The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

Psalm 83:1-4, “O God, do not remain quiet; Do not be silent and, O God, do not be still.

For, behold, Thine enemies make an uproar; And those who hate Thee have exalted themselves.

They make shrewd plans against Thy people, And conspire together against Thy treasured ones.

They have said, ‘Come, and let us wipe them out as a nation, That the name of Israel be

remembered no more.’”

The Psalmist is railing against the enemies of the LORD! He pleads with the LORD to

intervene against their enemies. For eleven more verses, he rages against those who

connive and conspire against the LORD and His people. Then, a strange thing occurs:

without reversing himself in the least, the Psalmist says, “Fill their faces with dishonor,

that they may seek Thy name, O LORD” (vs. 16). In my view, this is just about as

close to “love thy neighbor” as we can find in the Old Testament. It makes me think

that as much as we hold some people in disdain for their harsh, outrageous and untrue

things they say, we should pray that they might come to a knowledge of the LORD.

Yes, some people deserve imprisonment as punishment for the evil they have said and

done; yet, are we not all His creatures? Did our LORD Jesus Christ not die for all of us?

Read carefully the entire 18 verses of this 83RD Psalm, and see if you don’t agree.

Love you all; pray for you daily,

Nana & Dado III

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

Springdale, Arkansas

Dear Grands,

Psalm 37:4, “Delight yourself in the LORD;

And He will give you the desires of your heart.”

This is a short verse that gives a huge promise!

Did you ever really, really want something, prayed

for it, but never received it? “How then,” you ask,

“can I believe the Bible? Look what this verse

says. But it never happened to me. Why?”

Do you suppose you never received it because

your delight was not toward the LORD? He does not

say, delight yourself in whatever you want. Our

delight must be so focused on the LORD that

our whole desire is for Him, not for some trinket

in this life. He delights in giving to us. But whatever

He gives requires that we desire Him more.

Love you guys –every one!

Nana & Dado III

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

Springdale, Arkansas

Dear Grands,

Psalm 67:1-2, 7, “God be gracious to us and bless us, And cause His face to shine upon us–

2 That Thy way may be known on the Earth, Thy salvation among all nations…. 7God blesses us.

That all the ends of the Earth may fear Him.”

I urgently encourage you to read all of Psalm 67. There are only seven verses,

but they are powerful in many ways. The word that is mentioned twice in the

entire Psalm. That can be an adjective, as in “Bring me that chair.” Here it is

used idiomatically, in order that. God’s blessings are surely a benefit to us,

but His primary reason is “in order that (His) way may be known on Earth,” and

in order that “all the ends of the Earth may fear (revere, reverence) Him.” In

other words, every blessing the LORD bestows upon us is primarily for His glory!

When Nana dresses up in her finest attire, it has a “spill-over” effect on me.

But it is primarily for her. Remember then, that everything you do that is

commendable, brings honor and glory to God.

May He bless you as you honor Him through your life,

Nana & Dado III

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

Springdale, Arkansas

Dear Grands,

Psalm 66:16-20, “16 Come and hear, all who fear God, And I will tell of what He has done for my soul.

17 I cried to Him with my mouth, And He was extolled with my tongue.

18 If I regard wickedness in my heart, The Lord will not hear;

19 But certainly God has heard; He has given heed to the voice of my prayer.

20 Blessed be God, Who has not turned away my prayer, Nor His lovingkindness from me.”

The Psalmist beckons all of us to hear what the LORD has done for him.

He prayed with a clean heart and the LORD heard his prayer! That is the

gist of it. God does not allow us to get by with anything. Those who

appear to do wrong and get aways with it, simply do not know God.

Don’t concern yourself with what they do; just do what is right yourself.

God bless you in every venture for His glory,

Nana & Dado III

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

Springdale, Arkansas

Dear Grands,

Psalm 56:3-4, “When I am afraid, I will put my trust in Thee.

4 In God, whose word I praise, In God I have put my trust;

I shall not be afraid. What can mere man do to me?”

Fear is a normal emotion. Fear of heights, fear of water,

fear of any experience we’ve not had before, is common

to us all. The word “fear” is mentioned 309 times in the Bible.

There are things we don’t fear as young people, that we come

to fear as we grow older. And there are things we fear as young

people that we don’t fear as we grow older. As a youth, David

killed Goliath, but in these verses above, he admits to fear.

If you read 1Samuel 21:10 through 1 Samuel 22:1, you will

see how David cleverly avoided his enemies when he was

afraid. The key to erasing fear is to put your trust in the LORD.

Determine within yourself, “I shall not be afraid.” And know

that in every conceivable situation, the LORD is your protection!

We Love and live in His protection,

Nana & Dado III

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

Springdale, Arkansas