Shake It Off – by Apostle Paul Oduneye

Shake It Off and Move On
To understand this message, we will gradually study the Word as we turn our Bible to the Book of Luke 9:5:
“And whosoever will not receive you, when ye go out of the city, shake off the very dust from your feet for a testimony against them.”
Hallelujah! In the quoted passage, our Savior Jesus reveals a certain important wisdom that every human being and every Christian needs to embrace in their pilgrimage in this world. No matter what your goal or plan is, no matter how good you behave, or how great you will become someday, there surely are some things attached to your journey that the devil intentionally brings your way to frustrate you, to deter you and make you feel disappointed along the way.
You need to understand why shaking off every plot of the enemy is necessary for your success in life. In the passage, Jesus our Savior Himself said “Whosoever will not receive you”. What He’s talking about here is we must understand how to shake off rejection in life. In many of us God has placed a distinguished future, an excellent destiny and a great tomorrow, but somehow, the enemy tries to faint us by directing our focus on those who reject us. We become all eyes on those who don’t want to encourage us in the journey. We then tend to look for people who can encourage us and have them side with us. It would be futile to do that, aside from it is impossible. Truly, if you want to be progressive in life, you need to understand shaking off things along your way. That’s why Jesus told them not to worry over those who reject but instead have the dust of challenge shaken off and it must never continue to be part of you to reach where God is taking you.
(Somebody reading this now, by the authority and in the name of Jesus, whatever work of the enemy hindering and frustrating your journey, I see the power of God shaking them off today, in the precious name of Jesus, Amen!)
It takes the act of shaking off to maneuver rejection to become progress. Bear in mind however that if you want to shake off something, you can be knocked down by rejection and become stagnant by the devil’s trick. Satan is always on the way side to throw different kinds of stones at you. Take heart, avoid worrying and be mature enough to be able to shake off every dust the enemy has paved your way with.
Now this, it is one thing that you understand shaking off (those challenges, trials and situations ), and it is another thing to understand moving on. If you shake off and do not move on, it is not enough.
That’s why Jesus told them that if they rejected you, shake off the dust then move. (By the authority and in the name of Jesus, before the end of this message, God will make you move on into your success, amen! His grace, power and anointing will enable you to cross over every host and limitation of life. The Lord releases it upon you in the name of Jesus, amen!)
Shake off every negative situation, perplexing trial and mind-boggling challenge, they are not the end-all and be-all to your destiny. You are on the road to a great tomorrow. You are up for greatness and Who determines all these but God Himself. He has already decided it in heaven before you arrived in this world. This means only God alone has the final say about your destiny. I advise you grow mature in the ministry and your christian life by understanding how to shake off the “residues” of life.
Shake off your past. The more you dwell in the past, the deeper the problem will get. But if you understand shaking off the past, you will be able to move into greater success. Your past need not hold you back. Just be willing to break away from the shadows of the past, move forward so that God may be able to take you to next level.
I have said it often and often that life is a journey. If you don’t understand how to shake off the attack of the enemy, you may not be able to arrive to your destination at the right time of God (as he destined to be) that’s why in your journey you must follow this word, shake off and move on. So that the devil will not capture you and trap you.
If you remember in the book of Hebrews 12:1, “Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,” (every luggage, sin, hindrance) so that you can run your race that was placed before you. There’s no way you can move forward and successfully if you don’t know how to shake off the things the enemy has laid to discourage and frustrate you, to restrict your goals. To shake off and move on is a kingdom attitude that everyone must master in order to gain success in life. I don’t know what you have been going through, the difficulties you are facing now counting for your tears. But I have good news for you: God has sent me to you as God is saying “shake that off and make a move for God is taking you to your breakthrough”. (You won’t miss the target of God for you in the precious name of Jesus, amen.) I’ll tell you how to shake off to materialize your progress’ purpose, how to shake your problem and hurdles off for you to be progressive in life.
Let me tell you five ways on how to shake off and move on (to be blessed in the precious name of Jesus, amen!)
1.Set your Mind Free. Setting your own mind free has to do with things that come to your mind, sitting down on and thinking about them. A caution though, never believe everything that comes to your mind. I have said it many times that the mind is a battlefield, a ground where war is going on inside a person. Any battle you can’t win in the mind, you cannot win physically. For you to be an overcomer, progressive in life and successful in life, to conquer the battle in your mind Satan is out there to press many things, to shoot different arrows into your mind everyday. But when they cross your mind, your immediate role is to shake those thoughts off. Don’t quickly accept or believe. Whatever the devil has put into your mind contrary to what God is saying, you better shift it off, so that it will not linger in your future.
Proverbs 23:7, “For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he.”
You may be allowing your mind to absorb the lies of the devil, telling you different messages like you can never be successful in life, you were very bad in the past as everybody knew your story. You’re environment and your community knows you very well that you are good for nothing, that you are useless to God, nothing glorious manifests in you anymore. Once you allow them to sink in your mind and start believing, you cannot move forward in life. When they reject you, and you mentally embrace it; when they drag you down, do you have to believe? No! Shake those thoughts off your mind and say,“Devil, that is not mine, I don’t care what you are trying to imbue in my mind, but I soak my mind with the miracles of the blood of Jesus.”
Satan can bombard your mind with morbid thoughts like you may die of that sickness, you won’t be healed. Satan can pollute your mind with all kinds of lies. You need to shake off those and say “That is not my portion, this is what the Bible says about me”.
When they have been shaken off, you can emerge a winner in the battlefield of life. (You will never be a loser in the precious name of Jesus, amen!)
When you have shaken them off, you can now move on. If you reject the lies of Satan in your mind, you are allowing God to give you the right idea and inspiration, to show you the right perspective. (You won’t miss the purpose of God in the precious name of Jesus, amen!)

