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SEMPHER FI/ OOHRAH! 2/19/17
1 Corinthians 3:5-6 (KJV)
5 Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man?
6 I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase.
Yesterday, (Saturday), I had the honor, joy and duty of visiting my beloved son Joshua on Death Row.
I purchase snack "meals" and Coca Colas, better know down south here as COKES-(EVERY carbonated beverage is known as a COKE down here), and we then spent an hour or so discussing FAITH, family, and PRAYED together.
To gain access to him, I must provide identification and am finger printed, emptied and showed my empty pockets, pulled my pants legs up, passed through a metal detector and then passed through 5 electronic barred gates.
I am then locked in a glassed room and can only see and speak to him through the glass wall via telephone.
As I awaited his arrival, (he is transported by TWO guards and handcuffed until he is secured on the other side of the glass wall), I also noted the prison was short on guards.
A member of the "CERT TEAM" was manning the final gate to access my son.
The "CERT TEAM" are heavily muscled, trained, dressed, and equipped to WAR!!!
They are there to stop any violence and enforce obedience and submission of any UN-unruly prisoner.
I looked closer at this guard and saw he was studying a small booklet?
It looked like a small Gideon Bible-the same Bible I had been handed MANY years ago in grammar school.
These guards are too often gruff with we, the loved ones, and not often friendly to us or open to conversation.
They are usually VERY professional and focused on their jobs, as most of them have a military background.
But, as I left the visitation, I worked up enough nerve to inquire as to what the CERT TEAM member was reading.
HALLELULAH!!
IT WAS A SMALL GIDEON BIBLE, with tiny, TINY print!
He then quoted the Writings of the Apostle Paul:
1 Corinthians 3:6 (KJV)
6 I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase.
His name is Sidney and he was a Marine/Sailor and explained to me how he had come to KNOW the Lord.
While on a ship, another soldier had PLANTED the SEED of God, another soldier had WATERED the Word of God, and VIOLA-here he is today-A CHILD OF GOD!!!
I visited the restroom and before I left, I went back to him, thanked him for his TESTimony, obtained his name and rank, and told him today's sermon would be on him!
1 Corinthians 3:6 (KJV)
6 I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase.
Ya see, I remembered yesterday a certain GIDEON, SMALL/TINY PRINT NEW TESTAMENT BIBLE had been given to me, MANY, MANY YEARS AGO in grammar school to me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
How well do I remember READING that TINY PRINT/SMALL GIDEON BIBLE, while laying on the floor furnace, ( does anybody else remember having a gas floor furnace)?
I remember/remembered and NOT understanding a Word I was reading, yet somehow mystified and intrigued with the reading of God's Word.
It was at least 10 years later when I, too, received Jesus Christ as my personal Savior, AFTER receiving the SMALL/TINY PRINT GIDEON BIBLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I will never know the name of the person or persons who gave me the Bible, but God KNOWS and God saw, and God REMEMBERS!!!!!!!!
I DO know MANY who watered the SEED, but it was:
GOD WHO GAVE THE INCREASE-at His APPOINTED time!!!!!
TODAY, dear brethren, know and remember that maybe you are "merely" planting SEEDS of the Gospel or perhaps God is using you to WATER the SEED planted by others!!??
But.............................
IT IS GOD WHO GIVES THE INCREASE!!!
THAT SEED YOU PLANTED/GAVE/WATERED WILL COME UP!!
That PRAYER/PRAYERS you PRAYED and are PRAYING, that dollar GIVEN, that song sang, that ONE Verse you quoted, that Gospel track YOU left..........................
Perhaps you will never know it or see it in this life, BUT.......
IT IS GOD WHO GIVES/GAVE THE INCREASE!!!
As I embraced Sidney to leave, I told him that I, too, was an EX-Marine and he left me with these parting words-
SEMPER FI/ OOHRAH!!!
Semper fidelis (usually shortened to Semper Fi) is a Latin phrase that means "always faithful" or "always loyal". In the United States it is best known as the motto of the United States Marine Corps. Elsewhere, it is a common motto for towns, families, schools, and military units.
SEMPER FI/ OOHRAH TO YOU, CHRISTIAN SOLDIER!
GOD BLESS YOU!
PASTOR DOUG
404-295-5644 or
CHURCH ADDRESS:
70 Stone Rd.
McDonough, GA. 30253
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