The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

Genesis 12:1-3, “Now the LORD said to Abram, ‘Go forth from your country, and from your relatives and from your father’s house, to the land which I will show you;
2 And I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great; and so you shall be a blessing;
3 And I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.’”

It has well been said that “there’s no place like home.” Home, of course, includes more than
a house; it’s the people that live there, the family. But, what would you do if officials of your local government were to order you to vacate your house and move elsewhere? My guess is that you would immediately contact an attorney.

But what if it were the LORD who ordered you to vacate your abode along with all the many collectibles you had accumulated over the years? Leaving behind all of your possessions is not an easy thought. What the LORD said to Abram, however, was tougher still. He ordered him to
leave his entire family, his country, and move to a distant land. It was an exceedingly tough commission.

At the same time, it encompassed a huge, divine promise! The LORD promised to make Abram a great nation with multiple blessings. Further, Abram was to be a blessing to those
who currently lived in the land. But, what about those already in the land, and who opposed Abram’s residence? The LORD promised to deal appropriately with them.

My family and I know what it is to be called to leave home and live and work in another land.
Some aspects of that calling were quite difficult. At the same time, we belonged to the LORD,
so it was encumbent upon us to do as He had commissioned us. There were indeed a host of
difficulties involved in a move halfway around the world. Yet, the spiritual fruit that we encountered was much more valuable than we could ever have anticipated.

The LORD always knows what is best. Furthermore, He loves His own and provides and protects according to His promise. Don’t ever be afraid of adhering to His calls. There are
five “blessings” alone in our passage above. Apart from the scores of persons that we witnessed as being blessed of the LORD, there remain many more whose friendships we will cherish until we meet again in Glory! “It will be worth it all when we see Jesus!”

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 59:1-11, “Behold, the LORD’S hand is not so short that it cannot save; nor is His ear so dull that it cannot hear.
2 But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden His face from you so that He does not hear.
3 For your hands are defiled with blood and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken falsehood, your tongue mutters wickedness.
4 No one sues righteously and no one pleads honestly. They trust in confusion and speak lies; they conceive mischief and bring forth iniquity.
5 They hatch adders’ eggs and weave the spider’s web; he who eats of their eggs dies, and from that which is crushed a snake breaks forth.
6 Their webs will not become clothing, nor will they cover themselves with their works; their works are works of iniquity, and an act of violence is in their hands.
7 Their feet run to evil, and they hasten to shed innocent blood; their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity, devastation and destruction are in their highways.
8 They do not know the way of peace, and there is no justice in their tracks; they have made their paths crooked, whoever treads on them does not know peace.
9 Therefore justice is far from us, and righteousness does not overtake us; we hope for light, but behold, darkness, for brightness, but we walk in gloom.
10 We grope along the wall like blind men, We grope like those who have no eyes; We stumble at midday as in the twilight, among those who are vigorous we are like dead men.
11 All of us growl like bears, and moan sadly like doves; we hope for justice, but there is none, for salvation, but it is far from us.”

Were I the Chaplain of the U. S. Senate but for one day, I would be sorely inclined to read this passage with all the emphases and implications it conveys that apply to our United States. The gloom that currently hangs over our nation like an infectious cloud, does so largely because of the multiple iniquities that hang over two of our three Houses of Government.

Isaiah prophesied for more than 50 years; and his words are cited in the New Testament more than any other Old Testament prophet. It is said that “the primary task of the Old Testament prophets was not to foretell future events, but to forthtell the will of God which He had revealed to His prophets” (Jensen, 320-321).

No past, present or future situation is outside of the LORD’s awareness or His ability to control. Nor has He overlooked the slightest minutiae within these situations. The problems that harass us are the problems we have either caused or failed to erase through confession. Read again verse 9, “Therefore, justice is far from us, and righteousness does not overtake us.”

It is not that justice and righteousness are not available to us; rather, it is that our actions have disabled our right to them. The messes we want cleaned up are the messes we alone have created. We grope and stumble and growl and moan, but His salvation is far from us.

Repentance of our own sins will affect the healing of our nation and its problems. The Covenant of the LORD is with us, provided we meet the standard He sets before us:

“My Spirit which is upon you, and My words which I have put in your mouth
shall not depart from your mouth, nor from the mouth of your offspring, nor
from the mouth of your offspring’s offspring,” says the LORD, “from now and
forever” (Isa. 59:21).

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,

John 8:31-36, “So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, ‘If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine;
32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.’
33 They answered Him, ‘We are Abraham’s descendants and have never yet been enslaved to anyone; how is it that You say, “You will become free?”
34 Jesus answered them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of
sin.
35 ‘The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son does remain forever.
36 ‘So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.’”

