Get Ready, Get Set, and Go

"Am I good enough for this? Can I really do this?" Do these questions sound familiar? Have these words been whispered by your own lips? I'm sure many of you as well as myself have gone through self-doubt. We all know ourselves more than anyone else, which includes realizing our strengths and weaknesses. However, there is someone out there who knows you more than you know yourself and that is God. Have there been moments when you doubted your own capabilities in who you were and where God has called you to be? Doubted the opportunities that God has given to you?

 I recently experienced this myself. I had an interview with Pepsico and passed the first round and was accepted to the final round. It was a 2 day event held at the Marriott hotel where all the candidates were treated with dinner, then followed the next day with 4 round interviews. I was excited coming to the event, as this was a new experience for me. However, when I got to the hotel and met all the candidates, all my excitement died away and only fears and doubts existed in my heart. I found out that all the candidates were all engineer majors and I was the only business major in the room. I felt swallowed up by all my fears and asked God, "God can I really do this?" How could I even do comparably well when my own capabilities don't match up to these other candidates? But at that moment I learned one thing. I learned that it was God who had opened this door for me and brought me this opportunity. Why would I look at others and compare myself to others when it was only through God that I was placed here? My focus should have been on God and not the other candidates. 

Don't qualify yourself, but let God qualify you. God's favor can do more than your own strengths and capabilities. If you only lean on what you know and have, then you can never go far in the plans that God has for you. God has great plans for your that even you mind cannot fathom. 1 Corinthians 2:9 says, "What no eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him." No one can imagine or do the things that God is capable of doing, so never limit yourselves to your capabilites. Let God set your limits. 

The story of David and Goliath is a great inspiration for all of us. If David had only relied on his own strengths and allowed his capabilities to limit him from the plans that God had for him, he would never have been able to accomplish what God had planned for him. David never trained and was not even close to being a strong fighting warrior. If David had compared and qualified himself to the other warriors, he would never have had the courage to go against Goliath. But because he focused on God and knew that it was God who gave him the opportunity, he did not bother to look around or at himself. Instead, he looked only to God. He knew that it was God who brought him there, and he allowed God to qualify him. It wasn't because of how great David was that he could defeat Goliath, but it was because of how great God was. 

Whenever you face a challenge where you feel that you are under-qualified, do not focus on yourself or others, but focus on God. Because it is only by God and through God that you can have the opportunities and succeed. When you block your mind with your own capabilities, you block the great potential future that God has for you. Be like David and don't turn to other things to be your reasoning. Let God be your reasoning and let his power work through you. When you surrender your life to God, you will start to see amazing things happen in your life that you never could have imagined. You can do great things only because of God. 

So remember, in whatever God has called you to do, and wherever he takes you in life, remember to get ready, get set, and go. 

Do you have any experiences of self-doubt that you would like to share? Comment below! 

How I overcame the obstacles of job searching as a college student

"We appreciate the time you took to speak with us. Unfortunately, we have decided to pursue other candidates." 

The hash message that any college student dreads to read after their hard accomplishments in school, internships, and interview practices. Rejection. Failure..It was all the end is how I felt.

I mean, who wants to fail? Don't we all want to be the best we can be?

It all started during my senior year at the University of Central Florida. I was studying hard in school, and had many experiences and internships in my belt to showcase myself and resume for future employers. The next career expo was coming close and I made sure to do my research and practice representing myself as a successful professional with values and strengths. This would be my first career expo and I was very nervous and excited. This was a new experience I was facing and I did not know what to expect.

My goals for that semester were to get a full time job to secure myself for the rest of my senior year. Coming out of the career expo, I would say I was very successful. I got an instant interview with Siemens, Target, CVS, Verizon, and many other companies. I even got an interview with Google which at the time was my dream company. I felt overwhelmed with joy in the opportunities that came about.

But slowly, one by one, I received the horrifying rejection emails. However, with Target I was gaining good luck. Although I failed my other interviews, I went up to the last and third-round interview for the executive team leader position with Target. I was excited and already pictured myself getting the job offer and securing myself for the rest of the school year.

I told my mom that night after the last interview, "I'm sure I got the job for Target, I know I am at least secured with a job offer if all else goes wrong."

The next 3 days passed and I finally received an email from Target. Expecting to see a congratulations, the unexpected truth happened.

Rejection.

I fell down in tears. The semester was already closing and I did not gain anything compared to the start of my semester. (At least at the time that is what I thought.)

I was so excited at the start of my career search, yet at the end of the semester, my failures tore me down to pieces.

I failed. But worse yet, I failed when I tried and did my best. I saw success down my journey, but failure just unexpectedly stopped my racing path. But that's life right? Sometimes life brings failures during the most unexpected times.

