Everyone Was Born to Have a Relationship with God

The Bible says that every human being was created by God and was designed to have an ongoing relationship with him (Is the Bible is true?).

However, that relationship, in the beginning, was broken when sin entered the world (sin = simply disobeying God or its literal meaning is ‘miss the mark‘).

But because God’s love for us was so great, he devised another plan to win us back.

Here’s how you can turn your life around and have a beautiful relationship with your Creator and be certain you will be in heaven when you die.

1. Acknowledge in all humility, that you have sinned. Romans 3:23 says, “All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” And in Jeremiah it reminds us that “The heart is desperately wicked and deceitful above all things, who can know it”. We really don’t know the condition of our own hearts unless God shows us.

2. The penalty for our sins is death. “The wages of sin is death”, Romans 6:23, and in Ecclesiastes, we are reminded of our fallen state, “For there is not a just man on earth who does good and does not sin”

3. But God’s plan to cancel our sin came when God released his son onto the earth and declared that the punishment for us (death) would be taken by him instead, thereby letting us off our punishment. Romans 5:8 explains this: “But God demonstrated his great love for us in this, that while we were still sinners, Christ sent his son to die for us”. Note: God didn’t wait until we cleaned ourselves up. That’s the whole point- we can’t clean ourselves up. But while we were still in the midst of our sinning, he came for us. What can you say to that, except thank you, thank you, thank you… and even that is woefully inadequate.

4. We must personally accept and receive the forgiveness that Jesus provides us. “But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God”. John 1:12

5. Jesus is the only way back to God. “I am the way, the truth, and the life, no one can come to the Father except through me” John 14:6.

_{(This idea that Jesus is the only way is a bit upsetting to some. But that is because many other religions believe the way to heaven is gained by being a good person, by doing good things. But, is anyone a good person? Certainly not me! Every person who ever lived, and who will ever live, has sinned. If we don’t acknowledge that we are sinners, then Jesus Christ is utterly irrelevant and of no benefit to us because we have not acknowledged the problem he came to fix})

6. And following on from ‘receiving Christ’ we also must confess him and believe wholly what he’s done for us. “That if you confess with your mouth and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved” Romans 10:9. I love those last four words ‘you will be saved’. Many people aren’t sure whether they will go to heaven or not, but the Bible makes it very clear that you can be sure. It is God’s will that you be with him for eternity, and before you die that you have a godly impact on the people around you.

You can become a Christian right now and surrender your life to him today.

If you believe that the Bible is true and the steps above are rational and you are feeling the pull of God on your heart, then can you think of any reason why you wouldn’t want to surrender your life to God today? This happened to me when I was 29 years old. I owned a successful business and was making a lot of money, but there was something missing in my life. Read more about that story here.

I feel that if you have read this far, you are quite possibly wanting to make a change in your life that God also wants. Why don’t you kneel where you are, close your eyes, or whatever is appropriate for your setting, and just say “God I want you! Please come and fill my heart with your love and presence. I don’t want my own life anymore. I want to turn my life over to you. Jesus, I have sinned against you and I now ask and receive your forgiveness. Cleanse me from all my sinful ways. Thank you Jesus for your great mercy on me. I love you and want to follow you for the rest of my life.

Now that you have done that. the Bible says …” it is no longer I that live, but Christ who lives in me.” That might be hard to get your head around, but it’s true, Jesus Christ, the creator of the universe and the redeemer of your life…He now lives in you!

 If you decided to do this today, it will be the most wonderful day of your life, like it was for me. Make your life count from here on.

^{If you have made the decision to turn your life over to God today, I would love to pray for you. Please contact me below and I will respond. Alternatively, if you feel you are not quite there yet, I would also like to pray for you that the life that God planned for you would come to pass.}

Here is one successful example where a job applicant achieved great success without ever applying for a job online.

It simply involved a well-crafted letter that I wrote (see sample below). No resume was sent. An unconventional delivery method and phone call follow-up were implemented.

None of the companies he sent it to were advertising at the time, but this letter received a 60% success rate!

That is, for every 10 letters that were sent out and followed up with a phone call, the applicant managed to secure six interviews resulting in two offers (I think 12-15 letters were sent in total).

That’s an extremely high success rate.

It was primarily due to high energy, well-crafted letter, unconventional delivery method, disciplined phone call follow-up, and in this case, some good experience.

Some may say that this involves a lot of work, but compared to the many weeks and months the average person spends applying for jobs online and becoming depressed at the lack of response, this method is comparatively more successful, faster, and in most cases, easier.

No Competition

Another reason it is so successful is that unlike applying for jobs online, you have no competition!

When you send a letter like this out, there is no one else applying for the job because there was no job advertised.

Many people think that because a company is not currently advertising, they don’t need staff.

This is not true.

Most organizations are always looking for good staff. I have had employers say to me “We’re not really looking for anyone at the moment, however, we are always interested in speaking to the right person if they come along”.

