Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    A Weary World Rejoices: Celebrating the Birth of Christ in Difficult Times: A 25-Day Christmas Devotional
    A Weary World Rejoices: Celebrating the Birth of Christ in Difficult Times: A 25-Day Christmas Devotional
    A Weary World Rejoices: Celebrating the Birth of Christ in Difficult Times: A 25-Day Christmas Devotional
    Ebook65 pages8 hours

    A Weary World Rejoices: Celebrating the Birth of Christ in Difficult Times: A 25-Day Christmas Devotional

    By Christy Bower

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    While Christmas is full of joy, the world is not. This can be difficult to reconcile at times.

     

    After a difficult year, you may not feel like celebrating. But take heart. Other weary souls have faced Christmas challenges and found peace, hope, and fresh significance. You can, too.

     

    These 25 daily readings tell the stories of people who celebrated Christmas during wars, economic hardship, and personal tragedy. Despite all these things, they were able to bring Christmas cheer to those they were with on Christmas. They celebrated with "family" away from home and sometimes they even celebrated with the enemy. Their stories demonstrate the heart of Christmas, stripped of everything familiar and comforting, but rich in its own way.

     

    Each devotional reading includes "Today's Treasure," a corresponding Scripture reference, and "Today's Gift," a prompt to receive or give the gift of Christmas each day.

     

    May these stories encourage you to discover the heart of Christmas in difficult times. And may you also comfort others as a weary world rejoices.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherChristy Bower
    Release dateNov 20, 2020
    ISBN9781393643609
    A Weary World Rejoices: Celebrating the Birth of Christ in Difficult Times: A 25-Day Christmas Devotional
    Author

    Christy Bower

    Greetings from Montana! I'm Christy Bower, author of more than fifty books, including two books by Our Daily Bread, which have gone into four or more printings. For those of you who like to know my qualifications, I have a Master of Arts in Biblical Studies from Multnomah Biblical Seminary. American Christian Writers has twice named me "Writer of the Year." And I'm a multi-time winner of NaNoWriMo, a challenge to write 50,000 words in a month. Out of this challenge, I drafted The Legend of Dragon Hollow. I'm also the creator of Crossword Bible Studies, which provide a fun and easy way to spend a few minutes in the Bible. As for the rest of you who simply want to know what kind of person I am, Coca Cola is my lifeblood. I drive a hatchback car because I value economy and versatility. I never used a smart phone until March 2019. I spend an excessive amount of time on the Internet when I should be writing. And I've never owned a pet of any kind. I rely on God's provision through book sales to pay my bills. I would like to thank you for your purchase because you just put a meal on my table! Buy a couple more books and I could put some gas in my hatchback! If you enjoyed one of my books, please tell a friend or, better yet, leave a star rating on the site where you purchased it. This isn't to boost my ego, but to help other readers make their purchase decisions. Blessings to you! Christy

    Read more from Christy Bower

    Related to A Weary World Rejoices

    Related ebooks

    Christianity For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      WHO’S In The NEWS?

      Aug 25, 2023

      Evangelist Greg Laurie has held what is being called a baptismal service of “biblical proportions” at one of the locations in California where the Jesus Revolution was filmed, in Newport Beach. Media reports reveal that Laurie’s organisation held a s

      2 min read

    • Article

      This Is Me

      Mar 26, 2019

      This Is Me
      5 min read

    • Article

      Bob Goff

      May 27, 2022

      Bob Goff
      2 min read

    • Article

      The Miracles of Holy Week

      Mar 26, 2022

      The Miracles of Holy Week
      4 min read

    • Article

      Sanctuary of Beauty

      Aug 10, 2021

      Sanctuary of Beauty
      1 min read

    • Article

      WHO’S In The NEWS?

      Jun 16, 2023

      Dr Tim Keller dies after three-year battle with pancreatic cancer: ‘I’m ready to see Jesus’ Christian author and pastor Dr Tim Keller has died after a more than three-year battle with pancreatic cancer. Keller and his wife, Kathy, founded Redeemer P

      2 min read

    • Article

      Ask Val

      Jun 16, 2023

      Ask Val
      2 min read

    • Article

      News Bites

      Jun 24, 2022

      The average young adult is now about 5% taller than 100 years ago, thanks to changes in health and nutrition. For the first time since 2001, oppressive Taliban orders Afghan women to cover their faces again. Francis Chan hits back at infamous ‘my bod

      1 min read

    • Article

      Letters To The EDITOR

      Jun 24, 2022

      Dear readers, we love to hear your thoughts on the stories that we publish, what is going on around the world, and what the Lord has placed on your heart! Email your letter through to editor@joymag.co.za for a chance to be featured – please try to ke

      7 min read

    • Article

      Letters To The EDITOR

      Mar 10, 2023

      D ear readers, we love to hear your thoughts on the stories that we publish, what is going on around the world, and what the Lord has placed on your heart! Email your letter through to editor@joymag.co.za for a chance to be featured – please try to k

      8 min read

    • Article

      THE PARABLES OF JESUS The Good Samaritan

      Mar 10, 2023

      Perhaps you’ve been in a situation where you have required help from a stranger. It may be that your car broke down on the roadside, or you were in need of quick medical help and someone came to your aid. We often call such people “good Samaritans” a

