The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

2 Corinthians 5:17-21, “Therefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.
18 Now, all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ, and gave us the ministry of reconciliation,
19 namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation.
20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were entreating through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.
21 He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”

Have you ever experienced a dramatic change in your life? Sometimes things in ordinary life cause us to change. Especially is this true as the years roll by and we become older. There is a spiritual change that alters life when we come to know Jesus Christ personally as our LORD and Savior.

The Apostle Paul writes about this in our verses above. He presents Jesus as the catalist who produces that change in us. When we turn our lives over to Him, He spiritually medicates us so that we become more like Him and less like the world around us. God the Father resides in Jesus, His Son. Jesus died on the cross as the Father’s sacrifice for our sin. When He arose from the dead, He proved Himself to be all that the Father had said He was. When we trust Jesus to save us, He forgives all of our sin. He transforms us and accepts us into His Father’s family.

In our human families, we have responsibilities that enrich family life. So it is with God’s family. We then become His “ambassadors.” We are responsible to live like Him and to tell others about Him. When others accept Him, as we have, their lives are changed, too. What’s remarkable is that the LORD does all the changing. He reproduces His own life in us. Our part is reduced to believing –trusting that He is able to do in and through us all that He intends.

Do you need a life-change? You do if you have not yet trusted Jesus. He does marvelous things in human lives! Give your life to Him and see! You’ll forever be thankful you did!

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

Dear Grands,

Luke 11:5-10, “And He said to them, ‘Suppose one of you shall have a friend, and shall go to him at midnight, and say to him, “Friend, lend me three loaves;
6 for a friend of mine has come to me from a journey, and I have nothing to set before him”;
7 and from inside he shall answer and say, “Do not bother me; the door has already been shut and my children and I are in bed; I cannot get up and give you anything.”
8 “I tell you, even though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence he will get up and give him as much as he needs.
9 “And I say to you, ask, and it shall be given to you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you.
10 “For everyone who asks, receives; and he who seeks, finds; and to him who knocks, it shall be opened.”

Remember when you were a child and wanted something desperately? Your friends had one; it was all the rage of those in your age group, and you just had to have one like it! Your parents said it wasn’t that important; but you were not satisfied with their answer. You just kept begging and pleading until they finally gave in and said, “Okay, you can have it.” Jesus’ illustration in our verses above was much like that. He was teaching His disciples that the key to answered prayer is persistence.

“I prayed, but God didn’t answer,” you say. Well, there could be numerous reasons He did not answer. One possibility is that the timing was wrong for an immediate answer. The LORD knows things we do not know. Had we received the answer on our schedule, we would have missed something better that we did not know was coming. Another possibility is that He wanted to know how desperately we wanted what we were asking. Still another possibility is that what we wanted would have been detrimental to us in a way we had never imagined!

Still, we are not to give up! The words “ask…seek…knock” are in the present tense. “Keep on asking; keep on seeking; keep on knocking” –just never give up praying! If you belong to the LORD –I mean, if you have trusted Him as your LORD and Savior, you are His child. He wants always the best for your life. And, much like our parents, He knows more about us than we know about ourselves. So, trust must be coupled with persistence.

Winston Churchill once punctuated the conclusion of a speech with one simple phrase. “Never give up. Never give up. Never. Never. Never.” It would do us well to remember and implement those words in our prayers. “LORD, teach us to pray!”

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

Dear Grands,

Luke 9:57-62, “And as they were going along the road, someone said to Him, ‘I will follow You wherever You go.’
58 And Jesus said to him, “The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.”
59 And He said to another, “Follow Me.” But he said, “Permit me first to go and bury my father.”
60 But He said to him, “Allow the dead to bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim everywhere the kingdom of God.”
61 And another also said, “I will follow You, Lord; but first permit me to say good-bye to those at home.”
62 But Jesus said to him, “No one, after putting his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.”

“Wow! Would I ever like to be involved in that!” Many of us have said that, or something like it, when we encountered what we viewed as an exciting adventure. The list of such adventures is endless. Our problem, however, was that we were not prepared to undertake that venture; we simply observed the pleasurable side of it.

In our verses above, Jesus encountered three people that were caught up in the delightful side of His ministry, but failed to note the rigorous training and difficult encounters along the way. The first was an unsolicited volunteer. He had no reservations at all; he just said, “I will follow You wherever You go.” It’s good to be willing to follow Jesus, but it’s vitally necessary to understand the hardships a follower of His will encounter. Jesus warned that they would often be without the normal comforts of life.

