The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

Exodus 14:31, “When Israel saw the great power which the LORD had used against the Egyptians, the people feared the LORD, and they believed in Him and in His servant Moses.”
Exodus 15:1-2, “Then Moses and the sons of Israel sang this
song to the LORD, and said, ‘I will sing to the LORD, for He is
highly exalted; the horse and its rider He has hurled into the sea.
2 ‘The LORD is my strength and song, and He has become my
salvation; this is my God, and I will praise Him; my father’s God, and I will extol Him.’”

Israel did not always rejoice in the LORD. But when they did,
They did it with all their might and in the fullness of joy! Note
first that they “believed in the LORD.” It may seem somewhat
axiomatic to say that because unbelief would hardly be the
rationale for praise. Yet, Israel’s defeat of the Egyptians could
only result in their loud, genuine, overt praise to the LORD!

The LORD was their strength and song; and while Israel’s victory was a physical victory, it was, at its base, a spiritual victory! So
it is with all victories. When the LORD has led us in spiritual
victory, we clearly see that He is victorious for us in all victories!

Are you currently fighting some spiritual battles? How dependent
are you upon the LORD for victory in these battles? The LORD
is not simply a fellow-soldier, He is the virtual key to all victories!
Let Him cleanse your heart from sin, and renew within you the
confidence in Him –confidence that you may have forgotten.
Trust in the key! Just trust Him and see!

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,

Revelation 11:3, “And I will grant authority to my two
witnesses, and they will prophesy for twelve hundred and
sixty days…”
Romans 9:1, “I am telling the truth in Christ, I am not lying,
my conscience testifies with me in the Holy Spirit…”
John 19:35, “And he who has seen has testified, and his
testimony is true; and he knows that he is telling the truth,
so that you also may believe.”

My mother was an inveterate reader. She read the Bible,
she read the classics. If it had been put into print, she read
it. Therefore, I’m confident that she was familiar with Mark
Twain’s comment: “If you tell the truth, you don’t have to
remember anything.”

Of all the principles with which I was familiar, telling the
truth was number one on the list! Not all of my school-aged
friends were truth-tellers. But, when one of them was called
into court on a theft-charge, I clearly remember telling him
“Just tell the truth, that’s all you need to remember.”

Telling the truth recently arose to prominence when a
formerly known liar took the stand in a New York court
room. The three Biblical quotations listed above in this
Grands Letter are spiritual mandates from the LORD! He
is not a liar, and He does not wish us to be one, either!

Whether the problem is a neighbor’s broken window, or
who started a nasty rumor in the neighborhood, all that
matters is that we, who are His blood-bought children, tell
the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. In that
way we honor the LORD as our Heavenly Father, and we
don’t have to remember everything, either!

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 37:3-9, “Trust in the LORD and do good; dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness.
4 Delight yourself in the LORD; and He will give you the desires of your heart.
5 Commit your way to the LORD, trust also in Him, and He will do it.
6 He will bring forth your righteousness as the light and your judgment as the noonday.
7 Rest in the LORD and wait patiently for Him; do not fret because of him who prospers in his way, because of the man who carries out wicked schemes.
8 Cease from anger and forsake wrath; do not fret; it leads only to evildoing.
9 For evildoers will be cut off, but those who wait for the LORD, they will inherit the land.”

When I first selected these verses for our next Grands Letter, it
was my intent simply to emphasize the the idea of “trusting” the LORD in all things! Yet, the idea was glaringly before me that
trusting in the LORD requires “doing good.” Once that was clear,
it became evident that “delighting” in Him and “trusting” Him and
“committing” ourselves to Him –were all equally required of us.

Remember when you were a child? Remember your mother’s
promise of something good if you behaved yourself in the home
of the one you and she were to visit? Well, it’s quite similar with
respect to anything we submit as a request to the LORD. He will
do His part if you will do yours.

Trust; do good; delight; commit; be patience; cease all anger; forsake wrath; don’t behave discontentedly. Eight simple “do’s and don’ts. Those are the things a mother wants from her child at all times, but especially when they are visiting someone in another person’s home. Does that seem unreasonable? Surely not.

The LORD promises good things, too. Of course, we are to
behave according to His instructions. We get His instructions
from the Bible; and we are commanded to read and obey it every day. You haven’t forgotten that your mother promised something
good, have you? Well, just don’t forget that your Heavenly Father has something good for you, as well. So, “trust in the LORD and do good.” His promises will overflow with blessings!

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 15:1-6, “After these things the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision, saying, ‘Do not fear, Abram, I am a shield to you; Your reward shall be very great.’
2 Abram said, ‘O Lord GOD, what will You give me, since I am childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?’
3 And Abram said, ‘Since You have given no offspring to me, one born in my house is my heir.’
4 Then behold, the word of the LORD came to him, saying, ‘This man will not be your heir; but one who will come forth from your own body, he shall be your heir.’
5 And He took him outside and said, ‘Now look toward the heavens, and count the stars, if you are able to count them.’ And He said to him, ‘So shall your descendants be.’
6 Then he believed in the LORD; and He reckoned it to him as
righteousness.”

Have you ever met someone who was presented with a nice gift, yet behaved as if it were less worthy than the one who had given it? Let’s say you had a rich friend, known throughout the entire area as one who possessed more than anyone could count. But when the gift he gave was opened, anticipating faces suddenly turned to a gloomy disappointment.

Gifts are the business of the giver. This makes us critical of Abram; for in the passage above, he seemed like a small child, whimpering over the lack of an heir. Yet, the gift he was given was less than he expected.

Has that ever happened to you? You wanted a bicycle –but you were given little hand toys that buzzed when you tossed them gently into the air.

The promise of the LORD, however less than Abram expected, was surely more than he was worth –at least, at that time. Abram was concerned that he had no family, so he whimpered until the LORD revealed how extensive His promise to Abram actually was!

The psalmist says: “Trust in the LORD and do good; dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness. 4 Delight yourself in the LORD; and He will give you the desires of your heart. 5 Commit your way
to the LORD, trust also in Him, and He will do it. 6 He will bring
forth your righteousness as the light and your judgment as the
noonday” (Psalm 37:3-6). Just trust Him and see!

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,

Ephesians 4:11-15, “And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers,
12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ;
13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.
14 As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming;
15 but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ…”

“He looks just like his mother, but he has his father’s eyes.” How
often have you heard relatives express themselves with respect
to how a nephew or a niece appears like his mother or father?

Consider the following humanitarian aspects. The number of times that each characteristic is mentioned in the Bible is noted,
but be careful not to adopt the accompanying habits.

1.Eye = 566 – be careful of temptations (short term urges)
2.Ear = 203 – be careful of perceptions (external stimuli)
3.Mouth = 380 – be careful of expressions (verbal notation)
4.Hand = 1693 – be careful of manipulations (exploit, control, influence)
5.Foot = 385 – be careful of navigation (processing a route)

These five human aspects are often the bridle that stears and
directs our lives toward (or away from) the manner of our LORD
Jesus Christ. It is imperative that we guard ourselves from the
negative aspects that are numbered above. Perhaps none of us
is too old to remember the little children’s song that says…

“Be careful little eyes what you see;
Be carefull little eyes what you see;
For the Father up Above
Is looking down in Love,
So, be careful little eyes what you see.”

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