The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

2 Kings 22:1-2, “Josiah was eight years old when he became king,

and he reigned thirty-one years in Jerusalem… 2 And he did right in

the sight of the LORD and walked in all the way of his father David,

nor did he turn aside to the right or to the left.”

Can you, in your wildest imagination, ever think of becoming President

of the United States at age eight? I doubt it. Josiah’s father, Amon,

did nothing but evil in the sight of the LORD, just as Amon’s father,

Manasseh, had done. If everything you saw of your father or grand-

fathers was evil, how would you know to do good?

It was in the course of repairing the House of the LORD that one of

the workers discovered a scroll of the Law. They took the scroll to

Josiah, who was then 26 years old, and he immediately gave orders

that Judah was to do a “turn around” in the way they lived and start

living for the LORD. Josiah and the nation of Judah changed course!

All of the pagan things they found, they destroyed. They even dug

up the bones of their ancestors, who did evil, and ground them to

powder and scattered them to the winds. Huge boulders that had

been used in pagan worship were smashed literally into dust. Josiah

erased all evil from the land of Judah!

At the end of his life, the LORD said of Josiah,

“And before him there was no king like him who

turned to the LORD with all his heart and with all

his soul and with all his might, according to all the

law of Moses; nor did any like him arise after him”

(2 Kings 23:25).

All that being said, Josiah was “not a patch” on the LORD Jesus Christ!

Christ, of course, is the Gold Standard for us. But, are we even now

In His sight what Josiah was? May God help us so to be! It all starts

with the Book!

We love and pray for each of you daily,

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,

2 Kings 19:19, “’And now, O LORD our God, I pray, deliver us

from his hand that all the kingdoms of the Earth may know that

Thou alone, O LORD, art God.’”

It was a devastating time! After a long list of kings that failed to

serve the LORD, Hezekiah had destroyed those “high places,”

where Israel had served pagan gods; he had restored the

worship of the LORD and done everything right in the eyes of

the LORD. Still, problems persisted. The Assyrians had defeated

every nation around them and now they threated Israel. When

Hezekiah sought the LORD, He assured him that the Assyrian

army would turn back, because He had put a rumor in the mind

of their leader that the Assyrians were in trouble at home.

The Assyrians returned to Assyria, but they hadn’t given up on

Israel. They sent a letter saying they were returning and would

devastate the Israelis! So, once again Hezekiah went before the

LORD in prayer. This time, the LORD, in a rather long reply, said

“I will defend this city to save it for My own sake and for My

Servant David’s sake.” That very night, and angel of the LORD

struck down 185,000 Assyrian soldiers! Israel was saved!

This historical account teaches us that the LORD is not limited in

what He can do. Hezekiah had lived for the LORD; now, the

LORD worked for Hezekiah. He does the same today for those

who live for Him and call upon Him in their hour of need.

May you ever live for Him, so that He may work for you,

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,

2 Kings 16:20, “So Ahaz slept with his fathers, and was buried

with his fathers in the city of David; and his son Hezekiah reigned

in his place.”

Reading through Second Kings is not always exciting. One after

another, kings died and were replaced with their sons, who died,

and were replaced with their sons. The one significant factor was

whether the incoming king of Israel and/or Judah, did what was

right in the sight of the LORD. Even the good kings, who honored

the LORD, far too often failed to “remove the high places,” where

the people served pagan deities.

My Dad was the finest, Christian man I have ever known. He was

honest and faithful in everything he undertook. I’ve always tried

to live the integritous life I saw in my Dad. Yet, I know my life has

often fallen short of what I witnessed in him. Try as I would, his

standard always exceeded my achievement. Isn’t that how we

all fail to measure up to the life of our LORD Jesus Christ? There

are those “high places” where we sacrifice to other gods. We

seek to justify our sin by measuring it against the spiritual good

that we do. But God doesn’t measure things that way. He wants

PERFECTION! And instead of yielding to His way and His power,

we seek to justify those “high places” in our devotion.

The Commandment that says, “Thou shalt not take the name of

the LORD Thy God in vain,” can be translated, “You shall not wear

the Name of the LORD disrespectfully” nor “carry it into disrepute.”

It’s more than not swearing; it’s the failure to live “to the praise of

His glory” (Eph. 1:12).

May the LORD enable each of us to live to His glory,

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,

2 Kings 6:5-7, “But as one was felling a beam, the axe head fell into the water;

and he cried out and said, ‘Alas, my master! For it was borrowed.’ 6 Then the

man of God said, ‘Where did it fall?’ And when he showed him the place, he

cut off a stick, and threw it in there, and made the iron float. 7 And he said,

‘Take it up for yourself.’ So he put out his hand and took it.”

In the midst of sickness and war and famine –a multitude of problems!—

the LORD demonstrates the value He holds for the practical things in life.

The sons of the prophets found the area in which they were living to be

too restricted. Their plan was to move to another area, and they asked

Elisha to go with them. He did. In the area near the Jordan River, they

cut trees to build houses. (Prophets are not exempt from manual work.)

But while one of them was seeking to fell a tree, the axe head came loose

from the handle and fell into the river. The man cried out to Elisha for

help. The axe he was using was not his; it was borrowed! Its loss was

considerable, for tools were rare and very expensive in those days.

Elisha asked, “Where did it fall?” Then, he “cut off a stick, and threw it

in” the place where the man showed him the axe head had fallen. And

the iron axe head floated to the surface of the water. When we are truly

living for the LORD, He meets the most menial needs we have. We’ve

misplaced things in houses where we’ve lived and prayed that the LORD

would help us find them. He did so numerous times! He IS concerned

for ALL of our needs, regardless of how needless they often are. Don’t

your parents often stop what they’re doing to help you with something

you need? They do it out of love. And so does the LORD! Depend on

Him! Rely on Him! Trust in Him! That’s what love is all about; and

God is love.

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

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.”