The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

Psalm 103:1-6, “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;
3 Who pardons all your iniquities; Who heals all your diseases;
4 Who redeems your life from the pit; Who crowns you with lovingkindness and compassion;
5 Who satisfies your years with good things, So that your youth is renewed like the eagle.
6 The LORD performs righteous deeds, And judgments for all who are oppressed.”

In our last Letter, Paul and Silas had been ignominiously cast into prison. Where they might have legally complained, instead they prayed and sang praises to the LORD! Have your ever tried singing praises to the LORD when you are the object of a false accusation? We may never know what song they sang or whether they possessed attractive discordant voices, yet they could hardly have selected words more appropriate than those of this Davidic psalm.

Verses 1 and 2 are self-reminders of the LORD and all of His previous blessings. How often we desire things from the LORD, but forget to thank Him for all He has previously bestowed upon us. It’s so easy to complain about current difficulties, but it does us well to inventory the LORD’s blessings. (Stop reading right now and review the blessings you have received from the LORD. You can start with the fact that you are alive!)

The remaining verses above (i.e., 3-6) are a rehearsal of the LORD’s many blessings: He pardons, forgives the multiple sins we have committed, but we must confess them. He heals diseases of which we’re not even aware. The LORD Jesus is our Kinsman-Redeemer and He delivers us from the pitfalls of life. Then, He lovingly and compassionately rewards us in multiple ways beyond our calculation! Just think of the good and beneficient things you have at His Hand alone! Moreover, He abundantly satisfies the years of our lives with His goodness. We are alive only at His good pleasure; and further, the agility we possess in our latter years is itself a gift from His Hand! Think of that!

It is characteristic of our LORD to perform all kinds of righteous deeds. Don’t think for a minute that Paul and Silas didn’t know that! That’s what occasioned their singing! It’s Satan’s way to darken and dampen our days. He is our oppressor! The LORD is our Savior, our Deliverer, Benefactor–our Friend! He judges our oppressor as we praise His Holy Name! Always think on the bright side of our darkening world. The LORD is now and forever in charge. Just bless the LORD and whatever your situation, don’t forget how He is lovingly blessing you!

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,

Acts 16:16-22, “And it happened that as we were going to the place of prayer, a certain slave-girl having a spirit of divination met us, who was bringing her masters much profit by fortunetelling.
17 Following after Paul and us, she kept crying out, saying, “These men are bond-servants of the Most High God, who are proclaiming to you the way of salvation.”
18 And she continued doing this for many days. But Paul was greatly annoyed, and turned and said to the spirit, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her!” And it came out at that very moment.
19 But when her masters saw that their hope of profit was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the market place before the authorities,
20 and when they had brought them to the chief magistrates, they said, “These men are throwing our city into confusion, being Jews,
21 and are proclaiming customs which it is not lawful for us to accept or to observe, being Romans.”
22 And the crowd rose up together against them, and the chief magistrates tore their robes off them, and proceeded to order them to be beaten with rods.”

There’s an old saying, “Out of the frying pan into the fire.” Unfortunately, that appears to be the lot of Paul and Silas. Lydia had just been saved, the LORD having opened her heart to the Gospel. So, once again, Paul and Silas were going to the place of prayer, undoubtedly, the same place where they first met Lydia. Do you have things that hinder your prayer life? I’m sure we all do, but none quite like what Paul and Silas encountered.

It’s deeply saddening what some men do with others. Still, what they do is not new. We have human slave-traders in our world today. The men that our spiritual due encountered possessed a slave-girl, who was possessed by a demon-spirit. We’ve become somewhat sophisticated today, and we put other names on such activities, but demon spirits do exist and they earnestly seek to hinder and stamp out the work of the LORD and His servants.

Whether Paul would have otherwise ignored this girl, we do not know, but she provoked him because she made fun of what they were doing. The LORD’s Name and work were at risk, so he commanded the evil spirit to cease and desist and come out of the girl. It’s worthy of notice that the men who used this girl were not-at-all concerned about her; they were concerned about their loss of money from her evil works. Shamefully, that’s true of such evil workings today.

When the men lied in complaining to the authorities, Paul and Silas were arrested, beaten with rods, and thrown into prison. Now, what are they to do? Where is the LORD in all of this? Does this situation look hopeless? Do you and I often find ourselves in similar, seemingly hopeless situations? Not to worry, the LORD takes notice of all these things. The hymn writer said, “His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me.” With everyone against them, there seems no way out. Yet, the LORD’s servants have not lost hope. They are about to start singing! And we would do well to rejoice in the LORD, despite the seemingly hopelessness of our situations. Try rejoicing! Another song says, “When you know the LORD, you need nobody else to see you through the darkest night.”

