Pray to God

This is the first southern gospel/country song that I've written. Enjoy!

Pray to God
By Andrew Allen

If darkness is around you and you can't find your way
and there's no shining light to lead you into day
He will be your shelter and He will be your guide
Just bow your head my friend and you can pray to God

Pray to God, Pray to God
If your heart is hurt and heavy pray to God
If you're walking through the valley and the road is dark and long
Just bow your head my friend and you can pray to God

He'll lift you up and comfort you when sorrow overcomes
He'll give you strength when you're weak with Him the victory's won
When you fall He'll pick you up and hold you by the hand
Just bow your head my friend and you can pray to God

Pray to God, Pray to God
If your heart is hurt and heavy pray to God
If you're walking through the valley and the road is dark and long
Just bow your head my friend and you can pray to God

Backseat Faith

Have you ever had those times when you sort of, kind of are doing the whole walk with God thing? Yeah, you might listen to the Christian radio station in the car and even make it to church most of the time but as far as an active and thriving relationship with Him, it’s mostly not happening.

It can be so easy to slip into this pattern with countless social events, work obligations, family commitments, sports, extra curricular activities, etc. vying for our attention. If we’re not careful, these activities can creep in and relegate faith to a backseat role with limited day-to-day involvement.

Not only does keeping faith on the sideline open the door for temptation and sin to steal in but it also robs us of the abundant life offered in Christ. “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” -John 10:10.

For faith to thrive, it must be fed and exercised. When this happens, it will produce fruit: “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” –Galatians 5:22-23.

Invite Jesus into your day no matter how packed or busy. Read the Bible. Sing and listen to worship songs that focus your heart and mind on Him. Talk to Him as you would a friend. Thank Him for blessings in your life, ask Him for wisdom, intercede for the needs of yourself and others and believe that He will answer.

Let us seek more than just a casual faith in God but rather one that is active, thriving, and an integral part of our lives.

In pursuit of His best,

Andrew

Have you noticed faith taking a backseat role in your life recently?

The Land Between

Life sometimes brings us tough stuff and we find ourselves somewhere other than where we'd like to be. In The Land Between, Jeff Manion walks through various real life scenarios of people experiencing hardship and their responses to seeking God in the midst of it.

Manion also examines the Israelites during their time in the desert and how God took them through various experiences in order to prepare them for entering the promised land. Many times, they missed the opportunity to grow in their faith and deepening of their relationship with Him.

In speaking about difficulties, Manion says, "God intends to grow something beautiful and deep and lasting, but we must cooperate with Him for the season of hardship to work its intended transformation. Don't let your detour go waste. You are in training, and God is up to something good."

I read the book during a season of introspection and found it to be very good in helping with self examination and figuring out the relationship between my walk with God and difficult situations.

The book is not hard to read but I recommend reading it slowly to allow for sufficient reflection. It is not a do-these-5-steps-and-you'll-be-through-with-your-hardship-in-30-days type of book. But if you are open to examining circumstances and what God may be teaching you, it is an excellent guide.

Validation

This video is guaranteed to make you smile.

Merit Badges Won't Get You Into Heaven

Achievement and accomplishment are encouraged and well engrained into the fiber of our culture. We celebrate those who run marathons, graduate from college, win awards, serve at the homeless shelter, receive promotions, rescue orphans, break records, write books, become wealthy, and a host of other accolades.

These are commendable and all fine and well but they will never truly fulfill us or get us into Heaven. Our achievements will always fall short of the holiness and righteousness of God. It is only by His grace that we can be saved from sin. "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast." -Ephesians 2:8-10 The inclination towards achievement and accomplishment can be harnessed and focused on good works that God has prepared for you.

Seek to bear fruit but rest in His grace and belief in Jesus as Lord (Romans 10:9) rather than a false righteousness built on merit badges.

In pursuit of His best,

Andrew

Has the desire for achievement ever clouded your spiritual focus?

Sweet Potatoes and Sin

Ever left something like a sweet potato untended for far too long? If not, check out the picture to the left to see what happens to a tater in a dark place. Roots begin to develop and grow.

If you think about it, sin can be similar. Left untended in a dark place, sin will take root growing steadily until it is so entrenched that it takes significant focus and prayer to be rid of.

As James says: "...each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death." -James 1:14-15.

At the first sign of temptation, nip it in the bud. Rip out anything that's started to take root in your life and throw it away. Avoid seeding your mind and environment with things that make fertile soil for sin. Instead, fertilize ground that is rich in righteousness and ripe for the fruit of the Spirit.

Is there anything growing in your life that needs to be uprooted?

In pursuit of His best,

Andrew

Note: no sweet potatoes were harmed in the writing of this post

Hungry for Righteousness

Have you ever been really hungry, so hungry that both animate and inanimate objects were at risk for consumption? This happens every once in a while for me and I could eat a box full of donuts but that would probably just make me hyper, give me a major sugar high, and result in a stomach ache while leaving me wanting for real nourishment. Usually, only things of substance like oatmeal, spaghetti, or a chicken sandwich can satisfy the hunger.

