MAP | MY CASE IS MY DIFFERENCE | DAY 3 | FOUR MAJOR FORCES YOU NEED TO STAND OUT OF THE CROWD

MAP | MY CASE IS MY DIFFERENCE | DAY 3 | FOUR MAJOR FORCES YOU NEED TO STAND OUT OF THE CROWD

You need to understand that in life for you to carry out your plan, for you to stand out of the crowd you need four major forces.

Number one | The force of the will. Your will is your power. Your power is in your will. Jesus met a man and asked him, “Do you want to be healed? You can't become anything or anybody in this world if you don't want it. If you don't want it, you cannot get it. If you don't want it, you will not do it.

Number two | The force of your perspective. Your perspective is how you see things, how you look at things in your life. While some can see adversities, others see opportunities.

Number three | The force of your decision. You can have good ideas, but you must decide on which way to go. Your life is your decision. Your decision is your life.

Number four | The force of your choice. Your life is a product of your choice. God says, “I put before you death and life, choose life. I put fbefore you curse and blessing, choose blessing”

So those 4 forces put together are what will help you to stand out of the crowd.

In Ruth chapter two verse one, the Bible says, “Naomi had a kinsman of her husbands a mighty man of wealth of the family of Elimelek and his name was Boaz”.

Boaz means inner strength or Strength in him. That is the meaning of Boaz.

I like something very important : the word strength. Strength is very important in somebody's life.

We have physical strength. We have mental strength. We have ah emotional strength. We have ah financial strength. We have intellectual strength.  we have also spiritual strength of course.

So the Bible says for example in Isaiah 40:31 that “those who wait upon the Lord renew their strength so they can mount up like eagles, run and not be weary, and walk and not faint”.

The Bible says in Nehemiah chapter eight verse ten that “the joy of the Lord is our strength”.

So we need joy in our life. And you know that when somebody lacks strength in their life, they will not be able to handle situations that they can be facing.

When you look at Joshua chapter one, when Joshua was about to enter into the promised land, God came to strengthen him and said to him many times … be strong and of good courage... Why? Because he needed strength to conquer the promised land and carry out the plan of God.

When Jesus was in the garden of Gethsemane, about to face death, the Bible says in Luke 22:43 that an angel came to strengthen him. He needed strength for the next assignment that was ahead of him.

Paul says in Ephesians chapter number six verse ten, “Be strong in the Lord”. When you read this chapter you will see many places where Paul talks about the warfare because he said the weapon of our warfare are not handled by the almighty true God.

So you understand that ah for you to be able to face, to handle spiritual warfare, you need strength.

In the book of Proverbs 24:10, it says very clearly that “if you faint in the day of adversity your strength is small”,which means that to handle opposition and adversities or hard time, you need strength.

When you read the apostle Paul again in the book of Ephesians 3:16, he is talking about being strengthened in the inner man.

So there is a need for you to come to a place where you need to be strong enough inside of you.

Samson was a man who was physically strong but spiritually weak.

And there is a contrast I wanted just to show unto you between Boaz and Machlon. You know Machlon was the first husband of Ruth. And the name Machlon means weak. And the name Boaz means strength.

Just to let you know that this movement, this change of name is very important. And the Bible says in Joel 3:10, “Let the weak say I am strong”.. And we add in our songs, “Let the poor says I am rich”.

So, you need inner strength in your life for you to be able to handle the realities of our life.

That is why we need to be strengthened on daily basis. We need strength.

That is why in Daniel chapter eleven verse thirty-two, the Bible says, ”Those who know their God shall be strong and will do exploits”. You need strength for you to do exploit.

What are exploits? Exploits are supernatural accomplishment, supernatural achievement. Exploits are those supernatural realizations in the life of men by the strength from above, by the strength of God.

So what are the forces that you need to actualize your strength? What are the forces you need for you to be strong in the midst of the famine? In the midst of the in the midst of the ah adversities of all kind that can come our way?

It takes strength from above for your case to be different. So if Boaz was able to resist in the midst of the famine. If Boaz was able to stand strong when everybody is running away, it has taken a supernatural strength in him to allow him to stand strong.

