The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

Jeremiah 3:12-13, “Go and proclaim these words toward the north and say, ‘Return, faithless Israel,’ declares the LORD; ‘I will not look upon you in anger. For I am gracious,’ declares the LORD; ‘I will not be angry forever.
13 ‘Only acknowledge your iniquity, that you have transgressed against the LORD your God and have scattered your favors to the strangers under every green tree, and you have not obeyed My voice,’ declares the LORD.”

Old Scottish Principal Whyte spoke of the Book of Jeremiah as “the most spiritual book in the Old Testament.” Dr. W. W. White added, “So far as we have a data for judgment, Jeremiah was the healthiest, youngest, bravest, grandest man of Old Testament history.” Jeremiah was indeed called by the LORD to proclaim His Word of judgment against His people.

What a twist of circumstances it is that we have self-proclaimed ministers today, who are committing the very sins the LORD condemned in and through the preaching of Jeremiah!

The initial sin pronounced in our verses above is that of faithlessness. We claim to be the Church of the LORD Jesus Christ, yet we fail to declare the message contained in His righteous Word! Instead, we engage in sin that transgresses and besmirches the integrity of the very LORD we claim to serve.

Sin is really nothing new since even before the days of Jeremiah. What is reprehensible is that we know our sin is wrong, yet we ignore the warning of our LORD’s true ministers and continue to engage in it. The LORD loves us just as a father loves his child; but it is that very love that works to subdue sin and implant righteousness in its place. Don’t resist the ways of the LORD! Listen to Jeremiah! Listen to Godly Pastors! Turn away from sin! Repent and receive Jesus Christ as the LORD of your life. You have nothing to lose except sadness and sorrow and discouragement and death and eternity in the fires of Hell.

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,

Zephaniah 1:4-7, “So I will stretch out My hand against Judah And against all the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And I will cut off the remnant of Baal from this place, And the names of the idolatrous priests along with the priests.
5 “And those who bow down on the housetops to the host of heaven, And those who bow down and swear to the LORD and yet swear by Milcom,
6 And those who have turned back from following the LORD, And those who have not sought the LORD or inquired of Him.”
7 Be silent before the Lord GOD! For the day of the LORD is near, for the LORD has prepared a sacrifice, He has consecrated His guests.”

Recently, I received an email asking if I believed the LORD would allow the United States to experience trials similar to those that plagued Israel when she turned her back on Him. It’s both difficult and dangerous to state specifically what the LORD will do in any given situation. Still, we may rest assured that we (i.e., the USA) will not be granted special privileges. We’ve already received more blessing from the LORD than any nation on Earth! Yet, we continue to ignore Him as if He were not there.

Notice how the priests followed other gods, and how the people followed the ways of their priests. I cannot but think of the scores of “ministers,” whose focus is on the things of this world, rather than the things of Christ. Is it any wonder why their congregations grow? They have the semblance of worship, but have no more interest in the LORD than do the ministers who lead them.

People who are seriously seeking true spiritual help, find themselves often being led by unsaved, non-spiritual pastors, who remind us of Eli’s sons in the First Book of Samuel. We are living closer than we know to the Day of the LORD. Remember the warning: “Be silent before the Lord GOD! For the day of the LORD is near…”

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,

Micah 1:2-7, “Hear, O peoples, all of you; Listen, O earth and all it contains, and let the Lord GOD be a witness against you, the Lord from His holy temple.
3 For behold, the LORD is coming forth from His place. He will come down and tread on the high places of the earth.
4 The mountains will melt under Him and the valleys will be split, like wax before the fire, like water poured down a steep place.
5 All this is for the rebellion of Jacob and for the sins of the house of Israel. What is the rebellion of Jacob? Is it not Samaria? What is the high place of Judah? Is it not Jerusalem?
6 For I will make Samaria a heap of ruins in the open country, planting places for a vineyard. I will pour her stones down into the valley and will lay bare her foundations.
7 All of her idols will be smashed, all of her earnings will be burned with fire and all of her images I will make desolate, for she collected them from a harlot’s earnings, and to the earnings of a harlot they will return.”

All the media needs is a tragedy to make headlines! It doesn’t really matter who it is or where the victim’s from. If it’s a tragedy, it’s a “hit.”

Micah was not looking for headlines. He was seeking to awaken Israel with regard to the judgment that was pending from the LORD! Any ungodly nation might have been divinely selected as the recipient of God’s wrath; but it was Israel who was the focus of the coming tragedy.

When Micah says the LORD will “tread on the high places of the earth,” he means “trample!” The Hebrew word ??????? darak means “stomp,” as when their feet crushed the grapes to make wine. The judgments of the LORD are not playful.

