The ultimate purpose of marriage is not to make us happy but to glorify God.

Gratitude has a big job to do in us and our hearts. It is one of the chief ways that God infuses joy and resilience into the daily struggle of life.

God is sovereign, that is He is the boss. He is in control. He is the supreme ruler of heaven and earth for all of eternity. He is Lord. We don't make Him Lord. He is Lord. And joy comes when we acknowledge that He is Lord; we rest in His Lordship. We trust His sovereignty, and we surrender to it. That means that God has the right to give, and God has the right to take away.

Mark it down—your progress in holiness will never exceed your relationship with the holy Word of God.

O God, make us desperate, and grant us faith and boldness to approach Your throne and make our petitions known, knowing that in doing we link arms with Omnipotence and become instruments of Your eternal purposes being fulfilled on this earth.

No matter what I have done, no matter how I have failed, no matter how week I have been, no matter how inadequate I am, God has not changed. He has not failed.

You will never be more secure, you will never be more safe, and you will never be happier, more satisfied, than when you are trusting and obeying: resting in sovereignty and surrendering to sovereignty.