Today is a day I want to always remember. This day I renewed my baptism. It was a snowy day. We drove down to Saratoga Springs, and waited
by the lake. Someone authorized to
perform baptism met us there. Many
members of my family then walked to Inlet Park Hot Springs. I stepped into the water and my friend
assisted by performing the ordinance.
Others also renewed their baptism.
It was a happy moment and we walked back in wet clothing in the winter
air and drove home.
The Lord had prompted me to do this a year and a half
ago. Finally this day was my first
opportunity. God did not
disappoint. My heart is filled with
light. So much light and joy, more
strong than I ever remember before. I
know this to be the Baptism of Fire.
I am writing this experience down this hour that I may never forget what great light and joy I received because of this experience.
End of journal entry.
It is a simple entry, written like a kid. At the end of an eventful day filled with
light and joy, I barely had time to scribble down this entry. I hope
over the next few weeks to write a few words about why I felt it was necessary
to renew the Baptism as commanded by Jesus Christ. And I hope to invite you to do the same. That is to say, if you have been baptized in the
past, I will invite you to renew the commitment by entering into the water
again. And if by chance, you have never
done so, I would invite you to study the “Doctrine of Christ” and find a
renewal in life through Baptism. I hope
we can continue a conversation about why it is important to be baptized and if
already baptized in the distant past, why that renewal of Baptism may be
necessary.
From those I have discussed this experience with, there has
been mixed reactions. Nevertheless, I
want you to know that the Baptism of Water and the Baptism of Fire is
real. When the scriptures speak of a
burning in the bosom, this is a real and viable experience. I experienced an inner light that was so
strong that it could not have been imagined.
It was as real as seeing, hearing, touching, tasting, and smelling. It was experienced in the heart, as if the
heart were able to generate light like the sun itself. It was accompanied by joy and clarity of
thought, and a healing of the physical body.
This is the power of Jesus Christ. It is real.
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