lael的部落格

第九十天：2011年12月26日(Kislev 30, 5772)

神蹟–「對神的應許要有信心」

我想起在幾年前所得到的聖誕禮物，當時我們在德州一所學院擔任一些問題家庭的孩子的管理員，而13歲的約瑟進入我們家成為我們的養子。(實際上他來我們家以前叫「比利」，是他的親生母親所認識的一個男人所取的綽號，但是我們發現他的真名其實是約瑟。) 約瑟不認識他的親生父親，而且他的母親入獄服刑。他是休士頓的流浪街頭小孩，曾待過許多的寄養家庭和關懷家庭，與許多來自不正常的威權結構家庭的孩子一樣，約瑟知道如何在這「制度」中說謊與操縱來得到寵愛，然而他那時並不認識神，他被迫信教與遵循教條，但是在他的生命中並沒有經歷到神的真實。

我們的角色就是帶領約瑟認識神，並完全建立他在母腹中被神創造時，神所為他預定的道路。實際上我們知道我們必會經歷一個過程來重建他的身分，並使他成為神所希望的「約瑟」的樣子。他對我們而言是個考驗，我們不只要培養他的品格，甚至我們更需要解決與解開許多他為了生存所發展的不敬虔的思想傾向。撒旦在約瑟童年時就擄掠了他的命定，並企圖將他困在毀滅的道路上。

唯有上帝能改變！神給我關於約瑟的應許，就是他會成為A與B級成績的學生。噢，天啊！在他心中這既不真實也不是他的渴望，戰爭一波接著一波，而他真的達到了C級，使他能繼續留在他所喜愛的體育項目上，但是從他過去的惡習所造成的幾個嚴重的堅固營壘仍然存在，以及有不斷的爭論在這些問題上，因為約瑟很清楚「這個制度」，所以我們的辨別能力必須提升，才能使我們能夠分辨出他所告訴我們的事情是真的而不是謊言。

我很想說這是一場很容易的戰爭，但那並不是真的。有一天在學校與他的一位老師費盡一番唇舌討論之後，我回到了家，我已準備讓約瑟走在他似乎非常渴望的路，而當我走進房子時，潘打開廚房的窗戶說，「神對我說了，祂告訴我，祂打算用聖靈來充滿約瑟。」我的疲憊與疑惑勝過了我，於是我說，「哦，太好了！那表示我必須忍受這場戰爭更久。」然後潘就說，「好吧，你可以同意上帝，或是同意你所看到的！」最後我選擇了順服與相信神對我的妻子所說的話。

當我這樣做時，有二件事情發生了。首先，我開始看見潘有一種信心的層次是我所沒有的，那是因為神賜給她一個兒子所產生的母愛，而愛與信心一起作工，就帶來了預言的實現。其次，我開始看見仇敵如何使用疲憊、混亂、失望和環境，來使我忘記神的應許和屬天的計畫。請記得，神唯一曾對我說過關於約瑟的事，是他在學校的成績會達到A和B級。

我很希望說事情立刻改變了，但是沒有！在高中以後，約瑟到東德州的一所私立學院就讀，然後在北德州一所初級學院讀了二年。沒錯，他在學校表現平庸，而且仍然充滿了問題。約瑟決定進入空軍，而潘和我則接受了在新墨西哥州和科羅拉多州的多泉市的工作，之後約瑟很快就結婚了，但是他的生活一直起伏不定。我在心裡仍然疑惑著他是否真的會改變，但是潘仍然行在信心中，並且相信神的應許。

當約瑟32歲時，潘和我搬回到德州的丹頓，那時約瑟已有四個孩子，並且他正在就讀北德州大學且兼職工作。那年當他全家來過聖誕節時，他與我分享因為他的兼職工作與進學校念書，所以他們是如何僅有少許的金錢。然而，他真的為我準備了一件特別的禮物，就是他在大學的期末成績報告，他得到全部A的成績！他的成績優異並且完成學業，正如神一開始所說的。他堅持到底！他對仇敵、對他自己、還有對我，都證明了神對他所說的話都是真實的，約瑟和他的妻子現在都任職於教牧事工，所以神也實現了祂對我的妻子所說的話。透過觀察這朵蘭花的綻放，我學會了許多的事情！

