The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

2 Corinthians 1:3-10, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort,

4 who comforts us in all our affliction so that we will be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.

5 For just as the sufferings of Christ are ours in abundance, so also our comfort is abundant through Christ.

6 But if we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; or if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which is effective in the patient enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer;

7 and our hope for you is firmly grounded, knowing that as you are sharers of our sufferings, so also you are sharers of our comfort.

8 For we do not want you to be unaware, brethren, of our affliction which came to us in Asia, that we were burdened excessively, beyond our strength, so that we despaired even of life;

9 indeed, we had the sentence of death within ourselves so that we would not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead;

10 who delivered us from so great a peril of death, and will deliver us, He on whom we have set our hope. And He will yet deliver us…”

If you have ever been a patient in a hospital – or visited a patient there — you have had a “front row seat” for beholding what we call “suffering.” Paul speaks of human suffering in order that we may understand that Christ Himself suffered for us. In His suffering and in His death, He became our hope for life here and in eternity. It is He who delivers us from the peril of death. And noting our deliverance, others take heed that He is able to deliver them as well.

Paul had within himself the “peril of death”; yet he knew without a doubt that the LORD who conquered death was able and willing to rescue His people. Therefore, we must forsake all negative thoughts and concentrate on what He has given us to do here on earth. Our confidence in Him and His ability to deliver us will serve to build confidence in others. In that way alone, we are serving Him as we serve those who need hope. Are you one of His children? If so, are you abiding by His plan for your life? I pray that you are!

Heartily in Christ,

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

United States of America

“We will never know that Christ is all we need

Until He becomes all that we have.”

–Corrie ten Boom