The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

Any reading of the Gospel of Luke should, it seems to me, be prefaced with these words of Sir William Ramsay: “I take the view that Luke’s history is unsurpassed in regard to its trustworthiness…. You may press the words of Luke in a degree beyond any other historian’s and they stand the keenest scrutiny and the hardest treatment.”

Luke 1:26-35, Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city in Galilee, called Nazareth, 27 to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the descendants of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. 28 And coming in, he said to her, “Hail, favored one! The Lord is with you.”

29 But she was greatly troubled at this statement, and kept pondering what kind of salutation this might be. 30 And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; for you have found favor with God.

31 “And behold, you will conceive in your womb, and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus.

32 “He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David; 33 and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever; and His kingdom will have no end.”

34 And Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” 35 And the angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy offspring shall be called the Son of God.

Most of us have had surprises in our lifetimes; but I dare say that none of us have ever been as

terrified as Mary was by this appearance of the angel Gabriel. Nor did his pronouncement of her

as “favored one; the LORD is with you” lessen her fright. Gabriel’s announcement, however, was

that Mary was to have a child, a male child, who would reign over Israel forever. Mary understood

how childbirth came about, but she was simply engaged to be married; she had not had sexual

intercourse with any man. The response of the angel was that the Holy Spirit would impregnate

her miraculously and that while Joseph would serve as the Child’s foster father, the LORD Himself

would be the Father of the Child. Thus, the Child would be known as “the Son of God.” What we

call “the virgin birth” is more accurately “the miraculous conception.” Mary was the means by

which Jesus was to be born.

I have a friend, who is head of security in a Washington, DC church. He told me that many Muslims

were coming to the church saying that they had had a dream that they should learn about Jesus. These people were so numerous that the rows in which they sit are called “Muslim rows.” I’ve wondered just how frightened they must have been to awaken from dreams like that. I’ve experienced a few things like that –things that were so real, yet were only dreams. The word “dream” is uses 111 times in the Bible, so it’s not as unusual as we might think.

The key to all of this is that Mary was a pure, young girl. Purity is essential. Do we not want purity in our doctors and nurses? Do we not even want the evidence of purity in the people with whom we associate? The LORD would not have chosen anyone with less purity and innocence than Mary. If we desire to be used of Him, we, too, must be pure in thought and in character. We may not understand the ways in which He will use us, but we must be pure and ready and listening for His call.

God bless you! We love each and everyone of you and pray 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,

Romans 15:4-6, “For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction,

that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.

5 Now may the God who gives perseverance and encouragement grant you to be of the

same mind with one another according to Christ Jesus; 6 that with one accord you may

with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

New Year’s Resolutions are remarkable things; but, quite honestly, they

rarely work. Have you ever decided, “Now, this year, I’m going to read

the Bible through”? You meant well, but after you got into Leviticus or

Numbers, you just got discouraged and gave up. Let me help a bit.

Paul clearly tells us in the verses above that the Old Testament was

written “for our instruction.” He proves that in the verses that follow

what we’ve written above. (Read verses 9 through 12, where Paul quotes

from Psalm 18, Deuteronomy 32, Psalm 117, and Isaiah 11.) These verses

–and others—are for our perseverance (??????? hupomone, patient

endurance) and encouragement (?????????? paraklesis, comfort,

consolation).

And where do perseverance and encouragement originate? God

gives them! But why? Why does He put all of that in the Bible in

the first place? He does so that we might see how He deals with

us as human beings, and that we might glorify Him, “the God and

Father of our LORD Jesus Christ.” Sure, you can skip the tough

stuff and just read what flows easily. But, you’ll miss a HUGE part

of what He intends for you to know. Don’t you want to know the

WHOLE STORY? You bet you do! So, pick out a Guide and get

started (https://www.biblestudytools.com/bible-reading-plan/)!

