The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

2 Timothy 4:1-5, “I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead,

and by His appearing and His kingdom:

2 preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction.

3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate

for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires;

4 and will turn away their ears from the truth, and will turn aside to myths.

5 But you, be sober in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.”

All political candidates are in full swing as they seek to persuade voters to select them as leaders in government tor a specified time. My inbox today held acclamations from Israel to Australlia, as friends from throughout the world encouraged Americans to vote!

It is vital that we vote! What’s even more important is that we adhere to Paul’s commission to “preach the Word!” Voting in governmental elections relates to our political freedoms. Proclaiming the Word of Christ is what keeps us and others spiritually free! There is no limit to the time for proclaiming Jesus. We’re to be ready “in season and out of season.” Sometimes our preaching convicts; sometimes it rebukes; sometimes it encourages. Still, we have to be patient as we give instruction. Some learn more quickly than others.

I’m convinced that we’re living in the very time Paul references. Many today will not accept God’s safe Truth. Many will not teach it. They have invented a “gospel” of their own, and have discovered huge groups that are willing to receive it. These pseudo preachers invent their own gospel and live from the hands of those who devour it. They are thereby displacing the LORD and becoming gods themselves, filling the lives of the lost with husks of human garbage that leads away from God’s Truth and terminates in the fires of Hell.

Paul acknowledges that there are hardships. Preaching God’s Truth requires physical and spiritual strength. Simultaneously contending with false teachers, requires strength, too. Paul advocates sobriety. Don’t get off track, he is saying. Stick to God’s Word. It alone is the Truth that sets men free. We have a solemn responsibility to share Christ with the lost. Voting in a national election is vitally important; but sharing Jesus with the lost has an eternal value! Are we fulfilling our responsibilities?

Think about it! One day, we will give account of our lives. It could be sooner than we think!

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 Timothy 1:5; 3:15, “For I am mindful of the sincere faith within you, which first dwelt in your grandmother Lois, and your

mother Eunice, and I am sure that it is in you as well….

15 and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings, which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation

through faith which is in Christ Jesus.”

‘Why do I have to do this?” “Who are you to tell me what to do?” “Who do you think you are, anyway?” These are just a few of the things children often say in response to directives given them by their elders. Remember Mark Twain’s comment? “When I was 18, I thought my father was the dumbest man on earth, but when I got to be 21, it was amazing how much he had learned in three, short years.”

The LORD not only gave us parents to bring us into the world, He gave them the responsibility to train and instruct us to be what He wanted us to be for Him! Timothy’s grandmother Lois had invested spiritually in the life of her daughter, Eunice. Somewhere along the way Eunice had veered away from her mother’s Christian teaching and married a Greek (Acts 16:1). Yet, Paul acknowledges Eunice’s faith and its foundation in Timothy’s life.

I have studied the genealogical lineage of both my father and my mother, and to the best I can determine, all of my family for generations were born-again Christians. Undoubtedly, that was fundamental to my becoming a Christian and marrying a Christian girl. Our children and their spouses are all Christians, as are their children. That’s what’s basic to the LORD’s involvement in families. None of that purports to say, however, that we’ve always been everything the LORD desired. It is, however, the pattern He desires of all His people. It’s knowing Him as Savior and teaching others to know Him, too.

If you’ve yet to come to faith in Christ Jesus and become His child, it is vital that you do so quickly. In that way, not only you, but all who follow you in your family line will have the teaching of the Scriptures and come to faith in Jesus Christ.

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,

1 Timothy 6:17-19, “Instruct those who are rich in this present world not to be conceited or to fix their hope on the uncertainty

of riches, but on God, who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy.

18 Instruct them to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share,

19 storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is life

indeed.”

Did you ever want to be rich? I sincerely doubt that there are very many who would say they never wanted to be rich. Why, think of the things you could buy! –a car, a house with a pool, and the list goes on and on. Of course, you could deceive yourself (and possibly a few others) by saying that with riches you could support missionaries, buy the pastor a new car, give his family a vacation in the Holy Land –and the list goes on and on.

Paul warned us, however, that riches often caues conceit. We’re simply not to put our hope on earthly riches of any kind!

Our hope is to be securely and forever fixed on Jesus Christ. His riches are true riches, not the silver and gold that we have

today and are gone next day. Would you believe that it is God who “supplies us with all things…” and they are thngs He intends us “to enjoy”?

Primarily, we are to do good and be good. That’s where true riches are found. We’re to be generous and to share with others what the LORD has given us. Giving to others is actually saving for the future.” If we doubt that, we’ve got the wrong kind of riches in mind. We’re thinking money and things riches can buy; He’s thinking of Heaven’s rewards!

