I have baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit. —Mark 1:8

The Spirit Provides Eternal Peace

“Save me, O God, for the waters have come up to my neck I sink in deep mire, where there is no foothold;” —Psalm 69:1

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more…And the one who was seated on the throne said, “See, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this, for these words are trustworthy and true.” Then he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give water as a gift from the spring of the water of life.” —Revelation 21:1-6

“I have baptized you with water”

Repentance is to be a daily activity —1 John 1:8—9

I am discovering the importance of naming the darkness in me. By no longer calling the darkness anything else but darkness, the temptation to keep using it for my own selfish purposes gradually becomes less… .A hard task is given to me—to call the darkness darkness, evil evil, and the demon demon. By remaining vague I can avoid commitment and drift along in the mainstream of our society. But Jesus does not allow me to stay there. He requires a clear choice for truth, light, and life. When I recognize my countless inner compromises, I may feel guilty and ashamed at first. But when this leads to repentance and a contrite heart, I will soon discover the immense love of God, who came to lead me out of the darkness into the light and who wants to make me into a transparent witness of his love. —Henri Nouwen

“but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove upon him. —Mark 1:8-9

Advent invites us to see God as the giver of peace.

“Since, therefore, the children share flesh and blood, he himself likewise shared the same things, so that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by the fear of death. For it is clear that he did not come to help angels but the descendants of Abraham. Therefore he had to become like his brothers and sisters in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make a sacrifice of atonement for the sins of the people. —Hebrews 2:14-18

“He surrenders his life, yet has the power to take it up again. Yes, the veil is rent, for things of heaven are being revelaed, rocks are being split, and dead men have an earlier awakening. He dies but brings to life, and by death he destroys death. He is buried, yet he rises again. He goes down to hades, yet he leads souls up (Eph 4:8), ascends to heaven, and will come to judge the living and dead.” —Gregory of Nazianzus