The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

Psalm 24:1-5, “The earth is the LORD’s, and all it contains, The world, and those who dwell in it.

2 For He has founded it upon the seas, And established it upon the rivers.

3 Who may ascend into the hill of the LORD? And who may stand in His holy place?

4 He who has clean hands and a pure heart, Who has not lifted up his soul to falsehood, And has not sworn deceitfully.

5 He shall receive a blessing from the LORD And righteousness from the God of his salvation.”

“Wash your hands and get ready for supper!” I can hear my mother’s voice forcefully and authoritatively

directing my activity. No one ate at her table with unwashed hands. It was a house rule and it came to mind when I read this psalm.

The LORD, who created and founded the Earth is the Supreme Authority over all. The universe functions as He orders it. He is worthy of honor and glory! He is worthy of worship! And yet, not all are prepared to do honor and praise to Him. Their hands are not clean. Their hearts are not pure. They are guilty of lies and deceit. False prophets abound and their disreputable teachings fill the land! They make pretense of being ministers of the Gospel, yet in their “secret” lives they deny the very truths they profess to believe and dispense.

Yet, all is not lost. His Supper awaits our clean hands and hearts. Turn away from those who would control you with their smooth and clever words. His Supper is for His people, His children by the new birth. It is His voice that calls us to purity; and it is for a good purpose. Our worship of the LORD demands purity of both our hands and our hearts. There is no supper like what He has prepared! It is delicious beyond imagination!

And all that is required is membership in His born-again family – and, oh, some clean hands and a pure heart.

Your are always and ever in our thoughts and prayers,

Nana & Dado III

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

Springdale, Arkansas 72764

United States of America

“We never know that God is all we need

until He becomes all that we have.”

Dear Grands,

Psalm 23:1-6, “The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want.

2 He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters.

3 He restores my soul; He guides me in the paths of righteousness For His name’s sake.

4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil; for Thou art with me; Thy rod and Thy staff, they comfort me.

5 Thou dost prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; Thou hast anointed my head with oil; My cup overflows.

6 Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life, And I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.”

It has been said that the most familiar verse in the Bible to all people is John 3:16. It might also be said that the most

familiar Old Testament passage is Psalm 23. Yet, familiarity does not mean full recognition. It is necessary that we

carefully analyze even those passages with which we think we are familiar.

1.“The LORD is my shepherd” speaks of our relationship with God. Meditate upon that for a moment. We often speak

highly of famous people we know; but nothing can supersede our relationship with God.

2.“I shall not want” is the assurance of God’s provisions for our every need. So often He has met needs we had and were not-at-all sure how we were going to make it.

3.“He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads beside quiet waters” speak of His restoration of calmness for our bodies. We often found peace at the shore of the ocean, just enjoying the fresh breezes that reached the shore.

4.“He restores my soul” is the inner calmness He restores to our hearts and minds. His Word renewed our faithfulness in His ability to help us, and this calmed us fully and readied us for continuation in His work.

5.“He guides me in the paths of righteousness” is His redirection of our lives. So many times we were unsure of which way to turn, but He always led us in right paths. Notice, too, that it is “for His name sake.”

6.Verse 4 speaks of the reliability of His protection, even to the point of death. Flying into strange countries without knowning anyone and being subject to potential problems, made us rely entirely on the LORD. He never failed us.

7.The preparation of a “table for us in the presence of our enemies” and the anointing of our heads with oil indicates His recognition of us as belonging to Him. Such applause from the LORD far exceeds even the president’s mention of our name or his notation of something helpful we’ve done.

8.Verse 8 is the overall resolution that His faithful righteousness will accompany us throughout all of life, as we remain

ever faithful to Him. How could we ever fail to be faithful to Him?

May the LORD bless you for your faithfulness, as we pray for you daily,

Nana & Dado III

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

Springdale, Arkansas 72764

United States of America

“We never know that God is all we need

until He becomes all that we have.”

Dear Grands,

Galatians 3:22-26, “…the Scripture has shut up all men under sin, that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. 23 But before faith came, we were kept in custody under the law, being shut up to the faith which was later to be revealed. 24 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.

Have you ever been in a situation where there seemed no way out? It may have been an illness or something you had said that gotten you in trouble. Well, we are all in the worst possible trouble imaginable! No, it’s not political trouble; it’s not even physical trouble. We are in trouble with God! When Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden, our trouble began. We interited a sinful, anti-god nature from Adam and Eve. You might call it a “spiritual DNA.” That’s why it’s not hard for us to do wrong, but exceedingly hard for us to do right.

When we’re in trouble with human bosses, we often try to bargain our way out. We offer to do something to make up for the wrong we’ve done. And sometimes, it works with human bosses. But it doesn’t work with God! There is absolutely nothing we can do to work our way out of trouble with God. That doesn’t mean there is not way out, it just means we don’t know the way out until He gives us the key that sets us free. That key to our freedom is “faith in Jesus Christ.” When we’re sick, we

trust doctors to do what is necessary to get us well. When we’re in trouble at home or at work, we do what is required to straighten things out wih the boss. And when we’re in trouble with God because of sin, we have to trust Him. He is our only hope.

