Ready to Break Free from Limiting Beliefs and Live a Better Life?

Gary Keesee • October 9, 2024

Reading Time 8 mins 34 secs –

Have you ever felt stuck?


Do you feel stuck right now?


You’re going to want to stick with me for this one. Keep reading.


Drenda once knew an elderly lady who lived through the very tough times of the Great Depression. We would often see her wearing a pair of tattered gloves. Drenda wanted to bless her, so she bought her a new pair of gloves and went to visit with her.

 

When the lady opened Drenda’s gift, she thanked her and took her over to show her something in her dresser. When she opened the top drawer, Drenda was shocked at what she saw.

 

Inside the drawer lay SIX other pairs of brand-new gloves. SIX!

 

The lady laid the pair Drenda had just given her alongside the other six pairs and closed the drawer.

 

Drenda couldn’t believe it. The lady was wearing an old, tattered pair of gloves and not using or enjoying any of those new gloves because she just couldn’t. Her mind was STUCK. Her fear of not having enough had led her to hold on to nearly everything too tightly, even if it meant having six brand-new pairs of gloves sitting in a dresser drawer. She had a wrong pattern of thinking and acting that was holding her back in life.

 

Friend, just like that pair of gloves, God wants to give YOU good gifts. He wants to promote you. He wants you to win in life.


So, what has you stuck?


What behaviors, habits, and old patterns of thinking and acting are holding you back from being the best you can be and living the life God wants for you?


  That’s way too intimidating.

 

It’s too late. I’m too old.

 

I don’t have enough money.

 

I’ve made too many mistakes.

 

I don’t have the right experience to take that on.

 

Have you said any of those things to yourself? If you’re like most people, you have. Or maybe you’ve been telling yourself that you’re too young, or too shy, or don’t have the talent, or that you just don’t have what it takes.

 

Drenda and I have both been there. Throughout my life, I’ve had all sorts of reasons not to move forward with the things God was calling me to do. In fact, at one time or another, I’ve probably told myself every one of the reasons I just gave you and more.


My ears stuck out when I was a kid. I was overweight. I was so painfully shy that I didn’t talk. In fact, I pretty much did whatever I could to avoid talking and to avoid people. Yes, I’m a pastor and a speaker, and I used to avoid people. I admit it.


I talked so rarely that when one of my teachers in high school walked by me in the hallway and heard me talking to a friend, she stopped and said, “So, you CAN talk!”


It was really bad. I played football in junior high and high school—I was a starting player—and my sisters were cheerleaders. My mother would have parties after the games, and I would hide in my room. Not only did I go through high school barely speaking to people, but also I had really poor grades. I graduated with a 1.3 grade point average. There was only one other guy who had a lower GPA than I did. I was definitely not voted most likely to succeed. 


Do I need to keep going? I have a long list of reasons I could give for why I thought I could never win in life.


But most of those reasons were really just excuses I kept giving myself because I was afraid. Like the elderly woman with the six pairs of brand-new gloves tucked away in a drawer, I was the one holding myself back with my thoughts. I was the one keeping myself from doing what I wanted to do in life. And I was the one keeping myself from doing what God had called me to do.

 

Is that you?


Of course, we sometimes need to be patient with our aspirations. But most of the time, our problem isn’t that we’re trying to move things ahead too quickly. Rather, it’s that at some point, we adapted to cope with negative situations in life and then we parked there, or we got stuck. 


The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.

—2 Corinthians 10:4–5 (NIV)

 

A stronghold is something you’ve believed for so long that it becomes the truth in your life. It becomes the truth even if it’s really a lie.

 

And if you allow yourself to believe a lie, it might as well be the truth.

 

Because if you believe something is too intimidating, it will be. If you believe you’re too old, or too young, or too inexperienced, then that’s exactly what you’ll project. If you believe you can’t do something, you’re probably not even going to try to do it.

 

Moses was a perfect example of this. When God called him to become a great leader, we see that Moses had allowed himself to believe lies that were clearly holding him back.

 

But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” 

—Exodus 3:11 (NIV)


Who am I that I should take this on, God? I’m a nobody… I don’t have what it takes.


Moses answered, “What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say, ‘The Lord did not appear to you’?” 

