Now More Than Ever, You Need to Be Convinced of This...
Gary Keesee • May 15, 2020
At the beginning of the year, our team planned about six months out what we thought you might like to hear from us about. We thought we’d share one of our ministry’s most life-changing series—Live Whole—with you around mid-July.
But I decided to change course and send you a letter about Live Whole NOW because of everything that has happened in our world over the last few months.
See, Live Whole is about healing.
When I taught Live Whole years ago, I focused on physical healing. But right now, the Live Whole series means so much more.
For YOU, for your family, and for our nation.
Friend, I’ve been in places like this before in life. I’ve been so sick I didn’t know if I was going to die. I’ve been so broke I couldn’t feed my family. I’ve been so low that I had no hope for my future.
It was at that point that God taught me some things, and I want to share those things with you.
Because God wants you to live whole.
His promise of healing is everywhere in His Word.
There are so many Scriptures I could reference here, but there is one that undeniably PROVES that the Lord has not only PROMISED healing but also that healing is your legal right as a child of God—that’s Isaiah 53:5 (NIV):
Pause for a second.
Did you see that?
Go back and read Isaiah 53:5 again. Do you see it?
It says you ARE healed.
See, so many Christians say, “I believe that God is going to heal me,” or “I’m waiting on God to heal me,” but they’ve got it wrong.
Jesus ALREADY paid the price for your healing—physically, emotionally, financially… in every area of your life!
You don’t become healed. You already WERE healed—2,000 years ago.
Friend, faith is not coming. Faith will not be eventually. Faith IS!
Of course, this is where things can get difficult, because our natural minds want to see things. But we know faith is the evidence of things not yet seen. When you have faith for what the Word says, you enact a spiritual law that brings it into existence. You won’t see it come to pass unless you have faith when you can’t yet see it.
That was a revelation to me. I was one of those people who thought I was waiting on God, not the other way around!
You may know my story. My wife, Drenda, and I had a hard time with money for nine very long years. I was always putting out fires and trying to survive, and that lifestyle left me in an almost constant state of fear. It wreaked havoc on my emotions. Then, it wreaked havoc on my body.
I started having panic attacks and heart palpitations. Doctors put me on medication, but the medication only made my symptoms worse. Something was going on with my body that the doctors couldn’t explain.
I was terrified. I didn’t want to die. I wanted to see my kids grow up.
So, I did the only thing I could do—I began to search the Word of God like never before.
I would get up and study the Word first thing in the morning. I wanted to know what the Bible said about healing, and I knew I needed God to teach me. Then, when Drenda and I heard about a healing conference in a nearby city, we went. And I went up for prayer. The anointing was very strong, and I believed I received my healing.
But when I walked out of the building that night, I still felt sick.
Before I went to bed that night, I asked God why I still felt sick. While I slept, a Scripture kept coming up in my dream. It wasn’t familiar to me, but when I told Drenda the next morning, she said it was Mark 11:24 (NIV):
All of a sudden, a lightbulb went off. I got it! The Word of God told me I WAS healed, but I wasn’t acting like it. I would say, “Okay, I’m healed,” then the symptoms would come back, and I would think, No, I guess I’m not or I’m still waiting for my healing. But I was ALREADY healed!
I just had to walk my faith out. I had to become convinced that healing is a PROMISE from God; I had to get fed up!
That’s exactly what happened to Amy T.
Amy was battling migraines. She would wake up every morning and go to bed every night with a migraine. She was a newlywed, but she couldn’t enjoy time with her husband. They would sit in the dark because any amount of light would trigger another migraine. She’d have to wear sunglasses even to drive AT NIGHT. If someone took her picture, she would instantly get a migraine.
She was withdrawing from life. She couldn’t work. She didn’t go outside. She was paralyzed by pain.
So Amy did the thing we all do—she went to see several specialists, and they sent her for tests. The specialists looked for answers and came up with nothing. They told her they didn’t know how to help her. They told her she should just try to “manage her pain.”
So she went to a pain management specialist. The program they put her on required that she receive shots of medication into her skull. (Yes, her skull.) And we’re not talking about one, or two, or even five shots of medication.
They put 23 shots of medication into the back of her skull at her first appointment.
At the second appointment, it was 15 shots. She was getting shots of medication in her forehead, in the back of her head, and in her neck.
But she wasn’t getting any better.
So, now you’re waiting to hear how Amy started believing God and then everything changed, right?
Well, that’s not the story.
