The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

John 16:13-15, “But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come.

14 “He shall glorify Me; for He shall take of Mine, and shall disclose it to you.

15 “All things that the Father has are Mine; therefore I said, that He takes of Mine, and will disclose it to you.”

What shall I do? Where shall I go? What will I say? Questions like these often plague the Christian believer. These questions and many others doubtlessly filled the minds of Jesus’ disciples. He has told them that He is going away, and that strikes fear in their hearts. We

have the tendency to lean upon those who know more than we know. But, what are we to

do when they leave us? Jesus announced the coming of the Holy Spirit, who would guide them into all truth. They would not be left alone.

When we first accepted Christ as our LORD and Savior, the Holy Spirit entered out lives, so that we would never walk through life alone. The Spirit leads, guides and teaches us as we move through life. He “throws” things into our paths –things we would never think to undertake on our own.

A man and his wife came to a church I was pastoring. He was the manager of a local radio station and invited me to speak on the radio. I accepted his offer and in time I had my own program on five stations in four countries! Talk about the Spirit’s leadership!

I was skeptical about the prospect of being selected to minister in Australia, but I was selected! And that led to a ministry that took me literally around the world preaching the Gospel in a variety of nations and churches and seeing scores of people come to know Jesus as their LORD and Savior! Never doubt the ability of the LORD to lead and guide you. And never doubt your ability to do whatever He calls you to do. He will always empower you to accomplish it. Just trust Him!

The Holy Spirit glorifies the Son, Jesus Christ! He never glorifies Himself. We sang the doxology as a closing hymn in church yesterday.

Praise God from Whom all blessing flows;

Praise Him, all creatures here below;

Praise Him above, ye Heavenly host;

Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

I have theological trouble with that last line, for when Jesus said, “He (the Spirit) shall glorify Me,”

I understand that the Spirit never glorifies Himself –only and always He glorifies the Son. Thus, I sing “Praise Father, Son, through Holy Ghost.” Of course, pastors must preach and teach about the Holy Spirit, for He is mentioned often in Scripture. He, too, is God, just as the Father and the Son. But His role within believers is always to point us to Jesus, who died and arose from the dead as the Father’s sacrifice for our sin.

In all of this, the LORD guarantees His guidance and security of our lives. We can know all we need to know and be assured of His protection wherever He leads us. We can speak of Him,

as the Spirit gives us the courage and the words. The results of our witnessing lie ever in His Hands. God bless you abundantly! May He use you today for His glory!

We love 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.”