The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

1 Kings 8:56-58, “Blessed be the LORD, who has given rest to His people Israel, according to all that He promised; not one word has failed of all His good promise, which He promised through Moses His servant.

57 “May the LORD our God be with us, as He was with our fathers; may He not leave us or forsake us,

58 that He may incline our hearts to Himself, to walk in all His ways and to keep His commandments and His statutes and His ordinances, which He commanded our fathers.”

There’s an old saying, “As the twig is bent, so is the tree inclined.” I remember a lady who shared with me the troubles that led to her divorce from her husband. I asked, as I always do, “Is there any hope of reconciliation?” Her answer was kind, but she said, “No.” I learned that she had children and I reminded her that children need their parents –both of them. Boys who grow up without a father never know how to be a father. The same is true of girls who grow up without a mother. It’s the old “twig and tree” situation all over again.

According to Jewish tradition, the author of the two books of Kings in the Old Testament was the prophet Jeremiah. His emphasis in our verses above was that the promises of the LORD simply will not fail. Since His promises are often conditional, what appears to be His failure, occurs when we depart from His Word.

Have your parents never said to you, “If you do what I have told you to do, you may do what you have asked this afternoon”? Later, when you are denied what you wanted to do, it was not that your parents changed their minds; rather, it was that you had failed to carry out the first part: “…what I have told you to do…” It works the same way with the LORD. He states a promise, but it is conditioned upon our obedience to what He has said.

“But this is the Old Testament,” you say. How does that affect me? The principle of how God operates is precisely the same. His promises to those in ancient times work the same way toward us. They are guarantees that are conditioned upon our obedience to His words.

What’s really precious is “that He may incline our hearts to Himself.” He loves us and wants us to want to do His will more than anything! It’s like the “tree” wanting its own “twig” to grow tall and straight and be a credit to the family from which it has come. Think about it!

We love all of your and want to encourage you to find God’s principles in His Word and put them to work in your own life, as if they were your own. Obedience is the key to success.

Nana & Dado III

(Rose Marie & Gene)

Rose Marie remains in hospital, but is progressing nicely. She does have pneumonia in one lung,

but is being treated, so as to erase the problem we’ve faced before. In the meantime, people are

learning about the LORD and how to have a personal relationship with Him. We will probably

never know whether those with whom we’ve shared ever come to faith in Him; but our job is to

tell them. His is to change their hearts. Your prayers make you a partner in this venture.

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.”