Daily Devotional

Synced Daily Devotionals Week 2

Joy - Week 2

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Monday

Luke 10:17-21

17 The seventy-two returned with joy and said, “Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name.”

18 He replied, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. 19 I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you. 20 However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”

21 At that time Jesus, full of joy through the Holy Spirit, said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this is what you were pleased to do.

Every year, around May and June, the celebrations of school graduations take place. For some these are an event that brings relief, but for all these events bring joy! You can see it on the faces of the graduates as they relish in the culmination of all their work and achievements. But the greatest joy is in the audience with family and especially with parents.

The apostle John wrote, “I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.” Talk to any parent and they will tell you that is absolutely true! Jesus nurtured the disciples, instructing them and modeling for them the way the way that God designed for humans to live. But eventually everyone must begin to do that work themselves, they must leave the classroom or the home and put into practice what they have been taught.

Obedience and faithfulness have very real results in our lives, and one of the greatest aspects of the fruit that God’s Spirit produces in our lives is JOY. The 72 disciples did what Jesus told them to do and they returned with JOY. Jesus had poured his life and ministry into these disciples, like a parent into a child or a teacher into a student. Parenting and teaching are acts of faith because the outcomes cannot be guaranteed. But when a child or a student goes out and puts their learning to the test and it works, the result is JOY for everyone!

The Holy Spirit brings us JOY when we are faithful and obedient. The Holy Spirit brings JOY to others when we are faithful and obedient. But even more amazing is the fact that our faithfulness and obedience brings JOY to Jesus through the Holy Spirit.

Spread some JOY to others today by being faithful in what God has appointed you to do today.

~John Secrest

Tuesday

Luke 15:3-7

3 Then Jesus told them this parable: 4 “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? 5 And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders 6 and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’ 7 I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.

This is a passage that is a cause for celebration. When even one person comes to know and accepts Christ into their life, heaven rejoices! (See Luke 15:10). This is evidence of the importance of every human being in God’s sight. We are his children, and our Father God wants us to know and follow Him.

Another cause for celebration occurs when a believer who strays is brought back to fellowship with the Good Shepherd. Has God ever had to go after you after a bad decision or action was taken? I can think of many examples in my life when I took the wrong road and made decisions that took me farther from God. I was lost, and for a time didn’t even realize how far off course I was. In fact, there were times when was so exhausted with trying to live life without Christ guiding me that it almost disabled me; I felt helpless and weak from being apart from Him.

In this passage of scripture we find a wonderful part of the parable that is found in verse 5: “And when he (the shepherd) has found it (the lost sheep), he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. “ In other words, the sheep can no longer walk, and cannot return to the home base on its’ own. He’s too weak.

Isn’t this what sin does to us? It weakens us so that we’re distracted, discouraged, and off base in every way. If not for Christ picking us up and bringing us back to Him, we would remain estranged from Him, unable to survive alone.

Read this passage in several translations and thank God that He has come after you when you’ve gone astray, and that He will continue to do so if we only ask. Read John 10:11. It is a great promise to us from Christ, our Shepherd.

~Duane Funderburk

Wednesday

John 15.9-11

9 “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. 10 If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. 11 I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.”

What Jesus says here is remarkable. Did you catch it? He says that as we keep his commands (namely, to love God, love others, and make disciples), we will bring him joy and we’ll be brought joy too.

That’s just plain amazing!

This idea reminds me of what it is like to be a good friend. Think back to a time when one of your friends really went out of their way to make you feel special. What did they do? Well, it’s likely that they did something that you liked because it made you feel good!

So if it was your birthday, they got you a personalized gift that demonstrated they thought of you. If you were having a hard time in some area of your life, they probably knew just how to listen and how to cheer you up. Or if had some great news, they knew precisely how to celebrate with you.

Here’s the point: as your friend did what they knew you would like, you felt joy. And then, in turn, they felt joy too, since there’s not much better in life than helping bring someone contentment.

This is what it’s like in our relationship with Jesus. We’re the friend who does what Jesus desires, namely to obey his commands. As we do so, we bring great joy to Jesus, which can and should bring us joy too.

So our joy is based less on our human relationships, our jobs, and our circumstances and much more on our connection to Jesus through the Spirit. So the bald truth is that if we want to experience joy, then we need to submit to the Spirit as he leads us to obey Jesus’ commands.

In what areas of your life do you have a hard time giving the reins over to the Spirt? How’s that working out for you? Are you finding joy in those areas?

And in what areas of your life are you submitting to the Spirit more and more? My guess is that you’re finding deep contentment there, even if from a worldly perspective it might be hard to see.

That’s the beauty of joy – it’s based on Jesus...not you, others, or your circumstances! Thank goodness!

