The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

Numbers 32:19-24, “For we will not have an inheritance with them on the other side of the Jordan and beyond, because our inheritance has fallen to us on this side of the Jordan toward the east.”

20 So Moses said to them, “If you will do this, if you will arm yourselves before the LORD for the war,

21 and all of you armed men cross over the Jordan before the LORD until He has driven His enemies out from before Him,

22 and the land is subdued before the LORD, then afterward you shall return and be free of obligation toward the LORD and toward Israel, and this land shall be yours for a possession before the LORD.

23 “But if you will not do so, behold, you have sinned against the LORD, and be sure your sin will find you out.

24 “Build yourselves cities for your little ones, and sheepfolds for your sheep, and do what you have promised.”

Have you ever had someone promise you something and then renege on the promise? Sometimes promises are so frivolous that it doesn’t really matter. But sometimes it truly does! The factor that often decides whether the promise truly matters relates to who made the promise and how many persons are involved.

We have a current member of Congress who, among other things, “married her brother” in order to gain her Congressional seat. It’s in the news, and now her sin has found her out!

In the Biblical situation quoted above, the Israeli tribes were to cross the river and work together to defeat the current residents. After all, that land was a promise of the LORD. But some of the tribes had already settled and had no interest in helping their brothers defeat those across the river.

All of this greatly disturbed the LORD! It disturbed Moses, too! Yet he finally came to the conclusion that there was no other resolution; therefore, he said, “Alright, but if you will not do so, behold, you have sinned against the LORD, and be sure your sin will find you out.”

I will leave it to you to read and discover what ultimately happened to the tribes. I want you to focus on Moses’ final warning: “If you will not do so, be sure your sin will find you out.” It truly, always will.

Heartily in Christ Jesus,

(Dado III)

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.
Springdale, Arkansas 72764
United States of America

“We will never know that Christ is all we need until He becomes all that we have.” – Corrie ten Boom

Dear Grands,

James 5:14-20, “Is anyone among you sick? Then he must call for the elders of the church, and they are to pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord;

15 and the prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up, and if he has committed sins, they will be forgiven him.

16 Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.

17 Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the earth for three years and six months.

18 Then he prayed again, and the sky poured rain, and the earth produced its fruit.

19 My brethren, if any among you strays from the truth and one turns him back,

20 let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.”

It was Alfred Lord Tennyson who said, “More things are wrought by prayer than this world dreams of.” Someone, whose name could have been many, often says, “Well, we’ve done everything we can; we had better pray.”

Why is prayer our last resort? Could it be that we are living too much within the world, within ourselves, and not within the LORD? There are over 300 verses in the Bible regarding prayer, yet we resort to other means rather than the Scriptures!

I can clearly recall my grandmother saying, “Well, we’ll just have to talk to the LORD about that.” Do you not recall someone in your family saying something like that? Maybe it’s because we are hesitant to let go of our sins that we ignore the realities of prayer. Let’s let prayer become our first resort; for there is no one greater than the LORD; and it is He alone who answers prayer.

Heartily in Christ Jesus,

(Dado III)

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

Springdale, Arkansas 72764

United States of America

“We will never know that Christ is all we need until He becomes all that we have.” – Corrie ten Boom

Dear Grands,

Ephesians 4:26-32, “Therefore, laying aside falsehood, SPEAK TRUTH EACH ONE of you WITH HIS NEIGHBOR, for we are members of one another.

26 BE ANGRY, AND yet DO NOT SIN; do not let the sun go down on your anger,

27 and do not give the devil an opportunity.

28 He who steals must steal no longer; but rather he must labor, performing with his own hands what is good, so that he will have something to share with one who has need.

29 Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear.

30 Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by Whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.

31 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice.

32 Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.”

If there is anyone who understands anger, it is a very little child. I have a picture of my daughter when she was quite young, holding a small booklet while a photographer attempted to take her picture. He took the little booklet from her hands and she began to cry. Since the booklet was not considered a vital part of the picture, he gave her the booklet and she stopped crying.

Sometimes I think of the early church as a little child. It whimpers and shows “bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander” – everything that belongs somewhere else if it belongs anywhere at all.

