It is always hard to represent God during our stressful and bad kind of days, but that is when we need to represent God the most in our lives. Use this as your daily morning prayer.

So why is being holy so important? Because it is the best offering we could give to God. Before we can go out there serving others or even having that intimate relationship with God, we first need to give what we have had since the first day we were born: Our body.

Our own body and mind is the closest thing we have to ourself and it is one of the things that we care for most in our life. Death has always been the number 1 fear for everyone, which shows how important we care for our body. God desires the holiness of our bodies because he wants what we care for the most. He values the holiness that could only come from Jesus who is the most holy. Romans 12:2 says, “Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God- this is your true and proper worship.”

As a Christian, we were all saved because through the blood and sacrifice of Jesus. His blood was shed to cleanse away our sins. Many of us focus on Jesus being holy that it can be easy to forget that we ourselves are also called to be holy. 1 Peter 1:16 says, “for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.” God commands us to be holy because when we were born again through baptism and cleansed with the blood of Jesus, our old unclean fresh was dead. We were born again in a new birth that brings holiness. Holiness may seem something that is far and sacred, but in reality, it is a part of us if we have accepted Jesus into our lives. Holiness was made for each body that is a part of Christ. We cannot please God by separating ourselves from holiness; it has to be a part of us. 

Holiness is definitely not an easy task to accomplish 247. We are all human and have those days where our emotions and impure thoughts can get in the way, but the decision to be holy is an easy one.  To keep holiness in us is a choice, will, and desire. Holiness stems from our love for God that brought us to surrendering our life to him. We sacrificed ourselves not because of religion, but for our salvation and love to God. Holiness needs to come from our desire to have it and keep it.

Paul is a great example for us to follow. He had the will to have the holiness that God commanded. No one had to force him; it came from his own will. Philippians 1:20 says, “as it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or death.” Paul had his own eager expectation to stay holy. He made the decision to have the will to commit in holiness. Are you willing to sacrifice anything to keep holiness in your life?

Although we are saved and cleansed by the blood of Christ, we still have to maintain the holiness that came from Jesus. Holiness may seem like a hard and impossible thing to accomplish in today’s world, but that is what God desires the most from us. Cultivate your will and desires to worship God in honoring what is most important to him. So remember, holiness is the best thing we could give to God. 

When you start basing your satisfaction on the things of this earth, you will always find yourself wanting more and unsatisfied. But when you focus on God, you will always find yourself wanting more but satisfied. Depending on the world as a metric for satisfaction will always leave you unsatisfied because there is always more that you can have, yet you can’t always have everything that this world offers. But when you depend and focus on God and his kingdom, you will find that you have everything that you need and find that God is always enough. John 4:13 says, “Anyone who drinks this water will soon become thirsty again. But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again.” Jesus told the samaritan women that the water from her well would leave her thirsty, but water from Jesus would give her everlasting life. This shows that anything from this earth will always leave your thirsty for more. But when you focus on God and what he is doing in your life, you will never be thirsty.

It can be easy to run to the temporary pleasures of this world when we are feeling down or unsatisfied. But remember to run to God and his word when you are feeling dry and thirsty. Just like when you are hungry and find food satisfying, God’s word is the food to your soul and satisfaction. God’s word will never let you down and his promises stay the same forever. Isaiah 58:11 says, “The Lord will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose water never fails.” God doesn’t just promise to give you what you need, but he promises to satisfy you and take care of you like a well-watered garden. He loves you and he knows the best for you. We just need to change our perspective in our life and focus on what truly matters in our life which is Christ. He will always give you the best and he will always be enough for you. Christ is worth more than anything that exists in this world. The world may give you temporary pleasures, but Christ gives eternal happiness.

A great example in the bible that we should follow is the life of Paul. Paul learned to be content with any circumstance that he faced because he knew he had something that was better than any circumstance he faced: An all mighty God who has the capability to give him the strength to face any challenge. Philippians 4:12 says, “I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength.” Paul learned not to base his satisfaction from his circumstances on earth. We all should be like Paul and focus our satisfaction to God who is always enough for us. God will always be there to provide you, watch over you, and bless you overwhelmingly. We just need to focus on him and not let satan distract us with our situations on this earth.

