HAPPINESS & HOW TO BE HAPPY: according to the Bible

NO HAPPINESS

Pro 17:20  A twisted mind never finds happiness, and one with a devious tongue repeatedly gets into trouble.

Lam 3:15  He has filled me with bitterness. He has made me drink wormwood.
Lam 3:16  He has ground my teeth with gravel. He has trampled me into the dust.
Lam 3:17  "My soul has been kept from enjoying peace. I have forgotten what happiness is.

Jer 16:9  This is what the LORD of Armies, the God of Israel, says: I'm going to put a stop to the sounds of joy and happiness and the sounds of brides and grooms in this place. This will happen in your lifetime, while you watch.
Jer 16:10  "When you tell the people all these things, they will ask you, 'Why does the LORD threaten us with all these disasters? What have we done wrong? How have we sinned against the LORD our God?'
Jer 16:11  Then say to them, 'It's because your ancestors abandoned me, declares the LORD. They followed other gods, served them, worshiped them, and abandoned me. They didn't obey my teachings.
Jer 16:12  You have done worse than your ancestors. All of you are following your own stubborn, evil ways that keep you from obeying me.

Jer 25:8  "This is what the LORD of Armies says: You did not listen to my words,
Jer 25:9  so I'm going to send for all the families from the north. I will also send for my servant King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, declares the LORD. I will bring the families from the north to attack this land, its people, and all these surrounding nations. I'm going to destroy them and turn them into something terrible, something ridiculed, and something permanently ruined.
Jer 25:10  I will take from them the sounds of joy and happiness, the sounds of brides and grooms, the sound of mills, and the light of lamps.


WRONG KIND OF HAPPINESS

Pro 17:5  Whoever makes fun of a poor person insults his maker. Whoever is happy to see someone's distress will not escape punishment.

Pro 24:17  Do not be happy when your enemy falls, and do not feel glad when he stumbles.

Oba 1:12  Don't gloat over your relative's misfortune or be happy when the people of Judah are destroyed. Don't brag so much when they're in distress.
Oba 1:13  Don't march through the gates of my people when disaster strikes or gloat over their misery when disaster strikes. Don't take their wealth when disaster strikes.
Oba 1:14  Don't stand at the crossroads to kill their refugees. Don't hand over their survivors when they're in distress.
Oba 1:15  "The day of the LORD is near for all nations. Edom, you will be treated as you have treated others. You will get back what you have given.


HAPPINESS OF THE WICKED

Job 21:7  "Why do the wicked go on living, grow old, and even become more powerful?
Job 21:8  They see their children firmly established with them, and they get to see their descendants.
Job 21:9  Their homes are free from fear, and God doesn't use his rod on them.
Job 21:10  Their bulls are fertile when they breed. Their cows give birth to calves and never miscarry.
Job 21:11  They send their little children out to play like a flock of lambs, and their children dance around.
Job 21:12  They sing with the tambourine and lyre, and they are happy with the music of the flute.
Job 21:13  They spend their days in happiness, and they go peacefully to the grave.
Job 21:14  But they say to God, 'Leave us alone. We don't want to know your ways.
Job 21:15  Who is the Almighty that we should serve him? What do we gain if we pray to him?'
Job 21:16  Anyhow, isn't their happiness in their own power? (The plan of the wicked is foreign to my way of thinking.)
Job 21:17  "How often is the lamp of the wicked snuffed out? How often does disaster happen to them? How often does an angry God give them pain?


HAPPY DEATH & BITTER DEATH

Job 21:23  One person dies in his prime and feels altogether happy and contented.
Job 21:24  His stomach is full of milk, and his bones are strong and healthy.
Job 21:25  Another person, never having tasted happiness, dies with a bitter soul.
Job 21:26  Together they lie down in the dust, and worms cover them.


FINDING HAPPINESS

Pro 23:26  My son, give me your heart. Let your eyes find happiness in my ways


COMMON COLLECTIVE HAPPINESS

Joh 4:36  The person who harvests the crop is already getting paid. He is gathering grain for eternal life. So the person who plants the grain and the person who harvests it are happy together.

2Co 2:3  This is the very reason I wrote to you. I didn't want to visit you and be distressed by those who should make me happy. I'm confident about all of you that whatever makes me happy also makes you happy.

1Co 12:25  God's purpose was that the body should not be divided but rather that all of its parts should feel the same concern for each other.
1Co 12:26  If one part of the body suffers, all the other parts share its suffering. If one part is praised, all the others share in its happiness.
1Co 12:27  You are Christ's body and each of you is an individual part of it.


HAPPINESS & TOGETHERNESS

2Ti 1:4  I remember your tears and want to see you so that I can be filled with happiness.


HAPPY FATHER (HAPPINESS OF PARENTS)

Pro 10:1  The proverbs of Solomon: A wise son makes his father happy, but a foolish son brings grief to his mother.

