Galatians 23-24 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
Fruit, or “karpos” in Greek, means fruit, produce or offspring—what is produced by the inherent energy of a living organism. Because Jesus is the vine and we are the branches, apart from Him, nobody can bear much fruit. Therefore, Joy is an outflow of God from the depth of our hearts because we are quietly confident that He is able. It is also a kind of contentment that can only be found in the Lord in all circumstances. It takes maturity for a believer to be content with just having Jesus in his life because the rest is temporal. This comes about when someone truly appreciates the value of being saved and being able to spend eternity with the Lord.
The is a huge difference between happiness and joy. Happiness is subject to circumstances whereas joy is independent of them. This joy is first experienced on the day of our conversion, when our life takes on a new meaning after we have experienced reconciliation with God and established that our identity is founded in Christ. It gives us great significance in life and all kinds of striving can now stop because we are secure in God’s love, and His opinion about us is what matters most.
James 1:2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds.
The Bible says that when we face trials in life, we should consider it pure joy and stand in God’s grace. How do we stay in the joy?
Believers or unbelievers alike will face trials and tribulations in life, but it is how we face them that differentiates us from the world. The devil will throw us all kinds of sufferings, challenges, sicknesses and pain, just so that we will get disappointed, disillusioned and frustrated with God, and there will be times when we question why God allows us to walk through such deep valleys in our lives. However, we have a choice of either going through a period of tribulation and become bitter with God or allow Him to walk us through with His grace and strength.
The consolation is we know there will be the fight of faith—a battle between what we are experiencing and what we proclaim to believe. It is in this molding process where character is built. When we refuse to give up on our conviction that God is good, faithful, merciful, gracious, loving— everything that Scripture says about Him, it gives us hope of a breakthrough and deliverance.
It is the joy that sustains us. There is a deep assurance given by the Holy Spirit about God’s love in our hearts, and we know that ultimately, God still wins and reigns in eternity.
Sermon Series: Joy – The Fruit of the Holy Spirit
保持喜乐
加拉太书5:22~24 圣灵所结的果子，就是仁爱、喜乐、和平、忍耐、恩慈、良善、信实、温柔、节制。这样的事没有律法禁止。凡属基督耶稣的人，是已经把肉体连肉体的邪情私欲同钉在十字架上了。
希腊文中的karpos，代表的就是果实，农作物，或是祭品供物，是产自于一个生命体的内在力量/固有能量。耶稣是葡萄树，我们是枝子，离开了祂，没有人可以产出多少果实。因为我们深信 神的能力，因此，喜乐是当上帝充满我们心灵时的自然流露。这样的喜乐，其实也是一种满足，在面对各种各样的景况，唯有寻见 神，才可以得此满足。单单因为拥有耶稣就得获满足，这样的基督徒是成熟的，他们知道耶稣以外属世的一切，不过是过眼云烟。当一个人真正地珍视救恩并与主同享永恒的价值时，他就是一个喜乐又满足的基督徒。
快乐和喜乐大不相同。快乐受环境的制约，喜乐则不然。当我们经历了与上帝的和解，并建立了在基督里的新身份，生命旋即被赋予了新的意义，这是我们初尝喜乐滋味的日子。这个转变极具意义，我们不再需要挣扎奋战，因为我们受神爱的庇佑，神对我们生命的看法和评价才是最重要的。
雅各书1:2我的弟兄们，你们落在百般试炼中，都要以为大喜乐。
圣经告诉我们，当面对生命里的试炼，我们应该要感到大喜乐，并站立在 神的恩典里。但究竟要如何常保喜乐呢？
无论信徒或非信徒，都会经历生命中的试炼和磨难。将我们从世人中区分出来的，是我们面对困难的态度。魔鬼会以各种各样的折磨，挑战，疾病和苦痛，使我们对上帝感到失望，幻灭和沮丧。有时候我们会质疑神，为何祂允许让我们身陷于生命的低谷。然而，我们可以选择患难过后对上帝心怀苦毒，也可以选择让祂陪伴我们靠着祂的恩典和力量来行过这一程。
值得欣慰的是，我们知道会有信心的争战，这是一场“所处现况”与“信心宣告”之间的争战。品格就是在这样的磨塑过程中建立起来的。当我们拒绝放弃， 坚信上帝是良善，信实，仁爱，恩慈，慈爱的，坚信圣经上所说 关于上帝的一切，我们就有了突破和得救的希望。
从神而来的喜乐支持着我们。上帝的爱在我们的心里，这是圣灵给予的深刻确据，我们知道，上帝始终是得胜者并且是永恒的掌权者。
讲章系列：喜乐 – 圣灵所结的果子