“But to you who are willing to listen, I say, love your enemies! Do good to those who hate you. Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who hurt you. ” Luke 6:27-18, NLT

As we set out to mend relationships, there may be some things that are beyond our control. Some people may refuse to be reconciled, even when we do our best to make amends. This may leave us feeling like victims. Once again we are stuck with the pain of unresolved issues. We may be left with negative feelings that continue to surface. What can we do to gain control in these situations?

Jesus said, “But to you who are willing to listen, I say, love your enemies! Do good to those who hate you. Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who hurt you. . . .Love your enemies! Do good to them. Lend to them without expecting to be repaid. Then your reward from heaven will be very great, and you will truly be acting as children of the Most High, for he is kind to those who are unthankful and wicked” (Luke 6:27-28, 35).

We no longer need to be controlled by other people’s dispositions and actions. Even when we have done our best to make amends for the wrongs we have done, the situation may not change. And even when we have come to terms with the wrongs that have been done against us, our feelings may not change. But we don’t have to be held captive by our feelings or the feelings of others. We can choose to forgive and act in loving ways. This will free us from being controlled by anyone other than God. As we choose to forgive others and do good, our feelings will change with time.

Learn more about the Life Recovery Bible.

Devotional from the Life Recovery Bible

Our addictions may be so ingrained in us that we define our identity by them. We may even begin to feel that we are predisposed to behave as we do. We may grow discouraged as we are condemned for behaviors that seem beyond our control. How can we escape this self-perception that defines us in terms of the addictions that dominate our lives?

One passage in Scripture seems to identify people by their behavior: “Those who indulge in sexual sin, or who worship idols, or commit adultery, or are male prostitutes, or practice homosexuality, or are thieves, or greedy people, or drunkards, or are abusive, or cheat people—none of these will inherit the Kingdom of God” (1 Corinthians 6:9-10). This doesn’t seem fair. We feel like we will never be able to escape our addictive nature. But the
passage continues: “Some of you were once like that. But you were cleansed; you were made holy; you were made right with God by calling on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God” (6:11). “Anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!” (2 Corinthians 5:17).

God doesn’t just erase our sinful behaviors. When we identify ourselves
with Christ, he gives us a new identity. We will always remember what we were and realize that our sinful nature and our body may always be predisposed to a particular addiction. We may even still slip up at times, but we need no longer define ourselves by our addictions. In Christ we are all the forgiven, cleansed, and holy children of God.

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At this time Aramean raiders had invaded the land of Israel, and among their captives was a young girl who had been given to Naaman’s wife as a maid. One day the girl said to her mistress, ‘I wish my master would go to see the prophet in Samaria. He would heal him of his leprosy.’

So Naaman told the king what the young girl from Israel had said. ‘Go and visit the prophet,’ the king of Aram told him. ‘I will send a letter of introduction for you to take to the king of Israel.’ So Naaman started out, carrying as gifts 750 pounds of silver, 150 pounds of gold, and ten sets of clothing. The letter to the king of Israel said: ‘With this letter I present my servant Naaman. I want you to heal him of his leprosy.’

When the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his clothes in dismay and said, ‘Am I God, that I can give life and take it away? Why is this man asking me to heal someone with leprosy? I can see that he’s just trying to pick a fight with me.’

But when Elisha, the man of God, heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes in dismay, he sent this message to him: ‘Why are you so upset? Send Naaman to me, and he will learn that there is a true prophet here in Israel.’

So Naaman went with his horses and chariots and waited at the door of Elisha’s house. But Elisha sent a messenger out to him with this message: ‘Go and wash yourself seven times in the Jordan River. Then your skin will be restored, and you will be healed of your leprosy.’

But Naaman became angry and stalked away. ‘I thought he would certainly come out to meet me!’ he said. ‘I expected him to wave his hand over the leprosy and call on the name of the Lord his God and heal me! Aren’t the rivers of Damascus, the Abana and the Pharpar, better than any of the rivers of Israel? Why shouldn’t I wash in them and be healed?’ So Naaman turned and went away in a rage.

