Pour over me water to clean all my intentions
Baptizing streams, I swim in the freedom of redemption
Floating on the sea of purity
Knowing I can dive in the love that rescues me
Healing waters, healing waters
Solace flows through the river of forgiveness to my soul
Oh, I need You, healing waters
From the song "Healing Waters"
By Michelle Tumes
This painting is the result of a dual creative endeavor between my husband, Bruce and me.
He painted the woman, which is an abstract portrait of me, and I painted the water, sky, moon and stars.
To me, it signifies the Mikveh, or ceremonial ritual immersion in water practiced by Jews as a purification rite. It is a type and shadow of Christian Baptism.
Our Lord, Jesus Christ was baptized.
And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, see, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting on him. Matthew 3:16
In the same fashion, baptized believers have this promises:
Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. Acts 2:38
Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. Romans 6:4
I remember my baptism at First Assembly of God Church in Winston-Salem, NC.
It is one of my most precious recollections. When I came up out of that water, I knew that I had a new heart. I had become a believer in Jesus a few months before, but something felt different after my baptism. The world looked different, people looked different, my heart was more tender and responsive to God.
Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
Hebrews 10:19-25
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