The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

Isaiah 30:15-19, “For thus the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel, has said, ‘In repentance and rest you will be saved, in quietness and trust is your strength.’ But you were not willing,
16 and you said, ‘No, for we will flee on horses,’ therefore, you shall flee! ‘And we will ride on swift horses,’ therefore, those who pursue you shall be swift.
17 One thousand will flee at the threat of one man; you will flee at the threat of five, until you are left as a flag on a mountain top and as a signal on a hill.
18 Therefore the LORD longs to be gracious to you, and therefore, He waits on high to have compassion on you. For the LORD is a God of justice; how blessed are all those who long for Him.
19 O people in Zion, inhabitant in Jerusalem, you will weep no longer. He will surely be gracious to you at the sound of your cry; when He hears it, He will answer you.”

Dr. Robert Jeffress, pastor of First Baptist Church in Dallas, Texas, recently conducted a television interview with Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu of Israel.

Despite the Prime Minister’s Judaistic beliefs, he is warm toward the Christian faith and warmer toward the United States than many who hold citizenship in this country. He is also quite knowledgeable of Israel’s
History. Whether the verses above denote Netanyahu’s current thinking, remains to be seen. Still, we should pray for the peace of Jerusalem and for the nation as a whole.

At the same time, we should take note of the verses for ourselves. “In repentance and rest you will be saved…,” is a message to American Christians, too.
We cannot rely on our history, or our science, or our military. “God is our (only) refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble” (Ps. 46:1).

His concern is not limited to the upper echelon of any
government. He is concerned for the humblest of men
and women, who have been captured by sin. He lived and died and arose from the grave to be the Savior and LORD of all who will believe. Are you on the LORD’s side? It is the surest and safest place to be. I’m in His hands and I’m praying for you to be there, too. It’s the best possible way to have a grateful THANKSGIVING!

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,

Isaiah 29:13-15, “Then the Lord said, ‘Because this people draw near with their words and honor Me with their lip service, but they remove their hearts far from Me, and their reverence for Me consists of tradition learned by rote,
14 Therefore behold, I will once again deal marvelously with this people, wondrously marvelous; and the wisdom of their wise men will perish, and the discernment of their discerning men will be concealed.
15 Woe to those who deeply hide their plans from the LORD, and whose deeds are done in a dark place, and they say, “Who sees us?” or “Who knows us?”’”

Spy novels are often exciting! They’re more exciting, however, when they’re real. Scheming people plan to do evil, while those against whom they are scheming are working to stop them.

The Scripture passage above is something like that –only it’s real and has consequences well beyond our wildest imagination. The LORD is witnessing the half-hearted reverence of His people, who are pretending to honor Him, but are just reciting old traditions that they have just memorized.

Did you ever try to hide something from your parents when you were a child? You thought you had “pulled one over them,” only to find that they knew more about what you were concealing that you did! Shucks! They were smarter than you thought. Well, get ready for this: God is smarter that you think, too!

There’s an old saying –I think it was an old commercial that said, “You can’t fool Mother Nature.” It could well have been lifted from our passage above. Remember what it said?

“Woe to those who deeply hide their plans from the LORD, and whose deeds are done in a dark place. And they say, ‘Who sees us?’ or ‘Who knows us?’” But to ask the question is to answer it. The all-seeing eyes of the LORD behold it all. What do you reckon He thinks of your life? Are you prepared to meet Him?
We will all meet Him some day. Better get ready….

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 1:18-25, “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness,
19 because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them.
20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.
21 For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened.
22 Professing to be wise, they became fools,
23 and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures.
24 Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them.
25 For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.”

How often we hear people carelessly use the name of the LORD in an other than spiritual manner. I cannot recall that I ever heard anyone say, “by the name of Zeus, I will…” or swear “as sure as Hermes lives.”

Slamming the name of anyone, intentionally or not, is to disgrace the person. Reverencing the name of the LORD is one way we show Him honor. The Bible teaches that God is love; and all the good we possess, or ever hope to possess, emanates from Him.

The psalmist wrote, “Worship the LORD with reverence and rejoice with trembling. Do homage to the Son, that He not become angry, and you perish in the way, for His wrath may soon be kindled. How blessed are all who take refuge in Him” (Psa. 2:11-12)!

