Spiritual Awakening | Real Life on Rocky Top

The Power is Out!

Jul 08 2016

Up here on Rocky Top the power is out!! We are sitting in the dark. We have a few candles flickering and one huge flashlight but these sources of light do little to illuminate this house or the dark night outside. On Rocky Top when the power goes out, we also have no water due to being on a well. So not only is it dark and hot in the house, very soon it will also be “stinky”! I am hoping you can figure this out without further explanation.

Powerful winds tore over the lake yesterday ripping down trees and huge limbs. The yard is filled with debris.

Preacher drove around looking for “the problem”. God has gifted him with the ability to see the problem, know the solution and speak to it.

About 100 yards from our front door was the problem. A power line was down, coiled up in the middle of the road along with bits and pieces of a large tree.

Knowing the problem, the solution was evident, appropriate calls were made and then we waited for the power to be restored. The line needed to be reconnected to the source of power.

As we waited, news came across my phone of violence in our land. Preacher and I discussed the events of the week in the darkness.

Before we fell asleep, we prayed in the darkness.

“Therefore justice is far from us, and righteousness does not reach us. We hope for the light but there is darkness…….For truth has stumbled in the public square, and honesty cannot enter. TRUTH is missing. The Lord saw that there was no justice, and He was offended. He saw that there was no man and He was amazed that there was no one interceding.”

Isaiah 59:9,14-16

The power lines are down on my street. They are disconnected from the source of power. Yet the power is there. The power has not disappeared. Someone just has to connect the lines to the source.

Too often first thing in the morning I reach for my phone to check Facebook, Twitter, Fox news or messages instead of hitting my knees to intercede and cry out for His power. I choose to not access His power.

Too often I grab my phone to call someone to discuss a situation instead of discussing first with my Father. I choose to look for power in another source instead of the the One true source.

Too often I choose to try and fix something before seeking His truth and His ways first. I attempt to use my own power.

Too often I pass people without seeing them through His eyes and speaking words of love and encouragement. I choose to not let His power flow through me because I am so focused on myself.

Too often I do not open my mouth and share the Good News of Jesus with others. I choose not to let anyone else know about the One power that can change their lives.

God forgive me! God may I not be the one to allow the power lines to stay down. Lord, may I not be the one to keep His power to myself.

I want power on up here on Rocky Top and in my life! Living in the darkness is hot and smelly.

But more than anything, I want to see His power again moving in our nation!

And dear, dear friends who read this blog faithfully, our nation is one big hot, stinky mess because we as believers have allowed the power lines to go down and choose daily to not connect ourselves to His power and intercede for this nation and world.

We must return to our knees and cry out to God for His light to shine in and through us to our world.

“That light shines in the darkness, yet the darkness has not overcome.”

John 1:5

Was Sunday Real? or Was It Just Emotion?

Aug 28 2015

Ok…….let’s be real with each other. It is the middle of the week after a Sunday in which the Lord really moved in my heart and in many other’s hearts. I dealt with some personal sin in my own life. I prayed and called out for the Lord on behalf of my family, my church, my friends, our nation, and our world as Preacher led us. I sang at the top of my lungs………”There is Power in the Name of Jesus to break every chain.” P I fell on my knees in brokenness and stood up to walk in His freedom, joy, and forgiveness.

But now it is the middle of the week and some of those chains are rattling in front of me. I see them and I hear them. The enemy is taunting me and the feeling is fading. So what do I do???

Preacher said, “Revival is renewed passion to know Christ, love Christ, share Christ and serve Christ!” So I decided to………

Run to the Word! The best way to know Christ is to be in His word. To read it, study it, memorize it. There is no shortcut on this. If you don’t choose to run to His word, well you might as well just quit reading this blog right now. So I ran to His word and the Lord began to teach me even more about Revival and how to sustain it in my own life. Here are some practical things that the Lord said to me through thru the following verse:

“The Lord God is my strength, and he will make my feet like hinds’ feet, and he will make me to walk upon my high places. To the chief singer on my stringed instruments.” Habakkuk 3:19

Make sure He is my Master. The word “God” in Habakkuk 3:19 is “Adonai” which means “Master”. Unless He is my Master in every area of life…..meaning I choose to obey Him every time He speaks to me ……..He will not be my strength. When I was a little child, I was told that when God speaks to you that you should take the first step in obedience and then His strength will carry you through. I know this is truth for every directive He has ever given me………from choosing to hold my tongue to moving across the country to serve Him in a new ministry. The first step is my obedience, and then His power enables me!

