The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

Numbers 21:4-9, “They left Mount Hor by the road to the Sea of Suph, to skirt round Edom. On the way the people lost patience.
5 They spoke against God and against Moses, ‘Why did you bring us out of Egypt to die in the desert? For there is neither food nor water here; we are sick of this meagre diet.’
6 At this, God sent fiery serpents among the people; their bite brought death to many in Israel.
7 The people came and said to Moses, ‘We have sinned by speaking against Yahweh and against you. Intercede for us with Yahweh to save us from these serpents.’ Moses interceded for the people,
8 and Yahweh replied, ‘Make a fiery serpent and raise it as a standard. Anyone who is bitten and looks at it will survive.’
9 Moses then made a serpent out of bronze and raised it as a standard, and anyone who was bitten by a serpent and looked at the bronze serpent survived.”

It’s an Old Testament account of sin and forgiveness; yet careful assessment shows that it is very close to what the LORD says and does for us today.

It all began when the people lost patience and spoke against the LORD. Impatience occurs when things don’t go the way we want them. It’s a focus on selfish desire and an accusation of blame on anyone other than ourselves.

The people’s immediate focus was upon their diet. They were acting like little children and complaining instead of being thankful for what they had to eat. We’re often like that. Yet, their complaint resulted in a still worse situation that brought about numerous eternal deaths.

Despite the fact that the people deserved to suffer for complaining, the LORD in mercy gave them a reprieve. At His command, Moses constructed a brazen serpent, so that those who looked upon it could be healed.

Who could deny that this brazen serpent typified the crucifixion that the LORD Jesus Christ would later experience on the cross? It was God’s preparation that enabled mankind to be saved from sin and the consequences of eternal Hell?

Have you looked to Christ Jesus for your salvation? Simply confess your sins to Him and ask His forgiveness. If you are sincere, He will forgive you, just as He promises in the Scriptures. No one can blame his sin on God! It is God who provided for salvation through Jesus’ death on the Cross.

Surrender your life to Him today! I have never met anyone who has trusted Christ and who was sorry. Never!

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,

Psalm 88:9-14, “My eye has wasted away because of affliction; I have called upon You every day, O LORD; I have spread out my hands to You.
10 Will You perform wonders for the dead? Will the departed spirits rise and praise You? Selah.
11 Will Your lovingkindness be declared in the grave, Your faithfulness in Abaddon?
12 Will Your wonders be made known in the darkness? And Your righteousness in the land of forgetfulness?
13 But I, O LORD, have cried out to You for help, and in the morning my prayer comes before You.
14 O LORD, why do You reject my soul? Why do You hide Your face from me?

Have words like these ever caused you to wonder? They certainly gripped the thinking of the Psalmist. We cry out to the LORD in our affliction, never questioning His ability to resolve our misery; rather, we are wondering why He hesitates in meeting our need.

The LORD is indeed a God of love. The word “love” is itself mentioned multiple times in the Bible. He is also a God of joy, also mentioned multiple times in Scripture. Yet, the psalmist cries out in tears over his affliction without the slightest response from the LORD.

Many of us have experienced crises in our lives, causing us to cry out for divine help. Yet, the LORD has not always responded with the relief we have sought. Why is this? We know He is competent to relieve us. Why does He not do so? He remains silent, as if He has not heard us. Yet, He has. We know He has!

David cried out in the Psalms, “I waited patiently for the LORD; and He inclined to me and heard my cry. He brought me up out of the pit of destruction, out of the miry clay, and He set my feet upon a rock making my footsteps firm. He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God; many will see and fear and will trust in the LORD” (Ps. 40:1-3).

Many years prior to David’s cry, God made a promise to Abraham, saying “I will surely bless you and I will surely multiply you.” Abraham patiently waited, and in time he obtained the very promise he had sought from the LORD (Heb. 6:14-15).

God is faithful. He does not forget. We ,must be patient and keep all matters before Him in prayer. If His answer is “yes,” He will provide our needs. If His answer is “no,” we are still His children. He will have yet a better way. Keep the faith!

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,

Jeremiah 14:7-11, “Although our iniquities testify against us, O LORD, act for Your name’s sake! Truly, our apostasies have been many, we have sinned against You.
8 “O Hope of Israel, its Savior in time of distress, why are You like a stranger in the land or like a traveler who has pitched his tent for the night?
9 “Why are You like a man dismayed, like a mighty man who cannot save? Yet, You are in our midst, O LORD, and we are called by Your name; do not forsake us!”
10 Thus says the LORD to this people, “Even so, they have loved to wander; they have not kept their feet in check. Therefore, the LORD does not accept them; now He will remember their iniquity and call their sins to account.”
11 So the LORD said to me, ‘Do not pray for the welfare of this people.’”

I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I won’t do it again! I promise! I won’t do it again –ever! Don’t spank me! I won’t do it again! I won’t ever, ever do it again!

