The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

John 1:1-5, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God.

3 All things came into being by Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.

4 In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.

5 And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.”

How many times has someone said something to you and you replied, “What do you mean?”

That’s what I think when I come upon the word “word.” The Greeks had two word for “word.” At times, they are very close in meaning, but the context separates them. Rema is the word for the spoken word, as in Hebrews 1:3, where it says He “upholds all things by the word of His power.” It is that which is said,

a word, a saying, an expression.

Logos, on the other hand, is “God’s full self-revelation and proclamation through Jesus Christ; it is His “instruction, exhortation, the declaration” of His Truth in Christ. It is this word that John employs to introduce the Savior to all his readers. The LORD Jesus Christ is the Creator of all things. There is nothing that the Logos did not bring into being by the rema of His mouth. He who is Life brought the light of His Life into being. Remember that “the Earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep…” (Gen. 1:2). Then God said, “’Let there be light’; and there was light” (Gen. 1:3).

You are permitted to say, “I don’t understand.” Perhaps none of us fully understands how the LORD brought all of this about, but He did! Even “the darkness –Satan and his angels—did not comprehend it.

The word comprehend is interesting because it means both “overcome” and “understand.” Walk into a totally dark room and you can rid the room of its darkness by shinning even a small light. But you cannot overcome a room full of light by bringing darkness into it. How would you do that anyway? That’s something we don’t understand.

All of this brings us around to faith and trust. We have to believe what the LORD has said in His Word. Science has no better explanation. What is called science today actually works from the standpoint of darkness. It neither understands nor overcomes what God has said in His Word. Where do you put your ultimate trust? We know where ours is.

Our love for you is wrapped up 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.”

Dear Grands,

Psalm 143:5-9, “I remember the days of old; I meditate on all Thy doings;

I muse on the work of Thy hands.

6 I stretch out my hands to Thee; My soul longs for Thee, as a parched land.

7 Answer me quickly, O LORD, my spirit fails; Do not hide Thy face from me,

Lest I become like those who go down to the pit.

8 Let me hear Thy lovingkindness in the morning; For I trust in Thee;

Teach me the way in which I should walk; For to Thee I lift up my soul.

9 Deliver me, O LORD, from my enemies; I take refuge in Thee.”

A 19TH Centruy English poet, lost his father when he was a teenager.

At the age of 12, he suffered the loss of one of his legs. Focusing on

his troubles, he wrote the poem, Invictus, which is Latin for “unconquered.”

The poem ends with the lines, “I am the master of my fate; I am the captain

of my soul.”

That’s a sharp contrast with the words of David in our Psalm today. Both

men were looking back upon their former days. One looked to himself for

inner strength to conquer the difficulties he faced; the other looked to God.

“My soul longs for Thee…Answer me quickly, O LORD…I trust in Thee…

I take refuge in Thee.”

To whomever we look for help in time of trouble, that one becomes our

God, our authority. When we seek only our own inner strength for help, we

become our own god. When we seek the LORD, we are acknowledging

Him as our Authority. People encountering trouble often cry, “O Lord!”

when they don’t really know Him as their LORD and Savior. When we know

Him, we cry out to Him in faith, trusting Him to hear and to answer. And in

our very cry, we are acknowledging Him as our Authority.

When we were little children, we looked to our parents for physical support

until we could walk by ourselves. Now, as grown people, we’re not to act like

helpless cry-babies, being lazy as if we were totally helpless. We are taught

in Scripture to depend upon the LORD –even for a positive attitude– whatever

our trouble might be. That’s what He teaches us in the Bible. And He has

given us the Bible that we might read it and learn of Him.

When we look back upon our lives, it is obvious how the LORD has led us

and supported us. He delights in being our LORD! May we delight in

depending upon Him for all of our needs.

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,

Psalm 139:1-6, “O Lord, Thou hast searched me and known me.

2 Thou dost know when I sit down and when I rise up;

Thou dost understand my thought from afar.

3 Thou dost scrutinize my path and my lying down,

And art intimately acquainted with all my ways.

4 Even before there is a word on my tongue,

Behold, O LORD , Thou dost know it all.

5 Thou hast enclosed me behind and before,

And laid Thy hand upon me.

6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;

It is too high, I cannot attain to it.”

It was Job’s friend, Zophar, who asked, “Can you discover the depths of God?

Can you discover the limits of the Almighty” (Job 11:7)? It was one of those

to-ask-it-is-to-answer-it questions. Now, in the next book (Psalms follows Job),

David answers Zophar’s question.

