Reading for this post: Acts 8:26-39, Matthew 3 and John 3. Take the time to read them, before reading them ask the Lord to let you understand what HE needs you to understand about baptism, in Jesus name.
In Christianity, baptism is a public declaration of faith in Jesus Christ. It symbolizes the start of a new life as a Christian, and the end of one’s old life. Baptism also represents a person’s identification with Christ, and their participation in his death, burial, and resurrection.
What baptism symbolizes:
- Death: A person has died to sin and is no longer bound by it
- Burial: A person’s sinful nature has been removed
- Resurrection: A person has been reborn in Christ and is part of the body of Christ
- New life: A person has been born again by water and the Spirit
- Dedication: A person is dedicated to following Christ and living a morally upright life
January 25, 2025. After resting in Lord which has taken a long time to understand how and who to rest on and who is the only one who can give us rest, from Wednesday till Sunday, January 26,2025; on one of those resting days which also comes with warfare as the darkness will try to get us to go out and do things, I heard to write about baptisms. In 2011 after accepting Jesus as my Lord and savior, after hearing what HE did on the cross and experiencing HIS unconditional love thru a group of people; I had an urgency to get baptized by submersion, after being baptized in a recovery house of worship in a metal container that fit one person, as the people who were led to gather people in a small apartment did not have a submersion container. I felt the overwhelming love of the Holy Spirit and HIS baptism that day, then In 2015 after being called to do the Great Commission which in that time it was referred to and I knew it as church planting in Yonkers, NY with the Homeless, gang members, drug dealers, in the jails, the shelters, the men’s jail’s re-entry panel, which I heard audibly in a class about how to hear from God, and anywhere this individuals would gather or be that the Holy Spirit did not know them by those names or let me see them as those things, as the Holy Spirit let’s us see pastors, evangelist, prophets, apostles, teachers, son’s/daughter’s of perdition, the Lord when HE was here as a man did not label people, HE spoke about healing, restoration, forgiveness, purpose, eternal life, repentance, identity after accepting Jesus as our Lord and Savior as we read in Romans 10: 9 If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. 11 As Scripture says, “Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.”[e] 12 For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, 13 for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” Also in many other scriptures we see how HE sat as Jesus with many to deliver them in different ways, to heal them, to see them so that they can follow him, some chose not to as it happens today, as there is free will to either have the way, the truth and the life, with Jesus, which leads us to ending in the new heaven and new earth eternally, as we read in Revelations 21(take the time to read it) or the path of destruction with the enemy and the principalities, that ends eternally in a place of screeching and gnashing of teeth, as we read in Matthew 24(take the time to read it). That is when we have free will clearly when we know the two choices and can knowingly choose one, which some people do sadly.
In 2017 I was able to experience the first group of people getting baptized as the male director of the local YMCA called me and told me that the Lord had told him to help us and they were offering a free space to gather the people with a pool. It was a room filled with mostly men and 1 or 2 women, they would come to eat and shower to the Yonkers YMCA and then would come up to hear the reading and reflection with the Holy Spirit of the book of Matthew, which was the book the Holy Spirit led to read. Before gathering the Holy Spirit had me do life with them during the day, where we would share meals, whether it was where they ate or making meals in the backyard where my daughter and I lived, spending time with them connecting them with the local resources, with first leading them to accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior, giving them a certificate and a Bible, as the American Bible Society would be led to send us boxes of Bibles and visiting us. The Library was also led to give space to connect people to resources and do Bible studies. Thru the library the Holy Spirit connected to be part of the Re-entry panel, doing Bible studies in the women and men’s shelters. It was all thru relationship. Then a man who had the calling to be a pastor who stated he had an encounter and saw Jesus in the water as he was submerged. A woman who was a satanist, who manifested thru her one day and all that could come out of my mouth was Psalm 90 and 91, who had the gift of prophesy then got baptized and after she came out of the water I would just cry and cry, as so much came out of her. Young and older people came to receive Jesus, bring others and get baptized. I am reminded of how the opposition rose thru a teacher of the law who was so upset of what the Lord was doing that he invited me over to his family home to have dinner to tell me that because I wanted to be a pastor(which in that time I did not know about the gifts of titles, I just wanted to be loved by the Lord and do HIS will) told me that when I got to heaven the Lord was not going to know me using scriptures, which left me so confused and I told him them come to the gathering and he did, after that he sent me twelve women in the Bible and teaching to change lives. There is always opposition when it comes to doing the will of the Lord, it is not confortable, but the Lord himself had opposition and persecution when HE was here as a man, but HE encourages us with John 17, where HE prays for us, and Matthew 5:Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, 2 and he began to teach them.
The Beatitudes
He said:
3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 Blessed are those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
5 Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the earth.
6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be filled.
7 Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
8 Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God.
9 Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called children of God.