See, Amy had always believed God. She had believed God when the migraines started and through the doctor appointments. She had believed God through the testing and through the shots of medication. She knew the Word and that Jesus had already paid for her healing. But it wasn’t happening.
She got fed up. She decided that she didn’t want to live the rest of her life “managing her pain.” She knew better. She just had to do something about it.
Amy’s story is in the Live Whole series, along with probably a dozen others.
In fact, that Amy’s story in the Live Whole series is the one that ignited the fire in my own daughter Amy, encouraging her to grab hold of the promise of healing for herself and see it come to pass in her own body after years of suffering with pain and issues.
Now, my daughter Amy’s healing story is one of hundreds of healings that have taken place as a result of people listening to the Live Whole mentorship series and applying what they learned!
I’m convinced that Jesus already paid the price for YOUR healing in EVERY area of your life.
I know because I’ve experienced it myself.
YOU need to be convinced too.
Friend, I want to share with you everything God taught me about healing.
I created the Live Whole mentorship series to do just that. It's a 10-part series packed with everything you need to know from the Word of God about how to walk out your healing and amazing stories of healing that will encourage you on your journey.
So many healings have taken place as a result of people listening to the Live Whole mentorship series, including what I said earlier is THE MOST INCREDIBLE HEALING STORY WE HAVE WITNESSED IN THE MORE THAN 20 YEARS WE’VE BEEN IN MINISTRY.
It’s the healing story of my oldest daughter Amy.
Amy shares her incredible story in her book, Healed Overnight.
Healed Overnight is the perfect companion to the Live Whole mentorship series. Not only does Amy’s story further reinforce the healing principles you’ll learn in the Live Whole series, but it also provides practical examples of how to apply these principles to your life, as well as answers to questions you may have concerning miracles and healing and much more!
Request your copy of my life-changing, 10-part Live Whole teaching series, along with Amy’s Healed Overnight book, plus our Healing Scripture Cards to build your faith and give you the knowledge on how to LIVE WHOLE TODAY!
Get ready to see the evidence in the Word of God that proves that it’s possible for you to LIVE WHOLE! Be ready to be convinced!
But I decided to change course and send you a letter about Live Whole NOW because of everything that has happened in our world over the last few months.
See, Live Whole is about healing.
When I taught Live Whole years ago, I focused on physical healing. But right now, the Live Whole series means so much more.
Emotional healing…
Spiritual healing…
Financial healing…
For YOU, for your family, and for our nation.
Friend, I’ve been in places like this before in life. I’ve been so sick I didn’t know if I was going to die. I’ve been so broke I couldn’t feed my family. I’ve been so low that I had no hope for my future.
It was at that point that God taught me some things, and I want to share those things with you.
Because God wants you to live whole.
His promise of healing is everywhere in His Word.
Jesus restored health to ALL who were sick
(Matthew 8:16).
Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom, and HEALING ALL KINDS OF SICKNESS and ALL KINDS OF DISEASE among the people (Matthew 4:23).
There are so many Scriptures I could reference here, but there is one that undeniably PROVES that the Lord has not only PROMISED healing but also that healing is your legal right as a child of God—that’s Isaiah 53:5 (NIV):
But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we ARE HEALED.
Pause for a second.
Did you see that?
Go back and read Isaiah 53:5 again. Do you see it?
It says you ARE healed.
See, so many Christians say, “I believe that God is going to heal me,” or “I’m waiting on God to heal me,” but they’ve got it wrong.
Jesus ALREADY paid the price for your healing—physically, emotionally, financially… in every area of your life!
You don’t become healed. You already WERE healed—2,000 years ago.
Friend, faith is not coming. Faith will not be eventually. Faith IS!
Faith IS the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not yet seen (Hebrews 11:1, KJV).
Of course, this is where things can get difficult, because our natural minds want to see things. But we know faith is the evidence of things not yet seen. When you have faith for what the Word says, you enact a spiritual law that brings it into existence. You won’t see it come to pass unless you have faith when you can’t yet see it.
That was a revelation to me. I was one of those people who thought I was waiting on God, not the other way around!
You may know my story. My wife, Drenda, and I had a hard time with money for nine very long years. I was always putting out fires and trying to survive, and that lifestyle left me in an almost constant state of fear. It wreaked havoc on my emotions. Then, it wreaked havoc on my body.
I started having panic attacks and heart palpitations. Doctors put me on medication, but the medication only made my symptoms worse. Something was going on with my body that the doctors couldn’t explain.
