The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

1 Kings 8:33-36, “When Your people are defeated before an enemy, because they have sinned against You, if they turn to You again and confess Your name and pray and make supplication to You in this house,

34 then hear in heaven, and forgive the sin of Your people Israel, and bring them back to the land which You gave to their fathers.

35 “When the heavens are shut up and there is no rain, because they have sinned against You, and they pray toward this place and confess Your name and turn from their sin when You afflict them,

36 then hear in heaven and forgive the sin of Your servants and of Your people Israel; indeed teach them the good way in which they should walk. And send rain on Your land, which You have given Your people for an inheritance.”

We have to be careful, for when we sin, we can expect nothing but defeat. Yes, the LORD is our Lord, but as a thoughtful, loving parent disciplines his child, so the LORD disciplines us when we have sinned. Discipline, therefore, becomes our instructor, reminding us of our wrong and reminding us to correct our ways from that day forward.

Whether discipline works always remains to be seen. If it does, the recipient will hesitate on the next similar occasion. If he does not respond well, the administrator will doubtlessly repeat the discipline with greater intensity.

Why do we require the LORD to discipline us? We have His Word as our directory. Yet, we also have an adversary who continuously counsels us away from the LORD’s retributive justice. May we learn well to obey His Word!

Heartily in Christ,

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

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,

1 Peter 3:1-9, “In the same way, you wives, be submissive to your own husbands so that even if any of them are disobedient to the word, they may be won without a word by the behavior of their wives,

2 as they observe your chaste and respectful behavior.

3 Your adornment must not be merely external—braiding the hair, and wearing gold jewelry, or putting on dresses;

4 but let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the imperishable quality of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is precious in the sight of God.

5 For in this way in former times the holy women also, who hoped in God, used to adorn themselves, being submissive to their own husbands;

6 just as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord, and you have become her children if you do what is right without being frightened by any fear.”

7 You husbands in the same way, live with your wives in an understanding way, as with someone weaker, since she is a woman; and show her honor as a fellow heir of the grace of life, so that your prayers will not be hindered.

8 To sum up, all of you be harmonious, sympathetic, brotherly, kindhearted, and humble in spirit;

9 not returning evil for evil or insult for insult, but giving a blessing instead; for you were called for the very purpose that you might inherit a blessing.”

Although my dear, loving wife has entered Heaven well ahead of me, I shall have to be careful with this passage. She lived by the principled standard we read in the words above; therefore, I have a dual responsibility: first, to the Word, then to my adorable, loving wife. At the same time, I am hardly overlooking what I shall inherit if I but abide by the Biblical standard above; namely, “that (I) might inherit a blessing.” Simultaneously, I shall avoid being selfish, noting that you, too, are enabled to receive His blessing.

I shall be honest and admit that I learned more from my wife than she learned from me. Could it not be that she was always looking upward? Which way are you looking?

Heartily in Christ,

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

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 3:13-19, “Therefore I ask you not to lose heart at my tribulations on your behalf, for they are your glory.

14 For this reason I bow my knees before the Father,

15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name,

16 that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man,

17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love,

18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth,

19 and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.

20 Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us,

21 to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.”

Without question, Paul is a man of faith and prayer. He believes in the strength and power derived from the Holy Spirit, and in the love the LORD implants in those who are His. To Paul, faith in the believer’s heart is grounded in this love that extends beyond all knowledge and enables the believer to accomplish far more than could be accomplished otherwise.

Thus, all that the LORD accomplishes through us will be initially to His glory and ultimately beneficial to His cause. May He ever and always be glorified!

Heartily in Christ,

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

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,

Mark 16:15, “And He said to them, ‘Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.’”

Whatever you buy, be it a table lamp or a coffee machine, there are always printed instructions that tell you what to do. When I have trouble, I call one of my kids, who always asks, “Dad, did you read the instructions?”

Instructions? Why do I need instructions? Far too often that’s our response when the Scriptures tell us to “Go and Tell.”

I had no idea, when I surrendered to preach, that I would “go” where He ultimately led me, and/or “tell” what He gave me to tell. That’s because I had not read His instructions…well, not completely!

Notice that His instructions included “into all the world.” Not to confuse you, dear reader, but there are multiple means of “going” today. We have the Internet, postal services, and telephone. Further, there are cars, airplanes, and ships if “going” means “outside of one’s comfort zone.”

Mission fields abound! They’re everywhere! I clearly recall being in the midst of Indians, whose language I could not understand. I thought, “Oh, if only I knew their language! But, I know the language of the people next door…”

Heartily in Christ,

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

United States of America

Dear Grands,

Mark 3:1-5, “He entered again into a synagogue; and a man was there whose hand was withered.

2 They were watching Him to see if He would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse Him.

3 He said to the man with the withered hand, “Get up and come forward!”

4 And He said to them, “Is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the Sabbath, to save a life or to kill?” But they kept silent.

5 After looking around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart, He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored.”

Have you ever really hurt your hand? It not only hurts, it “tells” you that you’ll never be able to do anything with it from this day onward! Of course, that’s not always true. Still, it hurts so badly that you’re convinced that you’ll never be able to do anything with it ever again!

The man in the passage above was worse still. His hand was “withered!” In all probability, he had seen hurt hands previously; yet, his was so mangled that he doubted he would ever be able to use it again. Nevertheless, he attended synagogue! (How many of us have missed church because of a hangnail, or something of relative insignificance!)

This was “the day” for this man! He met Jesus! There are people alive today whose doctors cannot explain how! Some of them have simply met Jesus! Have you?

Heartily in Christ,

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

United States of America

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