This is a great way to focus your heart and mind during the advent season. Each day you will read scripture and a brief reflection from John about the scripture.

If you are looking for something to get you focused on what Christmas is really all about and many different perspectives I highly recommend you add this to your Christmas traditions.

A copy of this book was given to me through Netgalley. All opinions are my own.

First sentence: What does Jesus want this Christmas? We can see the answer in his prayers. What does he ask God for? His longest prayer is John 17. The climax of his desire is in verse 24. [John 17:24]

Good News of Great Joy is an advent devotional by John Piper. Several years ago--2012 or 2013 depending on whether you trust Amazon or GoodReads more--Piper published an advent devotional with the same name. (I reviewed it in 2016). I read this one unsure if it was the *same* devotional or if it was just recycling the name. I am not 100% sure since I cannot find the table of contents of the original book and the link on Piper's website has switched from the old to the new. (That right there might be an indication that it is just recycling the same old book.) But I reread my review and all the quotes I mentioned, all the phrases I talked about....ARE in this devotional. My best guess, my best educated guess, is that most of this--if not all of this--is previously published. Of course, I might be wrong. Maybe he carried over some of his best work--the stuff I happened to quote--and maybe there's new material as well.

Quotes:

If you don't need a Savior, you don't need Christmas.

Snippets from original review of other edition:

I love how each reading is short and straightforward, and not easily dismissed. Each gives readers something weighty--or meaty--to contemplate.

For example, "Christmas is an indictment before it becomes a delight." And, "If you can only make Christmas exciting with material things, how will the children get a thirst for God?" And last but not least, "be much in the Scriptures, and memorize the great passages! “Is not my word like fire, says the Lord!” (Jeremiah 23:29) Gather ‘round that fire this Advent season. It is warm. It is sparkling with colors of grace. It is healing for a thousand hurts. It is light for dark nights."

My absolute favorite quote:
You can read every fairy tale that was ever written, every mystery thriller, every ghost story, and you will never find anything so shocking, so strange, so weird and so spellbinding as the story of the incarnation of the Son of God. How dead we are! How callous and unfeeling to his glory and his story! How often have I had to repent and say, “God, I am sorry that the stories men have made up stir my emotions, my awe and wonder and admiration and joy, more than your own true story.”

Other favorite quotes:
Christmas is the replacement of shadows with the real thing.

O, don’t let all the sweet things of this season become substitutes of the final great, all-satisfying Sweetness.

His birth was not a coming into being of a new person, but a coming into the world of an infinitely old person.

We make progress in overcoming our sin when we have hope that our failures will be forgiven. If you don’t have hope that God will forgive your failures, when you start fighting sin, you give up.

Christ will really help us in our fight. He really will help you. He is on your side. He didn’t come to destroy sin because sin is fun. He came to destroy sin because it is fatal. It is a deceptive work of the devil and will destroy us if we don’t fight it. He came to help us, not hurt us.

“Come, let us adore him. This beloved Advent refrain captures the heart of the season. Advent is for adoring Jesus. It is a season of preparation to ready our hearts for the glory of Christmas Day as we celebrate the coming of the eternal God in our frail humanity. These twenty-five short devotional readings from John Piper aim to help you keep Christ at the center of the Advent season.”
Crossway

This brief description from Crossway perfectly explains this Advent devotion by John Piper. I have been a fan of John Piper since I became a Christian over a decade ago. We even named our daughter after him. His preaching and ministries have been a large influence on my life and my walk with Christ. John Piper always eloquently and simplistically conveys deep theological ideas in a way that anyone can understand. What he says and how he teaches what is in the Bible doesn’t just live in your head but it hits your heart as well. This devotion is no different.

Laid out in 25 days of devotions each day has a specific verse to focus on and some commentary allowing you to take a nugget of knowledge about the text with you for the whole day. This not only gives you context about the verse but applications that apply to all of us and point our gaze towards the one that the season is all about.

