Sometimes, it is very difficult  to figure out what you want to be when you grow up.  I wasn't any different.  After 4 years of under graduate work at Rutgers University, I still wasn't sure what I wanted to do in life.  I knew in my heart that I wanted to help people.  So I took a job as an assistant with a Physical Therapy firm and discovered that is what I was born to be - A physical therapist.  That meant re-focusing and heading back to school.  Was it fun for me?  No!  Armed with Philippians 4:13, I knew I could do all things through Christ Who strengthens me.  I knew that it was up to me to accept responsibility for improving myself for the rest of my life depended on it. So it was back to the library for studies and facing exams.  Things were not smooth sailing, but I refused to quit! After a grueling 3 years I obtained by doctorate degree from University of Maryland Baltimore College.

So if you are not sure what you want to be even after 4 years of college, trust God and look for a job.  Continue to ask Him to lead you in the path He created for you.  When you do find something that you like doing, go for it.  Even when others offer you no hope or encouragement, refuse to quit! Listen to the words of Joab, who led King David's army: "Be strong and fight bravely...The Lord will do what is good in His sight." (2 Sam 10:12). Joab knew that as long as you stay on the battlefield, God can give you victory.  But if you quit, what more can He do for you? Don't let the odds discourage you; God's bigger than all of them!  Remember! every winner - every one of them - faced defeat and adversity; and you're no different!

Believe it or not, life's challenges do not end when you obtain a doctorate degree.  Remember Caleb? At age eighty-five he was still growing and grabbing the future (read Joshua 14:12).  When he should have been in  comfortable retirement, he was out fighting giants and claiming mountains.  So don't forget that every time the sun comes up, it is a new adventure for us.
 

Giving To The Poor And Needy

Giving to the poor and needy is an indispensable part of following Jesus.  Christian faith without good works is dead.  Putting our faith in Jesus Christ means repenting of our sins - turning away from them - and striving to obey.  The Bible teaches that we must help needy people - the poor, the orphans, widows and strangers. Read what God says in Deut. 26:12, 13

"When you have finished laying aside all the tithe of your increase in the third year - the year of tithing - and have given it to the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, so that they may eat within your gates and be filled, then you shall say before the Lord your God: 'I have removed the holy tithe from my house, and also have given them to the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, according to all your commandments which You have commanded me: I have not transgressed Your commandments, nor have I forgotten them."

Many people have a problem giving to God's work, but we are commanded to do so.  God will not come down to support our missionaries, pastors, evangelists, etc.  We must all do our part to support those laboring in God's work.  Christianity is all about sharing and thinking of others beside ourselves.  It is not about you living an extravagant lifestyle while others have nothing.  God has an affection for the poor; He identifies with them and requires His followers to provide for their needs.  (Read Proverbs 12:5, 34:6, Proverbs 14:3, 19:17).  The plight of the poor and need is one of the issues that matter most to God. While there is nothing wrong with having material possessions, extravagance that comes at someone else's expense is sin.  In this society, we all have too much.  We can afford to share what we.  Listen to Paul:"...I have become all things to all men, that I may by all means save some." (1 Cor 9:22) Ask God to give you a heart for others!