But his officers tried to reason with him and said, ‘Sir, if the prophet had told you to do something very difficult, wouldn’t you have done it? So you should certainly obey him when he says simply, ‘Go and wash and be cured!’” So Naaman went down to the Jordan River and dipped himself seven times, as the man of God had instructed him. And his skin became as healthy as the skin of a young child, and he was healed!

Then Naaman and his entire party went back to find the man of God. They stood before him, and Naaman said, ‘Now I know that there is no God in all the world except in Israel. So please accept a gift from your servant.'” 2 Kings 5:1-15, NLT

12-Step Devotional from the Life Recovery Bible

Step 1: We admitted that we were powerless Over our problems—that our lives had become unmanageable.

It can be very humiliating to admit that we are powerless, especially if we are used to being in control. We may be powerful in some areas of our lives, but out of control in terms of our addictive/compulsive behaviors. If we refuse to admit our powerlessness, we may lose everything. That one unmanageable part may infect and destroy everything else.

The experiences of Aramean army commander Naaman illustrate how this is true. He was a powerful military and political figure, a man of wealth, position, and power. He also had leprosy, which promised to bring about the loss of everything he held dear. Lepers were made outcasts from their families and from society. Ultimately, they faced a slow, painful, and disgraceful death.

Naaman heard about a prophet in Israel who could heal him. He found the prophet, and the prophet told him that in order to be healed he needed to dip himself seven times in the Jordan River. Naaman went away outraged, having expected that his power would buy him an instant and easy cure. In the end, however, he acknowledged his powerlessness, followed the instructions, and recovered completely.

Our “diseases” are as life threatening as the leprosy of Naaman’s day. They
slowly separate us from our families and lead toward the destruction of everything important to us. There is no instant or easy cure. The only answer is to admit our powerlessness, humble ourselves, and submit to the process that will eventually bring recovery.

Take a look inside the Life Recovery Bible

Article from the Life Recovery Bible

It is easy to lose faith when we are troubled. As we are buffeted about by the storms of life, we may feel like the faith we once had has slipped away. We may begin to feel anger toward God.

Simon Peter had his ups and downs with God. On the night Simon Peter would deny him, Jesus said to him, “Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift each of you like wheat. But I have pleaded in prayer for you, Simon, that your faith should not fail. So when you have repented and turned to me again, strengthen your brothers” (Luke 22:31-32).

Jesus pointed out that Simon had an assailant in the spiritual realm. Jesus knew Peter would be attacked and “sifted,” but he also was confident that afterward Peter would return to God. Wheat is sifted by throwing it repeatedly into the air. The kernels are separated from the chaff as the lighter chaff is carried away by the wind. All that remain are the good, solid wheat kernels.

We should not be surprised that we face times when our faith seems to disappear. We may feel as if we are being ripped open and our faith is being blown away like chaff. But we needn’t worry. We will find the core of our faith again. And when we do, we will be all the better for it—and better able to encourage others, too.

Look inside the Life Recovery Bible

“That evening Jesus’ disciples went down to the shore to wait for him. But as darkness fell and Jesus still hadn’t come back, they got into the boat and headed across the lake toward Capernaum. Soon a gale swept down upon them, and the sea grew very rough. They had rowed three or four miles when suddenly they saw Jesus walking on the water toward the boat. They were terrified, but he called out to them, ‘Don’t be afraid. I am here!’ Then they were eager to let him in the boat, and immediately they arrived at their destination!”

Note from the Life Recovery Bible

“It was a dark and stormy night on the Sea of Galilee. The disciples were cold, wet, and exhausted from rowing almost four miles in storm-tossed waters. They had been impatient and left safe shores without Jesus, but he came to their rescue anyway-walking on the stormy sea toward their boat! When Jesus got in the boat, he brought them safely to shore. We would be wise to stay with Jesus and his plan for us. Going off on our own will inevitably lead us into some stormy situations. When we leave Jesus behind, however, he will still rescue us is we look to him for help.”

