The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

1 Kings 3:7-10, “Now, O LORD my God, You have made Your servant king in place of my father David, yet I am but a little child; I do not know how to go out or come in.
8 “Your servant is in the midst of Your people which You have chosen, a great people who are too many to be numbered or counted.
9 “So give Your servant an understanding heart to judge Your people to discern between good and evil. For who is able to judge this great people of Yours?”
10 It was pleasing in the sight of the Lord that Solomon had asked this thing.”

The stature of the LORD is far above the mightiest of His creation. David, despite his human frailties, sought earnestly to serve the LORD. Solomon, David’s son, notwithstanding his own human frailties, honored the LORD and ruled well His people.

The LORD then honored Solomon and bestowed upon him wisdom that exceeded the wisdom of all other men. To this day we honor Solomon for his wisdom. Yet, his desire
was to possess an understanding heart and “to discern between good and evil.”

Undoubtedly, Solomon exhibited the desire of the LORD when he said, “How much better it is to get wisdom than gold! And to get understanding is to be chosen above silver. The highway of the upright is to depart from evil; he who watches his way preserves his life” (Prov. 16:16-17). Further, Solomon said, “It is better to be humble in spirit with the lowly than to divide the spoil with the proud” (Prov. 16:19).

So much of Solomon’s teachings are avoided today! Those who would be leaders at any
level of human government would do well to study the Proverbs of Solomon. They are time-
tested truths that work well at any and all levels of human society. How desperately we
need their wisdom today!

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,

Genesis 43:3-9, “Judah spoke to him, however, saying, ‘The man solemnly warned us, “You shall not see my face unless your brother is with you.”
4 ‘If you send our brother with us, we will go down and buy you food.
5 ‘But if you do not send him, we will not go down; for the man said to us, “You will not see my face unless your brother is with you.”’
6 Then Israel said, “Why did you treat me so badly by telling the man whether you still had another brother?” But they said, “The man questioned particularly about us and our relatives, saying, ‘Is your father still alive? Have you another brother?’ So we answered his questions. Could we possibly know that he would say, ‘Bring your brother down’?”
8 Judah said to his father Israel, “Send the lad with me and we will arise and go, that we may live and not die, we as well as you and our little ones.
9 “I myself will be surety for him; you may hold me responsible for him. If I do not bring him back to you and set him before you, then let me bear the blame before you forever.”

Were you ever in a “tight and squirrely” position, where regardless of how you answered a question. you were going to be found liable? That’s what Joseph’s brothers faced when they were seeking to purchase food from the Ruler of Egypt. Thus far, the brothers had escaped having to reveal to Pharaoh that they had a younger brother.

Pharaoh may have been playing games with the brothers, but they were not amused. They
had promised, Israel, their father, to protect their young brother, Joseph. Yet, Pharaoh was
demanding to see the child or there would be no sale of the food Israel’s family desperately
needed.

Have you ever been in a dilemma like this? Perhaps, your experience was never quite so
serious, yet at the moment, it seemed ever bit as serious. What do you do? The Scriptures tell us to “trust in the LORD”; and knowing He could handle the situation, you did.

Then, along came another situation that required the same response as the previous
situation. What did you do then? Did you immediately respond as you had previously? Or
did you have to reassess everything from the beginning?

One thing is certain: you can always trust the LORD to do what is right! If you’re living for
Him daily, your assessment will be quick and without need for re-evaluation. Remember
this saying: “It’s never right to do wrong to do right.”

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 122:1-9, “…I was glad when they said to me, “Let us go to the house of the LORD.”
2 Our feet are standing within your gates, O Jerusalem,
3 Jerusalem, that is built as a city that is compact together;
4 To which the tribes go up, even the tribes of the LORD– an ordinance for Israel– to give thanks to the name of the LORD.
5 For there thrones were set for judgment, the thrones of the house of David.
6 Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: “May they prosper who love you.
7 “May peace be within your walls, and prosperity within your palaces.”
8 For the sake of my brothers and my friends, I will now say, “May peace be within you.”
9 For the sake of the house of the LORD our God, I will seek your good.”

There was a day when people, who were seeking safety, would run into the House of the LORD. Their thinking was that wherever the LORD had refuge was surely the safest place.
Such thinking surely abounds yet today. At the same time, however, it is vitally necessary
that we be His people before we can claim His security.

