2021 Christmas Family Devotional- Week One: December 1-10

Thought I would share with you something I put together to be a blessing to you, your families, and your friends. Jesus is the true focus of Christmas in our lives and in our hearts, years back, so I started thinking it would be nice to have a devotional geared toward families that they could read and reflect on the season. Here's the first part of the 2021 edition, with part two appearing on December 11, and part three coming on 

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Here's Psalm 98, the focus of this year's devotion:

Oh sing to the Lord a new song,
for he has done marvelous things!
His right hand and his holy arm
    have worked salvation for him.
 The Lord has made known his salvation;
    he has revealed his righteousness in the sight of the nations.
 He has remembered his steadfast love and faithfulness
    to the house of Israel.
All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.

Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth;
    break forth into joyous song and sing praises!
 Sing praises to the Lord with the lyre,
    with the lyre and the sound of melody!
 With trumpets and the sound of the horn
    make a joyful noise before the King, the Lord!

Let the sea roar, and all that fills it;
    the world and those who dwell in it!
 Let the rivers clap their hands;
    let the hills sing for joy together
 before the Lord, for he comes to judge the earth.
He will judge the world with righteousness, and the peoples with equity.

 

Psalm 98

December 1 – 10           Jesus is Revealed!

Oh sing to the Lord a new song,
for he has done marvelous things!
His right hand and his holy arm
    have worked salvation for him.
 The Lord has made known his salvation;
    he has revealed his righteousness in the sight of the nations.
 He has remembered his steadfast love and faithfulness
    to the house of Israel.
All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.

Psalm 98:1-3 

 

Time of Praise and Thanksgiving

Read Luke 2:1-20 together.  

Points to talk about:

·       God is in control of world events and uses them for His purposes. This includes fulfilling prophecies from the Old Testament.

·       God uses our lives for his purposes even when it looks different than what we want.

 

Ask your children what Jesus means to them during this season of life.  How has God watched over them? How has He taken care of them in good and difficult times?

 

Lead the children to praise and thank Him for Who He Is. 

An example of their praise might be, “Father, I praise you for sending Jesus to us!” 

or  “God, thank you that I can trust you even when I’m afraid, sad, or things don’t make sense!”

 

Time of Prayer

Read Psalm 98:1-3 (above).

Points for consideration from Psalm 98 and Luke 2:

·       If God tells us He will do something, nothing is impossible for Him!

·       How can you treasure in your heart the things God has done?

 

 

Pray together using these points as a place to begin. Encourage them to pray from their hearts rather than what they think might please you.

(Copyright Mark Taft.)