The Promise of Christmas Advent Brings Joy

Anticipating Christ's birth during the Christmas Advent season changes everything. These suggestions will prepare your heart for true joy!

The holidays are upon us! Soon we will celebrate Thanksgiving and immediately following, the Christmas rush begins. Children are easily caught up in the excitement of Christmas. For them, it’s almost magical. As we mature, however, childlike awe dissipates. “Adulting” replaces wonder. Pressure to find the right gift, decorate the tree just so, and prepare Pinterest-worthy meals can steal the true joy that Christmas brings. I’ve found that intentionally anticipating Christ’s birth during the Christmas Advent season brings true joy.

Intentionally anticipating Christ's birth during the Christmas Advent season brings true joy. Check out these suggestions for meaningful advent devotions.

The season of Advent begins the Sunday following Thanksgiving and continues until Christmas Day. It’s a time of intentionally anticipating Jesus’s birth. Over the years, I have enjoyed many Christmas advent devotionals and thought that now would be a good time to share my favorites with you. We have a few weeks until Advent begins, so you have to plenty of time to select something and have it in hand by November 28, 2021. Most of the devotionals are light, not taking very long to read. One of the devotionals includes adult coloring pages. I’ve also included a few advent-focused Bible studies. Links for purchase can be found by clicking on the book title or the image.

Christmas Advent Devotionals

My first suggestion and very favorite advent devotional of all time is Jennifer Kennedy Dean’s ***Pursuing the Christ: 31 Morning and Evening Prayers for Christmastime***. I have read through these entries for over 10 years. I absolutely love them. If you’ve never read anything from Jennifer, then you are in for a treat, I promise.

If you love studying the Names of Jesus, Asheritah Ciuciu’s **Unwrapping the Names of Jesus** is just for you. For one thing, her lovely book just feels good to hold. It’s beautiful inside and out and makes a lovely gift. At the of each week, Asheritah provides some activities to “live out” the truth of the names of Jesus you read about.

If you are a fan of A. W. Tozer, then you won’t want to miss his classic, **From Heaven**.

These three by Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth are outstanding! They were originally provided to email subscribers over three years. She is in the process of reproducing them.

In **The First Songs of Christmas: Meditations on Luke 1 & 2** Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth directs our attention to the songs sung by the “players” of the Christmas story.

**Born a Child and Yet a King** tells the Christmas story through classic Christmas carols, some of which are quite old. Nancy begins our journey with from a place of need and hoping for the promised Messiah. She ends with great celebration!

This is the first one I read and my favorite of the three. In **Consider Jesus**, Nancy draws the reader into the wonder of who Jesus is and the true wonder of Christmas.

Bible Studies

If you’re looking for something more in depth, the following studies will

**Pointing to the Promise** is the 2020 study Proverbs 31 offered in in their devotional app, First 5. This study guide is a companion to that. Each day takes about 15-20 minutes to complete. They are offering it as an online Bible study this year.

A friend showed me her copy of this Advent study from She Reads Truth, and I fell in love with it. I ended up ordering my own copy! Each day provides a significant portion of Scripture to read which focuses on one aspect of Jesus being ***The Everlasting Light***. Space is provided for prayer journaling and answering one or two questions. The book itself is beautiful and includes recipes and crafts.

Our family did this **free** **Inductive Advent Study** when our kids were in elementary school. Each week, Eleanor Zweigle takes you through the traditional aspects of advent as you build a traditional advent wreath–all while teaching basic inductive study skills. Our kids loved it! Currently, this study is hard to find, especially as one document. But because it is so good, I wanted to include it. I wish she or her family would officially publish it. The link above takes you to her blogger account where each page is posted individually.

More Advent Resources

In The Advent Narrative, Mary Geisen shows us that Advent isn’t just for Christmastime, rather it is a journey into advent living.

Christi Gee focuses our attention on the glory and majesty of “God with us” in **Behold: A Christmas Advent Journey**. Christi also uses favorite Christmas carols and their history to help ups look and linger at the Promise of Christ.

If you enjoy adult coloring books, then Nancy Guthrie’s **All is Bright** may be just what you’re looking for. Thirty-one days of brief devotionals and thirty-one beautifully detailed coloring pages will draw your focus to Christ’s birth.

I’m praying that this Christmas season, you will draw near to our great God, who loved us so much, He gave us the greatest gift ever — His Son, Jesus. May your anticipation of Christ’s birth allow you to experience wonder beyond what you could imagine.