The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

Matthew 8:19-23, “Then a scribe came and said to Him, ‘Teacher, I will follow You wherever You go.’
20 Jesus said to him, “The foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.”
21 Another of the disciples said to Him, “Lord, permit me first to go and bury my father.”
22 But Jesus said to him, “Follow Me, and allow the dead to bury their own dead.”
23 When He got into the boat, His disciples followed Him.”

There’s a story circulating about that says Elon Musk, the world’s wealthiest man, had an encounter with the LORD Jesus Christ. Musk, however, is not the only claim to such an encounter. If we research history, we can find many men and women who claimed to know and follow Him. Those who are recorded in Scripture as to following Him are to be believed because the Word of God does not lie!

I have known numerous persons who have claimed to know Him, too; yet, their lives did not consistently demonstrate that He was their leader. True followers of the LORD Jesus will demonstrate through their lives that they have truly met Him and are following Him.

In the passage of Scripture above, a scribe said to Jesus, “Teacher, I will follow You wherever You go.” Whether that man was truthful and actually did follow Jesus, only eternity will reveal.

There was another man, who pledged to follow Him, but deemed the burial of his earthly father to be more immediately important. There are times we can question the validity of even His close disciples –even Simon Peter! More importantly still, there are times when others might genuinely question whether we ourselves really know Him, as our actions display a love for contrary things.

Whether Elon Musk experienced a truly born-again encounter, only time will tell. What should concern us even more is whether others can view our encounter with Him as genuine. The proof of a true relationship with Jesus lies in whether we are with Him “in the boat”! Are you? Think carefully.

Heartily in Christ Jesus,

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.
Springdale, Arkansas
United States of America

“We never know that Christ is all we need until He becomes all that we have.” – Corrie ten Boom

The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

Deuteronomy 19:16-21,”If a malicious witness rises up against a man to accuse him of wrongdoing,
17 then both the men who have the dispute shall stand before the LORD, before the priests and the judges who will be in office in those days.
18 “The judges shall investigate thoroughly, and if the witness is a false witness and he has accused his brother falsely,
19 then you shall do to him just as he had intended to do to his brother. Thus you shall purge the evil from among you.
20 “The rest will hear and be afraid, and will never again do such an evil thing among you.
21 “Thus you shall not show pity: life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.”

If it has never occurred to you, prior to reading this passage of Scripture, it seems certain that it will have its intention on your life. Of course, we are not living in Old Testament times; therefore, it has to be understood, as if we were, in order for its meaning to be perfectly clear.

I was once introduced to a man who had for several years served my area as a judge. I greeted him with an extended hand and an intentional fear-like face saying: “I didn’t do it, your Honor!” Fortunately, we both laughed. It might not have worked as well, had we been in court and in session.

Our judicial system was originally founded upon Scripture. Everything honest and truthful was originally based upon what is written by the Hand of God. Over time, however, mankind drifted away from the Scriptures and from all of the LORD’s instruction. When that occurs without punishment for even one person, it gives encouragement to others to ignore what is right and to act as if one were not guilty.

The LORD’s instruction for the judges regarding those who stand before them is “…you shall not show pity: life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.” We should all remember this teaching and determine to be what we ought to be at all times, just as the LORD wills. And if we want justice, we must be willing for others to have it, too –even if works against us!

Heartily in Christ,

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.
Springdale, Arkansas
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,

Proverbs 16:1-7, “The plans of the heart belong to man, but the
answer of the tongue is from the LORD.
2 All the ways of a man are clean in his own sight, but the LORD
weighs the motives.
3 Commit your works to the LORD And your plans will be established.
4 The LORD has made everything for its own purpose, even the
wicked for the day of evil.
5 Everyone who is proud in heart is an abomination to the LORD;
Assuredly, he will not be unpunished.
6 By lovingkindness and truth iniquity is atoned for, And by the fear
of the LORD one keeps away from evil.
7 When a man’s ways are pleasing to the LORD, He makes even his
enemies to be at peace with him.”

Did you ever set your mind on something, when suddenly something
better came into view, causing you to change your mind? A little
Wisconsin girl was fishing with her father when she spotted something
in the water. No it wasn’t a fish. As it turned out, what she discovered
was a ship that had sunk back in 1871. That’s quite a find for anyone,
let alone a 6-year-old girl.

