The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

Psalm 108:1-6, “My heart is steadfast, O God; I will sing, I will sing praises,

even with my soul. 2 Awake, harp and lyre; I will awaken the dawn! 3 I will give thanks to Thee, O LORD, among the peoples; And I will sing praises to Thee

among the nations. 4 For Thy lovingkindness is great above the heavens; And

Thy truth reaches to the skies. 5 Be exalted, O God, above the heavens, And

Thy glory above all the Earth. 6 That Thy beloved may be delivered, Save with

Thy right hand, and answer me!”

Where does one go to perfect the skills they possess, but to one who has

achieved what they themselves desire? David was the master of praise!

Thus, we learn how to praise the LORD by reading and studying the prayers

of David. He is steadfast, fixed, firm, determined in his praise of the LORD.

Circumstances are brushed aside; nothing is allowed to suppress his praise.

As music was his special gift, he turns to those instruments to accompany

his praise. As the tongue is one of the LORD’s foremost gifts to man, David

determines to glorify the LORD in songs of praise and worship. He is not at

all shy about who hears his praise; in fact, that is his desire.

David notes that the lovingkindness of the LORD is “great above the heavens,”

and His “truth reaches to the skies.” While the Word of the LORD regarding

the outreach of David’s rule has yet to be realized, he continues to praise

Him in anticipation “That Thy beloved may be delivered. Save with Thy right

Hand and answer me.”

How often we find ourselves “lost at sea,” as it were. What do we do? Where

do we go? How are we to respond? We are to believe that the LORD is

aware of our needs and that His Word contains the answer to our every dilemma.

Faith, trust, and belief are English derivatives of the Greek word pistis. To have

faith is to trust, and to trust is to believe. How does that help us? Just throw

yourself upon the LORD in faith. Read and believe His Word! Whatever troubles

lie in your pathway, you can dispel and erase them through faith in Christ Jesus.

We love you and believe in the LORD for His blessings,

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,

Proverbs 3:5-8, “Trust in the LORD with all your heart,

And do not lean on your own understanding.

6 In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make

your paths straight. 7 Do not be wise in your own eyes;

Fear the LORD and turn away from evil.

8 It will be healing to your body, And refreshment to

your bones.”

I awoke this morning with these verses on my mind.

They are a sound and solid reminder that the LORD

is the One who controls all factors of life. With all that

He had enabled us to know, we must admit that it

pales in the light of what He knows. We come to the

crossroads of life situations, not knowing whether to

turn right or left. We evaluate every factor, yet still

have doubts as to what to do. The psalmist shouts,

“TRUST in the LORD!” Have complete confidence in Him.

Don’t just trust your instincts! Acknowledge Him as

supreme, and He will show you what to do.

Rose Marie has always been my wise counsel. The

depths of her spiritual understanding has always amazed

me. Her trust has always been in the LORD; and I have

learned to rely upon His counsel as well. Yet, many aspects

work to confuse His counsel. Evil rears its nasty head

in the effort to scramble clear thinking. Reverencing

Him and resisting evil clears the pathway. And the anxiety

that has built up within us rapidly disappears.

It is not easy to trust –even to trust in the LORD. So, when

we encounter trouble, He allows us no way out except to

trust Him. How precious and tenderly He leads us.

We prayerfully walk by faith, loving each of you all the while,

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,

Psalm 104:31-34, “Let the glory of the LORD endure forever;

Let the LORD be glad in His works;

32 He looks at the Earth, and it trembles;

He touches the mountains, and they smoke.

33 I will sing to the LORD as long as I live;

I will sing praise to my God while I have my being.

34 Let my meditation be pleasing to Him;

As for me, I shall be glad in the LORD.”

Today we have the announcement of an 8.2 earthquake

in Alaska! Once again, we have an event occurring that man

cannot control. Earthquakes mentioned in Scripture are often

announcements of the LORD’s displeasure with man. It’s as if

the LORD were calling man’s attention to his frailty and the

brevity of his life.

The world in which we live is filled with beauty that

bespeaks the glory of the LORD our God. From the vast

recesses of space to the minutia of man’s DNA, the LORD

reveals Himself and calls for praise! He alone is Eternal.

The psalmist’s phrases, “as long as I live” and “while I

have my being” speak of man’s limited life on Earth.