Paul calls the Law a “tutor” (paidagogos), a servant that accompanied a child from home to school and back and kept him out of trouble on the way. The Law God gave to Moses was the “tutor” that kept people out of trouble with God until He sent His Son Jesus. Jesus replaced the Law, so that “we are no longer under a ‘tutor.’” The way out of trouble with God is to believe upon Jesus, who died and arose again from the dead. Faith in Jesus Christ is the only way. We cannot do anything to work our way out of trouble with God other than to believe upon Jesus. He works like a lawyer, telling His Father that we have trusted Him and our sins are forgiven. God the Father then forgives us of our sin. Only then are we truly free.

Are you free in God’s sight? If so, have you told a friend how he or she can be free? Paul told us; now it’s for us to tell others.

You are in our daily prayers,

Nana & Dado III

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

Springdale, Arkansas 72764

United States of America

“We never know that God is all we need

until He becomes all that we have.”

Dear Grands,

Ephesians 1:15-18, “For this reason I too, having heard of the faith in the Lord Jesus which exists among you, and your love for all the saints, 16 do not cease giving thanks for you, while making mention of you in my prayers; 17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him.

18 I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints…”

Sometimes strange things happen to us –things we don’t understand at the time and may never understand. Something

like this happened to me last night. It was not a vision; it may have been a dream. But my mind would not grasp the full

significance of the words “knowledge” and “enlightened.” Time is hard to evaluate in dreams, but when I awoke, those two

words were still in my mind, and I knew I had to come to grips with their meaning and share it with you.

As I look at those two words (knowledge and enlightened) in the passage above, they are encompassed by prayer. Paul

was giving thanks for the Ephesian believers, and he prayed that the LORD would give them a spirit of wisdom and an uncovering of the true knowledge of God. Quite honestly, we know very little about God. We believe that God exists, but we are a hundred million miles from uncovering a scintila of His being!

Paul knows the limit of his own knowledge of God, so he prays that our finite knowledge of God might be enlightened. Why are we so devoid of the knowledge of God? Ask yourself that question. My guess is that we spend more time washing our hands every day than we do thinking about God. I’m sure we all spend more time with our cell phones and with television than we do with God’s Word. Paul was unequivically devoted to knowing Christ, “I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord” (Phil. 3:8). Now, there’s a standard for each of us!

Yet, there’s a further prize I think I see in Paul’s admonition. He wants all believers to know “the riches of the glory of Christ’s inheritance in the saints.” None of what Paul wants and has prayed for is solely for our benefit. We are Christ’s inheritance! And the glory of that is beyond all comprehension! The more we know of Christ, the more we will become like Christ; and the more be become like Him, the greater will be His glory throughout Eternity! Breathtaking, when you truly think about it.

We love you all and pray for you every single day,

Nana & Dado III

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

Springdale, Arkansas 72764

United States of America

“We never know that God is all we need

until He becomes all that we have.”

Dear Grands,

2 Corinthians 10:3-6, “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh,

4 for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses.

5 We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ, 6 and we are ready to punish all disobedience, whenever your obedience is complete.”

Although I’ve forgotten the man who said it, I remember well his saying, “It is amazing how many proud and haughty people claim to be followers of the lowly Nazarene.” Even church people have serious differences from time-to-time. The Corinthian Church was a scrapy lot. Sin was rampant in the church and those who opposed one wrong were themselves guilty of another. Paul was not physically present during these differences, but it’s not hard to understand what he would have done had he been there.

This is not the right attitude for Christian people, Paul said. We’re not to be fleshly and act like unbelievers. Yes, it was a battle, but the secret to success and harmony is the spiritual reliance on Divine Power. Don’t “duke it out” with others; let the LORD handle the situation. “True knowledge makes men humble. Where there is exaltation of self, the knowledge of God is wanting.” Bring your thoughts and arguments into captivity in Christ. He alone can destroy what is opposed to Him.

Paul closes a measure of his argument when he says, “…we are ready to punish all disobedience, whenever your obedience is complete.” Paul was the LORD’s ambassador in the situation. He was charged with authority from the LORD over all the matters that troubled the Corinthian believers. He knew those who were wrong and he was ready to secure justice for those who were right –but only when they would give up their self-righteous battle and let the LORD take full charge.

Making an application of this instruction to your own life may take some serious thought. Don’t overlook it! The LORD will fight all the battles for us who are committed to Him; but, He waits for us to turn to Him for help and give up trying to do it all by ourselves. Are you in a battle? Do you seem to be losing? Well, now you know what to do, just do it!

We love you and pray for you ever day,

Nana & Dado III

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

Springdale, Arkansas 72764

United States of America

“We never know that God is all we need

until He becomes all that we have.”