The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

Philippians 3:13-15, “Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead,

14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

15 Let us therefore, as many as are perfect, have this attitude; and if in anything you have a different attitude, God will reveal that also to you.”

Our last Grands Letter concluded with the assertion that “Jesus is all that’s worth keeping”; therefore, adhering to His upward call is and ought to be that for which we are striving. Paul clearly admits that he has yet to lay hold of the fullness of Christ, which he is seeking. Yet, he is pressing onward in faith and trust to that blessed end.

With his goal clearly in mind, Paul puts behind him all things of the past. We can identify all-too- well with our own past. There are negative things that work against us –even things we’ve confessed as sin, and of which we have been forgiven. But they rise up in our minds in an effort to defeat us from achieving the fullness of Christ, which is our ultimate goal.

Positive things from the past work against us as well. In retrospect, we recall some victories that delight us. We tend to view those “victories” as our victories, not the LORD’s. When we think of ourselves as the ones who possessed the power of such victories, we mentally remove Christ Jesus from His rightful place and install ourselves as the victors.

Thus, all things of the past –defeats and victories—must be laid aside. This is a new and different situation. The word “perfect” (???????) that Paul uses in verse 15 above, does not indicate that we (or his readers) are without sin; rather, it signals maturity, a growing process –one that admits that there is yet much more to becoming like Christ than has been previously known. So, let us be humble in our attitude, and if anything offers us a contrary attitude, the LORD will identify that to us and set us again on the right track –the track that leads us to Him!

Think about it! What have you got to lose? And you’ve got everything to gain!

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,

Philippians 3:8-11, “More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish in order that I may gain Christ,

9 and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith,

10 that I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death;

11 in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.”

What do you currently possess that you value higher than anything else? For my part, my family is exceedingly more valuable than anything else. Next to my family, my books are of great value. At my age, my children and grandchildren have said, “Dado, what are you going to do with all of your books?” Of course, today a lot of information is online; thus, books lack the value they once had. Still, there are many books that are not available on line or in print anywhere. I have a few like that. What would I take for my books? Right now, they are not for sale!

There were times when Paul valued books and parchments of Scripture (see 2 Tim. 4:13). But in the verses above, he declares that he “count(s) all things to be loss” when compared with knowing Christ Jesus. Those things which he once considered invaluable, he now considers but “rubbish.” Christ is everything to him!

If you think clearly, you will conclude that everyone worships a god. Lost people, like the girl I spoke with today, considers “doing her best” is sufficient. In reality, “her best” has become her god. Whoever establishes your moral code is your god. It may be a religion; it may not; but everyone has a god. Previously, Paul had lived by the Jewish Law. But now, he had come to know Jesus Christ on the Road to Damascus (Acts 9); and from that point of personal contact, Jesus Christ was Paul’s God.

Paul knew Him! Now, he wanted to be like Him in every possible way. He wanted to suffer as Christ had suffered. He wanted to die that he might experience the resurrection Christ experienced. In every possible way, Paul wanted to know and be like Jesus Christ. He was willing to surrender everything he possessed just to know his Savior!

If you truly know Jesus Christ as your Savior, nothing material –cars, houses, wealth, priceless objects—nothing compares with Jesus and what He is preparing for you in Eternity! Don’t become entangled with “things!” When you leave this Earth, you’ll take none of them with you. As is often repeated, “You never see a hearse pulling a U-Haul behind it.” Fix your eyes on Jesus! He’s all that’s worth keeping.

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,

Philippians 3:1-7, “Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things again is no trouble to me, and it is a safeguard for you.

2 Beware of the dogs, beware of the evil workers, beware of the false circumcision;

3 for we are the true circumcision, who worship in the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh,

4 although I myself might have confidence even in the flesh. If anyone else has a mind to put confidence in the flesh, I far more:

5 circumcised the eighth day, of the nation of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the Law, a Pharisee;

6 as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to the righteousness which is in the Law, found blameless.

7 But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ.”

How do people learn? I mean, how do they learn anything? For one thing, they learn by example. If something one does causes punishment, the one viewing the situation, learns not to do the same thing. Another method of learning is by the “drip, drip, drip of repetition.” Paul was not afraid of repeatition. “To write the same things is no trouble to me…” What’s more, “…it is a safeguard for you.”

To “beware” is “to be on guard” against anything and everything that contradicts the teachings of our LORD Jesus Christ. Be on guard against “evil workers,” like those who followed Paul and opposed his teachings with respect to our LORD Jesus Christ. Such men exist today! Many of them won’t say directly that they believe the Bible is in error, but they introduce teachings that lead others to believe that it is.

Paul admonishes us not to accept the teachings of anyone merely on the basis of how suave they may appear. Our times are replete with pastors and teachers, who have a good appearance, who smile warmly, who greet others kindly, but have a “hidden agenda,” that is totally opposite of the true teaching so Scripture.

