Complaining is corrosive and contagious. Complaining steals our joy and actually hardwires our brains to have a more negative view of life. Paul commands the believers in Philippi to ”Do everything without grumbling or arguing.” All of our complaints are, ultimately, complaints against God. What we need to do is shift our attention from our disappointments to the goodness of God and replace our words of complaint with words of gratitude.

Although constructive criticism and helpful coaching can be valuable, a critical spirit is not. A critical spirit can destroy intimacy in marriage, alienates our kids and damage our testimony. We must make a choice: will we be fault-finders or hope-dealers? In the book of Acts, Barnabas stands out as a great example of how our words can be used to encourage others and help them reach their potential.

Sometimes we underestimate the power of our words – whether written or spoken. But words have great power. Proverbs 18:12 says, “Life and death are in the power of the tongue…” Genesis 1 tells us that God used words to give life to everything. Genesis 3 tells us that the Evil One used words to bring death. In the same way, our words can bring life or death into our relationships, our church and our world.

Temptation works like a trap. Step by step we are drawn toward our own demise. Samson’s weakness for women drew him deeper and deeper into trouble until the trap was sprung. He lost his eyes, his honor, and his incredible power. But God wasn’t done with him yet. No matter how far you’ve fallen you are not beyond the reach of grace. Even when you think God can’t use you—He is fighting for you.

We all have things we tend to put off. We ignore the warning lights on the dashboard, the complaints of our spouse, and the numbers on the scale. But the longer we wait, the worse it gets. Small problems become big problems. Easy fixes become catastrophic blunders. Again and again Samson ignored the warnings. But we can learn to address the fault lines before the fallout.

We were not created to go all day and crash on the couch at night. God has hardwired and hand-picked us for a purpose. Like Samson, we are here to influence the lives of others for eternity. But it’s going to be a battle. Like Samson, the choices we make can lead us closer or farther from our purpose. And like Samson, the choices we make affect the people around us. Which makes making wise choices worth fighting for.

Baptism is the public declaration of an inward commitment. It proclaims death to our old life and our resurrection to a new life in Christ. Jesus set the example of baptism for his followers and it has been observed since the early church. Baptism is also a beautiful symbol of the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It is a defining moment in the lives of Christ followers and we love to celebrate it!

Sometimes the simplest fears can keep us from experience the greatest breakthroughs. We fear what is unfamiliar. We fear looking stupid. We fear feeling gullible. There are times when God is clearly prompting us to do something that doesn’t make sense, but fear holds us back. Naaman sought healing for leprosy, but when Elisha told him what to do, he either believed it to be too simple, or feared looking foolish. What's holding you back from trusting God?

God’s people were living under the oppression of the Midianites. After the people cried out to God, he chose Gideon to deliver them from the hand of Midian. Gideon couldn’t see past his own inadequacies. The Lord promised to be with him. What Gideon needed to see was the unseen God. The solution to dealing with fear is to factor in God, and to see our problems against the backdrop of what He can do.

In order to cultivate a heroic faith, we need to form the habit of thinking thoughts that are of God. It’s all about forging a courageous state of mind. When we focus on the wrong things, fear is produced; when we focus on the right things, faith is produced. Most of our fear is the result of listening to the wrong voices. The fear that you feel is usually the result of lies you believe.