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.”

Dear Grands,

John 14:1-6, “’Let not your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me.

2 “’In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you.

3 “’And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.

4 “’And you know the way where I am going.”

5 “Thomas said to Him, ‘Lord, we do not know where You are going, how do we know the way?’

6 “Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me.’”

The answer to all troubles is faith in the LORD Jesus Christ. We believe in God; it is imperative that we also believe in Jesus. Nothing in life is the sole product of one person. The things we need –even, the things we want that we don’t need– are designed and produced by others. Think of your toothbrush. It’s quite simple, yet someone designed and produced it. You didn’t do it by yourself. In fact, the one who designed it needed someone else to help him make it.

Jesus promises a heavenly dwelling place for us. Death is not a final end to life. If we have trusted Him as LORD and Savior, life as we’ve never known it here on Earth, lies on the other side of the curtain we call death. We’ve been avalanched with movies and video games and innumerable things that portray death as horrible and scary. But it is not that to the born-again Christian!

Further, Jesus promises He will come again and take us to that place He has prepared for us.

Most of us are probably like Thomas, who said he didn’t know the way or how to get there. Once again, here’s a man who thought he had to do it all himself. No, Jesus said that He Himself IS the way. It is His responsibility to see that we get there.

Have you ever noticed that the people who think they have to do everything themselves, are the ones who end up denying Christ? Rather than believing Him, they deny that He exists! It the lie that the devil produced and continues to proclaim to those who do not know Jesus as we do.

Jesus is the true truth and the true life. That’s precisely why we need to expel from our view those movies and games and things that teach contrary to Jesus. Real danger is often accompanied by laughter and disguise. Don’t be fooled! Don’t be misled! Focus on what is real and true. Focus always on Jesus!

We love you and pray daily for you,

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 126:1-3, “When the LORD brought back the captive ones of Zion, We were like those who dream. 2 Then our mouth was filled with laughter, And our tongue with joyful shouting; Then they said among the nations, “The LORD has done great things for them.”

3 The LORD has done great things for us; We are glad.”

Sometimes it doesn’t take many words to express how we feel. A simple “Thank you” may at first seem inadequate; yet the earnestness and sincerity of the heart is sufficient to the LORD and to those who know Him.

At what seems like a long time, we have finally returned from Dallas. Actually it was but four days; but those days were so filled with activity, that it seemed much longer. Valarie was valourous in negotiating the horrendous traffic, even in the early, darkened hours. With cars

racing madly as if it were the Oklahoma land grab, she steadily threaded the car through the mele and into the precise lanes, bringing us safely to our intended destination.

Everyone at the hospital was exceedingly congenial and helpful. Even other patients, nurses and office personnel laughed and joked with us, lessening the tension of the time. More important, still, was the attitude of the doctors, who beyond their medical skill were guided by the gracious Hand of the LORD. We witnessed as the occasion allowed, and left the results to

“simmer” within their hearts.

The areas of Nana’s blood loss were found, cauterized and then “covered” with a medication

that preserves the work of the procedure. It will no doubt take some days for Nana to recover her strength completely, but the trauma of the situation has been removed! Indeed, “The LORD has done great things for us. And we are glad!”

We so appreciate your standing with us in prayer and encouragement. We continue to pray for you, knowing that He knows all of our needs and is able to do “exceeding abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory…” (Eph. 3:20).

Loving and praying 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,

John 12:12-13, “On the next day the great multitude who had come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem,

13 took the branches of the palm trees, and went out to meet Him, and began to cry out, ‘Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel.’”

I have something of a love-hate relationship with my wake-up alarm. On the one hand, it

plays nice, soothing music; but on the other hand, it means I have to get up! Jesus had

a similar situation with people. Some were seeing Him as the promised Messiah, while

others were seeking to kill Him.

I can remember when I first learned the meaning of Hosanna. A Christian Jew opened its meaning to me. The people who lined the road with palm branches in honor of Jesus entry into the City of Jerusalem were crying, “Save us!” It was a clear and concise recognition of Him for whom He was.

At the same time, they honored Him by crying, “Blessed is He who comes in the Name of the LORD, even the King of Israel.” If we truly want protection and deliverence from Him, we must

praise and honor and glorify Him. Far too often we want Him to do things for us, but we are not willing to do things for Him. We want His blessing, but we do not live “to the praise of His glory” (Eph. 1:12). Start every day with prayer and the reading of His Word. Be careful to analyze every situation as in accordance with His will. He is not far away. He is very, very near, even in your heart and life, when you belong to Him. Let Him guide you in all of today’s activities. You will be amazed how your life will change for the better!

Rose Marie and me. I promise a full and comprehensive report next week. We will be praying

for you.

Heartily in Christ,

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,

John 11:39-45, “Jesus said, “Remove the stone.” Martha, the sister of the deceased, said to Him, “Lord, by this time there will be a stench, for he has been dead four days.”

40 Jesus said to her, “Did I not say to you, if you believe, you will see the glory of God?”

41 And so they removed the stone. And Jesus raised His eyes, and said, “Father, I thank Thee that Thou heardest Me. 42 “And I knew that Thou hearest Me always; but because of the people standing around I said it, that they may believe that Thou didst send Me.”

43 And when He had said these things, He cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth.”

44 He who had died came forth, bound hand and foot with wrappings; and his face was wrapped around with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”

45 Many therefore of the Jews, who had come to Mary and beheld what He had done, believed in Him.”

Basicly, there are five senses in our human bodies: sight, hearing, touch, taste, and smell. Four of the five are mentioned in our passage above. Lazarus had been dead for four days, and Jesus had come to raise him from the dead. The Jews believed that the spirit of man lingered around the body for three days and then corruption set in. The stench of the deteriorating body was an indication that the spirit of Lazarus had departed.

Jesus came to the grave and commanded the people to “remove the stone” behind which Lazarus had been buried. This involved their physically touching the stone. He then turned His eyes toward Heaven as He prayed aloud to the Father, enabling that the people might hear and believe upon Him. Then, He cried aloud in the presence of everyone, “Lazarus, come forth!” And Lazarus came forth from death and from the grave. Again, Jesus said, “Unbind him, and let him go,” requiring them again to touch the resurrected man. There is no mention of the stench that Mary feared to smell.

Have you ever thought of applying these basic senses to our witnessing? Unbelievers have to see us living the Christ-like life. They need to hear us speaking truth and honoring Him in all that we say and do. We need to be careful what we touch, as they are watching what we view and what we taste. They even smell the oder emanates from our bodies. Thus, everything about us is open for their inspection. If what we profess does not resemble Christ, our witness is stymied. We surrendered everything to Him and to His control when we trusted Him as our LORD and Savior. If we hope to “resurrect” others from their lives of sin, we must demonstrate that Christ has resurrected our own lives. Salvation is an ongoing experience with Jesus.

Our prayers are first for ourselves, and then for you,

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.”