The Bible talks about a man called Shammah in 2 Samuel 23:11. And the Bible says, “The Philistines were gathered into a troop, where was a piece of ground full of lentiles : and the people fled from the Philistines. But Shammah stood in the midst of the ground, and defended it, and slew the Philistines : and the Lord wrought a great victory.

So, in order for Shammah to stand in the midst of the field, to stand against the Philistines, to fight the Philistines, to overcome the Philistines. It has taken the strength from above.

Today I pray that in the name of Jesus Christ the same strength will be made available for you. I want to trust God that the time of being weak is over.

You know in Acts 1:8, Jesus says, “You will receive power after that the Holy Spirit is come upon you and you will be my witnesses”

Because God knows that in this world you cannot survive unless you are strong. Because there will be opposition, there will be critics. There will be all kind of adversities. There will be battles.

So in order for you to stand in the midst of the crowd, in order for you to stand out in the midst of crisis, in order for you to keep your head up in the midst of all the storms, you need strength

And that is why today I want to give to you those four forces you need for you to stand out of the crowd. And those four forces are what we find in the life of Boaz. And remember I am studying Boaz compared with Elimelek and his family.

FORCE NUMBER ONE | THE FORCE OF YOUR WILL

God has created you and I with the will. And you should know that God never forces his will on people.

And you know when I read Ruth chapter number one verse twenty one, Naomi says, “I went...”

Naomi went with her family because she wanted to. I don't believe that somebody forced them to go. Boaz also had money. He was wealthy. He could have travelled. He could have also gone. But I believe he did not want to.

That is why I always say, if you really want, you will find a way. If you don't want, you will find excuses. God never forces his will on people.

The Bible says in Philippians 2:13, “It is God which worketh in you both to will and to do f his good pleasure”

In Revelation 3:20, Jesus stands at the door and knocks. If anyone listens to him and opens the door, he says, he will enter.

God never forces his people to do His will.

In Second Corinthians 8:12, Paul says concerning the offerings, “For if there be first a willing mind, it is accepted according to that a man hathm and not according to that he hath not”

God never forces his will on people. God is a respecter of human's will.

That is why it is written in Luke chapter nineteen verse 14, “We don't want this man to rule over us”.

So it is okay. God says, “Okay, if you don’t want, you don't want”

And I read again in the book of Matthew 23:37, Jesus says something powerful, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!”

So the problem of many is that they don't want. And that is why Naomi and her family left but Boaz chose not to follow them. Because they were in the same family.

So it teaches something very important that we can be in the same family, but just because we are in the same family, it does not mean that if one makes a decision contrary to the will of God that you should also do. No.

I remember when you look at the story of the submarine that was destroyed in the ocean, it is amazing to see that there were two close friends. One said, “I'm going to the submarine”, but the other friend also paid for it, but later changed his mind.

It shows to you that if you want to stand out of the crowd, you will.

And sometimes, we are so spiritual that we neglect the force of our will. The will that God has given to you is a strength. And sometime we don't use that strength.

 

That's why when Jesus came and met this paralytic man, he asked him, “Do you want to be healed?”(John 5:6). It is a crazy question. How can Jesus ask such a question to a man who was sick? Don't assume. No assumption. Because somebody can be sick but does not want to be healed.

How will some people go to hell? It is clearly written in Mathew 25:41 that hell was created for the devil and his angels. Now how come people some people will go there? It is the product of their will.

So I want to help you understand that your case can be different if you want your case to be different.

It's like Jesus is asking you a question ... Do you want to be healed? Do you want to succeed? Do you want to make it in life? Do you really want to be different? Do you want your marriage to work? Do you want your family to stand? Do you want your business to grow?

If you want, you will find a way. If you don't want, you will find excuses. That is why there are many people who are having all kind of excuses and they are remaining in the crowd.

Today, I want to believe and trust God that somebody under the sound of my voice, you will stand out of the crowd. But you need to engage the force of your will. But if you want, you will find a way. If you don't want, you will find excuses. To stand out of the crowd your will must be engaged.