2.Self-Deliverance. We live in a world where the devil desires to enchain people, putting a spiritual chain to bind them stagnating and thereby missing their destiny. You must understand how to shake off the chains of the enemy – the shackle of poverty, the whip of affliction, the doom of failure, the fetter of sin and all the other faces of frustrations. You need to understand how to deliver yourself. Let’s move to the book of Isaiah 52:2 “ Shake thyself from the dust; arise, and sit down, O Jerusalem: loose thyself from the bands of thy neck, O captive daughter of Zion.”
God didn’t say He will do it for you, or utilize the pastors or apostles to do the frisking for you. No! But He said, “you yourself”, that’s why I called it self-deliverance. Many people put their trust and believe so much in the pastor who made them “slain”(laid hands on, empowered by God, cannot stand His presence) after their prayer and prophesy to them. I believe in deliverance, in miracle and in healing. It is of no value how many times you fall on the floor, roll or shout, if you don’t actively deliver yourself, you can never be delivered. Before the deliverance can manifest in your life – for your deliverance to come full circle – you must have active participation in your deliverance yourself. A great deal of individuals have visited places, administered to by deliverance ministers making them to “slain”, to rise, cry, roll on the floor and after all those spiritual acrobatics, they remain in the problem. This is because they are still fixated on their bondage, not yet fully decided to be set free. For God to deliver you, you must deliver yourself. Shake that something that holds you back off.

God wants to glorify you but you have discovered through the Word of God, one way or the other that the sin you are holding on to hampers the glorification of God’s purpose for your life. What do you do? Shake it off! Make a choice for a new life. Every time good things come your way, the devil is pretty quick to bring arrows of sin. And when you fall into sin, there is going to be failure. You cry, you realize it, then it is your duty to deliver yourself. No amount of prophecy can deliver you, if you don’t deliver yourself, particularly from sin.

You have discovered that the problem you go through time and again for so long was caused by disobedience. You have become aware of it, then what do you do? Choose to humble yourself, choose to shake it off yourself, willfully let your past go away. Hallelujah! The passage says shake thyself from the dust. Shake thyself. You’ve been weeping eternally fixated on not surviving your plight. That every time you recollect, tearfully you ask what the problem really is.
Your beau let you down, seven years passed and apparently men come your way or boyfriends reappear, but there’s a feeling you are not up to seeing anyone because you keep on remembering the past failed relationship. You surely are not yet ready to be free with those pictures of the past. If you have decided to be free, shake off the dust. It is just the dust of stigma the enemy has powdered onto you. The devil binds you with chains of your past. Stop dwelling in your yesterday, your past hinders the new things God is about to do to you.

