The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

Hebrews 12:5-11, “…and you have forgotten the exhortation which is addressed to you as sons,

‘My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, Nor faint when you are reproved by Him;

6 For those whom the Lord loves He disciplines, And He scourges every son whom He receives.’

7 It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline? 8 But if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. 9 Furthermore, we had earthly fathers to discipline us, and we respected them; shall we not much rather be subject to the Father of spirits, and live? 10 For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but He disciplines us for our good, that we may share His holiness. 11 All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.”

Fully the first half of Hebrews 12 concerns discipline. Nine times in the seven verses above, Paul emphasizes

the need and value of discipline. The word discipline in Greek is paideia, meaning instruction. When instruction is repeated again and again, it becomes easier to retain. This week we learned that the Arkansas Razorbacks will face the Butler Bulldogs in the first round of the NCAA basketball Tournament this coming week. Butler admits they know little about the style of the Razorbacks; but believe me, both teams will be disciplined in order to do their very best.

Everything requires discipline. Sometimes (maybe too often) we think of discipline as punishment. “Go to the blackboard and write, I will not talk aloud without permission 100 times,” the teacher says. Yes, it is punishment; but it is also training –training the mind to remember not to talk aloud without permission.

My neighbors have dogs; but I don’t discipline their dogs because they are not mine. God disciplines only those who are His. If you are one of His children, He will discipline (teach, instruct) you. If you don’t learn what He is

teaching, He will say it again until you get it. It’s important that we know with certainty that we belong to Him. Sometimes people say they are Christians, but they’ve never had a salvation experience with Jesus. When I was saved, the first think I wanted was to be baptized. Why? Because baptism is how we tell everyone that we have been saved. It does not save us, but it is an “act of righteousness,” commanded by the LORD Jesus.

When we are assured that we have been saved– born again, born from above—God takes us to school to learn of Him “that we may share His holiness” (v. 10). Yes, His lessons are often difficult, but when they are over, and we’ve learned them, they are exceedingly profitable. Don’t worry! Just stick with it. As you grow older, you’ll be glad that you did.

We love you exceedingly, and pray for you every, single day,

Nana & Dado III

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

Springdale, Arkansas

“We never know that God is all we need

until He becomes all that we have.”

Dear Grands,

Hebrews 11:13-16, “All these died in faith, without receiving the promises, but having seen them and having welcomed them from a distance, and having confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.

14 For those who say such things make it clear that they are seeking a country of their own.

15 And indeed if they had been thinking of that country from which they went out, they would have had opportunity to return.

16 But as it is, they desire a better country, that is a heavenly one. Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God; for He has prepared a city for them.”

Hebrews 11 is the “faith chapter” of the Bible. In earlier verses, Paul has noted numerous people, who

believed in the LORD and His promises, but died without seeing them fulfilled. What is remarkable of

those people is that they confessed that they were foreigners and just travelers here on Earth. They were

indeed true human beings, but they were looking for a promised land.

Nana and I have lived in many places over our lifetime. Some were better than others. My pick in southeast

Asia is Singapore; in Europe, Switzerland, although we only travelled through those countries. With all the

desirable aspects of many countries, we always longed to return to the United States.

Every Sunday we pass by a house we once looked to purchase. I remember the young lady who lived

there saying her family was moving to a larger house less than a block away. It was easy to see that she

was eager to move to that “better” house. When we’re focused on earthly things, we always look for better

things –a bigger house, a newer car, more and better electronics, money!! –and the list goes on and on. But the home for which those Hebrews 11 people sought was not earthly; it was heavenly! God had “prepared a

city for them.” And so He has for us! I guess everyone longs for better things. But they don’t have to be

earthly things. In fact, they ought not to be! We should set our sights on the life in Glory! In Heaven we will

have abilities that supersede our imagination! We will communicate by thought instead of cellphones. We

will not need to research anything –we will just know it! We will want for nothing, except to praise the LORD

for all He is and has done! Travel will be instantaneous! Think! and you are there!

Young people grapple with such thoughts. But the longer you live and the older you become, the more

your focus is on Eternity. Jesus Christ is coming again to take us to His Eternal City! Be prepared, and

tell your friends. He could come at any moment.

We love you all and we continually pray for you,

Nana & Dado III

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

Springdale, Arkansas

“We never know that God is all we need

until He becomes all that we have.”

Dear Grands,

Hebrews 10:32-39, “But remember the former days, when, after being enlightened, you endured a great conflict of sufferings, 33 partly, by being made a public spectacle through reproaches and tribulations, and partly by becoming sharers with those who were so treated. 34 For you showed sympathy to the prisoners, and accepted joyfully the seizure of your property, knowing that you have for yourselves a better possession and an abiding one.

35 Therefore, do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. 36 For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised. 37 For yet in a very little while, He who is coming will come, and will not delay. 38 But My righteous one shall live by faith; And if he shrinks back, My soul has no pleasure in him. 39 But we are not of those who shrink back to destruction, but of those who have faith to the preserving of the soul.”

This is a longer-than-usual passage, but it is necessary in order that we might grasp the full understanding.

