Scientists are saying that putting your Christmas decorations up early can make you feel happier.
The lights and decorations take us back to a simpler time. Even if that time wasn’t so simple, we remember the warmth of a season of celebration rather than the challenges of those times.
In dark days, through lack of sun or dimmed hope, thinking of Christmas lightens our spirits.
The lights encourage us. But God’s Word challenges us to find true light in the darkness.
Jessica Brodie’s Preparing Our Hears: An Advent Devotional to Draw Closer to God at Christmas is a devotional that leads us toward the light of Christ.
A passage for every day encourages us to see God’s touch in our trials as well as our triumphs. Every day begins with scripture and ends with ample space for reader reflection.
Jessica’s anecdotes remind me of my own past Christmas seasons. Her “Have you ever … questions bring to mind common experiences that help us answer spiritual questions designed to help us grow in our faith.
Hope, peace, joy, love, the four weeks of Advent, preparing hearts to let our celebrations move beyond decorations to better understanding of, and better connection to, our sovereign Lord.
“This is the point of Advent; the full message of Christ: God loves us so much that he sent his son, Jesus, to pay our sin debt and help us follow him so we too can live in God’s kingdom for eternity.”
Get ready to get ready. Jessica’s work is a great start.
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1:14, ESV
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