Over the past couple of months, I've been meditating a bit on Matthew 5:6, "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled."I've read or heard this verse many times but haven't spent much time pondering it before. The desire to fulfill emotional/spiritual hunger is natural and as with physical hunger, numerous options are available.

People may try to fill their spiritual/emotional hunger with things like TV, sports, alcohol, relationships, internet surfing, work, achievement, or an assortment of other things. These things may temporarily fill emptiness but will never provide true fulfillment.

I challenge you to spend the next 30 days asking God to put in you a hunger and thirst for righteousness. Feast from the table of spiritual meat and potatoes and be filled. Drink deeply and be satisfied from the springs of His righteousness.

In pursuit of His best,

Andrew

Poetry: Rain

Pitter patter on the ground
Rain drops falling, falling down
Skies above bring life below
watering the earth to grow

Coffee Haiku

A pleasing scent floats
the fresh fragrance of morning
coffee awaits you

Blog Maintenance

Howdy friends! PursuitofHisbest.com has recently undergone a bit of maintenance and I wanted to take a moment to point out the new features. There are now static page sections in the header of the blog. At the moment, these sections include About, Photography, Writing, Music, and Store. Each of these will provide a bit more information about PursuitofHisbest.com as a whole as well as insight into my photographic, writing, and musical pursuits.

The Store section will feature various products for purchase. Check back often for new items. The Recommended Reading link launches an Amazon store with books that I personally recommend. (most are on topics of either faith or finances) One additional element of the store is a link to Amazon that you can use to make general purchases for anything you're shopping for and a small portion of the purchase will help support PursuitofHisbest.com.

Thanks for reading!

Luck vs. Hard Work, Focus, and Prayer

“You just don't luck into things as much as you'd like to think you do. You build step by step, whether it's friendships or opportunities.” – Barbara Bush

It's not often that someone skates through life purely on luck. Opportunity comes to those who focus intently, work hard, and pray a lot. God sometimes supernaturally orchestrates things in our lives but I believe that He also expects to use the talents, skills, and abilities that He's given as effectively as possible. Effective use of God given gifts accomplishes far more than human effort can ever hope to attain.

In pursuit of His best,

Andrew

Bezalel

"Then the LORD said to Moses, “See, I have chosen Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with wisdom, with understanding, with knowledge and with all kinds of skills— to make artistic designs for work in gold, silver and bronze, to cut and set stones, to work in wood, and to engage in all kinds of crafts." Exodus 31:1-5

Some people have the idea that a person must be a vocational minister in order to really serve God on some elevated level. This thought couldn't be further from the truth. While God does call some people to be vocational ministers, He also calls people to a vast array of other professions and equips them for those things.

Bezalel had the hand of God upon him and was given all kinds of knowledge, creativity, and craftsman oriented skills which could be used for His glory. God has similarly given each person unique abilities and empowered them to serve Him through those skills.

If you're a good teacher, do that as unto Him. If you're good at construction, do that as unto Him. If you're gifted with financial matters, serve Him in that arena. If you're artistically inclined, let Him guide your creative efforts.

Martin Luther King Jr. said, "If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets even as Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music, or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well.”

No matter what your job is, do it well and in a way that would glorify God. This can open doors to share with co-workers, clients, or vendors about spiritual matters. You may be the first person they've encountered who demonstrates Jesus in real life outside the walls of a church building. Many people give up on church or have just never had interest in going but would be open to listen to someone they respect in the professional world.

We are all vocational ministers. Some have the title of pastor while others have the title of accountant, nurse, salesman, police officer, waitress, or custodian. God has given you talents and abilities, use them to bring glory to Him.

Alabaster

This is a song I wrote based on the passage about the woman who anointed Jesus with an alabaster jar of perfume and cleaned his feet. See Luke 7:36-50 for the full story.

While it is written to speak to her scenario, the lyrics can apply to anyone's life in receiving forgiveness and then telling their story of freedom in Christ.

Alabaster
by: Andrew Allen

Take your jar of alabaster
pour it out upon the master
clean His feet and dry your tears
you're forgiven do not fear

Let not your heart be troubled
Let not your spirit fail
The chains of sin are broken
Go into the world and tell

He has given me life
and healed the pain
from all the things that I've done
freed me from shame

Give your heart to Him instead
and listen to the words He says
Sin is gone now you are free
Faith has saved you go in peace

Let not your heart be troubled
Let not your spirit fail
The chains of sin are broken
Go into the world and tell

He has given me life
and healed the pain
from all the things that I've done
freed me from shame

In All Your Ways Acknowledge Him

How many times have you compartmentalized faith as a part of your life? It can be so easy to have that 5, 10, or 15 minute quiet time in the morning or at night (check it off the list), go to church for a couple hours on the weekend, and then more or less not include God in the rest of your day/week.

