The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

Titus 1:7-11, “…the overseer must be above reproach as God’s steward, not self-willed, not quick-tempered, not addicted to wine, not pugnacious, not fond of sordid gain,
8 but hospitable, loving what is good, sensible, just, devout, self-controlled,
9 holding fast the faithful word which is in accordance with the teaching, so that he will be able both to exhort in sound doctrine and to refute those who contradict.
10 For there are many rebellious men, empty talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision,
11 who must be silenced because they are upsetting whole families, teaching things they should not teach for the sake of sordid gain.”

Like it or not, we are moving quite swiftly into the era of an election cycle. Men and women, some of whom are virtually unknown are just now emerging on the political stage. Some have openly acknowledged a personal faith in the LORD Jesus Christ. Others, are attempting to win approval by intentionally omitting God, saying rather that God should be relegated to the Church and scrubbed from the business and political arenas.

Simultaneous with the political speedway, are those who claim to be ministers of the Gospel, but who emphasize what looks more like the acquisition of personal finanical resources than the proclamation of God’s Good News.

The Apostle Paul’s expression of a true minister of the Gospel is first that he must be above reproach. His will is to be the will of his LORD. He is not to be feisty or selfish or abrasive or a partaker of alcohol or drugs. Nor should he be a money grubber. Such are virtually everywhere in today’s marketplace.

Instead of all the “look-at-me” –isms, the true man of God is loving, caring, sensible, honest, and faithful to the LORD and His Word. He is not looking for financial stability; his stability comes from the LORD alone.

There are true and faithful men, who have not been called to the ministry of the Word. Some of them serve Him in various aspects of government; some serve in the military, some in medicine. What separates a godly man from an ungodly man is not where he serves, but whom he serves. Pray for the godly men in ministry; pray for the godly men in the military, in business, in government –all of which areas are vital to all that we are and do. May God bless and increase their numbers! And may they ever be in our prayers.

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,

Micah 1:2-7, “Hear, O peoples, all of you; listen, O earth and all it contains, and let the Lord GOD be a witness against you, the Lord from His holy temple.
3 For behold, the LORD is coming forth from His place. He will come down and tread on the high places of the earth.
4 The mountains will melt under Him and the valleys will be split, like wax before the fire, like water poured down a steep place.
5 All this is for the rebellion of Jacob and for the sins of the house of Israel. What is the rebellion of Jacob? Is it not Samaria? What is the high place of Judah? Is it not Jerusalem?
6 For I will make Samaria a heap of ruins in the open country, planting places for a vineyard. I will pour her stones down into the valley and will lay bare her foundations.
7 All of her idols will be smashed, all of her earnings will be burned with fire and all of her images I will make desolate, for she collected them from a harlot’s earnings, and to the earnings of a harlot they will return.”

Did you ever make a promise you didn’t keep? “I’ll take care of everything,” the
salesman said. Yet, in reality, he did nothing. We’ve all experienced someone like that. Sometimes more often than we care to remember.

I can recall numerous times hearing lectures from a well-known theologian. When I asked if he would share with me a copy of his lectures, he replied, “Sure, give me your address.” I never missed receiving what he said he would send. His word was his bond.

The prophet Micah assured the people of his day that the LORD would indeed be a witness against them, for they had rebelled against the LORD!

As I read of Micah’s promise that the LORD would abolish Samaria’s cities, I was quickly and clearly reminded that He could do the same to us unless we
repent and do so quickly! The unexpected destruction of the Twin Towers in New York City in 2001 should give us fair warning. If an enemy can damage us
so heavily in such a short time, what could the LORD’s destruction of us be?

The prophet Isaiah believed what the prophet Micah had said, when he wrote,
“Seek the LORD while He may be found; call upon Him while He is near” (Isa. 55:6). Even the very thought of “bitcoin” replacing the dollar should send shivers down our spines! We have but One Person who can deliver us from
evil and destruction: Jesus Christ! If you haven’t trusted Him as your LORD and Savior, do it now! Time is running out! You are in my prayers.

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 6:1-13, “Now this is the commandment, the statutes and the judgments which the LORD your God has commanded me to teach you, that you might do them in the land where you are going over to possess it,
2 so that you and your son and your grandson might fear the LORD your God, to keep all His statutes and His commandments which I command you, all the days of your life, and that your days may be prolonged.

4 “Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD is one!

5 “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.
6 “These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart.
7 You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up.
8 “You shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead.
9 “You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

12 then watch yourself, that you do not forget the LORD who brought you from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
13 “You shall fear only the LORD your God; and you shall worship Him and swear by His name.”

Three verses ( i.e., 3, 10-11) were omitted from the Scriptural passage above. I elected to remove them because they were redundant to the verses that are cited. Some verses I have emboldened for emphasis. Although this passage relates primirally to Israel, it certainly speaks to the Church today. Following
the instructive commandments of the LORD is always beneficial to every generation.