I was terrified. I didn’t want to die. I wanted to see my kids grow up.
So, I did the only thing I could do—I began to search the Word of God like never before.
I would get up and study the Word first thing in the morning. I wanted to know what the Bible said about healing, and I knew I needed God to teach me. Then, when Drenda and I heard about a healing conference in a nearby city, we went. And I went up for prayer. The anointing was very strong, and I believed I received my healing.
But when I walked out of the building that night, I still felt sick.
Before I went to bed that night, I asked God why I still felt sick. While I slept, a Scripture kept coming up in my dream. It wasn’t familiar to me, but when I told Drenda the next morning, she said it was Mark 11:24 (NIV):
Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.
All of a sudden, a lightbulb went off. I got it! The Word of God told me I WAS healed, but I wasn’t acting like it. I would say, “Okay, I’m healed,” then the symptoms would come back, and I would think, No, I guess I’m not or I’m still waiting for my healing. But I was ALREADY healed!
I just had to walk my faith out. I had to become convinced that healing is a PROMISE from God; I had to get fed up!
That’s exactly what happened to Amy T.
Amy was battling migraines. She would wake up every morning and go to bed every night with a migraine. She was a newlywed, but she couldn’t enjoy time with her husband. They would sit in the dark because any amount of light would trigger another migraine. She’d have to wear sunglasses even to drive AT NIGHT. If someone took her picture, she would instantly get a migraine.
She was withdrawing from life. She couldn’t work. She didn’t go outside. She was paralyzed by pain.
So Amy did the thing we all do—she went to see several specialists, and they sent her for tests. The specialists looked for answers and came up with nothing. They told her they didn’t know how to help her. They told her she should just try to “manage her pain.”
So she went to a pain management specialist. The program they put her on required that she receive shots of medication into her skull. (Yes, her skull.) And we’re not talking about one, or two, or even five shots of medication.
They put 23 shots of medication into the back of her skull at her first appointment.
At the second appointment, it was 15 shots. She was getting shots of medication in her forehead, in the back of her head, and in her neck.
But she wasn’t getting any better.
So, now you’re waiting to hear how Amy started believing God and then everything changed, right?
Well, that’s not the story.
See, Amy had always believed God. She had believed God when the migraines started and through the doctor appointments. She had believed God through the testing and through the shots of medication. She knew the Word and that Jesus had already paid for her healing. But it wasn’t happening.
She got fed up. She decided that she didn’t want to live the rest of her life “managing her pain.” She knew better. She just had to do something about it.
Amy’s story is in the Live Whole series, along with probably a dozen others.
In fact, that Amy’s story in the Live Whole series is the one that ignited the fire in my own daughter Amy, encouraging her to grab hold of the promise of healing for herself and see it come to pass in her own body after years of suffering with pain and issues.
Now, my daughter Amy’s healing story is one of hundreds of healings that have taken place as a result of people listening to the Live Whole mentorship series and applying what they learned!
I’m convinced that Jesus already paid the price for YOUR healing in EVERY area of your life.
I know because I’ve experienced it myself.
YOU need to be convinced too.
In order to walk out your faith effectively, you need to be COMPLETELY convinced that healing is God’s promise to you—that it is your legal right to be healed and live whole in EVERY area of your life.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I created the Live Whole mentorship series to do just that. It's a 10-part series packed with everything you need to know from the Word of God about how to walk out your healing and amazing stories of healing that will encourage you on your journey.
So many healings have taken place as a result of people listening to the Live Whole mentorship series, including what I said earlier is THE MOST INCREDIBLE HEALING STORY WE HAVE WITNESSED IN THE MORE THAN 20 YEARS WE’VE BEEN IN MINISTRY.
It’s the healing story of my oldest daughter Amy.
Amy shares her incredible story in her book, Healed Overnight.
Healed Overnight is the perfect companion to the Live Whole mentorship series. Not only does Amy’s story further reinforce the healing principles you’ll learn in the Live Whole series, but it also provides practical examples of how to apply these principles to your life, as well as answers to questions you may have concerning miracles and healing and much more!
The bottom line of all of this is that your health—in every
area of life—is a big deal.
I know that from experience. I also know that you don't have to believe the lies of the enemy.
The Bible says that Jesus ALREADY paid the price for your healing!
