December 2025
Merry Christmas! My prayer is that you'll find your truth about Christmas in the Holy Bible this year. The Gospel of Luke begins with the birth of Jesus and ends with Christ conquering death and the grave through the resurrection, establishing our salvation. Luke wrote:
". . . the angel [Gabriel] said to her, 'Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name JESUS' [Jeshua, "the Lord is Salvation"], (Luke 1:30, 31, NKJV).
The Day of Salvation . . .
My reason for the season is to help build your faith in the forgiveness and eternal life that Jesus offers.
Luke wrote the Gospel from eye witness accounts for the ". . . most excellent Theophilus" [lit. "lover of God" -- Luke 1:3; Acts 1:1]. He was a Gentile physician, who also wrote the Acts of the Apostles, being a close friend and traveling companion of the Apostle Paul. And in his writing, he was moved by the Spirit of God [1 Peter 1:21].
In the Gospel of Luke, we see Mary's faith increase the more she heard about her Son, Jesus, from Gabriel, "He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. And He will reign over the house of Jacob [Israel] forever and of His Kingdom there will be no end" (Luke 1:32, 33, NKJV).
"Then Mary said to the angel, 'How can this be, since I do not know a man?' And the angel answered and said to her, 'The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God. Now indeed, Elizabeth your relative has also conceived a son in her old age, and this is now the sixth month for her who was called barren. For with God nothing will be impossible. Then Mary said, 'Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word.' And the angel departed from her" (Luke 1:34-38, NKJV).
Contagious Faith . . .
Recently, I shared on my podcast "Twelve Levels of Faith," but I didn't include "Contagious Faith." Mary's faith became contagious to both Elizabeth and the baby within her womb. "At the sound of Mary's greeting, Elizabeth's child leaped within her, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. Elizabeth gave a loud cry and exclaimed to Mary, 'God has blessed you above all women, and your child is blessed. Why am I so honored, that the mother of my Lord should visit me? When I heard your greeting, the baby in my womb jumped for joy. You are blessed because you believe that the Lord would do what he said" (Luke 1:41-45, NLT).
Mary was contagious because she believed that the Lord would do what he said, plus her praise was her language of faith. Her faith freed her to praise the Lord, saying: "Oh, how my soul praises the Lord. How my spirit rejoices in God my Savior! For he took notice of his lowly servant girl, and from now on all generations will call me blessed. For the Mighty One is holy, and he has done great things for me. He shows mercy from generation to generation to all who fear him. His mighty arm has done tremendous things! He has scattered the proud and haughty ones. He has brought down princes from their thrones and exalted the humble. He has filled the hungry with good things and sent the rich away with empty hands. He has helped his servant Israel and remembered to be merciful. For he made his promise to our ancestors, to Abraham and his children forever" (Luke 1:46b-55; Galatians 3:8-18, 26-29, NLT).
Leaping Praise . . .
After the birth of Elizabeth's son, John the Baptist, that same Spirit that caused him to leap as a baby in his mother's womb came upon his father Zacharias, who ". . . was filled with the Holy Spirit and gave this prophecy: "Praise the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has visited and redeemed his people. He has sent us a mighty Savior from the royal line of his servant David, just as he promised through his holy prophets long ago. Now we will be saved from our enemies and from all who hate us. He has been merciful to our ancestors by remembering his sacred covenant -- the covenant he swore with an oath to our ancestor Abraham. We have been rescued from our enemies so we can serve God without fear in holiness and righteousness for as long as we live" (Luke 1:67-75, NLT).
Later in Acts, chapter 3, verses 6-8, Luke wrote about a certain man lame from birth, being healed in the name of Jesus Christ by Peter and John, who had contagious faith. This beggar man was only asking for money, "But Peter said, 'I don't have any silver or gold for you. But I'll give you what I have. In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, get up and walk!' Then Peter took the lame man by the right hand and helped him up. And as he did, the man's feet and ankle were instantly healed and strengthened. He jumped up, stood on his feet, and began to walk! Then, walking, leaping, and praising God, he went into the Temple with them" (NLT).
Catching The Wave . . .
