INSIDE: What are the five best Advent devotionals to prepare your heart for Christmas? What resources and devotionals will help draw you near to Christ? Read on for five great options.
Advent is the season comprised of the four Sundays before Christmas and ends on Christmas Eve. It is an invitation to prepare our hearts for Christ, the One who has come and will come again. Advent is an opportunity to look within and to look around for those who do not yet know the good news of great joy is the One who came for them. This is our season of waiting and anticipation and joy all rolled up into one.
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So, what are the five best Advent devotionals to prepare your heart for Christmas?
The Mood of Christmas by Howard Thurman
What it’s about: “These brief meditations incorporate the hope, celebration, love, compassion, and blessing of the Christmas season and encourage us to find them throughout the year. Features include the poem, “The Work of Christmas,” “When the song of the angels is stilled, When the star in the sky is gone…The Work of Christmas begins…”; and “I Will Light Candles This Christmas.”
Why you’ll love it: With short essays and poems, Thurman beautifully shares what it is to adore Christ this season. Sometimes we need to allow the hope and joy of Christmas to soar as we enjoy the writing of another who is so completely in love with the Messiah. If you have limited time and want to encounter beautiful writing, pick this one up.
Unwrapping the Names of Jesus by Asheritah Ciuciu
What it’s about: “Most Christians agree that Christmas is all about Jesus, yet most of us spend little time preparing our hearts to celebrate Him. Why is this? Partly because we don’t know how… By focusing on the person and character of Jesus throughout the Advent season, readers will prepare their hearts so that when they admire the live nativity, sit in the candlelight service, or wake up on Christian morning, they can join the faithful who sing from the bottom of their hearts, ‘O come, let us adore Him, Christ the Lord!'”
Why you’ll love it: If you’re looking for a short devotional that’s perfect for your own quality time with Jesus or read as a family, look no further! Ciuciu sheds light on who Jesus is and why He is so worthy of adoration in a format that includes a brief essay on that attribute, a challenge, a prayer, and scripture for further study.
Shadow & Light by Tsh Oxenreider
What it’s about: “Let yourself break away from the hustle and bustle of crafts, cookies, and Christmas parties, and receive your invitation to remember the quiet focus of our celebration. Shadow and Light will help you reclaim the holiday season as a time to remember Jesus’s first coming, and to long for his one-day return.”
Why you’ll love it: Tsh is devoted to honoring Christ, not creating more busyness or to-do’s or crafts. Her heart is for you to be free to worship Christ as a baby-born-King of kings. Each day offers a short essay, a psalm, a reflection question, music to listen to, and art on which to reflect. She incorporates as many senses as she can to help Advent simply come to life.
Draw Near by Laura Pyne
What it’s about: “This 25-day Advent devotional provides daily scripture readings, commentary and journal prompts designed to help followers of Christ draw near to him during the Advent season and beyond. Make this the year you dwell on the coming of the Christ child in a different way. Draw near, today!”
Why you’ll love it: Laura’s heart behind this devotional is for you to focus on the true meaning of Christmastide and to draw near to the One who came for you. Each devotional includes a short essay and journal prompt. This is an excellent devotional for a busy woman in the midst of a crazy season.
The Advent Devotional by Alabaster
What it’s about: “This book invites us to experience these four biblical songs anew. Moving from the words of Scripture to contemplative readings, and including thematic reflection sections and responsive prompts for each chapter, we explore how the wonder and beauty of the season enrich our daily lives. Let the songs of Christmas lead us ever deeper into the awe-inspiring mystery of Emmanuel, God with us.” – From the Alabaster website
Why you’ll love it: Alabaster produces beautiful Bibles and Bible studies. This advent does not disappoint. This pint-sized Advent devotional focuses on four biblical Christmas songs through the songs of Mary, Zechariah, the angels, and Simeon. For those of us who love a good Christmas carol, but want to sing our way back to Christ, this is the devotional for you. Each day offers a brief reflection, a few questions to journal about, and further reading. The journaling questions are meaty and powerful. While each day’s reflection is short, each reflection is full of grace, truth, and questions that will draw you closer to the heart of Christ.
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Looking for more of the best Advent devotionals?
Read on for five books Emily P. Freeman recommends.
Don’t need an Advent devotional to read?
Listen here for Grace In Real Life podcast Advent episodes.