Salvation is vital! What’s more, it antedates baptism and church membership and teaching Sunday School. Certainly, the five or more prohibitions Paul lays before the Ephesian Church are as necessary today as they were in Paul’s day. That is not to say that everyone must be in spiritual lockstep with even the pastor. We are, however, to behave as adults, not as children, much less as babies. I’ve known people who got angry because someone was sitting in the seat he or she had marked as their own.

According to Paul, that grieves the Holy Spirit. True believers are to be kind,

tender-hearted, and forgiving of others. How else is He to prepare and use us “to the praise of His glory”?

Heartily in Christ Jesus,

(Dado III)

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

Springdale, Arkansas 72764

United States of America

“We will never know that Christ is all we need until He becomes all that we have.” – Corrie ten Boom

Dear Grands,

Ephesians 4:26-32, “Therefore, laying aside falsehood, SPEAK TRUTH EACH ONE of you WITH HIS NEIGHBOR, for we are members of one another.

26 BE ANGRY, AND yet DO NOT SIN; do not let the sun go down on your anger,

27 and do not give the devil an opportunity.

28 He who steals must steal no longer; but rather he must labor, performing with his own hands what is good, so that he will have something to share with one who has need.

29 Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear.

30 Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by Whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.

31 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice.

32 Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.”

If there is anyone who understands anger, it is a very little child. I have a picture of my daughter when she was quite young, holding a small booklet while a photographer attempted to take her picture. He took the little booklet from her hands, and she began to cry. Since the booklet was not considered a vital part of the picture, he gave her the booklet, and she stopped crying.

Sometimes I think of the early church as a little child. It whimpers and shows “bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander” – everything that belongs somewhere else, if it belongs anywhere at all.

Salvation is vital! What’s more, it antedates baptism and church membership and teaching Sunday School. Certainly, the five or more prohibitions Paul lays before the Ephesian Church are as necessary today as they were in Paul’s day. That is not to say that everyone must be in spiritual lockstep with even the pastor. We are, however, to behave as adults, not as children, much less as babies. I’ve known people who got angry because someone was sitting in the seat he or she had marked for their own.

According to Paul, that grieves the Holy Spirit. True believers are to be kind,

tender-hearted, and forgiving of others. How else is He to prepare and use us “to the praise of His glory”?

Heartily in Christ Jesus,

(Dado III)

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

Springdale, Arkansas 72764

United States of America

“We will never know that Christ is all we need until He becomes all that we have.” – Corrie ten Boom

Dear Grands,

Ruth (2:8-12), “Then Boaz said to Ruth, ‘Listen carefully, my daughter. Do not go to glean in another field; furthermore, do not go on from this one, but stay here with my maids.’

9 ‘Let your eyes be on the field which they reap, and go after them. Indeed, I have commanded the servants not to touch you. When you are thirsty, go to the water jars and drink from what the servants draw.’

10 Then she fell on her face, bowing to the ground and said to him, “Why have I found favor in your sight that you should take notice of me, since I am a foreigner?”

11 Boaz replied to her, “All that you have done for your mother-in-law after the death of your husband has been fully reported to me, and how you left your father and your mother and the land of your birth and came to a people that you did not previously know.”

12 “May the LORD reward your work, and your wages be full from the LORD, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to seek refuge.”

There is a huge amount of “disguised cover” and intention to this interchange between Boaz and Ruth. Ruth was previously married, but probably not for long. Her former husband, Mahlon, had died leaving her without any children. Thus, it is more than likely that being married and having children was still her desire.

It’s always desirable, too, to have relatives who are comfortable with one’s desire for marriage and children. What’s pitiful are parents who don’t want children and/or children who don’t want the parents they’ve been given.

Yet, Boaz has undoubtedly thought of Ruth as a viable marriage partner. He has allowed her to glean what the reapers either missed or intentionally dropped and told her to stay in his fields.

We would all do well to work and “stay in the fields” of the LORD, being ever and always an example to others of His love and grace while resting ourselves in His loving and gracious protection.

Heartily in Christ Jesus,

(Dado III)

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

Springdale, Arkansas 72764

United States of America

“We will never know that Christ is all we need

until He becomes all that we have.” – Corrie ten Boom