—Exodus 4:1 (NIV)


Why would they listen to me? No one listens to me… I’m not a leader.


What’s holding you back from the promotion God is calling you to?


“It’s too late.”


Did you know Laura Ingalls Wilder was 43 years old when her daughter, Rose, encouraged her to write a memoir about her childhood? Her first attempt at writing her autobiography was rejected several times. 1, 2, 3


Determined to succeed, she spent the next several years improving it. The publishers agreed to publish her work as a fiction story for children when she was 65 years old. She finished the final book in the Little House series when she was 76.


Have you ever had a piece of Kentucky Fried Chicken? In 1952, at age 65, living on his $105 a month Social Security check, Colonel Harland Sanders decided he wanted to try to sell his chicken recipe to the world. He was met with little enthusiasm. 4, 5, 6


Colonel Sanders was turned down 1,009 times before his chicken recipe was accepted by one restaurant. When he passed away at age 90, there were around 6,000 KFC locations in 48 countries. As of 2023, there were 29,900 KFC outlets in 149 countries and territories around the world. 7


“It will take too long.”


You might know that Bill Gates founded Microsoft in 1975, but did you know that it was six years later before he managed to land a contract with IBM? And it was another five years before Microsoft went public, making Gates a multimillionaire. He became a billionaire just a year later. 8


Have you ever heard of Gladys Burrill? She completed her first marathon when she was 86 years old. At 92, she completed the Honolulu Marathon. Winners of the Honolulu Marathon usually come in under two and a half hours. It took Gladys nine hours and 53 minutes to finish the race. 9, 10


“I don’t have what it takes.”


That’s one we usually think but don’t necessarily say out loud.


I’m sure you’ve heard of Susan Boyle, right? She was 47 when she auditioned for Britain’s Got Talent. When she took the stage, both the judges and the people in the audience rolled their eyes. Susan didn’t look the part.


As soon as Susan hit the first note, all doubts turned to awe. Not only did she receive a standing ovation from the audience, but she also got three yes votes from the judges. Susan’s first album, I Dreamed a Dream became the United Kingdom’s best-selling debut album of all time. She’s since released a total of eight albums, gone on tour, and written an autobiography. 11, 12, 13, 14


Are you getting this, friend?


You’re not stuck. It’s not too late for you. It won’t take too long. You DO have what it takes. God is on your side! He is bigger than your past. He’s bigger than your failures. He’s bigger than your shortcomings. He is always faithful. He has a plan. He knows all of the details, and He has the answers. Ask Him.


It will take faith to get unstuck and to step out into the unknown, but God wants to lead you. He’s promised never to leave you nor forsake you. And if God is for you, who can be against you?

So, get up and GO! Stay the course. Don’t stay stuck. Don’t give up hope. 

You can still live an incredible life with God—if you decide for it to be so.



Sources:

1. “15 Facts You May Not Know About Laura Ingalls Wilder,” AOP Christian Homeschooling, https://aop.com/blogs/lesson-plans/15-facts-you-may-not-know-about-laura-ingalls-wilder, March 25, 2024.

2. Catherine McHugh, “5 Facts About Laura Ingalls Wilder,” https://www.biography.com/authors-writers/laura-ingalls-wilder-biography-facts, June 11, 2020.

3. “Laura Ingalls Wilder Documentary,” https://littlehouseontheprairie.com/laura-ingalls-wilder-documentary-2/, December 25, 2014.

4. “Colonel Harland Sanders,” University of Houston Conrad N. Hilton College of Global Hospitality Leadership, https://uh.edu/hilton-college/About/Hospitality-Industry-Hall-of-Honor/Inductees/Colonel-Harland-Sanders%20/

5. “The Real Story of Colonel Sanders Is Far Crazier Than This Bland Inspirational Meme,” The Verge, https://www.theverge.com/2016/7/5/12096466/colonel-sanders-kfc-meme-life-story

6. J.Y. Smith, “Col. Sanders, the Fried-Chicken Gentleman, Dies,” The Washington Post, https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1980/12/17/col-sanders-the-fried-chicken-gentleman-dies/64925eb3-3a20-4851-afbc-ba4fe16e9770/, December 17, 1980.