In other words, they are nearly always hiring.

Obviously, there are some exceptions to this where an industry is going through a major downturn or in the case where a particular business is struggling through poor management or other causes.

It’s a bit ironic that in the same way, employees find it difficult to secure a good job, employers find it difficult to find good workers!

When you proactively job search in this manner, it becomes a win-win for everyone.

Free Letter to Employer (Download)

Here is the letter and below are accompanying comments and tips about what to change for each section before you send it (as per the red numbers)

You can download:

• A full Word Doc of the successful letter (save a copy in case you need the original again)
• A PDF of the letter with comments and tips for various sections of the letter

careers-advice-online.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Job-Seeking-Prospecting-Letter.pdf

Numbered Notes for the Above Letter

1. This letter received a 60% hit rate. That is, for every 10 letters (I think 12-15 letters were sent in total) the applicant managed to secure 6 meetings/ interviews and subsequently two offers.

1A. Include your phone number and e-mail only at the top. No need to include the home address.

2. Address the letter to the person with the authority to make hiring decisions inside the organization. You should be able to obtain the name from their website, Facebook page, or LinkedIn profile, or if all else fails, call up the business and say something like “Hi I have some resources (you are the resource) that I would like to forward to the owner/ manager of the business. Who should I address it to please?”

3. I recommend you use an opening sentence very similar to this. Get straight to the point about why you are writing to them. Business owners are busy people and it’s important to communicate concisely and clearly. The way you communicate will, in itself, tell them a lot about you as a potential employee.

4. Make it clear that you really want to work for them. Enthusiasm and energy for the job – and the company – are key reasons an employee is appealing to a business.

5. This heading is very clear about what the following list contains. It’s a good idea to use lists and bullet points in your letter. This makes it faster and easier for the reader. Also using bullet points avoids the tendency to ramble – keep it succinct and sharp.

6. This is where you list your top three or four reasons why you would be good for their business (which is really all they are interested in). Provide facts here, including numbers, time frames, awards, percentages, etc. Note that this letter has included sporting and family achievements. You can go outside your work experience to provide evidence of the skills, abilities and character traits you have if there is a transferable connection between them and the job you are seeking. This person knew that successful real estate agents work extremely hard and so the traits in this list illustrate their conscientiousness in all areas of life.

7. This is a critical part of your letter. This person did not have any experience in the real estate industry. All of the learning items in this list were initiated by the applicant through self-learning over a period of a few months prior to sending out this letter. This will greatly impress most employers as they see someone who is extremely conscientious, highly motivated, and proactive. The character traits you display while carrying out your job search are paid a lot of attention to by an employer and they will rightly assume these traits would continue to be displayed as an employee.

8. This last section connects the skills and experience you have with the job you are seeking. In some ways, it is a continuation of the first section but here you are summarizing and also adding some more specificity and evidence as to why you would make a good agent. You don’t need to list everything here like you would in a resume. The whole point of this letter is to generate enough interest in the employer to want to meet with you. And the decision to meet with you will also be influenced by the follow-up phone call you make (see last paragraph).

9. The closing paragraph is about one thing – and that is to announce that you will follow up this letter with a phone call in the coming days. When you make the follow-up call, ask directly to speak with the person you addressed the letter to. Open the conversation by saying something like “Hi Mr. Fraser it’s John Mitchell speaking, I’m following up on the letter I sent last week regarding my entry into the real estate industry. Did you receive my letter?”

From there, his answer will determine your next step, but basically, the purpose of the call is simply to secure a meeting. A possible follow-up line could be “Mr. Fraser, I’m going to be passing by your office on Wednesday, would it be OK if I popped in and briefly introduced myself?”

10. Did you know that a ‘P.S.’ at the bottom of a letter is one of the most read parts of a letter? For example, if a person decides not to read the whole letter, they nearly always read the PS at the bottom. It is one part of the letter that is very impactful and it is the last thing that a person will usually read. Say something powerful.

11. You could send this letter via e-mail but I wouldn’t recommend it. I suggest you print it out on high-quality paper and send it in a courier pack (not post) directly to the person with the authority to make hiring decisions. Emails can get lost, not opened, and are generally a lot less impactful. And postal envelopes are often opened by someone other than the person you want to reach. Courier packs are generally put straight on the desk of the person to whom they are addressed to. But this method of delivery is also impactful simply because it is different. One of the key aspects of marketing yourself well is doing things that other people don’t do, thereby making yourself stand out.

Here is the download for the Word document example and here is the download for the PDF which is the same letter but includes comments and tips relating to different sections of the letter. You will need both.

by Sue Sanderson
(Ann Arbor, MI)

Many years ago I left an excellent dream job here in the US because of a change in immediate management. The new manager was of different cultural background and proved to be more difficult to work with as a manager. And he dealt with women as his cultural group demanded. I asked for reassignment. I took my plea to Human Resources and was rebuffed.
The only choice was to live with constant discrimination or leave. There was an outcry from other women who had the same experience but, the company chose to stand behind the man. In the end, it led to a better situation, better work and more growth in a related, but different profession. It was tough to walk away from the security and pension.

