The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

Mark 13:21-26, “And then if anyone says to you, ‘Behold, here is the Christ’; or, ‘Behold, He is there’; do not believe him;
22 for false Christs and false prophets will arise, and will show signs and wonders, in order to lead astray, if possible, the elect.
23 “But take heed; behold, I have told you everything in advance.
24 “But in those days, after that tribulation, THE SUN WILL BE DARKENED AND THE MOON WILL NOT GIVE ITS LIGHT,
25 AND THE STARS WILL BE FALLING from heaven, and the powers that are in the heavens will be shaken.
26 “Then they will see THE SON OF MAN COMING IN CLOUDS with great power and glory.”

If you are in the habit of reading daily news, it will not be surprising to you that
many people, and for many reasons, are looking for Jesus Christ to come! He
promised, “…I will come again and receive you to Myself…” (Jn 14:3); and He
listed some “signs” that would signal this momentous event!

Simultaneously, the LORD Jesus Christ warned us of “false Christs” and “false
prophets,” who will perform unbelievable “signs and wonders.” Their purpose is
to “lead astray…(if possible) the elect.” At every turn we read of some high profile
person, who has turned to the “Christian faith.” Reading further, we understand
not that they have accepted Christ, but achieved “redemption” through elements
of which they have terminated usage.

Others have witnessed “falling stars” and multiple spectacular heavenly events,
all of which they attribute to the “soon return of Jesus Christ to earth.” Don’t take
me as pushing the spectacular! I’m merely replacing error with truth! Jesus
Himself said, “… many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will
mislead many” (Mat. 24:5).

The next truly spectacular event will be the Coming of Jesus Christ in the air!
All of the warnings say, “Many will come in My Name” (Mat. 24:5; Mar. 13:6; and
Luk 21:8) and will mislead many.” I could fill these paragraphs with those who
Identify themselves as “the Messiah.”

At the same time, Jesus is coming! And those who diligently and carefully digest
His Word, will properly connect all the dots. Don’t be left behind! Trust Him today!
Then share your discovery with family and friends, who currently don’t know Him!

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,

Nehemiah 4:8-15, “All of them conspired together to come and fight against Jerusalem and to cause a disturbance in it.
9 But we prayed to our God, and because of them we set up a guard against them day and night.
10 Thus in Judah it was said, “The strength of the burden bearers is failing, yet there is much rubbish; and we ourselves are unable to rebuild the wall.”
11 Our enemies said, ‘They will not know or see until we come among them, kill them and put a stop to the work.’
12 When the Jews who lived near them came and told us ten times, “They will come up against us from every place where you may turn,”
13 then I stationed men in the lowest parts of the space behind the wall, the exposed places, and I stationed the people in families with their swords, spears and bows.
14 When I saw their fear, I rose and spoke to the nobles, the officials and the rest of the people: ’Do not be afraid of them; remember the Lord who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives and your houses.”
15 When our enemies heard that it was known to us, and that God had frustrated their plan, then all of us returned to the wall, each one to his work.”

Whatever the occasion, whatever the plan, there will always be opposition. The key to
both is contained in verse 9 above: pray and set up a guard. Of course the divine key
to deliverance of everything lies with the LORD. At the same time, He expects us to do
our part, according to the directive of His Word. An accident calls for an ambulance; yet
we pray before, during, and after it comes. Were prayer not necessary, why wouldl the
LORD direct us to pray?

But, what about fear? He says, “Do not be afraid…” He has made us creatures enabled
to fear, but desires that our remembrance of Him supersedes all fear. Our control over
fear comes from remembering the LORD! As my dear old grandmother used to say,
“They haven’t reckoned with the LORD.”

Multiple difficulties assail us. We are living in the Last Days. Situations of life are getting
more difficult by the day. Just don’t be afraid. Trust in the LORD. Pray for His guidance,
and follow His leading. “He does all things well.”

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,

Nehemiah 4:1-6, “Now it came about that when Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall, he became furious and very angry and mocked the Jews.
2 He spoke in the presence of his brothers and the wealthy men of Samaria and said, ‘What are these feeble Jews doing? Are they going to restore it for themselves? Can they offer sacrifices? Can they finish in a day? Can they revive the stones from the dusty rubble even the burned ones?’
3 Now Tobiah the Ammonite was near him and he said, ‘Even what they are building– if a fox should jump on it, he would break their stone wall down!’
4 Hear, O our God, how we are despised! Return their reproach on their own heads and give them up for plunder in a land of captivity.
5 Do not forgive their iniquity and let not their sin be blotted out before You, for they have demoralized the builders.’
6 So we built the wall and the whole wall was joined together to half its height, for the people had a mind to work.”

