The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

Acts 4:8, 12, “Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them,

‘Rulers and elders of the people… And there is salvation in no

one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been

given among men, by which we must be saved.’”

President Trump gave what some have called the boldest address

ever before the United Nations yesterday. He called out North

Korea, Iran, Venezuela, Cuba and others by the names of their

rulers. I heard the speech. It was very bold and to the point.

Simon Peter called out the rulers and elders of the people in

our verses above. The Scripture says that Peter was “filled with

the Holy Spirit.” The Greek word, here translated “filled,” means

“controlled.” John 3:34 says, God “gives the Spirit without measure.”

No believer has half or two-thirds of the Holy Spirit! That’s absurd!

The Holy Spirit is a Person and no person is divisible into fractions.

This is important to notice because of what Peter goes on to say:

“…there is salvation in no one else,” other than Jesus Christ.

What President Trump said was good; but if the world is to be

delivered from the influx of evil from the countries he mentioned,

it will not be done with weapons of warfare. It will be done by the

Hand of the Creator. In just the same way, each person who is

imprisoned by sin, must look to Jesus Christ for his salvation. And

the place once occupied by Simon Peter must be filled you and me.

Think about that! We have a HUGE responsibility! But, the power

In us will always come from the LORD.

You are loved and held in our prayers 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,

Acts 1:9, “And after He had said these things,

He was lifted up while they were looking on,

and a cloud received Him out of their sight.”

What do you do when the one upon whom

you have been dependent is no longer there?

In my lifetime, I have lost four grandparents,

two parents, four uncles, four aunts, and two

cousins. Obviously, my parents and grandparents

influenced my life more than the others; yet, to

some degree, each of them had an impact upon

my life.

Jesus impacted the lives of His disciples beyond all

their relatives. But, now He was gone. What are

they to do? They returned to “the upper room where

they were staying…and devoted themselves

to prayer…” That’s what all true believers do when

they find themselves bereft of their leader. True,

born-again believers are never alone. They must,

however, transfer their dependence to the LORD.

Where is your dependence? Is it upon parents,

grandparents, uncles, aunts, cousins, friends? All

of them will one day be gone. Learn today to be

totally and utterly dependent upon the LORD for all

your needs. He never fails!

Lovingly and prayerfully yours,

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,

John 19:14-15, “Now it was the day of preparation for the Passover;

it was about the sixth hour. And he said to the Jews, ‘Behold, your King!’

15 They therefore cried out, ‘Away with Him, away with Him, crucify Him!’

Pilate said to them, ‘Shall I crucify your King?’ The chief priests answered,

‘We have no king but Caesar.’”

Mob rule is nothing new. A police officer in St. Louis shot and killed a

man. A judge found the officer innocent and released him. Crowds

gathered in the street and began to demonstrate against the officer

and the judge who released him. The mob’s “evidence” was that the

officer was white and the man he killed was black. Justice was not

the crowd’s concern; getting their way is what it’s all about.

The mob in Jesus’ day was stirred up by the Jews, who wanted Jesus

dead. Simon Peter tells us that Pilate “had decided to release Him”

(Acts 3:13), but the crowd was determined to “put to death the

Prince of life…” (3:15). “Pilate made efforts to release Him, but the

Jews cried out… ‘If you release this Man, you are no friend of Caesar…’”

(Jn. 19:12). It was all a matter of authority. Pilate was correct in his

determination, but the people’s mention of Caesar turned everything

in their favor. Jesus had earlier said to Pilate, “…he who delivered Me

up to you has the greater sin.” Although all of this was within the LORD’s

plan leading to the Cross and the redemption of those who would

believe on Jesus, it nevertheless bodes ill for the crowd, who wanted

death instead of justice. Opposition to injustice is not wrong; but

yelling and screaming in the streets is not the proper method for

opposing it. An out-of-control crowd is a self-authoritative exercise.

We love your each and every one,

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,

John 14:1-3, “Let not your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me.

2 “In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have

told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. 3 “And if I go and prepare a place for

you, I will come again, and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may

be also.”

There’s a piece in the news today regarding a man who believes that

the 23RD of September –next week—will be the end of the world. He

bases his theory on some Scripture and on a “Planet X,” which NASA

says is does not exist. This is not the first prediction of the end of the

world; and it is not likely to be the last. But what drives a person to

be interested in the end of the world? Fear, uncertainty, frustration

and more are surely at the heart of it. Yet, the LORD is using this

fear in this man to awaken mankind to the Scriptures and the need

of salvation. Be sure of this: the existence of world is winding down.

Great catastrophe is coming! –but not from a “Planet X.” Jesus is

Coming! And that should joyfully excite all of us, who are prepared

to meet Him. He has gone to prepare Heaven for us, and He promises

to Come for us when that construction is completed. This is Good

News, but only to those who are prepared to meet Him. What about

those who are not prepared to meet Him? Well, that is our job to

share His Good News with them. Don’t get excited about predictions

of the world’s end. Just get excited that you belong to Him because

you trust in Him as your LORD and Savior. And don’t forget to tell

others.

We love you and pray for you every, single 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.”

Dear Grands,

John 14:10, “Do you not believe that I am in the Father,

and the Father is in Me? The words that I say to you I do

not speak on My own initiative, but the Father abiding in

Me does His works.”

Did you ever just blurt out something and then ask yourself,

“Why on Earth did I say that?” I’m sure we all have. And

more often than not we then seek to justify having said it

for some obscure reason. Believe me when I say that

Satan often pushes us to say things that we later regret.

But the LORD also often speaks through us, so that while

we don’t regret what we said, we’re a bit puzzled as to

where it had come from.

If what we say in such situations is right and good, we

can safely assume that the LORD has put those words

into us. Look at Jesus. He said, “The words that I say

to you I do not speak on My own initiative, but the

Father abiding in Me does His works.” When we walk

with the LORD every day and think about Him instead

of ugly and useless things, He uses us to speak to others

on His behalf. Knowing that what we have spoken was

of Him gives us a warm and good feeling.

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.”