~Matt Barnes

Thursday

John 17.11-13

11 “I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one. 12 While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me. None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled.”

13 “I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them.”

Jesus’ prayer for his disciples is a tender one, but also an urgent one. He knew that he would very soon no longer be with them personally and would be going to be with his heavenly father. They would be left “alone” without his presence, the source of their protection, provision, guidance, and ministry enablement. And, so His concern and focus in his prayer is to pray for their protection from the “evil one” and his deception and treachery and that they find and experience oneness (mutual support and encouragement) in their relationships and ministry, resulting in “the fullness of JOY.” This prayer for them was critical in light of Judas’ upcoming betrayal, which could potentially destroy their bond and trust with each other and discourage them from fulfilling Jesus’ mission for them to proclaim the Gospel “...in Jerusalem, Samaria, Judea and the uttermost parts of the world” (Acts 1.8).

Jesus is praying that the disciples would keep their focus on him, his promises, and his authority so as to not be shaken in their faith and trust because of difficult or devastating circumstances, aka works of the “evil one.” Jesus knew that their ability to be effective witnesses would be in direct proportion to the “inner joy” they experienced through the presence and power of the Holy Spirit living in them. That “joy” would make them contagious as they shared the Gospel in Jesus’ absence.

Where am I? Where are you when it comes to experiencing the “joy of the Lord?” Is there a “secret” to finding that joy? Am I contagious with that joy?

I am a grandparent and have seen a form of “pure joy” in our grandson, especially when his mother comes back into the room where he is after having been gone for a while. He puts on this absolutely beaming Cheshire-like smile that could melt the toughest heart! Why the joy? Because Mom is back and she is right there with him again. Mom is the one who loves him, protects him, cares for him, plays with him, and makes his life enjoyable and safe.

As believers, Jesus wants us to know and experience “a full measure of his joy”, too, the kind of joy he prayed for his disciples. It is a joy which is possible because of his presence in our lives through the Holy Spirit living in us. Jesus is never “gone for a while” and never “leaves us alone.” He has said that, “...he would never leave us or forsake us...” (Hebrews 13.5) and that we can always count on his love, care, protection, and guidance in our lives. The key, or “secret”, to having that joy, I believe, is “to fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith” (Hebrews 12.2) and not allow ourselves to be distracted or impacted by the “evil one’s” attempts to discourage or destroy us through some challenge or difficulty.

Joy is part of the “fruit of the Spirit.” Let’s claim it moment by moment in our daily walk with Jesus.

~Roger Bosch

Friday

Matthew 5.11-12

11 “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

I was in China at the time. It was a typically busy day filled with errands and meetings. Late in the day there was a chance to join a small home fellowship for prayer and worship.

The host of the meeting was an older man sitting on an old squeaky twin bed at one end of the single-room house. He motioned for my friend and me to sit next to him. We wound our way through what was a house packed with Believers. Every bit of floor space was occupied, as were the few of pieces of furniture he owned. The group sang and prayed and we joined in as best we could.

Our host asked if he could tell us his story of walking with Jesus and a story unwound not to dissimilar to what Jesus’ first disciples experienced.

Pastor Allan met Jesus. He heard his words and embraced them and his following of Jesus ultimately led to his arrest as a leader of an illegal and underground movement of churches in China. He told us of two long stints in hard labor camps and separation from his children for almost all of their formative years. He talked about physical torture and mental anguish. He had lived Jesus’ words that many of his followers would suffer for their commitment to him. But here is the most shocking thing I experienced that day... his JOY.

Pastor Allan told these stories with a deep, satisfied smile on his otherwise tired face. His eyes danced as he recounted God’s faithfulness throughout. He had entered into a place where God met him uniquely and where he had understood and expected to suffer for the sake of Christ, but instead of bitterness, it produced joy. The use of the term indicates a ‘delight’ in something. Pastor Allan delighted in the deep places he had been with God. It cultivated a way of being beyond happiness, with its attributes of coming and going, but a rooted delight in obeying the Lord and encountering him in deep ways...in a word, joy.

I have often thought of our brother and that afternoon almost twenty years ago now. The work of the Spirit in this man brought forth a very rare vintage of the fruit of the spirit labeled “joy;” joy in the face of suffering, joy on the other side of suffering, joy in telling a stranger his story of suffering.

As you reflect on difficult things that are a consequence of your faith in Christ, how has it given you opportunity to seek out this kind of joy? Were you able to embrace it? Can you identify growth in this aspect of the fruit of the Spirit? Today ask God to give you eyes to see where you have grown in this area and also courage to face where growth is still needed.