7. “Number of Kentucky Fried Chicken Restaurants Worldwide from 2010 to 2013,” Statista, https://www.statista.com/statistics/256793/kfc-restaurants-worldwide-by-geographic-region/#:~:text=Global%20fast%20food%20chain%20KFC,year%27s%20total%20of%2027.7%20thousand, March 8, 2024.

8. Taylor Locke, “How Bill Gates’ Mom Helped Microsoft Get a Deal with IBM in 1980–and It Propelled the Company’s Huge Success,” https://www.cnbc.com/2020/08/05/how-bill-gates-mother-influenced-the-success-of-microsoft.html, August 6, 2020.

9. “Oldest Female Marathon Finisher: Gladys Burrill Set World Record,” https://www.worldrecordacademy.com/sports/oldest_female_marathon_finisher_Gladys_Burrill_set_world_record_102023.html, December 19, 2010.

10. “Reports & Top Finishers,” Honolulu Marathon, https://www.honolulumarathon.org/key-information/history-statistics/reports-top-10-finishers, December 8, 2024.

11. Jeannette L. Nolen, “Susan Boyle, Scottish Singer,” Encyclopedia Brittanica, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Susan-Boyle

12. Davy Leyland, “Susan Boyle - Britains Got Talent 2009 Episode 1 - Saturday 11th April,” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxPZh4AnWyk, April 11, 2009.

13. “Susan Boyle,” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Susan_Boyle

14. https://www.susanboylemusic.com/about/#

Thankful Hearts and Victorious Lives

By Gary Keesee • December 8, 2025
Reading Time 4 mins 6 secs – Thankfulness isn’t just good manners; it’s a spiritual posture. It’s how your faith stays strong, your heart stays aligned, and your life stays connected to what God is doing. In a world that constantly pulls on your emotions, drains your joy, and fills the air with fear and pressure, thanksgiving becomes how you stay connected to the victory Jesus has already won for you. Second Corinthians 2:14 reminds us that God always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through our lives, He spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of Him everywhere we go. That’s not just poetic language. That’s a description of your life in the Kingdom. You were designed to walk in victory, carry the fragrance of heaven into every room, walk in faith and not fear, and bring evidence of God’s goodness wherever you go. And the doorway into that life? A thankful heart. Thankfulness Is Your Position of Strength You don’t wait until you see victory to thank God. In the Kingdom of God, thankfulness comes before the breakthrough. First Corinthians 15:57 reminds us that God gives us victory through Jesus. Not someday, not eventually, but as a present, active reality. When you say, “Thank You, Lord, for leading me into victory in this situation,” you are aligning your heart with what God has already spoken. You are: Agreeing with His Word. Positioning yourself to receive. Stepping into alignment with His promises. Philippians 4:6 tells us to bring every request to God with thanksgiving. Gratitude is not the result of answered prayer; it’s part of how we pray. If someone handed you a check and you said, “I’ll see if it clears, and then I’ll thank you,” how eager would they be to bless you again? In the same way, when we approach God with “Father, thank You that You always lead me into victory,” we’re not pretending. We’re trusting His character before we see the outcome. That is faith. Gratitude Changes the Atmosphere You don’t just walk into a room; you carry an atmosphere. We’ve all stepped into places that felt heavy, tense, or anxious without anyone saying a word. But God designed you to carry something different: Peace instead of pressure Freedom instead of fear Victory instead of defeat A sound mind instead of anxiety When you adopt a posture of thanksgiving rather than one of complaint, your home changes, your conversations change. Psalm 100 reminds us that we enter God’s presence with thanksgiving and praise. Gratitude isn’t just something we do; it’s how we step into His presence and shift the atmosphere around us. How We Limit God When We Forget to Say “Thank You” Psalm 78 tells us that the people of Israel limited God not because His power failed but because they refused to agree with Him. God wanted to bless them. He had good plans for them. But instead of aligning with His promises, they complained, focused on what they saw instead of what He said, and talked more about giants than about God. Grumbling doesn’t just make you miserable; it closes your hands. Thankfulness opens them. The same is true for every promise in your life—provision, wisdom, direction, breakthrough, and peace. Ask yourself: Am I agreeing with God or resisting Him with my words? Do I talk more about the problem or about His promise? Have I been limiting God by withholding my thankfulness? Simple Ways to Practice Thankfulness Every Day You don’t have to wait for Sunday to live a thankful life. You can practice gratitude right where you are. Start with these 5 simple rhythms: Thank Him before you see the answer. When you pray, don’t just ask. Take time to thank the Lord that the answer to your promise is already yes. Guard the atmosphere of your home. If voices, media, or conversations are feeding fear and heaviness, turn them off. Make room for worship, the Word, and encouragement. Say “thank you” out loud. To God. To people. For big things and small things. Train your heart to respond with gratitude instead of suspicion or resistance. Worship on purpose. You don’t need a worship team to praise. Turn on worship in your car, your kitchen, your living room. Lift your voice. Let His presence fill your space. Check your heart often. If thankfulness and gratitude haven’t been on your heart much, don’t condemn yourself; just correct your course. Let God restore your joy. A Simple Prayer Father, Thank You that in Christ You always lead me into victory. I repent for every time I’ve complained, drifted, or agreed more with fear than with your Word. Today, I choose to be thankful. I say “yes” and “thank You” to Your promises, Your plans, and Your goodness. Restore to me the joy of my salvation. Lift off all heaviness. Fill me fresh with Your Spirit. Let my life carry peace instead of pressure, praise instead of complaining, faith instead of fear. I receive Your wisdom, Your strength, and Your direction for every situation I’m facing. In Jesus’s name, I pray. Amen.