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,

2 Timothy 3:1-7, “But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come.
2 For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to
parents, ungrateful, unholy,
3 unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good,
4 treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God;
5 holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; and avoid such men as
these.
6 For among them are those who enter into households and captivate weak women weighed
down with sins, led on by various impulses,
7 always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.”

I was 18 years of age before I heard of the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. Whether my pastors did not
understand the teaching or simply did not believe it, I am not certain. I myself had been preaching for a year or more before I ever heard or read of the teaching. Yet, the LORD had scheduled me to learn it from the girl I later married. Her pastor had taught her; she, then taught me; and I have been learning and teaching the Second
Coming of Christ ever since.

The Apostle Paul is exceedingly clear as he passes this doctrine to young Timothy. At the same time, it is
reserved in Scripture for us. The email and text messages I receive from friends are replete with notations
about our living in “difficult times” (a violent, hard-to-bear era). Paul emphasizes the last days as “unloving,” meaning “without natural affection”; “irreconcilable,” not accepting a truce; “malicious gossips,” slanderous;
“treacherous,” betrayers, traitors; “various impulses,” passionate longings, lust; and “always learning and
never able to come to the the knowledge of the truth”; meaning, educated, but never grasping true knowledge.

Does that not cover just about everything in our era of life? I think it does! Nevertheless, these are attitudes that
ought never to captivate the mind or life of a true believer. It is indeed time for us to Wake Up! Examine your life!
Do you truly know Jesus Christ? Is He your Savior and LORD? If He is not, you need to trust Him today. Pray
and acknowledge your sins to Him. Ask His forgiveness. Then, trust and believe that He has forgiven you and
accepted you as His own. Then pray for others who do not know Him, that they might be saved before it is too
late! You can come to the “knowledge of the truth.” Get into the Bible and bathe in God’s Eternal Truths.

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,

Acts 16:9-10, 13-14, “And a vision appeared to Paul in the night: a certain man of Macedonia was standing and
appealing to him, and saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.”
10 And when he had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go into Macedonia, concluding that God had
called us to preach the gospel to them.”

13 And on the Sabbath day we went outside the gate to a riverside, where we were supposing that there would
be a place of prayer; and we sat down and began speaking to the women who had assembled.
14 And a certain woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple fabrics, a worshiper of God,
was listening; and the Lord opened her heart to respond to the things spoken by Paul.”

There’s no known way to truly measure how many people have had dreams in the course of their lives. My guess, however, is that most of us have had dreams, many of which were puzzling to us as to what they meant.
Yet, when we’re in the LORD’s service and praying for His will to be made known, we dare not omit anything
that could be His directive. Previously, Paul and Silas had started to enter Bithynia, but “the Spirit of Jesus did not permit them” to enter that area (16:7). Surely, this dream was of the LORD.

On factor emphasized in the dream was a man from the City of Macedonia in Greece, saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” Now, Paul and Silas knew why they were not permitted to go into Bithynia, and they immediately set out to do as the LORD had directed them. The LORD is quite specific in His directions, if we obey them. We may not understand why He directs us as He does, but He is our LORD; we are His servants.

Have you ever gone some place only to wonder how things were going to develop? I sure have! Flying alone into India, landing in the early morning hours, not knowing who or whether anyone would meet me – I freely admit that it is a strange and worrying situation. At least Paul and Silas had each other. But, why were they there? Where was this strange man, who appeared in the dream?

It was the Sabbath, so Paul and Silas went to a place they believed likely to be a “place of prayer.” It was; however, only women, it seemed were gathered there. It was a man in the vision. Ignoring all of that, Paul shared the Gospel and “the LORD opened (the) heart” of a woman named Lydia; and she responded to the Gospel and trusted Jesus. It may seem to have been a small response, considering all the trouble Paul and Silas had encountered to get there, but Lydia was the first convert to Christ in the western world. Never underestimate the value of the smallest labor for the LORD. It always has its reward.

Heartily in Christ Jesus,

(Dado III)

P. S. My sincere apology for the missing Grands Letters of the past few days. When I learned that some were not being
were blocking it. As per this issue, the channel is open again.

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

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