Online degrees and courses are changing the face of education opportunities as in the case of the perfect score achieved by a 15-year-old Mongolian boy, after enrolling in an online electronics course at MIT.

If you are considering enrolling at an online university, here are five points worth considering.

Ensure Your Online Qualification Is Well Accepted in the Marketplace

There has been a growing shift in the acceptance of online education as a recognized and valid qualification by employers, although it is probably still fair to say there remains a preference for traditional campus qualifications.

There is still a resistance from academia to regard them as equivalent to a campus-based qualification. This is not surprising as their livelihood is threatened by a significant trend towards gaining qualifications through online universities.

Ensure that your degree is fully accredited and that it’s eligible to receive credit transfers to other universities.
But in the final analysis, the employers who make the hiring decisions will respond differently to various online qualifications.

What field of study/industry you are in, how well you market yourself with your degree, and what online university you graduated from, are all contributing factors.

And of course, qualifications are only a small part of an employer’s decision to hire and can sometimes be given an over-emphasis by prospective job applicants.

Online University Study May Be More Difficult?

Many online students report the need to be more self-motivated and organized while completing an online degree.

Because you’re not fronting up to the tutor and other students in person, you might feel less accountable, resulting in tardy study habits.
But let’s face it, whether you’re involved in a degree program online or on campus, you need to be organized and a good time manager.

A number of online education participants talked about how they felt there was actually greater responsibility placed on them to be personally involved because tutors made it mandatory for them to post thoughts and feedback on forums about their assigned work.

Your personality type will also probably play a role.
Some people learn well on their own in a relatively isolated environment, while others struggle with it.

Physically meeting and talking with people is how social learners work best, so you do need to be aware of your learning style.

Having said that, technologies now being used at online universities including live webinars, video link downloads and a range of other multimedia technologies produce an experience much closer to actually being in the room.

And of course, in some circumstances, the option exists to meet locally with other degree participants.

Cost Differences for Online Degrees Versus Traditional Degrees

The course costs for most degree programs are generally cheaper than on-campus degrees.

In 2014, Georgia Institute of Technology offered a computer science master’s degree for a fraction of the cost of the face to face program.

However, a number of universities state that to produce the best distance learning programs requires intensive resources and some tutors say that it actually takes them longer to prepare for degree programs online than it does for on-campus equivalents.

Nevertheless, I expect online universities to lower their costs further in the future as they benefit from economies of scale.

Whatever the fees, the importance of being fully aware of the costs of your online degree before you start, goes without saying.

A number of students report additional costs being added as they progressed through their studies that they were not aware of when they began.

Caveat emptor; ask upfront about all costs associated with your degree including materials, technology fees, distance education fees and licensing.

Talk to People Who Have Completed Online Education

It makes sense to talk to people who have recently completed an online degree.

Call up an online university you are contemplating enrolling with and ask them for contact details and/or testimonies of recent online degree graduates.

It’s also a good idea to talk to employers in the area you anticipate working in once you have completed your online University study.

Gauge their receptiveness to a possible job applicant who has an accredited online degree on their resume and from the University you propose enrolling at.

Try to sense how genuine their answer is.
Employers will often say nice things so as not to offend you.

Online Degree Success Rates

There appears to be no significant difference between on-campus success and degree programs online, all things being equal (Research in Higher Education Journal and US Department of Education Report Online Learning).

The biggest determinants in both cases are what the student brings to the table in the way of prior learning, GPA levels, previous study habits as well as the ability to function independently.

There is some research to suggest that hybrid students (studying a program that includes a mix of on-campus and online programs) do best of all.

What is also encouraging is that the vast majority of universities now state that online degrees will be an important part of their future career training offerings.

Free Job Search Help

Download the free job search help audio “7 Secrets of Finding a Good Job Fast“.
This was created by Simon Davies, a career coach from Australia.

It discusses the critical aspects of finding a job fast while at the same time paying attention to job satisfaction and fulfilment.

I have provided these free job search tips on audio to allow you to listen to it while you are doing other things, perhaps while exercising or in the car.

When it comes to finding a good job fast, there are certain concepts that you need to have ingrained in your mind before success comes.
Having this information as an audiobook allows you to easily listen to it repeatedly while doing other tasks, thereby increasing the learning intake and increasing your job search success. Repetition (and action) is the mother of learning.

Download ‘7 Secrets of Finding a Good Job Fast’

7 Secrets of Finding A Good Job Fast
Free mp3 download here

(36 minutes)

(To listen directly on your computer, simply click on the link above. To save the mp3 file to your computer, right-click and select ‘save target as’ or ‘save link as’)