The second person was actually selected by Jesus to go with Him. “Follow Me,” Jesus said. Yet, this man had a reservation. He first wanted to attend to an important matter at home. He had both a legal and moral responsibility to care for the needs of his father. It may even be that his father was still living, but he was putting concerns for his father ahead of following Jesus. Jesus empahsized the priority of His ministry. Let the spiritually dead handle funeral arrangements, Jesus said. You tell people everywhere about the Kingdom of God.

The third man was an unsolicited volunteer. His willingness to follow Jesus seemed most sincere, yet it was linked with a simple reservation: he wanted first to bid goodbye to his family. It appears a most loving gesture, one that anyone might wish prior to leaving home. But, Jesus emphasized dedication to Himself and His ministry when he said, “No one, after putting his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit (useful) for the kingdom of God.” In the simplest sense, plowing requires looking ahead. Looking behind means not plowing a straight furrow.

Where do you and I find ourselves today when it comes to following Jesus? Is there anything in our lives that takes priority over Him and His work? If there is, we must rid ourselves of it before we can be of usefulness to Him. Jesus is always and ever to be first in our lives. May He help us to make it so!

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

Dear Grands,

Luke 9:43-45, “And they were all amazed at the greatness of God. But while everyone was marveling at all that He was doing, He said to His disciples,
44 ‘Let these words sink into your ears; for the Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men.’
45 But they did not understand this statement, and it was concealed from them so that they might not perceive it; and they were afraid to ask Him about this statement.”

Have you ever witnessed something you could call a miracle? While you were in a daze over the strange occurrence, other words that someone spoke to you seemed to just hang in the air. You heard them, but they were literally smothered by what you had just witnessed with your eyes.

Jesus had just cast a demonic spirit out of a young boy. The crowd was “…amazed at the greatness of God.” And while they were all caught up in the amazement, Jesus turned to His disciples and said that He was soon “going to be delivered into the hands of men.” Who could actually, physically impound the LORD? He had just dealt with a powerful, unseen spirit. How could mere men lay captive One who had dealt so successfully with an evil spirit?

I’ve had it said to me, “You won’t understand this now; but you’ll understand it clearly when the time comes.” At the time that it was said, I had not the slightest idea what was meant. Later, however, I understood it clearly. It was something like that with the disciples. They heard what Jesus had said; they just couldn’t process it at the time.

What Jesus said, however, did indeed come to pass. He was “delivered into the hands of men.” Yet, it was His Father’s will that He be taken captive by ungodly, religious men. Jesus was to be His Father’s Sacrifice for the sins of all mankind. That was the part He didn’t tell the disciples. In time, however, they understood it clearly.

Many today do not understand why Jesus became the Sacrifice –and He did it for them! How about you? Have you truly believed on Him as the Father’s Sacrifice for your sin? That’s what it’s all about. Just prayerfully ask Him to forgive you for all your sin. And if you believe, He will forgive you! And then you will understand; and you will want to tell others.

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

Dear Grands,

Luke 9:23-26, “And He was saying to them all, ‘If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.
24 ‘For whoever wishes to save his life shall lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake, he is the one who will save it.
25 ‘For what is a man profited if he gains the whole world, and loses or forfeits himself?
26 ‘For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed when He comes in His glory, and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.’”

How many times in your life have you been given a choice? You can come with me or you can go with with your mother. You can ride in the boat or you can walk over the bridge? Literally, scores of decisions lie before us each and every day. The discourse that preceded our verses above reveal that Jesus’ disciples believed Him to be “The Christ of God.” It was then, on that basis, that He offered the choice of following Him.

Yet, following Jesus is not as easy as it might sound at first. It requires an absolute denial of one’s own desires. In the simplest terms, denial means giving up what you want to do and doing only what the LORD directs you to do. To some, it’s a total career change from the start; to others, it’s a shift from what you are already doing. Often, it’s a reduction in the monetary income –income you thought you could not do without.

Following Jesus is the overall recognition that He is LORD and He is both able and willing to provide everything that will sustain your life and its needs. Moreover, it is a life and ministry that produces change in the lives of others; and it brings cumulative joy to your own life as well. How can you lose by following Him? Simply stated, you cannot! There will always be those whose worldly wealth is beyond counting. But, without Him, they are spiritual paupers. Their earthly wealth is nothing when measured by His wealth and His love. Choose Jesus! Yield your life to Him today! When the gold of the earth has caroded, His wealth and His love will remain. Think about it, carefully….

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