Total Christmas Makeover: 31 Devotions to Celebrate with Purpose

by Melissa Spoelstra

Overview

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 are filled with 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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781501848711
Publisher:	Abingdon Press
Publication date:	10/03/2017
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	576 KB

About the Author

Melissa Spoelstra is a popular women’s conference speaker (including the Aspire Women’s Events), Bible teacher, and author who is madly in love with Jesus and passionate about helping others to seek Christ and know Him more intimately.
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 a contributor to Girlfriends in God online devotional as well as Proverbs 31 ministries First Five app. She is the author of eight Bible studies (Acts, The Names of God, Romans, Elijah, Numbers, First Corinthians, Joseph, and Jeremiah) and four books (Total Family Makeover, Total Christmas Makeover, 30 Days of Prayer for Spiritual Stamina, and Dare to Hope). Melissa makes her home in Pickerington, Ohio, with her pastor husband and four kids.

Melissa Spoelstra is a popular women’s conference speaker (including the Aspire Women’s Events), Bible teacher, and author who is madly in love with Jesus and passionate about helping others to seek Christ and know Him more intimately.
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 a contributor to Girlfriends in God online devotional as well as Proverbs 31 ministries First Five app. She is the author of eight Bible studies (Acts, The Names of God, Romans, Elijah, Numbers, First Corinthians, Joseph, and Jeremiah) and four books (Total Family Makeover, Total Christmas Makeover, 30 Days of Prayer for Spiritual Stamina, and Dare to Hope). Melissa makes her home in Waxahachie, Texas, with her pastor husband and four kids.

Read an Excerpt

CHAPTER 1

RITUAL

Day 1

REMEMBERING

This is a day to remember. Each year, from generation to generation, you must celebrate it as a special festival to the LORD. This is a law for all time. For seven days the bread you eat must be made without yeast. On the first day of the festival, remove every trace of yeast from your homes. Anyone who eats bread made with yeast during the seven days of the festival will be cut off from the community of Israel. On the first day of the festival and again on the seventh day, all the people must observe an official day for holy assembly. No work of any kind may be done on these days except in the preparation of food.

~ Exodus 12:14-16

When my husband and I got married, we found that our Christmas rituals had some similarities but also quite a few distinctions. My family get-togethers included lots of people overtaking a home and the chaotic opening of gifts, all occurring at once in the room. We had different types of food each year, such as shrimp, pizza, turkey, or ham as main dishes. With so many people gathering, we ate all over the house. Sometimes the routine changed from year to year with different foods, paper plates, and varied formats. One year we might read the Christmas story as a family, and other times we would attend a church service together. I can't recall it always looking the same.

At my husband's family gatherings, Christmas included a perfectly set table, dim lights, and a more formal meal with traditional dishes served. Chaos would not have described anything that went on in his family home during celebrations. Things were orderly, and people were sentimental about the customs being observed each year.

When it comes to our own family Christmas rituals, the most important thing isn't the mode of expression as much as the heart behind it all. Whether your family celebrates formally with firm traditions or more chaotically with varied ways to remember Christ's birth, the key is to remember the why in our observances. Why do we decorate, shop, bake, throw parties, and gather as families during the holidays? We do so to remember Christ.

Our Savior left eternity in heaven and stepped into time. He put on flesh and came humbly to earth as a baby. He came to restore the relationship with God that sin had marred. Jesus came to teach us about our Father — His love, His grace, His holiness, and then to pay the ultimate price to bridge the gap sin created between us. All of this was for us, and this is why we celebrate. When the rituals lose their original intent of helping us remember Christ, we need to rediscover their meaning.

Perhaps some holiday rituals need to be revived or pursued more wholeheartedly, while others should be held loosely and possibly replaced with new ideas. Since many of our Christmas traditions are fun and don't need to be hyper-spiritual, we don't want the commercialized hoopla to cause us to miss the true message of Christmas.

A Christmas makeover doesn't mean throwing out all our traditions and habits over the holiday season and exchanging them for new ones. However, it might mean

• prioritizing the traditions that point us to Christ's birth,

• rediscovering the intent behind the practices we treasure, or

• incorporating some new rituals that will help us share God's message of love with those around us.

Rituals have always been one of the key markers of biblical celebration. When the Israelites left Egypt, God instructed them to hold an annual remembrance and honor the traditions of sacrifice, rest, and preparing special foods that held meaning for them. They were to eat bread without yeast to recall the time when they had to leave in such a hurry there was no time for the bread to rise. The Israelites ate bitter herbs to remember their time of slavery and roasted lamb to commemorate the night the death angel passed over their homes because the blood of an animal was over their doorpost.

God ordained special holy days from generation to generation so His people would not forget His mighty acts. Most Gentile Christians don't celebrate Passover because Christ came as a fulfillment to the foreshadowing of Passover. Jesus shed His own blood as a covering for our sin so that we would not be separated from God. The Gospel of John records, "The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, 'Look! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!'" (John 1:29).

