Encouragement – Elder Joseph Swann

The Redemption of Man

Regardless of who or where you are in life; you have value and God has a Redemptive Plan for You with a Prosperous Expected End. Jeremiah 29:11

In the first chapter of Genesis, man was made in the image of God and given dominion over all the earth. The result of being made in God’s image meant that they were three fold beings: spirit, soul, and body. Adam and Eve, the father and mother of all creation, were created upright and good. They were in peace and harmony with God and each other. Initially, they lived in the purest and holiest form of human existence.

Eventually, in Genesis 3, we find that Adam and Eve, through the soul (mind, will) part of them, voluntarily transgressed against God and lost the spiritual connection that they had with Him. When they fell, all of creation fell with them and sin was brought into the world. That one act has caused every individual to be born with the nature of sin (Psalm 51:5). Sin, and its nature, causes every human being that is born to have destructive idiosyncrasies and fluctuating levels of self-worth and esteem in the soulish part of them. For this reason, it is needful for man to be reconnected in spirit to God, by way of regeneration.

But, Romans 5:12-21 lets us know that God has provided man with his only hope of salvation and redemption which is in Jesus Christ. When we accept Jesus Christ as our personal Savior and surrender our lives to Him, then we are reconciled back to God, which is the place that God intended from the beginning. Our spirit is regenerated and reconnected to God, but the soul part of us still needs to be continually renewed to that fact.

Man has a hope of salvation and redemption through Jesus Christ, the Son of God, if he accepts it. It is from the stance of acceptance that we will evaluate Our Core Value. The spirit of a man is his core. All of mankind has value just from this fact alone. But, when our spirit is regenerated, value is all the more increased because of the benefits that go with being reconnected with God. It is so vitally important for the soulish (mind, will) part of an individual to be renewed so as not to be “saved” but live beneath all of the privileges that it affords in this life.

Even after salvation, a person has to be empowered and equipped to come to know and understand their true value and self-worth in God’s eyes. Too often, Christians continue to be bound by traditional mindsets, phobias and bad habits that hinder them from experiencing the true liberty afforded by receiving Christ as their personal Savior.

As a Child of God, your core value has nothing to do with anything that you have done to earn or deserve it. It was God’s choosing from before the beginning of time.

Jeremiah 29:11 says, “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.”

Regardless of who you are or where you are in life; you have value and God has a Redemptive Plan for You with a Prosperous Expected End.

Elder Joseph Swann

“Your Gift Will Make Room For You” by Dr. Myles Munroe

How is the fulfillment of vision meant to work in practical terms? Proverbs 18:16 is a powerful statement that reveals the answer: “A man’s gift makes room for him” (NKJV). What you were designed to be known for is your gift.

God has put a gift or talent in every person that the world will make room for.

It is this gift that will enable you to fulfill your vision.

It will make a way for you in life. It is in exercising this gift that you will find real fulfillment, purpose, and contentment in your work.

It is interesting to note that the Bible does not say that a man’s education makes room for him, but that his gift does.

Somehow we have swallowed the idea that education is the key to success. Our families and societies have reinforced this idea to us, but we will have to change our perspective if we are to be truly successful.

Education is not the key to success.

Don’t misunderstand me. I believe in education. However, if education were the key to success, then everyone who has a Ph.D. would be financially secure and happy.

If you are intelligent but are not exercising your gift, you’re probably going to be poor. If you’re educated but have not developed your talent, you’re likely going to be depressed, frustrated, and tired.

You will hate going to work on Monday mornings.

Education, in itself, doesn’t guarantee anything.

It is your gift that is the key to your success.

The second part of Proverbs 18:16 says, “A man’s gift…brings him before great men” (NKJV). You don’t realize that the gift you’re sitting on is loaded.

The world won’t move over for you just because you’re smart.

However, when you exercise your gift, not only will the world make room for you, but it will also pay you for it.

Anyone – yourself included – who discovers his or her gift and develops it will become a commodity.

If you’re a young person in high school or college who is planning your career, don’t do what people say will make you a lot of money. Do what you were born to do, because that is where you will make your money. No matter how big the world is, there’s a place for you in it when you discover and manifest your gift.

Alexander Graham Bell believed that sound could be converted into electrical impulses and transmitted by wire.

No one remembers those who thought he was crazy.

We remember only the man who had the vision and created the telephone.

If you do things in a halfway manner, you can always find a job somewhere. Yet if you do just enough to get by, you are going to remain simply an employee.

However, if you decide that you’re going to find something that is truly yours, then you will fulfill your vision, and you will be remembered by others.

by Dr. Myles Munroe