The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

Hebrews 11:1-4, “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

2 For by it the men of old gained approval.

3 By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible.

4 By faith Abel offered to God a better sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained the testimony that he was righteous, God testifying about his gifts, and through faith, though he is dead, he still speaks.”

It was a seminary class and one of the students was called upon to speak. He said that the pastor (presumably, not his own) had just concluded a sermon based upon verse one above, when a parishoner approached him and asked, “What is faith?” The pastor asked if he knew Mrs. Schnickel (not her real name). “Oh, yes,” the man said, “She has the best fried chicken in the county.” The pastor then stated that he had been asked to dine at Mrs. Schnickel’s. “And while I was there,” the pastor said, “Mrs. Schnickel’s daughter brought out a huge bowl filled with delicious, chicken gravey.” Then he added, “Now, THAT is faith! For THAT is the substance of the thing that is hoped for!” Whatever you may think, verse two says, “…by (faith) the men of old gained approval.”

Faith is believing that the worlds were created by the word of God.” Word here is ???? (rhema) and means “spoken word.” As in Genesis one, where God said, “Let there be light; and there was light” (Gen. 1:3); so He spoke openly and verbally in His act of creating all creation. God did not use a recipe or a formula or ingredients, He just spoke and things suddenly came into existence! Funny, how we marvel at the ability of the magician, who tricks us into believing that he does phenomenal things right in front of our eyes; yet, we stumble trying to believe that God could do

all and more in creating the Heavens and the Earth.

The same kind of faith was used by Abel, the younger brother of Cain, when he offered the first of his flock as an offering to the LORD. “And the LORD had regard for Abel and for his offering” (Gen. 4:4). God always rewards true faith. “Believe,” the Word says, “on the LORD Jesus Christ, and you shall be saved…” (Acts 16:31). Paul says in Romans 10:17, “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word ???? (rhema) of Christ.” Obviously, Abel had heard the LORD’s requirement to offer a proper sacrifice, and he did! Cain, on the other hand, gave the best of his crops, but they were not according to the LORD’s requirement, so He rejected both Cain and his offering.

Faith is what the LORD requires of us; but not offerings of just any kind. God the Father gave His best when He offered His Son Jesus in sacrifice on the cross for our sins. Jesus is the only sacrifice the LORD God will accept. We have but to believe upon Him and receive His salvation. Have you done that? If not, let me urge you to do it and do it quickly! “Why so quickly?” you ask. Because I

read the obituary of a very young child in today’s paper. Any one of our names could appear in that column tomorrow or the day after. “Now is the acceptable time…today is the day of salvation” (2 Cor. 6:2b). Please, don’t put it off! God loves you. Love Him back! Gain

approval with the Creator today! I guarantee that you’ll be glad you did.

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.”

Dear Grands,

Isaiah 48:16-19, “’Come near to Me, listen to this: From the first I have not spoken in secret, From the time it took place, I was there. And now the Lord God has sent Me, and His Spirit.”

17 Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; “I am the LORD your God, who teaches you to profit, Who leads you in the way you should go.

18 “If only you had paid attention to My commandments! Then your well-being would have been like a river, And your righteousness like the waves of the sea.

19 “Your descendants would have been like the sand, And your offspring like its grains; Their name would never be cut off or destroyed from My presence.’”

If you’re regular in attendance at a Bible-believing church, you’ve heard your minister refer to “the Trinity.” What you (and possibly your minister) may have overlooked is that while the word Trinity is not mentioned in the Scriptures, the Members of the Trinity are. Look closely at verse 16 above: “And now the LORD God (this is the Father) has sent Me (this is the Son), and His Spirit (this is the Holy Spirit).” These are not three gods; they are the three Persons of God in what is theologically called “the Godhead.”

The LORD is our Redeemer and the One who teaches us how to benefit (profit) from every situation. Further, He leads us “in the way (we) should go.” It grieves the LORD when we stray from His intentions. You can almost “feel” the intensity of His words when He says, “If only you had paid attention to My commandments!” Great gain always follows those who are obedient to the LORD. “Their name (will) never be cut off or destroyed from (His) presence.”