Love and prayers for a Blessed New Year,

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,

Romans 13:8-14, “Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law. 9 For this, ‘You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,’ and if there is any other commandment, it is summed up in this saying, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ 10 Love does no wrong to a neighbor; love therefore is the fulfillment of the law. 11 And this do, knowing the time, that it is already the hour for you to awaken from sleep; for now salvation is nearer to us than when we believed. 12 The night is almost gone, and the day is at hand. Let us therefore lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.

13 Let us behave properly as in the day, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and sensuality, not in strife and jealousy. 14 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts.”

How do you define ”love”? Does “love” have different meanings? Does the definition

depend upon the object of “love”? To put it another way, does “I love apple pie” mean

the same as “I love animals”? or “I love basketball”? The Greeks had four separate

words for “love.” English has only one word for it, but the meaning is mentally defined

by the usage.

Have you ever noticed that adultery, murder, theft and covetousness are all mental

sins before they are physical? Love, too, is an attitude before it is an action. Do you

ever send money to a missionary? Have you considered that as an act of love before

it was an act of giving? You become what you think. The control of the mind determines

the kind of person you are. But, how do we control our thinking? We control it first by

thinking on Jesus! When He is first and foremost in our thinking (What would Jesus do?),

then our thoughts and actions align with Him. Maybe –just maybe—that’s why He gave

us the Bible. Humm…

We love you truly, and mentally hold you 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,

Romans 12:1-2, “I urge you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God,

to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God,

which is your spiritual service of worship. 2 And do not be conformed

to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you

may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and

perfect.”

What would you think if a baseball player came up to bat dressed

in a football uniform? “Wild pitcher” might be one thing you’d

think. But beyond that, you’d probably think he was crazy! What

we wear says a lot about who we are and about what we think about

where we are. You can tell when very poor people, who don’t have

the best clothing, are still clean and dressed as nicely as they can be.

So much for the outside.

Paul says something like this when he talks about how we are spiritually

dressed. When Jesus went to the Cross, He was presenting Himself

as the Sacrifice for the sins of the world. Even our best was not good

enough, so He took our place. His body was acceptable in every way,

and His mind was clean and pure before both the Father and mankind.

Nothing less would have been acceptable to the Father; and so it is

with us. We are neither to dress or think like the world. The world

may not think of us as “cool,” but the world is not our authority. The

world is not who we are trying to impress. Jesus is our Authority,

and in everything and everywhere, we are “to be to the praise of His

glory” (Eph. 1:12). The uniform we wear tells what “game” we’re

playing. Even more, it tells Whose team we are on!

We love your immensely and hold you always in prayer,

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,

Romans 11:33-36, “Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and

knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable

His ways! 34 For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who became His

counselor? 35 Or who has first given to Him that it might be paid back to him

again? 36 For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be

the glory forever. Amen.”

The Letter of Paul to the Romans is unquestionably his magnum opus, his

greatest work. In this eleventh chapter, Paul speaks of the salvation of

Gentiles, but notes that Gentile salvation does not mean He has rejected

the Jews. Rather, by electing to save the Gentiles, the LORD is provoking

the Jews to return to Him; thereby, both Jew and Gentile will be saved.

It’s such a marvelous and wonderful plan that Paul himself is staggered

by its genius. That’s where our verses above describe Paul’s elation! No

one can fathom the depths of the LORD’s wisdom or knowledge; nor can

anyone search out and understand His thinking or movements. It’s a level

of genius that far surpasses human understanding!

One thing we can know: it is all “from Him and through Him and to Him.”

It’s all circular in its nature. The LORD does it all; He does it through His

Son, Jesus Christ, the Messiah, and it all comes back to glorify the LORD

Himself. This prompts Paul to conclude, “To Him be the glory forever. Amen!”

Every problem we face is under the control of our LORD. He allows us to

have problems so we can come to Him for solutions. When the problems

are solved, we must admit that He solved the problems, not we ourselves!

As a parent delights that the child comes to him with a hurt, he fixes the

hurt gladly and rejoices that he could help his child. So it is with the LORD!

He is honored when we come to Him for deliverance from troubles!

You are in our daily prayers! We love you immensely!

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.”