The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

Hebrews 12:5-11, “For those whom the Lord loves He disciplines, And He scourges every son whom He receives.”

7 It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline?

8 But if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons.

9 Furthermore, we had earthly fathers to discipline us, and we respected them; shall we not much rather be subject to the Father of spirits, and live?

10 For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but He disciplines us for our good, that we may share His holiness.

11 All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.”

In case you missed it, the key word throughout this passage is discipline. Eight times in these seven verses, Paul

emphasizes discipline. The word “discipline” comes from the word “disciple,” which means “learner.” We are taught by

our parents; and their teaching –discipline—is for our good. As we grow older, we learn to discipline ouselves. When I

was a boy, my mother would awaken me when it was time for me to get out of bed. She would set before me on the

table food for my body’s benefit. As I grew older, I had responsibilities; therefore, I awoke and got out of bed to attend

to those responsibilites. As a child, my mother laid out the clothes I was to wear that day. As I grew older, I chose my

own clothes. All of that resulted from discipline.

God disciplines us because He loves us. He is training us to be like Himself. It is to our advantage to follow His

discipline. The things for which He disciplines us are not always easy or pleasant. That is because we do not yet

understand His ultimate purpose with us. Schools require discipline, and we are in the LORD’s school. We are to be

disciplined to read and understand His Word. What we are taught from Scripture, we are to live out in our daily lives.

Learning anything requires dedicated attention. It’s often unpleasant because it interrupts what we want to do. Yet,

later we will come to understand the value of doing everything the LORD’s way.

Our nation is in trouble today because we have neglected the LORD’s discipline. Young people run in gangs because

their parents neglected to teach them how to behave in life. Eventually, even gang members will become parents, and

they will neglect their children just as their parents neglected them. Do you see where this is leading? It’s so bad now,

that even teachers are advocating giving all students the same grade. This is the LACK of discipline! And those who

slid by without rules to keep them in check will ultimate become our doctors, pastors, congressmen and Supreme

Court Justices!! What a mess!! So, get with it! Get with Him! Read and study His Word! Be disciplined, so that you

will be a competent leader and teacher. “Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people” (Pro. 14:34).

Praying for you daily is one of our disciplines,

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.”