Gregory Dickow - The God of Open Doors
I want to talk to you about the God of open doors. He is the God who opens the doors that no man can close. He is the God who makes a way where there is no way. If you’re trying to get into something and there’s no way in, he’s your way in. If you’re trying to get out of something and there’s no way out, he’s your way out. If you’re trying to get up to something, he is your way up. He is the way, the truth, and the life. There are some doors that God wants to open in our lives, and we’re preventing God’s opening of those doors. God doesn’t want to keep the doors closed; God wants to open your doors. God wants to open the door to your victory, the door to your healing, and the door to your breakthrough. He wants to open the door to all the blessings, wisdom, and favor that he has for you. God is the God of open doors. He’s not the God of closed doors, although he certainly can close doors that no man can open. But he’s the God of openness. He’s the God of power. He’s the God who’s more than ready to give. He is convinced about what he wants to do in your life. The only thing stopping him is us not learning how to connect with the God of open doors. So I want to teach you how to connect. There are three things that we need to connect to in order to experience the power of God and the open doors that God wants to bring us. I want to remind you of the woman in the Bible who learned how to connect with Jesus. I want to remind you and then share with you these three simple ways to connect with the God of open doors.
In Mark 5:25, it says, «A certain woman had a flow of blood, an issue of blood for twelve years, and she had suffered many things from many physicians. She had spent all that she had and was no better, but rather grew worse.» Now I want you to think about this woman’s condition. Her injury, her sickness, her disease, her issue of blood has been long-lasting. It’s been chronic. It says, «She has suffered many things from many physicians.» And it says that after hearing about Jesus, in verse 27, she came up in the crowd behind him and touched his garment. And she said, «If I just touch his garments, I will get well.» One translation says she kept on saying to herself, «If I touch his garments, I will get well,» and immediately-and it didn’t mean immediately after she said it once. It means it happened so fast. It happened so fast. It happened immediately. The flow of her blood was dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of her affliction. Jesus, perceiving in himself that power had proceeded from him, felt the power leave his body and enter into hers, but he didn’t know who it was. That’s why he turned around to the crowd and said, «Who touched my garments?»
Boy, there’s something powerful about that. Jesus had to ask the question, «Who touched my garments?» It tells us a lot. When he asked, «Who touched my garments?» it tells us a few things. Number one, it tells us that he didn’t know who it was. Because if he knew who it was, he wouldn’t have asked, «Hey guys, who touched my garment? Who was that? Point that person out. Where did that power go? That power left me; where did it go?» He had to ask, «Who touched my garments?» The second thing that tells us is that when he said, «Who touched my garments?» it’s telling us that there is power that we decide if we’re going to tap into. Jesus didn’t decide whether she was going to get access to that power; she took it. The Bible says the violent take the kingdom by force. She took it. She said, «I’m going to touch that man’s garment, and I’m going to get well. I heard this name, this man Jesus, and I heard he has healing flowing through him. I’m going to grab hold of that.» And when she did, it says she was immediately healed. Power went into her body. She connected with his garments. She connected with what he was wearing. She connected with the tassels that were hanging from the robe he was wearing. She touched it, and power went through her. Power went from him to her. That’s why he said, «Who touched me?» And they said, «Master, you see the crowd pressing in on you? You see everybody pressing in like this, and you say, 'Who touched me? '»
It says, «And he looked around to see the woman who had done this.» But the woman, fearing and trembling, aware of what had happened to her, came and fell down before him. You know, we don’t have to worship God in order to receive his power. But if we realize how much power he’s given us, we will worship him. When she realized how his power had just come through him to heal her, she fell before him, worshiped him, and told him the whole truth. And he said to her this loving, beautiful word. Verse 34 says, «Daughter.» I want you to hear the voice of God talking to you when you hear him say to her, «Daughter,» «Son, daughter, it’s family; it’s affection. Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace and be healed of your affliction.» Your faith has made you well. How was her faith activated to make her well? Through the power of connection.
