The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

Galatians 6:7-10, “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap.

8 For the one who sows to his own flesh shall from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit shall from the Spirit reap eternal life.

9 And let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we shall reap if we do not grow weary.

10 So then, while we have opportunity, let us do good to all men, and especially to those who are of the household of the faith.”

Have you ever heard of the old saying, “The chickens have come

home to roost?” Well, they always do. For a long time, Bill and

Hillary Clinton engaged in activities that many thought were

immoral, if not illegal. It was talked about quite freely, but nothing

was ever done. Even after President Trump publicly said that the

Justice Department should look into the Clinton Foundation, it

appeared that nothing was going to happen. But, now it is!

What the ultimate outcome will be, the LORD only knows; but it

should give us cause to understand that no one is above the law,

and certainly no one is either hidden or above the LORD’s stated

Word!

Paul advises us “not to be led astray. Don’t ever turn your nose

up or sneer at Almighty God.” If we plant potatoes, we will not

reap corn. If we plant tomatoes, we will not reap grapes. It’s

just that simple. Whatever you do, will ultimately be done to you.

If you are friendless toward people, people will be friendless

toward you. If you love people, people will love you. Sometimes,

we do good for people and don’t see them doing good toward us.

Good may come from another direction –but it will come!

Just don’t get discouraged if what you expect and desire does not

come when or how you expect it. It will come! The principle of

sowing and reaping cannot be altered. God has ordained it.

Opportunities to do good toward others, however, have limitations.

So, we need to take advantage of the opportunities that come our

way. Nana (Rose Marie) is now home; but in the hospital, we both

had multiple opportunities to share Jesus Christ. Some brightened

at the mention of Jesus. Others politely ignored the witness we

tried to give. That’s always the way it is. But, we were never

discouraged! We discovered, too, that some true believers were

struggling with bad habits in their lives. They were thankful that

we cared enough to help and pray with them. We learned not to

become discouraged, too. The LORD’s way will always be successful.

And your life will be encouraged and enriched when you follow Him!

We love you and continue to 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,

Old folks sometimes forget;

Sometimes it is things they regret.

I did so today;

So, for me you should pray;

That none of us ever get upset.

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,

Galatians 5:22-23, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace,

patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness,

self-control; against such things there is no law.”

Listen carefully when someone reads aloud these verses.

Most readers will mispronounce “fruit” as “fruits.” It’s a

common mistake; after all, there are nine, separate items

to which Paul calls to our attention. Then, why does he

not say “fruits”?

Several years ago in Australia, I held a series of evangelistic

meetings in a small town. I stayed with a sugarcane farmer

and his wife. One night after the meeting and prior to

bedtime, they offered me a monstereo delicio. They said

you could taste a variety of fruits in this one fruit. Would

I like to try it? I replied, somewhat jokingly, that I’d try

anything that was non-alcoholic! I then ate the fruit, and

to my surprise, it was exactly as they had described it.

I could taste apple, banana, peach –all in the one fruit!

What I could not do was eliminate the banana! (I know

they are good for us, but I don’t like the taste!)

That fruit-tasting experience that night taught me the

difference between “fruit” and “fruits” in Galatians 5:22-23.

We often want joy and peace, but don’t want to be patient

or exercise self-control. But, we cannot have one without

the other. The fruit of the Spirit is one fruit. And we either

accept and display ALL of it, or we reject and display NONE

of it. We either live in the Spirit or we don’t. There is NO

middle or partial ground. “If we live by the Spirit, let us also

walk by the Spirit” (v. 25).

We love your immensely, and pray for you daily,

Nana & Dado III

Update on Nana: Well, yesterday was a “wash” for her

coming home; but we expect that today.

Her cardiologist wants to do a heart cath,

but wants her to rest up first. Please pray

for her. She’s in good spirits, but she has

yet a physical issue that must be addressed.

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,

Galatians 5:16-17, “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not

carry out the desire of the flesh. 17 For the flesh sets its desire against

the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to

one another, so that you may not do the things that you please.”