In these six verses of John’s Gospel, we discover two of the most important words that affect
all people of all times. The words are “truth” and “free.” Interestingly, truth is what we want
from others; free is what we want for ourselves. Both words, however, are inextricably
connected with the other. We are bound by sin, it is Truth that sets us free.

Those who insist upon twisting truth into lies are forever bound by truth’s absence. Lies are sins, and sins are links in the chain that binds us. Solomon said,

“Words from the mouth of a wise man are gracious, while the lips
of a fool consume him; the beginning of his talking is folly and the
end of it is wicked madness. Yet the fool multiplies words. No man
knows what will happen, and who can tell him what will come after
him?” (Eccl. 10:12-14).

We all want to be free! We want others to tell us the truth, whatever the situation might be.
Yet, are we as free in sharing truth with others as we want them to be with us? Truth releases
us from the bonds of uncertainty. At the same time, there are specifics that are truths to be
told at specific times.

Yet, how are we to know when and to what extent a truth is to be told? If we are basically
honest, and know and trust the LORD, He will reveal to us when we are to speak and to what
extent we are to share with others the truth we know. We may feel under serious pressure in
such times, but the LORD always cares for His own. Just remember: If you always tell the truth, you will always be free!

There is no greater Truth than what we know and can share of our LORD Jesus Christ. Do
you share Him with others? His Truth will set them free!

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,

Ezra 9:10-15, “Now, our God, what shall we say after this? For we have forsaken Your commandments,
11 which You have commanded by Your servants the prophets, saying, ‘The land which you are entering to possess is an unclean land with the uncleanness of the peoples of the lands, with their abominations which have filled it from end to end and with their impurity.
12 ‘So now do not give your daughters to their sons nor take their daughters to your sons, and never seek their peace or their prosperity, that you may be strong and eat the good things of the land and leave it as an inheritance to your sons forever.’
13 “After all that has come upon us for our evil deeds and our great guilt, since You our God have requited us less than our iniquities deserve, and have given us an escaped remnant as this,
14 shall we again break Your commandments and intermarry with the peoples who commit these abominations? Would You not be angry with us to the point of destruction, until there is no remnant nor any who escape?
15 “O LORD God of Israel, You are righteous, for we have been left as an escaped remnant, as it is this day; behold, we are before You in our guilt, for no one can stand before You because of this.”

The gist of Ezra’s prayer includes the awareness that the LORD’s instructive warning did come
through the prophets’ servants. There is no excuse for the intermarriage that had occurred
between Israel’s righteous daughters and the heathen’s unrighteous men. Further, the LORD’s
people are never to seek peace with an evil people or to seek their prosperity. Oh, how often
we are guilty of desiring worldly possessions!

We are to acknowledge the LORD’s righteousness, as He provides us freedom from the lust
of worldly possessions. What He is providing for us here is both tangible and practical. We
must be satisfied with whatever He has provided. This world is not our home; and the tangible
things the world produces and embraces are not for us!

Beyond all of the above instructions, we must realize that our love for this world’s goods will be
what is passed on to our children and their children. And their temptations will be just as ours. They will love what we have loved and passed on to them and to the generations that will follow. We must totally absorb Ezra’s prayer! Let the LORD guide you to love His provisions; for they alone possess His purposes.

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,

Ezra 9:8-9, “But now for a brief moment grace has been shown from the LORD our God, to leave us an escaped remnant and to give us a peg in His holy place, that our God may enlighten our eyes and grant us a little reviving in our bondage.
9 “For we are slaves; yet in our bondage our God has not forsaken us, but has extended lovingkindness to us in the sight of the kings of Persia, to give us reviving to raise up the house of our God, to restore its ruins and to give us a wall in Judah and Jerusalem.

The people had sinned. The prophet has prayed. Now, he cries to the LORD, saying,
“…give us a peg in (Your) holy place” that you might give us “a little reviving in our bondage.”

The prophet Ezra is not-at-all stymied by what has taken place. He knows without a doubt
that the LORD has heard and reverenced his prayer for the people. Forgiveness is not a
signal that designates the people as sinless against their God. Rather, it is a signal that
while the people are indeed guilty of their sin, they worship a God who is able and ready to
forgive.

Asking forgiveness carries with it the innate promise of the sinner not to sin again against the LORD. A “peg” is a piece of wood that is driven into the wall and upon which something is firmly held. It amounts to the people crying, “LORD, just give us another opportunity to be stable and not ever to sin in this way again.” How often we all have prayed like this!

Hopefully, we will learn from our mistakes. We sin. We ask forgiveness. The LORD forgives us. But, then–! We all need to slow down and think! Was it not David himself who prayed,

“…keep back Your servant from presumptuous sins; Let them not rule
over me. Then I will be blameless, And I shall be acquitted of great
transgression” (Psalm 19:13).

May our gracious, loving, patient and forgiving LORD erase the wrongs we have committed! And may He give us the opportunity to show love to Him by forsaking our sin.

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