The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

Genesis 1:14-15: “Then God said, ‘Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night, and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years; 15and let them be for lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth’; and it was so.’”

Words are extremely important! They can produce laughter. They can also produce anger. They can reveal things, by enlightening them. They can conceal things by beclouding them.

Words also express numerous variations to all of the above. One can speak softly; another can speak harshly! Some words are instructive, while others are destructive. Some are emphasized by the volume given to them; others, by the softness with which they are spoken.

“Word explosions” are often upsetting; while, at the same time, they are enlightening and encouraging.

There are innumerable ways to give “weight” to the words in Scripture. Check the “weight” by the number
of times the following words are used:

“Word” = 1,287 — Gen 11:1
“Spoke” = 1,455 – Gen 8:15
“heard” = 1,137 — Gen 3:8
“seen” = 1,982 — Gen. 1:4-31
“witness” = 144 — Gen 21:30

Spoken words are either soft or harsh! We have to be careful how we express them. More importantly, perhaps, is how we are viewed (“seen”) by others, since what they see of us remains longer in their memories
(1,982) than what they have heard (1,137).

Remind yourself today of the children’s verse:

“Remember little lips what you say;
Remember little lips what you say;
For the Father up above,
Is listening down in love;
Be careful little lips what you say.”

Heartily in Christ Jesus,

(Dado III)

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.
Springdale, Arkansas 72764
United States of America

“We will never know that Christ is all we need
until He becomes all that we have.”
– Corrie ten Boom

Dear Grands,

Luke 4:33-36, “In the synagogue there was a man possessed by the
spirit of an unclean demon, and he cried out with a loud voice,
34 “Let us alone! What business do we have with each other, Jesus of Nazareth? Have You come to destroy us? I know who You are– the
Holy One of God!”
35 But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be quiet and come out of him!”
And when the demon had thrown him down in the midst of the people,
he came out of him without doing him any harm.
36 And amazement came upon them all, and they began talking with
one another saying, “What is this message? For with authority and
power He commands the unclean spirits and they come out.”

Notice that demon spirits existed in New Testament times even in the
synagogue! Demon spirits exist today and in churces. Some of the
most outlandish things –things that are abhorant to the LORD Himself—
occur in what are called “churches” today!

When men and women, not called of God, find it self-expedient to occupy pulpits, the masses become mistakenly informed, as if the
declarations were from God. Thus, they go away filled with husks
instead of Biblical truths.

Large crowds are no indication of spiritual truths that fill and energize
the human soul. What truly matters is whether the Word of God has
been cleanly and accurately taught from the Scriptures. Solomon
wrote, “He who leads the upright astray in an evil way, will himself
fall into his own pit, but the blameless will inherit good” (Prov. 28:10).

“Seek the LORD and His strength; seek His face continually.
Remember His wonders which He has done, His marvels and
the judgments uttered by His mouth…” (Ps. 105:4-5).

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,

Mark 16:16-17, “And He said to them, ‘Go into all the world and
preach the gospel to all creation.
16 ‘He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved;
but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned.’”

I had never been subjected to the cost of a personal testimony
until recently. Listening to the testimony of an Iranian woman,
and learning first-hand the cost of being a Christian in Iran, made
me thoroughly ashamed of how seldom I really share Jesus Christ.

Yes, I’ve gone “into the world” and “preached the gospel,” but that
should not be the end of our witnessing. We have a responsibility
to share Christ by the way that we live –our actions, our attitudes,
as well as sharing our faith in Him with others.

Believing in Jesus is our whole-hearted trust and faith in His saving
power. Baptism is the overt action that demonstrates our faith. Only
the Blood of Jesus saves us from our sins; baptism acknowledges
to others that we have trusted Jesus Christ as our Savior, and that
He has saved us eternally.

If you don’t know Him, trust Him today! If you have trusted Him, tell someone about Him today! You’ll both be glad you did.

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,

Matthew 16:21-25, “From that time Jesus began to show His disciples
that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders
and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised up on the third
day.
22 Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, ‘God forbid it,
Lord! This shall never happen to You.’
23 But He turned and said to Peter, ‘Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on God’s interests,
but man’s.’
24 Then Jesus said to His disciples, ‘If anyone wishes to come after Me,
he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.
25 ‘For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his
life for My sake will find it.’”

Did you ever speak-up without thinking clearly what you were going to say?
Boy, I have! And many times, it proved to be an big embarrassment! Every-
one turns to look at you, and you’re so rattled that you’ve almost forgotten
what you said –you just wished everyone else would forget it, as well.

Fortunately for me, I was often challenging someone of my own standing.
Peter elected to challenge Jesus’ very statement: “God forbid it, Lord! This
shall never happen to You!”

Just imagine! Peter could have asked how Jesus knew…, He could have asked for more information. Yet, he challenged Jesus’ Sonship with the
Father! There is virtually nothing more severe Peter could have asked!

Jesus’ rebuke was huge! And He did address it to Peter. However, I don’t
think Jesus meant that Peter was Satan. I believe He was addressing
Satan, who had infiltrated Peter’s thinking! Let such infiltration never be ours!

Haven’t you on occasion said something that you later wondered what made you say it? Could it not have been Satan who induced you to say it? Certainly, it could have been. We believers must guard ourselves against the Adversary.
And we do that by literally “living in the Scriptures!” They alone are His Words!
Is the Bible your best read of every day? Have you read it today? It exists for
your benefit.

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,

Numbers 32:20-23, “So Moses said to them, ‘If you will do this, if you
will arm yourselves before the LORD for the war,
21 and all of you armed men cross over the Jordan before the LORD
until He has driven His enemies out from before Him,
22 and the land is subdued before the LORD, then afterward you shall
return and be free of obligation toward the LORD and toward Israel, and
this land shall be yours for a possession before the LORD.
23 “But if you will not do so, behold, you have sinned against the LORD,
and be sure your sin will find you out.’”

The original plan was that all tribes that comprised the nation of Israel
were to cross the Jordan River and occupy the land that the LORD had
given them to possess. The sons of Reuben and of Gad, however, had
previously built on land that first approached the Jordan, and begged to
remain on the first side of the Jordan River.

Moses persuaded Ruben and Gad to cross the Jordan and fight with their
brothers until that land was secured. Then they would be allowed to return
to their homes and live on the other side of the Jordan. At that point, the
two families would then be free from their obligation to the LORD and to
their brothers. His warning, however, was that should they fail to support
their brothers, they could be sure that their “sins would find them out.”

It is quite serious to brake a promise made to one’s fellowman. It is even
more serious still to break a promise made to the LORD Almighty! When
was the last time you made a serious promise to the LORD? Have you
kept it? Has it occurred to you that failure to keep that promise may just
be the reason He has not responded to you favorably as you wanted?

Don’t beat yourself up! But be reasonable as to why a special prayer has
not been answered. Could it just be that some sin has “found you 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