Decide to deliver yourself from the spirits of anger or of any attitude that gets in the way between you and what God wants for you. You need to shake those fits off yourself. By doing so, God will be able to intervene and fulfill His plan for you. Everyone must have talked you into doing good, or your pastor has preached to you but you prefer to give in to your own will. You don’t want to listen to them, you disagree with them. In that manner, you are hindering the purpose of God in your life. Wake up! Shake off that dust of self-sufficiency today! So that God can move and perform new things in your life. That’s why I call it self-deliverance. When you look at the verse, “Shake thyself from the dust; arise, and sit down, O Jerusalem: loose thyself from the bands of thy neck, O captive daughter of Zion.” There was a chain! You may not see it physically, but you need to set yourself free from it. And as you make a decision, God will back you up and will give you liberation. You will have victory and you will be able to step into the next level of success. Hallelujah!

3.Ignore The Talks of Your Accusers. You need to disappoint the talks of the enemy for you to move on in life. One of the important things you have to shake off your journey or destiny in life is the talk of the enemy. Daniel 7:25 says, “And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High …” The enemy will speak a great word to weary God’s people. I don’t know how many words you have heard about you but if you want to continue embracing the words, discussing them, reacting and responding to them, you will tarry and may not move forward in life. There are things the devil will bring your way by using the mouth of people.
That’s why the Bible calls the enemy the accuser of the people of God. Bear in mind the principle of shaking off and moving forward, the enemy may cunningly use your fellow Christians to frustrate you or he may use somebody in your community. Avoid confrontation if you can. Do not sit down with your trash talkers to settle matters. Never allow yourself to deal with gossipmongers because the more time you spend for petty issues, the faster you empower the enemy to soil you. So, shake the dirt off! Get moving on your feet. Move on higher. God will do something better for you. Every time you do, He will surprise you. Yes, evil is there to bring bad tidings to sadden your rather bright day but learn to shake the declaration off so that the enemy can no longer grip you. Hallelujah!
Acts 28:3-6 says, “And when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks, and laid them on the fire, there came a viper out of the heat, and fastened on his hand.” Let me just summarize the story here for you. The man called Apostle Paul, the servant of the Living God (who was on different journeys for the work of God) on a mission encountered lack of resources and cold weather along the way and finally, made it to a certain island called Melita. When they got down, they gathered sticks to make some fire because it was cold. As they made fire, snake came out from one of the sticks and fastened on Paul’s hand. Immediately when the snake bit him, (take notice when reading verse 4,
“And when the Barbarians saw the venomous beast hang on Paul’s hand, they said among themselves, No doubt this man is a murderer, whom, though he has escaped the sea, yet vengeance suffereth not to live.” Anyone who is of God should not be passing through this kind of serpent encounter. Unfortunately, there are many people who have the tendency to label others who can afford to say that “Christians are not supposed to experience that kind of trial.”
Sinning persons can be victimized by a righteous mentality pulling them down. If you were embracing the act, the devil may take advantage of it to depress you. So, for you to be an overcomer in the pursuit of your progress, you need to shake those evil labels off.
Now, look at verse 4, “…they said among themselves, no doubt this man is a murderer whom he hath escaped the sea…” Even the snake came to suffer him for Paul was misconstrued bringing it from the start to harm or murder them. Sometimes, in fighting Christians or people, Satan engages the neighbor or the community or (worse), uses the fellow Christians in the advancement of attack.
They may discredit you, you can even see your church members rising against you but never try to hold on to the venomous snake. Shake the venom off, shake off the snake to allow God for the new things in your in life.
Don’t allow the sting of that snake to poison your life. After getting past your challenges, greater things will take place in your life.
Hallelujah! That’s exactly what happened to Paul. Let’s look at verse 5, “And he shook off the beast into the fire, and felt no harm.”
Hallelujah! Glory to God! Immediately, when Paul saw the attack of the snake, he bravely said, “You don’t know, I’m a great warrior of the Lord!”
He did not say “Oh, help me, I’m scared!” That is not what he said. What Paul did was throw the serpent into the fire. When he shook the beast off, he felt no harm.
Until you shake it off, you will not be harmed by the word of the enemy.
Pains, trials, challenges are what the devil brings. What God has revealed to you will be different from what the enemy will be showing you. God has prepared to show you a bright tomorrow and a great destiny. Suddenly, you see the opposite, your environment doesn’t look like what God is saying. It seems like God is lying to you, you need to understand that it’s just a trick of the devil, a snake of the enemy bound to be shaken off to the fire. Let the will of God be done in your life. Shake it off! Don’t let the enemy conquer you. The past situations, things you had yesterday, shake them off! A great miracle is on your way coming. The problem you have about your marriage, just shake it off, God will take you to a new level. That problem about your business, shake it off! About your health, shake it off! Trust God for healing, for good health in your life. God is ever faithful. The Bible says, when Paul shook off the devilish snake, he didn’t feel any harm.
You must not allow the sting of the enemy to keep penetrating your heart, making you cry, leaving you sorrowful, sad, down and weary. Do not be emotionally affected and fall into depression just because of the lies of the devil, shake them all off! Ignore them. Don’t try to sit down on them. If you do, you are giving the devil a leeway to do what he’s good at: kill, steal and destroy. (You will never be defeated by the enemy, in the precious name of Jesus. We will never be defeated by the enemy, in the precious name of Jesus, amen!)
Shake it off! Move on! Ignore the devil and his agents and move on. The Lord God Almighty will surprise you. The devil is a liar constantly bringing your past mistakes that should not hold you down. You might have failed terribly, made mistakes in the past. Shake it off. God’s plans for you are better. Amen! The experiences in the past which you learned lessons from can become a blessing to other people someday.
God knows how and why He allowed the situation you’re in now. God has the final say, don’t hold back. Just shake it off and move on.