Pro 15:20  A wise son makes his father happy, but a foolish child despises its mother.

Pro 29:3  A person who loves wisdom makes his father happy, but one who pays prostitutes wastes his wealth.


MAKING A WIFE HAPPY

Deu 24:5  A man who has recently been married will be free from military duty or any other public service. For one year he is free to stay at home and make his new wife happy.

Eph 5:28  So husbands must love their wives as they love their own bodies. A man who loves his wife loves himself.

Eph 5:33  But every husband must love his wife as he loves himself, and wives should respect their husbands.


HAPPINESS OF YOUTH

Ecc 11:9  You young people should enjoy yourselves while you're young. You should let your hearts make you happy when you're young. Follow wherever your heart leads you and whatever your eyes see. But realize that God will make you give an account for all these things when he judges everyone.


HAPPINESS OF KINGS

Pro 16:13  Kings are happy with honest words, and whoever speaks what is right is loved.

2Ki 20:13  Hezekiah was so happy with them that he showed the messengers his warehouse: the silver, gold, balsam, fine olive oil, his entire armory, and everything in his treasury. Hezekiah showed them everything in his palace and every corner of his kingdom.


HAPPINESS OF A CITY

Act 8:6  The crowds paid close attention to what Philip said. They listened to him and saw the miracles that he performed.
Act 8:7  Evil spirits screamed as they came out of the many people they had possessed. Many paralyzed and lame people were cured.
Act 8:8  As a result, that city was extremely happy.


HAPPINESS IN FAITH

2Co 1:24  It isn't that we want to have control over your Christian faith. Rather, we want to work with you so that you will be happy. Certainly, you are firmly established in the Christian faith.

Col 2:5  Although I'm absent from you physically, I'm with you in spirit. I'm happy to see how orderly you are and how firm your faith in Christ is.


HAPPINESS IN TRIALS

Jas 1:2  My brothers and sisters, be very happy when you are tested in different ways.


BEING HAPPY IN HARD TIMES

Job 6:10  Then I would still have comfort. I would be happy despite my endless pain, because I have not rejected the words of the Holy One.

Psa 119:143  Trouble and hardship have found me, but your commandments still make me happy.

Rom 12:12  Be happy in your confidence, be patient in trouble, and pray continually.

Joh 16:20  I can guarantee this truth: You will cry because you are sad, but the world will be happy. You will feel pain, but your pain will turn to happiness.

Joh 16:21  A woman has pain when her time to give birth comes. But after the child is born, she doesn't remember the pain anymore because she's happy that a child has been brought into the world.

Joh 16:22  "Now you're in a painful situation. But I will see you again. Then you will be happy, and no one will take that happiness away from you.

Hab 3:16  I have heard, so there's trembling within me. At the report my lips quivered. A rotten feeling has entered me. I tremble where I stand. I wait for the day of trouble to come to the people who will attack us.
Hab 3:17  Even if the fig tree does not bloom and the vines have no grapes, even if the olive tree fails to produce and the fields yield no food, even if the sheep pen is empty and the stalls have no cattle-
Hab 3:18  even then, I will be happy with the LORD. I will truly find joy in God, who saves me.
Hab 3:19  The LORD Almighty is my strength. He makes my feet like those of a deer. He makes me walk on the mountains. For the choir director; on stringed instruments.

Luk 6:20  Jesus looked at his disciples and said, "Blessed are those who are poor. The kingdom of God is theirs.
Luk 6:21  Blessed are those who are hungry. They will be satisfied. Blessed are those who are crying. They will laugh.
Luk 6:22  Blessed are you when people hate you, avoid you, insult you, and slander you because you are committed to the Son of Man.
Luk 6:23  Rejoice then, and be very happy! You have a great reward in heaven. That's the way their ancestors treated the prophets.

2Co 7:4  I have great confidence in you, and I have a lot of reasons to be proud of you. Even as we suffer, I'm encouraged and feel very happy.

2Co 7:9  But I'm happy now, not because I made you uncomfortable, but because the distress I caused you has led you to change the way you think and act. You were distressed in a godly way, so we haven't done you any harm.

Col 1:24  I am happy to suffer for you now. In my body I am completing whatever remains of Christ's sufferings. I am doing this on behalf of his body, the church.

1Pe 1:6  You are extremely happy about these things, even though you have to suffer different kinds of trouble for a little while now.

1Pe 4:13  but be happy as you share Christ's sufferings. Then you will also be full of joy when he appears again in his glory.


HAPPINESS AND CONTENTMENT

Heb 13:5  Don't love money. Be happy with what you have because God has said, "I will never abandon you or leave you."


HAPPINESS IN GOOD TIMES

Ecc 7:14  When times are good, be happy. But when times are bad, consider this: God has made the one time as well as the other so that mortals cannot predict their future.

