The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

Ezekiel 14:2-4, 6, “And the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

‘Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their hearts and

have put right before their faces the stumbling block of their iniquity.

Should I be consulted by them at all?

‘Therefore speak to them and tell them, “Thus says the Lord GOD,

‘Any man of the house of Israel who sets up his idols in his heart,

puts right before his face the stumbling block of his iniquity, and then

comes to the prophet, I the LORD will be brought to give him an

answer in the matter in view of the multitude of his idols…

Therefore say to the house of Israel, “Thus says the Lord GOD,

Repent and turn away from your idols and turn your faces away

from all your abominations….”

Although this command was spoken to Ezekiel to share with the men

of Israel, the principle applies to all of us today. And idol is anything

that attracts our attention away from God. It can be money or the

things money buys; it can be a physical wrong or a mental wrong –or

both! We all know the idols that turn our eyes away from God and

spiritual things. What’s more, some of the hurts we encounter are

what the LORD allows as a punishment for our wrong doings. Sin

is not something to play with. It’s like drinking poison directly from

a bottle. Grab you Bible daily and pray often. The LORD love you

and is willing to erase from you mind those things that come between

you and Him.

We love you, too, and pray for you every day,

Nana & Dado III

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

Springdale, Arkansas

Dear Grands,

Genesis 1:26, “Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness,,,”

2 Corinthians 16:22, “For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.”

Galatians 4:4-5, “But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a

woman, born under the Law, so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that

we might receive the adoption as sons.”

In these verses, the Word of the LORD sets forth His design for man, for man’s sin, and the

execution of His plan for man’s redemption from his sin. The original design was to make

man in God’s image and spiritual likeness. How glorious is that? Adam had no idea of the

wonderful and marvelous plan the LORD had for his life. Nor do we for our lives. Nevertheless,

Adam’s willful sin brought his downfall and the downfall of all future generations. Neither he nor

we have any idea how far-reaching an effect our sin has upon those who come after us.

Was God’s designed plan now in ruins? It would appear so; however, He had a plan for

man’s redemption. He executed that plan in the sending of His Son, Jesus Christ, to Earth to

die on a cross as the sacrifice for man’s sin. Now, He leaves the telling of Christ’s death and

resurrection to us. We have these glorious privileges: first, our own redemption; then the

sharing of it with others that they might come to know Him, too. As the world situation gives

way to sin and evil, many will be open to any way of escape. There is but one way: Jesus!

Be ready to share Him with others.

His Love enables us to you, too,

Nana & Dado III

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

Springdale, Arkansas

Dear Grands,

John 12:19-21, “So the Pharisees said to one another, “’You see that you are

not doing any good; look, the world has gone after Him.’ Now there were some

Greeks among those who were going up to worship at the feast; these then came

to Philip, who was from Bethsaida of Galilee, and began to ask him, saying,

‘Sir, we wish to see Jesus.’”

How we could wish that for once the Pharisees were right and that the

whole world were seeking to follow Jesus. They were not gleeful about

it, however; they simply saw that their plan to do away with Him was

not working. Even the Greeks were seeking Him, yet He had come only

to “the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (Mat. 15:24). By the way, does

it seem strange to you that the Greeks came to Philip with their request?

Remember that Jesus had ridden upon the foal of a donkey in what we

know as “The Triumphal Entry.” According to the Old Testament, He

was positioning Himself as King –exactly what He was! Have you ever

tried to ride a horse or a donkey that had never been ridden? Take my

word for it: DON’T TRY! The successful ride Jesus took attracted the

Greeks. They wanted to know this King. So they went to Philip, whose

name means “horse lover,” or “lover of horses.” How wonderful the

Word of God is!! The riches in the depths of the Word are there for

the one who digs for them. So, start digging!

Love you all abundantly,

Nana & Dado III

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

Springdale, Arkansas

Dear Grands,

John 12:12-13, “On the next day the large crowd who had come to the feast,

when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, 13 took the branches

of the palm trees and went out to meet Him, and began to shout, ‘Hosanna!

BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD, even the King

of Israel.’”

Hosanna is the key word in these two verses. It means, “LORD, save us!”

It is a humbling cry from a people who were so “into” themselves! But, it

is a cry that we have heard recently in our own country. Were we to obey

all that the LORD has commanded us in His Word, such a cry for help would

not be necessary. Yet, the reality of it is, we become “comfortable” with

sin when disaster seems far, far away. Look at our most recent election.

Surely, we now know that we have been spared, and that the LORD has

placed some true Christians in places of leadership in our country. They

may not match the teaching of the Word in every instance of its instruction,

but do we? “LORD, save us!” is both personal and corporate. It is a necessary

daily cry from every honest heart. Save us from ourselves. Save us from our

secret sins. Save us from those “missed opportunities.” Please, LORD, save

us! You are our only hope!

Lovingly praying for you daily, as we trust you are praying for us,

Nana & Dado III

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

Springdale, Arkansas

Dear Grands,

John 12:9-11, “The large crowd of the Jews then learned that He was there;

and they came, not for Jesus’ sake only, but that they might also see Lazarus,

whom He raised from the dead.

10 But the chief priests planned to put Lazarus to death also;

11 because on account of him many of the Jews were going away

and were believing in Jesus.”

It would seem normal that the Jews who had only heard that Lazarus

had been raised from the dead would want to see for themselves.

What should attract our attention is that Satan never gives up! The

chief religious leaders were planning to put both Jesus and Lazarus

to death. And why? Because too many were believing in Jesus.

A spiritual parallel exists today when pastors resort to spreading

rumors against a fellow-pastor or against another church, because

their churches are losing members to other churches. Someone

once asked Dwight L. Moody how many souls were saved in a certain

meeting. His reply was, “I don’t know. God keeps score.” ~ The

lesson to us is that Satan never quits his evil work. We are to do

only what the LORD leads us to do. The results are in His hands.

We have not stopped loving you or praying for you,

Nana & Dado III

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

Springdale, Arkansas