The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

1 Peter 2:11-12, “Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers

to abstain from fleshly lusts, which wage war against the soul.

12 Keep your behavior excellent among the Gentiles, so that

in the thing in which they slander you as evildoers, they may

on account of your good deeds, as they observe them, glorify

God in the day of visitation.”

Most of you are sufficiently trained, so as to be able to defend

yourselves against someone who would harm you. But, there

are many kinds of harm, and we are not often not only not

prepared to defend ourselves, we are oblivious to the nature

of the harm until it is too late. It is natural to be curious about

things, but they can often be dangerous. Our bodies, for

instance, are not prepared for the foods some people regularly

eat; so when we eat their food, we become sick and need

immediate medical care, sometimes even to live!

Satan is clever. He often –very often—utilizes our natural

curiosity to infect us and bring us down. I remember eating

the most delicious masala in India. It was delicious beyond

words! But, I became extremely sick! The sickness left me

wishing I’d never eaten it. But, when I got well, would you

believe it, I ate that same dish again! How stupid can one

be? Our eyes deceive us. We look at things that Peter says

“wage war against the soul” –our souls. You know better, but

everything within you begs to see more! You have no idea

what you are doing to yourself. You are ruining your future

for the sake of the present. Stop and think! Keep your

behavior excellent! You stop eating because you recognize

what overeating will do to your body. Stop watching what

you know to be wrong! You very life depends on it!!

Love and prayers always,

Nana & Dado III

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

Springdale, Arkansas

“We never know that God is all we need

until He becomes all that we have.”

Dear Grands,

Luke 12:2-3, “’But there is nothing covered up that will not be revealed,

and hidden that will not be known. 3 Accordingly, whatever you have said

in the dark shall be heard in the light, and what you have whispered in the

inner rooms shall be proclaimed upon the housetops.’”

Did you ever have a secret? “Don’t tell anyone; it’s a secret.” We’ve all

had secrets. We may have some now –at least, some that we think are

secret. My mother was a genius at learning secrets! She could worm

anything out of anyone. I never saw the like. “How did you know?” I

used to say. Her answer was always, “A little bird told me.” She never

said, but I figured that she got that from Ecclesiastes 10:20. It says…

well, you can read it for yourself.

Here in our verses above, Jesus says there is no such thing as a something

unknown. Everything will ultimately be revealed. Things done in the darkness

will be brought into the light. God knows everything now! Does that not

embarrass us, knowing that He knows even those deep-seated “secrets” of

our hearts? Oh, it should! Furthermore, there is the coming Judgment Seat

of Christ, where we will stand as saved believers before Almighty God and be

forced to give account of those things we thought and did in secret. Wow!

Will that be an embarrassing event, or what?!! However, when we confess

those things to God and truly repent of them, He forgives us and we are no

longer held accountable. But, we must not return to the same evil!

We pray for you; pray for us. We are all subject to the same temptations.

And if we are seeking to hide “secrets,” how can we expect God to answer

our prayers?

Love and prayers,

Nana & Dado III

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

Springdale, Arkansas

“We never know that God is all we need

until He becomes all that we have.”

Dear Grands,

Luke 10:38-42, “Now as they were traveling along, He entered a certain village;

and a woman named Martha welcomed Him into her home.

39 And she had a sister called Mary, who moreover was listening to the Lord’s Word,

seated at His feet.

40 But Martha was distracted with all her preparations; and she came up to Him,

and said, ‘Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to do all the serving alone?

Then tell her to help me.’

41 But the Lord answered and said to her, ‘Martha, Martha, you are worried and

bothered about so many things;

42 but only a few things are necessary, really only one, for Mary has chosen the

good part, which shall not be taken away from her.’”

I know that’s a longer passage that I usually give you, but you’re

all good readers. The key message is quite simple: some things

are very important; some things are not. So, the question each of

us must face every day is: Is what I am doing the most important?

Martha was concerned about the physical –dinner. Mary was more

concerned about the spiritual –the words of Jesus. What is your

focus for today? Read the Word every day and let the Holy Spirit

speak to you about what is important for your life. Of course, you

have work obligations. But within those obligations, what is the

LORD’s directive for you today?

We love you and are praying for you today,

Nana & Dado III

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

Springdale, Arkansas

“We never know that God is all we need

until He becomes all that we have.”

Dear Grands,

Luke 4:36-39, “And amazement came upon them all, and they began

discussing with one another saying, ‘What is this message? For with

authority and power He commands the unclean spirits, and they come

out.’ 37 And the report about Him was getting out into every locality in the

surrounding district. 38 And He arose and left the synagogue, and entered

Simon’s home. Now Simon’s mother-in-law was suffering from a high fever;

and they made request of Him on her behalf. 39 And standing over her, He

rebuked the fever, and it left her; and she immediately arose and waited

on them.”

These two instances bring into focus one salient truth: sin is a reality!

With the demon-possessed man, it is easy to detect sin; but with Simon’s

mother-in-law, it is a bit more difficult. If we think back to Adam and Eve,

there was no sin in the beginning. But when they sinned, all manner of

evil infested human life, even all creation. Sickness is not always indicative

of personal sin; but it is indicative of sin’s reality. Certainly, some illnesses

are the result of personal sins. We need always to do a spiritual self-checkup

to see if the LORD is trying to get our attention.

There is no indication in Scripture that Paul’s “thorn in the flesh” was the

result of some personal sin. Neither Nana nor I are without sin, but I could

never accept that her heart surgeries were required because of something

she had personally done wrong. What I am saying is that every disease and

every malfunction in our bodies is traceable to the Garden of Eden. Nor is it

wrong to seek a physician for healing. Luke himself was a physician and

travelled with the Apostle Paul. A hospital chaplain once said to me, “All

healing is divine. It’s just that in some cases the LORD uses physicians.”

Stay safe and do regular, spiritual check-ups. The LORD often speaks in

strange and mysterious ways.

Love and prayers always,

Nana & Dado III

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

Springdale, Arkansas

“We never know that God is all we need

until He becomes all that we have.”

Dear Grands,

Luke 1:66, “And all who heard them kept them in mind, saying,

‘What then will this child turn out to be?’ For the hand of the

Lord was certainly with him.”

Parents and friends are much the same in every generation.

Virtually all parents have looked upon their newborn child with

the same question. In this case, the child was John –John the

Baptist. John was six months older than his cousin, Jesus; and

the two boys grew up quite differently. Jesus was cared for by

His parents in their home in Nazareth. John lived in the wilderness

until the time of his ministry, and ate locusts and wild honey.

Of John, the Scripture says, “And the child continued to grow,

and to become strong in spirit, and he lived in the deserts until

the day of his public appearance to Israel” (Lk. 1:80). Of Jesus,

the Scripture says, “And Jesus kept increasing in wisdom and

stature, and in favor with God and men” (Lk 2:52).

John’s ministry was to introduce Jesus to the world. Jesus’

ministry was to introduce the world to His Father. In one sense,

they had the same ministry. Both were important, yet both were

ultimately rejected and gave their lives in the process.

What does the LORD intend for you? What do you see as your

ministry? Of course, we are all to glorify the LORD Jesus, but how?

What is He leading you to do? Are you, like John and Jesus, willing

to be and do whatever He intends? Are you willing to go where He

leads? Believe me, there is no ultimate joy in a life outside of His

will. Surroundings do not produce joy; only living within His will

produces a lifetime of joy and peace.

We love you and pray for you to know His peace and joy,

Nana & Dado III

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

Springdale, Arkansas

“We never know that God is all we need

until He becomes all that we have.”