If that cry brings back to your memory, something that occurred in your childhood, then you know something of the cry that came from the Tribe of Judah. The LORD was holding them
accountable for their sins just as He holds us accountable for our sins.

Read again verses 7 to 9 above. Hear the people cry out to the LORD for help. They are charged with multiple apostasies. They admit to having sinned against God. Their only hope is His divine mercy. “Do not forsake us!” they cry.

We echo just such a cry –both personally and nationally! Even those who claim they are atheists, secretly pray. It’s normal for us to cry out for help –especially when the absence of help leaves us alone on the road to eternal death.

Like a small child, our feet love to wander. Yet, when we encounter circumstances with which we cannot deal, we throw ourselves on the loving mercy of our Heavenly Father. Are you there yet? –at His feet? Have the years of your life taught you nothing? God sacrificed His only Son on Calvary’s cross to atone for your sins! Stop arguing with God! Yield yourself to His love and mercy! If you could now cleanse yourself of your own sin, Jesus’ death would be totally meaningless. But, you can’t! So, “Today, if you will hear His voice, harden not your heart!” (Heb. 3:15).

Praying for you,

(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,

Jeremiah 8:1-7, “’At that time,’ declares the LORD, ‘they will bring out the bones of the kings of Judah and the bones of its princes, and the bones of the priests and the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the inhabitants of Jerusalem from their graves.
2 “They will spread them out to the sun, the moon and to all the host of heaven, which they have loved and which they have served, and which they have gone after and which they have sought, and which they have worshiped. They will not be gathered or buried; they will be as dung on the face of the ground.
3 “And death will be chosen rather than life by all the remnant that remains of this evil family, that remains in all the places to which I have driven them,” declares the LORD of hosts.
4 “You shall say to them, ‘Thus says the LORD, “Do men fall and not get up again? Does one turn away and not repent?’”
5 “Why then has this people, Jerusalem, turned away in continual apostasy? They hold fast to deceit, They refuse to return.”
6 “I have listened and heard; they have spoken what is not right; no man repented of his wickedness, saying, ‘What have I done?’ Everyone turned to his course, like a horse charging into the battle.
7 “Even the stork in the sky knows her seasons; and the turtledove… the swift, and the thrush observe the time of their migration; but My people do not know the ordinance of the LORD.”

The date of the Book of Jeremiah lies somewhere in the 5th century B.C. It is difficult, if not impossible, to be precise regarding the date of the writings. Yet, the meaning of the writing is easy to decipher. It is without question a message that will take place at a later time, as promised, “At that time…”

More importantly to us, however, is the substance that will take place. The bones of the southern kingdom leadership (Judah) will come forth from their graves, their bones being bleached in the sun; for they were an evil people in the sight of the LORD.

Judah was that evil people. They gave no attention to the ordinances of the LORD, but said, “We are wise…”; and the scribes falsely recorded it, “making it into a lie.” Everyone “is greedy for gain,” says the LORD, “from the prophet (to) the priest – Everyone practices deceit.”

We must be careful individually and collectively.
We must be honest before the LORD; otherwise,
the days of our lives and our country will be
bleached in the Sunlight of His Eternal Record;
and we will pay the eternal price for disobeying
His faithful Word.

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,

Jeremiah 7:25-29, “Since the day that your fathers came out of the land of Egypt until this day, I have sent you all My servants the prophets, daily rising early and sending them.
26 “Yet they did not listen to Me or incline their ear, but stiffened their neck; they did more evil than their fathers.
27 “You shall speak all these words to them, but they will not listen to you; and you shall call to them, but they will not answer you.
28 “You shall say to them, ‘This is the nation that did not obey the voice of the LORD their God or accept correction; truth has perished and has been cut off from their mouth.
29 ‘Cut off your hair and cast it away, and take up a lamentation on the bare heights; for the LORD has rejected and forsaken the generation of His wrath.’”

When instruction is clearly ignored, what remains is the punishment. Such is true in the home, in the school, in the workplace, and throughout life. It’s the old saying, “You can’t do wrong and get by.”

The days in which we live of are but a rubber-stamp of the days of Jeremiah. The LORD has given us His Word. That Word is for our benefit; yet, like a small child, we assess that our way is better. Time and again we run into difficulties that seemingly have no resolution. Yet, the resolution exists; it is that we refuse to obey His instruction.

What does it take for us to learn that the way of the LORD is best? His way is revealed in His Word, the Holy Bible. How often do we read it? We excuse our negligence in a variety of ways, but there is no excuse.

He gives us pastors to instruct us, but we ignore that instruction. We must admit that we have no excuse! We simply view what we want to do as more important that what He has told us to do. Is it any wonder why our nation is in peril? Yet, He awaits our yieldedness. Yield to Him today! He loves us…but time is running out.

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