The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

2 Corinthians 4:15-18, “For all things are for your sakes, that the grace which is spreading to more and more people may cause the giving of thanks to abound to the glory of God.

16 Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day.

17 For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison,

18 while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.”

Oh, so that’s how you do it! Now I understand! How many things we have faced in our lives that were a mystery to us. Then, someone revealed how it was done -what it meant– and the light dawned and we saw it all clearly.

These verses from the Apostle Paul could be called “a study in contrasts.” He contrasts things that are

“for (our) sakes” with things that “abound to the glory of God.” He contrasts our “outer man” with our “inner man” and the “decaying” life with the “renewal” of life. He also draws a clear distinction between our “light affliction” with the “eternal weight of glory”; the “seen” with the “not seen” and the “temporal” with the “eternal.”

We simply live too much for that which is temporal. Money, possessions, fun, friends, travel, and a host of external, temporal things –things that will one day be viewed as having had little-to-no value. What we need to be living for are those things that have eternal value –things that even now can bring glory to the LORD! Those things have value and we experience the warmth of that value when we engage in them. Prayer, witnessing, love, help and achievements for others –all of this gives us an internal satisfaction that those temporal things do not. We need to live for the eternal instead of the temporal.

Now that I’m beginning to understand how it all works, what am I going to do about it? How am I going to change my habits, my focus? I must live in His Word. I must listen to His Spirit. I must love Him more than everyone else. I must be thankful, for it is He who is LORD! It is He who is our Supreme Authority!

We love you and pray for you daily. We need your prayers, too.

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,

1 Corinthians 15:58, “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord.”

This is a verse I remember as “confusing” to me as a teenager. Paul says, “be steadfast, immovable” –and I could understand that. But then he added “always abounding.” That gave me pause. I could one be immovable and abouding at the same time? I was further confused because I had always believed that the Bible was without error –something I continue to believe without question! But how is something like this verse to be understood?

In the preceding verses, Paul has emphasized the literal, bodily resurrection of our LORD Jesus Christ. He speaks about the Last Days and says that the LORD is victorious and has given to us as believers victory as well. He then concludes his thought by instructing us to be what he notes in that final verse.

It is a verse (and a passage and a letter) only for believers. He assumes that we know the Gospel and

Have received it. Now, we are not to waver one iota in our belief. We are to be settled in our thinking, not wobbly, not distrubed by anyone’s thoughts or teachings to the contrary of what we believe.

Further, we are to excel (abound exceedingly) in the work He has given us to accomplish! Just imagine:

the Creator of all things, the One who raised Himself from the dead, has chosen us to become involved in His ongoing work!! Further still, we are assurred that what we do will not be worthless (vain) because it is His work. He guarantees the overall excellence and value of His work. So, don’t give up! Like a doctor’s surgery –it takes time to heal, but in the end it will give life to the patient.

We Love and cherish you all,

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,

Revelation 20:12, “And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds.”

We live in an era of records. It is virtually impossible to say or do anything that is not recorded somewhere. Words spoken are recorded somewhere. Pictures are records, too. The police have records; the various governments have records. Stores have records of purchases we’ve made. Even the Internet records what we do! Records remind us of past experiences. We have phones that record. Books are records and gigantic libraries house thousands of books that tell us of the past. Our minds are recorders, too. They produce warm and loving activities of the past; and they produce the ugly and distasteful things – things we would love to erase from our memories.

I can clearly remember my mother saying to me, “Gene, when you do bad things, God puts a black mark behind your name in His book up in Heaven.” That shook me considerably – at least, for a time.

What can we do about all of those “black marks”? Can they ever be erased? They can be, but it’s not a matter of just saying, “LORD, forgive me for all my sins.” We need to specifically identify our various sins and ask His forgiveness. But how can we possibly do that? We can start by keeping “short accounts.” That is, when we do wrong, the Holy Spirit provokes our conscience, enabling us to right then and there ask forgiveness. For those long-ago sins –sins we honestly cannot remember, we need to as the LORD to bring them to mind so that we can ask His forgiveness.

The clear and unmistakable truth is that God holds records that can be used against us. And they will be unless they are erased through our confession and repentance. It may not seem a “big deal” right now, but it will be in the day we stand before Him in court. Stop right now and start asking His forgiveness. Don’t be flippant. Be exceedingly serious. This is not traffic court. It’s serious stuff. The good part is that He promises to forgive us. How will we know whether He has? Believe me, you’ll know!

We love you; and you are always in our thoughts and our 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,

Romans 13:11-14, “And this do, knowing the time, that it is already the hour for you to awaken from sleep; for now salvation is nearer to us than when we believed.

12 The night is almost gone, and the day is at hand. Let us therefore lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.

13 Let us behave properly as in the day, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and sensuality, not in strife and jealousy.

14 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts.”

Do you need an alarm to awaken you from sleep? Maybe I should refrase that. Do you use an alarm to awaken you? My guess is that it depends on whether or not you want to awaken from sleep. As a kid, I found it hard to get to sleep when what was planned for the next day was exciting. But, when I awoke and remembered the exciting day that was before me, I got up quickly!

Paul has something exciting to mention: our salvaion is nearer today than it was yesterday. Salvation is used in two different way: when we first repented of sin and trusted Jesus as our Savior, we were saved once and for all time. The salvation of which Paul is speaking here is the Coming of our LORD Jesus Christ to take us all to be with Him in Heaven. When we awaken to the excitement of a special day, we want to dress appropriately. Sometime the activities require a special uniform. How are we to dress for the LORD’s Coming?

We are to put away everything that is inappropriate to the occasion; namely, “the deeds of darkness” – those things that are wrong and embarrassing for Jesus to see. We are to be thoroughly clean! We have no certainty, however, that today is the day He will come. So, we are to prepare every day because He is coming! And today might just be that day! Think about it….

We love you and 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,

Malachi 2:6-7, “True instruction was in his mouth, and unrighteousness was not found on his lips; he walked with Me in peace and uprightness, and he turned many back from iniquity.

7 For the lips of a priest should preserve knowledge, and men should seek instruction from his mouth; for he is the messenger of the LORD of hosts.”

Long before the Word of the LORD was written down, He established priests and prophets to guide His people. Here Malachi quotes the LORD, who says that His priests are to be upright with no unrighteousness in their lives. Further, they are instructed to turn the wicked to God by giving sound instruction.

Although there is considerable difference between the days of the Old Testament and our day today,

those whom the LORD has ordained to instruct His people are required to be upright and godly in their lives. They are to speak the LORD’s truth to His people. That’s one of the prime reasons why we gather in church each Sunday. Music and fellowship with other believers is important, but the principle reason we are there is to hear the Word of the LORD expounded by the pastor. We should pray for the LORD to give us specific instruction for our lives through the pastor’s message.

The pastor’s responsibilities are extremely serious! Not only must he have a pure and holy life, he must be accurate in his understanding of the Word he conveys to the people. He is not called to amuse the people with funny stories. Nor are the people there to be amused. We are there to gain instruction from the LORD –instruction that will guide our lives in the days ahead.

Is it not time that we took spiritual instruction from our pastors seriously? Yes, it is true that the Holy Spirit lives within us as believers; still, the LORD has called some men to be guides to our understanding of His Holy Word. Does it not make sense that the LORD, who called men to instruct us in His Word, should also require that we listen and understand what He says through them? Pray for your pastor! Listen closely to the words he speaks! We will one day give an account for how we listened and how we then lived to the glory of the LORD.

You are in our 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.”