The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

II Chronicles 36:22-23, “Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia– in order to fulfill the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah– the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he sent a proclamation throughout his kingdom, and also put it in writing, saying,
23 “Thus says Cyrus king of Persia, ‘The LORD, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and He has appointed me to build Him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever there is among you of all His people, may the LORD his God be with him, and let him go up!'”

I was only in Iran for a very brief time, and was headed to Scandinavia for a series of evangelistic meetings. Our airplane did a brief stop-over in Tehran to take on and drop off passengers. Unfortunately, it was nighttime, and I never had opportunity to view the beauty of the country, only the inside of the airport.

Over the years, however, I have made some Iranian friends right here in Arkansas. And very recently, two young ladies from Iran, spoke of the growth of the Christian faith in their native land! God is everywhere! And He is constantly reaching out to save those of many countries.

Personally, I believe we are living in the “last days.” How much time we have before Jesus returns, I do not know. Neither does anyone else know; so, don’t be misled by what others say. Satan is stirring things because he knows his time is short! Get your information straight from the Bible, the Holy Scriptures!

Read and share the tract, “It’s Not How You Play The Game.”
It’s in .pdf format just below my address.

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,

Proverbs 1:5-9, “A wise man will hear and increase in learning, and a man of understanding will acquire wise counsel,
6 To understand a proverb and a figure, the words of the wise and their riddles.
7 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.
8 Hear, my son, your father’s instruction and do not forsake your mother’s teaching;
9 Indeed, they are a graceful wreath to your head and ornaments about your neck.”

When did you stop learning? I honestly trust that your answer to that question is: “Never! I’ve never stopped learning!”

Why should I care about your learning? Simply because it’s the only way I can know whether you are reading and understanding things I retularly set before you.

Another question of equal importance is: What are you doing with the learning you’re acquiring? You might be an expert on the eating habits of a certain specie of birds. If so, how are you using the knowledge you’re acquiring?

Our Scripture passage above (vs. 7) says we must “fear” the LORD before we can gain knowledge. The word “fear” in this verse does not always mean “to be afraid of”. It sometimes means “to reverence.”

Think of when you were in school. The teacher you liked (reverenced) the most was the one from whom you learned the most. You ultimately retained more of what you learned from that teacher than from all the others, largely because you liked the teacher.

Our earliest teachers were our parents. If they learned well, they passed that on to you. The writer of these Proverbs encourages us to reverence the LORD and our parents. Why do you suppose he wants that of us?

The wreath of which this writer speaks is a sign of honor. When others honor us, we can then pass that honor to the LORD. After all, we are what we are according to what we have been taught. Yet, we alone are responsible for sharing it with others. Have you truly learned what you were taught? Are you passing that on to others?

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,

Psalm 37:1-9, “Do not fret because of evildoers, be not envious toward wrongdoers.
2 For they will wither quickly like the grass and fade like the green herb.
3 Trust in the LORD and do good; dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness.
4 Delight yourself in the LORD; and He will give you the desires of your heart.
5 Commit your way to the LORD, trust also in Him, and He will do it.
6 He will bring forth your righteousness as the light and your judgment as the noonday.
7 Rest in the LORD and wait patiently for Him; do not fret because of him who prospers in his way, because of the man who carries out wicked schemes.
8 Cease from anger and forsake wrath; do not fret; it leads only to evildoing.”
9 For evildoers will be cut off, but those who wait for the LORD, they will inherit the land.”

It’s not really necessary for me to advise you of “evildoers.” If you’re of sufficient age to read and understand the meaning of the word, you’ve already met them. They are everywhere!! Don’t worry or get angry at them. Verse two above tells us that they won’t last long. I recall my Dad’s remark about worry. He said, “Don’t tell me it doesn’t pay to worry. Nothing I ever worried about ever happened.” (Thanks, Dad!)

The opposite of worry is trust –trust in the LORD. Keep on doing good…”cultivate a growing faithfulness” in the LORD! The psalmist goes further and encourages us to “delight” and “commit” and “trust” ever and always in the LORD! Don’t allow anyone to shake your faith!

Envision a courtroom where you are charged with doing wrong when you’re definitely not guilty. What are you to do? “Rest,” be silent. Don’t become angry! Just wait for the LORD to act. In the end, your adversaries will suffer defeat. You will “inherit the land.” You will experience the LORD’s work of miraculous deliverence.

Then, you will rejoice and acknowledge the Hand of the LORD in rescuing you from evil.

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,

Job 22:17-24, “They said to God, ‘Depart from us!’ and ‘What can the Almighty do to them?’
18 “Yet He filled their houses with good things; but the counsel of the wicked is far from me.
19 “The righteous see and are glad, and the innocent mock them,
20 Saying, ‘Truly our adversaries are cut off, and their abundance the fire has consumed.’
21 “Yield now and be at peace with Him; thereby good will come to you.
22 “Please receive instruction from His mouth and establish His words in your heart.
23 “If you return to the Almighty, you will be restored; if you remove unrighteousness far from your tent,
24 And place your gold in the dust, and the gold of Ophir among the stones of the brooks,
25 Then the Almighty will be your gold and choice silver to you.
26 “For then you will delight in the Almighty and lift up your face to God.”

It is virtually impossible for us to know precisely what was in the mind of those who originally spoke these words, or those who originally heard them. At the same time, the author reminded his hearers and us to “be at peace with Him,” enabling good things to come to us.

Like too many of olden days, we consider gold and silver as our benefit. Still, nothing counts like the dependence of His people upon Him! He knows what we don’t know; and He knows how those things we so want lie in wait to work against us.

The Scriptural challenge to us is to delight ourselves in the LORD alone!
Seek His Face, not His hand. We are not to worry about things of which we have little-to-no knowledge. We are not to concern ourselves about the things we do not understand. “Delight yourselves in the LORD; and He will give you the desires of your heart” (Psa. 37:4).

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 11:20-26, “Martha therefore, when she heard that Jesus was coming, went to meet Him, but Mary stayed at the house.
21 Martha then said to Jesus, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.
22 “Even now I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give You.”
23 Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”
24 Martha said to Him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.”
25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies,
26 and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?”

We are so like Martha. There are things that we know and things that we do not know. Yet, when we know the One who knows all things, it is virtually the same as if we ourselves know.

Life is filled with mysteries! There are things that we do no know because there is no need for us to know them. Why do we encumbrance ourselves with such things? Little children wear us down with questions: “Why?” they ask over and over again.

Job of old asked: “”Will you keep to the ancient path which wicked men have trod, who were snatched away before their time, whose foundations were washed away by a river?” (Job 22:15-16).

“”The righteous see and are glad, and the innocent mock them, saying, ‘Truly our adversaries are cut off, and their abundance the fire has
consumed.’ Yield now and be at peace with Him; thereby good will come to you. (Job 22:19-21).

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