The Life Recovery Bible

[Pernell Johnson]

Eyes of Love:

Bible Reading: John 5: 11-15
We humbly asked him to remove our shortcomings

Most of us probably aren't used to getting the things we ask for. How can we have confidence that God will hear our prayers? How do we know he will answer when we ask him to remove our shortcomings?
The apostle Paul wrote: "Long ago, even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes" (Ephesians 1:4). God's primary goal is to make us holy---that is, to form his character in us. Looking through the eyes of love, he already sees us as we will be when his work is done. Then he works out his goals for us in the arena of everyday life. The Bible tells us: "God's discipline is always right and good for us because it means we will share in his holiness---the removal of our shortcomings---is God's will for each of us. The apostle John wrote: "We can be confident that he will listen to us whenever we ask him for anything in line with his will. And if we know he is listening when we make our requests, we can be sure that he will give us what we ask for" (John 5:14-15).
It is clearly God's will to have our sinful shortcomings removed. And he has promised to give us anything we ask for in line with his will. Therefore, we can have full confidence that God will remove our shortcomings in his time.

[Pernell Johnson]

The Fruit of Forgiveness;
Bible Reading: 2 Corinthians 2:5-8
We made a list of all persons we had harmed and became willing to make amends to them all

Some of the things we have done have earned us disapproval and possibly loss of love. We have found that some people love us only if they can approve of our behavior. We may have struggled with bitterness toward them because we feel as if they have been trying to punish us. If our "sins" have been made public, we may assume that we have lost the love of everyone who disapproves of our actions. This fear of rejection might deter us from reaching out to make amends.
In the young Corinthian church, a man was cut off from church fellowship when his sins were made public. After he turned around and tried to make amends, some people refused to welcome him back into the church. The apostle Paul told the believers: "The man who caused all the trouble... was punished enough when most of you were united in your judgment against him. Now its time to forgive him and comfort him. Otherwise he may become so discouraged that he won't be able to recover. Now show him that you still love him" (2 Corinthians 2:5-8). Some people will follow this advice and reaffirm their love for you when you go to them.
There will be some people who will respond with forgiveness, comfort, acceptance, and love. This will help us overcome the grief, the bitterness, and the discouragement we may feel. Their forgiveness will help us move on with recovery.

Removed, Not Improved in step 6 is what really changed my life. I used to struggle and struggle to change my character defects. I could never do it. When I started learning to focus on who God is rather that who I am then miracles started to happen. The more I knew about God the more the deception was removed and the more my defects were removed.

I try to catch myself now whenever my focus shifts to myself or my circumstances. I confess who I am and confess my sin and then look upward to learn more of who God is.

The work of the Lord is to believe in the one that He sent. Not to try and fix myself so that I will be worthy. He is the only one who is worthy and His life in us is the miracle.

Hugs,
MG

[margie]

I took a daily moral inventory while i was in treatment. It was extremely helplful with how i viewed my day and what i needed to make amends for. I have been home for three weeks now and i have found it extremely difficult to find the time to dedicate to doing a moral inventory at night. I know that i need to do it, but, i strugle with all the things that i have to do. Thanks for the info.

[Pernell Johnson]

From Taker to Giver

Bible Reading: Luke 19:1-10
We made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.

When we are feeding our addiction, it is easy to become consumed by our own needs. Nothing matters exdept getting what we crave so desperately. We may have to lie, cheat, kill, or steal; but that doesn't stop us. Within our family and community we become known as "takers," Trampling over the feelings and needs of others.

Zacchaeus had the same problem. His hunger for riches drove him to betray his own people by collecting taxes for the oppressive Roman government. He was hated by his own people and considered a thief, an extortioner, an a traitor. But when Jesus reached out to him, he changed dramatically. "Meanwhile, Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord, "I will give half my wealth to the poor, Lord, and if I have overcharged people on their taxes, I will give them back four times as much!" Jesus responded, 'Salvation has come to this home today'"
(Luke 19:8-9)

Zacchaeus went beyond just paying back what he had taken. For the first time in a long time, he saw the needs of others and wanted to be a "giver." Making amends includes paying back what we have taken whenever possible. Some of us may even seize the opportunity to go fyrther, giving more than we took. As we begin to see the needs of others and respond by choice, our self-esteem will rise. We will realize that we can give to others, instead of just being a burden.

[Katesong]

Morning Glory.

In so many of your posts I see a discouragement. It seems to me that you feel you have to be good enough for God to accept you. Here is what the Apostle Paul said in Phillipians 3:

Philippians 3


All for Christ


8Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ 9and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; 10that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, 11if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.

Look at verse 9 in particular:

not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith;

None of us will ever be good enough, it is the righteousness of God in Christ which qualifies us for fellowship with God and eventually to go to heaven. Our faith is in His righteousness, not our own. We don't need self confidence, we need God confidence.

Be blessed my friend,
Glenda

[Pamsters]

A friend of mine in recovery introduced me to his bible. I then bought it at Barnes and Noble. I understand the bible even better now. I always felt confused when it came to reading the standard bible. Now I have steps and serenity prayers to connect me to verses that better help me understand what I'm reading its wonderful. I now can look at a standard bible and understand better what they're talking about. With a little help from the recovery bible. It's wonderful, when I'm down or need a little encouragement I go to an area in that bible and I feel better. I also feel better connected with God then I ever felt possible.

[Pamsters]

Hey Pernell,

I am currently working on my 4th step...I know i need to get through my past pain and fears to have a better and fulfilling future. I pray everytime I'm going to start thinking or writing something down from my past inventory. I thank God that I have his spirit to guide me and give me the strengh I need to follow-through I am still scared to face my past. I have stuffed it for so long. Please keep me in your prayers.