I get regular text messages from President Trump. We’ve never met, and I know that his hopeful intention is that I would reciprocate with some monetary funds. I have not reciprocated in any way, but not out of any disrespect toward him. If he were personally known to me, and I to him, a discontinuace of the texts would be hurtful. It would be as if he were no longer interested in our friendship. When we fail to adhere to our LORD’s intentions for us, it could easily seem to Him as if we were no longer concerned about affiliation with Him. None of us what that! And moreover, neither do we want that for our children and grandchildren. We want them to be His as well and innumerable “like the sand.”

Thus, it all begins with us as parents and grandparents.

“Train up a child in the way he should go,

Even when he is old, he will not depart from it” (Prov. 22:6).

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.”

Dear Grands,

Numbers 13:30, “Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses, and said, “We should by all means go up and take possession of it, for we shall surely overcome it.”

Revelation 17:14, “”These will wage war against the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, because He is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those who are with Him are the called and chosen and faithful.”

I have a confession to make! But, before I reveal it, I need to remind you that there are different kinds of confession. There is a confession of sin, where one has done wrong and needs to reveal it to clear the conscience. There is also a confession of faith, where one has discovered something worthy of benefit and, therefore, worth being declared to others. My confession is of the latter kind, a confession of faith! Stay tuned, and I’ll share it.

The word “overcome” means “to get the better of someone or something in a struggle or conflict.” The first of only 25 mentions of the word “overcome” in Scripture appears when the LORD led the Israelites out of Egypt. Now in the wilderness of Sinai, Moses wants to explore the land of Canaan prior to moving Israel in that direction. The twelve spies searched out Canaan and reported their findings to Moses. They all found the land to be rich and fertile, but the people were strong and lived in fortified cities. Ten of the 12 spies thought it was too great a risk to attempt a takeover. Only Caleb and Joshua possessed the faith to believed they should forge ahead. “…we shall surely overcome it,” Caleb said. Ten of the leaders were not so enthusiastic, but Caleb and his friend, Joshua, stood their ground.

It’s interesting, too, that the last mention of the word “overcome” in Scripture is found in Revelation 17:14. Saying, “…the Lamb will overcome them (meaning, His adversaries). In one sense, it is difficult to understand why anyone would be in opposition to the LORD. But, when men become enamored with themselves and view themselves as authorities over all, they resent all others, even the LORD God. Yet, unlike mere mortal men, He will not yield to His adversaries. He is God, and He will overcome all adversaries!

In warfare, participants generally identify themselves with their fellow-soldiers by wearing uniforms that correspond. Those who are opponents wear different uniforms that identify with those on their side. In spiritual battles, we identify either with the LORD or against Him; and we identify not by what we wear on the outside, but what we wear in our hearts. It doesn’t take long for either side to identify the position of the other. Those of us who genuinely identify with the LORD Jesus Christ, show love and concern that flows from the heart. We are the ultimate victors because we identify with Christ. He will overcome all of His adversaries! I truly and honestly trust that you are with Christ in this battle!

Heartily in Christ Jesus,

(Dado III)

P. S. Now, for my confession: A close friend took me to the theater to view the Christian film, OVERCOMER! Now, that may not

strike you as a “big deal”; but for this non-theater-going boy, it was indeed a BIG DEAL! Flywheel, Fireproof, Facing the

Giants, War Room, Courageous have all been good productions from the Kendrick Brothers; but in my estimation, this film

exceeds all the previous in that it contains numerous varied themes that weave throughout the storyline. I simply urge you to

see OVERCOMER with a clear, personal presentation of the Plan of Salvation. You might witness to a lost friend by inviting

him to attend. Pray about it!

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,

Hebrews 11:1-3, “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

2 For by it the men of old gained approval.

3 By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible.”

The word faith is mentioned no less than 250 times in the Bible. It is closely related to the word trust, which has 83 mentions in the Scriptures. The three verses above could be translated,

“Now, trust is the confidence of the expected, the proven test of things not seen.

