The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

Psalm 37:3-9, “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.”

When I first selected these verses for our next Grands Letter, it
was my intent simply to emphasize the the idea of “trusting” the LORD in all things! Yet, the idea was glaringly before me that
trusting in the LORD requires “doing good.” Once that was clear,
it became evident that “delighting” in Him and “trusting” Him and
“committing” ourselves to Him –were all equally required of us.

Remember when you were a child? Remember your mother’s
promise of something good if you behaved yourself in the home
of the one you and she were to visit? Well, it’s quite similar with
respect to anything we submit as a request to the LORD. He will
do His part if you will do yours.

Trust; do good; delight; commit; be patience; cease all anger; forsake wrath; don’t behave discontentedly. Eight simple “do’s and don’ts. Those are the things a mother wants from her child at all times, but especially when they are visiting someone in another person’s home. Does that seem unreasonable? Surely not.

The LORD promises good things, too. Of course, we are to
behave according to His instructions. We get His instructions
from the Bible; and we are commanded to read and obey it every day. You haven’t forgotten that your mother promised something
good, have you? Well, just don’t forget that your Heavenly Father has something good for you, as well. So, “trust in the LORD and do good.” His promises will overflow with blessings!

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 15:1-6, “After these things the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision, saying, ‘Do not fear, Abram, I am a shield to you; Your reward shall be very great.’
2 Abram said, ‘O Lord GOD, what will You give me, since I am childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?’
3 And Abram said, ‘Since You have given no offspring to me, one born in my house is my heir.’
4 Then behold, the word of the LORD came to him, saying, ‘This man will not be your heir; but one who will come forth from your own body, he shall be your heir.’
5 And He took him outside and said, ‘Now look toward the heavens, and count the stars, if you are able to count them.’ And He said to him, ‘So shall your descendants be.’
6 Then he believed in the LORD; and He reckoned it to him as
righteousness.”

Have you ever met someone who was presented with a nice gift, yet behaved as if it were less worthy than the one who had given it? Let’s say you had a rich friend, known throughout the entire area as one who possessed more than anyone could count. But when the gift he gave was opened, anticipating faces suddenly turned to a gloomy disappointment.

Gifts are the business of the giver. This makes us critical of Abram; for in the passage above, he seemed like a small child, whimpering over the lack of an heir. Yet, the gift he was given was less than he expected.

Has that ever happened to you? You wanted a bicycle –but you were given little hand toys that buzzed when you tossed them gently into the air.

The promise of the LORD, however less than Abram expected, was surely more than he was worth –at least, at that time. Abram was concerned that he had no family, so he whimpered until the LORD revealed how extensive His promise to Abram actually was!

The psalmist says: “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” (Psalm 37:3-6). Just trust Him and see!

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,

Ephesians 4:11-15, “And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers,
12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ;
13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.
14 As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming;
15 but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ…”

“He looks just like his mother, but he has his father’s eyes.” How
often have you heard relatives express themselves with respect
to how a nephew or a niece appears like his mother or father?

Consider the following humanitarian aspects. The number of times that each characteristic is mentioned in the Bible is noted,
but be careful not to adopt the accompanying habits.

1.Eye = 566 – be careful of temptations (short term urges)
2.Ear = 203 – be careful of perceptions (external stimuli)
3.Mouth = 380 – be careful of expressions (verbal notation)
4.Hand = 1693 – be careful of manipulations (exploit, control, influence)
5.Foot = 385 – be careful of navigation (processing a route)

These five human aspects are often the bridle that stears and
directs our lives toward (or away from) the manner of our LORD
Jesus Christ. It is imperative that we guard ourselves from the
negative aspects that are numbered above. Perhaps none of us
is too old to remember the little children’s song that says…

“Be careful little eyes what you see;
Be carefull little eyes what you see;
For the Father up Above
Is looking down in Love,
So, be careful little eyes what you see.”

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,

Joshua 7:10-12, “So the LORD said to Joshua, ‘Rise up! Why is it that you have fallen on your face?’
11 ‘Israel has sinned, and they have also transgressed My covenant which I commanded them. And they have even taken some of the things under the ban and have both stolen and deceived. Moreover, they have also put them among their own things.
12 ‘Therefore, the sons of Israel cannot stand before their enemies; they turn their backs before their enemies, for they have become accursed. I will not be with you anymore unless you destroy from your midst the things under the ban.’”

Sin is always a destroyer. What’s more, the sinner is always dis-covered! How many throughout history have committed sins, all the while thinking themselves “undiscoverable?” Yet, they were in time discovered, and forced to confess and pay for their sin.

Joshua is not the sinner here. He has been directed to find the sinner and bring him to judgment before the LORD and before His people.

All of us could do well to hear the words: “…you have sinned against the LORD, and be sure your sin will find you out” (Num. 32:23). The truism is simple: “You cannot do wrong and get by.”

There is, however, a provision for forgiveness. It demands admission of the sin and restitution with the one against whom the sin was committed. Since all sin is first against God, repentance and restitution against Him are always required.

Do you have some unconfessed sin in your life? Search your heart
diligently, and get right with Almighty God! He loves to forgive!

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,

Ecclesiastes3:10-15, “I have seen the task which God
has given the sons of men with which to occupy themselves.
11 He has made everything appropriate in its time. He has
also set eternity in their heart, yet so that man will not find
out the work which God has done from the beginning even
to the end.
12 I know that there is nothing better for them than to rejoice
and to do good in one’s lifetime;
13 moreover, that every man who eats and drinks sees good
in all his labor– it is the gift of God.
14 I know that everything God does will remain forever; there
is nothing to add to it and there is nothing to take from it, for
God has so worked that men should fear Him.
15 That which is has been already and that which will be has
already been, for God seeks what has passed by.”

Solomon was indeed a wise man! At least, at the point of
writing Ecclesiastes, he was. Yes, Solomon made some
serious mistakes; still, so have we all! He allows, however,
that God has put into the heart of everyone what he
is to do. He is, thus, our enabler in all commissioned things.

Why, then, are we often discouraged with how things we do
turn out? It has to be either that we have ignored the duties
He has assigned to us, or we’ve focused on tiredness in the
production of His assignments. That certainly does occur!

Work is good for all of us (vv. 12-13). Even the things we do
not like to do, become joyful in the doing when we concentrate
on them being His will for us.

Further, if I understand verse 14 correctly, the only thing we
do that has eternal consequences is contained in God’s will.
And verse 15 tells us that there is nothing new – “That which
is has been already…” How’s that for letting us be “in on”
things that have been around for some time? New to us,
but not to God! Something to think about, huh?

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