The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

2 Timothy 4:3-8, “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to

have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires;

4 and will turn away their ears from the truth, and will turn aside to myths.

5 But you, be sober in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.

6 For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come.

7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith;

8 in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge,

will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing.”

Everyone loves an award! Rose Marie and I attended an AWANA Awards night last evening, and

we were delighted to see the excitement of children (and adults!) receive recognition for work they

had done in the Scriptures over the past year. So much was said about how many Bible verses had

been memorized, that I did a Google search and discovered that there are 31,102 verses in the Bible.

Wow! Memorizing that amount would be a challenge indeed! (Yet, it has been done!)

The Apostle Paul was coming to the end of his life, and he warned that a lot of people (the majority?)

Would reject the LORD’s way of salvation. In fact, they would seek out teachers who would say what

they wanted to hear. Believers, however, were encouraged to stay alert and stay on track. Times will be

hard, but as the old saying goes, “When the going gets tough, the tough get going.” Why would he

encourage us to “fulfill (our) ministry”? Because it is the truth, and because there is a “crown of

righteousness” the LORD has prepared for the faithful, who will appear before Him on Awards Day.

Make your watchword “Keep on keeping on.” It will be worth it all when we see Christ!

We seek to be faithful in praying 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,

Luke 15:11-17, “And He said, ‘A certain man had two sons; 12 and the younger of them said to his father, “Father, give me the share of the estate that falls to me.” And he divided his wealth between them.

13 And not many days later, the younger son gathered everything together and went on a journey into a

distant country, and there he squandered his estate with loose living.

14 “Now when he had spent everything, a severe famine occurred in that country, and he began to be in

need. 15 “And he went and attached himself to one of the citizens of that country, and he sent him into his

fields to feed swine. 16 And he was longing to fill his stomach with the pods that the swine were eating, and

no one was giving anything to him. 17 “But when he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s

hired men have more than enough bread, but I am dying here with hunger!’”

You immediately recognized this passage as the parable of the Prodigal Son. There is more to the passage,

but I felt these verses were sufficient for our thoughts today. I heard a popular preacher use this passage

to say to a man that it indicates that no matter how sinful we might be, the LORD will forgive us if we

acknowledge our sin and ask His forgiveness. While what the preacher said is true, it is not the meaning

the LORD intended when He spoke this parable.

Vital to the understanding of any biblical passage is the context. First, who spoke the words we are reading? Second, to whom did he say them? Third, what was the reaction to the words that were spoken? All of these things and more constitute the “context” of the passage. In every Scriptural passage, there is but one interpretation; yet, there may be multiple applications. In the parable of the Prodigal Son, the interpretation deals with the Jews, who have forsaken the Law of the Father and lusted After the other gods. The parable shows that the LORD allows His people to stray, but is always lovingly awaiting their return. Certainly, there are many applications of this parable; we just must not overlook why it was originally given.

The statement, “I’ll send you $1000.00” can only be understood in it’s context. The full context may say,

“If I earn it, I’ll send you $1000.00”; or “It will be a cold day in Czechoslovakia if I send you $1000.00!”

Context does make a difference. THINK as you read the Bible. PRAY that the LORD will give you a clear

understanding of what you read. You will be amazed how much He will teach you!!

We are praying for you and trust you’ll be in Church today,

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,

2 Timothy 3:1-5, “But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come.

2 For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient

to parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control,

brutal, haters of good, 4 treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God;

5 holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; and avoid such men as these.”

With all that the Bible says about our reaching out in love to those who do not know Christ Jesus,

the Apostle Paul here instructs Timothy –and us— to stay away from people like these. If you

count the things Paul mentions in these five verses, you will find 17 adverse conditions of human nature

that are difficult for believers to overcome. In fact, he says, Don’t bother; just stay away from them.

It is beyond our ability to know what has brought unbelievers to such a position that makes them

unreachable with the Gospel. Maybe Paul is concerned that our affiliation with such people will

“rub off” on us –not that we would or could lose our salvation— but that we might fall into the want

of such things as he has described and become less usable to reach them. It might also be that

when people succumb or give way to the attitudes Paul lists, they have simply gone too far to be

effectively persuaded that Jesus is infinitely more important that earthly things.

I can recall instances in my own life, where I have sought to share the Gospel with people, who

simply would not believe. I left off trying because it seemed useless. I had no knowledge of their

captivation of evil, such as Paul describes in these verses. They just stubbornly refused to believe.

I left trying to convince them, hoping that someone else might reach them in days ahead. Time is

essential in all matters; and while I was “wasting” time with someone who stubbornly refused, there

were others who surely were awaiting my witness. The Holy Spirit is always our leader-guide in

such situations. Be sensitive to His leadership. When it aligns with the Word, it is time for us to quit

and go elsewhere.

We pray for you every day that you will be effective servants of Jesus Christ,

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,

2 Tim 2:15, “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman

who does not need to be ashamed, handling accurately the word of truth.”

My maternal grandfather was a preacher. I can well remember conversing with him

about things within the Bible. He said to me, “You can prove anything from the Bible

if you twist the meaning to mean what you want. But if you take it exactly as it is

written, you have the meaning that God intended.”

We live in a day when many well-meaning speakers and writers are simply wrong

in things they say and write. The often speak with smooth and pleasing words and

sport academic degrees from prestigious institutions of learning. None of this,

however, guarantees that what they say is the truth. Paul wrote to Timothy to “be

diligent (eager, make every effort) to show yourself tested and approved to God”—

not as a smart, intelligent, sophisticated, know-it-all person, but as a humble, spiritual

lowly, but able laborer, and unashamed to be eagerly engaged in the LORD’s work.

The specific requirement for so presenting yourself trained and ready is that you

handle (cut straight, correctly follow) His Word of Truth. To be sure, you and I do

not know everything; but what we do know we are eager to share with others. And

what we know and share is sufficient for those who know nothing about His love

and saving grace. Remember, too, that while intelligent, trained men multiply their

own following, they are not authoritative! Only the infallible, inerrant Word of God

is authoritative; and it carries the power of its loving and gracious Author.

Our prayers of love are offered 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,

2 Timothy 2:8-9, “Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, descendant of David, according to my gospel,

9 for which I suffer hardship even to imprisonment as a criminal; but the Word of God is not imprisoned.”

I have never been in prison. I’ve never even been arrested. But, I have two friends who have been prison

guards. Both are younger than I and one of them grew up with me in the same church. The other has some

intriguing stories about the men he guarded.

Paul was in prison when he wrote this letter to Timothy. He had some intriguing things to say about prison life,

too. But most importantly he says that “the Word of God is not imprisoned.” No one can know what all was in

Paul’s mind as he wrote that, but I have to believe he was thinking of Isaiah 55:11:

“So shall My word be which goes forth from My mouth;

It shall not return to Me empty, Without accomplishing

what I desire, And without succeeding in the matter for

which I sent it.”

Taking Paul (and Isaiah) at their word, I copied in audio the message my pastor preached last Sunday,

and sent it a Jewish contact I have in Israel. He dealt with Romans 2, which says that a true Jew is one

who has trusted Jesus Christ as LORD and Savior and not simply one who holds to his physical heritage.

My email was loving and my prayer is that Avi will listen. The Word of God is not imprisoned! The only

way it can be is if we fail to share it with those who don’t know Him. Are you sharing the Gospel?

Our love and prayers abound for you always,

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.”