Were I to guess if you’ve experienced something like this, it would almost be
impossible for me to be wrong. For one thing, it is “natural” for the “fallen nature,” (i.e., the sinful, unsaved nature) to think negatively on just about everything. Especially is that so when it comes to something spiritual.

This was precisely the situation of Sanballat, who was entirely opposed to Nehemiah and the rebuilding of the Jerusalem wall.He predates those of our own
day who say, “Don’t bother me with the facts; my mind’s made up!”

Verses 1-3 above are the pattern verses for all negatives of all times. Sanballat and Tobiah are not scientific engineers; they were just evil, first century, negative thinkers. Had the situation been reversed from that of Nehemiah, they would still have been negative toward the rebuilding. (Some people are just negative!)

What are we to do when we’re faced with a mob of negative thinkers? We’re to
follow the pattern of Nehemiah. He turned to the LORD in prayer. Some people
see that like a child running to a parent when he doesn’t get his own way –or
just doesn’t know how to handle the situation.

Truthfully, it doesn’t matter how small the “issue” is, or what others think about our
praying to the LORD for an answer the situation. He loves us and wants us to always depend upon Him.

It’s not a matter of how gargantuan or minimal the situation might be. All that matters is that we recognize our child-to-Father relationship and seek His advice for our speech and our behavior. It will always then be the best from both parties.

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,

Nehemiah 2:17-18, “Then I said to them, ‘You see the bad situation we are in, that Jerusalem is desolate and its gates burned by fire. Come, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem so that we will no longer be a reproach.’
18 I told them how the hand of my God had been favorable to me and also about the king’s words which he had spoken to me. Then they said, ‘Let us arise and build.’ So they put their hands to the good work.”

It was a desperate time. The walls of Jerusalem were down and they badly needed attention. Nehemiah was a servant of King Artaxerxes; and when the
King noted Nehemiah’s sadness, he inquired as to what was disturbing him. It’s
good to have leaders who refuse to lose the “common touch.”

Learning of the devastation of Jerusalem’s walls, Artaxerxes sent Nehemiah to
Jerusalem to lead the work on the walls. The king also provided funds for the
rebuilding. It’s good to have leaders who have not lost the “common touch.”

As it turned out, there were some who strenuously opposed the walls rebuilding.
Two lacklusters, Sanballat and Tobiah, played every “trick in the book” to hinder
the Jews from rebuilding the wall. “…it was very displeasing to them that someone had come to seek the welfare of the sons of Israel” (2:10). Although Nehemiah possessed strong faith in the LORD, it required his instruction to the Jews to keep watch against those who opposed the wall’s reconstruction.

In all of this, we are being taught not to take the things of the LORD for granted.
Nehemiah had opposition. Jesus Himself encountered opposition. Whenever we
choose to stand for Christ, we can know from the start that we will face opposition.
We are to trust the LORD and make a strong stand. We live in the midst of a score
of “anti-christs!” Anything that honors Him, they oppose. He possesses absolute
strength! His opposition can never win. At the same time, He expects us to make
a stand on His behalf. And it is to our benefit that we do so at every turn!

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 19:9-14, “But they said, ‘Stand aside.’ Furthermore, they said, ‘This one came in as an alien, and already he is acting like a judge; now we will treat you worse than them.’ So they pressed hard against Lot and came near to break the door.
10 But the men reached out their hands and brought Lot into the house with them, and shut the door.
11 They struck the men who were at the doorway of the house with blindness, both small and great, so that they wearied themselves trying to find the doorway.
12 Then the two men said to Lot, ‘Whom else have you here? A son-in-law, and your sons, and your daughters, and whomever you have in the city, bring them out of the place;
13 for we are about to destroy this place, because their outcry has become so great before the LORD that the LORD has sent us to destroy it.’
14 Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who were to marry his daughters, and said, “Up, get out of this place, for the LORD will destroy the city.” But he appeared to his sons-in-law to be jesting.”

In the previous chapter, the LORD said, “The outcry of Sodom and Gomorrah is
indeed great, and their sin is exceedingly grave.” Yet, following the LORD’s assessment of Sodom’s sin (18:20), Abraham sought to appease the LORD’s thinking and gradually encourage Him to spare the city.

How like that we are today! “Just leave our sin to us,” we say. “We’ll handle every-
thing.” Yet, we can’t, and we don’t! With a deluge of “preachers” on the internet,
the behavior of the world is moving toward Sodom and its homosexuality. Do you
remember the old saying, “Believe only half of what you see and nothing of what you hear”? –or was it “…half of what you hear and nothing of what you see?” Either works well with the Internet these days.

Only the financial situation seems tenuously holding things together –and that is temporal in that the nations’ need for each other keeps them from outright war. The warning of Holy Scripture is not to be ignored! The LORD has spoken, and only those who heed His warning can hope to survive. Yet, the situation will get worse as time moves rapidly along.

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