One of my favorite days was probably day 11 “Why Jesus Came”. The content was great in all 25 days but in true John Piper fashion he broke the verses down line by line giving explanation and application for today, giving examples as well how we can apply this to our “great commission” mandate. This is my favorite kind of devotional thought from Piper. I found myself wanted to have that same layout overall but I know this is my own personal preference.

Another devotional day I enjoyed was day 15 “Life & Death at Christmas”. I needed a good reminder that feeling the effects of loss, especially during Christmas time, is normal and shouldn’t be blocked out but embraced. As Christians, death and loss brings with it a longing, not for this world but for our eternal home. This was a reminder very prevalent in my life currently that I was needing reminded of.

All in all, I would recommend this Advent Devotion. I think this would be a great addition to anyone’s existing Advent traditions. I in the past have used Indescribable Joy in my Advent devotions and Good News of Great joy will be a great one to add to the mix.

*I received this book free from NetGalley along with Crossway in exchange for an honest review.*

If you're like me, you can get so caught up with the busyness of Christmas that Christmas comes without much thought to what Christmas is really celebrating....Jesus. This book is an advent devotional that will help us keep Jesus as the "center and greatest treasure of our Advent" (location 57).

I loved this devotional and I plan to reread it this Advent. It has a scripture and a short reading for each day. It only takes a few minutes to read an entry. They are very thought provoking. Many of them made me look at some aspect of the Christmas story in a different way. For instance, Piper writes about God moving Caesar Augustus to call for a census that would cause Mary and Joseph to journey to Bethlehem which in turn would fulfill prophecy. He writes that God is always working and turning the king's will to accomplish His eternal purposes. "He is a big God for little people, and we have great cause to rejoice that, unbeknownst to them, all the kings and presidents and premiers and chancellors and chiefs of the world follow the sovereign decrees of our father in heaven" (location 154). This was particularly comforting to me in this time of political upheaval. God is still and is always at work.

Thank you to Crossway for providing me with a free e-copy of this book. I found it to be very helpful and I would highly recommend it. All opinions are my own.

Good News of Great Joy is a collection of Christmas devotionals from John Piper. Each devotional is short, with Scripture and some encouragement and thoughts to ponder as you move through the Christmas season. In a way, this is quite the basic devotional and yet, it is a good addition to the Christmas season for those of us who want to truly set our eyes on Jesus and praise God for what He has done.

Jesus is not lonely. He and the Father and the Spirit are profoundly satisfied in the fellowship of the trinity. We, not he, are starving for something. And what Jesus wants for Christmas is for us to experience what we were really made for - seeing and savoring his glory.

There is great news! A great hope in the Gospel. It is often misunderstood and so much needed to be reminded of the great joy we have in Christ. There is a balance in the gospel of grace and truth. Joy and glory. It all stems and starts with the work of Christ.

It is important to know what Advent is. An expectation. A anticipation- a time of reflection of the joy in Christ and what he offers. Each day is a day of worship of the work of Christ. Each day starts with a Advent verse and commentary supported by scripture to prepare your heart for Christmas. To think outwardly and to see the hope of God's glory.

John Piper brings God glory in these small chapters. Savoring Christ and being reminded the hope that we have.

A special thank you to Crossway Publishing and Netgalley for the aRC and the opportunity to post an honest review.

The 25 days devotional offers a great support for the days before Christmas. With short daily chapters, John Piper takes a journey through different passages of the bible explaining key points like why jesus came, why there were no rooms for Jesus in Bethleem, why Magi came to see Jesus and so on.
A very rich book that leaves you with a desire to search God more during the advent days.

Upset and disgusted to see that someone with such hateful beliefs is continued to give a platform. Do not read this book if you believe everyone is deserving of God's love and that everyone has value. If you are sexist, racist, hate the queer community, and hate those who are different than you this is the book for you! I really wanted to enjoy devotionals, but once I saw how horrible the author's theology is, I couldn't continue.