The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

Daniel 1:8, “But Daniel made up his mind that he would not defile himself with the king’s choice food or with the wine which he drank; so he sought permission from the commander of the officials that he might not defile himself.

Daniel 5:17, “Then Daniel answered and said before the king, ‘Keep your gifts for yourself, or give your rewards to someone else; however, I will read the inscription to the king and make the interpretation known to him.’”

Daniel was somewhere in his early teens (12-15) when Nebuchadnezzar conquered Judah and took him and his three friends captive. As a young Hebrew, he took quick charge of his own mind and life and determined that he would not bow to the gods of the Babylonians or anyone else. To do so would be to defile himself before his God. His three friends also determined the same for their lives.

Daniel’s experience in relating Nebuchadnezzar’s dream and its interpretation was his first recorded miracle. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were delivered alive after being thrown into the overlly heated firey furnace. At the same time, Nebuchadnezzar saw a fourth person in the midst of the fire, one he himself identified as a “son of the gods.”

Later on, Daniel was cast into the lions’ den overnight and delivered alive the next morning. All of these experiences allowed him the boldness in addressing Belshazzar for his sin against Almighty God, even saying, “Keep your gifts for yourself, or give your rewards to somone else…” This biting response could quite easily be understood as Daniel’s

spiritual frustration. When will you people ever learn that you cannot sin against Almighty God and get away with it? That very night Belshazzar was slain, and his kingdom was given to another.

The thrust of my intention in all of this is to demonstrate that when we start out humbly, but in faith, and stick faithfully with the LORD, we build boldness within ourselves over time. I can say things now that I would never have dared to say when I was in my early teens. You can build this in your life as well. Be humble before the LORD, but be bold when speaking of Him to others. Daniel is a model we would all do well to follow. God bless you as you follow Him.

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 32:23b, “…if you will not do so, behold, you have sinned against the LORD,

and be sure your sin will find you out.”

Belshazzar, King of Babylon (Daniel 5), is having feast with a thousand of his lords. They were eating and

drinking, when the thought pierced the king’s mind. Bring the sacred vessels, vessels that King Nebuchadnezzar

had brought from Judea, when he conquered it and took captive Daniel and his three Hebrew friends. It was an

undeniable effort to mock and deride the LORD God of the Hebrew people. That’s when the mysterious hand

appeared and wrote on the wall. The merryment of the partyers suspended immediately, and Belshazzar’s knees

began to knock from the fear that blanketed them all.

Daniel, who had previously possessed the LORD’s knowledge in such matters, was immediately summoned to

give meaning to what the mysterious hand had written. Belshazzar promised Daniel valuable rewards if he would

but share the meaning of what the hand had written. Interestingly enough, Daniel launched into an historical description of the penalty Nebuchadnezzar received for his failure to honor and believe the LORD (vv 18-21). That being done, Daniel boldly excoriated Belshazzar for his sacreligous attitude toward the LORD God (vv. 22-24).

The meaning of the writing on the wall consisted of three word, one of which was repeated: “MENE” says, “God

has numbered your kingdom and put an end to it.” “TEKEL” says, “You have been weighed on the scales and

found deficient.” “UPHARSIN” and “PERES” are virtually the same, meaning “Your kingdom has been divided and

handed over to the Medes and Persians.” In short, Belshazzar, you’re done! And in that same night, Belshazzar

was killed, and Darius the Mede took over the kingdom.

All of this supports our key verse for this letter: when you sin against the LORD, “…be sure your sin will find you out.”

None of this Old Testament account was lost on the Apostle Paul, who wrote: “It is a terrifying thing to fall into the

hands of the living God” (Heb. 10:31). When our lives are spiritually clean before the LORD, we can, in His strength,

stand and bear witness before kings. When they are not, we are open to destruction at His command.

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,

Daniel 6:3, 5-7, “…Daniel began distinguishing himself among the commissioners and satraps because he possessed an extraordinary spirit, and the king planned to appoint him over the entire kingdom… Then these men said, ‘We shall not find any ground of accusation against this Daniel unless we find it against him with regard to the law of his God.’

6 Then these commissioners and satraps came by agreement to the king and spoke to him as follows: ‘King Darius, live forever! 7All the commissioners of the kingdom, the prefects and the satraps, the high officials and the governors have consulted together that the king should establish a statute and enforce an injunction that anyone who makes a petition to any god or man besides you, O king, for thirty days, shall be cast into the lions’ den.’”

One of the supreme difficulties in any endeavor is determining who is in charge! It’s not unusual, however, for a king to elevate someone beneath him as a viceroy, or second-in-command. Further, it is usually a quiet, intelligent person, who has not “bucked” for the position. Daniel was just such a man. It is not-at-all difficult to see why King Darius would have selected him. But, there was opposition.

The spiritually exciting aspect of this plot is that the plotters could find nothing against Daniel himself, but were forced to seek something negative about Daniel’s God. The probability of that is a double negative!

It’s interesting that Daniel’s opposition references him by his Hebrew name rather than by his Babylonian name, Belteshazzar. There are slurs cast at him, such as “this Daniel” and “his God.” Still, Daniel’s enemies could not deny

his integrity or his devotion to the LORD his God. So, they plotted against him, using King Darius and the Medo-Persian law. Whether “all the commissioners…prefects and…satraps (a subordinate ruler) had agreed to this plot is not known; however, that is how the situation was presented to Darius, the king. Whatever concealed this clumsy plot from Darius himself is beyond belief! What veiled his eyes from such nefarious action must remain a mystery.

