The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

Genesis 1:14-19, “Then God said, ‘Let there be lights in the expanse of the

heavens to separate the day from the night, and let them be for signs and
for seasons and for days and years;

15 and let them be for lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light on

the earth’; and it was so.

16 God made the two great lights, the greater light to govern the day, and

the lesser light to govern the night; He made the stars also.

17 God placed them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth,

18 and to govern the day and the night, and to separate the light from the

darkness; and God saw that it was good.

19 There was evening and there was morning, a fourth day.”

For centuries men have sought to understand light – what it is; where it
originates, who or what is precisely behind it, and what its overall purpose
is. Light is one of the great mysteries that begs our continuous
investigation.

The Bible tells us that the LORD GOD Himself is the originator and producer
of what we call “light.” In John 8:12, Jesus said, “I am the Light of the
world,”

In 1875, a man named Philip P. Bliss composed the lyrics and music to a song
entitled, “The Light of the World is Jesus.” It’s a song that can never
truly be “out-of-season” because “Light” and “Jesus” are indisputably and
forever aligned. The word “light” itself is mentioned over 297 times in the
Bible; and our reading of the Bible serves to enlighten us both mentally and
spiritually.

Furthermore, Jesus said, “Let your light shine before men in such a way that
they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven”
(Matt. 5:16). This admonition was emphasized in an old hymn that churches
used to sing:

“While passing through this world of sin,

And others your life will view;

Be clean and pure without within;

Let others see Jesus in you.”

Please accept “Man Alive” (attached) as a small Christmas Gift.

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,

Genesis 26:1-4, “Now there was a famine in the land, besides the previous
famine that had occurred in the days of Abraham. So Isaac went to Gerar, to
Abimelech king of the Philistines.

2 The LORD appeared to him and said, “Do not go down to Egypt; stay in the
land of which I shall tell you.

3 “Sojourn in this land and I will be with you and bless you, for to you and
to your descendants I will give all these lands, and I will establish the
oath which I swore to your father Abraham.

4 “I will multiply your descendants as the stars of heaven, and will give
your descendants all these lands; and by your descendants all the nations of
the earth shall be blessed.”

Sixty years ago, I heard this story. Whether it is apocryphal or true, I do
not know. What I do know is – well, you read and then you tell me.

The seminary was winding up its year, and it was customary for one of the
students to be selected to give an address to the entire school. The faculty
poured over the records and selected a fine, young man as the annual
speaker. The student was scared-to-death. His forte was as a scholar in the
classroom. He had never given more than a short talk in one or two of his
classes. Speak to the whole school?

“Oh, no!” he pleaded. But there was no backing out. He had been
faculty-selected, and he was going to face the school with a formal address.

The day came, and he was literally shaking as he stood before the entire
school. “Duh.duh.do you know wha.what I.I’m about to say?”

Of course, his subject had never been announced, so the entire school body
said loudly and politely, “NO!”

“Wuh.well.neither do I, so let’s all go home.”

The exhausted speaker was devastated. “I’ve.I’ve ruined everything,” he
said. “No, you haven’t,” said the dean. “You’re just not used to speaking in
public. Go back and study a bit more. We’ll let you speak again next week.”

Self-dejected, he dutifully returned to the books. He was not happy, but
there was no other way out. He had to address the school -the entire
school!

When the day finally came, he was on the platform, but not in good form for
speaking. Yet, he stood, walked to the lectern, coughed nervously, looked
frightenedly at the school body, and said, “Duh.duh.do you know wha.what
I.I’m about to say?”

Having been present at the speaker’s last attempt, and knowing his
concluding remark, the students were not about to be fooled again. In
chorus, they loudly proclaimed, “Yes!”

The speaker then remarked, “If you already know, then there’s no reason for
me to repeat it. So, let’s all go home.” Again, he dismissed the audience
and everyone left the auditorium.

Once again, after a laborious hour with the young seminarian, the dean and
members of the faculty were able to persuade him to try one more time to
deliver the annual student address. It was the third occasion, and the
fright that attended the young man on two previous occasions, had not
dissipated one iota.

He staggered to the lectern, gripping it as if life itself was hanging in
the balance. Sweat poured from every avenue of his face and virtually soaked
the paper he had prepared to share. Whatever changed from his previous two
attempts, his opening words were the same:

“”Duh.duh.do you know wha.what I.I’m about to say?”

His fellow-students were now thoroughly confused. Some said, “Yes,” and
snickered beneath their breath. But some said, “No,” because they still had
no hint as to what he might say.

Hearing the division within the student body, the young speaker then said,
“Well, those who know, tell those who don’t know, and let’s all go home.”

Literally mortified that he had failed three times, the dejected young
speaker-to-be left the auditorium in devastating defeat!

“I am a total failure,” he said, “a total, total failure!”

“Oh, no!” said the dean. “You’re not a failure. In fact, we want you to stay
with the school and teach! For what you said is a fundamental, biblical
truth. It’s for those who know to tell those who don’t -before we all go
Home.”

There’s a serious message for all of us in that story. Are you ready to tell
those who don’t know Him? There’s no better time than at CHRISTMAS!

Heartily in Christ,

(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,

Hebrews 1:1-6, “God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets
in many portions and in many ways,

2 in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of
all things, through whom also He made the world.

