The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

2 Peter 1:1-4, “Simon Peter, a bond-servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours, by the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ:
2 Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord;
3 seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence.
4 For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.”

Six days ago, I again became a great-grandfather to a newborn baby boy. What made it all-the-more exciting is that he was born on my very birth date, 22 July!

Now, think about how exciting it is to be a bond-servant of Jesus Christ, just as Simon Peter was –same faith, same righteousness, same God and Savior. Moreover, it is the same grace, same peace, same knowledge, and it is the same glory and same excellence!

Sharpen your focus: Simon Peter had no more of the saving grace of Jesus than you have,
provided you are a born-again believer in the LORD Jesus. When Jesus saves you, He
injects you with the same Holy Spirit that resided in, say, Billy Graham or Billy Sunday or one of a thousand missionaries over the past hundreds of years. He grants to you and to me the same grace He grants to everyone who confesses and turns away from sin and pledges his or her life to Jesus!

We may differ from each other in a thousand ways, but we’re all the same with Jesus. Do
you know Him? Have you turned away from sin, asked His forgiveness, and trusted Him
by faith? Peter says in the first verse above you can “receive a faith of the same kind as
ours.”
“Trust and obey; for there’s no other way
To be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.”

You are in my daily prayers.

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 2:7-12, “I will surely tell of the decree of the LORD: He said to Me, ‘You are My Son, today I have begotten You.’
8 ‘Ask of Me, and I will surely give the nations as Your inheritance, and the very ends of the earth as Your possession.
9 ‘You shall break them with a rod of iron, You shall shatter them like earthenware.’
10 Now therefore, O kings, show discernment; take warning, O judges of the earth.
11 Worship the LORD with reverence and rejoice with trembling.
12 Do homage to the Son, that He not become angry, and you perish in the way, for His wrath may soon be kindled. How blessed are all who take refuge in Him!”

Were you ever promised something only to receive more than you were promised? I’m sure you won’t have to think very hard to come up with something. I can remember small work jobs I did for neighbors –neighbors who paid me more than they had said they would. I was never sure that I had earned it, but it was their joy to encourage me with some extra.

If you have carefully read the verses above, you will have noticed that in verses seven through nine the LORD promises what He will do for His Son. In verses 10 through 12, He admonishes His believers to show discernment, heed warnings, and worship the LORD with reverence. At the same time, believers are permitted to rejoice, but to do it with trembling. We’re not to treat the LORD God as we would a fellow human being.

I am deeply concerned that we are not truly worshipping the LORD! We sing and shout and call it worship, yet He demands that all worship be with reverence. We can rejoice, but we’re to be careful that it is with trembling, remembering that it is the LORD OF THE UNIVERSE Who is to be our focus. Our very lives are His gift to us. His only Son is our Savior and LORD. We should literally prostrate ourselves in abject silence before Him. He is LORD!

It’s been well said, “It’s not how loud you shout or how high you jump; it’s how you run when you hit the ground.” Are you running well? –and for His glory?

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,

1 John 1:6-10, “If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth;
7 but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.
8 If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us.
9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us.”

Have you heard the old saying, “Talk is cheap; it’s actions that count”? The saying itself is not found in Scripture, but the Apostle John never-the-less gives the saying credibility by mentioning it.

The truth is: if we live in obedience to what we read in the verses above (to say nothing of the entirety of the Bible itself), our lives will bask in the warmth of the LORD’s love and radiance! Christ Jesus is the Light that keeps us from stumbling into the darkness of sin.

Walking in His Light also assures us of the fellowship of other believers. Their walk with Christ is an overwhelming encouragement! Confession of our sin unlocks the LORD’s forgiveness and enables us to regain fellowship with Him and with other believers as well.

Freedom from sin enables us to serve the LORD with gladness and to reach those who have yet to encounter His salvation and blessings. Hope in the LORD anchors our lives in God. Further, too, it enables us to effectively reach the lives of those who have yet to learn of Him. Do your friends know Him because of you? Have you worked in sharing Him with them? Becoming a true believer is the first part; sharing Him with others is the rest.

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,

1 Peter 3:12-17, “Who is there to harm you if you prove zealous for what is good?
14 But even if you should suffer for the sake of righteousness, you are blessed. AND DO NOT FEAR THEIR INTIMIDATION, AND DO NOT BE TROUBLED,
15 but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence;
16 and keep a good conscience so that in the thing in which you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ will be put to shame.
17 For it is better, if God should will it so, that you suffer for doing what is right rather than for doing what is wrong.”

The word “reverence” that I have highlighted in verse 15 above is mentioned in 26 verses of the Bible. Twenty-two of the references are in the Old Testament; four are in the New. I have in my library a copy of Noah Webster’s 1828 Dictionary of the English Language. He cites our English word reverence, as being from the Latin word reverentia, meaning “fear mingled with respect and esteem…”

Webster says, “We reverence superiors for their age, their authority and their virtues. We ought to reverence parents and upright judges and magistrates. We ought to reverence the Supreme Being, His Word and His ordinances.”

My grandparents were all committed to faith in our LORD Jesus Christ. My maternal grandfather was an ordained minister; and my parents were schooled well in reverence, both inside and outside the church building where we worshipped. We did not run in the building. We gave solemn attention to the pastor and his message whether we understood it all or not.

In my adult life, I have travelled extensively throughout the world, where I met some notable church and governmental authorities. Thankfully, I had learned how to be reverent. My parents had taught me well. I learned not to talk in church! I stood. I sang. I sat. I listened; and I learned! To have done less would have been disrespectful to the pastor and the guests and the LORD.

Why is there so much irreverence in churches today? Where is the quiet time of silent prayer and holy meditation? Are we truly there to reverence the LORD? We are living in what may well be the last days of human history! How do we want to be discovered when the LORD returns for us in the Rapture?

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 4:1-4, “I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom:
2 preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction.
3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires,
4 and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths.
5 But you, be sober in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.”

Paul, the aged apostle, is coming to the end of his life and ministry. As with all persons, he is encouraging his companion, Timothy, and all those he loves, to “keep on keeping on” in the ministries of the Gospel to which the LORD Jesus has called them.

Do you remember the first time you read the Scripture that is quoted above? Paul said, “…the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine…” Would you believe that that time has come? Men are now calling themselves “pastors,” without ever having been called of God! That leaves them “free” to proclaim whatever “gospel” they desire.

And people, who recognize that something is missing in their lives, gather to hear these “uncalled” men declare as truth things that deny the true Gospel of our LORD Jesus. What is more, the lifestyles of these false prophets are the very opposite of how the LORD tells us to believe and behave.

True men of God, now departed from this life and residing with the LORD, are suffering lies by charlatans who seek to destroy true Biblical teachings and ministries. Dear friends, don’t be deceived! Renounce everything that is not in accordance with Holy Scripture! Stay with the Word of God! Trust personally in the LORD Jesus Christ and in His sound, spiritual teachings! When catastrophe strikes your life, Jesus and His Word are your only hope!

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