八福
你不能制造快乐
经文
马可福音六45-51
45耶稣随即催门徒上船,先渡到那边伯赛大去,等他叫众人散开。
46他既辞别了他们,就往山上去祷告。
47到了晚上,船在海中,耶稣独自在岸上;
48看见门徒因风不顺,摇橹什苦。夜里约有四更天,就在海面上走,往他们那里去,意思要走过他们去。
49但门徒看见他在海面上走,以为是鬼怪,就喊叫起来;
50因为他们都看见了他,且什惊慌。耶稣连忙对他们说:你们放心!是我,不要怕!
51于是到他们那里,上了船,风就住了;他们心里十分惊奇
信息分享
昨天我们说过所有人都想快乐,这没有不对,因为这是神放在我们里面一种根深蒂固的本能。但快乐不是你制造的成果,而是你所接受的东西。你不能制造快乐,就好像你不能制造爱一样。你可以表达爱,但是不能制造爱。
快乐也是这样,你不能制造牠。她好像一个喜欢捉弄人的女孩子一样,你追逐她的时候,她会躲避你,但是当你转离她,对另一些事物或别人感兴趣的时候,反而有可能得到她。圣经和心理学对这点有一致的观点,而数以百万计的人也都确认这个发现。我所认识的最沮丧、最无奈的人就是那些最想得到快乐的人。有一个老太太带着孙子去看马戏,小孩却害怕起来,老太太唬吓他说:「好好的看表演,你听到没有?我带你到这儿来的目的是让你快乐,所以你一定得快乐起来!」,她说完把孩子使劲的摇,直到他的牙齿格格作响。有时,那些想得到快乐的人对自己说的话,就像老太太的话一样。
我们今天的经文说门徒很辛苦,在黑暗中摇橹但是徒劳无功。风和浪都与他们作对,他们的努力完全是白费的。然后耶稣来到。根据约翰对这件事的记载,他们带耶稣上船,船就马上去到彼岸(约六21)。快乐就是这样。我们努力要得到,但是「辛劳摇橹却停滞不前」。等到我们请耶稣进来以后,我们才能悠然地到达彼岸。
「快乐不是你能制造的,而是你所接受的」
进深研究
赛六十一1-10;路十21;约十五11;诗十六11;尼八10
1. 以赛亚的见证是什么?
2. 我们的力量来自哪里?
祈祷
天父,我明白要得到快乐不能使劲的关注牠,因为牠不是一种成就,而是因为认识您连带的得着。求您帮助我能够更深的认识您,不仅是今天,而是每一天。奉耶稣的名祈求,阿们。
The Beatitudes
You cannot make happiness
Bible reading:
Mark 6:45-51
45 Immediately Jesus made his disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd.
46 After leaving them, he went up on a mountainside to pray.
47 Later that night, the boat was in the middle of the lake, and he was alone on land.
48 He saw the disciples straining at the oars, because the wind was against them. Shortly before dawn he went out to them, walking on the lake. He was about to pass by them,
49 but when they saw him walking on the lake, they thought he was a ghost. They cried out,
50 because they all saw him and were terrified. Immediately he spoke to them and said, "Take courage! It is I. Don't be afraid."
51 Then he climbed into the boat with them, and the wind died down. They were completely amazed,
Message
Yesterday we said that we all want to be happy - and rightly so. This is a deep-rooted instinct which God has built into us. But happiness is not something you make but something you receive. You cannot make happiness any more than you can make love. You can express love but you cannot make love.
So it is with happiness. You cannot make it. She is a coquette: follow her and she eludes you; turn from her and interest yourself in something or someone else and you may win her. The Scriptures and psychology are at one here, and the experience of millions confirms their findings. The most miserable and fed-up people I know are those who are most bent on being happy. They are saying to themselves what the old lady said to the frightened child whom she had taken to the circus: "Now enjoy yourself, do you hear? I brought you here to have a good time, so make sure you do" - as she shook him till his teeth rattled.
In the passage before us today, it is said that the disciples were toiling, rowing in the dark and getting nowhere. The wind and the waves were against them and the whole venture was ending in futility. Then Jesus came. In John's account of the same event, we are told that they took Him into their boat and immediately the boat reached the shore where they were heading (John 6:21). This is the way it is with happiness. We strive to achieve it, but we "toil in rowing". Then we let Christ in - and lo, we reach the shore where we were going.
"Happiness is something you receive"
Prayer
Father, I see that to get happiness, I must forget it. It is not an achievement, but a by-product -- a by-product of knowing You. Help me to know You better, not just today but every day. In Jesus' Name I pray. Amen.
Further study
Isaiah 61:1-10
Luke 10:21
John 15:11
Psalm 16:11
Nehemiah 8:10
1. What was Isaiah's testimony?
2. Where does our strength come from?
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