      3 min read

    • Article

      Our Christmas Puppy

      Nov 26, 2019

      Our Christmas Puppy
      6 min read

    • Article

      Feed Your Spirit

      Sep 16, 2022

      Feed Your Spirit
      1 min read

    • Article

      Wednesday, January 12

      Dec 15, 2021

      I READ THE BIBLE THROUGH twenty-first-century lenses, so it’s not unusual when some of the terms or wording strikes me as curious. Luke 9:18 is one of those verses for me: “Jesus was praying in private and his disciples were with him.” So which was i

      1 min read

    • Article

      Sunday, March 27

      Feb 16, 2022

      AT THE AGE OF FIFTY-FIVE, I thought I was over feeling left out, but an old wound recently resurfaced that made we wonder if I really was. A group of women I knew in college scheduled a conference call, and it reminded me of a painful experience from

      1 min read

    • Article

      To the Rescue

      May 26, 2023

      To the Rescue
      6 min read

    • Article

      The Grateful One

      Jan 15, 2022

      The Grateful One
      1 min read

    • Article

      A Pilgrim’s PASSION

      Aug 27, 2021

      A Pilgrim’s PASSION
      5 min read

    • Article

      Sunday, August 18

      Jun 18, 2019

      WHAT DOES IT REALLY MEAN to pray without ceasing? Does it mean we chant at the wailing wall in Jerusalem? Or is it more like the meditative murmurs of a cloistered nun? I used to think that was the picture of devoted prayer. Today, it looks like cons

      1 min read

    • Article

      Women Of Grace

      Nov 18, 2019

      God has an abundant life, and a great future planned for you. His plan is to take care of you, not to abandon you. God says in Revelation 22:13, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.” Nothing in your life s

      2 min read

    • Article

      Dolly Parton

      May 19, 2023

      Dolly Parton
      5 min read

    • Article

      Prayer Therapy

      Mar 27, 2020

      Prayer Therapy
      6 min read

    • Article

      Bible Fun

      Feb 10, 2023

      Bible Fun
      3 min read

    • Article

      Tuesday, June 8

      Apr 15, 2021

      JUST SAY “NO.” I REMEMBER this phrase plastered as a slogan on posters around my high school. Saying “no” was believed by authority figures to be a talisman that would ward off all manner of teenage vices. Later I built on the power of “no” as I incr

      1 min read

    • Article

      Ask Val

      Dec 1, 2023

      Ask Val
      2 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for A Weary World Rejoices

    0 ratings

    0 ratings0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      A Weary World Rejoices - Christy Bower

      A Weary World Rejoices: Celebrating the Birth of Christ in Difficult Times (A 25-Day Christmas Devotional)

      © 2020 Christy Bower

      http://christybower.com

      ––––––––

      Scripture quotations marked TPT are from The Passion Translation® Copyright © 2017, 2018 by Passion & Fire Ministries, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. ThePassionTranslation.com.

      Scripture quotations marked MSG are taken from THE MESSAGE, copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress. All rights reserved. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.

      Scripture quotations marked NLT are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

      A Weary World Rejoices

      Dear Weary One,

      While Christmas is full of joy, the world is not. This can be difficult to reconcile at times.

      After a difficult year, you may not feel like celebrating. But take heart. Other weary souls have faced Christmas challenges and found peace, hope, and fresh significance. You can, too.

      These daily readings tell the stories of people who celebrated Christmas during wars, economic hardship, and personal tragedy. Despite all these things, they were able to bring Christmas cheer to those they were with on Christmas. They celebrated with family away from home and sometimes they even celebrated with the enemy. Their stories demonstrate the heart of Christmas, stripped of everything familiar and comforting, but rich in its own way.

      May these stories encourage you to discover the heart of Christmas in difficult times. And may you also comfort others as a weary world rejoices.

      Christy

      1

      When Christmas Was Cancelled

      After a tumultuous decade of power struggles between British Parliament and King Charles I, the English Civil War broke out in 1642. At the end of the vicious fighting, Charles lost his crown and his head in one fell swoop.

      The Puritans, a group of radical protestants, rose to power in Parliament. On December 19, 1643, Parliament passed a law saying, in part, citizens should treat Christmas:

      with the more solemn humiliation because it may call to remembrance our sins, and the sins of our forefathers, who have turned this feast pretending the memory of Christ, into an extreme forgetfulness of him, by giving liberty to carnal and sensual delights.

      Christmas was further rejected in a 1644 ordinance that abolished the Catholic feasts of Christmas, Easter, and Whitsun. Christmas was officially illegal from 1644-1660.

      When Oliver Cromwell reigned in England (1653-58), he passed even stricter laws to enforce the Christmas ban. Soldiers patrolled the streets to catch anyone participating in Christmas church services. The soldiers also seized meat and food being prepared for Christmas celebrations.

      Pro-Christmas riots sparked the second English Civil War. In 1660, when Puritans lost power in Parliament, King Charles II revoked the Christmas ban.

      Today’s Treasure

      In the same way, one person regards a certain day as more sacred than another, and another person regards them all alike. There is nothing wrong with having different personal convictions about such matters. . . . So then, make it your top priority to live a life of peace with harmony in your relationships, eagerly seeking to strengthen and encourage one another.

      Romans 14:5, 19, TPT

      Today’s Gift: Grace

      Give others the gift of grace. Allow people

      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1