The Grands Letter

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

Dear Grands,

Genesis 2:16-17, “The LORD God commanded the man, saying, ‘From any tree of the garden you may eat freely;
17 but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.’”

Genesis 3:1-5, “Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, ‘Indeed, has God said, “You shall not eat from any tree of the garden”?
2 The woman said to the serpent, “From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat;
3 but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die.'”
4 The serpent said to the woman, “You surely will not die!
5 For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

Oh, how clever the adversary is! Yet the serpent’s tactic would never have worked, had the woman not added the phrase “or touch it” to what the LORD had said. How many self-proclaimed “ministers” add to and thereby remove the very essence of the LORD’s Word! Further, they do it at their own risk and at the risk of those who follow their teachings. They will be held accountable!

This and much more requires that we read carefully what the LORD says in His Word. That also requires that we listen with extreme care what those who claim to represent Him teach and preach as well. I am amazed at how many preach and teach their own gospel under the guize of being ministers of the LORD!

It is the LORD’s teaching that we withdraw from any and all ministries that do not strictly adhere to the clarity of His Holy Word. Spiritual men alone are qualified to serve as pastors! It is abominable what some thoroughly unqualified people will cite as their “right” to lead others in the understanding of God’s Holy Word! How crafty is that adversary!

Listen and adhere to the biblical words of David: “Vindicate me, O LORD, for I have walked in my integrity, and I have trusted in the LORD without wavering” (Ps. 26:1).

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,

Deuteronomy 17:1-6, “You shall not sacrifice to the LORD your God an ox or a sheep which has a blemish or any defect, for that is a detestable thing to the LORD your God.”
2 “If there is found in your midst, in any of your towns, which the LORD your God is giving you, a man or a woman who does what is evil in the sight of the LORD our God, by transgressing His covenant,
3 and has gone and served other gods and worshiped them, or the sun or the moon or any of the heavenly host, which I have not commanded,
4 and if it is told you, and you have heard of it, then you shall inquire thoroughly. Behold, if it is true and the thing certain that this detestable thing has been done in Israel,
5 then you shall bring out that man or that woman who has done this evil deed to your gates, that is, the man or the woman, and you shall stone them to death.
6 “On the evidence of two witnesses or three witnesses, he who is to die shall be put to death; he shall not be put to death on the evidence of one witness.”

Morality, it would seem, has become a thing of the past. There was a time when a person’s word was his bond. If he said he would do something, he meant it as a promise, and in time he would actually do what he said. Thus, morality and responsibility were bonded.

Today, however, few and far between are those who actually do what they promise they will do. Words have largely become empty words! Promises, therefore, have largely become meaningless. With such losses, have come the loss of simple truthfulness. And when one cannot trust his fellowman, it is not long before he fails to trust in his God!

The Scripture declares “the love of money” to be “a root of all sorts of evil” (1 Tim. 6:10). When men long for money, they “wander away from the faith and pierce themselves through with many griefs.”

As terrible as it is for one to leave “the faith,” it is even worse when it leads others to do the same. Our world must return to the ways of our spiritual fathers. We must love truth more than we love money. We must obey the tenets of Scripture and love the LORD Jesus Christ. There is a path that leads back to Him! We must pray that we find it before it’s too late!

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,

Leviticus 23:1-6, “The LORD spoke again to Moses, saying,
2 ‘Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, “The LORD’S
appointed times which you shall proclaim as holy convocations—
My appointed times are these:
3 “For six days work may be done, but on the seventh day there
is a Sabbath of complete rest, a holy convocation. You shall not
do any work; it is a Sabbath to the LORD in all your dwellings.
4 ‘These are the appointed times of the LORD, holy convocations
which you shall proclaim at the times appointed for them.
5 ‘In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at twilight
is the LORD’S Passover.
6 ‘Then on the fifteenth day of the same month there is the Feast
of Unleavened Bread to the LORD; for seven days you shall eat
unleavened bread.”

What would you say about an email that read “Your appointment
is confirmed”? Undoubtedly, you would first want to determine the
nature of the “appointment.” Was it a medical appointment, or a
lunchen date with a friend that you had forgotten? Or could it be
something your banker needed to know?

Such should be the same with your appointments with the LORD.
The Scriptural verses above clearly depict the nature and value
of the LORD’s appointments with the children of Israel. They were
His children; thus, He possesses every right to require
adherence to His directives.

The same is true of every born-again believer of Jesus Christ!
There are spiritual directives that He gives that will fulfill our lives.
Even medical directives are given for our benefit. How much more beneficial are the LORD’s directives for us!

Yes, the verses above concern Israel, not the church. Yet, the
parallels are always valid observations. We need to fellowship
with other believers in church each week. We need to witness of
our LORD to those with whom we come into contact each day.

We need to secure a time and place for daily prayer with the LORD. And we need to be sensitive to His communication with us concerning all things throughout the activities of the day. How much more He will bless us, if we adhere to His commands!

Are you listening to Him? What is His appointment for you today?

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