Now see, beloved, as I mentioned, there are three things that we need to be connected to in order to access the power and have God open the door to your healing, your breakthrough, and all the things that we need in life. One thing about social media that I know is it can be dangerous. Social media can lead to approval addictions or manifest approval addictions, and there is a lot of bad stuff out there that you really have to watch over your own heart. You have to be responsible to watch over your heart. But one thing that social media has highlighted in a positive light is that it shows us how much every one of us desires to be connected to others. It shows us we have a desire for connection. There is something inside of us that needs connection. We are a source, a carrier of power when we are connected to the right things. I believe that the way to break the power of addictions, the way to break the power of anxiety, and the way to disconnect from the wrong things, the unhealthy things, is not by trying harder to get rid of the unhealthy things. It’s about getting attached to the healthy thing. And by being attached to the healthy thing or connected to the healthy things, it will cause the root of your problem to begin to be solved, and you will no longer have an appetite for the unhealthy things.
We’ve been told by religion that holiness is detaching from bad things: «Don’t do this. Don’t do that. Stop this. Stop that.» That’s not holiness. Holiness is attaching to the right things. Amen. Amen. It’s not about detachment; it’s all about attachment, which is connection. Connection with God, the right connection with God, the right connection with one another, and the right connection with this world. When I say the right connection with God, it’s connecting with God. These are the three things that will help you experience the power of connection and open the doors to the goodness of God in every area of your life.
Connection with God through grace. Connection with God through grace. There is no other way to connect with God except through grace. You cannot connect to God through just reading the commandments and trying to obey them. You cannot connect to God because you’re just trying harder. You cannot connect to God because of your effort. You cannot connect to God because of your fasting. You cannot connect to God because you read the Bible enough. There’s only one way to connect with God, the one way that we start the connection with God, I should say, and that is connecting with God through grace. Connecting with God through grace, not through the law, not through our legalism, not by trying to cross all your tees and dot all your i’s. We don’t connect to God through our efforts, our works, or our holiness. We connect to God through grace. We connect to God through grace. Say, «We connect to God.» Say, «I connect to God through grace.»
Romans 5: 1 — 2 says, «Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.» Verse 1 says, and verse 2, «Through whom, him Jesus, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we stand and now we exalt in hope of the glory of God.» Notice what he says; we have this access by faith into this grace in which we stand. You cannot stand without grace. You cannot stand before God without grace. You cannot connect to God without grace. What is grace? It is what Jesus has done for us. It is what Jesus has paid for us. It is that he has paid it all so that you can have access to God. Through the blood of Jesus, we receive his grace, his free, unearned, unmerited favor, and unearned love. Grace is God’s unearned, unmerited favor and love. Grace is God’s unearned, unmerited favor and love. And all of that grace comes through Jesus Christ. We have this grace through Jesus Christ. Grace, G.R.A.C.E. stands for God’s riches at Christ’s expense. God’s riches at Christ’s expense. Because of his precious blood, we now receive the riches of fellowship with God, the riches of authority in Christ, the riches of wisdom, and the riches of connection. It’s all through grace.
Connection with God through grace. Number two: connection with each other. Well, there is power in our connection with each other. We need each other. I could talk about this all day, but I need you to get a hold of this. There is so much power in our connection. How much power? Look at Matthew 18: 19. It says, «Where two or three are gathered in my name,» Jesus said, «there I am in the midst of them.» In other words, God’s presence is always living inside of you, but God wants to be in our midst. He wants to be in the middle of us. He wants to be among us, healing, touching, and revealing his goodness, love, and kindness. Right now, when we come together, there is a manifest presence of God. When we get connected to each other, he’s trying to show us that there is another level of power in this verse. It comes from our connection with each other. Where two or three are gathered in my name. Two or three are gathered in my name. We’re gathered in his name, aren’t we? He’s in our midst. So, he’s making his power, his abilities, and what you need available to you.
Boy, if we just stop right now and say, «Father, I thank you that you know all my needs.» Pray that right now. Say, «Heavenly Father, I thank you that you know all of my needs. I thank you that you know, and you are in our midst. You are in me, and you’re among us. I’m asking for the manifestation of your supply for my needs today. I’m asking for a miracle. I’m the one who’s going to receive my miracle.» Because you are in our midst, and you work miracles among us. You work miracles among us. In Jesus' name, in Jesus' name, there’s power in that. I’m telling you, some of you are going to walk out of here completely changed, having accessed the power through connection. You say, «Why should I come to church? Why should I be connected to church?» Because of this promise that there is power in our presence together. There is power in our gathering together.
