The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

1 Peter 5:6-10, “Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time,

7 casting all your anxiety upon Him, because He cares for you.

8 Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls about like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.

9 But resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world.

10 And after you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you.”

The shooting today at the Garlic Festival in California that killed three people and wounded 12 others, is

only a preview of the hatred that is overwhelming our nation and the world today. People ignore God until their need for Him is imperative! Most of the time, people behave as if they are their own god, doing only and always what they please. Such was evidently the mind of the shooter.

Laws today are largely ignored; and those who break laws are likewise largely ignored. Is that how believers are to behave? Breaking laws and acting as if they are a law unto themselves? Not according to Peter; he says, “Humble yourselves…under the mighty hand of God…” If you are anxious (worried, concerned), turn it all over to the LORD. He loves you and concerns Himself with everything that concerns you.

“Be sober (and) on the alert.” The word “spirit” is not in the Greek, making sobriety to mean “stay away from alcohol.” Don’t allow anything to cloud your mind. Satan is clever. He sneaks around in the effort to catch us off guard, then he slams us to the ground in a powerful effort to do us in! But, you’re not helpless; you can resist him. It’s a matter of faith, trust in the LORD, who is more powerful.

In the middle of verse nine, Peter talks about suffering. I wish I had space here to tell you of missionaries I know, many of whom are suffering. Christians, who are not “missionaries,” are suffering, too. Remember the Christian lady in Iran, who was imprisoned for many months? Her “crime” was that she, as a Christian, offered a drink of water to another woman, who was not; and in the process of friendliness, she would have caused the non-Christian lady to drink from a container that, possibly, she herself had used.

Yes, we all have sufferings in our countries, too; but the grace of God is working in us as believers. In His own time, the LORD “will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish us.” He will keep us firmly fixed on His foundation. Still, He looks for us to work with Him by being cooperative in the issues Peter states here.

I will be praying that you will adhere to this teaching, and experience the blessing that comes from Christ.

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,

1 Peter 2:21-25, “For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps,

22 who committed no sin, nor was any deceit found in His mouth;

23 and while being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously;

24 and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed.

25 For you were continually straying like sheep, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Guardian of your souls.”

How many times have you asked yourself, “What is my purpose in life? Why I am here?” Even as Christians, we sometimes wonder what our purpose really is.

Simon Peter clearly reveals God’s purpose for us in the five verses above. Here they are:

1. Our calling is simple: we are to follow Christ’s example. He suffered for us, and we are to follow His

steps. In short, we are to look and behave as much like Christ as is possible.

2. Christ committed no sin! There was not even a smidgen of deceit (dolos, fish bate) in Him. That

should be our goal and reality, too.

3. Christ did not revile (antiloidoreo, abuse) those who abused Him. He never threatened them.

Instead, He looked to His Heavenly Father in absolute trust for the Father’s righteous judgment.

We are not to fight our own battles. Christ Jesus alone can be successful in defeating the enemy.

4. He paid the price for our sins in His own body on the cross. He wants us to die to sin and live

righteously, so as to bring glory to Him and to His Heavenly Father.

5. He has rescued us from straying aimlessly like sheep are known to do. We have been brought back to the Shepherd and Guardian of our souls for spiritual security. Our rest, therefore, is in Him alone.

Check up on your spiritual life! Are these five principles of our calling being met in your life? Are you trusting Christ to reproduce His life in you? Is it your desire for Him to do so? If one or both of your parents

were to give their lives for you to survive alive, would that encourage you to do the same for someone else? Do you have Christ’s purpose dominating your desires? Or are you wandering aimlessly through life with little-to-no purpose? Be careful! Life slips by at amazing speed. Remember the saying…

Only one life; it will soon be passed;

Only what’s done for Christ will last.

I am praying for you daily!

Heartily in Christ Jesus,

(Dado III)

P. S. Please remember my daughter-in-law, Valarie. She is a sweet, Christian girl, but ill, and truly needs your prayers.

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,

Colossians 3:17, “And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.”

It’s a short, terse verse, but it’s packed with wisdom if only we’ll allow it to pierce our hearts.

First, Paul is not saying that we can say or do anything we want. Giving the situation, that could prove disastrous! Besides, we pretty much do that now, don’t we? We all too often say what we want to say and do what we want to do, and we come up losing.

The apostle’s instruction is that we “do everything in the name of the LORD Jesus.” He is our safety. When we do and say things in our own name, without spiritual consultation, we run a serious risk. The LORD has nothing to do with what we do on our own. Our safety in everything is when He is involved with us; because when we involve Him, He puts a brake on what we say and how we say it. It’s the LORD’s way of keeping us out of trouble.