~Scott White

Saturday

Matthew 28.5-10

5 The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. 6 He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. 7 Then go quickly and tell his disciples: ‘He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.’ Now I have told you.”

8 So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. 9 Suddenly Jesus met them. “Greetings,” he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. 10 Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.”

Can you imagine what it must have been like for these women? They had loved and followed Jesus for quite some time. Then he was arrested, falsely accused, unjustly convicted, given a traitor’s sentence, and crucified.

They must have been crushed.

But their love for Jesus remained. They came to the place where they thought his body would be to care for him, which is the way an ancient person paid respect to a loved one who died.

But when they arrived at Jesus’ tomb, he was gone! An angel tells them what has happened and that they should go and tell the others.

Then the passage says that these women were “afraid yet filled with joy.” I mean, can you blame them!

Being in the presence of angelic beings must always instill fear in people because angels in the Bible almost always tell people not to afraid. Besides, they were expecting to find the lifeless body of Jesus, not an angel with a message just for them!

And they were filled with joy thanks to the message of this angel. They were told that Jesus was alive and that they were to go and tell others! How awesome! Their beloved Jesus wasn’t dead and they were being entrusted with an important, public task, which would have been extremely rare for women in the ancient world.

Sometimes when God moves in our lives it’s like this too – there’s fear and joy intermingled. Fear because when God moves it generally means that the status quo is being changed. And lots and lots of us really fear change. And there’s joy as well because it is fulfilling to be used by God for whatever he sees fit.

And let’s be just like these women – let’s not let our fear get in the way of experiencing the joy that God has for us!

~Matt Barnes

Study Notes

{tab-ex=English|active}

Synced: A Joy-filled Journey

John 16:16-24

     We’re going to be thinking today about the Bible’s declaration that one aspect of the fruit of God’s Spirit is joy. Few human beings would ever think that a life of joy is a bad thing. We all want to be happy, don’t we? But, one of the main things that I want you to take home today is that what the Bible means by joy is quite different from what the world means by joy.

     There is probably nothing that makes this point clearer than Jesus using the illustration of a woman going through labor pain as an example of a Christian’s joy. I am fully aware that a huge percentage of us in church today (including me) will never experience giving birth to a child personally. However, I think we can all understand it and gain from it. Jesus was dealing with his disciples’ sorrow after he told them that he would soon leave them by dying in order to prepare a place for all who believe in him in heaven. Jesus said that joy is like this: “A woman giving birth to a baby has pain. That’s because her hour to give birth has come. But when her baby is born, she forgets the pain. She forgets because she is so happy that a baby has been born into the world. That’s the way it is with you… (Jn 16:21-22a).”

     I have never given birth to a child but I have been present at the birth of each of my children. When Chris was in labor with Heather, we had attended all the Lamaze classes and I thought I had learned a lot. But, when Chris went into labor, I discovered there is a big difference between classroom learning and the real experience. We were talking together about this last week and both of us thought of the time when a really big labor pain came and out of empathy I got down close to Chris’ face – too close! She put her arm around my neck and got me in a headlock. As her pain grew, her arm-pressure grew. Dealing with the pain seemed to have given her enormous strength. I thought about what our Lamaze teacher had said, “Say, ‘Breathe! Take a deep breath.’” But at that time, I couldn’t breathe. I could only gasp, “Help! I can’t breathe myself!”

     A little while later another powerful labor pain came – just after the nurse and doctor had left the room. Chris shouted, “Everybody’s gone. Everybody’s left me!” I said, “No, I’m here.” And she yelled, “But you don’t know anything!”

     Jesus said that Christian joy is like that. If so, I for one need to figure out what he meant. So, let’s start.

#1: What Joy Is

     Joy is not something that you pursue for its own sake. You don’t usually say, “I want to experience some joy today. I’ll just try to smile and be happy!” Joy doesn’t work that way. You do want to experience joy, of course. But, joy comes when we discover or experience something else that we’ve been looking for or hoping for. So, joy is always connected to something else that you and I long for or something wonderful that we experience. With that in mind, let me propose this definition of joy: Joy is the intense and spontaneous emotional response of great gladness and delight when you have received or achieved something that you have deeply desired or have experienced something wonderful.

   In the Bible, joy flows out of a wide range of human experiences—from experiencing sexual love (Solomon’s Song 1:4), to entering into marriage after waiting a long time for it (Pr 5:18), to the birth of a child when a couple has longed for it (Ps 113:9), to soldiers securing a military victory (Isa 9:3), and even to drinking a great wine (Ps 104:15 and the marriage at Cana in John 2).

