The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

Nehemiah 4:14, “When I saw their fear, I rose and spoke to the nobles, the officials, and the rest of the people: ‘Do not be afraid of them; remember the Lord who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your houses.’”

It has been said of Jesus’ disciples that they were always either in trouble, headed for trouble, or just getting out of trouble. That also appears to have been the general situation with Old Testament Jews.

Nehemiah had returned to Jerusalem and to rebuild the city walls that had fallen into disrepair. He had been burdened to reestablish the worship of the LORD in the City of Jerusalem. Doubtlessly, he had anticipated some difficulty, but nothing like what he discovered in Sanballat, Tobiah, and Geshem.

What do you do when you’re faced with opposition? It largely depends upon what kind of opposition you face and how persistent it is. Nehemiah’s first opposition was an invitation to leave the work and talk with the men who opposed him. He refused. Next, the opposition began to deride and mock his venture. He virtually ignored them.

Nehemiah consistently refused to stop work and parley with the opposition. His was a great work; it was intended to glorify the LORD. There was no time to discuss anything. Yet, as the opposition’s rage grew greater, Nehemiah thought it wise to set guards alongside the workers for protection. This was not because he lacked trust in the LORD, but because it made practical sense for the Jewish laborers to do their part in protecting what they had constructed. Were the LORD not injecting Himself into the situation here, who knows what would have been the outcome?

The opposition grew still stronger. Satan doesn’t give up easily. Anything and everything we do as unto the LORD and for His glory, Satan strenuously opposes! He opposes the study of God’s Word. He opposes our spending time in prayer. He opposes our sharing Christ Jesus with those who don’t know Him. We must always follow the pattern Nehemiah established: “Keep on keeping on.”

In the end, the walls of the city were built. The Temple was erected; and the LORD was glorified! When we come to know the LORD, His Holy Spirit takes up residence within us. We are then “a temple of God.” How we live reflects how much He is glorified. What the world needs is Jesus! Now, we’ve got our marching orders, let’s get to work! God bless you abundantly!

Heartily in Christ Jesus

(Dado III)

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

Springdale, Arkansas 72764

United States of America

“We never know that God is all we need

until He becomes all that we have.”

Dear Grands,

2 Corinthians 12:9, “And He has said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.’ Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may dwell in me.”

One of the long-time, yet unsolved biblical mysteries surrounds the Apostle Paul’s “thorn in the flesh.” We won’t solve that mystery here, but we will explore and discover the value –yes, I said value – of that mystery.

If we understand the apostle clearly and accurately, we will discard the speculations regarding the mystery, and focus upon its value. A boy who has been told repeatedly not to pester his smaller school chum learns to focus on the value of his own bloody nose.

The Apostle Paul found his weakness troubling, and on three specific occasions, he asked the LORD to remove the impediment. The LORD denied His servant’s request, insisting that His grace was sufficient. In time, Paul learned that depending upon the LORD was of greater value than the removal of that “thorn-in-the-flesh,” whatever it was.

Is that not possible with you and me? Instead of worrying about what “hurts,” or “what is missing” as we labor in His service, suppose we simply forget about our deficiencies and trust fully on the LORD. Paul discovered that having a weakness left him fully dependent upon Christ. Christ is always there!

“But, why,” you ask, “does not Christ Jesus simply answer our need? Isn’t is possible that He could make our witness more effective, anyway?” Of course, that is possible, but would we then be as consistently dependent upon Him? Probably not. Yet, just as parents desire their children to be dependent upon them, so our LORD desires us to be dependent upon Him. Yield everything to Him! Trust Him implicitly! Be weak! He will make you strong!

Heartily in Christ Jesus,

(Dado III)

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

Springdale, Arkansas 72764

United States of America

“We never know that God is all we need

until He becomes all that we have.”

Dear Grands,

Ezra 9:8, “But now for a brief moment grace has been shown from the LORD our God, to leave us an escaped remnant and to give us a peg in His holy place, that our God may enlighten our eyes and grant us a little reviving in our bondage.”

This small verse in the book of Ezra speaks quite loudly to our Western Civilization.

Ezra was indeed a man of prayer. The Jewish people of his day had sinned grossly, and Ezra was faithfully praying for them. In the midst of his spiritual solicitation of the LORD’s mercy, he voiced the words of our verse for today.

The LORD is faithful and gracious; despite the sins of His people, He loves them. In the midst of Ezra’s prayer, he sees a brief moment wherein the LORD extends grace to His people. He then further notes that the LORD has given “us a peg in His holy place.” What does that mean?

In a previous Letter, we learned that the vowel points beneath the Hebrew letters could change the meaning of the word. Now, we learn that a single Hebrew word can have various meanings. “Peg,” for instance, can mean a nail, a pin, a spade, or a paddle. In metaphorical terms, it can mean a “prince” or “head of state,” seeing that the government is “pinned” to him. Interestingly, too, is the fact that the prince is often described in Scripture as “the corner stone,” a designation applied exclusively to Jesus.

The teaching, therefore, is that God enables the eyes of His people to be enlightened, when they trust in Him, and He grants them “a little reviving in the midst of their bondage.” It would seem that this is precisely what our entire Western Civilization needs as this pandemic swirls madly about us.

