The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

Ezra 7:1, 10-13, “Now after these things, in the reign of Artaxerxes king of Persia, there went up Ezra son of Seraiah…
10Ezra had set his heart to study the law of the LORD and to practice it, and to teach His statutes and ordinances in Israel.
Now this is the copy of the decree which King Artaxerxes gave to Ezra the priest, the scribe, learned in the words of the commandments of the LORD and His statutes to Israel:
12 “Artaxerxes, king of kings, to Ezra the priest, the scribe of the law of the God of heaven, perfect peace. And now
13 I have issued a decree that any of the people of Israel and their priests and the Levites in my kingdom who are willing to go to Jerusalem, may go with you.

Have you ever wondered what happened to the nation of Persia? Would it surprise you to learn that Persia changed its name to Iran back in 1935? Back then, Persian was a totally different country.

One source says, “In 1935, Reza Shah Pahlavi officially changed the name of Persia to Iran. The decision was made to reflect a new beginning and modernization of the country’s image, distancing it from colonial and oriental connotations associated with ‘Persia.’ The name ‘Iran’ means ‘Land of the Aryans,’ and had been used domestically for centuries.”

Although the change in name was initially inconsequential in itself, it opened the door for some unintentional changes, such as we are witnessing today. Artaxerxes was a good king. Ezra was a faithful priest. Yet in time, the change in name has brought us Iran!

Christianity continues to survive in Iran, although adherents to our LORD Jesus Christ often face “legal” and “social” difficulties. We stand steadfastly with Israel, yet there are true believers living in Iran. We may abhor the governmental positions of Iran; still, we ought to faithfully pray for the believers, who love and serve our LORD Jesus Christ in that ungodly nation.

Pray for the true Christians in Iran and in Israel. One day we will be surprised to learn who the “true Christians” really were.

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.’”

How typical was such a response of the Jews to whom Jesus spoke. “We are Abraham’s descendants,” they boasted. “We have never been slaves to anyone.” In one sense, they were right: as a people, they had never been enslaved by any nation or any lesser group of people.

Still, there are different kinds of slavery. Jesus might have used numerous illustrations to which they were enslaved; yet, He elected the spiritual one –one from which they could not escape. It is also the one from which none of us can escape –without His help, that is.

Prisoners, who concentrate soley upon their physical bondage, are usually wasting their time. They surely would do better to concentrate upon how they came to be in jail in the first place –better yet, on how they might be loosed from their captivity altogether.

Speaking in the physical sense, Jesus said, “The slave does not remain in the house forever…” He comes and goes as is only necessary to fulfill the deeds which have been assigned to him. Not so, however, for the son. He is free to roam throughout the estate. He is a physical son to the owner.

Ultimately, each and every one of us is or has been bound by sin! As such, we are limited to certain responsibilities! Whatever accomplishments lie before us. Pray for me and work on you own sin. Laboring together with Christ will be beneficial to us both!

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,

Gen. 19:15-22, “When morning dawned, the angels urged Lot, saying, ‘Up, take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or you will be swept away in the punishment of the city.’
16 But he hesitated. So the men seized his hand and the hand of his wife and the hands of his two daughters, for the compassion of the LORD was upon him; and they brought him out, and put him outside the city.
17 When they had brought them outside, one said, ‘Escape for your life! Do not look behind you, and do not stay anywhere in the valley; escape to the mountains, or you will be swept away.’
18 But Lot said to them, ‘Oh no, my lords!
19 ‘Now behold, your servant has found favor in your sight, and you have magnified your lovingkindness, which you have shown me by saving my life; but I cannot escape to the mountains, for the disaster will overtake me and I will die;
20 now behold, this town is near enough to flee to, and it is small. Please, let me escape there (is it not small?) that my life may be saved.’
21 He said to him, ‘Behold, I grant you this request also, not to overthrow the town of which you have spoken.
22 ‘Hurry, escape there, for I cannot do anything until you arrive there.’ Therefore, the name of the town was called Zoar.”

Abraham and Lot had agreed to differ. At least, that’s what it looked like before Lot elected to take the lush green valley for himself and his family.
It didn’t quite turn out as Lot had thought it would. The City of Sodom was occupied by homosexuals. When two angels from the LORD arrived at Lot’s dwelling, the men of Sodom swarmed Lot’s house, demanding to have illicit relations with the angels, whom they believed to be men.

When Lot sought to reason with the Sodomites, they became angry and attempted to storm Lot’s house. It seems quite evident that Lot had become friends with the men of Sodom, seeing he called them “my brothers,” and pled with them to “not act so wickedly.”

Eventually, the angels persuaded Lot to gather his family and leave the City of Sodom. The “sons-in-laws,” who were intending to marry Lot’s girls, thought leaving Sodom was a joke and refused to leave. Ultimately, the two angels persuaded Lot and his family to leave.

