Love is the overflow of joy in God that meets the needs of others.

You never outgrow your need to preach to yourself the gospel.

Faith is born and sustained by the Word of God, and out of faith grows the flower of joy.

Our main work is, by the spirit of God, with the Word of God, to portray the glories of God as more beautiful and more satisfying than anything.

There is a warning. The path of God-exalting joy will cost you your life. Jesus said, “Whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it.” In other words, it is better to lose your life than to waste it. If you live gladly to make others glad in God, your life will be hard, your risks will be high, and your joy will be full. This is not a book about how to avoid a wounded life, but how to avoid a wasted life. Some of you will die in the service of Christ. That will not be a tragedy. Treasuring life above Christ is a tragedy.

Taken as a whole, the story of Ruth is one of those signs. It was written to give us encouragement and hope that all the perplexing turns in our lives are going somewhere good. They do not lead off a cliff. In all the setbacks of our lives as believers, God is plotting for our joy.

Oh, how rare are the Christians who speak with a tender heart and have a theological backbone of steel.