The Grands Letter

Dear Friends,

Proverbs 3:13-18, “How blessed is the man who finds wisdom and the man who gains understanding.
14 For her profit is better than the profit of silver and her gain better than fine gold.
15 She is more precious than jewels; and nothing you desire compares with her.
16 Long life is in her right hand; in her left hand are riches and honor.
17 Her ways are pleasant ways and all her paths are peace.
18 She is a tree of life to those who take hold of her, and happy are all who hold her fast.”

It’s helpful when reading the Proverbs to remember that Solomon was their human author. Solomon emphasizes for us what was most precious to him: first is wisdom, second is understanding. “Wisdom” is a derivative of the word “wise.” And “wise” comes from the Hebrew word sakal, meaning “prudent,” possessing the ability to guide others in the proper way.

“Understanding” (tachbulah) rightly presumes a “depth of understanding, that produces counsel, each of which far exceeds the worth of silver or gold or even precious jewels.

I hate like thunder to say this, but Solomon values the right hand over the left.
(I have one grandson, who is left-handed; yet, his discernment of things has yet to be found in error.)

It’s always good to close with a happy note, so let us read slowly and pray that these instructions will produce for us and for our nation what they produced for Solomon: “Her ways are pleasant ways and all her paths are peace.”

Heartily in Christ Jesus,

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.
Springdale, Arkansas
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,

Proverbs 3:5-12, “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding.
6 In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.
7 Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and turn away from evil.
8 It will be healing to your body and refreshment to your bones.
9 Honor the LORD from your wealth and from the first of all your produce;
10 So your barns will be filled with plenty and your vats will overflow with new wine.
11 My son, do not reject the discipline of the LORD or loathe His reproof,
12 For whom the LORD loves He reproves, even as a father corrects the son in whom he delights.”

So many delightful truths come to us via the Proverbs! If today, I were to commence to read the Bible through and through, I believe I would start with the Book of Proverbs.

Can you ever recall a day when we needed more to trust Him? So many factors in life seem to require our total trust in the LORD. What’s more, the closer we are to our need, the more intense is our trust in Him. We need to acknowledge the LORD in all things!

At the same time, we must be attentive to our walk with Him. Trust is not the only factor required for those gargantuan problems that smother us; virtually everything that touches our lives requires trust in the LORD.

Being delivered from situations that only He can attend, requires our complete trust in Him. What is the most difficult issue with which you are currently dealing? Have you prayed about it? Are you endeavoring to follow the LORD’s directive like you follow that of your physician?

Honor the LORD in the whole of your life! Follow His directives as completely as you would your physician’s. He is able to do exceedingly abundant, above all that you think or ask. Just don’t forget to say “Thank YOU!”

Heartily in Christ Jesus,

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.
Springdale, Arkansas
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,

Proverbs 3:5-13, “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding.
6 In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.
7 Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and turn away from evil.
8 It will be healing to your body and refreshment to your bones.
9 Honor the LORD from your wealth and from the first of all your produce;
10 So your barns will be filled with plenty and your vats will overflow with new wine.
11 My son, do not reject the discipline of the LORD or loathe His reproof,
12 For whom the LORD loves He reproves, even as a father corrects the son in whom he delights.
13 How blessed is the man who finds wisdom and the man who gains understanding.”

It’s not easy to stand still when someone tells you what to believe and how to (and not to) express it openly. “What’s the matter with them? Don’t they think we have any rights at all?

Truth be told, when we belong to Jesus Christ, the rights we have
are the rights He allows us to have. Furthermore, we have the right to express those rights only when He allows us to do it!

We are who we are and where we live on this earth by the unchallengeable grace and power of the LORD God Himself! If the Jews have rights (and they certainly do!), they have them with the permission of the Heavenly Father. It’s the same with us as Christians. The LORD is in charge of everything.

We are responsible to live committedly unto Him. That includes feasting daily on His Word, spending quality time with Him in prayer, and denying everything that arises solely from within our own will and by and for our own benefit. As His born-again believers, we are responsible to obey Him in all things!

Give that last verse above a clear and careful re-read:
“How blessed is the man who finds wisdom and the man who gains understanding.” God bless you in your daily walk with Him!