The LORD has fully investigated us all. He has a timeline of everything that we

have ever done; in fact, He was completely aware of what we were going to do

long before we ever did it or even thought about it. Furthermore, He understood

what we were going to say long before the words came from our mouths!

In a much lesser sense, but one I could never figure out, my mother had a

similar ability. She seemed to know where I was at any time of the day. To my

amazement, she knew what I was about to say before I said it. “Don’t say it!”

was her stern admonition. How could she know what I was going to say? She

had me pegged all the way. I couldn’t get away with anything!

Such abilities force us to consider that we could get caught, so we think through

our intended actions and weigh the consequences. We might get away with

something done against someone, but never against God! His ways are

incomprehensible! How then are we to know what He desires of us?

Let me suggest that a careful and consistent reading of the Bible will help immensely!

Just think how exciting it is for the LORD to see us behaving just as He knew we would!

What’s more, we don’t have to keep looking back to see if anyone is watching.

Even our prayers for you were known before they were offered.

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 135:13a, “Thy name, O LORD, is everlasting…”

Have you ever thought about your name? What does your name mean? Why were you named what you were? Google your name and see. Here’s what I

got: Gene, “a unit of heredity that is transferred from a parent to offspring and is held to determine some characteristic of the offspring.”

A lot of people have tried to guess what the “L” stands for in my middle name. Whatever you may think, it is not “Lethargy.” Actually, it is “Loquacious.” Just kidding!

Tucked away in the midst of Psalm 135 is our tiny verse: “Thy name, O LORD, is eternal.” The word “LORD” is actually His name: Yahweh. It is without a beginning and without an end. His Name is what He is. He had no beginning, and He has no termination –ever! Try to wrap your head around that.

A name is often given as a remembrance of someone revered from the past. Genealogy studies often finds names like George Washington Hampton or Andrew Jackson Jones. Those who admire certain historical personalities often seek to “keep them alive” in the names of their children.

Children then are often expected to live up to the standard of the one whose name we have been given. “Your Uncle William wouldn’t have acted like that!” In such an instance, we are reminded of the nobility and kindness of “Uncle William”; and we are shamed by our actions that have disgraced His name. Oh, that we would reverence the name of our LORD the same way! Oh, that our intentions would be always fastened upon His matchless Life! Think about that. Do you and I truly “show forth to the praise of His glory” (Eph. 1:12)? I’m afraid I don’t. And when I don’t, I hear the Holy Spirit rebuke me for my failure. Do you hear His voice?

Our prayers include you every day. Please let yours include us.

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,

Luke 21:25-28, “And there will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and upon the earth dismay among nations, in perplexity at the roaring of the sea and the waves, 26 men fainting from fear and the expectation of the things which are coming upon the world; for the powers of the heavens will be shaken.

27 “And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.

28 “But when these things begin to take place, straighten up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”

Yesterday, Sunday, the 26th of August 2018, 38,000 people raced out of War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock, Arkansas in a state of panic! As of this writing, authorities still have no idea what spooked the crowd. Someone may have thought they heard a gunshot. Whatever the cause, people rushed to leave. The highschool football game didn’t matter. Their safety of their lives were what mattered.

The tentions in our world today are at a breaking point. So many wild and evil people are loose with intent to kill anyone and everyone –as many as they can, wherever they are. It is as if the whole world had gone mad!

In our passage above, Luke, the physician, is describing the Coming of the LORD. It, too, will bring about panic –worldwide panic! Things in the heavens will be in disarray, as will things on the Earth. The nations’ peoples will be in worldwide panic! The streets will overflow with frightened people! No one will understand what is taking place or how to stop it. Emergency officials will be as frightened as those they seek to help. What’s going on? And what are we to do?

First, we are not to panic like the rest of the world. We’re to “straighten up and lift up (our) heads.” The LORD has promised He would return for His people; and we are His people – the ones who have repented of our sin and believed upon Him for our salvation. These frightening occurences are but the precursor of that time which is to come; namely, the Coming of the LORD for His people. Second, we are to warn others of that Day in which Christ will come, by sharing His Gospel with them, so that they might be saved and ready for His Coming.

I truly believe that we are living in the last days. Some are saying that we are living in “the last days of the last days.” Jesus said that no one knows the exact time of His Coming. Yet, with unmistakable truth, “I will come again, and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also” (Jn. 14:3). Just faithfully keep watch, and don’t panic. It’s all in His plan, and we who are His are included in that plan.

We faithfully pray for you every 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.”