The Hope Recovery Devotional: There is Always Hope with God

By Greg Schmalhofer

The Hope Recovery Devotional is a 100 day faith-based devotional with practical messages to help you be successful in recovery and to help you grow in your faith.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Greg Schmalhofer
• Release date: Nov 5, 2021
• ISBN: 9780578304854

Greg Schmalhofer

GREG SCHMALHOFER is host of The Hope Recovery Podcast on YouTube and Spotify and has been involved in faith-based recovery ministry for many years. Greg loves recovery ministry and has been blessed to see many lives dramatically changed through faith in Christ. Greg is a certified family recovery specialist (CFRS) and has graduate degrees in Christian Ministry and Theological Studies. He is also author of other faith-based recovery books, The Hope Recovery Devotional, The Twelve Keys of Faith-Based Recovery, and The Twelve Steps of Recovery.

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The Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous

1.We admitted we were powerless over alcohol—that our lives had become unmanageable.

2.Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.

3.Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.

4.Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.

5.Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.

6.Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.

7.Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.

8.Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.

9.Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.

10.Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.

11.Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.

12.Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.

The Twelve Steps of Narcotics Anonymous

1.We admitted that we were powerless over our addiction, that our lives had become unmanageable.

2.We came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.

3.We made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.

4.We made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.

5.We admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.

6.We were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.

7.We humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.

8.We made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.

9.We made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.

10.We continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.

11.We sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.

12.Having had a spiritual awakening as a result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to addicts, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.

The Twelve Keys of Faith-Based Recovery (1-6)

1) There is a God in heaven.

- Psalm 46:10 Be still, and know that I am God.

- There is a God in heaven; and he is a loving, caring, and compassionate God who wants to help you.

2) There is always hope with God.

- Isaiah 41:10 Fear not, for I am with you; Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, Yes, I will help you. (NKJV)

- With God there is always hope. You are not alone, God is with you and he wants to help you.

3) Do you want to get well?

- John 5:6 When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, ‘Do you want to get well?’

- Do you want to get well and are you willing to do whatever is necessary to be successful in recovery?

4) Recovery is possible with God.

- Philippians 4:13 I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. (NKJV)

- Don’t let you past dictate your future. With God recovery is absolutely possible.

5) God wants to forgive you.

- Psalm 103:10-12 "He does not deal with us according to our sins.... ¹¹ For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him; ¹² as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us. (ESV)

- Regardless of what you have done in the past, God wants to forgive you!

6) Seek God and you will find him.

- Jeremiah 29:13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.

- Seek God with all of your heart and you will find him.

The Twelve Keys of Faith-Based Recovery (7-12)

7) Jesus is the true Higher Power.

- John 14:6 Jesus answered, I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."

- Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life and Jesus is the true Higher Power.

8) Make a decision to put your faith in Jesus.

- John 3:16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

- Put your faith and trust in Jesus as the true Higher Power.

9) Surround yourself with like-minded people.

- 1 Corinthians 15:33 Do not be misled: Bad company corrupts good character."

- Surround yourself with like-minded people that share your desire to be clean and sober and share your love for God.

10) God made you and called you for a purpose.

- Jeremiah 29:11 ‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’

- God has made you for a purpose; consider what has God called you to do?

11) Peace that surpasses all understanding.

- Philippians 4:7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (ESV)

- You will still have struggles, but with God in your life you can have ‘a peace that surpasses all understanding’.

12) Continue to trust God no matter what.

- Proverbs 3:5-6 "Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. ⁶ Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take."(NLT)

- No matter what happens continue to put your faith and trust in God and he will give you guidance and wisdom.

Day 1 of 100

There Is a God in Heaven

Be still, and know that I am God.

(Psalm 46:10 ESV)

As you begin this 100 day recovery devotional, you may feel overwhelmed as you face your recovery with all the different situations, struggles, fears, changes, and all the decisions to be made for your recovery. You may feel you are all alone and that the challenge of recovery seems so difficult you are not sure you can make it. But you do not have to go through it alone. It is easy to forget or to lose sight of the simple truth there is a God in heaven. Yes, there is a God and even more than that, he is a loving, caring, and compassionate God who wants to help you. He wants to help you in your recovery and with all your challenges of life. You are not alone; God is with you and he wants to help you.

The passage today from Psalm 46 reminds us to Be still, not just slow down, but to pause right amid the uncertainties of our recovery and to be reminded there is a God and he wants to help us. This passage instructs us to focus on God instead of our problems or circumstances. We are instructed to have confidence and to know that I am God. Alcoholics Anonymous speaks to the importance of this passage and to this power when it states:

"All I can say is that it’s a Power greater than myself. If pressed, all I can do is follow the psalmist who said it long before me: ‘Be still, and know that I am God.’"¹

Perhaps it has been quite a long time since you thought of God or a long time since you last said a prayer, but I encourage you today to embrace this great truth and this great instruction to Be still, and know that I am God. Regardless of the many questions, fears, and uncertainties you might be facing I ask you to pause right now in your day, take a deep breath, and focus on God. Be reminded of the great truth: there is a God and he is a loving, caring, and compassionate God and he wants to help you. You are not alone. As you embrace this truth, it really changes everything. Hold fast to this great truth about God and to know that you can have confidence there is a God and with God, there is always hope. You can be successful in recovery. It will not be quick or easy, but as you stay focused on God and take each day one day at a time, God will help you and you will see that recovery is possible; there is indeed a God in heaven and he wants to help you.

