從破碎根基換到永恆的新根基﹐ 是神的恩典﹐ 轉瞬就成。但信徒新生命長成﹐ 依然需要時間。

T是急性子的行動派﹐ 凡事按步就班的管制處理。

她渴望生命成長﹐ 知道自己需要學習神的話語。我們大略看了福音書裡關乎神國度的比喻﹐之後﹐ 是保羅的書信。以弗所書﹐歌羅西書﹐腓立比。。。

T說她手邊沒有聖經參考書﹐ 我說不需要﹔ 不要急於查攷其他人的註解﹐ 先以禱告的心讀聖經﹐ 然後寫下自己的心得。

T大概把當年唸兩個碩士學位的精神拿出來。

每天我開啟郵箱時﹐ T的讀經心得已經在那裡了﹐ 有時一天還不只一封。或是我還來不及回覆﹐ 提出討論問題﹐ 她下一章的心得又來了。

唸完一卷書之後﹐ 還來個整體總結﹐ 重新列出大綱﹐ 結構﹐ 勾勒出整卷書的樣貌﹐ 和與其他經文串連起來的更多領受。

讀她的這些心得﹐ 也幫我重溫那些經卷。

新約讀的差不多﹐ T開始速讀舊約。之前她大略讀過創世記﹐ 所以從出埃及記著手。

以色列人經歷神大能的拯救﹐ 卻是在曠野一再頑梗的隨己意而行。這讓T很緊張﹐ 怕自己也走不出曠野的考驗。

我再三跟她保證﹐ 只要專心跟從主耶穌﹐ 這路﹐ 是走得到目標的。

我說我們起初的「信」﹐ 是從主耶穌而來﹔ 然後以主所給予的信心﹐ 去建立﹑ 發展與祂的關係﹔ 藉著諸多考驗﹐ 這信心經過壓擠破碎又重塑。我們的新生命也隨著信心而增長。

如果新生命像一棵樹﹐ 信心就是其本質。

神是從永恆的觀點來訓練﹑ 恢復我們。因此﹐ 即使我們好像暫時失去信心﹐ 和前行的勇氣﹐ 但神知道至終目的﹐ 而聖靈也會讓我們不斷得力﹐繼續前行。

(Think back, the 'initial faith’ which inspires us to believe in God is also come from Him. Then we use this 'faith' to develop the relationship with the Lord, and through trials and tests, this faith is broken and crushed and remolded and reshaped. Our new life grows along with the growth of faith.

If the new life is like a tree, faith is the essence inside.

God the Father trains and restores us from the perspective of eternity, so sometimes we may feel that we lose the faith and courage to move on, yet He knows the ultimate destination we should reach and the Holy Spirit would empower us to keep on going.)

對T而言﹐ 那時生活的考驗﹐ 當務之急就是找到一個工作。

有兩個商學領域碩士的T﹐ 結婚前後﹐ 曾在知名的公司工作過。原可以在職場更上層樓的她﹐ 在兩個孩子相繼出生後﹐ 選擇留在家裡。一晃十多年就過去了。

按她的學歷﹑ 職歷﹐ 認真﹐ 才幹﹐ 應該不難找到工作的。但整個就業環境不景氣﹐ 工作機會有限﹔ 讓T喪氣和著急的是﹐ 連應徵初階的工作也不被接受。

我屢次跟她說﹐ 神必然有預備﹐ 絕不會任她到山窮水盡﹐ 依然撒手不理。

T心焦中﹐ 幾次坦白直問﹕ 你能夠篤定說﹐ 神必然有預備﹐ 是不是這是我的痛苦﹐ 不是你的﹐ 所以你可以這麼輕鬆的說﹖

我告訴她﹐ 的確每個人的境遇不同﹐ 也沒有一定公式可以依循﹔ 我也無法給予T我的信心﹐ 她必須從自身經歷裡去增長她的信心。

如果眼前神還沒有在這方面開路﹐ 表示還有其他更重要的要先完成。

因為神行事的優先次序﹐ 通常是按著那事件在祂的大計劃裡﹐ 對於我們生命的重要性而定奪。

然而信路上的陪伴﹐ 關鍵也在這裡。這雖然是T該走的路﹐ 也變成是我的﹐ 就是要再來確證﹐  曾經我經歷神的信實﹐ 是否對T也是如此﹖

所謂信仰的見證﹐ 重點不是那些各人的經歷﹐ 也不是要看神對我們作了甚麼。 而是我們的經歷﹐ 是否都「證實」聖經裡﹐ 神對於祂兒女的那些應許﹔ 因此見識到父神的奇妙﹑ 全能。(Our individual experience can verify what the Bible records, God’s promises to His children, and we thus witness His marvelous and mighty character.)

整個過程﹐ 主角其實是神﹐ 不是我們。整個舞台﹐ 是祂的國度﹐ 不是我們生活環境。

換句話說﹐ 不是我們邀請神來我們生活中行事﹐ 而是藉著主耶穌基督﹐ 我們被神邀請﹐ 進入祂的大計劃裡﹐ 去見證祂的故事。(We do not invite God into our lives to work; rather, through Jesus Christ, we are invited by God into His plan to testify His story.)

這是視野﹑ 心態的轉換﹐ 需要操練﹐ 不是一次就成。

就是每次看著陰鬱的環境而心情低沉時﹐ 要馬上轉換焦點﹐ 再次提醒﹐ 自己是神國度的子民﹐是神的兒女﹐ 是被挽回到神的創造計劃裡﹐ 聖靈正在我們裡面動工﹐ 要把我們恢復成如同主耶穌基督那樣的生命樣式。

春去夏來﹐ 秋逝冬至﹐ T一直沒有得到工作。但是她繼續讀神的話語﹐ 讀各種靈修書籍﹐ 讓新生命得餵養。

[附錄﹕ T讀完以弗所書之後的總結心得﹕ 

After finishing the whole book, let me try again. Maybe this time won't be so bad. :)

Our calling: This is amazing. Once I lose sight of it, I am not focused on the Lord. God called us, we responded. His calling is for us to be holy and blameless. God redeemed us through Jesus' blood and forgave our sins. How wonderful! We were reborn. Not just that, God sealed us and sealed us with the Holy Spirit as an guaranteeing an inheritance. God seated us with Christ in heavenly realm and we are to walk in His good works. God also called Jews and Gentiles into one through Christ.

What should we do? We are saved for good works for His calling purpose. He will equip us for what we need to be His soldiers in His mighty plan. We walk in unity, in holiness, in love, in light, in wisdom, in strength. We are His.

We used to live in the darkness. Now we live in light. The impact is when we walk in the light, God shows us our sins. We repent and are forgiven. We no longer live by flesh, by the world. We thank God for everything. We will bear the fruit of spirit. I don't know how but it's the promise that the Holy Spirit has to work on it. I just need walk in His good works. We all do that in unity through Christ. In Him, He is peace.

With the unseen battle going on, God equips us with power and forces to stand firm against the enemies. The whole armor of God includes the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, the breastplate or righteousness, the sword of the Spirit, the belt of truth, the sandal of peace.

The truth, "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." (John 14:6) The righteousness, "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled." (Matthew 5:6) Faith, we live by faith, we were saved by Jesus' crucifixion and will have the eternal life in God's Kingdom. We are called as part of His mighty plan. Salvation, we will not lose our salvation once we accept Christ as our Savior. God's Word is a powerful double-sided sword.

I hope I am learning God's Word better and better. :) ]