The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

Proverbs 3:1-14, “My son, do not forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commandments;

2 For length of days and years of life and peace they will add to you.

3 Do not let kindness and truth leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart.

4 So you will find favor and good repute in the sight of God and man.

5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding.

6 In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.

7 Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and turn away from evil.

8 It will be healing to your body and refreshment to your bones.

9 Honor the LORD from your wealth and from the first of all your produce;

10 So your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will overflow with new wine.

11 My son, do not reject the discipline of the LORD or loathe His reproof,

12 For whom the LORD loves He reproves, even as a father corrects the son in whom he delights.

13 How blessed is the man who finds wisdom and the man who gains understanding!

14 For her profit is better than the profit of silver and her gain better than fine gold.”

One could comb through the entirety of the Old Testament Scriptures without finding an admonition of greater value than these verses above. For all the elements of a wonderful, productive, invaluable life are visibly contained here. Solomon, with all of the wisdom granted him by the LORD, urges us to learn, live, and teach the principles set before us here. Kindness, truth, trust, wisdom, honor, discipline, acceptance of reproof, and wisdom are within the grasp of our understanding, and all are elements of mentality and spirituality that are freely available from the LORD.

Oh, the weariness of sufferings we experience when we neglect to follow the LORD’s provisions for life! Such weariness leads only to spiritual and physical decline. It is often productive of emotional and physical illness. What’s more, such negativism is erasable! The LORD stands ready to erase and replace all deplorable factors that seek to bind and blind us to His way!

How blessed is the one who finds wisdom and gains understanding! There is no better life!

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,

Proverbs 23:33, “Your eyes will see strange things and your mind will utter perverse things.”

My daughter and I were getting rid of some old papers and things—some of which I will never use, and some which I have never ever used. It’s amazing the “strange things” that linger around, evidently, just to be found. Here’s one I thought might warm your heart:

A LITTLE MIXED UP

Just a line to say I’m living

And am not among the dead;

Though I’m getting more forgetful

And mixed up in my old head.

For I sometimes can’t remember,

When I stand at the foot of the stair,

If I must go up for something,

Or I’ve just come down from there.

And before the fridge, so often,

My mind is filled with doubt;

Have I just put food away, or

Have I come to take some out?

And at times when it is dark out,

With my nightcap on my head,

I don’t know if I’m retiring,

Or just getting out of bed.

So, remember: I do love you,

And I wish that you were here;

But now, it’s nearly mail time,

So, I’ll just say: “Goodbye, Dear.”

There I stood beside the mailbox,

With a face so very red;

Instead of mailing you my letter,

I had opened it instead.

——————————————————–

“Here is what I have seen to be good and fitting:

to eat, to drink and enjoy oneself in all one’s

labor in which he toils under the sun during the

few years of his life which God has given him: for this is his reward” (Ecclesiastes 5:18).

“A joyful heart is good medicine…” (Proverbs 17:22),

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,

John 1:1-13, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
2 He was in the beginning with God.
3 All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.
4 In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men.
5 The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.
6 There came a man sent from God, whose name was John.
7 He came as a witness, to testify about the Light, so that all might believe through him.
8 He was not the Light, but he came to testify about the Light.
9 There was the true Light which, coming into the world, enlightens every man.
10 He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him.
11 He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him.
12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name,
13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.”

If there is anywhere a clearer, more concise accounting of the origin of the LORD Jesus Christ, I do not know where it is! He is the Eternal Son of God the Father, who breathed into existence everything we are enabled to see or know. He is the Light that gives life to all creation: Light that can neither be explained nor extinguished!

John is not that Light; he was but the ambassador of that Light. Yet, it is the Light Itself that penetrates the darkness of lost, sinful mankind, giving hope and direction of salvation! Yes, the True Light is available for the salvation and guidance of every human being. It only awaits mankind’s personal discernment and reception of the True Light, Jesus Christ.

The Lord Jesus Christ, the Eternal Light and Son of God, came to Earth, surrendering in death and resurrecting in life to enable mankind access to His Heavenly Home. And it’s neither baptism, nor church membership, nor the giving of financial resources that enables lost mankind to bridge that vast gap. It’s Jesus Christ alone! Have you received Him? Has your family? Your neighbors?

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,

Genesis 3:1-7, “Now the serpent was craftier than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, “Indeed, has God said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden’?”

2 The woman said to the serpent, “From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat;

3 but from the fruit of the tree, which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die.'”

4 The serpent said to the woman, “You surely will not die!

5 “For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

6 When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate.

7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loin coverings.

Each of us was created with five human senses: sight, hearing, touch, taste, and smell. I expect it would take scores of pages to list and evaluate each of their meanings. What we do know, however, is that each gift, beautiful and meaningful, is for the benefit of our well-being and the preservation of our lives; gifts from Almighty God.

Satan is a liar; thus, the ultimate adversary of our LORD becomes our adversary, too. He works tirelessly to twist these God-given gifts into experiences contrary to what the LORD intended. Sight and hearing are doubtlessly the most devastating when used outside the purpose of the LORD. Multiple experiences listed in Scripture demonstrate how the misuse of these gifts leads mankind into evil and ultimately the destruction of what God intended.

It would be foolish (and giving way to Satan) to seek to list the negative aspects of just seeing and hearing. We all know what they are – a slippery slope away from the warm and loving intention of our LORD and Savior, Jesus Christ. It’s sufficient for us to stay alert and away from the slough of despondency that would bring us down. Play it smart! Use what the LORD has invested in you to bring honor and glory to His Name. In the end, you’ll be glad that you did. Maranatha!

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,

Luke 18:9-14, “And He also told this parable to some people who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and viewed others with contempt:

10 “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.

11 “The Pharisee stood and was praying this to himself: ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other people: swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector.

12 ‘I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get.’

13 “But the tax collector, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, the sinner!’

14 “I tell you, this man went to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

It’s not fully clear in my mind, as it occurred many years ago. I had concluded a sermon and had left the pulpit when I was immediately confronted and accused of having publicly mentioned a situation that, in the complainant’s mind, had fully disclosed to the audience something that had occurred to her many years ago. From my standpoint, the person’s objection was completely absurd! I had not a scintilla of information concerning my objector’s life or situation. In fact, it was my first (and thankfully only) time she and I had ever met! All this is to say that very strange things sometimes occur in churches.

In our passage above, two men, one a Pharisee, the other a tax collector, commendably entered a temple to pray. That appears to be all that either of them had in mind. Certainly, both should be commended for their presence in the LORD’s House, as well as for the purpose of praying. Yet, the “good” stops there.

The Pharisee clearly and intentionally attacked the tax collector, calling him a “swindler,” someone thoroughly “unjust,” and an “adulterer.” Allowing for the moment that the Pharisee’s accusations were even possibly true, they were hardly appropriate for an act of prayer. It should alert us to be careful regarding what we say to the LORD in prayer. At the same time, the tax collector, virtually all of whom were known to be, at the least, “swindlers” and “unjust,” simply prayed humbly “in acknowledgment of his sin, begging that the LORD “be merciful” to him. What a schoolhouse lesson on prayer! May the LORD help us all to remember.

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