10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
In many of the 22 countries it has been to plant the seed of the Good News of Jesus or to anoint people with the Holy Spirit, deliver, heal, prophesy, but in Nicaragua in an island there were opportunities to baptize as there was a river nearby or the island called Ometepe is sorrounded by water, the Dominican Republic in a town called Toro de Guerra where a group of people had never seen or been to the beach, mostly teenagers and the Lord provided a car so they can go into the beach and get baptized. There were some of the countries where people would have an encounter with the Holy Spirit as they accepted Jesus and started asking for water to get baptized by submersion, which the Holy Spirit provided where they were going, as there was non around. In most of the places people who have an encounter with the Holy Spirit ask where do I gather people as they sense the love of the Holy Spirit and want to keep hearing more, to which I tell them to go into this page to the discipleship links and to pray for a body of faith to also be discipled. Now when HE brought me back to the Dominican Republic, Santo Domingo from July 2024 to January 2025 there were baptisms every Sunday in a place called San Cristobal, Muchas Aguas, where one was brought and many others would join, in a bleach near the airport where one was brought and said no, as there was a sin he did not want to leave at that moment and two other young men got baptized and were anointed with the Holy Spirit. The power and authority of the Holy Spirit.
We were going to have baptisms tomorrow, with some of the people who had been spoken to before being sent to Detroit, Michigan, but all that were going to get baptized said no so the time was canceled. The Great Commission continues and the Lord knows why or the spiritual realm. One NO and is a thousand YES. We should never get discouraged when people say no, as the scriptures tells us that when they are rejecting is not us they are rejecting is God. 1 Samuel 8:7 New Living Translation7 “Do everything they say to you,” the Lord replied, “for they are rejecting me, not you. They don’t want me to be their king any longer.
Nothing is about us as HIS ambassadors, everything is spiritual and those who are meant to understand will understand, and in the Holy Spirit I hear about the ones who said no to getting baptized specially tomorrow: Matthew 22: Jesus also told them other parables. He said, 2 “The Kingdom of Heaven can be illustrated by the story of a king who prepared a great wedding feast for his son. 3 When the banquet was ready, he sent his servants to notify those who were invited. But they all refused to come! 4 “So he sent other servants to tell them, ‘The feast has been prepared. The bulls and fattened cattle have been killed, and everything is ready. Come to the banquet!’ 5 But the guests he had invited ignored them and went their own way, one to his farm, another to his business. 6 Others seized his messengers and insulted them and killed them.
7 “The king was furious, and he sent out his army to destroy the murderers and burn their town. 8 And he said to his servants, ‘The wedding feast is ready, and the guests I invited aren’t worthy of the honor. 9 Now go out to the street corners and invite everyone you see.’ 10 So the servants brought in everyone they could find, good and bad alike, and the banquet hall was filled with guests. 11 “But when the king came in to meet the guests, he noticed a man who wasn’t wearing the proper clothes for a wedding. 12 ‘Friend,’ he asked, ‘how is it that you are here without wedding clothes?’ But the man had no reply. 13 Then the king said to his aides, ‘Bind his hands and feet and throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
14 “For many are called, but few are chosen.”
Please consider being part of this Great Commission with how ever much the Holy Spirit leads you, it will be a blessing to so many. I only ask because the Holy Spirit has asked me to ask. The Holy Spirit has me in a place here in the Dominican Republic that was paid till January 3, 2025 so the offerings will assist in all that is needed to continue the Great commission here. To also get some needed items, for a place to live, transportation, food which is also being led to be given in some vulnerable areas where the Good News of Jesus will be given and other needed expenses for the Great Commission, as led by the Holy Spirit. Please be a partner with what the Holy Spirit is doing for the souls.
1 Corinthians 11:1 TLV: Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Messiah.
Acts 20:35 TLV “In all things I have shown you an object lesson—that by hard work one must help the weak, remembering the words of the Lord Yeshua, that He Himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’’
For monetary contributions/partnering with HIS/the Holy Spirit’s Great Commission: Zelle is Lourdes K Delacruz: Lourdeskdelacruz@gmail.com. CashApp: Lourdes Delacruz: $Lourdeskdelacruz, Venmo: Lourdes Delacruz, @Lourdes-Delacruz. Revolut: Lourdes Delacruz, @lourdeh0t5. For BHD bank(Dominican Republic): 36436030019, Lourdes De La Cruz, PayPal: Lourdes Delacruz, @Yonkers16, BANRESERVAS: 9603622008, WesternUnion: Lourdes Karenina De La Cruz, you can email me or contact me thru WhatsApp to ask what country and state the Holy Spirit has me in, and to send me the receipt with the amount, your information and the tracking number, once the money is sent to: Lourdeskdelacruz@gmail.com Or contact me thru WhatsApp: 849-428-6776.
Take the time to look at this teaching about the Fruits of the Holy Spirit, as led to share with you from the Holy Spirit: https://less-of-me-more-of-you.com/2021/03/25/fruits-of-the-holy-spirit/
History of the City the Holy Spirit has me in: https://es-m-wikipedia-org.translate.goog/wiki/Santo_Domingo?_x_tr_sl=es&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=sc
Free Bible App: http://www.youversion.com/the-bible-app/
Listen, Biblical teachings, Holy Spirit led teachings and testimonies: https://open.spotify.com/show/0nBRSZC1aVzWzuHtrojmBx?si=85ec99ee7d6d46c0
Listen:
Less of me, more of You//Más de Ti, menos de mí 
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