Acknowledge my high places and REPENT! High places aren’t fun, pretty places. In the Old Testament “high places” referred to where people sacrificed to idols. Many times people sacrificed their own children on high places. High places are strongholds of sin in my life. A stronghold is the area of your life that the enemy has a grip on; an area that the enemy can count on your response. It can be an addiction to food, alcohol, drugs, approval, gossip, anger, greed, shopping, pride, laziness, self-centeredness and the list goes on and on. God’s power can’t enable you to walk on your high places unless you are willing to acknowledge you have them. If I excuse my “sin” because of anything or anyone, then the chains can’t be broken. One can’t repent and turn from sin unless, one acknowledges and agrees with God that it is sin.

Have the feet of a doe! Yep, that’s what the Lord said. Hind’s feet are the feet of a female deer. I believe God specifically used “hind’s feet” for a reason. The feet of a male and female deer are different! As I researched this some experts say that a doe can go higher than a buck because they are more agile and because their feet are different. One study said that doe’s nails are longer so they can grip the rocks better and therefore are more agile in rocky environments. The Lord doesn’t want strongholds in our lives to pulls us down or weigh us down. He wants to give us hind’s feet to move powerfully and effectively through them.

Worship! Habakkuk, the prophet, began chapter 3 with a musical term “shigionoth”…… a musical term that meant to sing with delirious joy. The prophet closes chapter 3 by reminding us about worship. Worship when the chains are rattling! Worship means to declare God’s worth. Fill your heart, your mind, your life with music which glorifies Him. Speak words of His worth! The moment I begin to sing His praise, the noise of the rattling chains disappears.

And finally Serve others and Share Christ…..Revival is only revival as Preacher says when it leaves the church building. So this week when I began to “lose the feeling” I asked the Lord to put others in my path that I could serve and share Christ’s love with. After having several opportunities to just love on others, God begin to fill me with His joy.

So up on Rocky Top I have seen a lot of deer. I haven’t been quick enough to snap a picture of one.

But a dear friend of mine has! She actually took the above picture of a doe on my high place…..yep right outside my window. See that precious doe peeking up over the rocky top! When she sent me this picture I had so much joy in my heart. Thank you Lord that you will send Your power into my life to walk right through any stronghold/high place in my life if I will just run to your Word, acknowledge you as my master, worship you and then love and serve others!!!

Sunday was REAL! “There’s an army rising up……to break every chain, break every chain.”

What Are You Laughing At?

Jul 23 2015

I’ve been told pictures are worth a thousand words. I took the above picture on our vacation. Preacher and I were blessed to take time off to refresh our minds, bodies and souls! Laying in a beach chair I snapped this picture. I wasn’t sure what the Lord was saying to me. I knew He was speaking through this picture, but the meaning eluded me until I returned home and opened His word to continue my slow study through Genesis.

So as I sat on the back porch this morning with His word opened I read in Genesis 18 about the Lord coming to Abraham and making the announcement that Sarah, his wife, would have a son in her old age.

When Sarah overheard this proclamation, she laughed! She laughed at the Lord’s promise. She was old and barren…..way past childbearing age. In her limited understanding, having a son through her own body was impossible…….not logical and certainly not probable. So Sarah did the human thing…….she laughed!

The Lord immediately said to me, “Donna, what are you laughing at?” There are some situations in my life that seem impossible……….people I am praying for and circumstances that seem totally unrealistic!

Even the state of our nation…..well, it seems impossible for spiritual renewal and revival in our nation.

Am I laughing? Do I doubt the power of my God?

Genesis 18:14 gives God’s response to Sarah’s laughter, “Is there anything too hard for the Lord?”

The Hebrew word “too hard” is “Pala”. It is the first time this word is used in the entire Bible. Zodhiates in the Complete Word Study of the Old Testament says “He does things beyond the bounds of human powers or expectations. It is not merely the unusual act or even the degree of astonishment but the clear-cut exhibition of God’s capable care of Israel.” WOW!

Do I believe this? Or am I laughing? If I am laughing, it is called disbelief or doubt!

If I am believing God is totally capable and nothing is too difficult for Him, that my great and mighty God is totally capable of taking care of me, my family, my church and this crazy world, it is called FAITH!!!

So back to the picture, Donna, walk through the rope out onto the sand and into the mighty ocean of life. I, your Adonai (name for God meaning Master/Lord, same name that Abraham called God in Genesis 18:3) am totally capable of parting the waters when they need to be parted. Nothing is too difficult for me when you call me Adonai………Master/Lord.

So………what are you laughing at today? Does anything seem totally impossible, illogical, and improbable?

Call HIM Master and Lord……Live as if He is your Master and Lord!!! And watch Him part the waters!

“He divided the sea and led them through…”Psalm 78:13