Moreover, when we involve the LORD in our doings, we’re assurred of victory. Why? Because He is never involved in things He cannot control. Thus, He is always victorious! His victory may appear to be ours in the eyes of unbelievers. We know, however, that the victory always belongs to the LORD. Realization of that provokes us to give thanks to Him for our protection and for the victory over the situation.

I confessed to someone recently that I hav often gotten ahead of the LORD; that is, I’ve rushed in and tried to control the situation, when I would have done better to have allowed Him to take the lead and exercise divine control. How could you do better than to have the Creator of the Heavens and the Earth as you Guide? Yield your burdens and insecurities to Him, and then Thank Him for His gracious and loving help!

Heartily in Christ Jesus,

(Dado III)

P. S. We should never cease to study! And there is no more valuable study than the study of God’s Word, the Bible.

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Here’s the web address: https://www.bbnradio.org/wcm4/bbnbienglish/Home/tabid/257/Default.aspx

Check it out! It doesn’t get any better than this!

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 3:10, 13-14, “…that I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death…

13Brethren, 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.”

Words do make a difference. Especially is that true with regard to the Scriptures. Certainly, Paul knows Jesus as his Savior; but when he says “that I may know Him,” he alludes to knowing Him fully and completely. He understand what the Scriptures say, but not entirely the depth of their meaning. You mother or friend might say, “Wear your brown coat tonight.” You understand what was said, but whether you are to wear it for warmth or for appearance you do not know.

The same applies to Paul’s knowledge of “the power of His resurrection.” He is aware that Christ Jesus did indeed die and arise from the dead; yet, he himself longs to know more of the power and dynamic of the resurrection. It’s like seeing something for the first time and asking, “What is it, and how does it work?” So, “Who is He and what can He do?” are at the top of every true Christian’s list.

Paul, however, adds two more aspects that are hardly, if at all, on any Christian’s list: “the fellowship of His sufferings” and “being conformed to His death.” No one ever suffered as intensely as Christ. And no one wants to die the horrendous death He died on the cross –that is, no one except the Apostle Paul. Most of us want to avoid suffering and death, but not Paul. He so loved his LORD that he wished to walk in all of His footsteps.

Still, with all of his earnest desire, Paul had yet to reach the level his LORD reached. Yet, he has a plan. It looks simple, but it’s not. Forget what lies behind. Forget the times you failed the LORD. Forget the sins of your past, sins of which you confessed and repented. Don’t live in the past! Paul couldn’t change his past; you can’t, either! So, look forward! Look to the future! Stretch out fully as if you were reaching for the goal line of life. Reach for opportunities that lie ahead. There’s a prize at the end of life’s race –not for everyone, but for the believers who follow Christ earnestly and completely!

Put first things first! Stay in the Word daily! More is always accomplished when we put His Word at the top of your lists. Pray daily! Shut everything else out of your thoughts, and concentrate deeply on your conversation with Jesus. Trust what you sense the Holy Spirit leading you to believe and to do. Try it for a week! I guarantee that you’ll be more productive, more alive, and thankful that you did. “It will be worth it all, when we see Christ!”

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,

2 Corinthians 1:3-5, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort;

4 who comforts us in all our affliction so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.

5 For just as the sufferings of Christ are ours in abundance, so also our comfort is abundant through Christ.”

A eulogy is a “good word.” It is usually employed in reference to someone who has died; but technically, it can reference a number of usages. It is the first word in the first verse above, translated “blessed.” Paul never had anything but good to say about the LORD. His “good word” here clearly identifies God as the Father of our LORD Jesus Christ, and the God who distributes mercies and comfort to His people.

Apart from Christ Jesus, no one suffered greater affliction than the Apostle Paul. Yet, he barely mentions his suffering here, and instead focuses on the mercy and comfort he has received from the LORD. It all too

easy for us to focus on our afflictions, when we should be focusing on our comfort from the LORD.

The overriding purpose of receiving comfort is that we might know how to minister comfort to others in need. Too often we complain, when there are numerous people around us who are hurting more than we.

How can we comfort them, unless we have encountered the same afflictions? Doesn’t the suffering of Christians in the world today affect us? It surely should!

There are many believers, who are suffering in the world, whom we cannot aid. Yet, when we have opportunity, we can speak up on their behalf. What’s more, we can hold them before the LORD in daily prayer. Our LORD Jesus suffered, and He is available always to aid His suffering people. May His comfort

touch them in their need; and may He touch us in our need, as well.

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.”