Jesus is our Passover Lamb. At Christmas, we celebrate His birth while at Easter we remember His death and resurrection. Our holiday rituals are a time to reflect upon Him. Jesus was born to die so that we could have a restored relationship with God. Our Christmas traditions play a part in our remembrance of Him in the midst of our busy schedules, demanding jobs, health challenges, and relational conflicts. We change our routine to include decorations, special events, additional church gatherings, preparing special foods, gift selections, and perhaps a family devotion or special reading. All of this is not to make us stressed out or overwhelmed but to help us remember Christ. So we must carefully contemplate which activities help us focus on God and which stress us out for no good reason.

Every tradition doesn't have to be inherently spiritual, but we must not forget the Savior whose birth we celebrate because we are so busy with candy and cookies. My husband and I found a new normal with our own family. We include both casual and formal elements in our celebrations and other rituals that change over time. When our children were small we read a family devotion that included special ornaments for each day in December. As our kids became teenagers who might not be home every night, we switched to taking turns with teenager-led Christmas devotions that included a craft or creative activity once a week. Sometimes our rituals stay tried and true, and other times they change with age and culture. Any practice can become rote or lose its original intent, so we must evaluate often to be sure our focus is on Christ to make sure He doesn't become forgotten in the midst of Christmas mayhem.

Lord, help me to keep my focus on You this Christmas season. I don't want to forget the importance of Your birth. Help me to remember You often as I prepare to celebrate Your coming to earth. Help me to discern which traditions I should incorporate this year that will draw my attention continually on You and teach me to let go of anything distracting me from the true meaning of Christmas. Thank You for being my Passover Lamb and taking away my sin through Your blood. In Jesus' name I pray, amen.

Questions for Reflection

What Christmas traditions did you experience growing up?

Of those activities, which helped you focus most on Christ?

Which of your current Christmas rituals leave you uninspired or stressed out?

What new practices might you incorporate to strengthen your relationship with Christ as you celebrate His birth?

A Practical Approach

One way many families are reminded that Christmas is about Jesus is to have a birthday cake. Since children can relate to their own birthday parties, having a time to sing to Jesus and eat cake helps them remember that Christmas truly is His party! While they receive presents at Christmas, it is the birth of Christ we are truly celebrating.

Day 2

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

The instructions of the Lord Lare perfect,
The first time we decided to gather our little family for some Christmas readings from Scripture it was an epic fail. Our son was six years old and loved every minute of it. Our three-month-old mercifully slept during the encounter, but with two-year-old twins, you can only imagine the efforts to enforce listening and discussion. Their attention span resembled that of a gnat at times.

This particular activity was titled the Jesse Tree, which included lessons for December 1st through December 25th. A friend from church shared this activity with me. I thought it might be good for our littles because it included the page numbers from a beginners' Bible we owned that had pictures and simple stories. The guide provided instructions to gather or make ornaments to wrap each day. We made the ornaments ourselves with construction paper or Shrinky Dinks since we couldn't find a fiery furnace or Ten Commandments ornament in any store!

Creation is the first lesson within the Jesse Tree activity, which includes stories such as Noah, Abraham, Jacob, and others following up to Christ's birth. On the first night, my husband read the Creation story from the children's Bible and showed the pictures in the book. We opened the ornament that contained a globe and put it on the tree. All was going fairly well until we came to the review questions. My husband started with one he thought would be fairly easy.

"Who made the world?"

One of the twins exclaimed, "I did it! I made the world!"

Our daughter looked to us to compliment her, but my husband said, "No, come on. Who made the world?"

This time, much less confidently, she stated in a questioning tone, "Mommy did it?"

If comprehension of truth and remembering what God had done was our goal, we had certainly missed the mark. Although we laugh about this story now, we did continue in our pursuit of using this activity year after year by reviewing Bible stories and incorporating Scripture readings into our Christmas ritual. While we have switched gears because of our frenetic schedules of teenagers and a college student, we still want to pursue taking time to gather and read Scripture together.

As you reflect on the coming holiday season, how can you incorporate a ritual of Scripture reading? Whether you gather as a family with children or teenagers, or just spend some quiet moments each day reading alone or with your spouse, having a plan with God's Word is the kind of ritual that helps us reconnect with the message of Christmas. When we aim for nothing, we hit it every time.

The Jesse Tree is only one of many options. You will find many more ideas by asking your friends, searching on the internet, creating your own plan, or checking out some of the ideas that I have collected from others at the end of today's reading. Reading God's Word helps us realign our thinking with God's truth. As our thought life centers on His character, His love, and the sacrifice of sending Jesus to earth, it affects our attitude. Humility, gratefulness, and contentment are all attitudes that are impacted by our thinking patterns over long periods of time.

