Read The Bible, The Book Of Luke Part 6 by Rev. Christie Bature: MP3 Download & Sermon Notes

Luke 1:66-67

And all they that heard them laid them up in their hearts, saying, what manner of child shall this be? And the hand of the Lord was with him. And his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Ghost, and prophesied.

The hand of the Lord being with a child is worth declaring specifically over your own children by name, especially over a child struggling medically, academically, socially, or emotionally.

Don't Waste a Season of Adversity

Zechariah was a priest still living in doubt when God spoke to him, and was struck mute for it. Instead of fighting that season, he entered into the spirit and connected with God inside it, so that when his mouth finally opened, what came out was genuine prophecy, not complaint. His wife, Elizabeth, held the prophetic space while he was silent, rather than fighting him during his season of weakness. A good season should be enjoyed fully, but a season of adversity should never be wasted; it should be brought to God and turned into something useful before it ends.

Salvation Is More Than a Single Moment

Luke 1:77

To give knowledge of salvation unto His people by the remission of their sins. The Greek word behind salvation, sozo, carries far more inside it than the initial decision to follow Christ: healing, provision, protection, guidance, peace, and joy are all contained inside that one word. Giving your life to Christ is the first level of it, not the whole of it. When someone develops and uses a genuine gift, whatever practically helps or saves other people from real harm, that too is a form of bringing salvation to people, not only formal gospel preaching.

The Path of Peace

Luke 1:79

To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace. Peace is described here as a path, a way to be entered and walked in, not a single arrival point. Whatever the enemy is doing, day or night, to disturb rest or provoke reaction, can be directly addressed and shut out rather than absorbed passively.

Collect Your Steering

Nobody can make you feel anything unless you hand them the power to. A child repeatedly upset by being called names was told simply to "collect his steering," to recognize that as long as he reacted, he was letting someone else drive his emotions. Once he stopped reacting entirely, the taunting lost its purpose and stopped. Choosing how something affects you is not the same as pretending it didn't happen; it is refusing to hand your emotional response over to someone else's control. Whatever is said or done by someone determined to provoke a reaction, the response that actually frustrates that intent is calm, not counter-attack.

And the Child Grew

Luke 1:80

And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, and was in the deserts till the day of his showing unto Israel. This line works as a declaration over anything currently small: a new business, a new relationship, a struggling child, an idea barely begun. The desert season before Israel ever saw him was not wasted time, it was necessary growth happening out of sight before the assignment was ready to be seen.