The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

Mark 8:34-37, “And He summoned the multitude with His disciples, and said to them,

‘If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and

follow Me. 35 For whoever wishes to save his life shall lose it; but whoever loses his life

for My sake and the gospel’s shall save it. 36 For what does it profit a man to gain the

whole world, and forfeit his soul? 37 For what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?’”

Have you ever lost something that you treasured dearly? Maybe some of you are

too young to have yet experienced that. Treasures change as you move through

life. Things that you loved as a kid seem silly now. What you value as an adult

may be a simple note you received on your birthday, a poem of three or four

lines, written by your mom or dad. My grandmother Anderson (Mimi) had an old

Singer treadle sewing machine. What she treasured, however, was not the machine

Itself, but a strand of thread her youngest son had tied to the treadle. She never

removed it. Each of us treasures something. But the measure of its value is determined

by how much we would give to retrieve it.

The news has recently revealed some horrendous acts that some have committed

against others. The most valued television personality has admitted having engaged

in such acts and has lost his position in the television industry. His salary was $25

million a year! That’s a lot to surrender in exchange for some momentary acts

against others. Now, the intensity of regret far exceeds that moment of pleasure.

Do you see how all of this plays out? You can’t do wrong and get by. The sense of

regret is both excessive and expensive. But, it cannot be removed. There is no

“turning back” of the clock. There is nothing to exchange for it. It’s “face the music”

time. Of course, the LORD can forgive you. But you have to repent and ask Him.

William Cullen Bryant may not have been a Christian. I’ve never known. But he wrote

some valuable lines I memorized as a teen. Read them and think!

So live, that when thy summons comes to join

The innumerable caravan, which moves

To that mysterious realm, where each shall take

His chamber in the silent halls of death,

Thou go not, like the quarry-slave at night,

Scourged to his dungeon, but, sustained and soothed

By an unfaltering trust, approach thy grave,

Like one who wraps the drapery of his couch

About him, and lies down to pleasant dreams.

No regrets!

We love you desperately, 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,

Isaiah 12:1-2, “Then you will say on that day, ‘I will give thanks to Thee, O LORD;

For although Thou wast angry with me, Thine anger is turned away, And Thou dost

comfort me. 2 “Behold, God is my salvation, I will trust and not be afraid; For the

LORD God is my strength and song, And He has become my salvation.’”

We live in a dangerous world. Daily news brings us awareness of sin that prevails

against the righteous. As strange as it may seem, the LORD allows evil to harass

and trouble us –until we learn to confess our sin and yield our lives to Him and

His control. Isaiah 12 is a song of thanksgiving and praise to the LORD. The LORD

predicts that mankind (especially, Israel) will rejoice and give thanks to Him for

forgiving their sin and becoming their salvation.

Will L. Thompson was born in the middle of the 19TH Century. He loved the LORD

and wrote songs of praise that were sung in churches of his day. There’s A Great

Day Coming was one of his songs. This is the second verse.

There’s a bright day coming,

A bright day coming;

There’s a bright day coming by and by.

But its brightness shall only come

To them that love the Lord.

Are you ready for that day to come?

Whether Will Thompson had Isaiah 12 in mind, I do not know. Still, his

message tracks the prophet words and encourages us today. Loving the

LORD means yielding daily to His will. Are you doing that?

Oh, how we love you and pray for 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,

Ecclesiastes 11:9-10, “Rejoice, young man, during your childhood,

and let your heart be pleasant during the days of young manhood.

And follow the impulses of your heart and the desires of your eyes.

Yet know that God will bring you to judgment for all these things.

10 So, remove vexation from your heart and put away pain from

your body, because childhood and the prime of life are fleeting.”

Solomon marks the progress of life when he says “childhood” and

“young manhood.” And although he speaks to the male species,

we should not believe that it is addressed to them alone. Girls and

young women are surely the concern of the LORD, also.

