Michael

Plemmons

Ours is a complicated world. We live each of us side by side beside the wounded of heart. All around us are the desperately lonely. There are hearts and souls whose life is filled with a sense of isolation, despair, and pain. Who can understand the pain of the terminally ill? Day after day they grow weaker and weaker; their bodies wracked with pain. Each day is just a battle to survive; for millions life is as basic as just finding the strength to take the next breath.

The cries of desperate hearts can be heard all around us. The grief-stricken widower, the abused child, the prisoner in jail; the list goes on and on. All around us and from every walk of life millions of souls face each new day with voices of desperation. They each have a story. No one but them can truly understand the daily turmoil they encounter with every sunrise.

Pain in all its forms is the common universal human denominator we all share. Tens of thousands of families have lost their homes in the current economic downturn. For these families life has become a struggle just for survival. Daily they face the task of finding food, shelter, and hope for their families.

Indeed, throughout history we hear the voices of the desperate crying out for deliverance. In this timeless menagerie of pain and suffering, seen in every age and time, can someone be found who has heard and hears the cries of the desperate?

A little over two thousand years ago a Jewish rabbi faced his hour of pain and suffering. Jesus and his band of disciples had shared a last meal together and had made their way out of the city into the surrounding Judean hillsides. The disciples knew this night was different from other nights. As they walked along they must have reflected on the words their master spoke to them as he shared a last Passover meal with them. Their hearts were consumed with grief because Jesus had informed them that night that he would soon leave them.

Passover was a time of grand celebration when all Israel rejoiced in the memory of deliverance from slavery in Egypt. Yet Jesus broke with tradition that night when he spoke of a new covenant he was going to establish in the earth. One can but look with wonder at the life of this gentle Galilean and his journey that had brought him to this time and place. His very birth had been announced by a chorus of angels -- a savior had been born.

For the past three years of his life his mission was one of compassion to all the desperate voices longing for answers. They came to him from everywhere. He healed their sick and spoke words of wisdom and comfort such as never had been heard before. How many times he must have given of himself one by one to all the wounded hearts that made their way to him. No matter how weary in body, he always had time for the wounded heart.

Yet he knew that this effort was not enough. The universal problem of man was that we were broken on the inside. As he and his disciples made their way to the garden of Gethsemane, he spoke of his impending arrest that night and the death that would follow the next day. Their hearts were filled with sorrow; yet by his death and resurrection a new day would be inaugurated in the world of mankind.

Wounded desperate heart, Jesus did not just die a sacrificial death for you to cleanse your heart from sin. No, he opened the heart, love, and compassion of the Divine to the world. He rose from the dead; and no matter what you may be dealing with in your life, he is still speaking words of hope, love, and compassion. He will respond to the cry of the desperate heart wherever it may be found.

I believe we have entered a new day and time. The world is being shaken as never before. This goes far beyond the economic morass of this present time. Yet in the midst of coming tribulation, Father God is preparing His body, His church for that last end time move of His Spirit. All over the world, hungry hearts are lifting their hands and hearts heavenward.

Their hearts are driven by an inner knowledge and hunger to seek the face of God in this hour.

I believe Father is calling out to His church to prepare both for the judgments foretold in His word that shall come, but also the glory he is about to reveal in His church. God has given us a marvelous example in His word of what is beginning to happen in the body of Christ today. God delivered His chosen people from Egyptian bondage and slavery. He established His covenant with them, and through His servant, Moses, the people were instructed to construct a Tabernacle where His divine glory and eternal presence would reside.

Over this holy abode, a pillar of fire by night and a pillar or cloud of glory by day could be seen by one and all. There is a message in this to the church of our day and believers everywhere. Today the fire and glory of His eternal presence are beginning to move like never before. Most Christians, like God's people of that day, are content to gaze out of the tent flaps of their hearts and gaze in wonder at the glory cloud of God being released in this day in our midst.

Our churches are filled with people who are content to warm themselves by the fire of His glory. They will dance before Him in His presence. Yet grand and glorious though this revelation may be there is a higher revelation. We have all been called into the priesthood of our Lord and our God. Most believers are content to see the glory cloud but there are others who hunger for more. 

These are those who by faith in the divine sacrifice of the Son will move past the cloud of glory and enter into the Holy Place of God. Such individuals long to walk in an awareness or revelation of the life and nature of God himself. They willingly lay down their lives that they might receive that greatest of revelations that can only be seen by the dedicated and consecrated.

It is one thing to stand with the crowd outside of the Tabernacle in awe of the glory cloud and pillar of fire. It is another thing altogether to allow the Holy Spirit such access to your life that he will prepare your heart for a holy quest that you may know Him. Father is going to share His heart with this generation of the body Christ. Such awareness will cause the heart to tremble in His presence. Yet it shall produce a revelation that will shake the world as never before.

In this hour and at this time, Father is calling a holy remnant unto himself. His heart shall be unveiled in the fire of His glory. Evil shall be judged in this day, but those sons and daughters who will now begin to humble themselves before God, shall walk in a renewal of power and kingdom authority. Theirs shall be a voice of love and consolation. They shall be driven by a divine revelation of the heart of God. Their inspiration shall come from the kingdom of glory that is even now being birthed in the world.

Father is preparing us one and all for that wondrous transformation that he is bringing. One by one he is calling out to the consecrated to enter into the fire of His glory. The lusts and diverse sins of this world will one day be no more. Father, I believe, is calling out to every believer to so dedicate ourselves in His service to the kingdom of God that His coming will come alive in our hearts. Let us in the body of Christ wait on Him daily for that internal transformation of fire and glory that living in His presence brings.