“God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change the courage to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference.” Amen

“The angel of the Lord appeared to him and said, ‘Mighty hero, the Lord is with you!’ ‘Sir,’ Gideon replied, ‘if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? And where are all the miracles our ancestors told us about? Didn’t they say, ‘The Lord brought us up out of Egypt’? But now the Lord has abandoned us and handed us over to the Midianites.’ Then the Lord turned to him and said, ‘Go with the strength you have, and rescue Israel from the Midianites. I am sending you!’ ‘But Lord,’ Gideon replied, ‘how can I rescue Israel? My clan is the weakest in the whole tribe of Manasseh, and I am the least in my entire family!’ The Lord said to him, ‘I will be with you. And you will destroy the Midianites as if you were fighting against one man.’” Judges 6:12-16.

We may begin to believe that we are destined to bondage, poverty, and failure. When we persist in this view of our life, we give up the possibility of change. We settle for just trying to survive. We live in fear and shame, filling up with resentment as our life remains in the pit. We need to overcome these kinds of negative assumptions about ourselves.

Our first impression of Gideon is of a discouraged young man with little self-respect. His family was the poorest in a small tribe, and he was the least in his family. We first see him as he was threshing wheat in a winepress, hiding the little grain he had from his Midianite oppressors. An angel appeared and called to him, “Mighty hero, the Lord is with you!” (Judges 6:12). Gideon didn’t look or feel like a mighty hero, but God could see his potential. By the end of the story, Gideon had become the deliverer of his people (Judges 6–8). His first step toward success was to see himself as God saw him—a mighty warrior. Then he was able to hope in the possibility of freedom.

We, too, must begin by finding the courage to see ourselves in a new light and to summon up hope for a better life. Then as God gives us the strength, we can set about pursuing freedom from the bondage that surrounds us and our family.

Crystal’s words challenge me. I love the Bible, but when was the last time I spent the whole day reading it? Am I still excited when I go to open God’s Word, or has it become a mundane routine? Crystal’s words challenge me because we have very different lives. I wake up each morning and choose what to wear, what to have for breakfast, and when to open the door and walk outside. As a prisoner, Crystal doesn’t have those or many other choices. But the choice we both have is to follow Christ and grow in our relationship with him through his Word.

Through our partnership with Prison Fellowship we have been able to get The Life Recovery Bible into the hands of thousands of prisoners like Crystal who are in prison but hunger for the hope in God’s Word. At no charge to the prisoner they are able to receive a special edition Life Recovery Bible in English or Spanish through the Prison Fellowship ministry. Many of these men and women have been enslaved by addiction. Whether it’s an illegal substance, power, money, or something else, that desire is overwhelming and they’ve risked everything while in its deadly grip.

But God’s Word is a bondage breaker! Through his grace and saving blood we are no longer slaves. The Bible is filled with stories of people who needed second chances. We all have times when we have struggled and needed God to forgive us and allow us to start again.

“Do not let any part of your body become an instrument of evil to serve sin. Instead, give yourselves completely to God, for you were dead, but now you have new life. So use your whole body as an instrument to do what is right for the glory of God” (Romans 6:13, NLT).

Here are some examples of people who have found new life while reading The Life Recovery Bible and are living out the transforming power of God’s Word.

Delivered from the Sting of Spiritual Death

Bound by sin, my life a mess.
Taken by trials, I failed the test.

A slave to drugs that kept me in chains.
Smoking and shooting was burning my brain.

That list hit of dope should have been the final blow.
But because of God’s love, mercy said “No!”

I ended up in prison. It should have been the end.
Then God sent me Jesus, my heart He will mend.

I found true love from my Creator and Lord.
So I walk with him, my Helmet, Breastplate, and Sword

This might sound strange but take it from me.
I had to come to prison so I could be free.