Television from Jerusalem yesterday showed two young men stopping Israelis coming from the Wailing Wall and engaging them in questions from the Old Testament. Listening closely, it became apparent that the two Westerners were addressing the Israelis in Hebrew. When they began to speak in English, it was immediately clear that they were witnessing of the LORD Jesus Christ.

Taking advantage of any situation to share Christ is expedient! We should pray for the
Israelis as they face extreme dangers. Not all Iranians are Muslims. The presence of war
in the Middle East offers the opportunity to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ regardless of
where you live. We all have neighbors; and our neighbors have problems. Opportunities
abound for sharing Jesus Christ!

“For the sake of my brothers and my friends, I will now say, ‘May peace be within you.’
For the sake of the house of the LORD our God, I will seek your good’” (Psa 122:8-9).

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,

Genesis 32:24-28, “Then Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him until daybreak.
25 When he saw that he had not prevailed against him, he touched the socket of his thigh; so the socket of Jacob’s thigh was dislocated while he wrestled with him.
26 Then he said, “Let me go, for the dawn is breaking.” But he said, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.”
27 So he said to him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Jacob.”
28 He said, “Your name shall no longer be Jacob, but Israel; for you have striven with God and with men and have prevailed.”

Israel is at war! That’s hardly news, especially if you read the Old Testament. Joshua 10:42
tells us that “the God of Israel, fought for Israel.” If you watch the news on television, you just
might come to the same conclusion.

It would be a mistake to view Israel as a “Christian” nation. By and large, the Israelis are not
Christians! At the same time, some of the miracles that have attended some of the Israeli
people would make you wonder. Our last verse above finds the LORD Himself saying, “Your
name shall no longer be Jacob, but Israel.” In my view, that brings the Jewish people a step or
two closer to becoming Christians. Closer, but they’re not there yet.

Recently, I witnessed the television confessions of two young Iranian women, who had come to
faith in Jesus Christ. Every Jewish woman should know the LORD Jesus Christ like these two
Iranian women! Yes, they suffered –and at the hands of their own people—just like the Jews.
But their faith in Jesus Christ is undeniable and productive in their witness for Him! (We should
all have such a witness!)

I trust you have a prayer list. Remember Psalm 122:6-9 that says,

6“Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: “May they prosper who love you.
9 May peace be within you walls, and prosperity within your palaces.
8 For the sake of my brothers and my friends, I will now say, “May peace be within you.”
9 For the sake of the house of the LORD our God, I will seek your good.”

By the way, the LORD seeks your good, too! Thank Him, and stay out of the way!

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 4:11-14, “Whoever speaks, is to do so as one who is speaking the utterances of God; whoever serves is to do so as one who is serving by the strength which God supplies; so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belongs the glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.
12 Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you;
13 but to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing, so that also at the revelation of His glory you may rejoice with exultation.
14 If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you.”

Simon Peter is often criticized in the Scriptures for saying thing out of place. He was often
criticized by the LORD Himself for speaking out of turn or saying things that were not in accord
with the Scriptures.

At the same time, the old rough and ready fisherman, said and did some things that were both
to his credit and enabling to believers centuries after his passing. Oh, that that might be said of
us as well!

In the above passage, we are encouraged to live and serve to the glory of God! Our profession
of knowing Jesus Christ ought always to match with the way we live. Jesus suffered; therefore, it should be no surprise to us that we are also called upon to suffer! At the same time, Peter notes
that we should rejoice for the privilege of suffering. Yet, most of the time, we complain by asking,
“Why are we suffering?” We ought to view suffering as a privilege when it‘s for His Name!

Most of us probably have difficulty understanding how Peter could say that we are blessed through suffering. Yet, we should know that the Spirit of glory and of God always rests on us.

When Rose Marie and I encountered difficulties in life, she always responded by singing:

Cheer up, ye saints of God! There’s nothing to worry about;
Nothing to make you feel afraid; nothing to make you doubt;
Remember Jesus never fails, so why not trust Him and shout?
You’ll be sorry you worried at all tomorrow morning.”

He never failed us, regardless of how difficult the situation appeared!
(Thank you, Sweetheart!)

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