當我們在走向今年的尾聲時，要記得神的應許，並且堅持到底！聖誕節快樂！

Day 90 of 100 Days: Miracles: “Have Faith for God’s Promises”

Chuck Pierce 寫於 2011年12月25日 14:16

 I’m reminded of a Christmas gift I got years ago. Our adopted son Joseph came to us at the age of 13 when we were serving as administrators of an institute in Texas for children from dysfunctional homes. (Actually, he came to us as “Billy,” nicknamed after one of the men that his natural mother had aligned herself with, but we discovered that his real name was Joseph.) Joseph did not know his natural father, and his mother was in prison. He was a street kid from Houston who had been in numerous foster homes and care group homes. As with many children who come from dysfunctional authority structures in the home, Joseph knew the ‘system’ of how to lie and manipulate to gain favor. However, he did not know the Lord. He had been forced to be religious and to follow rules, but he had no reality of God in his life.

Our role was to lead Joseph to the Lord and fully establish him on the path that God had destined for him when He created him in the womb. We actually knew that we would have to go through a process to redevelop his identity and make him into the ‘Joseph’ that God intended for him to be. He was a trial for us. Not only were we developing his character, but we were also undoing and unraveling many of the ungodly mind-sets of survival that he had developed. Satan had grabbed hold of Joseph’s destiny at an early age and was attempting to hold him on a path of destruction.

But God! The promise that God gave me for Joseph was that he would be an ‘A’ and ‘B’ grade student. Oh, my! This was neither a reality nor a desire in his heart. War after war proceeded. He did make enough ‘C’ grades to keep him in sport programs that he enjoyed. But the several severe strongholds caused by the abuses from his past remained and there was constant contention over these issues. Because Joseph knew ‘the system,’ our discernment level had to rise so that we could distinguish the truth from the lies in what he told us.

I would love to say that this was an easy war, but that would not be true. I came home one day after a discussion with one of his teachers at school at the end of my rope. I was ready to just let Joseph go down the path that he seemed to desire most. When I walked into the house, Pam turned from the kitchen window and said, “The Lord spoke to me and told me that He was going to fill Joseph with the Holy Spirit.” My weariness and unbelief took over and I said, “Oh great, that means I have to endure this war longer.” Pam then said, “Well, you can agree with God or agree with what you see!” I chose to submit and trust the word that the Lord had spoken to my wife.

When I did this, two things occurred. First of all, I began to see that Pam had a dimension of faith that I did not have because of her mother’s love for a son who had been given to her. Love and faith were working together to bring prophetic fulfillment. Second, I began to see how the enemy used weariness, turmoil, frustration and circumstance to cause me to forget the word of promise and plan of heaven. Remember, the only thing that the Lord had ever spoken to me about Joseph was that he would make A’s and B’s in school.

 I would like to say things turned around immediately, but they did not! After high school, Joseph went to a private college in East Texas and then attended a junior college in North Texas for two years. Yet he was still mediocre at school and still filled with issues. Joseph decided to enter the Air Force, and Pam and I took assignments in New Mexico and Colorado Springs. Joseph married soon after, but his life continued to be up and down. I still wondered in my heart if he would ever really change. But Pam walked in faith and believed in God’s promises.

When Joseph was 32, Pam and I moved back to Denton. By this time, Joseph had four children, and he was now attending the University of North Texas and working part-time. When he and his family came for Christmas at our home that year, he shared with me how they had little money because of his working part-time and attending school. However, he did have a special gift for me—it was his final grade report in college. He had gotten all ‘A’s’! He had made the dean’s list and finished his schooling, just as the Lord had said in the beginning. He had finished strong! He had proven to the enemy, to himself, and to me that what God had said about him was a reality. Both Joseph and his wife now serve in pastoral ministry. The Lord had fulfilled the word He had spoken to my wife as well. I learned much through watching this orchid bloom!

As we come to the end of this year, remember God’s promises and finish strong! Merry Christmas!