The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

Mark 4:24, “And He was saying to them, ‘Take care what you listen to.

By your standard of measure it will be measured to you; and more will

be given you besides.’”

One of the chief methods of learning is by listening. There’s an old

adage that says, “The LORD gave us two ears and one mouth,” so we

should listen more and talk less. Barnes says, “You shall be treated

according to the use you make of your opportunities of learning. If

you consider it well, and make a good improvement of what you hear,

you shall be well rewarded. If not, your reward shall be small.”

Think of this when the pastor preaches today. Listen carefully. Over

the years, I’ve learned to ask the LORD for a personal message from

what the pastor says in and through his sermon. The more carefully

I listen, the more carefully I read the Word; and the more carefully I

read the Word, the more the LORD reveals to me. Then, I have more

responsibility to be and do what I learn. No, it’s not something just

for preachers; it’s for all of us. So listen today to the voice of the LORD,

as He speaks through the pastor’s word. It will make a difference in

your life.

Nana just reminded me that today is our 62ND Wedding Anniversary!

I had better be careful what I hear, too. ??

Love and prayers ever and always,

Nana & Dado III

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

Springdale, Arkansas

Dear Grands,

Mark 1:15, Jesus said, “’The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand;

repent and believe in the gospel.’”

Mark writes as if he were in a terrible hurry. This may be in part because

he is writing to the Romans, who themselves were hurried in many things.

Two very important words he cites are repent and believe. Repentance,

which is having “a serious change of mind and heart about a previous point

of view or course of behavior,” is mentioned only three times. But belief,

which means having faith in or trusting, is cited 20 times. Repentance deals

with things in our past; belief deals with what is available in our future. Of

course, negative or evil things in our past have to be dealt with before we

can anticipate good things in our future.

Mark notes for us that Jesus stopped a huge storm on the Sea of Galilee,

cast a host of demon spirits out of a man, healed a lame man and forgave

his sins, healed a woman, who simply touched His outer garment, and

raised a 12-year-old girl from the dead. Now, what is your need? What is

mine? What are we facing today for which we need Jesus’ power? He

knows, so why does He not just do what’s needed? Maybe we’ve not

repented from our past. Maybe we have not truly believed in Him for what

we now need. Instead of asking, “Why doesn’t God do something?” maybe

we need to ask, “Why haven’t we done what we should?”

Love and prayers ever and always,

Nana & Dado III

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

Springdale, Arkansas

Dear Grands,

2 John 1:10-11, “If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching,

do not receive him into your house, and do not give him a greeting;

11 for the one who gives him a greeting participates in his evil deeds.”

It is the pattern of some religious groups to journey from house-to-house

and distribute their literature or desire to enter your home and engage in

a “Bible study.” Usually, they are either Jehovah’s Witness or Mormons.

In either case, they are false witnesses, carrying and distributing doctrine

that is counter to the pure teaching of Holy Scripture. How are we to

treat people like this?

The Apostle John does not say that we should be rude or unkind toward

such people. Some have never heard the Truth of God’s Word. John is

saying that because they do not have the Truth, we have no basis of Christian

fellowship with them. Thus, we are not to invite them into our house; neither

are we to rejoice with them in what they are doing. In other words, we are

NOT to say “God bless you,” or anything that would give them the idea we

are sympathetic with what they believe.

Your house (or that of your parents) is the last bastion of safety you have.

Whenever trouble of any kind comes, “home” is usually the first place we go.

To allow anyone with evil error –especially concerning Scripture—to invade

your place of safety is itself to go against the LORD and His teaching!

One more thing: in order to know whether someone is bringing untruth to

your doorstep, you have to know the Truth yourself! How is that accomplished?

It is accomplished by being in the Word and in prayer every day. Know the

Truth. It alone sets us free from error.

Love always and ever,

Nana & Dado III

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

Springdale, Arkansas

Dear Grands,

1 John 5:14-15, “This is the confidence which we have before Him,

that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.

15 And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know

that we have the requests which we have asked from Him.”

I’ve forgotten what class I was in, but it occurred in college at

Pittsburg State in Kansas. Someone in the class asked, “Does

prayer really work?” Most of my professors were not Christians,

so, while I don’t recall what he answered, I can only imagine that

it was not favorable to the Scriptures.

The Apostle John says that if what we ask is “according to His will,”

He does indeed hear us. Then comes the correlative: “And if we

know (without the slightest doubt; with absolute confidence) that

He hears us,” we can with the same confidence know that we

have what we request. What John does not say, however, is when

our requests will be honored. That factor must remain in the

LORD’s timing. We are not to worry because worry is the lack

of faith.

Only believe; only believe;

All things are possible,

Only believe.

Love and prayers always and daily,

Nana & Dado III

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

Springdale, Arkansas

Dear Grands,

1 John 1:5-9, “This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you,

that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all.

6 If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness,

we lie and do not practice the truth;

7 but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship

with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.

8 If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us.

9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse

us from all unrighteousness.”

There is often a lot of difference in what we say and what we do.

There is also often a difference in how we live and how we pretend

we live. The Apostle John begins by identifying God as the Standard.

God is Pure Light. There is absolutely NO darkness in Him at all! So,

if we say we are living in Him and yet engaging in evil things, we just

are not telling the truth.

On the other hand, if we are walking with Him (living as He would

have us to live), we are getting along well with other believers, and

the Blood of Jesus Christ is continually cleansing us from every sin.

If we claim that we simply don’t sin, we’re deceiving ourselves; but

if we are confessing sin (agreeing with what the Bible says of us),

the LORD is forgiving us and cleansing us.

We know when we do wrong. The Holy Spirit within us tells us. We

“feel bad,” knowing we ought not to have done the right thing. But,

when we ask forgiveness (confess), He forgives and cleanses us and

we no longer “feel bad” inside. NOTE: every “if” in the verses above

means, maybe you will, maybe you won’t. Thus, it is decidedly to our

advantage to live “in the Light with Him” every day!

We love and pray for you and your safety every day,

Nana & Dado III

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

Springdale, Arkansas