Request your copy of my life-changing, 10-part Live Whole teaching series, along with Amy’s Healed Overnight book, plus our Healing Scripture Cards to build your faith and give you the knowledge on how to LIVE WHOLE TODAY!
Get ready to see the evidence in the Word of God that proves that it’s possible for you to LIVE WHOLE! Be ready to be convinced!
Reading Time 5 mins 08 secs – Faith does not usually disappear all at once. It happens slowly. A little distraction here. A little neglect there. A few days without feeding on the Word of God. A few moments of fear left unchecked. Before long, you may still remember what faith felt like, but you are no longer living from that place. That is what spiritual atrophy looks like. In the natural, muscles weaken when they are not used. You may remember being strong. You may remember what you used to carry or accomplish. But when the moment comes to use that strength again, you realize something has changed. The same thing can happen spiritually. You can remember the Scriptures. You can remember past victories. You can know the right things to say. But faith is more than repeating words. Faith is agreement with heaven. More Than Saying the Right Words Jesus said in Mark 11:23 that whoever speaks to the mountain and does not doubt in his heart will have what he says. The issue is not only what comes out of your mouth. The issue is also what your heart truly believes. Many people say, “My faith is weak.” But often, the real issue is unbelief. Jesus said faith as small as a mustard seed can move a mountain (Matthew 17:20). That means the problem is not the size of your faith. If faith is present, heaven has jurisdiction. Faith is not pretending everything is fine while fear still dominates your thinking. True faith is becoming so persuaded by God’s Word that His truth feels more real than the circumstance standing in front of you. The question is this: Are you in agreement with God’s Word? Or has fear, disappointment, or a past failure painted a different picture inside of you? The Enemy Works Through Pictures Fear always tries to create an image. A bad report. A painful memory. A failed attempt. A worst-case scenario. The enemy wants you to meditate on what could go wrong until fear feels more real than God’s promise. But every promise from God carries a picture too. Healing carries a picture. Provision carries a picture. Peace carries a picture. Victory carries a picture. If the picture inside you does not match what heaven says, your thinking has to be renewed. That only happens through the Word of God. Build Your Foundation Before the Storm Jesus said the wise man built his house on the rock. When the storm came, the house stood firm because it had a foundation. The storm is not the time to begin building. Do not wait until sickness comes to search for healing Scriptures. Do not wait until pressure hits your finances to learn how God’s Kingdom works. Build now. Meditate on the Word now. Mark 4 teaches us that the Word is seed. When it is planted in your heart, it grows over time. First the stalk, then the head, then the full grain. Faith grows the same way. As you continue feeding on truth, what God says becomes more real than what circumstances say. What Comes Out First Reveals Your Foundation When pressure suddenly hits, the first words out of your mouth often reveal what you truly believe. Fear speaks quickly. But faith speaks with authority. If fear has been leading your thoughts lately, do not live condemned. Recognize where you are and go back to the Word. Strengthen what has grown weak. Let truth become alive inside you again. Because when you are fully persuaded, you stop wrestling with whether God will do what He promised. You simply stand. You Can Start Fresh Today God’s mercies are new every morning. That means yesterday does not have the final word over your life. You are not trapped by past failures, past disappointments, or seasons where you felt spiritually dry. God is not asking you to live off old victories or old encounters with Him. He invites you to walk with Him daily, to be renewed daily, and to grow stronger daily. You are not stuck in spiritual weakness. Faith can be rebuilt. Strength can return. Your confidence in God can grow again. The same way muscles strengthen through consistent exercise and nourishment, your spirit becomes strong when it is continually fed with truth. Every moment spent in God’s Word is building something inside of you. Even when you cannot immediately see it, the seed is growing. You can renew your mind. You can rebuild your foundation. You can feed your spirit until faith rises again and God’s promises become more real to you than fear, pressure, or uncertainty. The enemy may look for an opportune time, but you do not have to live vulnerable or unprepared. When your life is built on the Word, you are not easily shaken by bad reports, changing circumstances, or unexpected pressure. You know where your confidence comes from. Build your life on truth. Stay spiritually nourished. Guard what you allow into your heart and mind. Listen to the Holy Spirit, and follow His direction day by day. And when pressure comes, you will not collapse under it. You will stand firm, anchored in the promises of God and confident that He is faithful to finish what He started in you. A Simple Prayer Father, Thank You for Your Word and for teaching me how Your Kingdom operates. Show me where fear, unbelief, or wrong thinking has taken root in my heart. Help me renew my mind and become fully persuaded of Your promises. Strengthen my faith, guide me by Your Spirit, and teach me to stand firmly on Your truth. In Jesus’s name, I pray. Amen.
