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.”