A positive transformation of the heart and soul is methodically pursued in this 31-day recovery devotional. Attitudes can improve. Good habits can solidify. Choices become healthier. Scar tissues heal and relationships can mend. By faith, we can reach beyond the fallout of our mistakes, wounded identities, hardened hearts and misfortunes. We can begin to experience the peace and joy which Christ intends for us. To fail in one's recovery is to live in defeat; it is to be miserable no matter how well-disguised. The poisoned arrows from the pit are many. Discouragement gets piled high as we look into the condemning mirror of lies pushed in front of our face each day by the accuser. Defeated under the weight of our failure and nearsightedness, we lose hope. Our Redeemer offers an amazingly reasonable answer. In-Christ, we can daily receive the power and initiative to reach above and beyond self. We're given the courage to deliberately choose Truth.

Fred Carlson has been investing in youth ministry his entire adult life. Born in 1948 on a humble, Minnesota dairy farm, he grew up with six brothers, learning what it means to be rich in spirit, though monetarily poor. For nearly 20 years he has volunteered in bringing messages of hope and addiction recovery to inmates in county jails and federal prisons, where darkness and discouragement run thick. His email devotional Lifetimes is read by thousands near and far, including readers in the USA, Africa, China, Germany, and Mexico. Presenting story-based devotionals in a captivating and credible way brings a tone of fresh hope into his faith-based approach to healing. "Life is about recovery; in-Christ we can rise above our selfishness, the universal illness, every person's prison."

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