The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

Genesis 6:5-9, “Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
6 The LORD was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart.
7 The LORD said, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, from man to animals to creeping things and to birds of the sky; for I am sorry that I have made them.”
8 But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD.
9 These are the records of the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his time; Noah walked with God.”

Have you ever found yourself in a huge company of people, where no one was
known to you and no one even noticed or cared that you were there? That’s what
it means to “be lost in a crowd.” You were so lost that you regretted even being
there!

Imagine being in the midst of a people –people you invited—whose every intent
was only doing evil continually! Where is the door? You’d love to escape –except
that you were the one who called the meeting! If you’ve ever been there, you have tasted of the LORD’s regret!

If the LORD was indeed sorry when He saw the wickedness of man in the days of Noah, it’s beyond the capacity of reasonable, human thought to understand what
He must be thinking today! And if the LORD was “grieved in His heart” in the days
of Noah, all we can say is that His grief today must be exponentially beyond human imagimation!

Yet, there was one person, whose attitude brightened the LORD’s Heart: Noah!
He was not without sin (as is revealed by later activities), but he had done what
the LORD had commanded; and the ark had landed safely on the earth.

How precious it is to be engaged in labor of His design! Those who had opposed
building the ark are now nowhere to be found. And those who survived are now prepared to undertake additional labor that will glorify the LORD!

Where are you in the LORD’s design? Is your life centered and focused on Him?
If so, are you prepared to be a “Noah” in His service? It begins with salvation,
continues with dedication, and results in His glorification! What a life it is!!

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 1:14-15: “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; 15and let them be for lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth’; and it was so.’”

Words are extremely important! They can produce laughter. They can also produce anger. They can reveal things, by enlightening them. They can conceal things by beclouding them.

Words also express numerous variations to all of the above. One can speak softly; another can speak harshly! Some words are instructive, while others are destructive. Some are emphasized by the volume given to them; others, by the softness with which they are spoken.

“Word explosions” are often upsetting; while, at the same time, they are enlightening and encouraging.

There are innumerable ways to give “weight” to the words in Scripture. Check the “weight” by the number
of times the following words are used:

“Word” = 1,287 — Gen 11:1
“Spoke” = 1,455 – Gen 8:15
“heard” = 1,137 — Gen 3:8
“seen” = 1,982 — Gen. 1:4-31
“witness” = 144 — Gen 21:30

Spoken words are either soft or harsh! We have to be careful how we express them. More importantly, perhaps, is how we are viewed (“seen”) by others, since what they see of us remains longer in their memories
(1,982) than what they have heard (1,137).

Remind yourself today of the children’s verse:

“Remember little lips what you say;
Remember little lips what you say;
For the Father up above,
Is listening down in love;
Be careful little lips what you say.”

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,

Luke 4:33-36, “In the synagogue there was a man possessed by the
spirit of an unclean demon, and he cried out with a loud voice,
34 “Let us alone! What business do we have with each other, Jesus of Nazareth? Have You come to destroy us? I know who You are– the
Holy One of God!”
35 But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be quiet and come out of him!”
And when the demon had thrown him down in the midst of the people,
he came out of him without doing him any harm.
36 And amazement came upon them all, and they began talking with
one another saying, “What is this message? For with authority and
power He commands the unclean spirits and they come out.”

Notice that demon spirits existed in New Testament times even in the
synagogue! Demon spirits exist today and in churces. Some of the
most outlandish things –things that are abhorant to the LORD Himself—
occur in what are called “churches” today!

When men and women, not called of God, find it self-expedient to occupy pulpits, the masses become mistakenly informed, as if the
declarations were from God. Thus, they go away filled with husks
instead of Biblical truths.

Large crowds are no indication of spiritual truths that fill and energize
the human soul. What truly matters is whether the Word of God has
been cleanly and accurately taught from the Scriptures. Solomon
wrote, “He who leads the upright astray in an evil way, will himself
fall into his own pit, but the blameless will inherit good” (Prov. 28:10).

“Seek the LORD and His strength; seek His face continually.
Remember His wonders which He has done, His marvels and
the judgments uttered by His mouth…” (Ps. 105:4-5).

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,

Mark 16:16-17, “And He said to them, ‘Go into all the world and
preach the gospel to all creation.
16 ‘He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved;
but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned.’”

I had never been subjected to the cost of a personal testimony
until recently. Listening to the testimony of an Iranian woman,
and learning first-hand the cost of being a Christian in Iran, made
me thoroughly ashamed of how seldom I really share Jesus Christ.

Yes, I’ve gone “into the world” and “preached the gospel,” but that
should not be the end of our witnessing. We have a responsibility
to share Christ by the way that we live –our actions, our attitudes,
as well as sharing our faith in Him with others.

Believing in Jesus is our whole-hearted trust and faith in His saving
power. Baptism is the overt action that demonstrates our faith. Only
the Blood of Jesus saves us from our sins; baptism acknowledges
to others that we have trusted Jesus Christ as our Savior, and that
He has saved us eternally.

If you don’t know Him, trust Him today! If you have trusted Him, tell someone about Him today! You’ll both be glad you did.

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 16:21-25, “From that time Jesus began to show His disciples
that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders
and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised up on the third
day.
22 Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, ‘God forbid it,
Lord! This shall never happen to You.’
23 But He turned and said to Peter, ‘Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on God’s interests,
but man’s.’
24 Then Jesus said to His disciples, ‘If anyone wishes to come after Me,
he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.
25 ‘For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his
life for My sake will find it.’”

Did you ever speak-up without thinking clearly what you were going to say?
Boy, I have! And many times, it proved to be an big embarrassment! Every-
one turns to look at you, and you’re so rattled that you’ve almost forgotten
what you said –you just wished everyone else would forget it, as well.

Fortunately for me, I was often challenging someone of my own standing.
Peter elected to challenge Jesus’ very statement: “God forbid it, Lord! This
shall never happen to You!”

Just imagine! Peter could have asked how Jesus knew…, He could have asked for more information. Yet, he challenged Jesus’ Sonship with the
Father! There is virtually nothing more severe Peter could have asked!

Jesus’ rebuke was huge! And He did address it to Peter. However, I don’t
think Jesus meant that Peter was Satan. I believe He was addressing
Satan, who had infiltrated Peter’s thinking! Let such infiltration never be ours!

Haven’t you on occasion said something that you later wondered what made you say it? Could it not have been Satan who induced you to say it? Certainly, it could have been. We believers must guard ourselves against the Adversary.
And we do that by literally “living in the Scriptures!” They alone are His Words!
Is the Bible your best read of every day? Have you read it today? It exists for
your benefit.

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