“I was in a long, deep prayer to God. It was a very difficult day, and I was praying for comfort, for strength, just crying out to my Abba Father. I asked him to fill me with his Holy Spirit. With my eyes still puffy and red from crying, my heart still bleeding and aching, I saw an officer come to my cell door and place a new Life Recovery Bible in my hands. God heard me. He came to me. He held me. He showered me with His great, powerful, sovereign love. God always knows what we need when we need it.” –Melody

“I put my Bible to good use every day. I spread the seeds of God’s Word and even started a small group of believers. We get together and love to read God’s Word daily. Thanks to the powerful notes and information in The Life Recovery Bible,we’re able to have a better understanding of the Bible.” –Tylor

Find out how you can get involved with Prison Fellowship

The book of 1 Samuel begins with the birth of the prophet Samuel and ends with the death of King Saul. It contains a catalog of lives for us to learn from—some exemplary, others not. Samuel was born in the time of the judges, when “people did whatever seemed right in their own eyes” (Judges 17:6). The people were far from God. Eli was high priest, but the flaws in his leadership can be seen in the dysfunctions of his own family. Since Israel lacked strong spiritual leadership, God chose Samuel and prepared him to lead the Israelites back to God.

Near the end of Samuel’s ministry, the people demanded a king; they wanted to be like the surrounding nations. God was not pleased with Israel’s demand, but he chose Saul to lead them anyway. Saul, though a man of great potential, was self-centered and disobedient; he never achieved what God had intended for him.

While Saul was still king, Samuel anointed David to be the next king. David became a national hero by killing Goliath, and he won numerous other great battles with God’s help. But when Saul realized that David was in line for the throne, he was consumed by bitterness and tried to kill him.

Finally, faced with defeat in battle, Saul took his own life. This book portrays some who moved toward God and toward wholeness and others who moved away from God and toward disaster. Jealousy, bitterness, and disobedience destroyed the life of King Saul. But forgiveness, trust, and obedience brought David great success. This book clearly shows that the only way to wholeness is by trusting and obeying God and following his program.

THE BOTTOM LINE

PURPOSE: To track Israel’s transition from the period of the judges to the era of kingly rule. AUTHOR: Unknown, but probably most of it was written by Samuel. Nathan and Gad were also contributors. AUDIENCE: The people of Israel. DATE WRITTEN: The book was probably started during Samuel’s lifetime and finished around 930 b.c. SETTING: In Israel, between 1120 and 971 b.c. KEY VERSE: “What is more pleasing to the Lord: your burnt offerings and sacrifices or your obedience to his voice? Listen! Obedience is better than sacrifice” (15:22). KEY PLACES: Shiloh, Gilgal, Ramah, Bethlehem, Gath, Adullam, Hebron, the wilderness of Judah, Ziklag, Endor, Beth-shan. KEY PEOPLE AND RELATIONSHIPS: Samuel and Eli, Samuel and Saul, and Samuel and David.

The authors of the Life Recovery Bible have recently released four workbooks that meet the needs of people dealing with compulsive behaviors that go beyond alcohol and substance abuse. These workbooks complement The Life Recovery Bible and focus on developing a biblical foundation for both understanding and successfully overcoming specific areas of struggle. Learn more

Taken from the Life Recovery Bible 12-Step Devotional for Step 6

“We were entirely ready to have God remove all defects of character.”

When we are upset, we often depend on our addictions to make us feel better. As we get rid of our addictions, we must face the deeper character defects that God wants to heal. Our addictions function as a place of “shelter” from our pain. But when that “shelter” is removed, deep anger may surface, exposing even deeper character flaws that need healing.

Jonah had a glaring defect of character: He couldn’t forgive and have compassion on the people of Nineveh, whom he hated. When God decided not to destroy them, Jonah threw a temper tantrum.

“The Lord replied, ‘Is it right for you to be angry about this?’ Then Jonah went out to the east side of the city. . . . And the Lord God arranged for a leafy plant to grow there, and soon it spread its broad leaves over Jonah’s head, shading him from the sun. . . . The next morning . . . the plant. . . withered away. And as the sun grew hot, God arranged for a scorching east wind to blow on Jonah. The sun beat down on his head until he grew faint and wished to die” (Jonah 4:4-8).

