The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

Ephesians 6:14-18, “1Stand firm therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16 in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming missiles of the evil one.

17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

18 With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints…”

Anyone going into battle of any kind needs to be fully prepared in both mind and body. Football is a brutle sport; it requires a uniform that protects every part of the player’s body. In the same way, true believers in Christ need adequate protection from the devil at all times. Paul compares the soldiers’ battledress to that of the Christian.

The girdle or belt was the brace, the support of the body. So, truth is our brace; and it girds us constantly and firmly. The belt keeps all the parts of the armor in their proper place and preserves firmness and consistency in the battledress. Just so, truth serves to give consistency and firmness to our conduct. Truth preserves us from a lax view of morals that would affect our duty and our faith. Without truth, we are exposed to every assault. Truth makes our soul sincere, firm, constant, and always on its guard. A person who has no consistent views of truth, is just the person the adversary seeks out for a successful attack.

Integrity, holiness, purity of life and sincerity are all that is necessary to defend us from the assaults of Satan. But, we need God’s righteousness –a righteousness which He alone can provide. It is the righteousness of God our Savior that makes us perfectly protected and invulnerable to all the darts and arrows of the evil one.

The helmet, of course, protects the head, giving us confidence of our salvation and victory. The Sword of the Spirit is the Word of God; and that is where we get the confidence of victory, so that we never give up the battle.

Everything, however, must be covered with consistent prayer. No matter how complete the armor; no matter how skilled we may be in the science of spiritual warfare; no matter how courageous we may be; without consistent prayer we are certain to be defeated. God alone can give the victory. And our dependence upon Him is our certainty of victory. So, clothe yourselves properly. Keep your mind on the LORD and His Word, and He will win the battle for you! What a great God we have!

We are praying for you; please pray for us as well.

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.”