And if joy is a glad response to experiencing something you have long desired, you might expect joy to fill the Christmas story when the long-awaited Messiah is born. And it does!! The birth of John the Baptist as the forerunner of the Messiah brings joy to his old father (Lk 1:14). The angel's greeting to Mary is a call to rejoice (Lk 1:28). Later, shepherds are told that Jesus will bring great joy for all people (Lk 2:10). The Magi, upon finding the infant Jesus, are "overjoyed” (Mt 2:10).

     So, when you experience joy or happiness, it not that you have gone out and looked for it. Joy is the glad satisfaction that we feel when we find what we’ve longed for – when we experience something wonderful.

#2: What Is Different About the Joy of the Spirit

     With that understanding of joy, I’m sure you see that all people can experience joy. It’s not only Christians who feel joy when we receive or achieve something or someone we have longed for. But, there is still a difference in the way Jesus talked about joy in Jn 16 from the way the world does. Usually, the joy or happiness the world points toward doesn’t seem to last very long. In particular, the joy our culture talks about doesn’t often survive the pain and suffering of this world.

     A few years ago, author Amy Bloom wrote about this in an insightful article entitled The Rap on Happiness. Some schools of psychology don’t like what Bloom wrote because her main point is that happiness is “transient”. In her observations, Bloom had made note of what I said in my first point, i.e., that happiness is built on us having our longings fulfilled and 1) those things once attained do not seem to satisfy fully and 2) even if they provide some satisfaction, they don’t last. They grow old, boring or out of fashion. Bloom said, “Anything you get joy from in this world cannot last.”

     I should have learned this many years ago when, in the summer of 1964, I found I could pick up St. Louis radio station KMOX on my radio in West Virginia and I became a St. Louis Cardinals’ fan. No one else in my school was a Cards’ fan and they mocked me. But, I was able to buy a Cards’ hat and I wore it to school everyday. A few of you may know that in 1964, the Cards won the World Series. I was filled euphoric. I was so happy. Every day I wore my baseball cap to school. I used every penny I made mowing lawns buying baseball cards of the St. Louis players and I knew they would win the next year too.

   But they didn’t. In fact, the Cardinals fell apart. They had a losing season. In 1965, the World Series was won by… the Dodgers!! When that happened, everyone made fun of me with my St. Louis hat. I was so frustrated and I thought, “Never again. Never again will I give my heart to a baseball team!”

     My question to you is this: What do you give your heart to? To winning at fantasy football? To your child getting into law school? What is it that you long for the most? I’m afraid that many people say that Jesus is the Lord of their lives but, in reality, it is success or pleasure or…

     As far as I can determine it, the main difference between the world’s joy and Christian joy is the object of our joy, i.e., what it is that we most long for. If our ultimate desire is something that is temporary or based on a circumstance, when that thing is gone or that circumstance deteriorates, then the joy goes away with it.

     What Jesus talks about in John 16 is the kind of joy that nothing in this can ever take away -- even suffering and loss. This is a truth that C.S. Lewis wrote about this perhaps more than anyone. In his autobiography, Surprised By Joy, Lewis wrote about how he as a young boy experienced a deep joy inside when he read an Icelandic saga. It’s the kind of unexpected joy many of us have experienced when we hear some music that we love or see a great piece of art or eat a great meal or observe something as magnificent as a lunar eclipse! When we do, we want more and more of that thing that brings us joy.

     Lewis began reading every Icelandic story he could find – and eventually even began to read them in their original language. But, he became aware of the fact that his joy in them seemed to diminish. So, he switched his interest to other things that he thought might bring him joy – like a good friendship. He chose a friend and wanted to spend every moment of every day with that friends – until the friend had to say, “Let’s take a break from one another once in a while.”

     It was JRR Tolkien who heard Lewis talking about this and said to him that the things that bring us joy may not be the ultimate things in this world meant to bring us lasting joy. Tolkien said something like this: What if those things you enjoy so much are signposts pointing to their Maker, i.e., to the one who created them and gave them to you out of love. Lewis, he said, lasting joy is not to be found in the gift but in knowing and loving the Giver of the gift. Lewis spoke of this in The Weight of Glory:

The things in this world that we think bring joy “will betray us if we trust in them. But it was not in them, it only came through them, and what came through them was longing. These things… are good images of what we really desire; but if they are mistaken for the thing itself they turn into dumb idols, breaking the hearts of their worshipers. For they are not the thing itself; they are only the scent of a flower we have not found, the echo of a tune we have not heard, news from a country we have never yet visited.”