For by it the elders bore witness. By faith we understand that the worlds were

prepared (created) by the word of God, so that what is seen did not come from

things already visible.”

Faith and trust in this passage mean virtually the same thing. It is undoubtedly true that “by (trust) the old men gained approval.” However, my Greek text says that ????????????? in verse two means “the activity of a witness.” The old men of that time, the elders, had confidence in what they expected the LORD to bring about, so they witnessed to others of their confidence in the LORD and what they trusted He would bring to pass.

All of this is a challenge to you and me as to whether we truly believe that the LORD has created the universe just as He said. By the way, the phrase, “the word of God,” uses ???? instead of ?????. Both words translate “word,” but ???? (rhema) refers to the spoken word, while ????? (logos) refers to the written Word, the Scriptures. All that is to show that the LORD God said, “Let there be – and there was!”

Some scientists stumble over the truth of Scripture which declares that God spoke and it was done! Yet, there are scientists who are also true Christian believers. Science knows quite a lot about the building blocks of the universe; still, they search for what unseen force holds the basic blocks of the universe together. They call it the “Colossian force,” from Colossians 1:17, that says, “And He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.”

I was preaching in a church in Honolulu one Sunday, and I quoted what I have said the scientists called that “unseen force.” Greeting people at the door, after the service, I was introduced to a scientist. As we shook hands, I asked him

If he could corroborate my pulpit statement. He grinned as he said, “That’s it. You’re absolutely correct.”

Everything in the Bible is true! It is also true that sound, accurate science will bear out the truth of Scripture. In the meantime, for those of us who are not scientists, we can accept by faith the Scriptures and all they contain. I hope you read your Bible every day. I hope you thank the LORD in prayer for the wonderful truths He has given us in Scripture.

Join me as I seek to live-out in my life what I understand the Scriptures to say. Let’s pray for one another! This same Scripture says that Jesus is coming soon! There will come a day when we will wish in tears that we had spoken God’s truth to someone we loved. You can pre-erase that day by sharing Him with them today!

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.”

Dear Grands,

Hebrews 10:28-31, “Anyone who has set aside the Law of Moses dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses.

29 How much severer punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled under foot the Son of God, and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace?

30 For we know Him who said, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay.” And again, “The Lord will judge His people.”

31 It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”

How often have you hear someone say, “Oh, she’s the nicest, sweetest person I’ve ever known,” when you knew she wasn’t that kind of person at all? We’re pretty clever, we are. We know when to turn on the charm and when to show

our fangs in sheer hatred! All that is to say, we don’t really know a person until we experienced all sides of their personality.

We think of God as being fair and all-loving –and He is! But He visits vengeful punishment on those who fail to adhere to His Law. Parents are often like that. They love and treat their children with all kinds of kindness –until the kids misbehave and go against what they have been taught. Meeting out punishment doesn’t make the punisher an evil person. Punishment’s intention is to make the evil person good.

Let’s be as honest as we are clear: there are some children and some adults that give no evidence of ever becoming what human society demands of them. They can be fined and jailed over and over again; but when they are released, they fall right back into the acts that put them away in the first place. No fair-minded judge would, who cares for the people in his city, will release such persons to prey on honest citizenry. The LORD is fair-minded, and He openly declares vengeance upon those who intentionally trample on the principles of His teachings in His Word.

It might do each of us (certainly, myself included) to examine our lives –the lives we live in the presence of Almighty God every day. If we are true believers, who have repented of our sins and trusted Him as LORD of our lives, we cannot be said to have “trampled under foot the Son of God”; but, we have ignored many of His teachings. Parents can’t easily be compared with God, especially in the area of punishment. But, we can be sure that His punishment for our wrong-doings will be greater that of parents.

Engage in a good check-up of your life. Be sure you’re right with the LORD. ‘Cause if you are, you have nothing to fear when you meet Him. And if you’re not — you will not escape the sting of His wrath. Bye the way, He IS COMING!!!

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.”