The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

Genesis 31:44-49, “’So now come, let us make a covenant, you and I, and let it be a witness between you and me.’
45 Then Jacob took a stone and set it up as a pillar.
46 Jacob said to his kinsmen, ‘Gather stones.’ So they took stones and made a heap, and they ate there by the heap.
47 Now Laban called it Jegar-sahadutha, but Jacob called it Galeed.
48 Laban said, ‘This heap is a witness between you and me this day.’ Therefore it was named Galeed,
49 and Mizpah, for he said, ‘May the LORD watch between you and me when we are absent one from the other.’”

Did you ever have an agreement with someone you thought you could trust, only to have it turn out that you couldn’t trust him at all? Yes, somewhere you have. Laban was Jacob’s uncle and they had agreed that Jacob would work for Laban for seven years, after which Laban would give his daughter, Rachel, in marriage to Jacob. But the morning after their wedding night, Jacob learned that he had been given Rachel’s older sister, Leah, instead. This caused an tremendous family uproar!

Love is indeed a strong factor! Jacob’s love for Rachel was so intense that he agreed to serve another seven years for her. In all of that time, Laban cheated Jacob again and again (Genesis 31), until they agreed to part ways completely. But first, they heaped together a pile of stones as a visible sign of their relational covenant. They were still not in full agreement when they piled the stones because they couldn’t even agree on what to name the stone! Strangely enough, it was Laban who said,

“…although no man is with us,
God is witness between you and me.”

Although we might strike an agreement with someone we do not fully trust, once it is agreed upon, the moral law of God requires that we stand truthfully by what we have said. God will have indeed witnessed the agreement, and it is His will that you remain true to everything you have said.

We have to be true to our fellowman if we expect the LORD to protect us. Friends and neighbors are watching to see if they can trust us as well. Regardless of who is right and who is wrong, the LORD God is witness to every situation. If we are truly His, we will act accordingly.

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,

Genesis 21:22-24, “Now it came about at that time that Abimelech and Phicol, the commander of his army, spoke to Abraham, saying, ‘God is with you in all that you do;
23 now therefore, swear to me here by God that you will not deal falsely with me or with my offspring or with my posterity, but according to the kindness that I have shown to you, you shall show to me and to the land in which you have sojourned.’
24 Abraham said, ‘I swear it.’”

Even the most cursory examination reveals truth, if examined in a careful and sincere manner. Such truth was resident in Abraham, whom Abimelech commended as one who worshipped and served the LORD. Is it not worthy beyond words to be known as the LORD’s servant? Or is there anything more precious than to have it said of you that “God is with you in all that you do”?

Most of us glibly say, “Thank the LORD” when something that could have worked against us, turned out well. Yet, unless we are committed to Him, He has no obligation to protect us from any adverse circumstance. What we may have viewed as His protection of us might well have been His protection of someone else, who stood nearby.

Abimelech was protected from doing wrong because of the LORD’s love for Abraham. Those who know Him often unknowingly bring His protection on others without the knowledge of either. It is much more commendable, however, when we all are committed by faith and trust in the LORD. It can then be said of us, “God is with you in all that you do.”

Is He with you? Are you committed to Him in full surrender of your life? The LORD always resides with those who are His own. Thus, when you are His, you live fully and completely under His protection. Commit your life to Him! There is no greater protection! And there is no reason to ever worry!

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,

Isaiah 53:1-6, “Who has believed our message? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?
2 For He grew up before Him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of parched ground; He has no stately form or majesty that we should look upon Him, nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him.
3 He was despised and forsaken of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and like one from whom men hide their face He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.
4 Surely our griefs He Himself bore, and our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted.
5 But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, and by His scourging we are healed.
6 All of us like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; but the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him.”

In the course of my life, I have had the privilege to meet a number of famous persons. The big surprise was that none of them looked anything like I thought they would. They were ordinary people in every possible way. Jesus was just like that, too.

No dedicated and conscientious Jew could read that passage above without understanding it to be a reference to the Messiah. Everything in those verses speaks of Jesus. He was the “arm of the LORD.” He grew up from childhood to manhood with the normal appearance of any Jewish boy of His age.

Yet, Jesus was more –much more! He attracted the crowds with what He said, not with how he physically appeared. They had been taught of the Messiah; and He, they believed, was coming to throw off the yoke of their oppressors and usher in a holy kingdom. Well, it was something like that, only more –much more.

