Did you know that the Jesus who lives in you is a joyful Jesus? “These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full.” I know so many miserable Christians, and that is such a tragedy. To be miserable, we have to fight our way through the joyful Christ who lives in us. Jesus is the God-man, and because He is fully man, the fullness of God fits in you very well, and can you imagine how much joy the God-man in you has? Is there a ceiling on how much joy God has? You were created to be in union with Christ, and it was the joyful vision of that union being realized that enabled Jesus to endure the horror of the Cross. It was a tortured but joyful Christ that died on your behalf, and He, having accomplished your union with Him, is hilariously joyful in you about it. He invites you in every situation and relationship to surrender to His overcoming joy in you that your joy might be as complete as His is. Somehow many sincere Christians think that the Christ who lives in you must be serious at all times because He is holy. The word holy, or sanctify literally means “other,” and the Jesus who has infused Himself with your humanity is totally “other” than the fallen, discouraged, and depressed self you used to be. I have found that so many believers are afraid of the word “happy.” I think that’s because they are trying to justify it is okay to live in a low-grade sense of misery, but the word “happy” is an English word whose origin simply means “good fortune.” I can’t think of any people in the world that can declare their good fortune more than Christians. The biblical word “blessed” carries the strongest idea of living a life of stunning fortune because of the favor of God. I, just like everyone else in this fallen world, have experienced tribulation. Some of those experiences of tribulation have carried great pain, but even in those times (maybe especially in those times), the joy of the Lord has been my strength. The holy, joyful, hilariously excited Jesus that lives in you invites you to surrender to His infinite joy, so that you can live in the complete joy that Jesus lives in. Oh, by the way, living in completed joy is not a personality type – well, I guess it is Jesus’s personality type.
