Archive for 2024


Dear Grands,

Exodus 33:1-3,10-15, “Then the LORD spoke to Moses, “Depart, go up from here, you and the people whom you have brought up from the land of Egypt, to the land of which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying, ‘To your descendants I will give it.’
2 “I will send an angel before you and I will drive out the Canaanite, the Amorite, the Hittite, the Perizzite, the Hivite and the Jebusite.
3 “Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey; for I will not go up in your midst, because you are an obstinate people, and I might destroy you on the way.” When all the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the entrance of the tent, all the people would arise and worship, each at the entrance of his tent.”
. . . . . . . . . . . . .

11 Thus the LORD used to speak to Moses face to face, just as a man speaks to his friend. When Moses returned to the camp, his servant Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man, would not depart from the tent.
12 Then Moses said to the LORD, “See, You say to me, ‘Bring up this people!’ But You Yourself have not let me know whom You will send with me. Moreover, You have said, ‘I have known you by name, and you have also found favor in My sight.’
13 “Now therefore, I pray You, if I have found favor in Your sight, let me know Your ways that I may know You, so that I may find favor in Your sight. Consider too, that this nation is Your people.”
14 And He said, “My presence shall go with you, and I will give you rest.”
15 Then he said to Him, “If Your presence does not go with us, do not lead us up from here.”

It’s truly difficult to believe that a people, with the LORD as their Leader, would embrace a concept that differed from the One who had successfully led them in multiple victories over their enemies.

At the same time, any variance from the Leader’s Word, would surely bring the people into conflict with Him. When will they learn? When will we learn that He always knows what is best? Therefore, if we would embrace victory, we must follow our Leader. He always knows
best!! Are you truly following Him?

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,

Isaiah 5:1-8, “Let me sing now for my well-beloved a song of my beloved concerning His vineyard. My well-beloved had a vineyard on a fertile hill.
2 He dug it all around, removed its stones, and planted it with the choicest vine. And He built a tower in the middle of it and also hewed out a wine vat in it; then He expected it to produce good grapes, but it produced only worthless ones.
3 “And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, Judge between Me and My vineyard.
4 “What more was there to do for My vineyard that I have not done in it? Why, when I expected it to produce good grapes did it produce worthless ones?
5 “So now, let Me tell you what I am going to do to My vineyard: I will remove its hedge and it will be consumed; I will break down its wall and it will become trampled ground.
6 “I will lay it waste; it will not be pruned or hoed, but briars and thorns will come up. I will also charge the clouds to rain no rain on it.”
7 For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel and the men of Judah His delightful plant. Thus, He looked for justice, but behold, bloodshed; for righteousness, but behold, a cry of distress.
8 Woe to those who add house to house and join field to field, until there is no more room, So that you have to live alone in the midst of the land!

The book of Isaiah contains some startling, but practical, instructions for us in every age and under every circumstance. Dr. Irving L. Jensen sites for us a practical means by which to remember both the Book of Isaiah and the entirety of the Bible.

“Isaiah has 66 chapters. The Bible has 66 books. Isaiah has two main divisions: the first, of thirty-nine chapters; and the second, of twenty-seven chapters. The Bible has two main parts: the Old Testament of thirty-nine books; and the New Testament, of twenty-seven books.

“The prevailing note in the first division of Isaiah is judgment; in the second division, comfort. The prevailing note of the Old Testament is Law; of the New Testament, grace.

“In the first section of Isaiah, there are frequent allusions to and predictions of the Messiah; but He is described with great fullness in the second section. In the Old Testament, there are frequent allusions to Christ in types and prophecies; but in the New Testament, He is presented in all His fullness” (Jensen, Survey of the Old Testament).

There is nothing in all the annals of Christianity that comes even close to the clear, practical teachings of Holy Scriptures. Passages that seem to make no sense, simply beg for closer reading. Your life will be richer for your daily reading of the Holy Scriptures. So, “seek ye out of the book of the Lord and read…” (Isa. 34:16).

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,

Isaiah 5:20-25, “Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness; who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!
21 Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes and clever in their own sight!
22 Woe to those who are heroes in drinking wine and valiant men in mixing strong drink,
23 Who justify the wicked for a bribe, and take away the rights of the ones who are in the right!
24 Therefore, as a tongue of fire consumes stubble and dry grass collapses into the flame, so their root will become like rot and their blossom blow away as dust; for they have rejected the law of the LORD of hosts and despised the Word of the Holy One of Israel.
25 On this account, the anger of the LORD has burned against His people, and He has stretched out His hand against them and struck them down. And the mountains quaked, and their corpses lay like refuse in the middle of the streets. For all this, His anger is not spent, but His hand is still stretched out.”

Examining the sins of the people, as listed in the verses above, the LORD could have justly erased all mankind from the face of the earth. Yet, God, in His providence, elected to forestall His wrath and allow men to hear first the warning of the prophets.