Rom 12:15  Be happy with those who are happy. Be sad with those who are sad.

Jas 5:13  If any of you are having trouble, pray. If you are happy, sing psalms.


BE HAPPY WITH THE LORD

Psa 37:4  Be happy with the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart.

Psa 40:8  I am happy to do your will, O my God." Your teachings are deep within me.

Psa 112:1  Hallelujah! Blessed is the person who fears the LORD and is happy to obey his commands.

Psa 119:16  Your laws make me happy. I never forget your word.

Psa 119:24  Indeed, your written instructions make me happy. They are my best friends.

Psa 119:35  Lead me on the path of your commandments, because I am happy with them.

Psa 119:47  Your commandments, which I love, make me happy.

Psa 119:77  Let your compassion reach me so that I may live, because your teachings make me happy.

Psa 119:174  I have longed for you to save me, O LORD, and your teachings make me happy.

Luk 10:17  The 70 disciples came back very happy. They said, "Lord, even demons obey us when we use the power and authority of your name!"
Luk 10:18  Jesus said to them, "I watched Satan fall from heaven like lightning.
Luk 10:19  I have given you the authority to trample snakes and scorpions and to destroy the enemy's power. Nothing will hurt you.
Luk 10:20  However, don't be happy that evil spirits obey you. Be happy that your names are written in heaven."

Psa 119:92  If your teachings had not made me happy, then I would have died in my misery.


COMPLETE HAPPINESS

Joh 16:24  So far you haven't asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive so that you can be completely happy.

1Pe 1:8  Although you have never seen Christ, you love him. You don't see him now, but you believe in him. You are extremely happy with joy and praise that can hardly be expressed in words


HAPPINESS, LOVE, TRUTH

1Co 13:6  It isn't happy when injustice is done, but it is happy with the truth.

3Jn 1:3  I was very happy when some believers came and told us that you are living according to the truth.


HAPPINESS FROM GOD

Act 14:17  Yet, by doing good, he has given evidence of his existence. He gives you rain from heaven and crops in their seasons. He fills you with food and your lives with happiness."

Ecc 5:18  At last I have seen what is good and beautiful: It is to eat and drink and to enjoy the good in all our hard work under the sun during the brief lives God gives us. That is our lot in life.
Ecc 5:19  It is a gift from God when God gives some people wealth and possessions, the power to enjoy them, the ability to accept their lot in life, and the ability to rejoice in their own hard work.
Ecc 5:20  These people won't give much thought to their brief lives because God keeps them occupied with the joy in their hearts.


HAPPINESS OF GOD

Mat 25:21  "His master replied, 'Good job! You're a good and faithful servant! You proved that you could be trusted with a small amount. I will put you in charge of a large amount. Come and share your master's happiness.'

Pro 8:30  I was beside him as a master craftsman. I made him happy day after day, I rejoiced in front of him all the time,
Pro 8:31  found joy in his inhabited world, and delighted in the human race.


EVERLASTING HAPPINESS

Isa 35:10  The people ransomed by the LORD will return. They will come to Zion singing with joy. Everlasting happiness will be on their heads as a crown. They will be glad and joyful. They will have no sorrow or grief.

Joh 16:20  I can guarantee this truth: You will cry because you are sad, but the world will be happy. You will feel pain, but your pain will turn to happiness.
Joh 16:21  A woman has pain when her time to give birth comes. But after the child is born, she doesn't remember the pain anymore because she's happy that a child has been brought into the world.
Joh 16:22  "Now you're in a painful situation. But I will see you again. Then you will be happy, and no one will take that happiness away from you.
Joh 16:23  When that day comes, you won't ask me any more questions. I can guarantee this truth: If you ask the Father for anything in my name, he will give it to you.
Joh 16:24  So far you haven't asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive so that you can be completely happy.

Rev 7:16  They will never be hungry or thirsty again. Neither the sun nor any burning heat will ever overcome them.
Rev 7:17  The lamb in the center near the throne will be their shepherd. He will lead them to springs filled with the water of life, and God will wipe every tear from their eyes."


HAPPINESS IN HEAVEN

Luk 15:7  I can guarantee that there will be more happiness in heaven over one person who turns to God and changes the way he thinks and acts than over 99 people who already have turned to God and have his approval."

Rev 19:7  Let us rejoice, be happy, and give him glory because it's time for the marriage of the lamb. His bride has made herself ready.

Rev 21:3  I heard a loud voice from the throne say, "God lives with humans! God will make his home with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them and be their God.
Rev 21:4  He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There won't be any more death. There won't be any grief, crying, or pain, because the first things have disappeared."
Rev 21:5  The one sitting on the throne said, "I am making everything new." He said, "Write this: 'These words are faithful and true.'"