The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

Habakkuk 1:1-5, “The oracle which Habakkuk the prophet saw.

2 How long, O LORD, will I call for help, And Thou wilt not hear?

I cry out to Thee, ‘Violence!’ Yet Thou dost not save.

3 Why dost Thou make me see iniquity, And cause me to look on

wickedness? Yes, destruction and violence are before me; Strife

exists and contention arises. 4 Therefore, the law is ignored And

justice is never upheld. For the wicked surround the righteous;

Therefore, justice comes out perverted. 5 Look among the nations!

Observe! Be astonished! Wonder! Because I am doing something

in your days– You would not believe if you were told.”

Have you ever really been in trouble? I mean, like needing and calling

for first responders –only to have them never show up? Or like a thief

breaking into your home, but the law-enforcement never coming when

they had been called? Well, that’s nothing new.

The prophet Habakkuk experienced violence in his day. He cried out

to the LORD, but the LORD did not respond. Why is this happening,

he cried? Serious trouble surrounds me, but no one responds to my

cry for help! The law is ignored! Justice is never upheld! It that cry

sounding to you like what is happening in our world today?

Why is justice not being upheld? Because the crooks are in charge.

Oh, there are trials in the courts, but justice is all screwed up – it

comes out in favor of the criminals! What on Earth is going on???

The answer from the LORD to Habakkuk simply says, “I am doing

something in your day that you wouldn’t believe if I told you.” Would

you believe that the LORD is doing something in our day, too? Our

world is being prepared for devastation that is beyond imagination!

Israel is the prime focus of the ungodly nations of our world! They

are hated because they are loved by the LORD. He took them from

a godless people and formed them as a nation for Himself. He sent

His Son, Jesus, to save them from sin. He redeems us, too, as we

believe and trust in Him. We then, become His people –His ekklesia,.

“called-out” ones.

In His time, He will return to Earth to gather His people to Himself. We

who belong to Him, will be taken out of this worldly mess to live forever

with Him in Heaven. Then, the greatest trouble of all time will fall upon

those left behind. The Antichrist (Satan in human flesh) will take charge

and evil and wickedness beyond our imaginations will fill the Earth!

Are you ready? Do you belong to Jesus Christ? Do your friends and

family belong to Him? The way of escape is to turn from your sin to

Jesus. Confess your sin to Him, and trust Him to receive you into His

family. Yes, you better hurry. Time is rushing by. He could come today!

You are always 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,

Micah 6:8, “He has told you, O man, what is good;

And what does the LORD require of you

But to do justice, to love kindness,

And to walk humbly with your God?”

After a wonderful time with family and friends, today’s news tells of yet another

shooting –another senseless killing in what is called our “civilized world.” It brings

to mind the title of Dr. Frances Schaeffer’s book, HOW SHALL WE THEN LIVE?

The prophet Micah lived in troubled times, too. He was concerned for his people.

His word for them was not clouded with humanistic answers of political origin; he

simply reminded them of the LORD and His Word.

What the LORD’s Word was for Israel is what the LORD’s Word is for us today.

“He has told you…what is good”; and His requirement has not varied throughout

the ages. We are to live justly. It’s so easy to respond to evil with evil. But evil is

never from the LORD! Oh, He allows evil’s existence in the outworking of His

divine plan; but it never has its origin in Him. No, retaliation in kind is not the

answer. And justice is never achieved through evil retaliation.

Also, we are to “love kindness.” I can almost feel the education of those willow

switches my mother used on me! Viewed at the time as horrible, they were just

and they were loving. True kindness was in her heart, as was that of her father

when he administered the same to her in her childhood. And so it was and is of

the LORD. The administering of justice must always be applied with love and

kindness. Human society must rid itself of evil without becoming the evil it seeks

to supress.

Finally, we are to “walk humbly with our God.” I’ll show you! is never to be

our motivation in supressing evil. We overcome evil with good. We acknowledge

the just and loving Hand of God guiding and empowering us against evil; thus,

its supression is always His, not ours! He will deliver us from evil is our assurance

of escaping the evil in our world. For if He is our King and we are His subjects,

the responsibility of justice and love lies with Him. Our responsibility is live humbly

and faithfully before Him, sharing His Good News of salvation in Jesus Christ!

We remember you faithfully in our daily 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,

Acts 2:17, “…And your young men shall see visions, And your old men shall dream dreams.”

Psalm 71:17-18, “O God, Thou hast taught me from my youth; And I still declare Thy wondrous deeds.

18 And even when I am old and gray, O God, do not forsake me, Until I declare Thy strength to this generation, Thy power to all who are to come.”

I have coupled these two verses because they express precisely what lies before each of us. As young people, we had visions of what could happen and how our lives would fit with those occurrances. As an old man, I look back over my life, how it was lived and what was and was not accomplished.

As a child, I was blessed with godly parents. Their lives were filled with love for each other and for me.

They displayed before me the life they wanted me to live. I was taught verbally and by example. From my mother, I was taught to behave properly, to dress properly, and to treat others properly. From my dad, I was taught not to be anxious, not to take everything too seriously, and to work diligently at the tasks set before me.

