"...first clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside will also be clean" (Matt. 23:26).
Regeneration, rebirth, revitalization, renewal---all begin on the inside of man, not on the exterior.
How happy was the blind man whose eyes were opened! How exalted was the paralyzed who could take up his mat and walk! How rejoicing were those set free from the demons that terrorized them and threw them to the ground! This is the New Birth of which Jesus spoke--being set free from what has held us bound all these years!
The Spirit of God comes like a mighty wind in our souls! No one can tell whence it will come or what it will do when it arrives. While we are "tithing our mint and cumin," hoping to fulfill the demands of the law, the Spirit of God is setting us free from the wounds of the past, bringing to birth new sons and daughters of the kingdom---the poor, the outcast, the lonely, the helpless, the forgotten, the lame, the hopeless. They leap with joy at the good news that has set them free! They are no longer bound by the expectations and condemnation of men! They are alive in a way they never dreamed possible! Now they are free to live, to breathe, to laugh, to cry---no one has any hold over them.
These are all signs of the kingdom of heaven and of the Messiah of Yahweh. What mankind could not do on its own, despite its best efforts, has been done before our very eyes. "We were like men dreaming!" "Blessed is he who comes in the name of our God!" "Hosannah to the Son of David!"
Jesus said that if the children did not cry out, even the very stones would rejoice at His coming. The earth is full of the glory of God, and men do not see it!
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