The Stewardship of Strength

By Gary Keesee • November 13, 2025
Reading Time 2 mins 59 secs – Health isn’t just about how long you live; it’s about how well you live the life God’s called you to. You were created with a purpose, and your body is the vessel that carries that purpose forward. When your body is weary, your mind drifts, and your spirit feels disconnected, it becomes harder to walk in everything God has assigned to you. That’s why good health isn’t optional in the Kingdom. It’s stewardship. God Cares About How You Feel All through Scripture, God shows concern for His people’s well-being, physically, emotionally, and spiritually. Jesus healed bodies, calmed minds, and restored people to community. Health in His Kingdom is wholeness, not just healing. It’s walking in peace instead of pressure, strength instead of survival. When you take care of your health, you’re not just maintaining your body; you’re honoring your Creator. Every time you rest when you need it, fuel your body with good food, or take a walk instead of worrying, you’re saying, “Lord, I trust you to sustain me.” Health Is a Faith Decision Faith and health are connected. When you believe God for provision, you also believe Him for energy, renewal, and longevity. Your health journey isn’t about control; it’s about alignment with the Holy Spirit. Romans 12:1 tells us to offer our bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God. That’s not a verse about restriction; it’s about devotion. Your body is a place where the Holy Spirit dwells, and how you care for it reflects your faith. Ask yourself: Am I fueling my body for the calling I’ve been given? Do my daily choices create strength or drain it? What does obedience look like in this area of my life right now? Small acts of obedience like drinking more water, sleeping enough, managing stress, and choosing gratitude are seeds of faith that produce lasting fruit. The Rhythms of Renewal God designed life in rhythms: day and night, work and rest, sowing and reaping. When you move with His rhythm, you live from rest instead of running on empty. Here are a few rhythms that restore strength: Rest intentionally. True rest is more than sleep; it’s trust. It’s the decision to stop striving and let God restore what effort cannot. Eat with awareness. Food was meant to nourish you, not control you. Choose what fuels your body for purpose rather than what comforts it in pressure. Move with joy. Exercise isn’t punishment, it’s a partnership. Every step, stretch, or breath can be an act of worship when done in gratitude. Renew your mind. A healthy body begins with healthy thoughts. Replace “I’m so tired” with “God strengthens me daily.” What you repeat, you begin to believe. When You Feel Stuck There will be days when progress feels invisible. Maybe you’re waiting for healing or battling habits that feel impossible to break. Don’t quit. God doesn’t measure health by perfection. Philippians 1:6 reminds us that He who began a good work in you will carry it to completion. As you continue showing up with faith, the results will follow. A Simple Prayer Father, thank you for giving me this body as a gift, not a burden. Teach me to care for it with wisdom and gratitude. Strengthen me to make choices that bring you glory. Renew my energy, restore my joy, and remind me that you are the source of my strength. In Jesus’s name, I pray. Amen. Remember This Health isn’t about chasing balance; it’s about choosing alignment. When your spirit leads, your soul settles, and your body follows. Walk with God, and you’ll find strength that doesn’t fade, energy that renews daily, and peace that carries you farther than willpower ever could.