4.Turn your Stranded-ness into your Next Breakthrough. Sometimes, Satan loves to use the dust of problems to get people stranded, to make people totally locked down, to deter their progress in life. Anew, they are just tricks of the devil. If you can turn it into your breakthrough, you must understand a revelation. Hallelujah!
Looking at the man called Apostle Paul in Acts 28:5-10, there is an exciting event here what the Holy Spirit revealed to me which I am glad to share with you. In the journey, Apostle Paul encountered challenges: getting shipwrecked, suffered a great deal, nearly perished in the sea until they landed at Melita. When they got into the seashore, they seemingly got stranded since there is no more ship to sail on anymore, no money on hand rendering them immobile. They lost their money during the trials of the storm. You may identify with Paul in your present situation. You have been stranded because of a certain situation. Your business, your family and your goal may be experiencing a standstill. I have good news for you: God is making a way for you today, you need to shake off that strandedness in order for you to see your next breakthrough.
Most of the time, when God allows you to be stranded and you understand how to shake the situation off, you are about to leap into a greater breakthrough which you never experienced before. Let me show you in verse 6. “Howbeit they looked when he should have swollen, or falling down that suddenly but after they had looked a great while, and saw no harm come to him, they change their minds, and said that he was the god.” The people waited for Paul’s downfall that time looking at him thinking, ‘the snake bit him, he will see how his hand swell and how will he die.’
I am not privy to the kind of snake that bit you. When you lost your money, the capital of your business, it was just a snake bite, that is not the end of you. When you lost that relationship, that was a snake bite. It’s not the end of you. When the people reject you and nobody understands your life, it’s just a snake bite, but it’s not the end of you. They were waiting for him (Apostle Paul) to collapse, to fall down and die. But you know what the Bible says, ‘after they had looked a great while, and saw no harm come to him, they changed their minds and say he was a god.’ Hallelujah!
They looked at Paul, spoke bad words, expecting evil to come upon him but since nothing happened to him, they (the detractors) changed their mind and said ‘He’s not what we thought he was, this man is a god in human’s likeness.’
Glory to God! You are the one that God will use to show and prove His greatness in this generation. There is something God has packaged in you. A certain glory that is about to manifest in your life. Reason why Satan is trying to have you bitten here and there.

