The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

2 Corinthians 7:1-4, “Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh

and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.

2 Make room for us in your hearts; we wronged no one, we corrupted no one, we took advantage of no one.

3 I do not speak to condemn you; for I have said before that you are in our hearts to die together and to live together.

4 Great is my confidence in you, great is my boasting on your behalf; I am filled with comfort. I am overflowing with joy in

all our affliction.”

One of the problems we have in understanding the Bible is that we tend to pick out certain Scriptures whose meaning is only revealed when they are read in their context. I may have made that mistake by not listing the last two verses in Second Corinthians 6. For it’s there that we learn of advantages to being a Christian. Yes, we have to leave sin behind and learn to serve the LORD alone. At that point, He pledges to us that He will “welcome” us, be a “father” to us, and consider us to be His “sons and daughters.” Only then are we prepared to calim His promises.

Paul clearly understood this. His claim was clear: he had wronged no one, corrupted no one, taken advantage of no one,

and condemned no one. Therefore, he can and does claim the promises the LORD gives to those who do likewise. He then explodes, saying, “Great is my confidence in you; great is my boasting on your behalf. I am filled with comfort.” That sounds and looks quite good, but then he adds, “I am overflowing with joy in all our affliction.”

Joy amid affliction? Are you sure, Paul? Yes, he is sure. And so can we be, if we seek to live free from sin, and if we allow Him to comfort us, even in our afflictions. Shortly before my wife died, someone asked her if she had any fear of dying. “NO!” she shouted. “I KNOW WHERE I’M GOING; AND I’M READY!” Confidence! Great confidence, and a joy that supersedes all affliction. Is it possible to have joy in the midst of affliction? The answer of every true believer is “Yes!” But it only comes to believers who have resisted evil and are willingly resident in the comfort of our blessed LORD Jesus Christ. Meditate on these thoughts; make adjustments in you life –adjustments that you find imperative. And may God bless you in the process.

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 6:14-18. “Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and

lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness?

15 Or what harmony has Christ with Belial, or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever?

16 Or what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; just as God said,

‘I will dwell in them and walk among them; And I will be their God, and they shall be My people.

17 Therefore, come out from their midst and be separate,’ says the Lord. ‘And do not touch what is unclean;

And I will welcome you.

18 And I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to Me,’ says the Lord Almighty.”

Businesses of all sizes and all industries take inventory at least once a year. The purposes of inventories vary, but basically they exist to tell the owners whether the business is profitable. If it is, the business may expand physically or it may share its profits with various members of that business.

In the above verses, the Apostle Paul is sharing with the Corinthian believers the pattern for a spiritual inventory. Its purpose is to simply separate believers from unbelievers in the context of partnerships. As an example, consider the

ACLU and the ACLJ. According to Wikipedia, the American Civil Liberties Union exists ‘to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in…the United States.’” The ACLJ, on the other hand, “is a … politically conservative, Christian-based social activism and watchdog for corruption organization in the United States.”

On paper, they look to be very close in many ways, but they are not! For one thing the ACLU supports abortion; the ACLJ opposes abortion. They cannot be linked together because they have opposing views on many issues.

Paul’s admonition throughout his ministry is separation. He is not teaching us merely to “stay away” from those with different opinions –otherwise, how would we win them to Christ. Rather, he is admonishing us not to be in league with those whose beliefs are separate from the Scriptures. In support of his position, Paul contrasts “righteousness with lawlessness, light with darkness, Christ with Belial (Satan), the believer with the unbeliever, and the temple of God with idols.

In verse 17, Paul admonishes believers to withdraw from all business affiliations with unbelievers. That does NOT mean that one cannot work in a business or factory that is owned by an unbeliever. It DOES mean that we are not to co-own a business or a factory with an unbeliever. If we do, we are to withdraw immediately (v. 17). Just imagine the difficulty if one owner wanted to give a portion of the profits to a Christian missionary organization and the other owner wanted to support
a terrorist group whose aim was to destroy Christian churches!

The LORD’s promise to His own is that He will be a Father to us. What do good fathers do for their children? They provide food and shelter and protection, and they shower their children with love and an example of righteous living. Withdrawing from sinful worldliness means gaining wholesomeness and righteousness. That’s a good trade indeed! And it’s one that is possible and profitable with the LORD as the Owner. Take a careful, spiritual inventory of your life today. Nothing can take provide more profit and joy than Jesus!

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 6:4-10, “…in everything commending ourselves as servants of God, in much endurance, in afflictions,

in hardships, in distresses,

5 in beatings, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labors, in sleeplessness, in hunger,

6 in purity, in knowledge, in patience, in kindness, in the Holy Spirit, in genuine love,

7 in the word of truth, in the power of God; by the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and the left,

8 by glory and dishonor, by evil report and good report; regarded as deceivers and yet true;

9 as unknown yet well-known, as dying yet behold, we live; as punished yet not put to death,

10 as sorrowful yet always rejoicing, as poor yet making many rich, as having nothing yet possessing all things.”

Paul never boasted unless he felt it necessary for other believers to know that being openly Christian invited conflict.

As a witness for Jesus Christ, some (if not all) of the above undesirables may come to you.

