“O God, my righteous Father in heaven, you are holy — nothing compares to you. I pray that your rule over my life will increase and the Holy Spirit will increasingly influence my heart and my thinking. May my life be a holy praise to you! In Jesus’ name, I ask this. Amen.
I hope you can look back on your baptism and remember it as a precious and powerful moment. What great joy to know that:
- We can share in an event similar to one Jesus experienced.
- God’s Spirit came to us in that event to cleanse us and live in us.
- The Father says a similar thing about us that he said about Jesus.
- We are chosen and marked by his love.
When John the Baptizer was proclaiming the coming of Jesus, Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. The moment he came out of the water, he saw the sky split open and God’s Spirit, looking like a dove, come down on him. Along with the Spirit, a voice: “You are my Son, chosen and marked by my love, pride of my life.” — Mark 1:9-11
What sweet grace!”