The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

1 Thessalonians 5:14-23, “And we urge you, brethren, admonish the unruly, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with all men.

15 See that no one repays another with evil for evil, but always seek after that which is good for one another and for all men.

16 Rejoice always;

17 pray without ceasing;

18 in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

19 Do not quench the Spirit;

20 do not despise prophetic utterances.

21 But examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good;

22 abstain from every form of evil.

23 Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

The airplane is ready for take-off. Your flight has been called. There’s not much time left. So, when you’re in a hurry, you say a lot of things quickly and without much elaboration. That’s what was occurring in Paul’s quick thoughts to the Thessalonians –and to us! “

Admonish (give instruction), encourage (give comfort), help (hold up), have patience (take time) with everyone. Don’t do evil toward those who do evil toward you! Always look for the best and share it with everyone. Rejoice, pray, give thanks to the LORD for everything! Don’t pour “cold water” on what the Holy Spirit is leading you to do. Follow the Word of God, for it always agrees with the Spirit.

You’ll hear a lot of things from a lot of people. Some will be good; some will be bad. Examine everything carefully. Use the Bible to measure what you hear and read. The Holy Spirit will confirm what the Bible says, so you will know the Truth as God wants you to know it.

You can’t get too far away from evil. It’s like a raging fire –a horrible disease! And it comes in various forms, often looking like good candy. Don’t be fooled! It will destroy you and everything good that God has for your life. You can’t control it, however powerful you think you are. Trust the LORD. He warns against “playing with fire.”

God is a God of Peace and holiness. He will permeate (fill fully and completely) your life with Himself. Your spirit (that part of you that is God-conscious); your soul (that part of you that is self-conscious); your body (that part of you that is world-conscious) –every part, totally will be submerged in His purity and holiness, so that you will take on His likeness. That likeness will draw some people closer to you because they want what you have. Others will run from you, because they love their sin and want to rule their own lives. Our job is to be like Jesus, without blame. He is Coming again to take us to be with Him in Heaven. Work on getting ready. At any time, He may announce our departure.

Love and prayers for 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,

1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, “But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve, as do the rest who have no hope.

14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus.

15 For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, and remain until the coming of the Lord, shall not precede those who have fallen asleep.

16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first.

17 Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and thus we shall always be with the Lord.

18 Therefore comfort one another with these words.”

Every once in a while my wife will say, “I miss your folks.” I do, too, but we both have the assurance that we will see them one day. Hope is scripture means future certainty. Not eveyone has that. I remember so well a woman who passed out after viewing the body of a loved one in her casket. She was revived with smelling salts –and then passed out again! How often we wish we could get counsel from those who have died. We do our best to remember them and what they might have said to us in certain situations.

The Thessalonian believers were concerned about those who had died. Where are they now? Paul assures them (and us) that believing in Jesus’ death and resurrection is the guarantee that we will see other believers when Jesus returns to Earth again. Are you looking for that day? Do you live with the awareness that Jesus could come at any moment? He can!! I’ve heard two men say only recently, “I believe we’re living in the last of the Last Days.”

Paul says that Jesus will come with a “commanding shout” (keleusma), with the voice of the archangel and the trumpet of God. The trumpet will give a frequency sound that only believers, living and dead, will hear and understand. And the power of Almighty God will raise the bodies of the dead believers from their graves. Body and soul will be united and all believers will be “snatched up” (harpazo) into the air to meet the LORD Jesus.

We all have friends who do not know Jesus as their LORD and Savior. Unless they come to know Him, they will be left behind to face the horrendous trouble that will then fall upon the Earth. More serious still, they will never be with us in Heaven, but will suffer the pain and agony of Hell for all eternity. Now is the time to reach them! Pray for them that they will forsake everything that holds them apart from Jesus. Pray that they will believe upon Him as their LORD and Savior. Only then will they hear His trumpet when He comes.

We love you and pray for you and for our unbelieving friends,

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,

Philippians 4:4-7, “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice!

5 Let your forbearing spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near.

6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.

7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, shall guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

Mollie Tibbitts, the 20-year-old Iowa college girl has been missing for four weeks now. One account says there are 40 some FBI agents plus local law enforcement personnel diligently searching for her, but without success thus far.