As we read the words of the Apostle Paul, we often get the mistaken

idea that he lived a perfect life. Far from it! In Romans 7, he says,

“15 For that which I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing

what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate…. 18 For I

know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the wishing

is present in me, but the doing of the good is not” (vv. 15, 18). Paul

battled against his fleshly side just as we do. Every wrong and evil

desire that we experience has been experienced by every, living soul.

But what can we do about it? It’s as simple as it is difficult; walk (live)

in the way of the Holy Spirit. Do you remember when you learned to

ride a bicycle? At first, you kept falling. I’ll never learn to ride this thing!
Yet, you just got back up and tried it again…and again…and again.

Somewhere amid these up-and-down trials, you learned to balance,

and then to ride successfully. It’s the same with the Christian life.

The only difference is you have to learn to balance every day! There

is an enemy that loves to see us fall. He laughs and jeers when we

do. Sometimes he antagonizes us so much that we feel like giving up.

Besides, “falling” has some desirables in it. We discover that wrong

is often pleasurable. Our eyes like to see it; our hands like to feel it;

our ears tingle with pleasure when we hear it; and we feel good all

over when we do it, although we know it’s wrong! It is then that we

must call for help! The Holy Spirit is there to rescue us. He wraps

His arms around us and speaks truly sweet things to us. He comforts

us to a higher degree than when we were doing wrong; and we wonder

why we ever engaged in evil, fleshly stuff at all. Yes, we can overcome

evil. We just have to practice walking in the way of the LORD every

day. Read the Bible; pray for help and encouragement; focus your

mind on spiritual things, and don’t let go! He will forgive you for

falling, and He will restore you! You just have to trust Him!

We are praying for you,

Nana & Dado III

Update on Nana: She is doing better day-by-day. We praise

the LORD for His “resurrection” of her!

She is close to coming home! Your prayers

are being answered. She has had wonderful

care at WRMC, and marvelous opportunities

to witness of God’s saving grace!

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,

Galatians 3:24-16; 4:1-2, “Therefore the Law has become our tutor

to lead us to Christ, that we may be justified by faith. 25 But now that

faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor. 26 For you are all sons

of God through faith in Christ Jesus….Now I say, as long as the heir

is a child, he does not differ at all from a slave although he is owner

of everything, 2 but he is under guardians and managers until the date

set by the father.”

I recently read of a boys’ “Gentlemen’s School” in Wisconsin. They

are taught how to shake hands, tie a tie, and show respect to others.

It excited me because I am appalled by the crumbling of our culture.

I’ve never been stogey, but proper manners are always commendable.

Three words (emboldened above) give us a glimpse of how the

early Hebrews of biblical times taught their children. The word

translated “tutor” (“schoolmaster in KJV) is ?????????? (paidagogos).

It means a slave who led a child from home to school, and protected

his moral conduct. When other boys would attempt to seduce him

into participating in bad things, the “tutor” was present to prohibit it.

The Law (Ten Commandments) served as a “tutor” to protect the

Jewish people until Christ Jesus came. He now protects the morality

and conduct of His people through the Holy Spirit.

The word “guardian” (????????? (epitropos) refers to a slave who

taught him academic subjects (reading, writing, etc.) and cultural

manners, much like the Gentlemen’s Club to which I referred earlier.

The word “manager” (????????? (oikonomos) is a household word

that referred to the child’s monetary inheritance. This slave cared

for the child’s money until the child was mature and could care for

it himself.

All of this is an allegorical demonstration of God’s care for His

children from the time of their “new birth” to their maturity in the

faith. Learning anything is a process; and learning to live as Jesus

intends us demands our concentration on His Word (the Bible) and

our earnest will and desire to be what He died and arose to make us.

When our proper manners are in place, He uses us “to the praise of

His glory” (Eph. 1:12). Don’t you want to be used like that? I do!

May the LORD bless you abundantly, is our daily prayer,

Nana & Dado III

Update on Nana (Rose Marie): She is getting stronger by the day.

Her latest X-Ray showed she is making

progress in the fight against pneumonia.

I know she appreciates your prayers!

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

Springdale, Arkansas

“We never know that God is all we need

until He becomes all that we have.”