Absorbing Joy from a Cheerful Savior

Posted on by Jennifer Arimborgo

“Come to me and I will cheer you. I am cheerful and humble in heart, and you will find cheer for your soul.” (Matt. 11:29, TPT footnote).

The Passion Translation provides this alternate rendering of Jesus’ well-known words, “You will find rest for your souls.” Can you see Him smiling with a twinkle in His eyes as He puts it this way, with His arms outreached? “Come here, child, and I will cheer you up!”

Jesus is always in a good mood. He is a jolly Person; a welcoming, happy smile ever lights up His eyes. He belly laughs often, unable to contain His ebullient joy. “Cheerful” is indeed the perfect word to describe this aspect of who He is. In His presence is fullness of joy, because joy is a fundamental part of His personality. As we spend time with Him, this aspect of His nature will become infused into who we are too. We will find cheer for our souls!

On a gloomy day, Jesus is the best place to go. The sunshine emanating from His being can warm and lift us from our sadness, every time. He knows that we are going to run into hard times in this life, and sometimes even devastating times. And yet, He looks lovingly into our eyes and says,

“These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world” (John 16:33, NKJV).

Be of good cheer, dear one. You are infinitely loved, infinitely cherished, infinitely cared for. In the mist of tribulation, He has real peace to give you. He has already overcome everything that is coming against you; you can rest deeply in that. You can face every challenge today from a position of victory.

So whatever you are going through, be of good cheer! The cheerful One is here to permeate you with joy deeper than anything you could ever walk through. He is here to cheer you, to impart His very own cheer to you. Be of good cheer! In this very command is the empowering that you need to receive His generous provision of joy. Be of good cheer! Yes, even now, receive His cheer for your soul!

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Do you think of Jesus as cheerful? Do you picture Him in a good mood when you talk to Him?

16 thoughts on “Absorbing Joy from a Cheerful Savior”

  1. Jesus is absolutely cheerful, and He makes me cheerful too !
    Perhaps you have heard this story of Linda.

    Linda told everyone that she had accepted Jesus into her heart. She said, she is a new creation now.

    However, whenever anyone saw Linda in public, they noticed that she often had an angry, scowling expression. She definitely looked unhappy.

    Finally, a friend from church commented to her : ‘ Linda, if Jesus has entered your heart, please inform your face. 😄🌼

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  3. I hesitate to call Jesus “cheerful.” A disturbing painting popular in the late 60s was “The Laughing Jesus.” While He unquestionably was someone on whose lap little children would enjoy sitting, suggesting that He must have had a wonderful smile, the only Scriptural description of His emotional states talk about His joy AND being a “man of sorrows, acquainted with grief.”
    I think His joy goes much deeper than a good belly-laugh to the satisfaction of knowing He was doing His Father’s will.
    At the same time, one of the finest speakers I ever heard was a student who while in Seminary would have everyone rolling in the aisles … until he made his final point. “A merry heart does good like medicine.” Proverbs 17:22 NKJV

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    1. Oh, I agree with you, C.A., that His joy was the deepest kind! I don’t think that cheerfulness is necessarily shallow. One of the most joyful people I know, in a deeply joyful way, has been through deep suffering in his life, He is also the most cheerful person I know. I believe the deepest kind of God-joy and cheerfulness often do coincide. Also, Hebrews speaks of Jesus, applying this Psalm:
      Heb 1:9
      You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness;
      therefore God, your God, has anointed you
      with the oil of gladness beyond your companions.”
      ESV
      This really seems to tell us that He was more joyful than the people that surrounded Him. If He was that much more joyful, it must have been noticeable!
      I’ll also speak from my own life experience. I have been through deep-heart, painful suffering in my years as a missionary. Years of it. Very, very hard things in many different aspects of life. I can personally relate to Jesus, to a degree, in being acquainted with grief. Of course no one will ever come close to suffering what He did. But I have suffered more than average. And I am a wonderfully cheerful person myself in spite of it all. I only share all of this because I really do believe deeply that Jesus was a markedly joyful person, in a wonderfully profound way, and He invites us to share His joy!
      John 15:11, NLT
      “I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow!”
      None of this detracts from the ferociously steep price of suffering and grief that He bore for us. I actually just finished writing a post that will come out next week on that very subject. I was meditating recently on the extent of it, not just at Calvary, but well before that, in a prolonged way.
      As usual, I enjoy your comments, my brother. They get me reflecting on the Word, which is one of our greatest joys, yes? 😁

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  5. I have a little trouble with rest and joy being used as a synonym or alternative. Some Bibles do this. The deep REST to be found only in JESUS CHRIST is HIS Presence with us during times of deepest need.
    Joy is the deeply inner expression and can be a burst of surprise like my dear friend said emerging from a coma. I see the sunrise! Praise God!.
    The joy of the LORD IS our STRENGTH, (often with no outward facial expression.) Once we know we are a child of God our face should in pleasant expression express this powerfully. HUMOUR is like medicine when our heart is touched.
    Thank you for your thought provoking post. Not all Christians are the Happiest people on earth externally but CONTENTMENT with what we have in life brings the deepest REST and JOY.

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    1. I love reading your thoughts, Faye. Wow, that must have been an AMAZING moment for everyone when your dear friend emerged from a coma! Thank you so much for sharing about that exceedingly joyful moment. I like to think of joy as an underground stream running in our being. It’s always there under the surface, but definitely erupts outward at lots of moments too! I was born with a very serious, contemplative, meditative nature, but He has been developing more and more of His joy in my life over the decades. It certainly seems to grow hand and hand with deep heart restfulness in Him. As for joy being an alternative for rest, the TPT text itself does not use joy/cheer there in Matthew 11:28-30, but mentions it in the study note as a possible translation. I treasure the original translation of “rest” too, but was very grateful for the additional insight 😊

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  6. Pingback: Was The Man of Sorrows Cheerful? – Feeding On Jesus

  7. Recently I have begun to seek joy in all things in my life. There will be tough times, problems I can’t solve, frustrations in my heart, and even the odd day when my depression manifests itself so deeply I fight to get out of bed, but even in all these moments there is joy in knowing I can overcome with Jesus. It will not always be easy, and is not simply a “this challenge is great, it will be over soon” feeling, but a presence to help me persevere and keep putting one foot in front of the other.

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