I can remember resisting doing what my mother ordered me to do.

I can remember her emphases clearly when she said, “All right,

young man, you just do what you want! But, you’ll be sorry!”

Irony is “the use of words to convey a meaning that is the opposite

of its literal meaning.” That’s how Solomon uses the word rejoice

in this passage. Go on, guys, do whatever you want. Follow the

impulses of your heart. Let your eyes feast upon whatever they

desire. Just remember: “God is watching; and He will bring

you to judgment for all these things.”

It’s another way of saying, “You can’t do wrong and get by.” Oh,

you may escape the notice of some people. You may think: “Ah,

ha! No one noticed what I did. I’m clever. I’ve covered my tracks.”

But someone was watching! The camera-eye of Heaven caught

your every move. You were not a mere shadow; your identity

–even your thoughts—were unmistakably captured by the all-

seeing eye of God. Should you live to be yourself the parent of

a child, do you want your activities to become your child’s?

What is more, time and life are fleeting! We will all one day

stand before Almighty God! And He will judge the thoughts and

intentions of our hearts. He can and will give you the power to

become clean. Clean up, now! For tomorrow might be the day

we will be called into His Court!

We pray earnestly and lovingly for you 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.”

Dear Grands,

2 Chronicles 8:16, “Thus all the work of Solomon was carried out

from the day of the foundation of the house of the LORD, and until

it was finished. So the house of the LORD was completed.“

Have you ever started something that you did not complete?

Probably, we all have. It looked simple and easy to do, but the

further into you got, the harder it became. In fact, it seemed

hardly worth doing at all. So you quit. It was a good idea, and

numerous people applauded it –but it was just too hard.

I suppose you could argue that it was not Solomon who was

Personally, physically doing the work on the House of the

LORD. It was the laborers whom he ordered who were doing

the hard part. But if you’ve ever been in any area of leadership,

you know better. The one who is ultimately in charge has the

more difficult job. The laborer goes home at night. He can

forget what he faces tomorrow; but for the one who is in charge,

has the weight of the project and the laborers on his mind without

rest.

The Apostle Paul faced a similar experience with the Galatians.

“You were running well,” he wrote, “who hindered you from

Obeying the truth?” (Gal. 5:7). The point is that neither Solomon

nor Paul ever gave up on the responsibilities the LORD had assigned

them. It is the same with us. We must not quit in the fourth quarter

of the game. Yes, the opposition is hard. The building of lives for

the glory of Christ is hard. But, “the quitters never win, and the

winners never quit.” Stay in the “game.” Be faithful in what He has

assigned you. You ARE the House of the LORD! What’s more, you

are both the laborer and the leader responsible for the project.

You are ever and always in our 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,

Proverbs 21:2-3, “Every man’s way is right in his own eyes,

But the LORD weighs the hearts.

3 To do righteousness and justice Is desired by the LORD

rather than sacrifice.”

Everyday I read the Word and seek to glean from it some

salient verses that have application to your hearts as well.

Reading through the Proverbs is like a continual “right v.

wrong,” “do v. don’t,” “good v. evil,” “life v. death.”

Each of us is different in numerous ways, but Solomon

touches us all when he says that what we do is always

right in our own thinking. The problem is: we are not

the ultimate judge of what we do and don’t do. The

LORD measures and evaluates our hearts. He desires

us to be righteous, honest, and pure in both our

thoughts and deeds. One may have wealth and give

abundantly to good and noble causes, but the LORD

would rather that he possess right motives and give

himself to the LORD. The big question for each of us

is: 1) Are we truly pure and righteous in our motives

and in the works we do? And 2) are we free from

injustice that brings discredit on the LORD’s Name?

Deep down within our hearts, we know what we are

and whether our motives and our doings are pleasing

to Him. If they are, we will praise Him for producing

such within us. If we are not, we need to repent and

become righteous, which is pleasing in His sight.

We pray earnestly for each of you 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.”