[Pernell Johnson]

Pam, you are surely in my prayer, be not afraid to face the past. It is dead and it has no power. What has power is the "You" of today and the furue. Get with your sponsor. His will be done!

[Pamsters]

Hey Pernell,

I finished my 4th step last week. It feels great. I let go of something in my life throught God's will the week before and I replaced it with focusing on my 4th step. I had started it but had procrastinated all summer. Thank you if prayers were said. I needed all the help I could get when I was struggling. I thank God everyday for giving me another day clean without the drugs/alcohol in my life.

[ascar]

thank you, pernell and mg, your writings have been VERY inspirational, my wifw had bought me the "life recovery" bible for christmas, the BEST gift other than our two sons she could have given me. i used to be really in to the bible when i was 16-17 but that was almost 30 years ago, but i am now 141 days sober and have never felt so good in my life and my relationsip with GOD, my wife, my children, i can honestly say i have friends, not just dope/drinking buddies that could care less about me but honest, GOD giving people that just do things for people without even thinking about it. like all of you here at this site, i thank all of you for your devotion and thankfulness toward posting to this site.
may GOD bless you all.
NEIL

[Pernell Johnson]

Ascar welcome to the recovery forum. I am happy that you were able to acquire the Bible and hope it brings you as much joy as it brings me. "Merry Christmas and A Happy New Year.

Pernell

[Pernell Johnson]

Perseverance
Bible Reading: 2 Timothy 2:1-8
We continued to take personal inventory
and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.

Recovery is a lifelong process. There will be times when we grow weary and want to throw in the towel. We will experience pain, fear, and a host of other emotions. We will win some battles but lose others in the war to achieve wholeness. We may get discouraged at times when we can't see any progress, even though we have been working hard. But if we persevere through it all, we can maintain the ground we have gained.

The apostle Paul used three illustrations to teach about perserverence. He wrote to Timothy: "Endure suffering along with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. And as Christ's soldier, do not let yourself become tied up in the affairs of this life, for then you cannot satisfy the one who has enlisted you in his army. Follow the Lord's rules for doing his work, just as an athlete either follows the rules or is disqualified and wins no prize. Hard-working farmers are the first to enjoy the fruit of their labor. Think about what I am saying. The Lord will give you understanding in all these things" (2 Timothy 2:3-7).

Like a soldier, we are in a war that we can win only if we fight to the end. Like an athlete, we must train for a new way of life and follow the steps of recovery to the finish line. Like a farmer, we must do our work in every season and then wait patiently until we see growth. If we stop working our program before reaching the goal, we may lose everything we have fought, trained, and worked hard for.

[Pernell Johnson]

Thirst for God
Bible Reading: Psalm 27:1-6
We sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contacts with God, praying only for knowledge of his will for us and the power to carry that out.

Most of us initially turn to God for the help he can give us, namely, his power to free us from the power of our dependency. We may be surprised to find that, as time passes, we turn to God out of a desire to be near him. As we discover how wonderful he is and how much he loves us, we draw near to him because of the joy we experience in his presence.

King David gave us a glimpse into his relationship with God, saying, "The one thing I ask of the Lord---the thing I seek most---is to live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, delighting in the Lord's perfections and meditating in his Temple. For he will conceal me there when troubles come, he will hide me in his sanctuary. HE will place me out of reach on a high rock. Then I will hold my head high, above my enemies who surround me. At his Tabernacle I will offer sacrifices with shouts of joy, singing and praising the Lord with music." (Psalm 27:4-6).

David found great joy by improving his conscious contact with God. God is always there, but we are not always aware of his presence. Our relationship with God usually begins with his meeting our desperate needs. But when we begin to focus on getting to know God as an end in itself, we will discover that he will give us what we have always desired---the joy of being close to our loving Creator. Then we will see that he can be trusted with every area of our life.

[robin@0813]

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First time on website. Would like to know if anyone has attended the Celebrate Recovery program at Saddleback Church in Orange Cty, California
Christians for Recovery. thanks. Robin

[robin@0813]

am a new Christian to recovery and new to this website. Would like to know if anyone has attended the CELEBRATE RECOVERY Program at Saddleback Church in California?
I need some advice in helping our island community church implement this recovery program. Any help??

[best]

We will be starting the same program.
You can call Rick Warren at Saddleback. If he is not available, his co workers are wonderful people. I have found them to be very helpful and giving when I have called for different things.

His website with related resources...
http://www.pastors.com/portal/

[Pernell Johnson]

I am familiar with Celebrate Recovery but I have not attended the church mainly because I am in New Jersey. I been on their website and also I have used some of the material in my counseling practice.

Just for Today


Pernell

[humble]

Small world it is. I am in Ft. Lauerdale Fla and have heard about Saddleback Church a lot in our church! :shades2:

[christchild]

With you writing about that just goes to show how much God plays a role in my recovery. With out Him I know that would never have made it this far on my own. God deserves all the praise

[ali_02]

Thank you. I realize how human I am when I forget even for a second how wonderful God is. I conveniently forget or just don't want to acknowledge that he is with me at all times. I know he does what is best for me and not just what I want. Alice

[ransby]

AA and NA may be good for some people.The leads seemed to always dwell on past alcohol and drug use.This I found out is a trigger for me.I got involved with local church in which most all of the members and the pastor are former addicts.They taught me how to lean on GOD and not myself.The BIBLE has all the answers to life.I just had to read it and L I V E I T !!!!!!!!

[Pastor Walsh]

Ann, I'm new here so forgive my directness in answering your post without introduction. Yes indeed the pragram and the bible are EXTREMELY close to one another. The principles behind the steps are adapted from the principles as outlined by the beatitudes of Christ from Mat5.