But I am here today to say that life doesn't stop at your failures if you do not let it stop you. Even through my failures, I still worked harder. The harder I worked, the more better the opportunities came. My failures and continuous hard work only benefited myself more than it hurt myself. I am currently in my last semester of my senior year and I am in the process of interviewing with Google again, Gartner, Yelp, and Pepsico. How did these opportunities come again? It definitely would not have came if I had given up and stopped during my failures last semester.

I did feel hopeless and deeply depressed the first couple weeks after receiving the rejection emails, however, I got back up and decided that I would try harder. Now looking back in my last semester, I originally thought I gained nothing from my experiences through my failures, but I soon came to realize that it was only through my failures that I could gain the opportunities I received now and be closer to success.

Yes, I did lose the job offers, but I still learned from my failures and used it as a lesson to be better for the next time. You cannot connect the dots now, but I promise you later down the road, you will be able to connect the dots. You will be able to connect your times of failures to the successes of your tomorrows.

Because of the many interview experiences I had, I learned and gained feedback that I was able to use for the current interviews I have now.  If I had given up last semester and not even try to go to the next career fair, or apply for jobs, I would be stuck in failure.

But because I used my failures to my advantage, to motivate myself to be better, I am able to be where I am today. Think of failure as a stepping stone to success. Only though failure can you move to the next level to bring you closer to your goals.

No one is perfect. The only way to get closer to perfection is through failing and getting back up and doing better than yesterday. The little steps of failure do matter!

You will learn a lot from your failures and hardships, and the learning experience is something that money cannot buy. It is a unique, once in a lifetime experience that you should cherish and use to your advantage.

I am now about to graduate, still in the process of seeking my next career after graduation, but even through the failures I have experienced, my dreams are still big and great. Don't ever lower your dreams to meet your standards. Raise your standards to meet your dreams.

Don't be afraid of failure because only through failure can you reach your goals and dreams. My journey is not over yet, but one thing that I learned and want you to remember is this: Life only gets better when you try harder.

Best of luck to your career search!

The Power of Cultivating Your Love

Do you ever feel stuck in your relationship with Christ? Lacking the desires to grow your knowledge and relationship in him? Or perhaps feeling that knowing his existence is good enough? I know I have had moments in my past where I lost the desire to seek God in my life. But as Christians, we are called to grow our relationship with God. If you have lost the desire to seek God, what you are missing is your growing love to God. You need to cultivate your love with Christ to be able to stir a fire of desire in your heart. If you do not work on growing your love to God, it will eventually die out. Love takes work and we need to take the time throughout our busy lives to cultivate and grow our love in Christ. 

So how do we cultivate our love in Christ? By simply opening the door and letting him in. Take the time everyday to spend quality time with God in prayer, worship, and mediating his word. Invite the holy spirit and he will guide you in growing your relationship with Christ. You will find that the holy spirit will overwhelm you with joy and spark a fire in you to seek God more. Don't just know God, but experience God. Your love for God will guide you in going deeper in your relationship with Christ. Philippians 1:9 says, "And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight."

Growing your love in Christ will develop every part of your character. When your love for God increases, so does your faith, belief, strength, and courage. Your love for God is the key in taking you to the next step of your Christian life. A great example of the power of cultivating your love is from the life of Paul. For half of Paul's life, he went through many trials as an apostle. He was thrown in prison many times for preaching the gospel of Christ. So how was he able to endure this hard journey? The answer is because of his love for God. He was even willing to die for Christ. Philippians 1:20 says, "..but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life of by death." Wow, I pray that Paul's love for God would be instilled in each of our hearts as well. Only God can provide us the strength that we need to move past our trials. Paul was able to have the strength to endue his sufferings because of his love for God, and it fueled his heart to keep going even until his very execution of death. 

There is power in growing your love for Christ. Investing your time to grow your love in Christ will help you go to the next level in your Christian journey. It takes you past just believing in God, but also loving him even through your suffering. It is very easy to be focused on what God should do for us and how he will make us happy, however, loving God also means willing to sacrifice and suffer for him. If you love God truly, you would be willing to sacrifice for him. Just as you love your family and are willing to sacrifice for them, God wants that kind of love but even greater. Philippians 1:29 says, "For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for him."How deep your love to God also measures how deep your walk will be for him.

Cultivating your love for God will help strengthen you to face any problems in your life, just as how Paul overcame his trials. Your love for God will empower you to live a courageous life for him. So remember, cultivating your love to God will bring his power upon your life.


