The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

John 1:14-18, “And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.

15 John bore witness of Him, and cried out, saying, ‘This was He of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me has a higher rank than I, for He existed before me.’

16 For of His fulness we have all received, and grace upon grace.

17 For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ.

18 No man has seen God at any time; the only begotten God, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him.”

Several times in my life I have been in the same room with some famous and notable men. My thoughts were, “So, this is what he look like!” I can remember one man being much shorter than I had previously thought. It’s a strange feeling to be in the very presence of important men.

That must have been how those felt when they heard the announcement that “the Word –the LORD– (had become) flesh” in the person of Jesus Christ and was physically somewhere in their presence! Yet, for the moment, all eyes were upon John the Baptist, who was introducing the Messiah. Have you noticed that when someone of high standing is announced, it is someone also of high standing who introduces him? The President of the United States is never introduced by, say, the manager of Joe’s Chicken House.

The introduction of Jesus Christ to the Jews and to all mankind was a supremely notable event. The Jews looked with reverence upon Moses. He had given them the Law by which they were to live. But this announcement was of One greater than Moses. He has come straight from God, and through Him they were to be given grace and truth, both of which superseded the Law. It was indeed a momentous and unforgettable time!

Do you remember when you first met Jesus? I’m sure you do. An experience like that is not to be forgotten. You believed upon Him, and He forgave all your sins. Your life was clean; your heart felt full of His glory! Not only is that not to be forgotten, it’s something to be shared with others; it’s your time to introduce Him to your friends. That’s what the Jews did. It’s what He wants us to do, too.

We’re praying for you to be brave. Pray that we will be, too.

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,

John 1:6-13, “There came a man, sent from God, whose name was John.

7 He came for a witness, that he might bear witness of the light, that all might believe through him.

8 He was not the light, but came that he might bear witness of the light.

9 There was the true light which, coming into the world, enlightens every man.

10 He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him.

11 He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him.

12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name,

13 who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.”

Before the President of the United States sits down with any head of a foreign government, he first

sends an envoy –usually the Secretary of State—to determine that there is a true need for him to come.

John the Baptist (literally, “John, the baptizing one”) was Jesus’ witness, His forerunner or envoy. John

came to announce the coming of the LORD Jesus Christ and that they might trust Him when He came.

Jesus’ coming was “the true light” that gave every man the opportunity to believe upon Him and be saved.

Jesus’ coming “to His own” refers to the Jewish people. Abraham was a Chaldeen, when the LORD called him out to become the head of a different people, the Jews. They Jewish people were intended to carry the witness of the LORD Jesus throughout the world. But, as a nation, they refused. Still, some did

believe on Him as their Messiah, and to them the LORD Jesus gave the right to be called the “children of

God.” They were not physically God’s children, but they were called that by Him because they believed the witness that John the Baptist had given.

When you and I trusted Jesus as our Savior, He gave us the same title: “children of God.” And He gave us the same responsibility to witness of Him as the Creator and Savior of mankind. What we often forget is that when He came into the world, He “enlighten(ed) every man.” That means that every, single person on Earth in every generation has within himself an awareness of God. So, when we share the Gospel with them, it “rings a bell” in their innermost being – a bell that is calling them to believe on Jesus Christ.

We don’t actually “win” them; the LORD Himself does that. He encourages them to answer the bell, so to speak, encouraging them to believe. And when they do believe upon Jesus and trust Him, He gives them the Holy Spirit to live within them. Our witnessing is to awaken the awareness God has put in every man.

To return to my original analogy about the President, as witnesses, we act as his envoy, telling that he

is coming. When the people respond in belief, they get a ticket to attend the gathering. See, it’s not as hard to witness as you think. Of course, we must do so prayerfully and lovingly. It’s not something we’re to handle flipantly. Still, the pressure is off of us in that there is no failure on our part if we witness. So, let’s get started!!

We lovingly and sincerely pray for you every day,

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,

John 1:1-5, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God.

3 All things came into being by Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.

4 In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.

5 And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.”

How many times has someone said something to you and you replied, “What do you mean?”

That’s what I think when I come upon the word “word.” The Greeks had two word for “word.” At times, they are very close in meaning, but the context separates them. Rema is the word for the spoken word, as in Hebrews 1:3, where it says He “upholds all things by the word of His power.” It is that which is said,

a word, a saying, an expression.

Logos, on the other hand, is “God’s full self-revelation and proclamation through Jesus Christ; it is His “instruction, exhortation, the declaration” of His Truth in Christ. It is this word that John employs to introduce the Savior to all his readers. The LORD Jesus Christ is the Creator of all things. There is nothing that the Logos did not bring into being by the rema of His mouth. He who is Life brought the light of His Life into being. Remember that “the Earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep…” (Gen. 1:2). Then God said, “’Let there be light’; and there was light” (Gen. 1:3).