Imagine the difficulty her parents and family have confidently embracing Paul’s admonition: “Rejoice in the LORD!” Still, His presence is always near us. Whatever difficulties we encounter, we are not alone! It is imperative that we maintain a positive attitude that indicates our trust in the LORD. I can only imagine that there are those who have demonstrated grief and despair. But the love of parents and true friends will never give up hope that she will be found alive.

We who know the LORD will always demonstrate His kind and gentle spirit. Don’t possess or express anxiety about anything. Just keep on praying to the LORD for help with an attitude of thankfulness. God is a God of peace –peace that is beyond our imagination or understanding. His peace will control our thoughts, keeping them on Him rather than upon the circumstances that trouble us. How can we rejoice in the midst of such trouble? We can by maintaining the focus and trust of our thoughts upon Christ Jesus!

May the LORD bless you is our prayer,

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,

Philippians 2:1-4, “If therefore there is any encouragement in Christ, if there is any consolation of love, if there is any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and compassion, 2 make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose.

3 Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind let each of you regard one another as more important than himself; 4 do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.”

Little two-letter words are often more important than we know. The Greeks had four types of

“conditional” sentences, each one starting with the little word “if.” Paul uses the word if four times in the first verse. Each time is means “if, and it is so.” We do have encourgement in Christ. We do have consolation in love. We do have the fellowship of the Holy Spirit. And we do have emotions of compassion for others. All come from our abiding in Christ.

We are never to dishonor the gospel, but to live so as to receive the highest encouragement that Christ can give us. Our happiness is always centered in love. It is when we love a parent, a wife, a husband, a child, a sister, a neighbor, that we have the highest earthly enjoyment. It is in the love of God, of Christ, of Christians, of the souls of people, that we, the redeemed, find our greatest happiness.

We should never try triumph over others by mere physical strength, or by superiority of intellect, or as the result of some dark scheme or plan formed by rivalry, or by indulging anger, or with a spirit of ambition. We are not to attempt to do anything merely by outdoing others, or by showing that we have more talent, more courage, or more zeal. What we do is always to be by spiritual principle, and with the desire to maintain the truth, and to glorify God.

The word of command here solemnly forbids us from doing anything with a wrong purpose, whether it be by some intellectual attainment, or by physical strength, or skill in music, or eloquence in singing, by how we dress, or the things we have, or even our spiritual beliefs. Self is never to be foremost; selfishness is not to be the motive. Love and concern for others comes from the love we have for Christ. That’s why we witness. It is for the benefit of the lost ones, and it is for the glory of our LORD Jesus Christ. God bless you as you grow into His likeness!

The LORD reminds us daily to pray for you –and we do!

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 Timothy 1:5-9, “For I am mindful of the sincere faith within you, which first dwelt in your grandmother Lois, and your mother Eunice, and I am sure that it is in you as well. 6 And for this reason I remind you to kindle afresh the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. 7 “For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline.

8 “Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, or of me His prisoner; but join with me in suffering for the gospel according to the power of God, 9 who has saved us, and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity…”

From the earliest of times, mothers have cared for their children while fathers have worked for wages outside the home. Therefore, the mothers have always had greater influence upon the children, teaching and training them for adulthood and all that they would encounter in life.

Timothy’s mother had been born Jewish, but had come to know Christ as her LORD from her mother, Lois. Paul is, therefore, confident that Timothy is a true believer, also. How old Timothy was at this time, we do not know; but he was old enough to take seriously the gift the LORD God had given him. Not everyone has the benefit of Christian parentage; still, having come to know

the LORD Jesus, we are all responsible to behave according to His will for our lives.

We are to be courageous. Courage comes from being continually conscious of the Holy Spirit.

It is His power that enables us to achieve His purposes. We are to be loving of people. Love is the “driving force” that comes from the Holy Spirit. We must also be disciplined (s?phronismós, self-controlled). It is this divinely given self-control which makes us what He wants us to be.

Yes, there will be some rough roads to travel, but we must never be ashamed or timid in sharing His Good News. Remember that He saved you and called you to His work. His calling to mothers is to teach and train their children; His call to fathers is to provide for their families; His call to all of us is to tell others of His saving grace, for when we share Him, He saves them. What a privilege we have to participate in this glorious work!

Our prayers are for you, as your prayers are for others,

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.”