In verses 4 & 5 (afflictions, hardships, distresses, beatings, imprisonments, tumults, labor, sleeplessness,

and hunger), Paul sees them only as CHALLENGES! Of course, the power of God can deliver him and us from such,

but God often allows us to be challenged to see if we’re made of tough stuff or if we’re just lilies.

Verses 6 (purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, the Holy Spirit, love, truth, power of God), he cites the CHARACTER of the ones who will endure the difficulties we found in verses 4 & 5. How are you doing so far?

In verse 7, Paul notes the COMFORTS; namely, the Word of Truth, the power of God, and weapons of righteousness that can be utilized by anyone. Are you left-handed? Well, those weapons are for you, too.

And in verse 8-10, he tells of the various CONFRONTATIONS that will come with a credible ministry; namely, glory or dishonor; evil or good reports; deceivers and truth-tellers; the unknown and the well-known; the dying, yet living; those who are punished, but not put to death; those sorrowing, yet always rejoicing; the poor, yet making others rich; those who have nothing, yet possess everything!

Do you see what’s going on here? Always there will be Challenges! It takes people of Character to meet those challenges without just folding up. Oh, it’s not all that bad; there are Comforts that come to those who see them. And you’ll meet all kinds of Confrontations when you have a honest ministry: some will report good about you; some won’t. Some will deceive you; others will be telling the truth. And on it goes… JUST DON’T GIVE UP!!! Give OUT with the Good News! Nothing you will encounter will be new. Greater Christians than you or I have endured it all and to the Glory of Christ! With the LORD’s help, we can do it, too! Jesus is Coming! Let’s be ready!

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 6:1-3, “And working together with Him, we also urge you not to receive the grace of God in vain–

2 for He says, ‘At the acceptable time I listened to you, And on the day of salvation I helped you’; behold, now is

‘the acceptable time,’ behold, now is ‘the day of salvation’ —

3 giving no cause for offense in anything, in order that the ministry be not discredited…”

In my travels, I have sometimes been given personal gifts. I have never sought for such things, but have accepted

them when it became evident that to have refused would have been to have offended the giver. People in far-away

countries are often more genuinely pleased with giving than those of us in the west are with receiving. That being said,

I have always treated their gifts as priceless, regardless of their inate value.

Paul has precisely this in his thinking when he urges us “not to receive the grace of God in vain.” We are to treat the

LORD’s grace as “priceless” and “beyond all value.” He only wants us to treat His grace as beyond any price. You

cried out for deliverence from sin, He says, and I came to your rescue. Now, it’s time for you to listen to Me: this is

the day of salvation! Further, He admonishes us, as recipients of His saving grace, not to discredit it in the eyes of

the world or in the eyes of the church, by being offensive. We are neither to offend others by a lack of love, nor are

we to ignore them and their need of salvation.

Our habits, our appearance, our language, our attitude –can all be offensive to others. If we are offensive without

knowing it, we should move quickly to correct ourselves. But, we should never ignore the needs of others by justifying

what we do or say. We are the LORD’s children! And when we display ourselves otherwise, we discredit Him! His

personal gift of salvation should be treated with even greater respect than the “things” that people give us. Their gifts,

however humanly precious, do not compare with what the LORD has given us in and through His saving grace.

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 5:19-21, “God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against

them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation.

20Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were entreating through us; we beg you on behalf of

Christ, be reconciled to God.

21 He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”

The one thing you don’t need me to say in this Letter is that our entire world has gone amuck! Everyday’s news informs us of notorious murders, rapes, thefts and hate of virtually everything some group does that another group does – all leading to violence, the likes of which are so vile that we will not describe them here.

In addition to the avalanche coming from the world around us, mainline churches are slipping away from the Truths of Scripture, often siding with those very sins the Scriptures condemn. Pastors are guilty of embezzling funds from their churches, engaging in sexual relations within and outside their churches. When leaders abandon the principles of holiness, the very “spiritual” organizations commissioned to share the Gospel, fall themselves into wanton practices.

The Reconciliation of the world to God is only possible through His Son, the LORD Jesus Christ. We, who recognize our own sins and repent of them toward God, reconnect with God spiritually and begin to demonstrate a holy lifestyle. Jesus paid for our sins by dying on the cross. When we accept Him we are instantly commissioned as ambassadors for Christ, sharing in love the Good News of Jesus’ death for our redemption. No matter how vile a person’s sin, He cleanses and accepts all who turn away from it and embrace Jesus as their LORD and Savior.

Pictorially, we live in a glorious world! It is polluted for living, however, by the wanton lifestyles of sinful men and women. You can help change our world by turning from sin and accepting Jesus as your LORD and Savior. And those of you who have already trusted in Him –you can help clean up the world’s polution by witnessing to those who have not yet accepted Jesus. There’s a big scare on right now concerning the coronavirus that’s quickly spreading worldwide. We cannot ignore such physical factors, but we would do well to think spiritually and help clean our world

of utter sinfulness! I’m trying to help. Will you help me by telling others about Jesus Christ? Pray for the lost and the saved. We all need our LORD’s strength and power! He 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.”