3 And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His
nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made
purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,

4 having become as much better than the angels, as He has inherited a more
excellent name than they.

5 For to which of the angels did He ever say, “YOU ARE MY SON, TODAY I HAVE
BEGOTTEN YOU”? And again, “I WILL BE A FATHER TO HIM AND HE SHALL BE A SON
TO ME”?

6 And when He again brings the firstborn into the world, He says, “AND LET
ALL THE ANGELS OF GOD WORSHIP HIM.”

What would you say if I were to tell you that Elon Musk phoned me this past
week? You would doubtlessly first be excited, and then wonder if there were
another man living on Planet Earth who had the same name as I! Well, Elon
has not called me. Furthermore, that is less than not likely to happen.

At the same time, I have spoken with One far more exclusive and well-known
than Elon Musk. My Communicant dwells in Heaven with His Father, and His
communication with me is “open” at all hours of the day or night. He is the
reliable Answer to every question I lay before Him. Yet, He is not
exclusively mine. He is available to everyone of every age, and of every
language, with the reliable answer to every possible question. Who is He?
Why, He is Jesus; the One who gave His Life to safely secure everyone who
turns away from sin and trust Him as their LORD and Savior.

Have you trusted Him as your Savior? Have you talked to Him lately? He’s
waiting for your call.

Heartily in Christ,

(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 1:3-9, “Blessed be the God and Father of our
Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy
has caused us to be born again to a living hope through
the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
4 to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and
undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for
you,
5 who are protected by the power of God through faith
for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
6 In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little
while, if necessary, you have been distressed by
various trials,
7 that the proof of your faith, being more precious than
gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire,
may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at
the revelation of Jesus Christ;
8 and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and
though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you
greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory,
9 obtaining as the outcome of your faith the salvation of
your souls.”

Buying something can sometimes be a surprise. “If you
purchase this fine table with six matching chairs,” the
salesman says, “you will also be given this gorgeous
set of dishes and cutlery –all free with the table and
chairs.”

Also, there is nothing more exciting than having
someone do for you what you are not able to do for
yourself. That is precisely what occurred with Simon
Peter. He had been born again; now his old life was
replaced with a “living hope” through the resurrection of
Jesus Christ from the dead. By accepting Jesus as his
LORD and Savior, Peter had received the Holy Spirit,
who would guide and bless him throughout the
remainder of his life.

If you have accepted Jesus Christ as LORD and Savior
of your life, you possess the Holy Spirit, too. If you have
not accepted Jesus, you are on your own with Satan
and his forces leaning on you to believe and do his will
instead of the will of Jesus. Satan doesn’t speak of the
“inheritance” you will receive from him because what he
has in store is not a pleasant place to reside.

Living by faith is living with trust –trust that the LORD is
always with us, enabling us to side-step those things
that are contrary to His will. How precious is that? Our
passage above tells us that it is “more precious than
gold…” It is tested by the fires of temptation, but always
shows itself to be superior because it is of the LORD.

It is beyond the scope of this Letter to reveal the
blessings that attended Simon Peter’s Christian life;
however, He speaks beyond the words of his Letter, as
we view his life through the Scriptures. Our lives are
different from Peter’s life. Yet, we face the same trials
and temptations Peter experienced; thus, the promise
the LORD gave
to him, He gives to us. We can know the LORD’s
precious promises to us, just as Peter knew His
promises to him.

Turn your life over to the LORD. Yield yourself fully and
completely to Him. You will learn what Peter learned.
Jesus is real! Yield your life to Him today and see! You
are in my prayers.

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,

Matthew 1:18-23, “Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: when His
mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was
found to be with child by the Holy Spirit.

19 And Joseph her husband, being a righteous man and not wanting to disgrace
her, planned to send her away secretly.

20 But when he had considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to
him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary
as your wife; for the Child who has been conceived in her is of the Holy
Spirit.

21 “She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save
His people from their sins.”

22 Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through
the prophet:

23 “BEHOLD, THE VIRGIN SHALL BE WITH CHILD AND SHALL BEAR A ON, AND THEY
SHALL CALL HIS NAME IMMANUEL, “.which translated means, “GOD WITH US.”

Someone recently ask me how old I was. Just Imagine! What a impertinent
question from a long-time friend. I had to laugh when I shared what was my
non-shared “secret.” Can you remember the day of your birth? You were there!
What an obvious question!

As silly as it seems now, I can remember when a few of us boys plotted to
learn the age of one of the older (and mysterious) women in our small town.
It was a good plan, yet it didn’t work. Two or three of us went into the
ministry, leaving such boyish pranks behind and emphasizing the Birthday of
the Greatest Gift to the world!

To the glory of our Savior, Jesus Christ, we celebrate His
Birthday!

Galatians 4:1-7, “Now I say, as long as the heir is a child, he does not
differ at all from a slave although he is owner of everything,

2 but he is under guardians and managers until the date set by the father.

3 So also we, while we were children, were held in bondage under the
elemental things of the world.

4 But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a
woman, born under the Law,

5 so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might
receive the adoption as sons.

6 Because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our
hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!”

7 Therefore you are no longer a slave, but a son; and if a son, then an heir
through God.”