17-05-2007, 09:01 AM
A young soldier was alone in his bunkhouse one Sunday morning over in
Afghanistan . It was quiet that day, the guns and the mortars, and
land
mines for some reason hadn't made a noise.
He knew it was Sunday, the holiest day of the week. As he sat there,
he
got out an old deck of cards and laid them out across his bunk.
Just then an army sergeant came in and said, "Why aren't you with the
rest of the platoon?"
The soldier replied, "I thought I would stay behind and spend some
time
with the Lord."
The sergeant said, "Looks like you're going to play cards."
The soldier said, "No sir, you see, since we are not allowed to have
Bibles or other spiritual books in this country, I've decided to talk
to
the Lord by studying this deck of cards."
The sergeant asked in disbelief, "How will you do that?"
"You see the Ace, Sergeant, it reminds that there is only one God.
The Two represents the two parts of the Bible, Old and New Testaments.
The Three represents the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.
The Four stands for the Four Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.
The Five is for the five virgins, there were ten, but only five of
them
were glorified.
The Six is for the six days it took God to create the Heavens and
Earth.
The Seven is for the day God rested after working the six days.
The Eight is for the family of Noah, his wife, their three sons and
their wives. God saved these eight people from the flood that
destroyed
the earth for the first time.
The Nine is for the lepers that Jesus cleansed of leprosy. He cleansed
ten, but nine never thanked Him.
The Ten represents the Ten Commandments that God handed down to Moses
on
tablets made of stone.
The Jack is a reminder of Satan. One of God's first angels, but he got
kicked out of heaven for his sly and wicked ways and is now the joker
of
eternal lake of fire.
The Queen stands for the bride of Christ, which is called His church,
or
body of believers that wait for his return.
The King stands for Jesus, for he is the King of all kings.
When I count the dots on all the cards, I come up with 365 total, one
for every day of the year.
There are a total of 52 cards in a deck, each is a week, 52 weeks in a
year.
The four suits represents the four seasons: spring, summer, fall and
winter.
Each suit has thirteen cards, there are exactly thirteen weeks in a
quarter.
So when I want to talk to God and thank Him, I just pull out this old
deck of cards and they remind me of all that I have to be thankful
for."
The sergeant just stood there and after a minute, with tears in his
eyes
and pain in his heart, he said, "Soldier, can I borrow that deck of
cards?"
"If My people, which are called by My Name, shall humble themselves,
and pray, and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways; then
will
I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their
land." II Chronicles 7:14
Will you send this on so that we can have a multitude of our people
humbling themselves to pray, seeking God's face, turning from selfish
behavior?
"You have to work at happiness. No one gives it to you on a silver platter. And if they do give you a silver platter, it's going to have to be polished occasionally."
Afghanistan . It was quiet that day, the guns and the mortars, and
land
mines for some reason hadn't made a noise.
He knew it was Sunday, the holiest day of the week. As he sat there,
he
got out an old deck of cards and laid them out across his bunk.
Just then an army sergeant came in and said, "Why aren't you with the
rest of the platoon?"
The soldier replied, "I thought I would stay behind and spend some
time
with the Lord."
The sergeant said, "Looks like you're going to play cards."
The soldier said, "No sir, you see, since we are not allowed to have
Bibles or other spiritual books in this country, I've decided to talk
to
the Lord by studying this deck of cards."
The sergeant asked in disbelief, "How will you do that?"
"You see the Ace, Sergeant, it reminds that there is only one God.
The Two represents the two parts of the Bible, Old and New Testaments.
The Three represents the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.
The Four stands for the Four Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.
The Five is for the five virgins, there were ten, but only five of
them
were glorified.
The Six is for the six days it took God to create the Heavens and
Earth.
The Seven is for the day God rested after working the six days.
The Eight is for the family of Noah, his wife, their three sons and
their wives. God saved these eight people from the flood that
destroyed
the earth for the first time.
The Nine is for the lepers that Jesus cleansed of leprosy. He cleansed
ten, but nine never thanked Him.
The Ten represents the Ten Commandments that God handed down to Moses
on
tablets made of stone.
The Jack is a reminder of Satan. One of God's first angels, but he got
kicked out of heaven for his sly and wicked ways and is now the joker
of
eternal lake of fire.
The Queen stands for the bride of Christ, which is called His church,
or
body of believers that wait for his return.
The King stands for Jesus, for he is the King of all kings.
When I count the dots on all the cards, I come up with 365 total, one
for every day of the year.
There are a total of 52 cards in a deck, each is a week, 52 weeks in a
year.
The four suits represents the four seasons: spring, summer, fall and
winter.
Each suit has thirteen cards, there are exactly thirteen weeks in a
quarter.
So when I want to talk to God and thank Him, I just pull out this old
deck of cards and they remind me of all that I have to be thankful
for."
The sergeant just stood there and after a minute, with tears in his
eyes
and pain in his heart, he said, "Soldier, can I borrow that deck of
cards?"
"If My people, which are called by My Name, shall humble themselves,
and pray, and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways; then
will
I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their
land." II Chronicles 7:14
Will you send this on so that we can have a multitude of our people
humbling themselves to pray, seeking God's face, turning from selfish
behavior?
"You have to work at happiness. No one gives it to you on a silver platter. And if they do give you a silver platter, it's going to have to be polished occasionally."