The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

1 Corinthians 3:21-23, “So then let no one boast in men. For all things belong to you,

22 whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or things present or things

to come; all things belong to you, 23 and you belong to Christ; and Christ belongs to God.”

It was the journey of a lifetime! I had been selected as one of 150 preachers to evangelize an

entire continent in a two-week timeframe. At 29, I was the youngest in the group. As we

boarded for the trip, I can still see and hear my pastor shouting to me, “Remember, all things

are yours! Remember, all things are yours.” I promised not to forget, although at the time, I

had no idea what he meant.

The Apostle Paul, however, was clear about what he meant when he wrote these words to

the believers at Corinth. God will cause every person, and everything to work for your good,

while you love and follow and obey Him. Every trial, every tribulation will ultimately be a

blessing to you from the LORD because believers live only to glorify the LORD. The LORD

God rules over every occurrence in life; thus, the whole order and economy of the world, as

well as in Heaven and Earth are even now working together for our good.

That is, indeed, a lot to take in. But living that way, the pressure is off of us and onto Christ.

We can rejoice in whatever happens, knowing that the LORD is on His throne and His eye

and concern is ever focused on us! Yes, “all things are yours.” Believe it and rejoice!

We are always praying for you and trusting all things to be yours, as well,

Nana & 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,

1 Corinthians 2:12-16, “Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God,

that we might know the things freely given to us by God, 13 which things we also speak, not in words taught

by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words.

14 But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness to him, and he

cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised.

15 But he who is spiritual appraises all things, yet he himself is appraised by no man.

16 For who has known the mind of the Lord, that he should instruct Him? But we have the mind of Christ.”

Everything God does, He does with a purpose. When you were saved (born from Above), you received

the Holy Spirit. He dwells in you now, just as He has from the moment you accepted Jesus Christ. Why?

“…that we might know the things freely given to us by God.” What things? –the things the Apostles teach;

the things we are taught in the Bible—

Not everyone in the world, however, possesses the Holy Spirit. He is given only to those who commit

their lives entirely to Him.

A man once came to my house with a burden. He was a business man and the problems of his business

were getting him down. I listend to what he said and, although I’d never been in business, the Spirit of God

gave me the instructions the man needed. “Your problem is,” I told him, “that you’re trying to run your

business all by yourself. Give it to the LORD and let Him run it.” We prayed and he surrendered leadership

of his business to the LORD. Almost immediately, the LORD began to prosper that business. The burden

the man had been carrying was gone! He had given it to the LORD.

The “natural man” says it’s foolishness to trust in a God who is invisible. He just doesn’t understand

because he doesn’t have the help of the Holy Spirit. But the one who has the Spirit, understands the

matters of the LORD. The LORD’s mind feeds the man’s mind –“we have the mind of Christ.”

How marvelously the LORD has provided things for us! Yet, as a child must grow to maturity to understand

the instruction of his parents, so we must grow spiritually to understand the even greater things of the LORD.

We prayed for you last night and will continue to do so,

Nana & 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,

Ecclesiastes 12:12, “But beyond this, my son, be warned:

the writing of many books is endless, and

excessive devotion to books is wearying to the body.”

Were Solomon alive today, he would marvel at his own words.

“Google Books estimates that there are about 130 million books

in existence. If you double that, it’s probably more than enough

to cover all the books that ever existed. UNESCO estimates that

about 2 million books are published worldwide each year, but that

includes older books as well as new ones.” That’s a lot of books!

Notice that Solomon did not warn against reading books! He only

pointed out that “excessive devotion” to them was wearying. One

of the regrets I have, as I look back over my life, is that I did not

read more! Reading is to the mind what food is to the body. Yet,

we must always beware of what we read and eat.

I have formally studied five languages, yet only in my native English

can I claim proficiency. Still, reading books in the languages in which

they were written is superior to reading a translation. More important

still is reading GOOD books! Books are authors’ ideas; and they are

no better than the authors themselves, so, be careful! Authors are

clever; they know how to make you believe what they believe,

whether it is true and accurate or not.

