The Grands Letter

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.

It’s often been said that the three great philosophical questions are: Who am I? Why am I here? and

Where am I going? John answers these questions in our verses for today. He commences by

Identifying himself as a mere man with no special qualities, but sent into the world by the LORD. He

makes nothing of himself or his name; but of his purpose, he is clear. He is a witness, who gives

testimony of Jesus, the True Light by which every person might come to know Him (Rom. 1:19).

John identifies the LORD Jesus as the Creator of the world and all things within it. Jesus came into

the world that He created and to His own people (the Jews), but they did not receive Him. Authority

to become the children of God, however, is granted to all who believe in Him. No one is shut out

without first having the opportunity to receive Him! Not everyone who has been humanly born is

automatically a son of God. Nor is there some “work” man must do to gain acceptance. God’s created

people have only to believe on their Creator as their Savior! And that means that we, like John, must

ever and always be witnesses of Him! So, do you know who you are? Do you know why you are here?

Do you know where you’re going? Then, let nothing hold you back.

You are in our daily prayers,

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,

Matthew 23:24, “You blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!”

As far back as I can remember, I have been gifted with a sense of humor. At times,

everything takes on the look of fun. I follow Nana on foot as she drive the carts in

Walmart. And as she rounds the corner a new aisle, I look seriously at the people

and say in an audible, but “whispered” voice, “She doesn’t have insurance!” Sometimes

my stand-up-and-push basket almost collides with someone, because I’m always in a

hurry. When It’s a BIG man, I say, “Sorry, sir, but I never mess with guys who are

bigger than I am.”

Have you ever imagined Jesus being humorous? I think the verse above demonstrates

that even though He was always serious about His mission on Earth, He had a sense

of humor. In fact I was taught that the expression was humorous to the Jews of His day.

The King James translation says, “strain at a gnat.” But the Greek says, “strain out…”

“Eliminate from a liquid by an extraction process; filter out a flying insect.”

Solomon said, “A joyful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit dries up the bones” (Pro. 17:22).

There are a lot of things that work against maintaining a joyful spirit, but just because some

people act and look like dried prunes, there’s no reason for us to be glum. What does that old

song say?

If you know the Lord,
You need nobody else,
To see you through the darkest night.
You can walk alone,
you only need the Lord
To keep you on the road marked right.
Take time to pray, every day;
And when you’re heading home,
He’ll show you the way.
If you know the Lord,
You need nobody else,
To see the Light,
God’s wonderful Light.

Practice being joyful today! You’ll brighten the paths of other around you; and you just might

encourage yourself in the process!

We love and pray for you daily,

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,

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.

Many times it’s best to go back to the very beginning in order to grasp the meaning of what is being said.

John does that in these five verses. God is a Trinity, Father, Son, & Holy Spirit. They always existed

together long before there was a world was created. The word John uses for “Word” is ????? (logos). It is

a “vocalized expression of the mind.” We think something and then we express that thought in words. But

logos is also used to mean the personification of God the Son, as “the Word was God.” The context

determines whether the meaning of logos is a mere word or the Living Word, Jesus Christ. Here it means

Jesus Christ. He was the Creator of all things. Further, it was Jesus who gave life to all thing, man included.

There is also another word for word: ???? (rhema). It means a simple statement, pronouncement, or declaration.

It is by rhema, that the LORD “upholds all things by the word of His power (Heb. 1:3).

Jesus possesses life within Himself. His life is light, and He gives light to all mankind. The light that He

gives is physical light, the kind that overcomes darkness. That light is also a “divine understanding given

to the spirit and soul of all human beings.” Paul makes reference to this in Romans 1:19, when he

says, “…that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them.”

Funny thing about light. It overcomes darkness; but darkness never overcomes light. You can bring a

light into a dark room and it overcomes the darkness. How to bring darkness into a lighted room and

overcome the light, I’ve never figured out. One more thing: the word ????????? (katelaben) that means

to overcome, also means to understand. Thus, it is the light the Savior puts within us that helps us to

understand his Word. And Satan can never keep us from understanding God’s Word when we read it,

trusting the Holy Spirit to lead us. Sounds like He’s provided all we need. Yet He leaves it to us to pick

up the Bible and read!