Heartily in Christ Jesus,

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.
Springdale, Arkansas
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,

Proverbs 3:19-26, “The LORD by wisdom founded the earth, by understanding He established the heavens.
20 By His knowledge the deeps were broken up and the skies drip with dew.
21 My son, let them not vanish from your sight; keep sound wisdom and discretion,
22 So they will be life to your soul and adornment to your neck.
23 Then you will walk in your way securely and your foot will not stumble.
24 When you lie down, you will not be afraid; when you lie down, your sleep will be sweet.
25 Do not be afraid of sudden fear nor of the onslaught of the wicked when it comes;
26 For the LORD will be your confidence and will keep your foot from being caught.”

Have you ever met someone who (so far as you could tell) truly believed that he (or she) possessed wisdom beyond all others? Well, there are a host of people in the world today, who think they possess the knowledge of almost, if not, all things. They claim also to possess wisdom. What they do possess, you don’t want!

It’s difficult, if not impossible, to have an honest conversation with such people. They would have you to believe that no one on the planet knows what they know. They believe that you are unusual, insofar as you have been blessed with their encounter. O, my!

Yet, just a cursory re-reading of the Scripture above tells us (and I am included!) that no one knows everything –no one, that is, but the LORD!

What makes this sad is that we have the opportunity to know far more than we do! The LORD Himself gives us insight into His wisdom; yet, we too often miss it because we’re preoccupied with too many lesser things.

Please carefully re-read the Scripture above, and think of how much you have missed because you’re focused on the lesser things in life.

There’s an old children’s hymn that says:

“Turn your eyes upon Jesus;
Look full in His wonderful Face;
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
In the light of His glory and grace.”

When our eyes are focused on Him, our hearts and minds will then be to the praise of His glory!

Heartily in Christ Jesus,

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.
Springdale, Arkansas
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,

Psalm 37:12-20, “The wicked plots against the righteous and gnashes at him with his teeth.
13 The Lord laughs at him, for He sees his day is coming.
14 The wicked have drawn the sword and bent their bow to cast down the afflicted and the needy, to slay those who are upright in conduct.
15 Their sword will enter their own heart, and their bows will be broken.
16 Better is the little of the righteous than the abundance of many wicked.
17 For the arms of the wicked will be broken, but the LORD sustains the righteous.
18 The LORD knows the days of the blameless, and their inheritance will be forever.
19 They will not be ashamed in the time of evil, and in the days of famine they will have abundance.
20 But the wicked will perish; and the enemies of the LORD will be like the glory of the pastures, they vanish– like smoke they vanish away.”

There is no way around it. When the wicked do wrong, they will inevitably pay the price for going against the LORD. The arrogance of the wicked always says, “I will triumph over the ways
of the LORD. Nor shall His people survive against me!” What has the LORD to say about that?

What does He say? “Their sword will enter their own heart. And their bows will be broken. Better is the little of the righteous than the abundance of many wicked.” Why do the wicked always believe they will survive victoriously in battles against the LORD?
“Better is the little of the righteous,” the LORD says; “than the abundance of many wicked.”

Two teams aggressively take to the field to play. One seems so small, in comparison to the other. They look… like… H U G E! Those supporting the smaller team, hold their breath! “They’re going to make mincemeat out of our guys,” sideline supporters of the smaller team say. They almost wish they hadn’t come!

Then the game begins! Yet, to the amazement of that fearful sideline, those BIG guys were slow. The quarterback drills the ball toward the end zone, but there’s no one there! None of those BIG guys were fast enough to grab the ball. You know the end result. And you leave the field thinking, “Ya know, bigness isn’t everything!”

The LORD is our Coach! We’ve been expertly taught. No one knows “the game” like our Coach! Why are we worrying?
We have only one genuine concern: it is that we are on the Coach’s Team!

There’s an old story of a young preacher-boy. He had been asked by the old pastor to preach to the congregation that Sunday morning. The boy was acting like he was “somethin’ else.” When the time came, he swaggered up to the pulpit, winked at a few friends, uttered a few words of prayer and began his message. He had not be in the pulpit long before he confused his Scripture. He got his notes out-of-order and fumbled his way to the end of his sermon. In abject embarrassment, he left the rostrum and flopped down on the pew by the old pastor.

“What went wrong?” the young pastor asked his mentor. “Son,” the old pastor said, “If you had gone up the way you came down, you would have come down the way you went up.” That was the very problem with the wicked in our verses above. “Better is the little of the righteous than the abundance of many wicked.”

Be righteous, and be encouraged!

Heartily in Christ,

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