The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

Ecclesiastes 12:8-14, “Vanity of vanities,” says the Preacher, “all is vanity!”
9 In addition to being a wise man, the Preacher also taught the people knowledge; and he pondered, searched out and arranged many proverbs.
10 The Preacher sought to find delightful words and to write words of truth correctly.
11 The words of wise men are like goads, and masters of these collections
are like well-driven nails; they are given by one Shepherd.
12 But beyond this, my son, be warned: the writing of many books is endless, and
excessive devotion to books is wearying to the body.
13 The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person.
14 For God will bring every act to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is
good or evil.”

Have you ever labored diligently over something, but felt realistically that you were accomplishing absolutely nothing? Of course, you have. So has everyone, everywhere! “What’s the use?” you ask. “Nothing seems to fit together in this project! I might as well
quit!”

Well, before you quit, it would, perhaps, be encouraging somewhat to learn that the
human author, who asked those questions, was himself the wisest man who ever lived –Solomon! Does that mean we might as well give up? Certainly not! What Solomon is
saying is that we all have the same perplexities.

One solution to the perplexities in Solomon’s day was his teaching his people what he
had learned from his own studies. One thing Solomon learned was that “the words of
wise men are like goads…well-driven nails” that “are from one Shepherd.” Those
goads, or nails, keep the the animals from straying away from the pathway on which
they were being guided. It’s like studying the Bible in order to live life as the LORD
intended us to live it.

True Preachers are God-called men, who find in Scripture the teachings the LORD
wants His people to learn and to follow. True preachers not only teach the people from
the pulpit, they live what they teach others to live! They become living examples of
what the LORD wants, leading their congregations by example as well as by teaching!

Still, it’s not preachers alone, who affect their congregations. What we all learn from
our pastor, he has learned from the Holy Scriptures. And what our children learn, they
learn from us, their parents, who in turn, learned from their pastor. We are all responsible
to behave in life as the LORD intends. If you feel the “goads,” you have strayed from His pathway! Better get back on track –and fast!

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 l7:17-21, “Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed, and said in his heart, “Will a child be born to a man one hundred years old? And will Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?”
18 And Abraham said to God, “Oh that Ishmael might live before You!”
19 But God said, “No, but Sarah your wife will bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac; and I will establish My covenant with him for an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him.
20 “As for Ishmael, I have heard you; behold, I will bless him, and will make him fruitful and will multiply him exceedingly. He shall become the father of twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation.
21 “But My covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you at this season next year.”

“Listen to your wife. She knows what is best.” How many times have I heard that from people? And it is often true of all of us men. Still, there is a time when we should listen to the LORD alone!

Sarai was certainly at fault for suggesting that Abraham take Hagar, an
Egyptian, as a wife, so that she could bear him a son –a son that God had
promised! Clearly, Sarai lacked the faith to believe that God would keep His promise of giving Abraham a son.

Aren’t we all-too-often like that? We agree with the LORD on everything except His timing! The Hebrew word “wait” (????? qavah) “expects a positive outcome.” Abraham had waited, Sarai’s faith was unwilling to do the same. Think how “childish” it is to want everything now! Think how faithless it is to doubt the LORD’s timing on anything!

I’m reminded of the man, who married a woman to get her off his mind, and
ended up getting her on his hands! (Abram hadn’t heard that, and Sarai
wasn’t telling!) In the end of the story, Hagar and Ishmael, her son, were
ultimately turned away to wander by themselves in the hills. That had to bother Abraham; but, the boy and his mother weren’t alone! The LORD was their comfort and their provision.

Waiting, however, is arduous! For the most part, you and I are a we-want-it-now kind of people! Yet, we only know part of what is going on. Sometimes, we even lack the knowledge of that part! In the end, the LORD made a Covenant with Isaac and his mother.

In the final analysis, the Word says, “”He has done all things well…” (Mk. 7:37).
Pray, of course, but trust Him without hesitation! He alone knows what is best.

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,

Exodus 15:24-27, “So the people grumbled at Moses, saying, ‘What shall we drink?’
25 Then he cried out to the LORD, and the LORD showed him a tree; and he threw it into the waters, and the waters became sweet. There He made for them a statute and regulation, and there He tested them.
26 And He said, “If you will give earnest heed to the voice of the LORD your God, and do what is right in His sight, and give ear to His commandments, and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have put on the Egyptians; for I, the LORD, am your healer.”
27 Then they came to Elim where there were twelve springs of water and seventy date palms, and they camped there beside the waters.”

Did you think we were through with grumbling? I’m pretty sure Moses thought the same thing. At the very least, he must have sighed when the LORD provided the food and the people stopped grumbling. The problem is: when we grumble and get what we grumbled for, we think that the key to “getting” is “grumbling.” (Sigh!) Too often that’s how it turns out. So we continue to grumble and pout. (Have you read or listened to the News lately?)

Moses gave the people the LORD’s instruction related to how they could get what they needed. First, LISTEN IN EARNEST to what the LORD says! Then, DO WHAT IS RIGHT in His Sight. (Oh, that’s a tough one!) We’re all used to doing what WE WANT, and then complaining if we didn’t get it! (Did I miss anything there? Okay, we’ll go on!)

