Come on, be bold! God bless you right here! Come on, be bold! Let me see that hand! God bless you right here! I see that hand! Come on, be bold in the back! Put your hand up! God bless you! Come on, be bold! Confess him before men now! Come on, be bold in Jesus' name!
Don’t be afraid. You’re a part of the family. You don’t have to keep up the end of the bargain-Jesus keeps the beginning of the bargain, and he keeps the end of the bargain, and he keeps everything in between the bargain! He does it all. All you have to do is simply believe! Come on, let’s give a hand for all those people that received Jesus today! Hallelujah!