The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

2 Timothy 2:11-15, “It is a trustworthy statement: For if we died with Him, we shall also live with Him;

12 If we endure, we shall also reign with Him; If we deny Him, He also will deny us;

13 If we are faithless, He remains faithful; for He cannot deny Himself.

14 Remind them of these things, and solemnly charge them in the presence of God not to wrangle about words, which is useless, and leads to the ruin of the hearers.

15 Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, handling accurately the Word of truth.”

You don’t have to live long to learn that not everything that is said is true. One primary lesson is to learn

what is true, so that you can discern truth from untruth. Paul states a faithful, worthy-of-trust statement that has both positive and negative aspects. Four times here he uses the word “if.” Two of the four concern our living positively; two of the four concern our living negatively. Look at this closely.

“If we died with Him, we shall also live with Him.” This speaks positively. We were saved when we denied ourselves the right to live as we wanted –died to ourselves and our own authority over our own lives, and surrendered that authority to Jesus.

“If we endure, we shall also reign with Him.” This, too, speaks positively. If we remain patient and don’t give up when things are going against us, we will one day live with Him in Heaven.

“If we deny Him…” speaks negatively of our living. It can mean that we refuse to do what the LORD wants of our lives. If that is the case, He will deny us the blessing we would have known had we done as He directed. Denying Him can also mean outrightly saying that we are not His followers, we are not Christians. In that case, He will deny us, which is an extremely dangerous situation.

“If we are faithless…” relates to our negative living, our lack of trust in Him. Our our lack of trust does not affect His faithfulness. The LORD can never be contrary to who and what He is. If we refuse to be or do what He wants, He will simply choose someone else to do it, and we will miss the blessing.

Whatever the situation, don’t get tangled in arguments about things that don’t matter. They simply cause us to lose the direction the LORD has plotted for us, and those we might have reached for Him. Make every effort to be and do what the LORD approves and you’ll never be ashamed for telling His Truth.

Our daily prayer is that you may be all the LORD desires,

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.”