God did this to show Jonah that the real problem wasn’t the loss of his shelter. Hatred was the real problem. The removal of our sheltering addictions may expose deeper problems. This may spark defensive anger as God touches our deepest hurts. It is all right to let the anger out. But it is also important to let God take care of the real problem.

By Stephen Arterburn, Editor, The Life Recovery Bible

I was raised in Bryan, Texas, so I did not think it was unusual to be opening a letter from a woman who lived in Brazos County near Bryan. What follows was anything but usual. She wrote:

“I am filled with joy to inform you that your Life Recovery Bible has changed about twenty lives filled with different kinds of addiction in my community. I regret to inform you that the women (including me) are all locked up in The Brazos County Detention Center in Bryan, Texas.

I was incarcerated on the 29^th of March, 2018

Twenty-five years ago, I held the first Life Recovery Bible in my hands and quickly passed it on to a woman who was addicted to crack and headed for prison. She went home and, rather than allow her Life Recovery Bible to take on the role of most Bibles as Chief Dust Collector, she actually opened it up and started reading it. Through her drug addicted, half on and half off, cracked brain, she discovered that God could help her out of her addiction and that the path involved 12 steps based on and found within that Bible. The impact was so great and the transformation so radical that she was not incarcerated, and within six months she was helping other young women in their recovery.

Twenty years later I found myself in the midst of some very normal everyday housewives who just happened to be in the Polk County Florida prison after being arrested for making, selling, or being in possession of methamphetamines. These meth addicts, in a weak moment of desperation or a curious moment of living on the edge, decided to try using meth, just once, and never again. But that one time became a lifetime of using and finding ways to make stuff or sell stuff, including themselves, to be able to feed the addiction that seemed to develop instantly with that first hit.

I was invited to join these women, who looked and talked like anything but a hardened criminal, in their daily Life Recovery Bible study. This Bible was a reward for those entering the drug rehab program offered by a group of women who were once addicted and also had been incarcerated in the same prison. They loved this Bible because it was unlike anything they had ever experienced. Up until then, the Bible was just something that was old, difficult to understand, and even more difficult to apply to your life in any meaningful way. But this Bible is different, and there is a reason why.

When Dr. Dave Stoop and I developed this Bible we included many helpful features not found in other Bibles, including devotionals for each of the 12 Steps, The Serenity Prayer, and Recovery Principles. While those provide deep insights and spiritual inspiration, they are not the feature that make The Life Recovery Bible so amazing to anyone in recovery. The most valuable and unique feature is the study notes found at the bottom of each page. Why? Because they are written by recovering Bible scholars who teach at Universities and Seminaries all over the world. They not only have PhDs in Theology, but every one of them has had a problem that involved them in 12 Step Recovery. Rather than a study note having to do with some remote or abstract theological construct, the note speaks to the struggle for freedom within the heart of anyone imprisoned by the power of addiction, incarcerated or not.

The Life Recovery Bible does not bring the Bible into the recovery process. It brings the recovery process back to the Bible where it began. Bill W. and Dr. Bob worked together to develop the 12 Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous after they had found victory over an illness that rarely spared the life of anyone who contracted it. Both men had been members of the Oxford Group, which had purported 4 Absolute Truths: Absolute Honesty, Absolute Purity, Absolute Un-selfishness, and Absolute Love, which were all based in Scripture. In the transcript from the last talk ever given by Dr. Bob, he tells where he and Bill found the 12 Steps. He said “We got them from the Good Book. Especially the Book of James, the Sermon on the Mount and 1 Corinthians 13, the love chapter.” So The Life Recovery Bible brings the 12 Steps full circle and identifies the true higher power of the 12 Steps as the God of the Old and New Testaments.

Twenty-five years ago, I couldn’t have imagined the impact The Life Recovery Bible would have on those around me both in Brazos County and many thousands of miles away from where I grew up. God has blessed this Bible and the people who read it, teach it, and share it, and for that I am thankful. He alone is the true source of recovery and the author of transformation—always has been, always will be.