The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

II Corinthians 5:20-21, “Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ,

as though God were entreating through us; we beg you on behalf

of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21 He made Him who knew no sin

to be sin on our behalf, that we might become the righteousness

of God in Him.”

It’s always exciting to hear from someone we’ve not seen for a

long time. It’s even more exciting when we see someone we’ve

not seen for a long time. It’s one thing to get a letter; it’s another

thing to get a visit. All that is to say they while we are letters

(II Cor. 3:2), we are also visitors –ambassadors—for Christ. We

are His messengers, sent to share the Good News of Jesus’ death

and resurrection with those who don’t know Him. We are there

to aid them, even when they often don’t know they need aid.

We are to speak with authority and with persistence because we

are dealing with eternal matters of life and death!

What makes a matter worse is when someone is dying and doesn’t

know it. If it were a physical matter, we would do everything

possible to help. But it’s more serious than that! It’s an eternal

matter. They live an observably clean life; they go to church;

they believe in God. What more do they need? They need Jesus!

Leah Remini is an actress, who left the horrid cult of Scientology

and is now seeking to expose the danger of that cultic group. Her

problem, however, is that she has not replaced the cult with Christ!

She believes her Catholic religion is sufficient, but it’s not. It’s no

more sufficient than my Baptist baptism! The Good News is not

about a religion; it’s about Jesus Christ, who became our sin and

died in our place and arose from the dead that we might have a

true and pure relationship with God the Father. We became

“relatives” of the LORD –and on a personal basis– when we trusted

Jesus for what did for us! Now, it’s for us to be His witnesses and

help others to know Him. Letters—yes, we are; but messengers

all the more.

You are loved and in our daily 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,

II Corinthians 3:2-4, “You are our letter, written in our hearts,

known and read by all men; 3 being manifested that you are a

letter of Christ, cared for by us, written not with ink, but with the

Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone, but on tablets of

human hearts. 4 And such confidence we have through Christ

toward God.”

Thus far in life, you’ve probably been called a lot of things.

But did you ever think of yourself as being a letter? Well,

whether you like it or not, you are. You are a letter. It’s as

if everyone you meet sees your parents in you. “Oh, you’re

so-and-so’s son –or daughter? I should have known. Your

characteristics are just like your Dad –or your Mom. If I didn’t

know better, I’d think you were they.”

Well, you are a letter written in our hearts and you are read

by everyone you meet. What’s more, you are a letter concerning

Jesus Christ. He makes you different, and people see Him in you.

If you stop and think about it, everyone who is a born-again

believer in Christ Jesus looks different than those you know

who are not. We just jog along through life often not thinking

how we look to others. But we are representatives of Him, just

as we are of our parents (and grandparents!). How we dress,

how we speak, how we act, where we go, what we do –all of

it reflects for or against Him, who loves us and gave Himself

for us. Always look and be your best. You are a child of the King!

We love you and hold you in our daily 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,

II Corinthians 1:3-5, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,

the Father of mercies and God of all comfort; 4 who comforts us in all our affliction

so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort

with which we ourselves are comforted by God. 5 For just as the sufferings of Christ

are ours in abundance, so also our comfort is abundant through Christ.”

Life is filled with both blessings and distresses. It seems natural that we focus

on the distresses more than on the blessings. But Paul is always stressing the

blessings. He has a bright and positive outlook on life. He blesses the LORD

Jesus Christ and God the Father for all mercies and comfort.

Mercies (????????? oiktirmos) is tender concern for one in trying conditions or

distress. Comfort (?????????? paraklesis) is coming to the aid of someone

in need of encouragement. Affliction (?????? thlipsis) means all manner of trouble.

But why does the LORD allow all of these troubles to come upon us anyway?

First of all, since Christ suffered for us, who are we to think we should escape

suffering? More importantly, His purpose in allowing sufferings to befall us is

that we may know how to comfort others who are suffering.

Don’t you think that a dentist who has had a toothache knows better how his

patient feels since he’s had a similar problem? Doesn’t the man in charge of

hiring workers better know how the out-of-work men feel if he himself has

suffered the loss of a job? It all about life’s training. Losing a job yourself

becomes a help when you have to terminate someone from their job. In

situations like these and those much more serious, Christ comforts us. And

in that training and comfort we call Him Blessed!

May Christ’s love and blessings be yours today,

Nana & Dado III

P. S. If you find these Letters helpful, please feel free to share them

with others.

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,

I Corinthians 10:13, “No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man;

and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able,

but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, that you may be able

to endure it.”

No one in the New Testament knew more about spiritual difficulties than Paul. In this

verse, he encourages us to understand that the tests (?????????) that seek to take us

captive are not uncommon. They happen to everyone who is a believer in Christ and

committed to Him. What we must remember is that God is faithful and consistently works

to free us from all spiritual difficulties.

Think of a weight-lifter. He may have buddies that are cheering him on to lift, say 400

pounds. But his trainer knows he cannot deal with so much weight or he will injure

himself. So, the trainer will not allow him to lift more than he is capable of lifting. The

trainer intervenes for the sake of the “lifter.” How the LORD works to free us from

temptation (spiritual injury) varies with each of us. The key to escaping is to listen to

the Trainer. Believe and trust in Him. He alone knows how much temptation (trial)

you can endure (???????). He won’t let Satan win! Don’t you!!

May the LORD bless you as He hears 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,

I Corinthians 5:9-11, “I wrote you in my letter not to associate with immoral people;

10 I did not at all mean with the immoral people of this world, or with the covetous

and swindlers, or with idolaters; for then you would have to go out of the world.

11 But actually, I wrote to you not to associate with any so-called brother if he should

be an immoral person, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or a

swindler– not even to eat with such a one.”

Churches are made up of people. Hopefully, they are saved, moral, upright

people. That’s what the LORD intends His Church to be. But sometimes

churches fall short of what the LORD wants; sometimes, even pastors fall

short. This is what was happening in the Church at Corinth. There was at

least one person who was behaving pretty badly and Paul said in a letter

that the rest of the church should have nothing to do with him! But letters

are sometimes misunderstood, and some held the opinion that Paul meant

they were not to associate with anyone whose behavior was not pure, whether

they were in the church or not.

Paul said that what he meant was anyone within the church –not anyone in

the world. After all, where would we go to get away from all the immoral

people? –to another planet? Some people are covetous. They just want

more of everything than anyone else has. That’s wrong to be like that.

Other people are swindlers. They lie and cheat people to get things they

want. Some people actually worship idols –gods they think are greater

than the LORD Himself. Don’t even eat with someone like that, Paul says.

Well, how are we going to win immoral people to Christ if we separate

ourselves from them completely? Keep in mind that the immoral activity

of which Paul was speaking was occurring in the Church! We’re not

responsible for what people outside the church do; but we certainly are

responsible for what goes on inside the church. And you and I may not

be able even to control all of that, but we can and must control ourselves.

It all starts with us. When we do right, we set the example for those who

are wrong. When we do right, the church is cleansed, and the LORD will

then use His Church to reach the lost.

We pray to be what the LORD wants; and we pray the same 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.”