What if we were wired for happiness? If you were to ask a room full of people about how God wants us to live, you’d likely get a wide range of answers. Some people would say he wants us to be holy. Others might claim he wants us to love people and stand up for peace and justice. But chances are, you wouldn’t hear anyone say, “God wants us to be happy.” We all want to be happy, but we may feel guilty for this longing. Isn’t it selfish to pursue happiness? Isn’t it more spiritual to frown than to smile? In a world full of brokenness, is happiness a worthy pursuit? For those seeking to follow Jesus, should this quest be written off as superficial and unspiritual? In Does God Want Us to Be Happy?, New York Times bestselling author Randy Alcorn offers a collection of short, easy readings on one of life’s biggest questions. As he explores what happiness is and how we attain it, Alcorn provides wisdom, insight, and scriptural proof that God not only wants us to be happy—he commands it! (Adapted from the trade book Happiness.)

Do you ever wonder whether God even cares if we’re happy? This world can be so hard, and we aren’t promised an easy road. But that’s not the whole story. The Bible is filled with verses that prove that ours is a God who not only loves celebrations but also desperately wants his children to experience happiness. Why else would he go to the lengths he did to ensure our eternal happiness in his presence? We know that we will experience unimaginable joy and happiness in heaven, but that doesn’t mean we can’t also experience joy and happiness here on earth. In Happiness, noted theologian Randy Alcorn (bestselling author of Heaven) dispels centuries of misconceptions about happiness, including downright harmful ideas like the prosperity gospel, and provides indisputable proof that God not only wants us to be happy, he commands it. Randy covers questions like: How can I cultivate happiness in my life? What’s the difference between joy and happiness? Can good things become idols that steal our happiness? Is seeking happiness selfish? How can I achieve happiness through gratitude? What does it look like to receive God’s grace? The most definitive study on the subject of happiness to date, this book is a paradigm-shifting wake-up call for the church and Christians everywhere.

Take a daily step toward joy and contentment and ditch stress, overwhelming thoughts, and boredom with encouraging and biblical messages from Alli Worthington. You do your best to live life well—you work hard to be present in the moment, take care of the people in your life, knock it out of the park at work and home. And yet, somehow, you still have days (perhaps more than you'd like to admit) where you're simultaneously stressed and bored, and you wonder if you even know how to be happy. Is happiness a worthy goal? Does happiness matter to God, or does He only care about holier things? Alli Worthington gets it. As a wife, mother of five boys, author, speaker, and entrepreneur, she knows a thing or two about being busy, stressed, and happy in the midst of a crazy world! Over the years, she's seen how happiness gets a bad rap in Christian circles, and now she is standing up to shout the good news from the roof (or the internet, as the case may be): You are allowed to be happy! Yes, you! You can be happy right now! Join Alli for The Year of Living Happy: Finding Contentment and Connection in a Crazy World, and find the roots of your happiest life yet. Each of the 100 short and inspirational entries includes a thoughtful message from Alli, based on God’s Word practical ways to make your life happier day by day a journaling section This gorgeous book is an empowering gift for yourself or any woman you love. It can be used as a daily devotional or as a guided journal. Be part of this exciting message: Happiness and holiness can coexist for a beautiful life. Don’t miss the great big adventure God has for you. Let this be The Year of Living Happy!

Did you hear the one about the Christian who couldn't keep from laughing? Chuck Swindoll has not only heard it, he tells it in this delightful book that gives us permission to be happy again. "When did life stop being funny?" Swindoll asks. His answer is found in this best-selling book which speaks to all busy, joy-drained people?from the pressured businessman to the harried homemaker. In Laugh Again, readers will discover ways to live in the present, say "no" to negativism, and realize that, while no one's life is perfect, joy and humor can be inspirational. Let Chuck Swindoll show you how to experience outrageous joy . . . and learn to laugh again!