What a challenge it is that both externally (singing) and

internally (meditation) we have in this life the opportunity

to praise the LORD! Nothing of man’s own creation is as

marvelous as that which our LORD has created. Nothing

from the hand of man is so deserving of praise. Even the

ability to see and understand is God’s gift to us. Let’s

turn our thinking today toward Him and praise Him for

all He has done –while we still have time to do so.

We love and pray for you all,

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,

Psalm 101:1-8, “I Will sing of lovingkindness and justice, To Thee, O LORD, I will sing praises.

2 I will give heed to the blameless way. When wilt Thou come to me? I will walk within my house in the integrity of my heart.

3 I will set no worthless thing before my eyes; I hate the work of those who fall away; It shall not fasten its grip on me.

4 A perverse heart shall depart from me; I will know no evil.

5 Whoever secretly slanders his neighbor, him I will destroy; No one who has a haughty look and an arrogant heart will I endure.

6 My eyes shall be upon the faithful of the land, that they may dwell with me; He who walks in a blameless way is the one who will minister to me.

7 He who practices deceit shall not dwell within my house; He who speaks falsehood shall not maintain his position before me.

8 Every morning I will destroy all the wicked of the land, So as to cut off from the city of the LORD all those who do iniquity.”

“Count Your Blessings” is an old hymn we used to sing in church.

Count your blessings; name them one-by-one;

Count your blessings; see what God has done.

Count your blessings; name them one-by-one;

Count your many blessings; see what God has done.

In this psalm, King David is counting the blessings he has received from the

LORD. The LORD has been loving and just to him, and he determines to treat

his servants with the same love and justice that the LORD has bestowed upon

him. Eight times in these eight verses David says, “I will.” He admits to

having done some things that he now determines to do no more! He is going

to exercise self-control and put away all evil from before his eyes.

It has been said that “the eyes are the mirror of the soul.” It is amazing what

a deep look into the eyes can reveal of illnesses that lie within the body. It

takes a specialist to see and understand, but the LORD is the Specialist. He

knows what things concern us –things that occupy our views and time. Those

are the things that determine the kind of persons we are –the kind of persons

David determines to remove from the land he governs.

Read this psalm again. Read it slowly. Let it reflect your innermost thoughts.

Make some serious decisions about your life right now! Escape the inevitable

consequences of engaging in “worthless things.” Start today to yield everything

to the LORD! He loves you and will bless you beyond measure.

We love you, too, and talk to Him about 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,

Psalm 96:11-13, “Let the heavens be glad, and let the Earth rejoice;

Let the sea roar, and all it contains; 12 Let the field exult, and all that

is in it. Then all the trees of the forest will sing for joy 13 Before the

LORD, for He is coming; For He is coming to judge the Earth. He

will judge the world in righteousness, And the peoples in His faithfulness.”

It is easy to arise in the morning when the air is warmed by the sun.

The birds chirp and sing to announce their joy at the coming spring.

The psalmist arises to praise the LORD for all His glorious works. “Be

glad…rejoice…roar…exult…sing” –he exhorts all the LORD’s creation

to express itself with joyful excitement. Why? Because the LORD is

coming! His Coming is two-fold: 1) He will judge the Earth. All the

evil in which godless people have engaged will be judged. No one

will get away with his sins. The world that the LORD created—the

world that man has corrupted—will be judged at the Coming of the

LORD Jesus Christ. 2) He will judge the Earth righteously.

We know that human judges are often corrupt. I remember a friend

telling me how an attorney met with a judge prior to the next day’s

court and decided the outcome of a case. “I know,” he said, “because

I was there. I mixed their drinks!” Nothing like that will stand before

the Righteous Judge! He will be faithful to those who have been dealt

with unfaithfully.

All of this admonishes us not to worry about whether the unjust

and unrighteous will be punished in the Day of the LORD. They will!

Our focus must be on the fact that He is Coming and that we ourselves

will stand before Him. Now is the time for us to clean up our act. Set

your mind –your focus—on righteous and godly matters. Simon Peter

says, “And let him turn away from evil and do good; Let him seek peace

and pursue it. For the eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, And His

ears attend to their prayer, But the face of the Lord is against those who

do evil” (1 Pet. 3:11-12).

We love you and hold you ever in our 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.”