5月3日

標　　題：基督的喜樂

經　　節：現在我往你那裡去，我還在世上說這話，是叫他們心裡充滿我的喜樂。（約翰福音十七章13節）

倘若說基督徒的生活要有與眾不同之處，那應該是喜樂！耶穌屢次向門徒提及，祂自己的喜樂完全充滿他們。當門徒瞭解，自己是神的兒女及與基督同作後嗣的身分，他們充滿喜樂（羅馬書八：16∼17）。他們原本是死在自己的過犯之中，現在在基督裡卻是活著（羅馬書六：4）。他們本來是無望的死囚，如今死亡已不能再威脅他們了（哥林多前書十五：55∼58）。門徒擁有如此奇妙的基督救恩，怎能不喜樂呢？

不要拒絕自己是神兒女的身分。不要滿足于沒有喜樂的生活，每個基督徒都應該擁有基督內住的喜樂，這喜樂是任何生活環境不能奪去的。然而，惟有你允許聖靈在你的生活中彰顯祂自己時，你才能得著這種喜樂。聖靈果子的其中一個特質就是喜樂（加拉太書五：22）。喜樂不像快樂，快樂由世事而生，喜樂則洋溢在你做的每件事情上。

耶穌並沒有為你僅僅享有快樂、或是免除憂傷而禱告。祂為你祈禱，要讓你擁有天父所賜給祂的喜樂。這份喜樂是一種神聖的喜樂，是由你與天父深刻而穩固的關係，所培養出來的。這份喜樂是堅固地植根於你與天父的關係，沒有任何環境的改變可以動搖它。基督為你所禱告的是讓你擁有這種喜樂。

The Joy of Christ

"But now I come to You, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have My joy fulfilled in themselves." (John 17:13)

If there is anything that ought to characterize the life of a Christian, it is joy! Jesus spoke many times to His disciples about His joy being complete and full in them. His disciples were filled with joy as they realized who they were: children of God and joint heirs with Christ (Rom. 8:16–17). They had been dead in their sins but were now made alive in Christ (Rom. 6:4). They had once been helpless victims of death, but now death had no hold over them (1 Cor. 15:55–58). With such a marvelous salvation experience with Christ, how could the disciples be anything less than joyful?

Don’t deny yourself that which is your birthright as a child of God. Don’t be satisfied with a joyless life. There ought to be in every Christian a deep, settled fullness of the joy of Christ that no circumstance of life can dispel. This comes as you allow the Holy Spirit to express Himself in your life. One of the fruits of the Spirit is joy (Gal. 5:22). This joy is unlike any happiness that is produced by the world. It fills you and permeates everything you do.

Jesus did not pray that you would merely be happy or even that you would escape grief. He prayed that you would have the same joy that the Father had given Him: a divine joy, a joy that comes from a deep and unwavering relationship with the Father. It is a joy that is grounded so firmly in a relationship with God that no change in circumstances could ever shake it. This is the kind of joy that Christ is praying will be in you.