Do not measure your satisfaction based on what you have on this earth, but on what you have from Christ. Focus on God’s love for you and on the amazing plan he has prepared for you. Only through God can you truly be content with your life. God has the ability to give us the assurance that we will always have enough in our life with him. Hold on to God and he will never let you go. Not only will God establish your path, but he will establish a satisfying one for you. So remember, we can have a satisfied life in any circumstance we face.

You might think, well how can walking through memory lane or entering into my past one last time hurt me? But think of it this way, why would you give satan another opening and chance to enter into your life? You may have heard the saying that your past does not have control over your future. This is true, however, your past does have the power to destroy your bright future if you still bring your past into your future. Satan is out there constantly seeking to find opportunities to steal, kill, and destroy you. The easiest way for satan to do this is to remind you of the past and destroy your future because of it. 1 Peter 5:8 says, “Be sober minded; be watchful. You adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking to devour someone.” Dwell in the things of God and do not let satan pull you back again. If you are in a relationship, or have asked god for repentance from a past sin, or have overcame a failure or mistake, do not let your past hurt you more than it already has. Don’t dwell in your past relationships, mistakes, and sins because God has already given you a new and beautiful life. Don’t let the past destroy the new beautiful path that God has given you.

A great example from the bible is the story of Lot’s wife. God had sent angels to save Lot and his family from the destruction of their city Sodom and Gomorrah. The angel told Lot and his family to run and not look back. However, Genesis 19:26 says, “But Lot’s wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.” When we look back onto our past, it blocks the future God has for us. It holds us into our past and destroys us just like how it destroyed Lot’s wife. God has already saved and brought a victory for Lot’s family, but his wife was did not become saved because she could not let go of her past completely. Satan wants you to go back to your past and he does not want you to move on with the victory God has given you. Just because you have a victory does not mean you cannot fall again.

So how do we prevent our past from ruining our future? Destroy it completely. God blessed the Israelites and allowed them to possess the lands of their enemies who did not love God. However, he commanded them to destroy everything of the enemies land, to not commingle with them, and to not take anything, including money from the land. Deuteronomy 7:2 says,”and when the Lord your God has delivered them over to you and you have defeated them, then you must destroy them totally. Deuteronomy 7:26 goes on and says, “Do not bring a detestable thing into your house or you, like it, will be set apart for destruction.” Just as God has commanded the Israelites to destroy the things of evil, God also commands us to destroy our past sins completely because it has the power to destroy us. God commanded the Israelites to not mingle with the enemies of God and to not take anything from the city. We should do the same and not take anything from our past into our future. Let go of your past, and destroy it completely from your life.

Do not take advantage of the victory God has given you, because it can be taken away from you. Protect the victory that God has given you and move forward without looking back. He has chosen you as his loved one and has a great plan for just for you. God has the capability and power to lead you out successfully from your past and into a bright future. God has already came to fix your broken life. Do not let satan break it apart again. So remember, do not tease yourself into the past. 

How has God saved you from your past?

I have experienced many failures in my life and have always wondered why does God allow bad things to happen to us? But as bad as your situation may seem, remember that God loves you. He never intends to hurt you, but he allows bad things to happen to teach you to depend on him and to show his almighty power above all else that exists. God loves you unconditionally, and he wants you to love him unconditionally as well. I have my own picture of perfection, but I need to trust that God’s picture is better than mine.

As much as we want to live a peaceful happy life being a Christian, being a Christian does not always mean your life will be happy all the time. There will be bad times, but with God the ending is always good. A great example is the story of Moses and the Israelites being chased by the Pharaoh of Egypt. God loved Moses and the Israelites and asked Moses to lead the Israelites out of Pharaoh’s land. The Israelites thought that with God, there would be no threats or troubles leaving Pharaoh’s land. However, God actually hardened Pharaohs heart so that he would pursue Moses and Israelites. Exodus 14:4 says, “And I will harden the Pharaohs heart and he will pursue them.” So why would God actually harden Pharaoh’s heart and put the Israelites’ life in danger? It’s because God already knew the final outcome. He knew that Moses would be able to separate the sea and save the Israelites from Pharaos hand. God is not living at your pace, he is always ahead of you and has already planned a victory for you.