In Ezra’s day, the LORD’s people were the Jews. They are still in His focus, as is evident from His reestablishment of the nation of Israel in 1948. Subsequent to the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, however, His people are comprised of both Jews and Gentiles, each of whom has personally trusted in Him as their LORD and Savior. It is, thus, for us as Christians to pray for His grace and share His Good News with all who do not know Him. Stay in the Word! Don’t neglect to pray! And God will bless you abundantly!

Heartily in Christ Jesus,

(Dado III)

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

Springdale, Arkansas 72764

United States of America

“We never know that God is all we need

until He becomes all that we have.”

Dear Grands,

Ezra 10:1-2, “Now while Ezra was praying and making confession, weeping and prostrating himself before the house of God, a very large assembly, men, women, and children, gathered to him from Israel; for the people wept bitterly.

2 And Shecaniah the son of Jehiel, one of the sons of Elam, answered and said to Ezra, ‘We have been unfaithful to our God, and have married foreign women from the peoples of the land; yet now there is hope for Israel in spite of this.’”

Have you ever done something that was wrong or left undone something you had promised to do? Did your wrong provoke a sense of guilt? If so, that’s what’s called a “conscience.” Conscience is heightened considerably when we do something we realize is not in accordance with the will of God.

Conscience is what caused Ezra to weep profusely while praying and confessing the sins of the LORD’s people. He had a conscience regarding his people as he stood before God. Shecaniah, too, expressed the unfaithfulness of the people, further revealing that many men had married women of foreign lands.

The LORD had forbidden intermarriage of His people with foreigners. His purpose was to eliminate the possibility of foreign women introducing foreign gods to the LORD’s people. God always has a reason for everything He does. At the same time, He is under no obligation to reveal the reasons that are basic to His purposes.

Many an employee has been directed to do something, the purpose of which he didn’t understand. Yet, as the employee, he need not understand the rationale; he is there simply to carry out the employer’s orders. So it is with us in our spiritual relationship with God. Examination of the LORD’s directives shows that some are called to preach; some are called to the mission fields of the world; some are called into education; and some are called into business.

A man in a church I once served was so spiritually active that I asked him, “Are you sure the LORD didn’t call you to preach?” He looked seriously at me and replied, “I’d give anything if the He had. I’ve always wanted to be a preacher –but He didn’t call me.”

Don’t ever attempt to dodge what the LORD wants of you! He knows you and your abilities better than you know them. After all, He gave them to you! Just be prepared to undertake whatever He wills for your life. And stay away –far away—from any and all things that could move you in an ungodly direction.

Staying morally and spiritually clean is the best preparation for whatever you ultimately undertake. Stay in the Word! Stay prayerful close to the LORD. Always be willing.

Heartily in Christ Jesus,

(Dado III)

P. S. These are unbelievably tough days! Pray for our Governmental leaders. Some I know personally

to be true believers in our LORD Jesus Christ. They need and deserve our prayers.

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

Springdale, Arkansas 72764

United States of America

“We never know that God is all we need

until He becomes all that we have.”

Dear Grands,

Ezra 7:10, “For Ezra had set his heart to study () ???????darash(, carefully search) the law of the LORD, and to practice ( ) ??????asah(, live it out), and to teach () ?????lamad(, skillfully instruct) His statutes and ordinances in Israel.”

If you’ve ever thought of ministers as having little or no problems, you need to think again! There may be no more rigorous responsibilities than are found in the Gospel Ministry. Far too many issues fall upon ministers; that’s one reason why they need our continual prayers.

One of the best guides for ministers is contained in our verses above: study, practice, teach. The spiritual responsibilities of a pastor center in those three words. He absolutely must study! And study must come from the Word of God. Ezra saw study as priority to both practice and teaching. There’s an old saying that “Those who know, do; all the rest teach.” Cute, but hardly accurate.

Study demands careful research. Did you notice those little marks below the Hebrew letters in the verse above? Those are vowel points. The alteration of those vowel points can change the entire meaning of the word. Once the accuracy of the word has been determined, it must, if at all possible, be checked with the New Testament. All of this takes training and time.

Study leads to practice. At least, it ought to do so. Ministers who don’t live by their own studies, speak against themselves. Many ministers today lack serious study, making it difficult for those, without the depth of formal Scriptural study, to know all that God is fully saying through His Word.

Practice leads to teaching. In one sense, the practice of one’s study is teaching. For when we live out what we have studied, we are modeling the biblical, Christian life. Make no mistake; the lost are watching closely. They want to know if what we preach is what we practice. When they see that it is, they will listen to our teaching. Of course, Satan is watching, also. He would like nothing more than to discredit our teaching by enabling us to fail. See that you don’t.

“Put on the full armor of God, that you may be able to stand firm against

the schemes of the devil” (Eph. 6:11).

In the end, Satan will be defeated! He and his minions will be cast eternally into the Lake of Fire. Whether those we now know will then be with Jesus depends largely on whether we are faithfully sharing Him while we have opportunity. So study the Bible daily! Live out the Life of Christ within you! And personally teach those who are lost.

There’s no better way! There’s no other way!

Heartily in Christ Jesus,

(Dado III)

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

Springdale, Arkansas 72764

United States of America

“We never know that God is all we need

until He becomes all that we have.”