Can I be honest for a moment? Sometimes I just wasn't in the mood to throw my hands up in the air and praise God. I would have a really bad day, and everything had been going wrong that could possibly go wrong! I would have rather crawled under a rock and throw myself a pity party. And, that accomplished what, you ask? Nothing. Exactly.

It took a long time for me to realize that amazing things happen when you praise God on your mountain-tops, but you praise Him even harder in your valleys.

Paul and Silas are the perfect examples of praising God during their valleys in Acts 16:25-34 {...}

[Read the rest of this article at Whole Magazine.]

As a Believer we all know that Bible Studying time (also known as, quiet time with Abba) is one of the most important times of the day.

Over the past few years I have changed up how I study to get a more in-depth study, or if I was in a hurry; just enough fuel to keep me running through the day. It's not about how much your in your word, rather how much word is in you. There is a difference between reading the Bible and studying [meditating on the Word] the Bible, and then actually living it out; applying it to your daily life.

Today, I want to share with you the different methods of Bible studying that I have used, and some have been shared with me. Some worked for me, and others didn't, but that doesn't mean they won't work for you.


[Read the rest of this article at Whole Magazine.]

As I read the passage, it reminded me of our relationship with God. He provides us with the necessary tools so that we can bear good fruit. We have bibles, churches, Christian books galore, sermons, etc. The verse that really caught my attention was Isaiah 5:2, it states the man looked or expected that it should bring forth grapes. This tells me that the man didn't tend to the vineyard to ensure it's proper growth. He just expected that it would bear good grapes. 

When we are first saved, we have a zeal, a burning passion to share Jesus. We do all the right things, say all the right things, and we are living our great Christian life in our great Christian box. Then something happens. The fire burns out, the zeal diminishes. Our flame that once was for Jesus, becomes a cloud of black soot. Why? Because somewhere in between we stopped tending to our vineyard. We stopped watering it, we didn't care for the hedge placed around it, therefore letting outsiders destroy what we had planted.

Oftentimes we as Christians want the blessings that come with having a relationship with God, but don't want to put in the work. We won't read our Word; we won't go to church; we have direct access to God yet we don't have a consistent prayer life. 

[Read the rest of this article at Whole Magazine.]