I remember even in my own life. I always share it with you. It came a moment where in my life I was going to Church and to the university trekking for many months, I can say even many years.

At that time I did not have money to go to school. I did not have money to go to Church. So what was I to do? I was trekking. Because I wanted to be in Church.

Can you come to a place where you use your will as a strength for you to stand out of the crowd like Boaz? Boaz is a man of a strong will. The name Boaz means strength.

Unfortunately, there are people who don't know what they want. Remember Jesus met Bartimaeus along the way and he asked him a question in Mark 10:51, “What do you want?” And he said, “Lord, I want to see”.

If at all Jesus meets you along the way and asks you the question, “What do you want?” What will you say? What will you say?

Oh well … The government … The hustler funds … The taxes are going high … Things are not okay … I am not from the tribe of the president …  I'm not from the tribe of the deputy president … I am not from the tribe of the MPs …

Stop those arguments. Use your will as a strength. Use your will as power because it is a gift of God to you, your will. What do you want? What do you want?

Even Jesus when he was in the garden of Gethsemane and he was praying, he said, “Not my will, but your will” (Luke 22:42).

It does not mean that Jesus did not have any will. It simply means that he surrendered his will to the will of the Father. Meaning that he wanted to die.

If you to stand out of the crowd, the force number one you need to engage you need to engage the force of your will.

The four friends of the paralytic man wanted their friend to be healed. They wanted it. No matter the obstacles, they found the way. They removed the roof and made him enter from the roof.

You see? When somebody wants, he will find a way. If you don't want, you will  find excuses. All those are excuse. And there is nobody who can stand out of the crowd with excuses.

Excuses are lies. Excuses are fabricated rationalization of lies in your life. Excuses will keep you in prison. Never to see your goals fulfilled. Never to see your dream to come to pass because of excuses. Procrastination is also an enemy. Can we decide today to bury those enemies of advancement?

FORCE NUMBER TWO | THE FORCE OF YOUR PERSPECTIVE

For you to stand out of the crowd the way Boaz did, you need the force of your perspective.

Your situation is not a fate. You can get out anytime even now. You have within you the power to stand out the crowd.

Remember. The name Boaz means strength within. Strength in him. Strength in God.

For you to stand out of the crowd, you need to change your perspective. And I believe that the reason why Boaz stood out, it was because of his perspective.

He saw the famine as an opportunity to embrace not as an adversity to run away from. Look at him now.

In Chapter two verse one, he is emerging as a champion, a mighty man of wealth while Naomi is complaining.

There are people who are comfortable to remain in the crowd. Comfortable to look like anyone else. Comfortable to fit in. Comfortable to live in poverty.

Friends, we all face the same crisis. We all face the same challenges. We all face the same problem but what makes a difference is the perspective. That is what makes the difference between human beings.

Remember. The children of Israel were sent in the promised land with a clear instruction from the man of God Moses :

Numbers 13:17-18 And Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan, and said unto them, Get you up this way southward, and go up into the mountain:

Numbers 13:18  And see the land, what it is; and the people that dwelleth therein, whether they be strong or weak, few or many;

Numbers 13:19 And what the land is that they dwell in, whether it be good or bad; and what cities they be that they dwell in, whether in tents, or in strong holds;

Numbers 13:20 And what the land is, whether it be fat or lean, whether there be wood therein, or not. And be ye of good courage, and bring of the fruit of the land. Now the time was the time of the firstripe grapes.

 

 

From the spies who were sent, 10 out of 12 saw giants while 2 saw the promised land.

And the ten who saw the giants said,

Numbers 13:33 “And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight”.

How can you look at yourself as a grasshopper? That is the perspective I am talking about.

Guess what? Because of how they looked at themselves and because of what they said, And God said

Numbers 14:28 Say unto them, As truly as I live, saith the LORD, as ye have spoken in mine ears, so will I do to you:

Numbers 14:29 Your carcases shall fall in this wilderness; and all that were numbered of you, according to your whole number, from twenty years old and upward, which have murmured against me,

Numbers 14:30 Doubtless ye shall not come into the land, concerning which I sware to make you dwell therein, save Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun.