Hopefully, I still retain and dispense those things the LORD set before me through my parents. They loved the LORD and served Him according to His plan for their lives. I was taught to trust the LORD, absorb His Word, and love and treat others as He (and they) treated me. Nor am I through attending to the responsibilites He has set before me. Writing this letter is but a portion of that responsibility.

I am now as the psalmist describes: “old and gray.” Yet, the LORD has never forsaken me, nor shall He as long as I run my course. I am here to tell you to follow Him without hesitation or reservation! Live in His Word; live as if you alone were responsible for telling others about Him and His saving grace. I must confess that I have often slipped from the standards my parents displayed before me. Nor am I the standard you are to follow. Yet, I trust that my life might serve in some small way to encouraging you to look to the Supreme Standard of our LORD Jesus Christ, and model you life after Him. Never walk in fear! Always walk in faith! Learn of Him and from Him. You have a heritage in the LORD!

We love 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 62:11-12, “Once God has spoken; Twice I have heard this: That power belongs to God;

12 And lovingkindness is Thine, O Lord, For Thou dost recompense a man according to his work.”

What do you do? What is your work? What a person does often tells a lot about what kind of person he is. I could not begin to tell the work of all those to whom I put that question. I have met and known people of high rank, people who were celebrated in sports, in medicine, in politics. And I have met and known people who cleaned and labored in the lowliest of jobs.

Interestingly, some of what we would term “higher rank,” were snobbish and self-sophisticated. Others of the same level of imporatance, were quite humble and down-to-Earth. Some of the “lower rank” were as diverse as those of the “higher rank”; that is, some were truly humble and others carried huge “chips” on their shoulders, complaining that they were cheated by having to work at a humble job. Yet, they were all fundamentally the same. How is that? They ranked hightly or lowly only accoring to human assessment. The power by which each was enabled to his job came from God.

Life is like that –it demands diversity. Can you imagine how society would manage if everyone had the same work responsibility? There would be no office workers, only office managers; there would be no hotel managers, only cleaning personnel. If everyone were a bus driver, who would there be to ride the

buses? This is absudity! The “power (that) belongs to God” has arranged for the diversity in human society. Furthermore, He is responsible for what compensation each person receives for his work. Most of us believe we’re worth more than we receive. Sometimes that’s true. So, if you believe that being nice to your boss is an important element in your receiving a higher wage, why would you not believe that doing the LORD’s will can accomplish the same thing?

God is not in business just to raise wages. But, when we trust in Him and seek earnestly to be spiritual in our lives and do as He directs, He will recompense us in a variety of ways, such as health, peace of mind, protection from evil –the list is infinite! Think about it! And beyond what we receive from Him in this life, there is more, so much more, reserved for us in Eternity. So, get back to work! Don’t grumble about how little you are paid for what you do. He has much greater things in store for you –far greater than you could ever possibly know! How do I know? He says so in His Word!

You are in our daily 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 32:1-7, “How blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered!

2 How blessed is the man to whom the LORD does not impute iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit!

3 When I kept silent about my sin, my body wasted away through my groaning all day long.

4 For day and night Thy hand was heavy upon me; My vitality was drained away as with the fever heat of summer.

5 I acknowledged my sin to Thee, and my iniquity I did not hide; I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the LORD’; and Thou didst forgive the guilt of my sin.

6 Therefore, let everyone who is godly pray to Thee in a time when Thou mayest be found; Surely in a flood of great waters they shall not reach him.

7 Thou art my hiding place; Thou dost preserve me from trouble; Thou dost surround me with songs of deliverance.”

There’s an old saying that the only sure way of keeping a secret is for three people to know it and two of them to be dead! It’s the same with hiding. There are only two ways to hide. One is silence; the other is confession. Silence, however, does not work. How is that? Well, we have been been made with a conscience. It’s like a silent alarm. No one hears it but you. Sound good? Well, not so fast. It has one problem: you cannot shut it off!! Day and night it pounds your mind, until you think you’re going mad!

What do you do when there are but two ways of hiding and one is more of a plague than an alarm?

The psalmist had that problem. Keeping quiet and trying to smother his sin simply did not work. Pillows over the head do not work. It’s like the reminder of sin is embedded in the pillow!

Ultimately, the psalmist said, “I give up! I give up! Just shut of that pesky alarm! Please! I acknowledge my sin, and I plead with You, LORD, forgive me.” Guess what! He was suddenly, immediately forgiven! That alarm was shut off by the loving grace of Almighty God! “Thank you, LORD!” Peace and quiet flooded his life. And the one who shouted “Forgive me!” was now shouting “Praise the LORD! You are my hiding place! You alone have preserved me from trouble! You have filled my soul with songs of deliverence!”

Does this work with everyone? Not quite; just with “everyone who is godly” –everyone who has turned his life over to the LORD, been born again, and now faithfully looks to the LORD to guide his life. Is the sin then forgotten –totally? It is, so far as the LORD is concerned. And when your mind brings it up, when Satan taunts you with what you did, just remind him that the LORD has covered that sin with His boundless grace! The LORD Himself is your “hiding place.” Put it all behind you and glorify His Name!

We lovinging remember 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.”