There are many today who wear a gold cross, a cross that signifies the death that Jesus died. Yet, the presence of a cross on a chain about the neck of anyone signifies nothing with respect to whether they have a heart-felt devotion to the Savior.

On the other hand, Paul was a pure-blooded Jew, who spoke the ancestral language of Hebrew. He was a trained Pharisee (the Separated Ones), who possessed unsurpassed zeal, the supreme quality of Jewish religious life. So zealous was he, that he persecuted the Church until he met the Risen Savior, Jesus, on the Road to Damascus. There in that place and at that time, the LORD Himself appeared to Paul and transformed his life! From that moment on, Paul became a proclaimer of God’s Truth as taught and observed in the life of Jesus and accurately recorded in the Bible!

As of that spiritual meeting on the Damascus Road, Paul turned his life over to the LORD Jesus. From that day forward to the time of his execution in Rome, the Christian Church saw no advocate for the LORD like Paul! ~ Have you met the LORD Jesus? Have you asked Him to forgive your sins? If you have, He has put His Holy Spirit within you and desires you to witness to others of His saving grace. If you have trusted Him, you no longer belong to yourself. You belong to Him. You have in the Holy Spirit all the strength and power you need to become everything He wants of you. Get started! Read the Bible daily. Pray to Him moment-by-moment throughout the day. Your life has been changed! Let others see Him in you and come to know Him for themselves. God bless you abundantly!

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,

Philippians 2:12-15, “So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling;

13 for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.

14 Do all things without grumbling or disputing;

15 that you may prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world…”

Parents don’t always know what their children are doing when they’re not together. In many situations (perhaps, I should say most), it is the nature of the children to absent themselves from their parents in order that they can do what they please.

Christians are people, and they were people before they were Christian people; therefore, while we might well wish otherwise, the truth is that adult Christians too often behave like children in that they want to absent themselves from the LORD and do as they please.

Paul encourages the Philippian believers to accomplish what the LORD saved them to accomplish. He wants them to allow their Christian spirituality to demonstrate that they had indeed been saved. Further, he tells them that the LORD is within them, producing through them that which He intends for His good pleasure.

Whatever there is to do, Paul says, do it without “grumbling or disputing.” That is the proof positive that you have been “born from Above,” and are thoroughly different from the “crooked and perverse generation” in which you are currently living. With Christ as your Savior and the Holy Spirit living within you, “you appear as lights” of Glory and Hope in this cruel, evil, and contentious world.

Believe me, when I say that this world is “SICK” and hungers for “something” –something of which they know nothing! Nor will they ever know unless we who know Jesus share Him with them in love. When God is at work within us, love is the spiritual outcome. So, let His Love gush out from you and bring hope to this world!

Heartily in Christ Jesus,

(Dado III)

P. S. Please remember in prayer my sweet daughter-in-law, Valarie. She is currently en route to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester.

Pray that the doctors there will be able to diagnose her problem and offer a remedy. Thank you for praying for her!

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,

Philippians 2:3-7, “Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind let each of you regard one another as more important than himself;

4 do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.

5 Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus,

6 who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped,

7 but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men.”

Did you ever take an online survey? I took one the other day. At the end of the survey, it asked if I had any

comments to make about their product. I’ve always got comments, so I ventured to say exactly what I thought. But when I examined it carefully, I discovered that it was just a selfish comment, possessed of no humility on my part. So I erased it all and didn’t send it. I don’t remember having the Apostle Paul on my mind at the time, but what he says in the verses above fit me to a “t.”

Are you a person who only looks out for yourself? We’re supposed to look out for ourselves, but not only for

ourselves. Other people have needs, too; and they are to be cared for more importantly than our own. It’s the Christian way. Jesus Christ set the pattern for the attitude we should have. What attitude is that? “He existed in Eternity with the Father, (but) did not regard being the Father’s equal something to be grasped (with retention).” That means that when the Father needed someone to send to Earth to give His message and to die on the Cross for the sins of mankind, Jesus did not put up a fuss! He “emptied Himself,” that is, He lowered Himself to the status of a human being and took on a man’s appearance.

Whether you’ve ever thought of it, I don’t know, but what Jesus did was “tough stuff!” Imagine the governor of you state becoming a street cleaner! That’s a “come-down!” Well, Jesus’ “come-down” was even more so because He was God! He was thinking of us – you and me! So He became a “servent,” despite the fact that He was and always had been God!

Do you want to be like Jesus? Quit thinking about yourself and start thinking about others and their needs. Don’t look for what you think they can do for you; just concentrate on their needs and how you can help them. That’s the true, Christian way! What do you get out of it? If you have to ask that, you haven’t caught on to what this is all about. But, since you ask, I’ll tell you. You will get joy unspeakable, seeing a person have a need met that he or she couldn’t meet by themselves. So, let’s quit thinking about ourselves and start looking at how we can help a neighbor! Okay? Do it the Jesus way!

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.”