When was the last time you consciously worshipped the LORD in prayer? or in the serious study of His Word? or utilized the opportunity to introduce Him to someone who needed Him in his life? This is what it means to “worship the LORD in reverence…”

Often we hear or read of someone who smugly smears the name of Jesus, apparently without suffering His wrath. Yet, the day of His vengeance cannot forever be avoided. To reject Him is also a smearing of His Name. He died for you, and you’ve never said, “Thank You, LORD.”

What is equally worse is never to know His divine love. Coming to know Him is a simple matter of trust. Just ask Him to forgive your sins and take control of your life. You’ll be amazed with His love when you do!

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,

Ecclesiastes 5:6-7, “Do not let your speech cause you to sin and do not say in the presence of the messenger of God that it was a mistake. Why should God be angry on account of your voice and destroy the work of your hands?
7 For in many dreams and in many words there is emptiness. Rather, fear God.”

Have you ever made a mistake? To ask the question is indeed to answer it: of course you have! So have all of us. Mistakes occur when we are distracted in our speech or in our writing. I made one today! Laugh at me if you will, but it’s the truth. What’s more, what I said was true; it was simply misaddressed. What can be worse than that?

There are intentional wrongs and unintentional wrongs. Saying nothing when you sense the urgency of the Holy Spirit to speak up is certainly wrong. Don’t be afraid. Say what you know the Holy Spirit is leading you to say.

Saying something when the Spirit’s urging is for us to refrain from speaking, however, is also wrong. Some of us are inclined more to speak than others. Still, acting as the Spirit leads is always the correct action to take.

When Joseph’s brothers returned to their father from visiting Joseph (Gen. 43:12), they discovered double the amount of money in their sacks, it was called an “oversight” ((????????? mishgeh), a possible mistake.

Solomon warned against challenging the “messenger of God,” saying such was a mistake (???????? Shegagah) (Eccl. 5:6). We should always take extreme care in exercising such challenges. Far better that we simply ask for a clarification of what was said.

But, if you are waiting for an explanation of my admitted error, it is surely enough that I admit to its commission. I will not embarrass myself further.

The lesson is for each of us that we not rush to judgment on anything! The chances are that we will simply make everything worse.

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,

2 Peter 3:1-13, “This is now, beloved, the second letter I am writing to you in which I am stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder,
2 that you should remember the words spoken beforehand by the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior spoken by your apostles.
3 Know this first of all, that in the last days mockers will come with their mocking, following after their own lusts,
4 and saying, ‘Where is the promise of His coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation.’
5 For when they maintain this, it escapes their notice that by the word of God the heavens existed long ago and the earth was formed out of water and by water,
6 through which the world at that time was destroyed, being flooded with water.
7 But by His Word the present heavens and earth are being reserved for fire, kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.
8 But do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day.
9 The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.
10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up.
11 Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness,
12 looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be destroyed by burning, and the elements will melt with intense heat!
13 But according to His promise we are looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells.”

I am certain that there are scores of books that seek to explain these 13 verses in our Letter today. It does seem (at least to me) that today’s media announcements are covering virtually everything that Simon Peter has written in this 3-page letter.

First, he sites the value of the Old Testament in its relation to the New Testament people of his day. This is something some “pastors” are purposefully omitting in their teachings today. Peter includes these Old Testament “words spoken beforehand.”

Peter also identifies those who mock the Word and continue to follow their own ungodly lusts. Just think: if you have lusts that have captured your spirit, you will naturally want to obliterate the Word of the LORD that denounces lusts as evil.

In point of fact, virtually everything created by the LORD is being denounced by those who see Him as in the way of their lifestyle. In their effort to erase God as the Author of creation, they submit to pseudo-science, the beliefs of which cannot stand against the truths of Holy God.

The Supreme God, who created this Earth on which we live, numbers the days of our existance. The Day of Christ’s coming again may well be upon us! This Earth on which we live will be destroyed by “intense heat.” And the heavens also will “melt with intense heat!” And “according to His promise, we, who are His, are looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells.”

If you believe what the Scripture says will take place, you will have to submit to the Lordship of Christ in order to survive! Will there be time in that day for you to repent? I sincerely doubt it!

Furthermore, who else but Jesus Christ is able and willing to rescue you? Only the Word of God makes sense! He is our only escape? Are you ready to meet Him? Think about it! Then, act upon it by trusting 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