Join bestselling author Beth Moore in her life-changing quest of vine-chasing—and learn how everything changes when you discover the true meaning of a fruitful, God-pleasing, meaning-filled life. God wants us to flourish. In fact, he delights in our flourishing. Life isn’t always fun, but in Christ it can always be fruitful. In Chasing Vines, Beth shows us from Scripture how all of life’s concerns—the delights and the trials—matter to God. He uses all of it to help us flourish and be fruitful. Looking through the lens of Christ’s transforming teaching in John 15, Beth gives us a panoramic view of biblical teachings on the Vine, vineyards, vine-dressing, and fruitfulness. Along the way you’ll discover why fruitfulness is so important to God—and how He can use anything that happens to us for His glory and our flourishing. Nothing is for nothing. Join Beth on her journey of discovering what it means to chase vines and to live a life of meaning and fruitfulness. An inspiring spiritual book for every Christian.

Christians should be the happiest of all people! Randy Robison, writer and producer for Life Today television program, encourages readers to embrace everything God wants for them, including deep, overflowing gladness that does not depend on pleasant circumstances or emotional highs. Robison provides helpful answers to important questions like these: What is true happiness? How does it compare to blessing, joy, and our delight in the Lord? Is true happiness attainable in this life? Why does God want us to be happy? How does happiness relate to our relationship with God, our character, and our mission? What keeps us from being happy? What promotes happiness? How can we be happy even when we are broken, afraid, or navigating stressful situations? Full of biblical wisdom and insight, this engaging new look at happiness challenges readers' unexamined assumptions and opens new possibilities for them to rejoice in the Lord like never before.

This book develops the thesis that classical Christian theology seeks to help believers flourish by knowing and loving God. Ellen Charry argues this premise by example, offering a close reading of a number of classical texts, from the New Testament era to the Reformation, including works of Paul, Augustine, Athanasius, Basil of Caesarea, Anselm, and Calvin. She points out the pastoral and moral aims that shape the teachings of these theologians on a wide range of topics, including the Trinity; human beings as created in the image of God; the incorporation of Jews and Gentiles into the body of Christ in baptism; the incarnation, death, and resurrection of Christ; and the divinity of the Holy Spirit. Charry explains that the very logic of their arguments is shaped by the author's concern for the goodness and happiness that should result from living into the doctrines. She further shows that although the spiritual and pastoral purposes of these writings are many and complex, they are invariably concerned to foster what modern people can, without difficulty, recognize as human dignity--what she calls "excellence"--in action, affection, and self-appraisal.

Explaining how to become a Christian hedonist, a bestselling author offers guidance on how to find spiritual joy to readers who are unsure of where to seek it.

Spanish version of Eternity.

God is good, God does good, and oh, how He wants you to be happy. In her new book, The Sacrament of Happy: What a Smiling God Brings to a Wounded World, Lisa Harper unveils that happiness is a gift from God that we can unashamedly enjoy. Happiness tends to be cast as a fluffy emotion without substance rather than a biblical concept, but this is not theologically accurate. Wearing the twin hats of both seminarian and belly-laughing adoptive mom, Lisa Harper dismantles the old-school idea that joy, not happiness, is the truly spiritual emotion, and asserts that Christ-followers are actually called to happiness. We are called to happiness, and this happiness is not impacted by personal or global tumult. In fact, happiness is a sacrament. The general definition of sacrament is “a visible sign of inward grace.” In communities of faith, it most often refers to holy communion or the Eucharist. In the broadest understanding, however, a sacrament is a gift bestowed by God, and in that case, ‘happiness’ is absolutely a sacrament—a visible, sometimes even audible, sign of inward grace! Lisa shares heart-wrenching difficult stories from her past, as well as some side-splitting hilarity along the way. Throughout the book, we see that happiness and sadness can coexist and ebb and flow like the tides. Christine Caine, Founder of A21 & Propel Women, had this to say about Lisa’s new book: "The Sacrament of Happy—like all of Lisa’s messages and books—enriches my understanding of God and His Word—and His great love for us. As always, she unfolds biblical truth so clearly and calls me to action. Every. Single. Time.”