Keeping the truths of the LORD in our hearts is beneficial to us and to those family members who come after us. “Love, teach, walk, bind, and write” are commandments that bring blessing both to us and to those who come after us. When they observe our dedication to Christ, they then follow Him themselves! We cannot overly demonstrate His love or His teachings in our own lives.

There is, however, a stern warning that we are to “watch ourselves and not forget the LORD.” Always remember that our children, grandchildren –all members of our family—as well as close friends and children will note carefully how we live; and they will follow in their own lives what they observe in us.
May God richly and abundantly bless you and your family is my earnest prayer.

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,

Romans 1:8-12, “First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, because your faith is being proclaimed throughout the whole world.
9 For God, whom I serve in my spirit in the preaching of the gospel of His Son, is my witness as to how unceasingly I make mention of you,
10 always in my prayers making request, if perhaps now at last by the will of God I may succeed in coming to you.
11 For I long to see you so that I may impart some spiritual gift to you, that you may be established;
12 that is, that I may be encouraged together with you while among you, each of us by the other’s faith, both yours and mine.”

It’s my honest guess that every Christian has a favorite Biblical personality. The Apostle Paul is doubtlessly at the top of many believers’ lists. We admire Paul for his incessant prayer life and his earnest desire to see people come to faith in Jesus as their LORD and Savior. Next to Christ, Paul sets the standard.

It was indeed Paul’s desire that everything spiritual that he possessed might be the possession of every believer. Perhaps that is what endeared him so to
so many. He was a true “giver,” knowing that those who received Christ Jesus
would share Him with others, as well.

Paul was also a major encourager. Were he not, why would he have been such a “prayer warrior”? Why, too, would he have longed so urgently to be physically present with those for whom he prayed? Written communication is good, but there’s nothing quite like being physically present in the sharing of spiritual truths.

We are thankful for the means of communication we have with which to share
Jesus Christ. Still, there’s nothing quite like speaking face-to-face with someone when we tell them about Him. Those with whom we speak have the opportunity “in the moment” to ask questions. And those questions often open opportunities that escape the mail, telephone, and electronic communication.

Faithful daily reading of the Bible excites our souls to share the Savior! Set aside each day some time alone to read and study the Bible. You will be amazed as how effectively the Holy Spirit will use you when you make time to read and study the Word. As with Paul, you’ll be encouraged, too! God bless!

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 32:9-12, “Jacob said, ‘O God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, O LORD, who said to me, ‘”Return to your country and to your relatives, and I will prosper you,
10 I am unworthy of all the lovingkindness and of all the faithfulness which You have shown to Your servant; for with my staff only I crossed this Jordan, and now I have become two companies.’
11 “Deliver me, I pray, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau; for I fear him, that he will come and attack me and the mothers with the children.
12 “For You said, ‘I will surely prosper you and make your descendants as the sand of the sea, which is too great to be numbered.'”

It was Robert Southey’s 1810 poem that said, “Curses are like young chicken: they always come home to roost.” Although Southey was hugely late here with his statement, it fits well with the fear that gripped Isaac as he contemplated his meeting with his brother Esau. Isaac was a schemer, but the time was up, and the meeting he knew would one day come was now soon to be upon him.

There’s a clear message for all of us in the Jacob-Esau story. Simply stated, it is, “You cannot do wrong and get by.” I can remember my grandmother saying,
“Keep short accounts.” I had to grow up to grasp her meaning, but, I did.

It was Jesus’ clear instruction to us when He said,

“Make friends quickly with your opponent at law while you
are with him on the way, so that your opponent may not hand
you over to the judge, and the judge to the officer, and you be
thrown into prison. 26 “Truly I say to you, you will not come out
of there until you have paid up the last cent” (Mat. 5:25-26).

There is not the slightest hint in Jesus’ words regarding an escape for Jacob’s responsibility; yet, there was a way to meet it and escape the rigor that would otherwise be involved. In Jacob’s situation, his internal resolution, and genuine sorrow, enabled a productive outcome.

There is no excuse for us to engage in any skulduggery when we face difficulty. We simply need to place all of our trust in the LORD Jesus Christ, and behave according to the teachings of His Word. Worry is the opposite of trust; and when we worry, we are simply not trusting Christ.

I remember the meaningful words of a children’s song we used to sing:

Cheer up, ye saints of God;
There’s nothing to worry about;
Nothing to make you feel afraid;
Nothing to make you doubt;
Remember, Jesus never fails,
So why not trust Him and shout?
You’ll be sorry you worried at all
Tomorrow morning.

Now, how about it? Put your faith and trust in Christ. He’s never failed!

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