The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

Psalm 23:1-3, “The LORD is my shepherd,

I shall not want.

2 He makes me lie down in green pastures;

He leads me beside quiet waters.

3 He restores my soul;

He guides me in the paths of righteousness

For His name’s sake.”

Other than John 3:16, there may not be any Scripture

passage more popular or well-known than Psalm 23.

Some people use it as a prayer. Years ago, I outlined

it as it came to me.

1. Relationship: the LORD (Yahweh) is my Absolute Faithfulness.

2. Reliability of Provisions: I shall not lack anything beneficial to me.

3. Restoration of Body and Soul: He restores me from my weaknesses.

4. Redirection: He guides me in the right paths of life.

5. Responsibility: Everything I am or have is for the LORD’s glory alone.

Let me challenge you to cogitate (think seriously and carefully) on each

of these five points. There is no faithful friend like the LORD. As we love

and follow Him, we will never lack anything that we need. When we feel

as if we’re weakened beyond continuing, He pumps His strength into us,

enabling us to carry on. When we come to a “fork in the road,” and are

unsure which way to go, He guides and leads us in the right way. And it

never matters whether we get credit for things done, because everything

He has provided for us has been ultimately for His glory alone.

Psalm 113:5-6, “Who is like the LORD our God, Who is enthroned on high,

6 Who humbles Himself to behold The things that are in heaven and in

the earth?”

Our prayer is that you always follow the LORD. He is the only one whom

you can always trust to be and do right in all things.

We love you dearly, and praise the LORD for each of you,

Nana & Dado III

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

Springdale, Arkansas

Dear Grands,

Psalm 13:5-6, “But I have trusted in Your lovingkindness;

My heart shall rejoice in Your salvation. 6 I will sing to the LORD,

Because He has dealt bountifully with me.”

The psalmist’s life was surrounded by trouble, just as we often

discover our lives are. It’s interesting, though regrettable, that

people who have nothing to do with God, cry “Oh, GOD!” when

devastation comes their way. The psalmist trusts in the LORD’s

lovingkindness, and rejoices in His salvation. I’m thinking of a

small child standing at the edge of the water. The child’s father

stands in the water and beckons the child to jump to him. The

child thinks, then trusts, then jumps into the arm of its father!

When the exercise of faith is complete, the child rejoices that

it has been saved by the loving arms of its father. Then the child,

laughs, somewhat like the psalmist singing, knowing that the

father has adequately saved the child. The trust grows, and the

child achieves more and more bountiful things from its father.

So it is with us. We trust the LORD, our Heavenly Father; He

proves Himself more than adequate to our needs, so we trust

Him again and again, and rejoice in His rewards.

Trust Him today, is our prayer for you. Trust Him in everything!

He is able and willing to rescue us all from surrounding trouble.

Nana & Dado III

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

Springdale, Arkansas

Dear Grands,

Hebrews 13:2, “Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers,

for by this some have entertained angels without knowing it.”

Hospitality was a prime expression of eastern peoples. Paul

was never shy about saying, “I’m headed your way and I need

a place to stay.” Nor were those on the receiving end of his

self-placed invitation, put out by the words of his coming.

But, Paul’s reference here is sure to have been about Abraham.

Genesis 18 says the LORD appeared to Abraham and when he

looked up there were three men standing above him. Abraham

begged them not to journey on, but to allow him to show them

hospitality. He promised them only “a piece of bread,” but what

he ultimately gave them must have been hours in preparation.

It was a meal fit for a king. As it turns out, these “men” were

angels with a message of blessing from the LORD. All of this

tells us that we’re never sure with whom we are talking; so it

is to our benefit to treat everyone respectfully and graciously.

The LORD’s approach to us is not always immediately

discernable. Yet, we are always blessed by His presence.

We are always blessed by your presence, too! You are always

welcome at our house! Come and see us!

Love and blessings,

Nana & Dado III

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

Springdale, Arkansas

Dear Grands,

Hebrews 11:38a, “…of whom the world was not worthy).”

Hebrews 11 is known as “The Faith Chapter” of the Bible.

Paul cites 16 Old Testament personalities who endured

horrendous experiences simply because they were Christians.

It sounds like what we read today about the persecution of

believers all over the world. The Scripture says they were

mocked and whipped, imprisoned, stoned, sawed in half,

stabbed to death with swords; and the ones who escaped

this persecution, wandered about with insufficient clothing,

in poor health –and the list goes on and on. Then, almost

as if he could hold back no longer, he said, “of whom the

world was not worthy.” Think about that. These who were

treated so badly were here on Earth to guide those who

were not believers. The unbelievers were simply not worthy

of those whom they treated so badly. The question that

comes to me is: Am I living so as to be of worth to the world?

If I’m just here and stumbling along and thinking only of

myself and “things” that will eventually wear out and become

worthless, am I of any worth to the world and to those who

live around me? Even more, am I worth anything to God?

Think about that… Now, what are you going to do about it?

You “kids” are wonderful to us! We love you immensely!

Nana & Dado III

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

Springdale, Arkansas

Dear Grands,

Hebrews 10:23-24, “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope

without wavering, for He who promised is faithful; 24 and let us

consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds…”

You’ve heard the old adage, “The New is in the Old Concealed;

the Old is in the New revealed.” Nowhere in Scripture is this

truer than in the Hebrew Epistle. Paul has gone into great detail

to convince all his readers that Jesus is our Great High Priest and

that He is coming soon. With that in mind, he admonishes us to

be involved in several things. In verse 22, he tells us to “draw

near (to God) with a sincere heart.” Then, in our verses above

he encourages us to “hold fast (to the) confession of our hope…”

If we have drawn near to the LORD, we will hold fast to our

beliefs regarding Him and what His Word tells us is coming soon.

Then, he encourages us to “consider how to stimulate (provoke)

other believers to be loving and engage only in good deeds.

We know how to make others mad! How do we make others

loving and good? We have to think about it. Without question,

when we start thinking (about good and loving things) the Holy

Spirit will bring some ideas to our minds. What do you think

you sufficiently provoked? Then, get on with it! Provoke others!!!

We love you all with an undying love,

Nana & Dado III

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

Springdale, Arkansas