The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

Matthew 4:23, “And Jesus was going about in all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness among the people.”

Purpose is the key to activities. Everything we do, we do with a purpose. Even not doing something has a purpose. So, what was Jesus’ intention while He was on Earth? First, He taught the Scriptures in Jewish synagogues. Jesus was Jewish, and it’s reasonable to believe that He went to the Jews first because they had only one God.

The Jewish community, however, did not always receive His message well. The Gospel He proclaimed was different from that to which they had become accustomed. On more than one occasion, Jesus’ message provoked Jewish anger, and they sought to do away with Him.

The Jews of Jesus’ day were not much different than the Gentiles of today. Pastors often encounter adversity when they preach the Truth of Scripture. Scripture is condemning. It tells us that we are all sinners in God’s sight and that we need to repent, renounce sin, and

accept Him as our LORD and Savior.

Have you noticed how we don’t like to be told when they are wrong? They want to be right on their terms, not on God’s terms. Moreover, Jesus was preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom. He was introducing the Message that was prophesied in the Old Testament. Had the Jewish community understood the prophesies of the Old Testament, they would have readily received Jesus as their Messiah. How much we all miss because we refuse to understand what we think we don’t like or need.

Jesus’ healing was real; yet, the true purpose of His healing was to support His message. He knew that healing would cause all the people, Jews and Gentiles, to believe what He said. He was not limited in what He could do. Nor is He limited today. Why then, are not more people healed of their infirmities? They either do not believe or they believe for the wrong reasons. We say we believe, but we don’t really.

If our beliefs are weak, how do we strengthen them? We strengthen them through serious study of the Scriptures! How much do you read the Bible? How much do you meditate on what you read in the Bible? How seriously do you seek to apply the Scriptures to your life? Reading the Bible strengthenes your belief in Christ! Trust Him completely! Learn to lean on Him to teach and train you. You will be amazed at what He enables you to become.

I am praying for you!

Heartily in Christ Jesus,

(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.”