The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

Hebrews 12:15-17, “See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God;

that no root of bitterness springing up causes trouble, and by it many be defiled;

16 that there be no immoral or godless person like Esau, who sold his own birthright

for a single meal. 17 For you know that even afterwards, when he desired to inherit

the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought

for it with tears.”

The account of Jacob and Esau (Gen. 25) is one of the tragic pictures

in history. Paul is using the twins’ as an example of what not to do.

Esau was a hunter; Jacob loved to just be at home. When Esau came

home from hunting one day, he was famished! Jacob was preparing

a stew, and Esau said, “Give me some of that red stuff! I’m starving!”

Jacob was clever and said, “Sell me your birthright.” Esau was the

eldest son and had first rights to his father’s fortune. But he said, “I’m

about to die; what value is a birthright to me?” So, he sold Jacob the

rights he was to have had at his father’s death. Later on, Easu saw

he had done the wrong thing. He tried to undo his actions, but found

it impossible. He was dreadfully sorry, but it was too late. Therefore,

he became bitter toward his brother Jacob. But, he had only himself

to blame. What he had done was his own fault.

There are consequences to our actions. We need to carefully think

through every situation before we undertake it. And when we’ve

done wrong, we need to be big enough to admit it and not try to

put the blame on someone else. The Holy Spirit will guide us, if we

listen carefully to Him.

We love and pray for you all every day,

Nana & Dado III

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

Springdale, Arkansas

Dear Grands,

Haggai 2:11-14, “’Thus says the LORD of hosts, “Ask now the priests for a ruling:

12 ‘If a man carries holy meat in the fold of his garment, and touches bread with

this fold, or cooked food, wine, oil, or any other food, will it become holy?'” And

the priests answered, “No.”

13 Then Haggai said, ‘If one who is unclean from a corpse touches any of these,

will the latter become unclean?’ And the priests answered, ‘It will become unclean.’

Then Haggai said, ‘So is this people. And so is this nation before Me,’ declares the

LORD, ‘and so is every work of their hands; and what they offer there is unclean.’”

The LORD is concerned that the people of Haggai’s day were living in luxurious

houses, but the LORD’s house (the Temple) was in a ruinous condition. Read

verse 12 carefully. If holy meat touches (unholy) bread, does the bread become

holy? No. Then verse 13 asks if a person who is unholy, say from touching a

corpse, touches food or drink of any kind, does that food or drink become holy?

Again the priests say no. The principle here is this: Righteousness is not

contagious, but unrighteousness is. If a known godly man gave you $10,000,

you would not suspect anything wrong. But if a known drug dealer gave you

that same amount, you would (or should) be very suspicious that it was dirty money.

Thus, when the unholy people of Haggai’s day gave anything to the LORD, He

saw what they were giving as unholy and, therefore, what they offered Him was

unacceptable. Whatever we do for the LORD must be come from holy lives;

even if it appears to be acceptable, it is not.

May we all be acceptable to the LORD today,

Nana & Dado III

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

Springdale, Arkansas

Dear Grands,

2 Peter 3:10-12, “But the day of the Lord will come like a thief,

in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements

will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will

be burned up.

11 Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort

of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness,

12 looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because

of which the heavens will be destroyed by burning, and the elements

will melt with intense heat!”

The Day of the LORD is a day of intense judgment. People today

do terrible things and often look like they’re getting away with it.

They may escape man’s judgment, but they won’t escape the judgment

of Almighty God. The LORD destroyed the Earth once in the days of

Noah, then He promised He would never again destroy the Earth

with a flood (Gen. 9:11). But in the Day of the LORD, He will destroy

the Earth with “intense heat.” Peter’s summation here concerns us.

What kind of people ought we to be? We should be holy in the conduct

of our lifestyles and vigilant toward that coming day of destruction.

And we should do our best to be witnesses of the LORD’s message,

in order that others might be saved from this devastating event.

May the LORD give you wisdom and courage is our prayer,

Nana & Dado III

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

Springdale, Arkansas

Dear Grands,

2 Peter 3:9, “The Lord is not slow about His promise,

as some count slowness, but is patient toward you,

not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.”

In the verses preceding this one, Peter has been talking

about the LORD’s coming worldwide judgment on all

unrighteous men and women. Skeptics say, Oh, don’t

worry, that old story has been around for a long time.

It will never come to pass. But Peter says, It’s not like that.

The LORD isn’t slow, He’s patient. He doesn’t want anyone

to die and go to Hell. He wants everyone to “change his mind”

and faithfully trust in Jesus Christ as LORD and Savior.

Think of the most evil, ungodly person you know. Then

realize that the LORD wants to save him. That guy is so

terribly evil, he doesn’t deserve to be saved, you say. Oh,

but I love him, the LORD says. So we should pray for that

person and witness to him as much as possible, because

someone loved us and cared enough for our salvation.

May the LORD help and encourage us to love one another,

Nana & Dado III

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

Springdale, Arkansas

Dear Grands,

1 Corinthians 8:6-7a, “…for us there is but one God, the Father,

from whom are all things and we exist for Him; and one Lord,

Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we exist through Him.

7 However not all men have this knowledge…”

Anything that usurps God’s position as LORD is an idol. Satan

would have us to believe that he is god. He is not! Everything

we can see around us and things that are too small for us to see

–everything—has come from God. Implied in Paul’s teaching

are we ourselves. We have come from God, for we are part of

“all things.” Thus, we exist for God, the Father. Jesus Christ is

the Creator. He is the maker of all that we see and all that we

don’t see; and we exist through Him. Think of it like this: We

all have or have had pets. They exists for us. They do what we

say and go where we please. Yes, they have minds and instincts,

but we are their superior, so they mind what we say. As the

creation of God, we exist through Him and for Him. Yes, we have

minds and wills, too; but since He is our Master, we obey Him.

~ What is His intention for you? That is for you alone to discover

and to obey. Life is wonderful when you do what He intends! It

is horrible when you do not. Your choice!

Our love and prayers continue for each of you,

Nana & Dado III

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

Springdale, Arkansas