Jesus came to forgive the sins of all mankind! He was His Father’s human sacrifice –the sacrifice that satisfied the judgment of Almighty God. And for all who ask forgiveness and turn from their sins, Jesus gives Eternal Life. Sound simple? It is! The sadness is that many stumble over the very simplicity, thinking that it how they live or to what religion or church they adhere. Yet, the Scripture says, “the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all to fall upon Him.”

Have you trusted Jesus as your Savior? A simple, prayerful request for forgiveness is all that’s necessary; and “the LORD causes the iniquity of us all to fall on Him.” Then, you will possess His Holy Spirit and your life will take on new meaning, and He will be glorified!

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,

Isaiah 45:16-20, 21b, “They will be put to shame and even humiliated, all of them; The manufacturers of idols will go away together in humiliation.
17 Israel has been saved by the LORD With an everlasting salvation; You will not be put to shame or humiliated To all eternity.
18 For thus says the LORD, who created the heavens (He is the God who formed the earth and made it, He established it and did not create it a waste place, but formed it to be inhabited), “I am the LORD, and there is none else.
19 “I have not spoken in secret, In some dark land; I did not say to the offspring of Jacob, ‘Seek Me in a waste place’; I, the LORD, speak righteousness, Declaring things that are upright.
20 “Gather yourselves and come; Draw near together, you fugitives of the nations; They have no knowledge, who carry about their wooden idol and pray to a god who cannot save.”
21b “And And there is no other God besides Me, a righteous God and a Savior; there is none except Me.
22 “Turn to Me and be saved, all the ends of the earth; For I am God, and there is no other.”

A video clip of a Jewish billionaire concluded with the interviewer’s question: “Do you believe in God?” The man’s blunt replied was, “No!” Yet, it was not an intelligent reply because God does exist! Man’s denial cannot eradicate God’s existence.

There is even more to God than is revealed in Scripture. The sinful mind of mankind is incapable of grasping even all that Scripture reveals. We are told that the LORD created the heavens and the earth. He spoke and things came into being. He tells us that He did not create (the earth) as “a waste place.” He formed it to be inhabited by the human creatures He created to live here.

It was the LORD’s desire from the start that man would love and glorify Him. But man fell into sin and repudiated God and His creation. Still, the LORD loved those whom He had created and provided for them a way of escape. “Turn to Me,” He said, “and be saved, all the ends of the earth.” It is a personal solicitation, from Almighty God that encompasses all mankind.

Jesus Christ died for our sins. He forgives our sin when we repent and accept Him as LORD and Savior of our lives. Have you accepted Him? If not, why not? And if you have accepted Him, are you bearing witness of Him through your life? Remember that He is God, “and there is no other.”

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,

Ephesians 6:1-3, “Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.
2 HONOR YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER (which is the first commandment with a promise),
3 SO THAT IT MAY BE WELL WITH YOU, AND THAT YOU MAY LIVE LONG ON THE EARTH.”

Exodus 20:12, “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be prolonged in the land which the LORD your God gives you.” Do you see our
LORD’s promise—the one of which Paul spoke?

The spiritual writers of the New Testament were also readers of the Old Testament. Is that surprising? It shouldn’t be. They were Jews, who had been brought up in the Israelite tradition. What Paul says in the verses of Ephesians, he reiterates in his second letter to Timothy,

“…and that from childhood you have known the sacred
writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads
to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus” (2 Tim. 3:15).

What is noteworthy in addition to the spiritual teaching in these verses, is that Paul is addressing the chrildren directly. He admonishes them to behave – “obey your parents… honor your father and mother…” The major reason many children do not obey their parents today is that they don’t see their parents obeying those who are in authority over them. Dad is always angry at the police; and mother denounces the local school board for allowing Bible reading in the school. “More is caught than taught.” Think about it.

Why are there so many abortions today? Babies that never asked to be born, also never asked to be severely and ruthlessly sliced from their mothers’ wombs! And those who were blessed with normal births learned to complain and resist authority just like their parents.

We can survive this demonic holocaust, but it begins with Dad and Mom, reading and obeying the Word of our Eternal Father. Are you immersed in His Word? It is His direction for you and for those who come after you –your children and grandchildren.
Please give that some very serious thought. There’s a lot at stake.

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