The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

Philippians 3:10-14, “that I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings,

being conformed to His death;

11 in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.

12 Not that I have already obtained it, or have already become perfect, but I press on in order that I may lay hold

of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus.

13 Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do:

forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead,

14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”

I have a book in my library written by a missionary, a book I had never read. On one of our mission outreaches in

Mexico, I met and worked closely with the author of that unread book. My encounter with him was such that I read

the book completely while en route home. The book hadn’t changed; it was that I had met the author.

That’s what caused Paul to cry aloud “that I may know Him!” Paul had met the LORD Jesus years before while on

the Road to Damascus. But, his cry now is that he might know Him more intimately — know His power that raised

Him from the dead, know the fellowship of His sufferings. I’ve seen people suffer, but I can honestly say that I’ve

never longed to join them in their suffering. Paul saw suffering as a “fellowship” when encountered with Christ.

We might think, as some Philippians may have, that Paul was a bit “overboard” in his thinking. He knew, however,

that the Father, Who had sustained His Son in all His sufferings, could and would sustain Paul in them, too.

Paul, freely acknowledges that he has not yet achieved that standard. He’s just going to forget the past and reach

forward to what lies ahead, and press on toward the goal that promises a prize to those who answer the call of

God that rests in the LORD Jesus Christ.

I’ve read those verses above many, many times over the years. They are some of my favorite verses in all of

Scripture; yet, the only part I seem to have achieved is “not having laid hold of (everything) yet.” Maybe I think

back too much. Maybe I’m not hungering and thirsting enough for what the future is bringing. The word “reaching”

means “to stretch forward,” stretching until it hurts! Do you think we’re all too much in the present and not doing

enough thinking about the future? I think so. If we were focused on the future, we would be better in the present.

Why don’t we try doing it that way? I will, will you join me?

Heartily in Christ Jesus,

(Dado III)

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

Springdale, Arkansas 72764

United States of America

“We never know that God is all we need

until He becomes all that we have.”