- Share below how your love for Christ has grown in your journey with him -

How a Blessings Can Turn Into Messes

Have there been blessings in your life that ended up hurting you? Blessings in your life that suddenly disappeared from your hands? Or even blessings in your life that ended up making your life even more complicated? Blessings can come in different forms from God, but all of our blessings have the capability of turning into messes. It is not God who made the mistake of giving you that blessing, but it is Satan who has taken your blessing and turned it against you. John 10:10 says, "The thief comes only to steal, kill, and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." Satan is a roaring lion waiting for any minute to steal, kill, and destroy us, which includes taking away the blessings that God has given us. God always has the intention of giving us the best, but if we are not careful, we could end up giving our blessings to Satan who will destroy us with it. 

So how do you prevent your blessings from turning into messes? It is simple: glorify God in everything that you do. Give your blessings back to God through glorifying him with it. We tend to see blessings as something for ourself and our own benefit, but God wants us to use his blessings only for his glory and not ours. Our blessings are not for us, but are for God's alone. We have our lives not to glorify ourself, but to glorify God alone. 1 Corinthians 10:31 says, "So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God." God calls us to glorify him in everything that we do, because everything that we have is all from him. If we do not glorify God with what he has given to us, it will give Satan the chance to grab it and use it against us.  

Here are some examples of possible situations where your blessings can be turned against you. Let's say you get blessed with a great job but focus the glory on yourself. You might find yourself growing a pride that will eventually bring you down in your job. Or perhaps you are blessed with a potential partner, but do not honor God in your relationship and end up falling into temptations that lead to sin and eternal death. God always has the intention of giving us blessings to prosper us, but if we are not careful in glorifying God through it, our blessings could go to the wrong hands. To know if you are using your blessings the right way, ask yourself this: "Am I glorifying God in what I am about to do?" Satan will always try to turn your blessings into messes, so it is up to you to protect that blessing and use the most of it for God's glory. 

Just because God gives you a blessing does not mean it will always stay as a blessing. But if you give God back his blessings, you will see your blessings grow and multiply. We need to take our blessings and serve others with it through God's love. When you glorify God with your blessings and share it to others, you will start to see your blessings shine, multiply, and touch many lives. Take your blessings and use the best of it for his glory. Give Jesus your best. So remember, take your blessings and keep them as blessings.

- How has God blessed your life -

Getting Past the Little Steps of Discouragement

Failure. A a harsh word yet a word we cannot run away from. There are many times in my life where I faced discouragements and failures, but now looking back into my life I am glad they did not make me stop there. Through my faith in God, I was able to overcome my failures and receive the promises he has for all of us. Failures and disappointments will always come into our lives, but the good news is that we have all the promises of God to help us overcome them. 2 Corinthians 1:20 says, "For no matter how many promises God has made, they are "Yes" in Christ. And so through him the "Amen" is spoken by us to the glory of God." 

Now that we know that God's promises do exist, how do we receive them upon our lives? The answer is faith. Only through faith can you redeem the promises of God. Galatians 3:24 says, "But scripture has locked up everything under the control of sin, so that what was promised, being given through faith in Jesus Christ, might be given to those who believe." No matter what mistake, failure, or sin you made, God's promises can cover all of that if you repent and believe in him. If you have accepted and believe in Jesus, then he is part of you. His promises are for all who love him, no matter what failure you have made. No failure is too great for God's promises to handle. There is no one who is not worthy to redeem the promises of God. We have a God who is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. He can bring the miracles  that he did in the past for you today and give you even better if you just have faith in him! 

Do not let your strengths, weaknesses, capabilities, or knowledge justify you; let faith justify you. With faith, any door can be opened under the will and grace of God. If you walk the path of faith, you will see more opportunities open for you than what your fears and worries will do for you. Faith holds greater things than what your own knowledge contains. I encourage you today to choose the journey of faith. From setting on the path of faith, you will start seeing miracles happen to your life that only the path of faith could do. Remember that every little step matters and they all do count. As much as we want to see the results of success right away, it takes work and time to get there. That is why it is import to use the strength and faith from God to pass through the little discouragements you will face in life. If you stop whenever you face discouragement, then that is where you will always be. But if you take the courage to move forward, those little steps of discouragement will turn to the steps to take you where you want to be. Do not let your failures shake you, but use them as a stepping stool to move you higher. 

Each step in life, even the steps of troubles and failures will bring you higher if you choose to keep moving up. You may not see success now, but in God's time you will see it and appreciate the failures you experienced. Take each little step of your life holding on to God and his promises for you. Live by faith, and from there you will start to see opportunities come that can only be given from God. So remember, use your discouragement and failures as a step to success.

-Share and comment below your ways of overcoming failure-