     This is why a Christian and non-Christian alike can find joy in the good things in this world. James 1 tells us that every good gift comes from our Heavenly Father. However, the good things are not the ultimate things. The gifts God gives only point to how good God is. If we live for those things he gives out of his love, they will let us down every time. But, if we know God and that he loves us with an everlasting love, then we know that what he is after in our lives is a lasting joy. So, as Paul put it in Phil 4, when we abound with things, we rejoice for we know God is blessing us. But, when we lack things, we rejoice because we know God is doing something for our good – even when don’t understand what he’s doing at the time.

     This is what Jesus is getting at in Jn 16. He was going to die and the disciples couldn’t make any sense out of it. It was painful for them. But, he asked them to trust him because he was doing something more wonderful than they could imagine – and it would take this kind of suffering to bring it about. This is the reason why true followers of Jesus can have joy in the midst of pain and loss – because we find our joy ultimately in God and we trust him. Do you know him? Do you know Jesus died and bore the punishment for your sin on the cross? Do you also know that Jesus personally found joy in the midst of this great agony because he knew where his suffering would lead? Let me show you two verses now that I show you often:

Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.  Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart (Heb 12:2-3).

     Let me ask you: Who is it that brought such delight to Jesus that, even when he went through unimaginable pain, he found joy in it. Who brought him the joy? What brought joy to Jesus was what His Father was going to do in you because of Jesus’ death. Jesus finds our redemption and remaking so beautiful that he finds joy – in in the midst of suffering. The world’s joy is nothing like that.

How Joy Grows in Us

     Let me remind you that this series is about the “Fruit of God’s Spirit.” Each message we will hear will be a reminder that the life God will produce in us is beautiful but that he must do the work in us. Getting a set of rules telling us that we must do this or that – or refrain from doing this or that – will not produce the fruit of the Spirit. And our own human initiative won’t do it either. Therefore, hear this: Christian Joy Is Not an Act of Will-Power.You can decide to do things that may bring you joy — spend a day at the beach, visit a friend, read a great book — but the lasting fruit of joy doesn’t come that way.

     And, hear this too: Christian Joy Is Not Natural but Spiritual. This distinguishes Christian joy from all other joys. Pride is natural to us. Envy is natural to us. And so it is with jealousy and anger and strife and self-pity and selfishness. These all come from the inner spirit of us as flawed people. Paul calls them the works of the flesh. It takes no special, supernatural work of the Holy Spirit are needed to produce them. We produce these things by our own nature.

     The fruit of joy is the work of God’s Spirit. John Piper tells us how we experience this as believers:

First, there is the love of God, which chooses us and calls us and makes us right with God and guarantees for us a share in the glory of God. Then, there is the work of the Holy Spirit who pours the love of God into our hearts so that we recognize it and cherish it. Then, out of this deep experience of the love of God grows an unshakable hope even in the midst of suffering. And, in this hope we find joy – unquenchable joy.”

     But, we can open our hearts to the Spirit’s work. For that, I’ll suggest a few things that might help you be the kind of fertile soil in which the seed of God’s joy will grow without restraint:

1. Let joy begin with your weekly worship. Here, I’m speaking about you coming to church each week to be with your church family and together with our Heavenly Father. Prepare to come each week by praying before you come to church, “Lord, I want to join my voice in praise to you with young and old, with rich and poor. Lord, my deepest joy is not just in music that I’m drawn to but in you. So, help me to be ready to exalt you, to listen to your Word, and to rejoice with my church family.” Get here on time – even early. I recommend reading a Psalm like Ps 63:

Oh God, you are my God. I seek you. My soul thirsts for you today…

I look upon you in this sanctuary as I contemplate your power and glory.

Your steadfast love is better than life so my lips will praise you.

I will bless you a long as I live so I now lift my hands and call upon your name….

You have been my help. In the shadow of your wings I sing for joy!

1. Make a list of the things that bring you the most joy in this world. Thank God for them if he is providing them now. But then ask whether those things have become idols. Have they become so important to you that you simply cannot have joy without them? Ask God to work in your heart through his Spirit that you will find joy each day in him – whether you have or experience those things or not.
2. Change the way you start each day. Start tomorrow. If you begin each day with a focus on God’s presence and reflecting on his love, it will change everything. Spend some quiet and undisturbed time at the very beginning of each day thanking God for the pleasure and gifts he gives you – both great and small. Then surrender the challenges to him too and acknowledge he is wise and is greater than those things. Tell him you trust him. Find your joy in him.