Prayer for today:

Dear Lord, thank you that you are with me and that I am not alone. Help me to cling fast to this great truth and for me to be still and focus on you.

Notes of gratitude, progress, concerns, and prayers for today:

Day 2 of 100

There Is Always Hope with God

Fear not, for I am with you; Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, Yes, I will help you.

(Isaiah 41:10 NKJV)

In the early days of your recovery, you may feel as though things are racing all around you out of control as you experience many thoughts and emotions that you have not felt in quite some time. As you consider your addiction, and all the past events of your life that have led you to this point today, you may feel discouraged, depressed, and fearful as you take these initial steps in recovery. You may feel it is not possible for you to make it in recovery, that it is possible for others, but not for you. In your own power and in your own strength, it is not possible. However, with God in your life, there is always hope. Alcoholics Anonymous addresses this newfound outlook on hope as:

My physical being has certainly undergone a transformation, but the major transformation has been spiritual. The hopelessness has been replaced by abundant hope and sincere faith.²

The passage today from Isaiah shares a great declaration and a great truth of Scripture that no matter what you are facing today and regardless of your personal circumstances this passage tells you to Fear not and to Be not dismayed because I am with you...for I am your God. You are not alone and you are not without hope. As you bring God into your life and as you put your hope and trust in God, you can have confidence that God will strengthen you and even that God himself will help you. What a great expression of hope with the words Yes, I will help you. Today, you can have confidence in this passage and you can have confidence that God will indeed help you. Embrace this great truth that God is with you and that God will help you and will strengthen you. Hold fast to the truth, there is always hope with God because he has promised he will help you. Give yourself time to heal, continue to do the next right thing, and continue to bring God into your life. As you bring God into your life, you will see more and more clearly there is always hope with God.

Prayer for today:

Dear Lord, I thank you for your promises that you will be with me and that you will help me. Help me to cling to these promises and to never forget there is always hope with you.

Notes of gratitude, progress, concerns, and prayers for today:

Day 3 of 100

Do You Want to Get Well?

When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, Do you want to get well?

(John 5:6 NIV)

Despite the wreckage and damage of your past, you have the opportunity to change the direction of your life. Today, and even every day, you can decide to do everything necessary to be successful in recovery. Perhaps you have tried recovery many times before and failed, but today you can make the commitment to do everything necessary to be successful in recovery. Be open to the idea of seeking God and to bringing God into your life. Recovery and bringing God into your life may seem vague and uncertain, but let me suggest it all begins with how you answer one very important question. Do you want to get well?

Jesus asked this question to a man who had been in bondage to his disabled physical condition for 38 years. Perhaps you feel you have been in bondage to drugs and alcohol for many years and maybe even decades. But the fact you are reading this book right now indicates how you have answered this question; yes, you want to get well! Certainly, right now you don’t know what your recovery story will be, but you can be confident that God will help you every day and even every moment.

Jesus saw the man lying there trapped in his physical bondage and Jesus had compassion on him and asked him the simple question, Do you want to get well? Today, God sees you and your bondage to drugs and alcohol and God has compassion for you and wants to help you in your recovery. God wants to help you get well just as he helped this man in this passage. Jesus did not tell him all the details of how he would be made well, but just the simple question, Do you want to get well? For you today, God does not want you to be overwhelmed with all the details of your recovery; God just wants you to answer the simple question, Do you want to get well? God knows what you need for your recovery and to be made well, and he simply wants you to trust him. For today, embrace the decision you have made to get well and that you are willing to do whatever is necessary to be successful in recovery. Then continue to trust God as he leads you on your road of recovery and as he guides you in just the right steps for you to be made well.

Prayer for today:

Dear Lord I do want to get well. Please give me the wisdom and courage to follow your leading and to stay true to my commitment to do everything necessary to be successful in recovery.

Notes of gratitude, progress, concerns, and prayers for today:

Day 4 of 100

A Very Different Life

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

(John 10:10 NIV)

As you start on your road of recovery, you may dwell on your past life in addiction and remember all the terrible pain you experienced and the pain you caused others. You may feel your past life left you broken and damaged in so many ways you have many doubts you can ever be successful in recovery. You may feel you are beyond hope. But the message of the Bible is clear: there is always hope with God. Certainly, the life of addiction will only lead to destruction, but God wants something very different for you. God wants you to have a full and abundant life. A full and abundant life is possible, but it starts by first putting your hope in God.

By putting your hope in God and embracing this life-changing commitment to do everything necessary to be successful in recovery, you recognize there absolutely needs to be change in your life. You cannot do the same things you’ve done in the past; rather, you need to make dramatic changes, consistent with the recovery principle ‘if nothing changes, then nothing changes’. This does not happen all at once, but it starts by changing your focus and putting your hope in God. This passage from the Gospel of John is consistent with Step One of Narcotics Anonymous, that states: We admitted that we were powerless over our addiction, that our lives had become unmanageable.³

As you reflect on your past life, you will likely see the thief of addiction was taking you in a direction that would end in destruction and possibly death. Jesus tells us in this passage he desires something very different for us and for you. Jesus came that you might have life, true life, and a life that is full and abundant. Right now, that might not seem possible today, but I encourage you to continue