The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

Mark 5:9-17, “And He was asking him, ‘What is your name?’ “And he said to Him, ‘My name is Legion; for we are many.’”

10 And he began to entreat Him earnestly not to send them out of the country.

11 Now there was a big herd of swine feeding there on the mountain.

12 And the demons entreated Him, saying, “Send us into the swine so that we may enter them.”

13 And He gave them permission. And coming out, the unclean spirits entered the swine; and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea, about two thousand of them; and they were drowned in the sea.

14 And their herdsmen ran away and reported it in the city and out in the country. And the people came to see what it was that had happened.

15 And they came to Jesus and observed the man who had been demon-possessed sitting down, clothed and in his right mind, the very man who had had the “legion”; and they became frightened.

16 And those who had seen it described to them how it had happened to the demon-possessed man, and all about the swine.

17 And they began to entreat Him to depart from their region.”

I’ve met some people who could have been defined much like the wild man in the verses above. In fact, the verses printed above tell only part of the story. Let me urge you to go back and read verses 1 to 5 of the same chapter.

It is the nature of a demon to indwell another body. We give psychological and psychiatric names to wild people today, but truth be known, they’re not mentally impaired, their demon-possessed.

When Jesus encountered this demoniac, He asked him his name. The answer the man gave Jesus was “Legion,” meaning many. A Roman Legion of that day numbered 6,000 men! We have strayed so far from Scripture today that our culture demands a modern, scientific definition of everything. But clearly, this man was demon-possessed –and by many!

It seems clear that the demoniac and the demon spirits both knew that Jesus had ultimate power and control over them. The man did not want the demons to leave the area; and the demons begged to be sent into the hogs grazing on the hillside. They were fearful of being sent to Hell!

When the man was freed from his demonic captors, he put on some clothes and was sane.

(It speaks by implication of those who parade with little-to-no clothing in our world today.)

It’s also notable that the man now freed from his demonic captors wanted to go with Jesus, while the men who owned the hogs, now infested with demons, wanted Him to leave the area! In other words, the hog-owners were more concerned to be defined as for their hog profits than for the poor man, who had been terrified by them for so long!

The big question is: How do you want to be defined? Do you want to walk with Jesus? Or

do you want to be defined by your sin? The shootings that occur almost daily in our country clearly define those who do the killing. Those who risk (and sometimes lose) their lives in the effort to curtail the killerrs, define themselves as well. What is your definition? How do honest people define you? It’s important, both to man and to God. So, define yourself as a bondservant of the LORD Jesus Christ! After all, He is the One ultimately in control.

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,

Mark 4:35-41, “And on that day, when evening had come, He said to them, ‘Let us go over to the other side.’

36 “And leaving the multitude, they took Him along with them, just as He was, in the boat; and other boats were with Him.

37 “And there arose a fierce gale of wind, and the waves were breaking over the boat so much that the boat was already filling up.

38 “And He Himself was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they awoke Him and said to Him, ‘Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?’

39 “And being aroused, He rebuked the wind and said to the sea, ‘Hush, be still.’ And the wind died down and it became perfectly calm.

40 “And He said to them, ‘Why are you so timid? How is it that you have no faith?’

41 “And they became very much afraid and said to one another, ‘Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?’”

Have you ever been in a situation that gave you cause to really fear for your life? I have; and it is an horrible experience, to be sure! There is absolutely nothing you can do and there is nothing that anyone can do! At least, that’s how it seems at the time.

The disciples had witnessed multiple miracles Jesus had performed in the presence of the people. They had seen blind eyes opened; weakened limbs strengthened. There was nothing He could not do. And they had seen it all.

But, now they are in a boat crossing the Sea of Galilee. That was no new experience, either. This sea was the disciples area of work. It was normal, too, for storms to arise on the Galilean Sea. So, thus far, there was nothing occurring that was out of the ordinary. In fact, it was such smooth sailing that Jesus Himself was asleep on a “cushion.” But, storms on this sea were known to arise quickly; and this one did.

The humanity of Jesus is noted in that He was sleeping through the storm. Yet, the disciples were looking to Him to deliver them from from the rigors of the winds and the waves that threatened them all with death. They awakened Him, asking, “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?” On that note, Jesus rebuked the wind and said to the sea,

“Hush, be still.” And the wind and the waves became “perfectly calm.” He then rebuked the disciples for their lack of faith. And they became fearful and asked, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?”

We need to remember this: there is no danger, no trouble, nothing from which the LORD cannot deliever us! The key to His deliverence is our closeness to Him that enables Him to hear our prayers when He is needed. Now, when is He NOT needed? Think about that and you will be all the closer to Him right now.

I’ll pray for you; you pray for me. That’s truly the Christian 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.”

Dear Grands,

Mark 2:23-28, “And it came about that He was passing through the grainfields on the Sabbath, and His disciples began to make their way along while picking the heads of grain.

24 And the Pharisees were saying to Him, ‘See here, why are they doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?’

25 “And He said to them, ‘Have you never read what David did when he was in need and became hungry, he and his companions:

26 how he entered the house of God in the time of Abiathar the high priest, and ate the consecrated bread, which is not lawful for anyone to eat except the priests, and he gave it also to those who were with him?’

27 “And He was saying to them, ‘The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.

28 ‘Consequently, the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.’”