Paul is writing to Christian Jews, who had accepted Jesus Christ as their Messiah. What is said of them

parallels what is true of us. The unbelieving Jews ridiculed Jesus; and in the same way, they ridiculed those

who believed Him. So it is with us. If we are not ridiculed for our own beliefs, we are ridiculed for our association with others, who are Christians. What do we do? “Don’t throw away your confidence!” Confidence in Christ Jesus produces the endurance we need. In the proper time –“in a very little while”– we will be rewarded.

JD (my oldest grandson) and I discussed briefly the Second Coming of Christ the other day. He accurately

pointed out that for many generations people have been confident of the LORD’s return; yet, He has not

returned. JD believes, as I do, that Jesus will come for His Church in what is called the Rapture –the “sudden snatching away” of all believers, who will rise to meet Him in the air. The rather difficult point is that virtually every generation of believers has looked for His return, but not seen it. It is precisely at this point that Paul says,

“Don’t throw away your confidence!”

If we lose confidence in the truth regarding His Coming, our lives will give way to the ways and things of the world. “But, why does he say, ‘For yet in a very little while’?” It is because what he says is meant for every generation. And every generation of believers must believe that Jesus’ Coming is very, very near. Think about it! What if Jesus were coming today? Would that make any difference in how you live? in your attitude toward others? in the way you think and behave? To be sure it would! And Paul knew that as he wrote what the Holy Spirit directed. And it’s there for us to believe! He could come today!

We continue to love and pray for you every, single day,

Nana & Dado III

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

Springdale, Arkansas

“We never know that God is all we need

until He becomes all that we have.”

Dear Grands,

Hebrews 10:22-25, “…let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith,

having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.

23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful;

24 and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, 25 not forsaking our

own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more,

as you see the day drawing near.”

Until our LORD Jesus Christ died on the cross for mankind’s sins, the Jews were required to

offer sacrifices for their sins. These sacrifices were a reminder of their sins and had to be offered

from time-to-time. When Jesus became God’s supreme sacrifice for sin, the old requirements

for sacrifices were eliminated. Now, those who had believed upon Jesus as their permanent

sacrifice could “draw near (to Him) with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith.”

Paul then (v. 23) admonishes them (and now us) to “hold fast the confession of our hope.” When

we pray and our prayers are not immediately answered, we often get discouraged. It’s like ordering

something through the mail –something that was promised for a certain time— only to have it be

late. When our prayers are not immediately answered, we begin to wonder whether we are truly

saved. Hold on! Paul says. Don’t waver! The LORD is faithful and He keeps His promises.

Paul also admonishes us to consider how to encourage other believers to love each other and

engage in good activities. Not a bad thought for today, is it? Do you know a believer who is

discouraged and needs encouragement? Strange as it may seem, when we encourage other

believers, we encourage ourselves. So, if you’re “down in the dumps,” do something good and

beneficial for someone who is “down in the dumps,” too. “But, what can I say that will be helpful

to them?” Talk about the Coming of the LORD Jesus Christ! If you’re not familiar with what

the Bible teaches about the Second Coming, try viewing and listening to Hal Lindsey on Youtube.

He a solid biblical scholar, who makes everything easy to understand. Now, that’s encouragement!

We pray for you and for the Coming of the LORD,

Nana & Dado III

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

Springdale, Arkansas

“We never know that God is all we need

until He becomes all that we have.”

Dear Grands,

Hebrews 9:13-14, “For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling those

who have been defiled, sanctify for the cleansing of the flesh, 14 how much more will the blood of

Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience

from dead works to serve the living God?”

As I’ve studied these two verses, I have become even more aware of how POWERFUL the blood of

Jesus Christ is! The Old Testament Jews has a myriad of laws to be obeyed. They also committed

sins against the LORD that might have required more sacrifices of “goats and bulls” than we could

imagine to assuage the wrath of God. The “ashes of heifer,” therefore, was sprinkled in water and

preserved for a sacrificial offering that was acceptable to God. What neither the ashes nor goats or

bulls could cleanse, however, was the conscience of the offender.

You’ve undoubtedly heard someone say, “Well, I’ll forgive, but I can’t forget.” What they are really

saying is, “I’ll forgive, but I won’t forget.” Many people have that problem with themselves. When

we first moved to Australia, we lived in the upper level of a house owned by an British pastor. He

prayed aloud –so loud that we could not help but hear all he said to the LORD. He had apparently

committed a sin which plagued his conscience –a sin he simply could not forget! And his prayers

constantly sought the LORD’s forgiveness. Looking back on that situation, and with the understanding

I now have of what the Bible teaches about His forgiveness, I am confident he had already been

forgiven. He had simply not allowed the LORD’s forgiveness to reach his conscience.

The Old Testament people had that problem, too. God could forgive sin –and He did! But, the

sacrifices those people offered could not reach their consciences. The Blood of Jesus Christ

reaches our consciences. We may have difficulty totally forgetting our sins against God, but He

is competent through the power of His shed blood to erase even the conscience of our sin. Don’t

worry and fuss over your past sins. Confess them genuinely to Him and forget them! He promises,

“As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us” (Ps. 103:12).

Our love and prayers are offered for you every day,

Nana & Dado III

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

Springdale, Arkansas

“We never know that God is all we need

until He becomes all that we have.”