Reading Time 4 mins 25 secs – Fear feels real. It talks loudly. It paints pictures. It rehearses worst-case scenarios. And if you do not know how to stop it, it will try to script your future before you ever get there. But fear is not truth. Fear is not fact. And through God’s Word, you can live free from it. Scripture says plainly, “ Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me” (Psalm 23:4a, NIV). Notice that carefully. It does not say fear is unavoidable. It does not say anxiety is your permanent condition. It does not say torment is part of your identity. It says, I will fear no evil. That means freedom from fear is possible. Fear Works Through Images Fear often begins with a thought, but it does not stop there. It immediately tries to form a picture. The doctor says something concerning, and fear paints the ending. The bank account drops, and fear paints the ending. A symptom shows up, and fear paints the ending. A problem hits your family, and fear paints the ending. That is how the enemy works. He presents an image and tries to convince you it is reality. But just because something enters your mind does not mean it is true. Fear is an imagination. It is an illusion. It may feel convincing, but that does not make it a fact. The enemy wants you to meditate on what could go wrong. God calls you to stand on what He said. The Real Battle Is at the Root Fear is often treated like the main problem. But fear is really a symptom. Like a fever in the body, it points to something deeper that needs attention. The deeper issue is what you believe. If fear keeps dominating your thoughts, then somewhere a lie has been accepted as truth. That is why the answer is not just trying harder to calm down. The answer is renewing your mind. You must identify the lie. Then you must replace it with truth. Second Corinthians 10:5 reminds us that we are to cast down imaginations and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God. That means you do not let fearful thoughts sit in your mind and build a home there. You reject them. You replace them. You do not fight fear by admiring it, analyzing it, or entertaining it. You fight fear by confronting it with truth. What You Are Anchored to Matters Life will always present moments that seem dangerous, uncertain, or impossible. The question is not whether you will face pressure. The question is what you are anchored to when pressure comes. If your confidence is anchored to circumstances, you will always feel unstable. Circumstances change. Reports change. Emotions change. But God’s Word does not change. Truth can hold you. Just as a climber trusts the anchor that keeps him from falling, you must learn to trust the promises of God more than the pictures fear is trying to show you. When your life is anchored to truth, fear loses its power to dominate your thinking. Renewing Your Mind Changes What Feels Possible There was a time when many things people now accept with confidence would have seemed impossible. Flight looked impossible. Certain athletic feats looked impossible. What changed? Knowledge. Training. Repetition. Confidence in a higher law. In the same way, many believers still live under the assumption that fear is normal, fear is wise, fear is protective, or fear is just part of life. But God’s Kingdom operates differently. In Romans 12:2a (NIV), it says, “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” Transformation does not happen by accident. It happens when you retrain your thinking with truth. The world trains people to expect loss, danger, failure, sickness, and defeat. God trains His people to expect His faithfulness, His promises, His strength, and His victory. If you keep feeding on fear, fear will feel natural. If you feed on truth, freedom will become normal. You Must Replace the Picture You cannot simply tell yourself not to think about something. You must replace the wrong picture with the right one. If fear says, “This will destroy you,” answer with what God says. If fear says, “You are going under,” answer with what God says. If fear says, “You will never recover,” answer with what God says. Truth is the antidote. When God promises healing, provision, peace, protection, and victory, those promises carry pictures. They are meant to shape your imagination. Too many people meditate on everything that can go wrong. But faith grows when you meditate on what God has already said in His Word. The enemy wants your imagination captured by fear. God wants your imagination renewed by truth. Your Future Does Not Belong to Fear Many people have lived so long under fear that they assume it will always define them. It will not. You can be free. Your life does not have to be governed by fear of sickness. Fear of failure. Fear of rejection. Fear of lack. Fear of loss. Fear of the future. God did not create you to live tormented. He created you to live in His Kingdom, under His rule, with His peace, and in the confidence of His promises. The future belongs to those who believe what God says more than what fear suggests. So, start again. Open your Bible. Find out who you really are. Train your mind in truth. Reject the lie. Hold onto His promises. And refuse to let fear write a story God never wrote for you. A Simple Prayer Father, Thank You for not giving me a spirit of fear. Thank You for giving me power, love, and a sound mind. Help me recognize every lie the enemy tries to plant in my thoughts. Teach me to renew my mind with Your Word and to reject every imagination that rises against the truth of who You are and who I am in Christ. Strengthen me to stand on Your promises, speak with authority, and live in the freedom You have given me. In Jesus’s name, I pray. Amen.