You overcome one problem, another one is rising. You feel that you are totally stranded, it seems your vision cannot get you anywhere. Get this time for you to shake off every lie of the devil. They were waiting for Paul’s downfall but instead, after shaking off the snake and nothing happened to him, they changed their minds. People are waiting for you to be finished and for your downfall. They speak ill about you, but hear the word of the Lord, “soon and very soon, they will see the glory of God in your life, the power of God manifest in your life, in the name of Jesus Christ, amen!”
You haven’t seen anything yet. Greater is He that is in you, that Jesus on your side is able to surprise your enemy, they are going to see soon how great is your God. But don’t forget your own role. Do YOUR part to never hold their thing, shake it off, ignore it, throw it away, don’t hold it. Don’t sit down and allow the devil to talk you into it, don’t even try to listen to them.
I, the one preaching to you right now, am one of the persons that many love to talk against. I have heard many people talk against me. People used to come to me and tell me who talked against and another one talked against me by text messages but I didn’t care because my destiny is not in their hands. I didn’t care because they are just humans declaring while my Dad Who is Divine has the final say about my entire life. Therefore, it is imperative that I ignore every evil, never allowing that “strandedness” to hold me down.
Shake it off! God is taking you forward. Hallelujah! And you know what I’m talking about. Where you’re stranded, you have to shake off for your greater breakthrough to manifest. There’s a specially designed breakthrough God is about to manifest in your life. There’s a great miracle coming your way. That is what makes Satan worried sick, Satan is fighting on every side trying to lock you down but I want you to understand, you need to shake the locking down off. Let the Giant of God rise in you for the new thing to happen. The Bible say in verse 7, “In the same quarters were possessions of the chief man of the island, whose name was Publius; who received us, and lodged us three days courteously.” Imagine, after they discovered that Apostle Paul was a real servant of God, the next thing that happened was the chief of the land came and accommodated them, took good care of them and made sure that they were well supplied and they were no longer stranded. The place where they were stranded turned into a place of comfort and enjoyment. Hallelujah!
In verse 8, “And it came to pass, but the father of Publius lay sick of a fever and of a bloody flux: to whom Paul entered in, and prayed, and laid his hands on him and healed him.” In that same place, in the house of Publius, there was a sick person and Apostle Paul prayed and the sick got healed, there was a great revival. Hallelujah! That is what the devil saw ahead that made him attack and stranded them. But nothing can stop the Word of God, the plan of God for you. All you need is understand that you have to shake off your remote past and your baffling problems. Move on! There is a wonderful stuff in front of and ahead of you as you move on. God is there to surprise you.
You lost a job? Don’t sit down and be a crybaby forever. Shake it off! You lost that money? Don’t sit down and keep thinking about it. Shake the loss off, move on! Don’t let that sickness make you stranded, God is able to heal you. He has done it to a lot of people. So, he is able to do it to you, do not worry over it. Never be stranded by the dust of the enemy. Shake it off, move onto your next stage. God will surprise you! See Apostle Paul started ministering and how. Verse 9, “So when this was done, others also, which had diseases in the island, came, and were healed.” God healed all of them. The whole land was afforded the chance to come to Jesus because Apostle Paul got stranded there, Hallelujah!
God wants to turn your being stranded, the miracle for you, into progress. Just be ready to apply the principle of shaking off, making a move. Verse 10, “Who also honoured us with many honours; and when we departed they laded us with such things as were necessary.” They started enjoying honor. (From today onwards, honor shall be your portion, God will honor you, angels will honor you in the mighty name of Jesus, Amen!) There’s no way, you can enter into such honor unless you shake off the situation of distress. Don’t be trapped by being stranded, move on. There’s a certain honor you have never experienced before but is waiting for you. The devil doesn’t want you to get there, that’s why he wants you to be stranded. You may say, oh I can do anything about it, it’s locked down, there’s nothing I can do. Who told you you can do anything? You need fresh revelation, you need God to teach you, you must be willing to shake off your situation and be ready and aggressive enough. (God is taking you to your new level in the mighty name of Jesus, amen.) The Bible says they honor them with many things as were necessary. I love that! It means, they were provided according to their needs. There is somebody God has sent for you to meet your needs. There is a human angel that God has sent waiting for you to just make a move, in order for you to get your needs met. Move on! Shake off your situations and challenges. Move on to step out to look for a new job and new setting of goals. God is still alive, able to help you out. As long as you are never tied down to your situation, as long as you’ll never be stranded by your own dust, shake it off, make a move, God will surprise you there. He provided everything they needed. When they arrived, they didn’t have anything, when Paul immediately shook off the serpent, God made a way for them.