Here’s the route we have to follow if we’re going to get anything related to what we want: First, “LISTEN carefully to what the LORD has said! Second, “DO what is right IN HIS SIGHT! –not your own!” Want to be free from all the diseases? ALWAYS DO what is right IN HIS SIGHT! And remember that the LORD is the healer!”

Footnote: “THEN they came to Elim where there were twelve springs of water and 70 date palms…” Yes, I love clear, cold water; but I’m not ‘crazy’ about dates; but when you’re really hungry and thirsty, everything provided for you tastes like hot apple pie alamode!

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,

Exodus 16:11-18, “And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
12 ‘I have heard the grumblings of the sons of Israel; speak to them, saying, “At twilight you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall be filled with bread; and you shall know that I am the LORD your God.”’”
13 So it came about at evening that the quails came up and covered the camp, and in the morning there was a layer of dew around the camp.
14 When the layer of dew evaporated, behold, on the surface of the wilderness there was a fine flake-like thing, fine as the frost on the ground.
15 When the sons of Israel saw it, they said to one another, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was. And Moses said to them, “It is the bread which the LORD has given you to eat.
16 “This is what the LORD has commanded, ‘Gather of it every man as much as he should eat; you shall take an omer apiece according to the number of persons each of you has in his tent.'”
17 The sons of Israel did so, and some gathered much and some little.
18 When they measured it with an omer, he who had gathered much had no excess, and he who had gathered little had no lack; every man gathered as much as he should eat.”

What do you say when you hear someone grumble? Possibly, nothing (if you’re wise). Grumbling seems to be natural for some of us. Make that “most of us!” There are numerous things that produce grumbling: one of them concerns having to wait to be served in a restaurant. Another is just missing an airplane!

I was in Denver, en route to LA for a flight to Sydney. It was a confusing time. I was in the back of a line, realizing that my flight was nearing take-off. I’d never done this before, but I shot to the front of the line, ignoring those ahead of me and said to the Agent, “I’ve got to get on that flight to LA!” She looked at me and pointed out the window. “That, sir, is your flight – taking off just now!” I grumbled, but to no value. I had simply missed the flight.

After I settled down, I approached another Agent, who put me on another flight that would, she said, get me to LA and the flight to Sydney. Yet, while I was speaking to the Agent, a GI nearby grumbled quite loudly and provocatively saying, “A guy fights for his country and gets home and receives this kind of treatment. Why were we there?” As he grumbled, I turned to him and said, “You’ve got no right to grumble! You came back!”

Say what we will, nothing gives us the right to grumble. It was true of Israel, too! The LORD was the True Leader, and the people agreed to follow him out of Egypt to a Promised Land! So, they had no food? Did grumbling get them the food? No, the food was provided by the LORD. What’s more, they were given an abundance of food –not because they grumbled, but because the LORD heard their cry and provided their needs.

We can cry to the LORD without grumbling. Grumbling (as pictured in the stories above), only negatively affected the grumblers and those about them. Later, while in the air, en route to LA, I discovered that I could alter my flight, so that no time was lost in catching that plane to Sydney. Life is hurried; but hurry is not the answer. Guess Who is!

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,

Psalm 146:1-10, “Praise the LORD! Praise the LORD, O my soul!
2 I will praise the LORD while I live; I will sing praises to my God while I have my being.
3 Do not trust in princes, in mortal man, in whom there is no salvation.
4 His spirit departs, he returns to the earth; in that very day his thoughts perish.
5 How blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, Whose hope is in the LORD his God,
6 Who made heaven and earth, the sea and all that is in them; Who keeps faith forever;
7 Who executes justice for the oppressed; Who gives food to the hungry. The LORD sets the prisoners free.
8 The LORD opens the eyes of the blind; the LORD raises up those who are bowed down; the LORD loves the righteous;
9 The LORD protects the strangers; He supports the fatherless and the widow, But He thwarts the way of the wicked.
10 The LORD will reign forever, your God, O Zion, to all generations. Praise the LORD! PROTECTION FOREVER!

The Psalmist commences his day with praise to the LORD! It is not only his manner upon awakening each morning, it is his instruction for us! Every day ought to commence with praise –especially should it come from those of us who know and love the LORD!

At the same time, the Psalmist warns us against trusting in the ways of mankind. We must remember that there is no salvation anywhere apart from the LORD. Man is born, lives, dies and is buried in the earth. Along with death, die his thoughts and whatever wisdom they might have contained.

Further, it is the LORD alone who executes justice, just as He did for Jacob! We serve precisely the same God as Jacob, only that we are exceedingly blessed to own Christ Jesus as our LORD and Savior! He is a just God who provides for all our needs, just as He did for Jacob in his day!

Simultaneous with His blessings, the LORD protects us from harm and
from making poor decisions. He is alive and will reign forever! May we always praise Him for His protection for ourselves and for every generation! And may we love Him and share Him that others, too, may be forever blessed!

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