In the bustle of the Christmas season, it can be easy to get swept up in all of the things to do. But it's important to pause and remember that our priority should be to spend time celebrating Christ's birth and not forget to invite Jesus to his own party.
Christmas is far more than a celebration of an event from long ago or a modern holiday centered around shopping. Mindfully take time to listen to how God continues to speak through the Christmas story as the Gospel narratives centered around the birth of Jesus provide encouragement and revelation concerning the love of God and his wisdom for us today.
In Total Christmas Makeover, author and Bible teacher Melissa Spoelstra provides a practical approach for you and your family to turn your attention toward God's grace day-by-day as you prepare for Christmas. This 31-day devotional presents key scriptures, ideas to implement with each reading, and questions for reflection to guide you in rediscovering rituals, relationship, and rest to connect you more deeply with Christ this holiday season.
Melissa Spoelstra is a popular women's conference speaker, Bible teacher, and writer who is madly in love with Jesus and passionate about helping women of all ages to seek Christ and know Him more intimately through serious Bible study. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Bible Theology and enjoys teaching God's Word to diverse groups and churches within the body of Christ. She is the author of the "First Corinthians: Living Love When We Disagree," "Joseph: The Journey to Forgiveness," and "Jeremiah: Daring to Hope in an Unstable World Bible" studies and "Total Family Makeover: 8 Steps to Making Disciples at Home" book. She lives in Dublin, Ohio, with her pastor husband and four kids.
Find out more about Melissa at http://melissaspoelstra.com.
MY REVIEW:
This is a wonderful book for getting back to what Christmas is all about - Christ.
This is a 31 day devotional that focuses on the Christmas season. I would definitely start this book on December 1st to keep my focus on the important parts of Christmas. Each day is a reminder of why we celebrate Christmas and how that looks when we make that belief a part of our holiday season.
Each day is a focus on how we can live for the Lord, not only during Christmas, but throughout the year. There are different categories but a couple that really stood out to me were "Withholding" and "Spiritual Gifts". I love what she had to say about withholding and how this can impact our children and those around us. Not expressing our love or forgetting to show how much someone means to us is just one way we can hurt those around us. She shares how important it is to tell and show those around us - especially in our own family - how much they mean to us. We shouldn't assume they already know that. I love the Spiritual gifts section because it helped me to see how God has gifted me and how I can use those gifts to bless others.
Each section has ideas for our lives and then at the end of the chapter are "Questions for Reflection" and the "Practical Approach" section. I love the questions because they really helped me to focus in on what my beliefs are about the subject and how I can make things work for myself and my family to focus on Jesus. The practical approach section gives us ideas on how we can make it happen. They aren't difficult but there are several ideas that we can implement into our lives and pick which one will work best for us.
I like this book because it focuses so much on God's Word and on the Lord. I also like that I didn't come away feeling guilty because of things I have or haven't done. It's a really lovely book that I will definitely be revisiting each Christmas season.
I highly recommend this book for anyone that want to make the Christmas season about the Lord. I give it 5 out of 5 stars.
*This book was provided to me for my honest review by LitFuse Publicity Group
Blessings - Julie
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