Some of the prophets were “writing prophets.” All, were at first “oral prophets”; thus, every opportunity for repentance was allowed to Israel. So it is with us. We have pastors and evangelists and missionaries –all who join under the Holy Spirit’s leadership in forestalling judgment upon the nations, and allowing first the gracious Word of God to permit repentance from sin and faith in the LORD Jesus!

Have we not also been allowed such a privilege? Certainly, we have! Those gracious spiritual leaders, faithful to every word of the Holy Scriptures, have been placed in our midst for that very purpose.

Shamefully, there is an increasing number of “ministers,” who seek only the prestige and monetary reward that comes from holding forth the Word of Life. As it would seem, such ministers are clearly in contrast with the prophets of old. As it is, therefore, people gather together, thinking to be fed. Yet, instead of feasting on the Word of God, they dine on the mere husks that swine would eat.

God’s ministers bear a heavy load! They are more than deserving of our sincerest prayers. Yet, for men to view His Life in us, we must be as the prophets of old. We must yield to the control of the Holy Spirit and allow the likeness of the LORD to be seen in us. Is He seen in you? Is He viewable in me? May it always be so!

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,

Romans 13:1-4, “Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God.
2 Therefore whoever resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves.
3 For rulers are not a cause of fear for good behavior, but for evil. Do you want to have no fear of authority? Do what is good and you will have praise from the same;
4 for it is a minister of God to you for good. But if you do what is evil, be afraid; for it does not bear the sword for nothing; for it is a minister of God, an avenger who brings wrath on the one who practices evil.”

Isaiah 5:20-26, “Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness; who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!
21 Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes and clever in their own sight!
22 Woe to those who are heroes in drinking wine and valiant men in mixing strong drink,
23 Who justify the wicked for a bribe, and take away the rights of the ones who are in the right!
24 Therefore, as a tongue of fire consumes stubble and dry grass collapses into the flame, so their root will become like rot and their blossom blow away as dust; For they have rejected the law of the LORD of hosts and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.
25 On this account the anger of the LORD has burned against His people, and He has stretched out His hand against them and struck them down. And the mountains quaked, and their corpses lay like refuse in the middle of the streets. For all this, His anger is not spent, but His hand is still stretched out.
26 He will also lift up a standard to the distant nation, and will whistle for it from the ends of the earth; and behold, it will come with speed swiftly.”

It is indeed a sad day when people “call good evil and evil good.” It is equally sad when a nation and its government stoop to the level of its corrupt citizenry.

Our United States of America is in trouble! The difficulties our nation has and is currently enduring is infinitesmal when compared with what is coming, unless we get right with God and yield to His will in all of our affairs.

I will not polute this Letter by reiterating what is all too available day and night on our television screens. Our current government is corrupt! Laws long on the books are glibly ignored as if those in government (and those seeking to remain in government) are exempt from the law!
Laws are in place for correcting our “ship of state,” if we have the will to inact them!

The Bible has considerable to say about laws. The LORD does not exempt us from adhearing to law. It is He who originally structured the law and ordered His people to strictly obey it. This writer prays for Israel, who is daily under attack from ungodly nations, and for the USA, who is laboring under the strain of adherence both to His Law and the laws He led our Founding Fathers to ordain to His glory!

Friends, we had better get on “praying ground” with the LORD, or we may find ourselves “governed” by some ungodly tyrants. The LORD is in control, but He will suffer us to live under wrath, if we so choose.

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 12:12-16, “On the next day the large crowd who had come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem,
13 took the branches of the palm trees and went out to meet Him, and began to shout, “Hosanna! BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD, even the King of Israel.”
14 Jesus, finding a young donkey, sat on it; as it is written,
15 “FEAR NOT, DAUGHTER OF ZION; BEHOLD, YOUR KING IS COMING, SEATED ON A DONKEY’S COLT.”
16 These things His disciples did not understand at the first; but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things were written of Him, and that they had done these things to Him.”

Have you ever thought about how much like the disciples we are? Jesus is coming, fulfilling the prophecy of Zechariah 9:9, but the disciples –His disciples!—did not understand. Are we not like that? Almost daily, we are confronted with the prophecies of old; yet, like the disciples, we do not understand their meaning.

How often He places truth before us, but we fail to grasp it. Could it be that we are too focused on the menial things that surround us? Could it be, that “we are so encumbered with earthly things that we are no heavenly good?”

The activities of the LORD surround us, yet we fail to notice them! His faithfulness abounds, yet we say, “Where is the LORD? Why doesn’t He open the way before us?” Were we only sensitive to His presence, sensitive to His Word, we would understand. We are so earthly entangled that we are spiritually blinded to His presence.

What is that old song churches used to sing?

“Open my eyes that I may see,
Glimpses of truth Thou hast for me.
Place in my hands the wonderful key
That shall unclasp and set me free.”

Could it be that we are our own worst enemy? The LORD has placed
His Word clearly before us, yet we fail to see His truth. He shows us His will, yet we insist on our own. What blessings we miss! Dear LORD, please open our eyes!

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

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