The Lord began to send contagious Christians into my life in late 1974, like he is sending me to you now. It was like a wave of the Spirit revealing the Scriptures about JESUS, convincing me to believe in Him. I wasn't searching for Jesus, He sought me out through folks having the anointing of the Holy Spirit with contagious faith. They had been baptised in Christ, in water, in the Holy Spirit and in the fire of wilderness temptation, as exemplified by Jesus, Who fulfilled all righteousness when being baptised by John the Baptist [Luke, chapter 3 & 4]. Jesus caught the wave of ministry, saying He had fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah, proclaiming:
"The Spirit of the LORD is upon me, for he has anointed me to bring GOOD NEWS to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the oppressed will be set free, and that the time of the LORD's favor has come" (Luke 4:18-19; cf. Isaiah 61:1-3, NLT).
Have you caught the wave? That same Spirit that birthed Jesus into Mary's womb and raised Him from the dead is available for you today! Jesus had only three (3) short years of ministry, but He said, ". . . you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere -- in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth" (Acts 1:8, NLT). As the body of Christ, we are His hand and feet. By faith, I've been riding the wave of ministry for over fifty (50) years now at eighty (80) years old. I'm standing tall in Christ, slowly riding to the shore, raising my hands in praise, leaping for joy, listening to the Holy Spirit and telling others about the Good News of Jesus Christ. Truly, ". . . the Son of man came to seek and save those who are lost" (Luke 19;10, NLT).
Creative Faith In Luke . . .
Lord willing, I'll be sharing for the next three (3) months in the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles, providing the cassettes digitized well for the podcast. If you aren't subscribed, please do on one of the many Abounding Love platforms.
In this uplifting Abounding Love episode, I begin a series in the Gospel of Luke on the Kingdom of God, which is future, but it's also present in us right now. Jesus, when asked about the coming Kingdom, responded, "For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you" (Luke 17:21b, NKJV). The Kingdom of God is within us through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, which we received once we were born again. As such, we need to look at the world with a different perspective. Being children of God, with the Holy Spirit within us, we have been lifted up beyond the cares of this world. Paul prays, ". . . that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints" (Ephesians 1:18b, NKJV). In the remainder of chapter 1, Paul reminds us of the authority we inherit through Christ's resurrection.
In Ephesians, chapter 2, Paul describes our prior sinful life, but now due to God's great love, ". . . even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together in Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus" (Ephesians 2:5-6, NKJV). We're in the Kingdom of God right now in the person of Jesus Christ. Paul states, "He [God the Father] has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the Kingdom of the Son of His love" (Colossians 1:13, NKJV). Being in the Kingdom, we need to act like it now!
This podcast uses the Gospel of Luke to show how God made it possible for us to be in His everlasting Kingdom now [Luke 1:33], which begins with the birth of Jesus. Join me as we study Ephesians 1:15-23; 2:1-10; Colossians 1:12-23; Romans 8:1; 11-17; Hebrews 11:6; and excerpts from Luke, chapters 1 through 3, for an exciting time of exhortation from God's Word. Selah!
[Click here for the Abounding Love episode #065 "Creative Faith In Luke #1", dated 11/28/'25].
A Prayer For You . . .
Heavenly Father, thank You for a better understanding of the birth of Jesus and how His mother Mary brought forth our Savior into the world by faith in the voice of Your Word. Likewise, I yield to Your Word in faith and praise, so that my life may bring forth fruit as an example of your power, mercy and grace.
JESUS, I know You sent me to the lost, but I ask that You send me like You did the apostle Paul, saying: ". . . to open their eyes, so they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God. Then they will receive forgiveness for their sins [like I did] and be given a place among God's people, who are set apart by faith in Me" (Acts 26:17b-18, NLT).
Holy Spirit, I yield myself to righteousness, so that I may be a reflection of Your glory and power. That my life may be a glorious wave of living water for others to drink and catch the power of healing and the miracle of salvation. Flow from my heart Holy Spirit, so that I can ". . . do exceedingly abundantly above all that I ask or think, according to the power that works in me, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen" (Ephesians 3:20-21, NKJV).