“I asked for bread: God gave a stone instead.
Yet while I pillowed there my weary head,
The angels made a ladder of my dreams,
Which upward to celestial mountains led.
And when I woke, beneath the morning’s beams,
Around my resting place fresh manna lay;
And, praising God, I went upon my way.
For I was fed.”   – J. R. Miller

J. R. Miller was a pastor and author in the 1800s. His life moto was ‘Jesus and I are Friends.’ In preaching, writing, and personal ministry his purpose was to introduce others to his Friend. His was a ministry of comfort and encouragement both to those who had never met the heavenly Friend and to those who needed to know Him better.

This poem is from his short devotional work The Master’s Blesseds which is a short yet profound look into the beatitudes of our Lord.

A castle in the beautiful mountains of Central Europe was guarded by sentinels whose job was to watch the countryside day and night. They daily viewed a beautiful valley of meadows and fields, fruit trees and rivers, but I am sure that after many months and years of the same view, the sentinels ceased to notice as much of its beauty. If they were like many of us, they would even have complained at having to stand there. And yet one of us would be thrilled to have that view for a day.

Often in our lives the beautiful things all around us tend to blur in the haste and busyness of life. Creation and family and love tend not to have the effect on us that they would if we had never seen them before.

When we are saved, we are made a new creature. “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” II Corinthians 5:17. Because we are made new we can take fresh delight in the beauty around us.

“Attempt great things for God. Expect great things from God.” – William Carey

 

William Carey is often called ‘the father of modern missions.’ He went to India in the early 19th century never to return to his native England where an association of ministers supported him. William Carey ministered, preached, and translated for seven years before seeing fruit from his labours. Though he was known by many of the highest officials in India, he told a friend as he was dying, “When I am gone, say nothing about William Carey – speak only about William Carey’s Savior.”