I remember the saying, “It’’s not how much you have, it’s how you hold it.” I would go even further and say that nothing we have is truly ours. It all belongs to Him, who enabled us to have it. Think of Simon Peter and John. They were on their way to the house of prayer and in a spirit of prayer when they encouontered s blind man, who begged for his living. Peter said, “’I do not possess silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you: In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene– walk!’ And seizing him by the right hand, he raised him up; and immediately his feet and his ankles were strengthened” (Acts 3:6-7).

Tell me now, who really possesses true riches? When we minister to others praying or sharing –whatever the LORD has given us– we lay up riches in our Heavenly Home. And when we share sincerely and humbly, we soon learn that there is no

hole in the bottom of the moneybag.

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,

Galatians 1:13-16a, “For you have heard of my former manner of life in Judaism, how I used to persecute the

church of God beyond measure, and tried to destroy it;

14 and I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries among my countrymen, being more

extremely zealous for my ancestral traditions.

15 But when He who had set me apart, even from my mother’s womb, and called me through His grace, was

pleased

16 to reveal His Son in me, that I might preach Him among the Gentiles….”

It has been my privilege in life to meet some very notably important people. Were you to ask me if I knew them, the best I could honestly say is, “I have met them.” It’s one thing to meet someone, quite another to truly know them. Paul knew about Jesus. He was Paul’s chief object of scorn, as he labored diligently to erase Him completely from the religious scene. Yet it was quite some time before he came to truly know Him.

There are multiplied thousands of people on Earth today who know about Jesus! Still, many of them do not know Him on a personal and intimate basis. They know about Him, but they do not know Him as He wants to be known!

In our verses above, Paul sketches a bit of his early life. He talks of his life as a Jew and how fervently he sought to erase completely all Christian teaching and God’s people from the Earth. He speaks of his earnest effort to exalt Judaism by eradicating the Christian faith. Then, suddenly, Paul was arrested on the Road to Damascus! It was the LORD’s call clear and unmistakable. It was His call of grace, and it revealed Christ Jesus to him and charged him to proclaim Christ among the Gentiles.

Two personal and extremely relevant questions await your response: one, Do you personally know Jesus Christ? And Does your life reveal Him to others?

If your answer to question one is “No,” then you need to repent of your sins and ask His forgiveness and His salvation.

If your answer to question one is “Yes,” then you move on to question 2: Does your life reveal Christ to others? Hopefully, it does. If it doesn’t, the question is: Why doesn’t it? When we know Him, and yet our lives do not reveal Him and His love to others, there is sin within us that we need Him to remove. Others need to know Him in true salvation! And we need to be rid of sin that masks His life from showing forth. Please give careful attention to your relationship and fellowship with Jesus.

Heartily in Christ Jesus, al

(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,

1 Thessalonians 1:1-3, 9-10, “Paul and Silvanus and Timothy to the church of the Thessalonians in God the

Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace.

2 We give thanks to God always for all of you, making mention of you in our prayers;

3 constantly bearing in mind your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus

Christ in the presence of our God and Father….”

9 For they themselves report about us what kind of a reception we had with you, and how you turned to God

from idols to serve a living and true God,

10 and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, that is Jesus, who delivers us from the

wrath to come.”

We are undoubtedly living in perilous times. Riots are occurring in what previously were peaceable streets. People are randomly attacked in the process of unparalleled violence! Men masquerading as pastors deceive the people, while they themselves live deceitful lives. Thus, virtually everyone needs help and encouragement.

When was the last time you wrote a letter or sent an email or a text to a friend? When we find ourselves in

difficult situations, we are almost always encouraged through the letter from a friend. Yet, do we think of those whom we know who are experiencing difficulties in their lives? Do we send them hope in a letter or an email?

The Apostle Paul’s first ever letter was to the Thessalonian Christians. It’s an encouraging letter, reminding them of his prayers and noting their “labor of love and steadfastness of hope” in Christ Himself. Paul recounts how the Thessalonians turned from idols to faith in the LORD Jesus Christ, and were then awaiting the LORD’s promised return! Throughout this letter, Paul emphasizes the LORD’s promised return. At His return, He will save those

who are His “from the wrath (that is) to come.”

With all the disturbance we are currently encountering in our nation, it is nothing compared to the coming wrath that will fall upon the Earth. Vine says that the word “wrath” (????, orge) “…is less sudden in its rise than the word thumos (anger); yet orge is more lasting in its nature,” more likely to hold a grudge.

The word wrath (orge), is also used in regard to the Tribulation that will come upon the Earth. It is the wrath of God, exercised against a world that would not receive Him and His promised blessings. I have observed that when the New Testament Scripture reads “the wrath,” it references the Tribulation. Without the, as the qualifying word, wrath (orge) refers to local, human anger.

All of this culminates into the “stay sweet” column! Don’t be overcome by anger or wrath of any sort. Concentrate on love, and encourage its spread throughout the nation and the world! Pray for those who engage in anger. The Holy Spirit is our Anger-Management Authority. What our world needs is Love –Christ’s Love! And it is demonstrated only through the lives of His truly born-again people.

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