The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

Deuteronomy 8:13-14, “…and when your herds and your flocks multiply, and your silver and

gold multiply, and all that you have multiplies,

14 then your heart becomes proud (rum, haughty) and you forget the LORD your God who

brought you out from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.”

I once asked a financial advisor, “How much is enough?” His answer was swift and simple:

“There’s never enough.” Most of us (perhaps, all of us) have encountered those who started

out with very, very little and ended up with wealth beyond their wildest dreams. There is nothing

in Scripture that forbids obtaining wealth. Some of the godliest personalities in the Bible were

men of wealth. What the Bible forbids is wealth obtaining man.

Twice in First Timothy, Paul warns Timothy against “loving money.” In 1 Timothy 3:3, Paul says a believer is to be, “…free from the love of money.” In 1 Timothy 6:10, he says why. “For the love (philarguria, avarice) of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some, by longing (orego, stretching out) for it, have wandered away from the faith, and pierced themselves with many a pang (grief, distress).” Nothing compares with Jesus! Nothing compares with the faith! And any

inordinate love for money carries with it the danger against which Paul solemnly warns us.

Job 33:15-17, “’In a dream, a vision of the night, when sound sleep falls on men, while they

slumber in their beds,

16 then He opens the ears of men, and seals their instruction,

17 That He may turn man aside from his conduct, and keep man from pride (gevah, self-

confidence…”).

There are fewer distractions for a person who sleeps soundly. Sleep offers the LORD the opportunity to change one’s mind about a variety of things, including his personal conduct and

his resistance to personal pride. Proverbs 16:18 warns, “Pride (gaon, arrogance) goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before stumbling.”

Some things are just not worth what they look like. I purchased something online a few months

ago. It was a practical device and looked like just what I needed. Then it arrived! It was a worthless piece of junk. I retrieved my money, but it cost me just as much to return the product!

There are so many sparkling items that get our attention. Yet, they cost us more in the long run

than they are worth. Having something no only else has (or having it first) is often a producer of pride.

Pride emanates from Satan. Humility emanates from God. Pride was Satan’s ultimate downfall. He still cleverly disguises pride and presents it to us under the pretentious covering of humility. It’s only after we’ve experienced the truth that we learn never to be fooled again. But, then—

Be careful what you allow to attract you. We’re never as invincible as we think. Stay close to

the LORD. Read and study His Word daily! Stay close to Him in prayer! Satan can be overcome; but alone we can’t do it. It takes Christ the LORD to defeat him. If you’ve never

trusted the LORD, do it now. Time for you may be running out….

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.”