Proverbs 3:5-6 says, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight." "All your ways" means all, Not just some but all. On a practical level, that means staying in a constant mindset of conversation with God. As you're driving to work, before that conference call, when you're making a difficult decision, while you're standing in line at the grocery store, as you're talking with people. At all times.

When we get in this habit of praying continually -I Thessalonians 5:17, we can really involve God in all aspects of our life and not act as if he's just a minor player in it. He becomes intricately woven throughout our lives and we more clearly hear from Him as He guides our steps.

A really short but good book on this topic is The Practice of the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence.

Lasting Joy

False hope and cheap imitations of joy promoted by the world are revealed as shallow when juxtaposed with life in Christ. Lasting joy and satisfaction will only be found in fixing our eyes on Jesus and running the race of life in His power.

JUMP: Life Transformation

Over the past 9 months or so, I've been helping a friend at church to write and edit a book. As of this week, it's hot off the presses. Yay!

The title of the book is JUMP: Life Transformation (JUMP stands for Jesus Understands My Problems) and the concept is about replacing hurts, problems, and unhealthy coping mechanisms with a core centered on Christ. While it does address addictions and other hurtful behaviors, the book is much broader than that and speaks to anything which occupies the place of Jesus in a person's life.

The book summary is:
Do you have a problem that's holding you back from a life of freedom and joy? Do you turn to unhealthy habits, behaviors, or choices when you find yourself overwhelmed by life circumstances? Maybe you know someone who has a problem and wish you knew how to help.

JUMP is about replacing hurts, problems, and unhealthy coping mechanisms with God-enabled life transformation. Are you ready?

Jump In!

It's been a fun process to take a concept and develop it into a finished product. I definitely have a much greater appreciation for what goes into writing a good book. Even though I was very involved in creating the book, objectively, I think the book has some great material which will help lots of people.

We may eventually get it up on Amazon or other online sites but for the time being, it is available online at JumpRecovery.org as well as the Pleasant Valley Baptist Church bookstore in Liberty, Missouri. If you get a chance to read it, I highly recommend it. :)

Dangerous

Do you want to be dangerously effective as a disciple of Christ?

Danger implies an element of risk or lack of safety. As it applies to your walk with God, seek to be a warrior for Him that is dangerous and that the enemy fears. Not that you might have a sense of power but that God would be glorified and His kingdom strengthened.

Warfare is not easy and is wrought with danger. Acknowledge warfare in the spiritual realm but don't shrink to a life of easy comfort. Instead, seek an active and joyful existence spent serving and worshiping God, walking closely with Him, and knowing that he will provide power in battle.

We will not be perfect and will mess up from time to time but this should not prevent us from being used for God's purposes. He is fully capable of using imperfect people to accomplish His will.

As His disciple, seek to learn and grow in your relationship with Him. Share with others and invest in their lives so that they too can know Him.

This kind of life will be dangerously effective.

In pursuit of His best,

Andrew

Eres Santo

Este es un cancion de alabanza escribio en Espanol.

Eres Santo
Tus nombre es magnifico
Alabanzas estan tus solo
Tienes el poder sobre todo
me das todo lo que necesito

Senor Jesus Christo
Te quiero en mi vida
Senor Jesus Christo
con tigo tengo alegria
Si Senor

Eres santo, eres santo
Eres santo, eres santo

Traducir para los gringos lo dice:

Your name is great
Praises are yours alone
You have power over everything
You give me all that I need

Lord Jesus Christ
I want you in my life
Lord Jesus Christ
With you I have joy
Yes Lord!

You are holy, You are holy
You are holy, You are holy

More of You

Here's a song that came to me while having a personal time of worship.

More of You, I want more of You
Inside my heart and my soul
More of You, I want more of You
Jesus Lover of my soul

You are good, so good
You are good, so good

You are good and You love me
You are good and You love me

Even in the darkness I can see the light
You are shining brightly in the dark of night

More of You, I want more of You
Inside my heart and my soul
More of You, I want more of You
Jesus Lover of my soul

You Alone by David Crowder Band in Spanish

Here's a Spanish translation of You Alone by David Crowder Band that I put together.

Tu Eres
Tu eres todo lo que necesito
Me arrodillo a tus pies
Te alabo tu solo
Tu me has dado mas de
Lo que podria haber querido
Y quiero darte mi Corazon

Tu eres el Padre
Y tu eres bien
Tu eres el Salvador
Y tu eres Senor

Estoy vivo, Estoy Vivo, Estoy vivo, Estoy Vivo

Tu eres el Padre
Y tu eres bien
Tu eres el Salvador
Y tu eres Senor

Dios te bendiga