Reading Time 4 mins 40 secs – If you want to see your future, take a look at your friends. Scripture says plainly, “Do not be misled: Bad company corrupts good character” (1 Corinthians 15:33, NIV). That’s not a suggestion. That’s a warning. And the deception is thinking your good character will automatically change the people around you. Sometimes it can. But often, it’s the other way around. Who speaks into your life matters. Who challenges you matters. Who flatters you matters. Who you follow matters. All of it shapes where you end up. The Deception About Influence Many people fall into what’s called false responsibility. They want someone else’s success more than that person wants it for themselves. They believe they can fix, carry, or rescue someone who isn’t willing to change. You must understand something clearly: God sends people, and the enemy sends people. Not every opportunity is from God. Not every relationship is divinely aligned. One of the clearest warning signs is constant flattery. When someone continually builds you up without ever challenging you, pay attention. Flattery often hides motive. That’s why you must judge your friendships carefully. Fear Is Contagious, and So Is Courage Before Israel went into battle, Moses gave a striking instruction: if someone was afraid or faint-hearted, send them home. Why? Because fear spreads. Fear talks. Doubt talks. Unbelief talks. But courage talks too. Faith talks too. Vision talks too. The people around you will either magnify the obstacle or magnify the promise. They will either rehearse what could go wrong or remind you what God said. Choose wisely. Proof That Who You Follow Changes You After David defeated Goliath, King Saul pursued him. David escaped to a cave. Not a palace, not a resort—a cave. And 400 men followed him. The Bible describes them as distressed, in debt, and discontented. That doesn’t sound like leadership material. But something changed. Those same men became David’s mighty men of valor. They performed exploits. They accumulated wealth. They became strong, disciplined warriors. What happened? They followed someone who carried covenant confidence. They followed faith instead of fear. And they were transformed. Who you follow will change you, either for good or for worse. The Cost of the Wrong Circle You don’t have to make the wrong decision yourself to feel the consequences of being in the wrong environment. Association carries weight. When you attach yourself to people who are reckless, careless, or spiritually drifting, their choices begin to affect your direction. Influence is subtle at first. It doesn’t feel dangerous. It feels normal. Comfortable. Accepted. But over time, conversations shape thinking. Thinking shapes decisions. Decisions shape outcomes. That’s why Scripture says not to be deceived. The drift rarely feels dramatic in the beginning. It feels gradual. You may never intend to compromise your standards. You may never plan to move away from your convictions. But proximity has power. What you tolerate eventually influences what you participate in. This is not about isolation. It’s about discernment. You can love everyone. You can minister to anyone. But you must be wise about who has consistent access to your life. Because you don’t have to commit the act to feel the consequence of the association. Choose your circle carefully. Not Everyone Qualifies for Close Access There are people you minister to. There are people you love. There are people you encourage. But not everyone qualifies to be your close companion. Ezra warned Israel not to make treaties of friendship with those whose practices would corrupt them. The principle still applies: don’t make agreements with influences that pull you away from God. There are relationships you need to: Increase Maintain Or discontinue And you must discern which is which. The righteous choose their friends carefully. What Healthy Friendship Looks Like The right people in your life will: Encourage your walk with God Strengthen your faith Uphold your marriage and family Believe in you Challenge you past your comfort zone Correct you when you’re wrong A true friend will tell you the truth, even when it’s uncomfortable. An enemy flatters. A friend sharpens. If no one in your life can correct you, you’re vulnerable. Hold Unswervingly Hebrews instructs us to hold unswervingly to the hope we profess and to encourage one another toward love and good deeds. “Unswervingly” means steady. Unwavering. Not drifting. The right friendships help you stay steady. The wrong ones slowly pull you off course, usually so gradually you don’t notice until you’re far from where you intended to be. Make a decision: as for you and your house, you will serve the Lord. And build your circle around that decision. A Simple Prayer Father, Thank You for guiding my steps and ordering my relationships. Give me wisdom to choose my circle carefully. Help me discern the voices that strengthen my faith and the ones that pull me away. Surround me with people who challenge me, correct me, and encourage me to follow You fully. Give me courage to walk away from anything that hinders my walk with You. In Jesus’s name, I pray. Amen.