Numbers 14:31 But your little ones, which ye said should be a prey, them will I bring in, and they shall know the land which ye have despised.

Numbers 14:32 But as for you, your carcases, they shall fall in this wilderness.

Numbers 14:33 And your children shall wander in the wilderness forty years, and bear your whoredoms, until your carcases be wasted in the wilderness.

Numbers 14:34 After the number of the days in which ye searched the land, even forty days, each day for a year, shall ye bear your iniquities, even forty years, and ye shall know my breach of promise.

Numbers 14:35 I the LORD have said, I will surely do it unto all this evil congregation, that are gathered together against me: in this wilderness they shall be consumed, and there they shall die.

Because of their perspective, those people never entered the promised land. They died in the desert.

And I strongly believe that the story of Ruth is a story that shows to us that in the middle of the famine, there are people who will die because of their perspective.

There are people who always see negativity. Everything is negative for them.

We are all in the same country here in Kenya. While there are those who are building, there are also those who are crying.

Can you imagine that Naomi is coming back in the land crying and broke. But at the same time, we find a man called Boaz being wealthy?

What made the difference? The perspective.

We saw Ruth and Oprah. Oprah left. Ruth stayed. What made the difference? The perspective.

What will help you to stand out of the crowd? The strength that will help you, I mean the force you need to engage in order for you to stand out of the crowd is the force of the perspective.

That's why God was asking this man called the Jeremiah...

Jeremiah 1:11 Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Jeremiah, what seest thou? And I said, I see a rod of an almond tree.

Jeremiah 1:12 Then said the LORD unto me, Thou hast well seen: for I will hasten my word to perform it.

Your case will not be different if your perspective is not different. Receive the grace. I say receive the grace to have the right perspective of things. That is what will help you to stand out.

 

FORCE NUMBER THREE | THE FORCE OF YOUR DECISION

The third force you need for you to stand out of the crowd is the force of your decision.

It is worth taking note that it was out of their own decision that Naomi and his family left Moab.

That is why it is important for you to know that your decision is your power.

I like always saying that to live the life you want, leave the life you don't want.

There is no way you can stand out of the crowd if you don't decide to.

And definitely, moving out of Bethlehem was a very bad decision.

I pray for you in your life you will not make bad decisions again. And I believe that Boaz was a man who knew how to make decision.

What will make you stand out of the crowd is your decision.

There are people who have a PhD in indecisiveness. They never decide. If you ask them a question, their answer is Yes. If you ask them another question, their answer is No. If you ask them again, their answer is I don't want. When you ask them another time, their answer is I don't know.

Let me tell you this … I don't like when someone says “I don't know”. Even those who work with me. I don't like the answer “I don't know”.

I was in Naivas this weekend to buy something. I was asking the lady at the counter the price of the item I wanted to buy. Guess what was her answer? I don’t know.

I was mad. I was like, “Madam you can't answer a customer like that. You can't say you don't know the price while at the counter”.

Now see the difference. There was a man who was next to her who understood. He went to the supervisor to ask for the price. And I was served.

My question was … How can you be in a supermarket and you don’t know the price of the item you are supposed to sell?

I pray for you to receive the grace of decision. And the bible makes it clear in James that those who are indecisive will never get anything from the Lord.

James 1:6 But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.

James 1:7 For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord.

James 1:8 A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.

i pray for anyone struggling with indecisiveness to learn to decide in Jesus name.

Take note that right decision is part of a strong leadership. And a decision comes together with responsibility. As a matter of fact, a bad decision can put the whole family as well as the whole country in trouble. Elimelek made a wrong decision and his whole family was in trouble.

And I believe that this man of God Boaz was a great leader. He took a right decision. See now how the multitude of people working with him are enjoying the benefit of his good decision.

Receive the grace to decide properly and wisely in Jesus name.

I am in Kenya by decision. But it was not an easy decision. Because the life of my people, my family was involved.