And all this brings us to the joy we have today in dedicating the Maple Street facility…

{tab-ex=Chinese Translation}

Synced: A Joy-filled Journey - Chinese Translation

充滿喜樂的旅途

約翰福音16：16-24

今天，我們要思考聖經中提到的一個聖靈的果子----喜樂。沒有人會認為喜樂的生命是一件壞事。我們都希望快樂，不是嗎？但是今天，我希望大家能理解到，聖經對喜樂的理解與世俗的理解有很大的不同。

            耶穌用婦人經歷生產之痛為例，來解釋基督徒的喜樂。大概沒有比這更能解釋聖經與世俗在這件事的觀點有多麽不同了。我確信，今天在座的各位中（包括我自己），有很大比例的人都永遠也無法體會生產的經歷。然而我想，我們都可以理解這種經歷，並且從中得益處。耶穌告訴祂的門徒，為了給那些信靠祂的人在天上預備地方，祂很快就要離開他們了。在這之後，耶穌在安慰門徒們的悲傷的時候對他們說：婦人生產的時候，就憂愁，因為她的時候到了。既生了孩子，就不再紀念那苦楚，因為歡喜世上生了一個人。你們現在也是憂愁。但我要再見你們……（約16：21-22）。

            我從來沒生過孩子，但是我的每個孩子出生時我都在場。當我妻子在生老大的時候，我們參加了所有的無痛分娩的課程。我以為我懂得很多了。但是，當我妻子進入產房的時候，我才發現，真實的經歷和課堂裏的經歷大相徑庭。上周我們還一起談到這件事。我們兩人都想到那個時候，有一次，陣痛來臨，我因為心疼她，而靠近她的臉，我離她太近了，她用胳膊摟著我的脖子，把我的頭給鎖住了。當她疼痛增強的時候，她胳膊的壓力也同時增強。與疼痛的奮戰似乎給了她巨大的力量。我想到了教我們無痛分娩課程的老師說過的話：“呼吸！深呼吸。”但是，在那個時候，我都無法呼吸。我只能喘著大氣說：救命! 我沒法呼吸了！”過後不久，醫生和護士剛剛離開，有一次陣痛來臨了。我妻子喊著說:“人都走光了！每個人都離開我了！”我說:“沒有啊，我在這兒呢。”她喊著說：“但是你什麽都不知道！”

            耶穌說，基督徒的喜樂就是這樣的。如果真是如此，那我就有責任思考清楚祂的意思了。好，我們可以開始了。

第一，什麽是喜樂

            你一般不會去追求喜樂本身。你通常不會說，“我今天想經歷喜樂。”或者說“我要努力微笑和快樂！”  喜樂不是這樣運作的。當然你想要經歷喜樂。但是，當我們發現或經歷其他事情的時候，喜樂會不期然地來臨。有了這個共識，我就來給喜樂下一個定義: 喜樂是當你的某種深切期盼得到滿足、或在你經歷美妙的事情時，一種強烈而發自內心的快樂反應。

            在聖經從記載中提到，從人類各樣的經歷中，都有喜樂流出，比如從異性之愛的經歷中（雅歌1:4）,從漫長的等待到進入婚姻的經歷中（箴言5：18），從盼望已久的孩子出生的經歷中（詩113：9），從士兵得到軍事上勝利的經歷中（賽9：3），甚至從喝美酒的經歷中（詩104：15），和迦拿的婚宴中（約2）。

            如果喜樂是因著經歷一些你渴望已久的事而產生的高興的反應，那麽在聖誕節的故事中，盼望已久的彌賽亞的誕生就會帶來喜樂。事實也是如此！彌賽亞的先行者施洗約翰的出生為他年邁的父親帶來喜樂（路1:14）。天使對瑪利亞的問安是喜樂的呼召（路1:28）。之後，天使對牧羊人說，耶穌會為世人帶來大好的信息（路2：10）。博士找到嬰孩耶穌，就大大地歡喜(太2:10)。

            因此，你所經歷喜樂或幸福，並不是你刻意出去找到的，喜樂是當我們找到我們所期盼的、或當我們經歷美好事物的時候所得到的快樂的滿足感。

第二：聖靈的喜樂有何不同？

            有了前面對喜樂的理解，我相信你已經看到，所有的人，包括基督徒和非基督徒都可以經歷喜樂。然而，耶穌在約翰福音第16章所談到的喜樂，和世人所談到的喜樂還是有所不同。通常，世人所指的喜樂和幸福似乎不會持續太久，因為他們似乎專註於得到不能持久的東西。尤其，在我們的文化中所談到的喜樂，常常都不能在世間的痛苦中生存下來。

        幾年前，作家艾米·布盧姆在一篇題為“幸福的節奏”的頗有見地的文章中寫到過這個主題。布盧姆的主要觀點是，幸福是“短暫的”。在她的研究中，布盧姆寫到了我第一個觀點中所說的意思，也就是說，幸福建立在我們的盼望得到滿足之後。首先，人們從那些事情中並不能得到完全的滿足；其次，即使人們能夠從中得到滿足，這種滿足也不能持久。它們會變得陳舊、無聊或者過時。布盧姆說: “你從這個世界所得到的任何快樂都不能持久。”