Far too much today exists as if there were no coming judgment. Those who govern in “high places” misbehave as if there were no God unto Whom they are accountable. Bear in mind that Micah’s pronounced judgment focused on the LORD’s own people.

Hear again the prophet’s solemn warning: “…behold, the LORD is coming forth from His Place. He will come down and trample (crush in judgment) the high places of the earth.” Thus, Micah is also sounding a warning to us. A nation is comprised of its people; and we cannot survive and live contrary to the will of Almighty God!

Pray for your nation and her leaders. Divest yourself of all known sins and seek the
LORD’s forgiveness. Almighty God is in charge! He can and will protect, but only those
who are His.

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 40:1-5, “’Comfort, O comfort My people,’ says your God.
2 “Speak kindly to Jerusalem; and call out to her, that her warfare has ended, that her iniquity has been removed, that she has received of the LORD’S hand double for all her sins.”
3 A voice is calling, ‘Clear the way for the LORD in the wilderness; Make smooth in the desert a highway for our God.
4 ‘Let every valley be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; and let the rough ground become a plain, and the rugged terrain a broad valley;
5 Then the glory of the LORD will be revealed, and all flesh will see it together; for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.”

It’s not difficult to encounter people who are hurting. They’re everywhere. There are numerous types of “hurts.” We all understand physical hurt; but there are emotional and spiritual hurts that outweigh the physical.

What is worse than a hurt that’s intentional? Words can hurt, and when the hurt is intentional, it only causes increased pain. Here in our verses we have the LORD’s comforting through the counsel of His prophets. The geography concerns Babylon, close to the end of the captivity.

Despite the sinfulness of the people, the LORD calls for their comfort. They deserve hurt due to their faithlessness; however, the LORD binds up their wounds with the voice of His comfort.

Things had been rough for the disobedient people, but the journey will now be smooth. Valleys and mountains will be leveled equally, requiring less energy for the journey. “Then the glory of the LORD will be revealed,” and everyone will be comforted.

We can know the comfort of the LORD today. He is only obligated, however, to those who are His own. If you are a child of the King… If you have turned away from sin and accepted the LORD Jesus as your LORD and Savior, you can claim His comfort. We all see the same menace sin has brought into this world; but only those who take refuge in Jesus can live in His comfort. Comfort can be yours, but only if you are His.

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,

Joel 1:1-8, “The word of the LORD that came to Joel, the son of Pethuel:
2 Hear this, O elders, and listen, all inhabitants of the land. Has anything like this happened in your days or in your fathers’ days?
3 Tell your sons about it, and let your sons tell their sons, and their sons the next generation.
4 What the gnawing locust has left, the swarming locust has eaten; and what the swarming locust has left, the creeping locust has eaten; and what the creeping locust has left, the stripping locust has eaten.
5 Awake, drunkards, and weep; and wail, all you wine drinkers, on account of the sweet wine that is cut off from your mouth.
6 For a nation has invaded my land, mighty and without number; its teeth are the teeth of a lion, and it has the fangs of a lioness.
7 It has made my vine a waste and my fig tree splinters. It has stripped them bare and cast them away; their branches have become white.
8 Wail like a virgin girded with sackcloth for the bridegroom of her youth.”

I remember well the time and the place when I was asked what all of this “locust business” had to do with us in our day. My reply was both simple and honest: “I do not know.” I would not reply that way today.

Joel is considered by many to be the oldest book of the entire Bible. Written in 835 B.C., it is listed among the Minor Prophets. One biblicist says that Joel is primarily notable for three things: 1) the “grandest description in all literature of locust devastation”; 2) the “first intimation of the outpouring of the Spirit upon all flesh”; and 3) “prophecies that are remarkable for their scope, extending from (Joel’s) own day to the very end of time” (Lee, The Outlined Bible).

The attitude of the populace in verse five is “spot on!” Our world has been invaded and supplanted with substance that destroys and obliterates what our LORD originally intended. Liquor and drugs, gambling and vices extraordinaire abound. What is evil is made to look good. What is good is scorned and discarded!

Even those who represent us in State Legislatures and in Congress purport to oppose the devastation that distilled beverages and drugs cause in our society; nevertheless, they vote to allow them and the ruination they continually produce. One door simply opens another. What’s more, many of these governmental representatives purport to be “Christians.”

Let it be known that much (maybe even most) of what is devastating our world today has
a time of Divine reckoning. And it may be sooner than we think! Thus, saith the LORD…

“Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness
for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for
bitter! 21 Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent
in their own sight! 22 Woe unto them that are mighty to drink wine, and
men of strength to mingle strong drink: 23 which justify the wicked for
reward, and take away the righteousness of the righteous from him
(Isa. 5:20-23)!

Make your choice! Your eternity hangs in the balance! Jesus loves you! Satan is simply
out for what he can get.

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