 Have you ever thought about your authority in Christ and what happens when you don't use it? In Matthew 16:13-19, Jesus asks the disciples who people think he is. Peter responded by saying, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." Jesus was so pleased by Peter's answer that he said, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock, I will build My church, and the gates of Hades will not overpower it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven." Since that time, this verse has been a source of confusion for many regarding Peter and his authority within the church. Although Peter's name in Greek means rock, Jesus was not saying that His church would be built on Peter. He said that the truth of what Peter had just revealed that Jesus was the Son of the living God is the rock upon which His church would be built. This unshakeable foundation that Jesus is the Messiah is what holds and binds the church together.
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 We call them “desert” or “wilderness” experiences, which are normal for most Christians. They start innocently enough – through illness, death, job loss, even the hormonal changes that come after a child’s birth can bring it on through postpartum depression. And somewhere along the way, we lose our feeling of closeness to God. We become disinterested in anything to do with the church or the Bible. We make excuses to avoid our Christian friends because we don’t feel “spiritual” enough. Before we know it, we are wandering in the desert, wondering if we have lost our faith in God forever or if we were ever saved in the first place. But there is good news. By looking at Jesus’ desert experience, we can have victory over Satan’s attempts to lead us away from God. Today, if you are going through one of those times, it is my hope that you will be encouraged by what you find.
 "For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal." (2 Corinthians 4:17-18, NKJV) In January of this year, I began rereading the Bible from the beginning. Around the time that we all realized how dangerous COVID-19 was, I was reading about plagues, how they started, who started them and, more specifically, why. For the record, it always had to do with sin, and God always initiated the plagues. So, am I saying God started COVID-19? Well, I know that nothing gets by Him and that He will use everything to bring His people back to Him.
I also know that like an earthly father, our Heavenly Father will not hesitate to correct disobedient children (Leviticus 26:14-45). Yes, these verses were directed at the children of Israel. But for those who have accepted Jesus as Lord and Saviour, according to the Scriptures, you are now part of Abraham's family tree (Ephesians 2:11-13; Ephesians 2:19; Ephesians 3:6; Romans 11:17-24), and when we are disobedient, God must act. I do not see the COVID-19 virus as a punishment for those who don't know God. I see it as a "wake-up before it's too late" call for those who claim they do.  When I was very young in my faith and knew little of how God works, I learned this verse: “Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8). Unfortunately, while it made me aware of obvious sins like lying or stealing, I was never prepared for the subtle ones. They crept in like thieves in the night.
 How do we learn to have faith? Is it acquired through osmosis by being part of a Christian family? Is it something that grows over time? How do we grow in faith? More importantly, how do we instill our faith in God, in our children and other family members?
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