5.Fear not. Just remember, speak to that mountain. Mark 11:23 says, “For verily I say unto you, that whosoever shall say unto this mountain, be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.” There are some dust the enemy has cast into your body. There are some chains used to tie you down, never allow your mouth to tie you down,

“A poor mouth will lead to a poor life, A closed mouth is a close destiny.” -APSO.

If you do not use your mouth to cast away that mountain quickly, it’s dangerous. You need to use your mouth to declare that the devil is not permitted in your life, that you won’t be stranded, I am destined to move forward to be successful. So right now, declare “I shake off that spirit of sorrow and that spirit of sickness by the authority of God. I am a millionaire, I was born great and great shall I be!” You start using your mouth to speak exactly what you want to see. If you can do so, God is committed to surprise you. So, for every mountain, you have to use your mouth to reject it. Every chain of the enemy, shake them off by your mouth and say,
“In the name of Jesus, I will never be a loser”
“I’m not going to be failure, success is mine, I will be successful.”
“My body is a temple of God, I am healed and by the authority of God, I will not die but live to proclaim the gospel of Christ.”
Your mouth is a powerful tool and by all means, can shake off everything the devil has tried to attach in your life and every mountain the enemy has set before you. When you use the shaking power of words through your mouth, it will usher in a bright new glorious day, one with the real purpose and plan of God for you. Remember never to shut your mouth if you want to shake off the dust of the enemy. Let me reiterate, the closed mouth is a closed destiny. You need to declare, to speak and tell the devil that he is not permitted, that this is not his turf. That this is your home, your family. The devil has no chance at all messeng them up.
Declare that “this business belongs to Jesus, it’s for the glory of God, it shall prosper.”
“My children will prosper.”
These are the ways to shake off. Not the feeling of sadness, not the act of sulking and bitterly crying feeling sorry for business not doing well and children misbehaving. No, no, no! At the onset of evil attack, begin to open your mouth, reject every dust of the enemy, counter every lie of the devil and declare what you want God to do for you.
Declare your progress, keep moving even when you apparently see no sign of miracle coming. Pursue your action until your faith brings result. Your faith will never put you to shame.
Keep declaring, keep speaking to the situation. As you do, God is committed to surprise you in the name of Jesus. I have told you many times about Abraham, who experienced attacks of the enemy and faced different challenges. The Bible said, He didn’t waver in his faith instead he was glorifying God and declaring, “It is well with me, Isaac will be released as my Sarai will surely conceive and have Isaac for me. I believe my children will be great and my seed will be plenty in the entire world. Everything will be alright!”
Abraham kept on declaring and celebrating God.

The more you declare, the faster you shake the devil and his wiles off. The more you do that, the greater it will be entering into your fulfillment. God loves you. This is the word of God for you. Never forget, shake all the dust off and move on. There’s a greater tomorrow for you in Jesus name, amen! I believe you are blessed.
Father in heaven, we thank you, we give You all the glory for all you’ve done. Lord, as You have sent me and Your Word to your people, I declare Your word, I pray for all, whatever chain and dust that caused them to be stranded in life, I command them to be removed by the blood of Jesus as Paul shook the snake into the fire, I call on the power of the Holy Spirit to remove every work of the enemy in the life of every reader of this book. Whatever the enemy is using to hinder your progress in life, to make you stranded, to make you sorrowful, I declare the end of them now in the name of Jesus. Move on into your success, move on into your joy. Move on into your breakthrough in the name of Jesus. Thank you Father in Jesus name amen.
Glory be to Jesus! I believe you are blessed. All glory be to Jesus. Don’t forget to share this gospel to others and the Lord will reward you.