You are permitted to say, “I don’t understand.” Perhaps none of us fully understands how the LORD brought all of this about, but He did! Even “the darkness –Satan and his angels—did not comprehend it.

The word comprehend is interesting because it means both “overcome” and “understand.” Walk into a totally dark room and you can rid the room of its darkness by shinning even a small light. But you cannot overcome a room full of light by bringing darkness into it. How would you do that anyway? That’s something we don’t understand.

All of this brings us around to faith and trust. We have to believe what the LORD has said in His Word. Science has no better explanation. What is called science today actually works from the standpoint of darkness. It neither understands nor overcomes what God has said in His Word. Where do you put your ultimate trust? We know where ours is.

Our love for you is wrapped up in our prayers,

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,

Psalm 143:5-9, “I remember the days of old; I meditate on all Thy doings;

I muse on the work of Thy hands.

6 I stretch out my hands to Thee; My soul longs for Thee, as a parched land.

7 Answer me quickly, O LORD, my spirit fails; Do not hide Thy face from me,

Lest I become like those who go down to the pit.

8 Let me hear Thy lovingkindness in the morning; For I trust in Thee;

Teach me the way in which I should walk; For to Thee I lift up my soul.

9 Deliver me, O LORD, from my enemies; I take refuge in Thee.”

A 19TH Centruy English poet, lost his father when he was a teenager.

At the age of 12, he suffered the loss of one of his legs. Focusing on

his troubles, he wrote the poem, Invictus, which is Latin for “unconquered.”

The poem ends with the lines, “I am the master of my fate; I am the captain

of my soul.”

That’s a sharp contrast with the words of David in our Psalm today. Both

men were looking back upon their former days. One looked to himself for

inner strength to conquer the difficulties he faced; the other looked to God.

“My soul longs for Thee…Answer me quickly, O LORD…I trust in Thee…

I take refuge in Thee.”

To whomever we look for help in time of trouble, that one becomes our

God, our authority. When we seek only our own inner strength for help, we

become our own god. When we seek the LORD, we are acknowledging

Him as our Authority. People encountering trouble often cry, “O Lord!”

when they don’t really know Him as their LORD and Savior. When we know

Him, we cry out to Him in faith, trusting Him to hear and to answer. And in

our very cry, we are acknowledging Him as our Authority.

When we were little children, we looked to our parents for physical support

until we could walk by ourselves. Now, as grown people, we’re not to act like

helpless cry-babies, being lazy as if we were totally helpless. We are taught

in Scripture to depend upon the LORD –even for a positive attitude– whatever

our trouble might be. That’s what He teaches us in the Bible. And He has

given us the Bible that we might read it and learn of Him.

When we look back upon our lives, it is obvious how the LORD has led us

and supported us. He delights in being our LORD! May we delight in

depending upon Him for all of our needs.

We love you 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,

Psalm 139:1-6, “O Lord, Thou hast searched me and known me.

2 Thou dost know when I sit down and when I rise up;

Thou dost understand my thought from afar.

3 Thou dost scrutinize my path and my lying down,

And art intimately acquainted with all my ways.

4 Even before there is a word on my tongue,

Behold, O LORD , Thou dost know it all.

5 Thou hast enclosed me behind and before,

And laid Thy hand upon me.

6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;

It is too high, I cannot attain to it.”

It was Job’s friend, Zophar, who asked, “Can you discover the depths of God?

Can you discover the limits of the Almighty” (Job 11:7)? It was one of those

to-ask-it-is-to-answer-it questions. Now, in the next book (Psalms follows Job),

David answers Zophar’s question.

The LORD has fully investigated us all. He has a timeline of everything that we

have ever done; in fact, He was completely aware of what we were going to do

long before we ever did it or even thought about it. Furthermore, He understood

what we were going to say long before the words came from our mouths!

In a much lesser sense, but one I could never figure out, my mother had a

similar ability. She seemed to know where I was at any time of the day. To my

amazement, she knew what I was about to say before I said it. “Don’t say it!”

was her stern admonition. How could she know what I was going to say? She

had me pegged all the way. I couldn’t get away with anything!

Such abilities force us to consider that we could get caught, so we think through

our intended actions and weigh the consequences. We might get away with

something done against someone, but never against God! His ways are

incomprehensible! How then are we to know what He desires of us?

Let me suggest that a careful and consistent reading of the Bible will help immensely!

Just think how exciting it is for the LORD to see us behaving just as He knew we would!

What’s more, we don’t have to keep looking back to see if anyone is watching.

Even our prayers for you were known before they were offered.

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.”