Just like what God did for the Israelites, he will do the same for your bad situation. When troubles happen in your life, do not worry because God already has a great reward planned for you. He never abandons you, and he will be with you throughout your storm. God does not allow bad things to happen so that you would suffer forever, but to learn to depend on him no matter what circumstance you are faced with. He allowed the Israelites to face tribulation so that they would see God’s almighty power against Pharaoh. God’s intention of hardening the Pharos heart was not to kill the Israelites, but to show his glory and power to those who are faithful to him. God wants you to learn to trust him not only during good circumstances, but also during your bad circumstances. God is never too late, he always knows the perfect timing to give you your victory.

So what should we be doing when we are going through a tough and desperate situation? The answer is simple: wait on God. Psalm 27:14 says, “Wait on the Lord; Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart; Wait, I say, on the Lord!” To be able to see the victorious ending that God has for you, you need to be still and have the courage to keep walking in him. Trust that God will deliver you from your bad situation like how he did with the Israelites and Moses. Another great example is the story of David fleeing from King Saul who desperately wanted to kill David. God loved David so much, but he allowed David to experience this because he wanted David to learn to depend on him and to see God’s mighty ability to save him. At the end, with the favor of God on David’s life, David was able to win over King Saul.

Your life may bring many hardships, but remember that God never has bad intentions for you. Your last resort plan is not always God’s last resort plan for you; trust in God’s plan for you. Our life as a Christian will never be perfect, but know if you are facing a bad situation, it means that God has a great reward waiting for you. Wait for your victory because God has it prepared for you. So remember, bad things never happen to those who love God.

I recently participated in a writing competition where the winner would win a prize of money. I was sure my essay was amazing and would be the winning paper. I soon found out that I was not chosen as the winner and that someone else was chosen. I was shocked and to admit, I was dismayed with the results. I believed that I did my best and thought I deserved to at least be chosen as the top 3. Out of curiosity, I decided to read one of the winning papers and I felt touched by his story. From there I knew God was telling me, just because I did my best does not mean I deserve it more than others. I do not know what God’s plan was, but I am sure that God knew that the other man who wrote that essay needed to win the competition more than I did.

Your best does not always mean you deserve the best. God knows more than we do, so trust that God knows what he is doing. Isaiah 25:1 says, “Lord, you are my God; I will exalt you and praise your name, for in perfect faithfulness you have done wonderful things, things planned long ago.” God’s faithfulness for us is perfect and he never makes mistakes. Even if you did your best and failed, trust God that it is not the end. God has already planned wonderful things for you long ago, even before you experienced the failures in your life. God has already planned something great for you before you were even born.

Ask God to help you see past the failures you experience, and to focus on him. I recently read a blog and it was a great reminder for all of us. It said, “We may be left out by others, but we are never forgotten by God.” God still remembers you, and most importantly, he loves you. Because God loves you, he will never leave you at your failure. He knows your failures and he knows you did your best, but trust in him that he is planning something better for you in his time.

During your down times, be still and know that God still has something planned for you and he is fighting for you to get there. Exodus 14:14 says, “The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.” The verse does not say maybe the lord will fight for you, or that in this circumstance he will fight for you; it says he will fight for you. This means that in any circumstance you face,  he will fight for you. The only thing that we are called to do is to be still with courage and trust in him. Trust God that he is in control and keep doing your best.

Jesus has already died on the cross for you. He has already given you his all, so why would he not follow through by helping you during your troubled times? When God starts something, he always finishes it. No where in the bible has there been a time when God started something and did not finish it.

Philippians 1:6 says, “Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” God has already planned great things for you even before you were born, and he plans to carry this great plan throughout your life until the very end when Jesus comes. Be confident of Christ in you!

Even if you did your best and failed, do not think that you best was not good enough. Your best was what God wanted, but it was just not his perfect timing for you. With God it is never the end, and if it is the end it will always be a great ending. So if things are not going great for you, believe in his great plan for you and look onto that. So remember, your best is always enough.

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 own capabilities.  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 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!

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.

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, 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 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.

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.