ADVENT 9 (Water): Alive in Him

We are now on Day 9 of our 25-day Christmas Advent-ure on Faith Radio, exploring symbols associated with the life of Jesus. Yesterday, for Day 8, we highlighted the Temple. It's referred to in Luke chapter 2, verses 27 and 28, stating: “[Simeon] came by the Spirit into the temple. And when the parents brought in the Child Jesus…he took Him up in his arms and blessed God…" The relationship between Jesus and the Temple is an important one, because it relates for us the connection between the Old and New Covenants. As He said, He came to fulfill the Law and the Prophets.  

Today's symbol is water.  And, I thought it would be great to highlight the significance of water baptism, in which Jesus participated. Mark 1 states at the time of His baptism: “...coming up from the water, He saw the heavens parting and the Spirit descending upon Him like a dove. Then a voice came from heaven, ‘You are My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.’"

We find that spiritual cleansing is an important concept from Scripture.  And, Jesus referred to the "living water" that can flow through our lives through the Holy Spirit.  

At Christmas, we can reflect on the transformation from old to new - we are new creatures in Christ, 2nd Corinthians 5 says, and when we sin, we can come to Jesus our Advocate, confess our sins and be cleansed, forgiven by Him.

Janet Taylor Gwyn experienced that cleansing, according to a Christian Post article, which says:

After one woman's life spiraled so out of control that she became addicted to crack cocaine and resorted to prostitution to pay for drugs, she was arrested and served time in jail, where she cried out to God for salvation.

Janet Taylor Gwyn never imagined she would have a life-changing encounter with God behind bars or that talking to her Savior would lead to lasting physical and spiritual healing that would forever change her life.

Gwyn shared her testimony for an episode of Delafé Testimonies, a YouTube channel with over 700,000 subscribers that aims to have the largest archive of Christian testimonies.

Janet's mother died at age 4, and she and her sisters were sent to live with their grandmother.  The article relates:

Five years later, her grandmother died, and the girls were sent to live with an aunt. Gwyn said that although her aunt raised her and her sisters in a Christian home, she didn’t have many Christian role models and witnessed ungodly acts in that household.

At age 14, she started to become sexually active, and started using drugs when she was 16.  After a stint in the Navy, she began a less-than-successful modeling career.  She became deeply involved in crack cocaine, and ultimately had given birth to three children out of wedlock.  She even turned to prostitution.  Finally, the downward spiral stopped; the article notes that she said, “I was just in and out of jail ... I continued living this way until 1994. I had been in jail many other times before. … Whenever I got out, I went back to my old ways. But this time, in 1994, something really phenomenal took place in my life..." She added, "I met the Lord Jesus in jail, and it was the last place I expected Him to be. But He was there.”  Here's how it happened:

One day, while working laundry duty in jail, Gwyn said she heard a Gospel song on the radio and broke down and started praying to God for forgiveness.

“I just began to weep. I just felt like, they're singing my song. I put the laundry down, and I walked over to the radio, and I began to just pour my heart out to God. I began to tell him that I was sorry. And I began to ask Him to forgive me and not to let me die and go to Hell. Because this particular time was different from any other time I had been to jail. I was at the point of death,” Gwyn said.

Things changed dramatically for Janet Taylor Gwyn. Even though her three children were removed from her, she later reconciled with them.  She became a teacher, later the principal of a Christian school. She even got a doctorate.  She relates:

“It all starts with Jesus. When you put your life in His hand, you will be so amazed at what He creates, what He does. What He brings out of the mess and out of the rottenness. You'll be so amazed at how He transforms all of that into a masterpiece for His namesake, and for His glory. This is what I want people to know.”

The trajectory of Janet's life was certainly not positive - in fact, she was on the "broad way" to destruction that the Bible speaks of.  But, she experienced a divine intervention - and the Lord used Christian radio in her life to interrupt her decline.  

We can recognize that, if we are not trusting Christ with our lives, our wrong decisions and actions will cause deterioration in our lives.  We have to examine the direction our lives are heading and make sure that we are drawing closer to Him every day.  If not, the currents of this world will sweep us away.

In an act of obedience to His Father and an example to us, Jesus submitted Himself to be baptized of water.  For the believer, this is an outward expression of the inward work of the Spirit, the one who gives us living water, providing the inner fortitude to walk in obedience to the Lord.  His living water quenches our spiritual thirst and provides tremendous freedom in Christ.