Success That Lasts: God’s Blueprint for Your Life

By Gary Keesee • October 10, 2025
Reading Time 3 mins 42 secs – When most people hear the word success, they picture a number in a bank account, a title on a door, or applause from a crowd. Those things aren’t wrong, but they’re not the whole story. Kingdom success is the fruit of living aligned with God’s presence, God’s purpose, and God’s principles. It’s success that sticks in your family, your finances, your calling, and your soul. What God Calls “Success” The Bible defines success as prospering in what God has assigned you to do. Joshua was told to keep God’s Word front and center. You shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. —Joshua 1:8b (NIV) Success begins with alignment, not achievement. When your ways line up with His ways, outcomes change. Success Grows Where Purpose Lives You weren’t designed to drift; you were designed to steward. Deuteronomy 8:18 says God gives you the power to create wealth—not so you can worship wealth but so you can build, bless, and advance His Kingdom. Purpose answers why you’re pursuing something. When your why is right, God can trust you with more. Ask yourself: What problem has God wired me to solve? Who gets helped when I win? How does this goal move God’s purpose forward? Three Pillars of Kingdom Success Presence – Success starts by seeking God first (Matthew 6:33). In His presence, you get clarity, courage, and correction. Purpose – Your assignment sets the target. Aimless motion is not momentum. Practice – Faith works when you work the principles. Plan, sow, and act; God multiplies. Principles That Produce God’s system isn’t random. There’s a time to plant seeds and a time to harvest. If you plant the right seeds consistently, a harvest is inevitable. In Proverbs 16:3, we’re reminded to commit whatever we do to the Lord, and He will establish our plans. Think like a steward and ask, “What have I been given?”(such as time, gifts, relationships, and ideas). Manage them with excellence. Choose excellence daily and do your work heartily as for the Lord, because excellence attracts opportunity. Prioritize wisdom by reading, learning, and surrounding yourself with people who sharpen you. Guard your words; there’s power in the words you speak, so take time to intentionally speak truth. Speak words that are in line with God’s promise rather than with fear. In Luke 16:10, we’re reminded to take faith steps, because small obedient steps multiply, and the servant that is faithful with little can be trusted with much. Break the Success Killers Break the success killers by refusing comparison, which steals both joy and peace. Instead, stay focused on running your own race and celebrating progress over perfection. Avoid hurrying, because quick fixes create fragile results, while patience and process create durable success. Replace excuses like “I can’t” with the empowering mindset of “How can I, with God’s help?” Finally, reject isolation, because lone wolf living limits growth, while community, mentors, and partners in purpose accelerate you. When you consistently choose these healthier patterns, you build the resilience and clarity needed to sustain long-term success. A Weekly Success Rhythm Seek (Daily): 10–15 minutes in the Word and prayer to align your heart and hear strategy. Plan (Weekly): Review your goals and priorities to ensure alignment. Decide your top three Kingdom outcomes for the week. Sow (Consistently): Give, serve, and invest in your skills. Measure (Weekly): What moved forward? What needs adjusting? Celebrate progress, then iterate. Rest (Sabbath): Rest is not wasted time; it’s faith in action . When Progress Feels Slow Psalm 1 paints a picture: a person planted by streams, bearing fruit in season . Not every day looks like a harvest day. Some days are root days. Stay planted. Keep sowing. Harvests have a schedule, and God is never late. A Simple Prayer Father, thank You for calling me to succeed Your way. Align my heart with Your presence, clarify my purpose, and teach me to practice Your principles with diligence and joy. I commit my plans to You. Give me wisdom, clarity, and strength to steward what You’ve placed in my hands. Use my success to bless others and advance Your Kingdom. In Jesus’s name, I pray. Amen. Carry This with You Success in the Kingdom isn’t a finish line; it’s a faithful life . Start where you are. Work with what you have. Obey what God says. Expect His favor. As you align with His presence, purpose, and principles, you’ll see results that last, results that outlive you, and point people to Him.