The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

1 Thessalonians 5:25, “Brethren, pray for us.”

A few days ago, I mentioned a verse or two that I’ve often

thought of as humorous. The verse above often strikes me

humorously, although it is not intended that way in Scripture.

The Australian Baptist was a national Baptist paper that

circulated in every state and in the Northern Territory. Just

about every meeting I held was mentioned in the Baptist

paper. They would give some information about where the

meetings were being conducted, and a brief bio on me. But,

at the end of every piece there was this verse, “Brethren,

pray for us.” Thankfully, many did and our meetings were

greatly blessed of the LORD. Still, I’ve often wondered how

many who read the paper viewed the verse as an urgent

request, seeing this Yankee evangelist was preaching.

Now, without any sense of humor, please pray for us. We

need your prayers as much as you need to pray. God bless

you abundantly!

Love,

Nana & Dado III

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

Springdale, Arkansas

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Dear Grands,

I Thessalonians 5:16-23, “Rejoice always;

17 pray without ceasing;

18 in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

19 Do not quench the Spirit;

20 do not despise prophetic utterances.

21 But examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good;

22 abstain from every form of evil.

23 Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may

your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame

at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

If the Apostle Paul sounds a lot like a parent in these verses, it is because

he has been given that spiritual responsibility over all believers. It would

take a lot of time for me to write and for you to read the explanation of

the seven bolded words and phrases above. Paul admonishes each of us

to do what we are enabled to do that is right; then in our last verse (v. 23),

he assigns to the LORD Himself what He alone can do: make us holy. The

Only the “God of peace Himself” can “sanctify,” or make us completely

holy. Why, then, are we not completely holy? We are not, because we

have not obeyed those seven indicators listed in verses 16-22. The

Grace of God must balance with the obedience of man. He alone can

make us holy, but we can and must abstain from the enemies of holiness.

Pray for your pastor as he brings the LORD’s message today!

We pray for you and love you without restriction,

Nana & Dado III

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

Springdale, Arkansas

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Dear Grands,

Colossians 3:8-10, “But now you also, put them all aside:

anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive speech from your mouth.

9 Do not lie to one another, since you laid aside the old self with its

evil practices, 10 and have put on the new self who is being renewed

to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him—“

Having warned us of some weighty sins in verses five and six, Paul

turns to attitudes that we are likely to view as normal. But they,

too, are wrong in God’s sight. Anger is a “vigorous upsurge”; wrath is

a “violent rage”; malice is “hatefulness, immoral behavior”; slander is

“speech that is harmful to another’s reputation”; and abusive speech

is using “filthy, obscene language,” something that has become all-too-

frequent today. Nor are we to deceive others by telling lies, since we

put away such things when we were saved. We are now clothed in

a new nature of righteousness, like the nature of Jesus Himself.

WOW! What a challenge! Yet, the Holy Spirit indwells us, making it

not-so-difficult if we are sensitive to His leadership and follow Him.

Love and peace to you all,

Nana & Dado III

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

Springdale, Arkansas

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Dear Grands,

Colossians 3:5-6, “Therefore consider the members of your earthly body

as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which

amounts to idolatry. 6 For it is because of these things that the wrath of

God will come upon the sons of disobedience…”

Sometimes we see and hear those who profess to be Christians engaging

in evil practices. The Bible warns us not to be like them. “Consider” means

“put to death” every kind of sexual impulse that lies outside of marriage,

every moral indecency, every evil desire, every circumstance and condition

that is harmful or injurious, and all bad behavior, even greed and covetness.

All of these ungodly attitudes and practices amount to idol worship. Any

and all of these things brings the furor of Almighty God upon the lives of

those who belong to Him, but engage in such things. As I read the accounts

of my students’ lives, I see the results of God’s wrath. Some of them have

suffered more than others, but all testify to the devastation that fell upon

them until they repented and turned back to God. Don’t mess with evil!

As “deliciously” as the devil paints it, evil ruins human lives. Be warned!

We love and pray the LORD will protect you all,

Nana & Dado III

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

Springdale, Arkansas

Dear Grands,

Luke 10:5, 7, “Whatever house you enter… Stay in that house, eating

And drinking what they give you; for the laborer is worthy of his wages.

Do not keep moving from house to house.”

Proverbs 17:22 says, “A joyful heart is good medicine.” There was a time

in my life when I seriously feared that I would not be gifted with a sense

of humor. Now, I see fun in almost everything, even in the Bible. When

I was doing evangelistic work in Australia, traveling with the Galiehs, we

often stayed in the homes of church people. On one occasion, we were

told we were to be there only a couple of nights, then we were to move

to another home, and then, to another in one week. It was nice that so

many wanted us to stay with them, but no one had thought about what

it would do to us. I politely said, “No, we won’t do that.” They had no

idea what a problem this would have been to us. We would just get used

to one bed, and then have to get used to another. We had the backing

of the verse above, “Do not keep moving from house to house.” We

laughed later about how the Scripture helped save our energy in that

situation. Yes, the Bible is a practical book! That’s why we need to read

it daily and pray for understanding.

May the Loving LORD bless and keep you smiling today,

Nana & Dado III

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

Springdale, Arkansas