Oh, there’s more to this – much more! But for now, we must see that whenever the LORD puts us into a situations of

leadership, there will be opposition. There’s an old song that envisions the Noahic flood that says, “I’d rather be on the

inside lookin’ out, than to be on the outside lookin’ in.” It equally applies to Daniel. Leave the others to their schemes; Daniel’s focus is ever on the LORD.

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,

Luke 19:1-6, “And He entered and was passing through Jericho.

2 And behold, there was a man called by the name of Zaccheus; and he was a chief tax-gatherer, and he was rich.

3 And he was trying to see who Jesus was, and he was unable because of the crowd, for he was small in stature.

4 And he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree in order to see Him, for He was about to pass through that way.

5 And when Jesus came to the place, He looked up and said to him, “Zaccheus, hurry and come down, for today I must stay at your house.”

6 And he hurried and came down, and received Him gladly.”

You might not know it, but there are three cities in Israel named “Jericho”: Old Testament Jericho, where Joshua fought his battle;

New Testament Jericho, where Zaccheus met Jesus; and modern Jericho. The focus of our verses above are on New Testament Jericho.

Tax Collectors were at the bottom of the heap in New Testament times. Still, regardless of their profession, they were still human beings and had the same curiosity about Jesus as one might have had toward the late Billy Graham. Had Zaccheus been satisfied with his wealth, he would probably not have cared about Jesus, even about seeing Him. We sometimes make the mistake of believing that wealthy people have no interest in spiritual matters; but that is not so! What they often do have are obstacles that seek to prevent them from grasping the spiritual.

The crowd that gathered to see Jesus was inadvertently a barrier to Zaccheus. They were many and he was short. But short people know how to compensate for their difficulties. Neither his wealth nor his smallness was going to hinder his desire. He found a tree near the road and climbed it for a “front-row” seat.

When Jesus came to the place, He looked up and saw Zaccheus and beckoned him to come down. It is always a compliment when the Greater calls out to the lesser. That was Jesus’ ministry throughout His three years on Earth. In fact, He is still calling out to people, who only want a glimpse of Him. He’s worth much more than a glimpse. He has a purpose for every life. First, He wants everyone to turn away from sin –their sin that pervades the world around them. Second, He wants those who repent of sin to share His Message of Salvation, because that’s why He came to Earth to die for the sins of all mankind.

Our acceptance of Him repels the sin, and He is glorified in that process. Have you done that? Are you a born-again believer in Him? If so, what is it that He has for you to do? Are you involved in doing what He desires? Zaccheus obeyed and opened his heart and home to Christ. And that’s precisely what the LORD wants of us. He wants our hearts, our homes, to be open to Him. What a wonderful Savior and LORD we have! The Greatest blesses the heart and home of the lesser. Be blessed 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,

Nehemiah 6:2-3, “Sanballat and Geshem sent a message to me, saying, ‘Come, let us meet together at Chephirim in the plain of Ono.’ But they were planning to harm me. 3So I sent messengers to them, saying, ‘I am doing a great work and I cannot come down. Why should the work stop while I leave it and come down to you?’”

It was a terrible time for the Jewish people! The Temple in Jerusalem was in ruins and the walls of the city were down. Everything was in need of repair. Nehemiah appealed to King Artaxerxes to allow him to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the walls and the Temple. The king not only granted Nehemiah permission to go, he authorized much of the material needed to effect the rebuilding. He only wanted to know how long Nehemiah intended to be gone. But, there would be opposition awaiting when he got there!

Some people seem to believe that their primary –if not their only— reason for living is to aggravate and agitate the people, who want to get things done! Sanballat, Tobiah, and Geshem were the epitome of discouragers. Oh, their voices “sounded” pleasant enough, but what they harbored in their hearts was far from what they said aloud in the hearing of others. Have you ever met anyone like that? Sure, you have. They appealed to Nehemiah to meet and discuss things with them. “Oh, no!” (Ono), said Nehemiah, for he was aware that “they were planning to harm (him).”

Notice, however, that Nehemiah did not simply ignore them altogether. Instead, he “sent messengers to them…” It is a polite gesture to respond to such people, so long as you recognize their evil intentions and don’t invite them to know of your ongoing plans. The message, too, said it all quite politely, “I am doing a great work and I cannot come down.”

Nehemiah wasn’t kidding. The work he was doing was “a great work”; besides, he had given King Artaxerxes a definite time for his return. There just was no time for those who only wanted to discourage and destroy his “great work.”

There’s probably a lot I could add here, but somehow, I don’t think more commentary from me is needed. You know when you’re doing the LORD’s work; and you know how vital time is. There are a lot of “things” that want to get into your way. No question about it, those “things” are appealing. Moreover, they are distractingly appealing! They come packaged with all the glitter that says, “If you had this, you could do that.” But is that your calling? No, it’s not!

Someone once said, “Keep the main thing the main thing.” And remember that whatever the LORD calls you to do, is

“the main thing.” God bless you! Start this New Year right: Stay in the Word and Prayer every single day!

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.”