The above words from the Proverbs are quite a find, too! We have a
way of coveting praise for ourselves; then we come to understand
something of how God thinks! At that point, we get a much clearer
picture of what we truly are in His sight!

Just think! You might discover something, only to learn that it belongs
to the LORD! Truth be told, everything belongs to the LORD! You and
I belong to Him, too! That’s why what we think and what we say to
anyone about anything, needs to be run by Him first.

Think about that verse seven again: “When a man’s ways are pleasing
to the LORD, He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.” Get your heart and life right with God by trusting Jesus as your LORD and Savior. He will then broker peace between you and all your enemies.

Heartily in Christ Jesus,

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.
Springdale, Arkansas
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,

Jeremiah 6:10-14, “To whom shall I speak and give warning that they may hear? Behold, their ears are closed and they cannot listen. Behold, the Word of the LORD has become a reproach to them; they have no delight in it.
11 But I am full of the wrath of the LORD; I am weary with holding it in. “Pour it out on the children in the street and on the gathering of young men together; for both husband and wife shall be taken, the aged and the very old.
12 “Their houses shall be turned over to others, their fields and their wives together; for I will stretch out My hand against the inhabitants of the land,” declares the LORD.
13 “For from the least of them even to the greatest of them, everyone is greedy for gain, and from the prophet even to the priest everyone deals falsely.
14 “They have healed the brokenness of My people superficially, saying, ‘Peace, peace,’ But there is no peace.’”

By definition, a “homophone” is a word or a phrase that illustrates similarity in sound, yet has a totally different meaning. A small boy wanting more cookies or a second piece of cake, might cry, “Piece, piece,” yet that would have a totally different meaning than the cry for “peace,” as in our Scripture passage above. Check out the following list. Notice that the words all “sound” alike, but have quite different meanings:

Air / heirdear / deer know / no peace / piece
Bare / bearflour / flower meat / meet see / sea
Cell / sellknight / night real / reel their / there

In much the same way, nations cry peace! Yet, their true desire is for their piece, not peace for or with their adversaries! One may say, “I love you;” yet the one speaking means something quite different than the one who hears it said.

The last verse in the Jeremiah passage above illustrates this quite clearly. Peace for one comes only when there is a realization of occupancy of land for the other. Do you have peace? True peace? Do those around you have peace? The Bible says that “those who love Your (the LORD’s) law have great peace. And nothing causes them to stumble” (Psa. 119:165).

Practice being peaceful. Practice loving peace. “When a man’s ways are pleasing to the LORD, He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him” (Prov. 16:7). Think about how you can come to be at peace with someone. You’ll both be better for it.

Heartily in Christ Jesus,

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.
Springdale, Arkansas
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,

Ezra 7:1, 6, “Now after these things, in the reign of Artaxerxes king of Persia, there went up Ezra son of Seraiah, son of Azariah, son of Hilkiah….
6 This Ezra went up from Babylon, and he was a scribe skilled in the law of Moses, which the LORD God of Israel had given; and the king granted him all he requested because the hand of the LORD his God was upon him.”

There is infinitely more to this account in Ezra than we are able to garner in this brief notation. Ezra, as noted above, was a scribe in the Law of Moses. He possessed what we today would label as a legal expert – one who had graduated from one of the world’s more prestigious Schools of Law. His abilities were second to none, largely (I suppose) because he trusted the LORD and followed Him in the application of what the LORD required. Thus, “…the hand of the LORD his God was upon him.”

What we, in the United States, have only recently experienced, this writer views as one whom “the hand of the LORD his God was upon him.” It was indeed a unique experience for the recipient –a welcome intrusion into a realm
that boasts only of those who are divinely appointed to a specific, albeit gargantuan, task!

As the ultimate value of Moses’ task rested securely in the sure Hands of the Almighty, so the ultimate value of the LORD’s beneficence is bestowed upon His Nation in what might be the terminal days of all human history. No man, who attends to the business of the LORD, attends alone! For one, who finds himself ensconced behind a nation’s desk, soon discovers he is seated on the lap of no less than Almighty God Himself!

Now, the nation’s and the world’s dependency rests solely upon the One, who once surrendered His Life for those who trust Him and dare to be called “Christians.” as the doors close on the final hours of human history.

“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,

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.
Springdale, Arkansas
United States of America

“We never know that Christ is all we need until He becomes all that we have.” – Corrie ten Boom