Millions of People all over the world are searching for a ray of hope. When we look at the events of just this year, we find much to be concerned about. Our world is facing one major crisis after another. Millions are facing starvation due to the high costs of food. From one end of the globe to the other the specter of war hangs over mankind. We have also seen the world struck with one natural disaster after another.

Yet, in spite of these threats and others, I can say with confidence that in a world seemingly headed for disaster, we can take hope and consolation. Hope is not to be found in something, but rather in someone. In one individual we can find an answer to the fear clutching the hearts of so many today. I recently heard a desperate person say that in the midst of her suffering and pain, the only thread of hope she could find was to repeat over and over the name, "Jesus."

I would add to her voice my own, and say to each and every sufferer, wherever you may be, that hope can be found in someone and his name is Jesus. Millions of believers all over the world have found in Jesus a voice of consolation in our hour of distress. In my heart, I can race back through the events of my life. My memory is replete with times and events where I have suffered, yet I and no one else has ever suffered as He did. He, by his great love and devotion, gave his life to purchase for us eternal life. I and every believer have our own stories to tell. We each, however, are connected by a divine thread to Calvary; to the gentle Nazarene who gave himself for us.

For to know Jesus is be transformed from the inside into sons and daughters of God. This transformation has been accomplished by the divine heart and love of our Lord Jesus Christ. From the moment I met him this internal transformation had begun. We, one and all, had been unlovable, but like a gentle summer rain, the blood of Jesus washed away the guilt and sin that was ours. Yet he has done far more than this.

In my heart and the hearts of millions down through the ages, He has healed those inner wounds and sorrows and stilled the voices of grief and rage that course through the souls of all humanity. He has always been there in the moments of my greatest sorrow, deepest remorse, and darkest inner conflict. It has been His voice, His hand, that has stilled the storms that raged in my heart. I cannot count the number of times in my life when all seemed lost.

I, like the disciples, found myself cast upon the roaring waves of my life’s greatest turmoil. It was at these times that He came walking to me on the waves of my inner consternation and by His love and mere presence calmed the storm and set this oppressed heart free.

He gave me love and compassion when my heart needed it the most and deserved it the least. In the day-to-day living out of my life by His love, example, and kind guiding hand, He transformed me. So if I can now love, if the tears of compassion can run down my cheeks at the suffering of another, if my hand and heart can in any way reach out to some poor lost hurting soul, it is only because little by little He has done his work in me and changed my heart.

So, poor hurting soul, I offer to you the handiwork of my Lord Jesus Christ. His message is alive and well in the hearts of countless numbers of His followers around the globe. His voice is demonstrated with every helping hand reached out to the desperate all around us. His message is seen in every soup kitchen, homeless shelter, and act of Christian charity. His life can be seen in the kind eyes and generous hearts of His devoted followers. We followers of Christ can offer hope because of one man, one God, one Lord - our Lord Jesus Christ.

We are living today in extraordinary times. Our world is being shaken to its very core by events that seem to be beyond the capacity of anyone to shape or comprehend. We live in a world where the reader of a daily newspaper is given more knowledge in a week than a man living in the 18th century would have garnered in a lifetime. The world is becoming a smaller and smaller place with the advent of the modern computer. Nations and peoples are interlinked in ways our forebears would never have believed.

This truth is presenting the church of Jesus Christ with the most extraordinary opportunities in history. Never before has the world been more of a global village than today. Events happen in real time for all of us in ways no previous generation has ever experienced. An earthquake shook China last year and within minutes with the strides mankind has made in mass communications every corner of the world was aware of this unfolding tragedy.

We have all witnessed the trauma of the financial crisis. An event on Wall Street for good or ill shakes the market in Asia the same day! We in the body of Christ have the grand opportunity through the vast global network to come together and pool our resources in a way that will affect the entire world. God is calling us one and all to make a commitment to him and each other in an unprecedented fashion today.

This generation of the church of Jesus Christ will be both a witness and a force for change. I believe we are on the verge of the most powerful outpouring of the Spirit ever witnessed by man. In one day there are a multiplicity of major ministries who in an hours broadcast reach out to more people than the first century church combined were able to reach in decades.

The stage has been set and the pieces put in place and God is even now beginning to communicate His message in new ways. Dedicated souls are coming together to seek the leading and direction of the Holy Spirit. Hearts are being stirred as the God of all the earth is preparing His church for that greatest of outpourings. A day of transformation is coming. Tens of thousands of believers the ones whom I shall call the truly committed are seeking the face of God today. There is a universal move that is not only transforming the hearts of believers all over the globe but is also crossing over all denominational barriers. A unity of purpose can be seen in that the truly committed are seeking our Lord not for personal gain but that we may one and all receive a new revelation of the heart and person of our heavenly Father.

One day soon the church of Jesus Christ is going to receive a new revelation and anointing. I do not believe that any one group shall be given this awakening.  We have never seen a time like this where so many ministries are finding they are ministering on a daily basis to literally every nation on earth through the force of mass communications.

Hungry hearts do not despair. In a day known only to God, His glory is going to shake His church and the inter-connected network of believers will shake as never before the entire world. The day of His glory is at hand and we who hunger and thirst for His presence shall be witnesses as the kingdom of God moves into its final phase.

Furthermore, because we are united with Christ, we have received an inheritance from God, for He chose us in advance, and He makes everything work out according to His plan (