            我應該在許多年前就已經學到這個功課了。那是早在1964年的夏天，我發現我能夠在我位於西佛吉尼亞州的電臺中找到聖路易斯的KMOX廣播電臺。從那以後，我就變成聖路易斯紅雀隊的粉絲。在我的學校裏，沒有人熱衷於紅雀隊，他們都嘲笑我。但是我可以買到紅雀隊的帽子，並且每天戴著去上學。在座諸位可能有人知道，在1964年，紅雀隊得到了世界聯賽的冠軍。我欣喜無比，高興之極。天天帶著我的棒球帽去學校。我把割草賺來的每一分錢都省下來買聖路易斯棒球隊隊員的卡片。我知道，他們下一年也會贏的。

            然而他們沒贏。實際上，紅雀隊瓦解了，他們整個賽季都輸了。1965年，世界聯賽的冠軍是----道奇隊！！那個時候，每個人都在拿我的聖路易斯帽子開玩笑。我充滿了挫敗感，我想，“再也不會這樣了。我的心再也不會屬於任何一個棒球隊了!”

            我要問你的問題是，你把你的心放在哪裏？贏得榮譽的足球隊？你的即將進入法學院的孩子？你最渴望的是什麽？恐怕許多人嘴上會說，主耶穌是他們生命的主，但是實際上卻是成功、或是享受、或者更多……

            就我所理解的，世人的喜樂和基督徒的喜樂最主要的區別，就是喜樂的對象不同，也就是我們最渴慕的對象是不同的。如果我們最終的渴望只是暫時的、或是以現實狀況為基礎的，當那件事過去之後，或者那種狀況改變了之後，快樂也會隨之消失了。

耶穌在約翰福音16章所講到的喜樂，是任何事情都無法奪去的，哪怕是痛苦和喪失。祂說，人們可以因著對更大的事的期盼，而勝過哪怕是像婦人的生產那樣的痛苦。

            魯益士關於這一點所寫的，可能超過所有的人。在他的自傳“喜樂帶來的驚喜”中，魯益士寫了當他還是一個小男孩的時候，在閱讀“冰島傳奇”時所經歷的深切喜樂。這是我們許多人都曾經歷過的不期然的喜樂，比如當我們聽到我們喜愛的音樂，或看到一幅出色的藝術作品，或是吃一頓大餐，或是看到美麗的月蝕之時。每當如此，我們就越來越多地需要那些能夠帶給我們快樂的東西。

            魯益士開始閱讀所有他能找到的每一本冰島傳奇，甚至開始閱讀原文。然而他發現，他在其中能得到的快樂似乎在減少。因此他就把興趣轉移到他認為能帶給他快樂的其他事情上，比如友誼。他選擇了一個朋友，他每天每個時刻都想跟那個朋友在一起，直到有一天，那個朋友對他說：“我們還是隔一段時間再見一次面吧。”

            托爾金聽到魯益士談起這件事時告訴他說：“能夠帶給大多數人快樂的東西，並不意味著它就能帶給我們永久的快樂。”托爾金過類似這樣的話：“如果你所享受的東西，其實都是指向它們的創造者的路標，那會如何呢？比方說，它們都指向創造它們、而又因愛你而將它們賜給你的那一位”。托爾金告訴魯益士，持久的喜樂無法在禮物中找到，而只能在對那位賜禮物者的了解和愛中得到。魯益士在他的題為“榮耀的價值”一書中談到了這一點。

            在這個世界上，假如我們依賴於那些我們以為能夠為我們帶來喜樂的事物，那麽它們“會背叛我們。這些事情……只是我們真正所需之物的美麗的影子，假如我們錯把它本身當成我們真正所需要的，它就會變成愚蠢的偶像，令它們的崇拜者心碎。因為它們不是我們真正想要的；它們只是我們尚未找到的花發出的香味，是我們尚未聽到的曲調發出的回音，是關於我們尚未拜訪之地的消息。”

正因如此，基督徒和非基督徒都能在世上的美好事物中找到喜樂。雅各書第一章告訴我們，每一件美好的禮物都來自我們的天父。然而，神所賜給我們的美好事物本身並不帶有終極性。神所賜下的禮物，都在告訴我們，神是多麽美好。如果我們為了這些祂因著愛我們、而賜給我們的事物而活，那麽我們永遠會因它們而失望。然而，如果我們認識神，並且知道祂以永恒之愛來愛我們，那麽我們就知道，祂要在我們的生命中賜給我們持久的喜樂。