“When they had brought them outside, one said,
‘Escape for your life! Do not look behind you,
and do not stay anywhere in the valley; escape
to the mountains, or you will be swept away.”
(Gen. 19:17)

It would seem that everyone would hurry and vacate that dangerous city.
Lot’s wife, however, had become so used to the evils of the city; thus, she looked back, evidently grieving for what she had to leave behind.

“Lot’s wife was turned into a pillar of salt because
she disobeyed God’s command not to look back
at Sodom during its destruction. Her action symbolized
a longing for her past life and attachments to the sinful
city, which made her unworthy of salvation. This
transformation served as a punishment and a lasting
lesson about the consequences of disobedience and
attachment to sin” (Perplex).

Our lesson is that we must never become so fixated with the ways of the world that we’re unwilling to follow the directive of the LORD Jesus Christ.
Just think: Who and what would you hesitate to leave behind for the sake of following Jesus? Those are the factors that keep us from Christ! Know any? My guess is that you do.

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 11:1-9, “Now the whole earth used the same language and the same words.
2 It came about as they journeyed east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there.
3 They said to one another, ‘Come, let us make bricks and burn them thoroughly.’ And they used brick for stone, and they used tar for mortar.
4 They said, ‘Come, let us build for ourselves a city, and a tower whose top will reach into heaven, and let us make for ourselves a name, otherwise we will be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.’
5 The LORD came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built.
6 The LORD said, “Behold, they are one people, and they all have the same language. And this is what they began to do, and now nothing which they purpose to do will be impossible for them.
7 ‘Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, so that they will not understand one another’s speech.’
8 So the LORD scattered them abroad from there over the face of the whole earth; and they stopped building the city.
9 Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the LORD confused the language of the whole earth; and from there the LORD scattered them abroad over the face of the whole earth.”

Mankind, in the early days of human history, possessed the advantage of a singular language. Inasmuch as everything originally came from God, He alone must be credited with having given mankind this linguistic ability. If you’ve ever travelled very far, you have realized the difficulty of communication with people of other languages.

(Previously, I’ve told you the humorous difficulty I had in Mexico before I learned the standard pronunciational difference between papa’s and pa’pas. In a sense of intentional, international humor, I often say that despacio with demasiado are two vital words to know when visiting any Latin American country.)

All humor aside, it was the LORD God Himself, who gave language to mankind; and man determined to utilize it selfishly. Therefore, the LORD intentionally confused mankind’s original language, forcing the people to spread out and inhabit the whole earth.

We all need to take care of how and when and how often we use words. We also need to take care that the LORD is always honored with and how we use the language He gave us. Not taking care how we use language can often find our communication lying a wee bit outside what is acceptable to the LORD Jesus Christ. Humor itself can often be a slipery-slope in conversation.

When I was a “kid,” our little Children’t Choir used to sing:

“Be careful little words what you say;
Be careful little words what you say;
For the Father up above is looking down in love;
So, be careful little words what you say.”

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,

2 Chronicles 32:1-8, “After these acts of faithfulness Sennacherib,
king of Assyria came and invaded Judah and besieged the fortified
cities, and thought to break into them for himself.
2 Now when Hezekiah saw that Sennacherib had come and that
he intended to make war on Jerusalem,
3 he decided with his officers and his warriors to cut off the supply
of water from the springs which were outside the city, and they helped
him.
4 So many people assembled and stopped up all the springs and the
stream which flowed through the region, saying, “Why should the kings
of Assyria come and find abundant water?”
5 And he took courage and rebuilt all the wall that had been broken
down and erected towers on it, and built another outside wall and
strengthened the Millo in the city of David, and made weapons and
shields in great number.
6 He appointed military officers over the people and gathered them to
him in the square at the city gate, and spoke encouragingly to them,
saying,
7 “Be strong and courageous, do not fear or be dismayed because of
the king of Assyria nor because of all the horde that is with him; for the
One with us is greater than the one with him.
8 “With him is only an arm of flesh, but with us is the LORD our God
to help us and to fight our battles.” And the people relied on the words
of Hezekiah king of Judah.”

It well may be that the days of Hezekiah have returned to the people
of the LORD. Hezekiah was a practical man, and upon hearing that
Sennacherib was intending war against Israel, he ordered the con-
struction of a tunnel that the city might not be deprived of its abundant
water supply. Construction of the tunnel began at both ends with the
workmen meeting in the middle. It was a strike of genius; commanded,
no doubt, by the LORD Himself.

As I write, Israel is in a vicious battle with her mortal enemy! Israel is
is our ally, needing and deserving our able assistance. The Psalmist
wrote:
“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” (Psa. 122:6-9).

Please pause and say a prayer for Israel. She needs God’s help!

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