The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

Psalm 103:1-2; Bless the LORD, O my soul; And all that is within me, bless His holy name.
2 Bless the LORD, O my soul, And forget none of His benefits….
2 Corinthians 2:14-17, “But thanks be to God, who always leads us in His triumph in Christ, and manifests through us the
sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place.
15 For we are a fragrance of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing;
16 to the one an aroma from death to death, to the other an aroma from life to life. And who is adequate for these things?
17 For we are not like many, peddling the word of God, but as from sincerity, but as from God, we speak in Christ in the
sight of God.”

I awoke this morning to a -14o F. temperature! If that’s not sufficiently chilling to you, try ~25.5 Celsius. Yet,
the first thought that came to my mind was from Psalm 103, “Bless the LORD, O my soul; and all that is within me, bless His holy Name.” It is a positive thought and one that is strongly advocated by the Apostle Paul in our Second Corinthians passage, Paul was a positive thinker! He kept his thoughts centered on Christ Jesus. And in turn, Christ led him triumphantly through all that he encountered.

Paul even speaks of Christ as producing in us a “sweet aroma” everywhere we go. There are some people who just energize our lives when we meet them! Christ Jesus lives in them and always draws us to them. We find ourselves wanting to be like them. They are that “fragrance of Christ.” What’s more, we can be that fragrance, too! There will be those, however, who will “sniff and sneer” at our likeness to Him. To them, we are the aroma
of “death to death.” Their rejection of Him and His message is not necessarily our fault; it is that they view Christ as unnecessary and unwanted in their lives. It’s typical of the sinful world in which we all live.

Yet, to others, we are the aroma of “life to life.” They’ve noted the emptiness in their own lives and view what we have as what they need. Who is adequate to help them in such a situation? Certainly not those who peddle their teachings as bait for monetery gain. We, who speak sincerely of Christ are adequate to share His message.
Don’t become discouraged! Those who reject Him are digging their own graves. Just keep on loving them and sharing His message. He will take it from there.

Heartily in Christ Jesus,

(Dado III)

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.
Springdale, Arkansas 72764
United States of America

“We never know that Christ is all we need until He becomes all that we have.” – Corrie ten Boom