這就是耶穌在約翰福音十六章中所說的意思。他正準備受死，而門徒們卻無法了解，這對於他們來說是痛苦的。但是祂卻要他們信靠祂，因為祂委身去做的事，比他們所能想象的要奇妙得多，而這件事的實現，將會以如此的痛苦作為代價。因此，我們相信，無論何時的任何的痛苦，都將會帶來益處。也正是因為如此，真正跟隨耶穌的門徒們能在痛苦和失喪中仍有喜樂，因為我們發現我們最終的喜樂是在神裏面，並且我們全然信靠祂。你認識祂嗎？你知道耶穌因著承擔你罪的刑罰死在十字架上嗎？你能了解嗎？耶穌在極大的痛苦中找到喜樂，是因著祂知道自己所受的苦楚會帶來什麽結果。讓我用一節深刻含義的經文來提醒大家：“仰望為我們信心創始成終的耶穌。他因那擺在前面的喜樂，就輕看羞辱，忍受了十字架的苦難，便坐在　神寶座的右邊。”希伯來書12:2   

            我想問大家一個問題：是誰即使在耶穌經歷難以想象的痛苦時，仍帶給祂這樣的喜樂？是誰帶給了祂喜樂？帶給耶穌喜樂的是，祂的天父藉著耶穌的死而要為你所成就的。耶穌發現我們的拯救和生命的重建是如此美麗，因而當祂在十字架上蒙受痛苦的時刻，仍為之喜悅。世間沒有喜樂是這樣的。

喜樂如何在我們的內心成長

讓我提醒大家，這個講道系列是關於“聖靈的果子”。我們所聽到的每篇信息，都將會提醒我們，神將要在我們裏面造就的生命是美麗的，但是祂必須要在我們裏面做工。有一些做事的規則會讓我們知道，我們該做這事或那事，避免做這個或那個，否則就不會結出聖靈的果子。然而基督徒的喜樂不是一種意誌力的行為。你可以決定去做一些帶給你喜樂的事，如在沙灘消磨一天的時間、拜訪一個朋友、讀一本重要的書，但是持久喜樂的果子不是從這些之中產生的。

也請留意這一點：基督徒的喜樂不是與生俱來的，而是屬靈的。這將基督徒的喜樂從所有其它的喜樂中區別開來。驕傲是我們與身俱來的，嫉妒是我們的天性，與此相同的出於天生的還有妒忌、憤怒、自憐和自私。保羅把它們稱為肉體情欲所結的果子。這些特質都不需要聖靈使用特別的、超自然的工作來產生。我們會靠著天然的本性去產生這些東西。

但是我們能夠向聖靈的工作打開我們的心門。為此，我會給大家一些建議，來幫助你成為一種沃土，使得神喜樂的種子會在其中無限地生長。

第一，讓喜樂從你每星期的敬拜中開始。我指的是大家每周來到教會，與教會的大家

庭、並我們的天父在一起。在你來教會之前，預備你的心，做這樣的禱告：“主啊，我想將我的聲音加入到那些無論年老的、年輕的、富足的和貧窮的弟兄姊妹們的聲音中去贊美你。因而，請幫助我準備好我的心去高舉你，傾聽你的話語，並且與我教會的家人們一同歡喜快樂。”準時或提早到達教會，讀像詩篇63篇這類的經文。

神啊，你是我的　神！我要切切地尋求你。我渴想你，我的心切慕你。

             我在聖所中曾如此瞻仰你，為要見你的能力和你的榮耀。

             我還活的時候要這樣稱頌你，我要奉你的名舉手。

            你一直是我的幫助。在你的翅膀的蔭下，我歡呼！

第二，列出一份在世上帶給你最多快樂的事物清單。如果神正在為你提供這些事情，那

麽感謝神。但隨後你應當詢問，這些東西是否都成為了你的偶像。他們有沒有變得

對你重要到一個地步，以致沒有了它們你就根本無法喜樂？求神通過聖靈在你心裏

做工，使你在祂裏面每天都得到喜樂——無論你是否曾擁有或經歷過那些事情。

第三，改變你開始新的一天的方式，從明天就重新開始。如果在每一天即將開始之時，

你都把焦點放在上帝的同在之上，並思想他的愛，一切都將會被改變。在每一天開始的時候，花一些安靜、不受打擾的時間，為上帝給你的喜樂和禮物獻上感謝——不論它們的大小。然後也將你所面對的挑戰交給祂，並且承認祂是智慧的，祂遠超過那些事物。告訴祂你信靠祂，並在祂裏面得到喜樂。

 

 

祂的荣耀，

格雷格Waybright博士
主任牧師

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Greg Waybright • Copyright 2015, Lake Avenue Church