(As we look at these verses, we must remember that the Book of Mark was written to the Romans. Matthew was written to the Jews; Luke, to the Greeks; and John to the Church.)

A group of us boys used to hike in the woods every Saturday. It was common for us to eat as we walked. Especially was that so when we were hungry. The disciples of Jesus were

walking through fields of grain, and being hungry, they plucked some grain and ate it.

The Pharisees were always looking for something they could criticize. They were religious to a fault. Pick, pick, pick. Everything was subject to their hypercritical attitude. I can remember talking with a young person about the Bible. Everything I said brought a conde-scending reply: “Chapter and verse! Chapter and verse!” He had no argument against what I believed; he only repeated those words over and over again.

The Pharisees challenged Jesus’ disciples for plucking grain and eating it on the Sabbath.

Actually, what they were doing was sanctioned by Scripture (see Deut. 23:25); it was the eating on the Sabbath the Pharisees were quibbling about. They failed (perhaps purposely) to note that Moses said nothing about the Sabbath in the Deuteronomic passage. The Pharisees were noted for always “adding to” what was said in Scripture.

Jesus reminded them of the time when David and he men were hungry and David got consecrated bread from the priest (1 Sam. 21:1ff) and gave some to his men. Then, He added, “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.” The Sabbath was established by the LORD to be a benefit to mankind. It was a time of rest, both physically and mentally. It was a time for relaxation and refreshment. And the consequence was (and is) that “the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.”

In the New Testament, the Sabbath (the seventh day) was replaced by Sunday (the first day). How do you behave on Sunday? If you have any doubts as to how the LORD blesses those who keep Sunday as a day of rest and worship, you need to remember that Chic-fil-A is the third largest fast-food restaurant in America –and they never open on Sunday! Moreover, the LORD is in control of everything! He is the LORD over all!

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,

Matthew 25:21, “His Master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things, enter into the joy of your Lord.’”

Today’s Letter is taking a new direction. My oldest, living cousin is 90-years old. He is a

Christian, a Navy veteran, and like me, he lost his Christian wife a few months ago. He

sent this link to me, and I was moved to share it with you. But, before I do, I want to ask,

Do you have a “Life Objective”?

Before you reply, retrieve and watch this short video. It has a message of genuine Truth,

shared by a Navy pilot. Just relax and enjoy it.

“To seek, trust, and gloify God through humble service and continual prayer.

To raise up qualified disciples as quickly as possible, so that some day I might

hear God say, ‘Well done, My good and faithful servant.’” – Steve Scheibner

Amen, Steve! May the LORD build that Holy Fire within all of us; and may we live

faithfully as we move closer and closer to that Day.

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,

Daniel 6:16, “Then the king gave orders, and Daniel was brought in and cast into the lions’ den. The king spoke and said to Daniel, “Your God whom you constantly serve will Himself deliver you.”

Did you ever say something you wished you hadn’t, but couldn’t take it back? Did you ever do something you wished you hadn’t, but couldn’t reverse the damage it had done? If so, you will understand King Darius’ delimma.

He allowed the men in his service to trick him with flattering words, while simultaneously laying a trap for Daniel. Darius had agreed and signed into law as silly proclamation that said no one in his kingdom could ask a petition of anyone except Darius himself for a period of 30 days!

Yes, Darius was tricked, but Daniel was the victim. Those evil men knew that Daniel prayed to the LORD three specific times every day. They laid a trap for him and then tattled to the king. The result? The result was that Daniel was legally (although not morally) condemned to death in the lions’ den!

“Discoveries among the ruins of Babylon have shown that the mode

of punishment by throwing offenders against the laws to lions was actually

practiced there, and these discoveries may be classed among the numerous

instances in which modern investigations have tended to confirm the statements

in the Bible.”

If you’ve ever engaged in something only to find out later that you had been misled, you have some notion of how Darius must have felt. Too late he learned what he had done!

And every effort he exerted to deliver Daniel proved fruitless. All Darius could do was to try and encourage Daniel by saying, “Your God whom you constantly serve will Himself deliver you.” That was a pretty empty encouragement from Darius’ point of view. But Daniel had a faith of which Darius had no clue!

King Darius couldn’t sleep all night. Daniel rested quite well. Yet, no one knew what had happened until Darius raced to the lions’ den and cried out with a lamentable voice – a voice full of anxiety, a voice of grief: “O Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you constantly serve, been able to deliver you from the lions?”

“Then Daniel spoke to the king, ‘O king, live forever! 22 My God sent His angel

and shut the lions’ mouths, and they have not harmed me, inasmuch as I was found

innocent before Him; and also toward you, O king, I have committed no crime’”

(Dan. 6:21-22).

Had everything ended there, it would have been a glorious conclusion to this whole messy thing. But there is more. It was customary in ancient times to believe (right or not) that a wrong perpetrated by person in point of fact included all of his family. Thus, the entire families of those men who wronged Daniel, were themselves thrown to the lions. This time there was no protective angel.

“…and they had not reached the bottom of the den before the lions overpowered

them and crushed all their bones” (v. 24).

Once again, moral rightness triumphs over immoral schemes. What does all of this mean

to your life? “Shall not the Judge of all the Earth do right? (Gen. 18:25). Absolutely! And we should always live so as to glorify Him!

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.”