Of course, we need God's Spirit to transform our thinking. One of the ways He does this is through the Scripture. Just as we eat a physical diet, our spirit is fed by what enters our bodies through our eyes and ears. If all we consume is mindless television shows or movies, social media feeds of everyone else's lives, or music and books with worldviews that contradict Christian values, we can become spiritually malnourished. Not all soul junk food is inherently evil; it just doesn't bring health and life to the human spirit. God's Word has cleansing power to help us remember God's love and truth. Daily consumption is highly recommended as a ritual during the holiday season to guide us in remembering His heart in sending His one and only Son into the world.

Whether you get your family involved in gathering for some special reading each day, week, or even just on Christmas morning, be intentional in including the Bible as part of your Christmas ritual this year! Don't beat yourself up if you miss a time or don't finish everything you set out to do. Instead, celebrate the progress you make and the closeness with Jesus you experience as you allow God's Word to be alive and active in your life.

Lord, give me a hunger and thirst for Your Word. Guide me in knowing how to implement a Christmas ritual of reading Scripture. Give me discernment whether I am to do this on my own or include other family members or friends. Direct me to plan and help me to be disciplined in seeing it through. Show me where any soul junk food is causing me to be spiritually weak. Strengthen me by Your powerful and holy Word. In Jesus' name I pray, amen.

Questions for Reflection

What plans for reading Scripture have you used in the past during the holiday season?

Consider what barriers keep you from reading God's Word daily on your own or with others during the holidays.

Is there a simple plan God is calling you to put into action to make reading God's Word a priority in your family's routine?

A Practical Approach

There are so many great reading plans you can use to incorporate reading Scripture into your Christmas rituals. If you are just looking for a plan to do on your own, check out the YouVersion app on your phone or device with a daily reading plan for December.

If you are looking for a ritual to use with your family, it is good to consider age levels and attention spans. While sometimes you may want to stick with a cherished family tradition, trying something new might reignite the energy to get into God's Word. Many reading plans and devotional books are available for either daily or weekly times. Here is one idea for each that I have personally used and recommend:

Daily: The Jesse Tree has twenty-five daily readings including instructions for making ornaments for each day. It starts with Creation and hits many key stories that lead up to the birth of Christ.

Weekly: Purchase an Advent wreath that includes Scripture readings. Light a candle for each week representing hope, peace, joy, and love. Then light the Christ candle in the center on Christmas Day.

Somewhere in-between: Write Scripture references on craft paper and wrap different pieces of a Nativity set. Put one under the tree each night for your children to open each morning so they can read a part of the Christmas story each day.

Day 3

PRAYER

I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God's love and keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand, as all God's people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.

~ Ephesians 3:16-19

A few weeks ago I found myself with some extra time. I had a few hours before I was scheduled to speak at an event in another city. Because I was in a hotel room, there was no laundry to do, errands to run, or chores to complete. I remember thinking how it would be great to spend some time in prayer. While I had dialogued with the Lord here and there, it had been a while since I had taken a chunk of time to spend dedicated to prayer. I piddled around the room, straightening things from my suitcase, and finally settled in on my knees. I felt distracted and wondered if I should answer emails since I had the benefit of Wi-Fi. After all, I could pray on the plane, but I couldn't work on my laptop. My internal conversation revealed a battle against the discipline of prayer.

Thankfully I talked to myself instead of listening to myself. Even though my flesh didn't want to pray, I knew my spirit desperately needed some focused time in God's presence. I began praising God. I confessed sin and thanked Him for so many blessings in my life. Then I poured out my heart with personal requests as well as things for my family, friends, and the long list of concerns written in my journal. The closeness I felt with Jesus as I sat quietly and listened was priceless. There is an intimacy with Christ that only intentional prayer can bring.

(Continues…)

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Excerpted from "Total Christmas Makeover"
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Excerpted by permission of Abingdon Press.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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Table of Contents

Introduction,
Ritual,
Day 1: Remembering,
Day 2: Food for Thought,
Day 3: Prayer,
Day 4: Make a Joyful Noise,
Day 5: The Light of the World,
Day 6: Taste and See,
Day 7: Good and Perfect Gifts,
Day 8: Offerings,
Day 9: Serving,
Day 10: Something Old and Something New,
Relationships,
Day 11: Scenery and Machinery,
Day 12: Going All Out,
Day 13: Proposing,
Day 14: Withholding,
Day 15: Forgiveness,
Day 16: The Languages of Love,
Day 17: Being Neighborly,
Day 18: Spiritual Gifts,
Day 19: The Least of These,
Day 20: People and Patience,
Rest,
Day 21: Sabbath,
Day 22: Planning for Rest,
Day 23: Redeeming the Moments,
Day 24: Rest for the Soul,
Day 25: Entering God's Rest,
Day 26: Resting Versus Escaping,
Day 27: Balance,
Day 28: New Strength,
Day 29: Yielding,
Day 30: The Day of Small Beginnings,
Day 31: The Rest of the Story,