Remember. I told you yesterday. When you build a house on the sand, you are irresponsible. That's a wrong decision.

It's up to you to decide over the quality of your foundation. It's up to you to decide over the quality of the things you want to do.

A man like Daniel decided not to eat the food coming from the table of the king. It was his personal decision.

Friend, decide. What kind of life do you want? You can't stand out of the crowd if you don't decide.

Boaz is teaching me something very important to do and to make right decision. Famine is not a reason to run away. No. He decided to stay. He decided to trust God. And he stayed.

FORCE NUMBER FOUR | THE FORCE OF YOUR CHOICE

Finally and I'm closing there. The fourth force you need to stand out of the crowd like Boaz is the force of your choice.

Life is a choice your life is your choice. Your choice is your life.

Deuteronomy 30:19 I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live:

Life is a choice. You can fall by mistake, but you cannot rise by mistake. You rise by choice.

You can go down by mistake. but you don't go up by mistake. You go up by choice.

The cloth I have put on today is my choice. The life I'm living is my choice.

Boaz is teaching us the power of the choice. We have a lof people who always look for who to blame.

Friend, don't look for who to blame. Take responsibility by your choice as God says, “I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live"

Nobody will choose for you your life. That's why even our children need to be taught daily that life is a choice. Poverty is a choice. Wealth is a choice. Faith is a choice. Trusting God is a choice. Serving God is a choice. Blessing is a choice. Curse is a choice. Not a fate. You can choose to remain crushed on the floor and be used by your spouse as a doormat. Or you can choose to stand out and live the life you were born to live.

You can choose to fit in as a lame, as beggar or you can choose not to.

 

I made a choice in my life to never beg. I made a choice in my life to never depend on anybody under heaven. I made a choice in my life to live purely, sexually pure. I made a choice in my life to live the kind of life I'm living, to live a life of excellence, to live on top of problems and situations, to live a stress free life. It is my choice. It is you to choose.

So I see Boaz whose name means strength using those four forces which  enabled him to stand out of the crowd, to emerge as the man of wealth.

Because of those 4 forces, after the famine, some people with a weak will, with wrong perspective, with bad decision, with bad choice lost everything but him he stood.

I believe you will stand in Jesus name.

CLOSING PRAYERS

Pray.

Father we come before you today in the name of Jesus and we pray by your grace oh Lord help us oh God to use our will to your glory.

Help us oh God to use our perspective to your glory. Help us to use our decision to your glory. Help us to make right choice. Help me to make right decision.

Help me to have right perspective. Help me to have a strong will to do your will oh God in of Jesus Lord I pray that the famine will not determine my decision, my perspective or my choice oh God in the name of Jesus

I pray that my life will be will be strong enough to handle any circumstance oh God by your grace father I pray in the name of Jesus that I will have the kind of anointing that was in Boaz in the name of Jesus to stand strong to stand strong in the name of the Lord.

Lord, strengthen me as the bible says that those who know their God shall be strong and they will do exploit.

I pray that indeed I will be strong. Hallelujah.

Maybe you are there, you are weak, you are tired, you are discouraged, lift your hand where you are. I pray that God will strengthen you this morning.

Don't give up in Jesus name. Because you have a great future that is ahead of you. Things will be well in the name of the Lord. I pray maybe somebody you are there.

You are about to make a very dangerous decision. Now as you are listening to me I pray that God will lead you.

Please don't make that decision. It is dangerous. Take it with the Lord. Let God lead you. Yesterday we talked about the sonship. Let God lead your life. Let God lead your step. Let God lead you in your business. Let God lead you in everything you do.

All those thing we are talking about will work if God is leading you.

May God lead you in the name of Jesus Christ. The son of the living God.

Now I prophesy over you that you will stand out of the crowd. You will not die in the crowd. Hallelujah. You will not die in the crowd. I say you will not die in the crowd In the name of Jesus Christ.

You have a blessed day ahead and God bless you. Go and succeed. May your business work. May everything you do work for your favour in Jesus name.

PASTOR TD KASUKU