We Love you and pray for you every day,

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,

Luke 10:25-28, “And behold, a certain lawyer stood up and put Him to the test, saying,

‘Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?’

26 “And He said to him, ‘What is written in the Law? How does it read to you?’

27 “And he answered and said, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart,

and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor

as yourself.’

28 “And He said to him, ‘You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.’”

If you believe the news – and this part, I do believe – there is a lot of bullying going on,

especially in the public schools. There are different kinds of bullying, but none of it is

productive, except to anger others and drive them to hate instead of love.

The lawyer in the verses above was something of a bully in his time. The word “test,”

translated “tempt” in the King James version of the Bible means “to test with the hope

that the one tested will not pass the test.” In other words, it means a “trap.” The lawyer

was not sincere; he was “showing off” in the effort to trap Jesus. Jesus, on the other

hand, did not set a trap for the lawyer. Instead He asked a question, enabling the man

to get the answer without confrontation.

Jesus knew the lawyer was not sincere in asking his question. Nevertheless, Jesus

showed love, which the lawyer was not suspecting. This is the true method of answering

a bully. They always know how to provoke a fight; but they don’t know how to deal with

sincere love. Only recently, I heard of a man who was harshly provoked by a man who

was his boss in a hospital. The boss gave him the worst jobs to do and did everything

he could to harass him. The man, however, just went about doing what he was told

and never complained. Over time, the boss came to know Jesus Christ, and he said it

was the man’s attitude of love that he could not overcome and that eventually brought

him to faith in Christ.

Love those bullies! Don’t get mad; don’t try to get even! Just love them like Jesus loves

you. Love works every time.

We pray lovingly for you every day,

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,

John 21:15-17, “So when they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, ‘Simon, son of John, do you love Me more than these?’ He said to Him, ‘Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.’ He said to him, ‘Tend My lambs.’

16 He said to him again a second time, ‘Simon, son of John, do you love Me?’ He said to Him, ‘Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.’ He said to him, ‘Shepherd My sheep.’

17 He said to him the third time, ‘Simon, son of John, do you love Me?’ Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, ‘Do you love Me?’ And he said to Him, ‘Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Tend My sheep.’”

Recently, I mentioned to you that “context” was very important when we seek to understand Scripture. Today, I want to note that words are also vitally important. Greek is arguably the most precise language known to mankind. English has only one word for love; the Greek language has four!

Jesus had risen from the dead, and the disciples had gone back to fishing. They are now with Him on shore having breakfast. Peter, you will recall, had denied knowing Jesus, so he was probably a bit sheepish about encountering Jesus. Nothing was said about Peter’s specific denials, but Jesus simply asked him if he loved Him. Three times He asked in keeping with the three denials. Three times Peter responded. The importance lies in the two words for love that they used. Jesus used the strongest word (agape), but Peter always responded with the lesser word (phileo). Their conversation went like this:

“Simon, do you really, truly love (agapao) Me?”

“Yes, LORD, You know I am a good friend (phileo) of Yours!”

“Feed (bosko) My sheep.”

“Simon, do you love (agapao) Me?”

““Yes, LORD, You know I am a good friend (phileo) of Yours!”

“Act like a shepherd (poimaino) to My little sheep.”

“Simon, am I a good friend (phileo) of yours?” (Jesus now uses Peter’s lesser word.)

“LORD, you know that you are a good friend (phileo) of mine.”

“Feed (bosko) My little sheep.”

Peter could never bring himself to say that he loved Jesus as much as Jesus loved him. But, it’s important

to notice that Jesus restored Peter to fellowship, despite his denials of ever even knowing Him. Jesus’ love

was exercised in forgiveness to Peter – and it is to us! Our silence is often a denial of Him; still He forgives

us and restores us to fellowship with Him. Once we’ve been saved, born-again, He will never deny us.

Moreover, when we deny Him and then confess it as sin in our lives, He forgives us and restores us to

fellowship. Never give up on Jesus! He never gives up on you!

He loves you and we love you, too,

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.”