As I did for Thanksgiving, I want to take the next few weeks leading up to Christmas and post several things — anecdotes, quotes, jokes, poems, prose, etc. — related to the holidays. I have been writing and compiling what started out as a newsletter but ended up as a 12-16 page booklet for our ladies’ group at church for six years now. I love it: I think it is my favorite ministry. Usually some part of it touches on the holiday or season at hand, so I have collected a lot of things in my files over the years that I would like to share with you.
I’ve already posted one of my favorites, a Christmas-based I Cor. 13. I think I need to read that at least once a week in December. Today I want to list some excellent Christmas devotional reading.
I have mentioned Creative Ladies Ministry many time before: if you have any kind of ministry with ladies’ groups or ever have to plan a banquet or retreat, this is the place to go for tons of great ideas. But the site is great for personal use as well. Julia’s devotionals are not for reproducing on web sites or blogs, but she does allow them to be used for ladies’ newsletters and meetings and such. You can consult her terms of service on her site if you are interested. And of course you can enjoy just reading them for yourself. Here are a few of her Christmas devotionals: A Sweet Christmas, Baking Up Christmas, Salvation’s Plan of Christmas, An Ornament for Christ, Making a Difference, Worth Celebrating. I was going to post reference to the Are You Winterized one in January, but since we are experiencing our coldest weather so far this season, I’ll go ahead and mention it here. 
Julia also designs some beautiful graphics: (The graphic above is from one of her sets). Julia recently put all of her Christmas devotional and other links in one place here. (Edited to add: I apologize for the broken links: Julia changed her main site address. As of 12/06/09 they are all repaired: please let me know if you find a broken link.)
Speaking of graphics, there are also some nice ones at Anne’s Place.
Annie’s December Holiday Page has tons of links and good stuff to read.
Elisabeth Elliot is one of my favorite people for many reasons. I received her newsletters for many years and hated to see them discontinued. Some of the Christmas-related thoughts from those newsletters stood out to me: Are Christmas Trees Okay? (note the link just goes to the top of the newsletter and you may have to scroll down to the article in question),
Christmas Is a Thing Too Wonderful, The Mother of the Lord, Crowned Because He Suffered, The Lord: Hidden, Weak, and Helpless, Do You Believe in Santa Claus?, The Nativity, Joy to the World, An Unusual Christmas Celebration, A Quieter Christmas, How Much Is Enough?, A Silver Star in a Cave, Christmas On a Bed of Pain, Little Mary.
Finally, the morning and evening readings from C. H. Spurgeon’s Morning and Evening have stayed with me for years.
Happy reading and meditating!
(Graphics copyright ©2006 Julia Bettencourt. Used with permission.)
See also:
6 Comments
December 9, 2006 at 12:36 am
Thank you for visiting me. And thank you too for all those wonderful places to visit. It’s rather late at night, but I think I’ll come back and visit a few as soon as I can.
December 9, 2006 at 2:01 am
Thanks for coming by my site today and leaving a comment. It was nice to have you. Thanks for the links
December 9, 2006 at 9:23 am
I love that you’re focusing on the holidays. There are so many ideas and memories to share! Thanks for visiting my blog! Have a great weekend.
November 11, 2008 at 5:59 pm
Love your devotionals. Would love to receive youe newsletters.
December 2, 2008 at 4:08 am
Thanks for the wonderful ideas and readings!
December 9, 2008 at 8:46 am
You are very welcome! Thanks so much for stopping by and leaving a comment! Hope you have a blessed Christmas.