Check the publisher, too. Money drives publication, and some

publishers will publish anything that brings in the buck! All of this

leads me to say that there is only ONE BOOK you can truly trust:

The Bible – the Holy Word of the Living God! Let that Word be the

Standard; and let everything be judged by what God has said.

Saturate yourself with HIS WORD! Believe it all, even what you

don’t fully understand. Pray for understanding. If the LORD lets

you live to my age or longer, you will be glad for what you have read.

We love, cherish and pray for you daily,

Nana & 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,

Colossians 4:2-6, “Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving;

3 praying at the same time for us as well, that God may open up to us a door for the word, so that

we may speak forth the mystery of Christ, for which I have also been imprisoned;

4 in order that I may make it clear in the way I ought to speak.

5 Conduct yourselves with wisdom toward outsiders, making the most of the opportunity.

6 Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned, as it were, with salt, so that you may know how

you should respond to each person.”

Situations in life differ quite a bit. Sometimes we need to sympathize with people that are hurting.

Sometimes we need to laugh, so as to lessen tension or ease those who are hurting. Sometimes

we need to speak seriously and correct wrong thinking. Each situation calls for a different action.

Paul addresses those situations by instructing us to always be prayerful. We are keep alert to the

fact that the LORD God is listening and be thankful that we are not alone. He encourages us to

start every day praying that the LORD will “open to us a door for the Word.” We know the Gospel.

We have been saved; and sometimes we are put in situations (imprisoned) so that we might share

that Gospel with others. When we do, we want to speak clearly as He would have us to speak.

Sometimes, those with whom we are speaking will give us “open door.” Remember that the LORD

has provided us that opportunity to witness. Our witness may start with a short sentence that just

mentions the LORD. How the person responds may show us whether they truly know Him or just

sort of agree with what we are saying. The LORD will then direct us to say what is appropriate.

Always we are to be gracious. Our speech must be “seasoned with salt.” Did you ever eat a boiled

egg without salt? Yuk! It needs salt! Salt seasons the egg, making it acceptable and delightful.

That’s how our words ought to be. Remember, too, that each person is different. Some like just a

little salt; some like a lot. The LORD will show you how much. Just be prayerful as you speak.

Please pray for us, too, as we pray for you,

Nana & Dado III

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

Springdale, Arkansas

“We never know that God is all we need

until He becomes all that we have.”

Dear Grands,

Colossians 3:12-15, “And so, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved,

put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience;

13 bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against

anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you.

14 And beyond all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity. 15 And let

the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful.”

In a recent conversation among friends, someone said, “Have you ever seen anything like what

we’re seeing today?” It was a clear reference to the openly evil that exists today. Things that

would never have been said in previous days, is openly declared today as if there’s nothing of

which to be ashamed. My immediate response was that we’re living in the “last days” of human

history. Jesus is coming soon, and Satan and his forces have pulled out all stops to be as

resistant to Him as possible.

Paul saw evil in his day, too; and he admonised the Colossian believers (and us!) to manifest

Jesus Christ in our lives as fully and completely as possible. We’re to have compassion (pity) on

those without Christ. They have the “natural look of the natural man.” We’re to show kindness

(uprightness), humility (lowliness of mind), gentleness (consideration) and patience (long-suffering)

toward others. “Bearing with one another” relates to present offenses; “forgiving” relates to past

offenses.”

Yes, sometimes people have legitimate complaints against each other. We are to forgive, regardless

of the nature of the complaint. We are to love (agape) with the love that only comes from the LORD.

It’s not just niceness, although that is certainly involved. It is genuine love that behaves as if nothing

ever happened.

Peace in our hearts always comes from the LORD. We are to allow Him to rule (act as an umpire)

in our hearts. This is what salvation is all about. It’s not just about going to Heaven when we die; it

is about the attitude of our hearts and minds right now, today! When we learn this, we are prepared

for life today and for Heaven tomorrow. Count your blessings and always –always– be thankful!

We love and pray for you daily,

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

Springdale, Arkansas

“We never know that God is all we need

until He becomes all that we have.”