Earlier in this passage, in verses 18 and 19, he says, «When two of you agree about anything they may ask, it shall be done for them by my Father who is in heaven.» If two of you agree on earth about anything, this has nothing to do with when we get to heaven. This is on earth. We have earthly needs, earthly desires, earthly wants, and earthly passions that we can access when two of you agree. What Jesus is trying to tell us is, «You mean I can’t pray by myself?» Of course, you can pray by yourself. But he’s trying to amplify the additional power, the additional horsepower that comes into your engine, the horsepower that comes into your life, the horsepower that comes into your family, your business, your finances, and your health. Every area of your life. When you’re connected with others, when you are connected to the body of Christ, and connected to the people that God has placed you with, you can see another dimension of power here, can’t you? If two of you agree on earth about anything they may ask. You know, that’s our God. He’s so unlimited. He’s so limitless. We’re so limited.
Well, you better not ask that, and you better not ask this. We have to qualify. By the time we tell everybody what they shouldn’t be asking for, they have no encouragement to ask for anything because you just told them that just about everything they want is something they shouldn’t ask for. Jesus didn’t have any qualifiers on this passage of scripture. He said, «If two of you agree on earth about anything they may ask.» If you’ve got the boldness to ask for it, God has the boldness to give it to you. You get someone to agree with you about that thing, no matter how wild and crazy it is. Hey, wild and crazy! Come on. Isaiah 65:8 says, «Thus says the Lord, as the new wine is found in the cluster.» The new wine is the new covenant. The new wine is the manifestation of new covenant power, new covenant revival, new covenant praise, new covenant blessings, new covenant wisdom, new covenant authority, new covenant boldness, new covenant righteousness, new covenant grace, the abundance of grace, and the gift of righteousness.
The new wine is found in the cluster. The cluster of grapes is what produces the wine. What we sometimes do is isolate ourselves. We separate ourselves. You’ve got to know there is some anointing in your grape, but there is more anointing in the cluster. You’ve got some juice, but you don’t have all the juice to make the wine in your individual singular grape. Amen? Because the manifestation of the new wine, the power of it all, is in the cluster. And he says, «Don’t destroy it. Don’t destroy it. Don’t destroy the cluster.» You know what the devil is? One of the words for devil is «Diablo,» which means «separator.» He’s an accuser and separator, divider. He’s trying to divide the church. He’s trying to divide us as people. He’s trying to divide us by race. He’s trying to divide us by economic levels. He’s trying to divide us by our experiences and our past. He’s trying to divide us by politics. There’s the conservative side and the liberal side. There’s this side and that side. We don’t take sides; we take dominion. The new wine is found in the cluster, and God says, «Do not destroy it.» Whatever you do, don’t destroy this connection we have. Whatever you do, don’t stop coming to church. Whatever you do, don’t stop being planted. Whatever you do, don’t stop giving. Whatever you do, don’t stop staying with it, honoring one another, covering one another with love. Don’t break it up. Don’t destroy it.
Every time I see a church start to crumble, it’s because somebody has allowed the divider to come in and destroy the cluster. And the cluster is where the power is. The cluster is where the fresh anointing is. The cluster is where all the miracles are. The cluster, the cluster, the cluster. You are connected to a vine. You are connected to the branch. We are a part of the vine together with Jesus. We are connected to one another. He’s the vine, and we’re the branches, and we are in a cluster. Nobody can do it by themselves. That’s why you come to church. That’s why you serve. That’s why you get involved. That’s why you let God promote you in the house of God. Amen.
I told you there were three connections that release and activate the open doors and the power of God. One, your connection with God by grace. Two, your connection with one another through the church. And three, our connection to this world. Amen. Through kindness. Amen. We are not connecting to this world’s system. We are not connecting to this world’s greed. We are not connecting to this world’s entertainment. We can be entertained by some of the great things produced in a creative society and in a creative culture. There’s nothing wrong with enjoying movies. There’s nothing wrong with enjoying music. But we’re not connected to this greed, political self-righteous system of this world. We’re not connected to this world’s system. We are connected to this world through our kindness because what is missing in the earth today is this kind, benevolent, gracious empathy, mercy, and understanding.
People are going through things. Nobody has it all together. Kindness is never wrong. Love never fails. Mercy is on the throne of God, not judgment. Grace is on the throne, not judgment. And what this world needs is for us to be connected to it- not to get our life supply from this world, but to give our supply of God’s life to this world.