The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

I Corinthians 1:4-5a, “I thank my God always concerning you for the grace of God

which was given you in Christ Jesus, 5 that in everything you were enriched in Him…”

Solomon said, “Grandchildren are the crown of old men…” (Prov. 17:6). And it is

true of women, also. We join with Paul in thanking God for all of you and for the

grace of God in bringing you to salvation in Him. Paul extends the thought, saying

that not only has He saved you, He has enriched you in everything! When we use

the word “rich,” we probably think first of money. But the LORD’s enrichment is

far more than that! He has enriched you with health and strength; He has enriched

you with the ability to learn, to speak, to write, to think clearly, to envision and develop

things not yet known to others. What’s more (and most important), He has confirmed

in you “the testimony concerning Christ.” You have something to share! And the more

you share it, the more resources you have. It’s like, the more we give, the more we

have. Yes, that works with money, too. But money is expendable. It can be misused;

it can dry up. But the spiritual resource we have in Christ are always there! Think of

your heritage! To be sure, Nana and I thank the LORD for you every day! So do your

parents; but, your heritage in the LORD is greater than all of our enrichment in you.

Our love and prayers will always be there for each of you,

Nana & Dado III

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

Springdale, Arkansas

Dear Grands,

Romans 8:38-39, “For I am convinced that neither death, nor life,

nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come,

nor powers, 39 nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will

be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus

our Lord.”

Separation is often an excruciating experience! Today I received

an email from a missionary in Papua New Guinea. He had been

here in the States temporarily, due to the illness of his wife. Now,

he’s back on the field –but without his wife. Her illness would not

allow her to return. They are separated by thousands of miles!

And for how long, nobody knows. I know that feeling!

In our verses above, the Apostle Paul covers every intrusive thing

that could possibly cause separation to befall us. Yet, he insists

that absolutely nothing can separate a believer in Jesus Christ from

the love of Almighty God! Salvation, therefore, is assurance of the

LORD’s ever-abiding love toward us, despite all circumstances.

We are hereby enabled to stand strong whatever may be working

against us. God has a plan for us. That’s all we need to know.

May the LORD bless mightily you today! We love and pray for you!

Nana & Dado III

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

Springdale, Arkansas

Dear Grands,

I Corinthians 11:3, “But I want you to understand that Christ

is the head of every man, and the man is the head of a woman,

and God is the head of Christ.”

It is exciting when you are elected or appointed head of an

organization like the president or CEO of say, a leading bank.

You will have a huge salary, a company car, and expense account

and scores of people underneath your authority. But, there’s

far more to it than all of those “perks.” With authority comes

responsibility. It’s the same in the home. The husband is the

head of the wife. Big stuff, huh? Well, with that position of

authority comes the responsibility of providing for the needs

of the household: where they live, heat and cooling for the

house, food for the table, clothing for the entire family, and

the list goes on and on and on. ~Now, when a boy grows to

manhood and marries a girl and starts his own family, he

removes himself from his father’s house and becomes the

authority in his own home. BUT, with that authority comes

the same responsibility that his father has over his home.

Authority and responsibility always go together! You can’t

have one without the other. And the only way to be

successful is to recognize the LORD as your Supreme Authority!

As children rely upon their parents, so the parents must rely

upon the LORD. Then and only then is the home what God

intends and blesses.

Love you guys abundantly!

Nana & Dado III

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

Springdale, Arkansas

Dear Grands,

Acts 28:3-5, “But when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and

laid them on the fire, a viper came out because of the heat and

fastened itself on his hand. 4 When the natives saw the creature

hanging from his hand, they began saying to one another,

‘Undoubtedly this man is a murderer, and though he has been saved

from the sea, justice has not allowed him to live.’ 5 However he shook

the creature off into the fire and suffered no harm.”

Sometimes the smallest acts of kindness result in tragedy.

Sometimes, the assessment of the tragedy is wrong. Paul’s

Helpfulness in gathering wood for the fire resulted in a viper,

a snake, to bit him on the hand. Owing that it was a snake,

we can assess that Satan was seeking to take Paul’s life

before he could reach Rome. Still, the promise of the LORD

that he would reach Rome was sustained as his hand suffered

no after effects.

Also of interest here is the assessment of the natives. Their

immediate thought was that Paul was a murderer. He had

been, but by the grace of the LORD Jesus Christ, he had

been forgiven of those acts. He had also escaped from the

peril of the sea and the shipwreck. But the native people

believed that “justice has not allowed him to live.” These

natives, living far from civilization, possessed a concept of

justice! They did not say “God” or even “the gods.” Their

words were an expression of humanism. Still, there was

a consciousness of right and wrong. Be assured that all

people have a consciousness of right and wrong. I do;

don’t you? When I do wrong, I “feel” wrong. And I look to

the LORD for forgiveness. The LORD has put that

sensitivity within all of men. It is accentuated by the Holy Spirit

in the lives of believers. We should follow the Spirit’s lead,

and the LORD will deliver us from temptation.

May the LORD bless and protect you from all wrong,

Nana & Dado III

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

Springdale, Arkansas

Dear Grands,

Acts 28:3a, “But when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks

and laid them on the fire…”

What in this verse seems unusual to you? It has long intrigued

me. For 14 days, 276 people, who were on board the ship had

battled the sea and gone without food. Finally, the ship broke

up, foundering on the rocks of a small island called Malta. It was

raining and it was cold, and the native population received the

ship’s passengers with kindness and built a fire for them. How

many of the passengers helped, we do not know. We only

know that Paul, the Apostle of Jesus Christ, “gathered a bundle

of sticks and laid them on the fire.” There is nothing in the

passage to suggest that the centurion ordered him to do so, it

was just something that needed to be done, and he did it.

Great men often do common things. Only those who perceive

of themselves as “great,” refuse to dirty their hands in menial

tasks. Paul was an emissary of the King of Kings, yet he stooped

to the task of gathering sticks for a fire. Do we balk at menial

tasks? We shouldn’t. Do we think of ourselves as better than

the Apostle Paul? We aren’t. Let others praise us, if they so

choose; but let us remain humble and attend to the tasks at hand.

We love you all deeply and pray for you daily,

Nana & Dado III

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

Springdale, Arkansas