The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

Lamentations 3:17-25, “My soul has been rejected from peace; I have forgotten happiness.
18 So I say, “My strength has perished, and so has my hope from the LORD.”
19 Remember my affliction and my wandering, the wormwood and bitterness.
20 Surely my soul remembers and is bowed down within me.
21 This I recall to my mind; therefore, I have hope.
22 The LORD’S lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, for His compassions never fail.
23 They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness.
24 “The LORD is my portion,” says my soul, “Therefore I have hope in Him.”
25 The LORD is good to those who wait for Him, to the person who seeks Him.”

We all experience the absence of peace and happiness from
time to time, causing us to lose hope that anchors us to the LORD. The loss of friends is sometimes the loss of hope. Sick-ness itself often crowds out joy; yet, the lovingkindnesses of the
LORD never cease.

Hope anchors to the soul. He is our strength and stay: a very
present hope in time of trouble. “…I trust in the LORD. I will
rejoice and be glad in Your lovingkindness, Because You have
seen my affliction; You have known the troubles of my soul…”
(Ps. 31:6-7).

“Trust in the LORD with all your heart and do not lean on your
own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight” (Prov. 3:5-6).

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,

Lamentations 3:17-26, “My soul has been rejected from peace; I have forgotten happiness.
18 So I say, ‘My strength has perished, and so has my hope from the LORD.’
19 Remember my affliction and my wandering, the wormwood and bitterness.
20 Surely my soul remembers and is bowed down within me.
21 This I recall to my mind, therefore I have hope.
22 The LORD’S loving kindnesses indeed never cease, for His compassions never fail.
23 They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness.
24 ‘The LORD is my portion,’ says my soul, ‘Therefore I have hope in Him.’
25 The LORD is good to those who wait for Him, to the person who seeks Him.
26 It is good that he waits silently for the salvation of the LORD.”

Life is composed of multiple blessings. Peace, happiness,
strength, and hope are but a few of the desirables that combine to bring joy. Yet, weakness, affliction and bitterness labor together to destroy the very essence of life and joy.

It is the LORD who provides lovingkindness that never ceases. His compassion is always strong and never fails to uphold us
when we are about to fall. What is more, His compassion renews itself within us, just when we need Him most.

We should cry aloud with the psalmist, “Great is Your faithful-ness!”

Just when I need Him, Jesus is near;
Just when I falter, just when I fear;
Ready to help me, ready to cheer;
Just when I need Him most.

Just when I need Him, Jesus is true;
Never forsaking, all the way through;
Giving for burdens, pleasures anew;
Just when I need Him most.
J. C. Poole (1907)

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 21;43-45, “So the LORD gave Israel all the land which He had sworn to give to their fathers, and they possessed it and lived in it.
44 And the LORD gave them rest on every side, according to all that He had sworn to their fathers, and no one of all their enemies stood before them; the LORD gave all their enemies into their hand.
45 Not one of the good promises which the LORD had made to the house of Israel failed; all came to pass.”

Children live on promises! At least, that was the way it was for me. I knew that my parents never lied. They taught me never to
lie; and while it might be a bit of a stretch to say that I have never in my life told a lie, they were amazingly few and always totally “non-toxic!”

“Where is this headed?” you ask. Here’s where: It was in the days of Joshua, that the LORD had promised the fathers of Israel the very land where Israel today is waging war against Hamas, her current enemies. The Jewish people are actually living in the land the LORD promised and gave to Joshua back around 1400 B.C.!

All of this says that you and I are witnessing (albeit, via television) what the LORD knew 3,700 years ago would come
to pass! What’s more, the vile, despicable, inhumane activities of Hamas against Israeli women and children is demonstrative of how utterly wicked the human heart actually is!

Someone once said, “The price of sin was so great that only
Jesus could pay it. Still, the price of sin was so great that not
even Jesus could pay it again.”

His death and resurrection is our only Hope in this unrelentingly cruel world in which we live. I accepted Him as my Savior and LORD 81 years ago! I have since shared His love and His opportunity for forgiveness of sin throughout the world now for many years. He is patient, yet there is an end to His patience. “Today, if you will hear His voice, do not harden your heart…” (Psa. 95:7-8).

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,

1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, “But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope.
14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus.
15 For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep.
16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.
17 Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord.
18 Therefore, comfort one another with these words.”

I’m sure you will forgive me for not recalling the first time I attended a funeral. You may have the same difficulty as I in remembering your first funeral. Yet, what I do remember is that those being buried were professing believers in Jesus Christ.

It’s important to know, however, that those who believed and trusted in Jesus before they died, will one day be raised alive from the dead! This is the certainty of Paul’s teaching in this passage. I have ultimately attended many burials, some in which I officiated. In some, there were delicate smiles of warm
remembrances; in others, there were screams of uncertainty!

Jesus taught us that He would one day come again. His coming
will be announced with the archangel’s shout and with the Trumpet of God! Those who are alive and trusting in Jesus, will hear both; and the dead, who were committed to Him in life will arise from their graves and join the living believers in a gigantic resurrection!

Those who are not committed believers will be forever left behind and without hope. There will be no second opportunity. Belief is not tied to any particular church. It is tied only to a personal, commitment of trust in the LORD Jesus Christ. Do you have a trust like that? Is your hope for eternity grounded in faith in Jesus Christ? The Bible says that He is the only hope. On what are you anchoring your hope? Jesus is the only way! I am praying for you.

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,

II Corinthians 11:21-28, “To my shame I must say that we have been weak by comparison. But in whatever respect anyone else is bold– I speak in foolishness– I am just as bold myself.
22 Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they descendants of Abraham? So am I.
23 Are they servants of Christ?– I speak as if insane– I more so; in far more labors, in far more imprisonments, beaten times without number, often in danger of death.
24 Five times I received from the Jews thirty-nine lashes.
25 Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, a night and a day I have spent in the deep.
26 I have been on frequent journeys, in dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from my countrymen, dangers from the Gentiles, dangers in the city, dangers in the wilderness, dangers on the sea, dangers among false brethren;
27 I have been in labor and hardship, through many sleepless nights, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure.
28 Apart from such external things, there is the daily pressure on me of concern for all the churches.

Have you never been in the company of some who insisted that in
certain (if not all) situations, they had been through trials and tribulations virtually unknown to others for centuries? Some liars are
so steeped in the muck of their own stories that they simply cannot
believe them to be untrue!

Such was the situation of Paul’s true encounters. He allows, however, that he has not escaped all of the rigors of anti-Christian persecution. Yet, he is putting down the bragerts by citing true situa-tions from his own experience. Undoubtedly, you’ve faced similar situations like that yourself.

Simply stated, however, it is not easy to be a Christian! Especially is that so, when the anti-Christian forces surround the true believers and insist that the believers’ persecution was very little when compared with their own.

Paul is not seeking sympathy for all he has incurred. He is endeavor-ing to persuade them that the true witness’ life can be hard – very hard.

While the word “missionary” is generally reserved for those who live in foreign countries and carry the Gospel to the native population, in a broader sense, we are all missionaries, if we will allow it. When I
read the incredible situations some missionaries have encountered, I realize that we who have been saved are, in fact, missionaries ourselves. We simply must be prepared to share Jesus Christ with them. Nobody said it was easy. Crosses are always hard to bear.

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