The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

Ephesians 4:29-32, “Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth,

but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the

moment, that it may give grace to those who hear.

30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for

the day of redemption. 31 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor

and slander be put away from you, along with all malice.

32 And be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as

God in Christ also has forgiven you.”

My maternal grandmother had some biblical sayings that she often

repeated. One was “You’ll give an account for every idle word” (Mat. 12:36).

Despite the Apostle Paul’s spiritual depth of understanding Scripture,

he is exceedingly practical and organized. First, we are instructed to

never speak an “unwholesome” (rotten, worthless) word.” We are to

reserve our comments for “edification” (that which builds up) and only

then for the need of the moment, that we may “give grace” (kindness,

blessing, gratitude) to those who hear.

Admittedly, Paul’s instruction is sometimes tough to do. But to speak

contrary to biblical instruction, is to “grieve” (distress, hurt) the Holy Spirit

of God. Have you not had someone you greatly admired say, “I’m very

disappointed in you.” Simple, clean words like that stab us in the heart!

And that’s what the Spirit feels and says when we ignore Him and use

filthy, hurtful words that destroy instead of building up. Words that

please the Holy Spirit also help people who hear them. After all, the

Holy Spirit is the Father’s “seal” (spiritual mark) that shows we are His!

Fleshly words and actions hurt Him deeply. Why would we do that?

In verse 31, Paul lists things in which we should not engage –bitterness

(a hostile attitude); wrath (rage, intense anger); anger (offensive behavior);

clamor (shouting); and slander (abusive speech, blasphemy) – all be

put away from you, along with all malice (moral offensiveness).

Rather, be helpful, tenderhearted, compassionate, forgiving, just as

Christ Jesus has been toward you. WOW! Tough order, huh? My paternal

grandfather was a blacksmith; and when I left home my Dad said to me,

“Son, remember that a man’s like steel. He’s got to have temper to be

any good, but he never any good when he loses it.” What a challenge!

Love and prayers 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,

Ephesians 4:7-12, “But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift. 8 Therefore it says, ‘When He ascended on high, He led captive a host of captives, And He gave gifts to men.’

9 (Now this expression, ‘He ascended,’ what does it mean except that He also had descended into the lower parts of the earth? 10 He who descended is Himself also He who ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all things.)

11 And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ…”

Have you ever wondered just why you were born? Oh, you were doubtlessly

the delight of your parents; but why, from the perspective of the LORD, were

you placed on this Earth? To each believer in Christ, the LORD gave a measure

of grace. We’re not all alike, so He calls us to do what He gives us to do.

It works like this: before Jesus died on the Cross for our sins, there were both Old and New Testament people who believed He would come. But many of them died before He came. They went to a place called Paradise. When Jesus arose from the dead, He went back to Heaven and took with Him the righteous people, who were in Paradise. At the same time, He gave “gifts” (responsibilities, with the power to

achieve them) to various believers still living on Earth. (See the attachment and the chart at the end.)

What are the gifts? Apostles (messengers) refers to the Twelve He chose (excluding Judas Iscariot). Prophets (interpreters) are those gifted with the understanding and interpretation of what Scripture teaches. Evangelists (bearers of good news) are itinerant preachers and missionaries. Pastors (shepherds) are those who take care of believers, feeding and helping them to grow spiritually. Teachers are instructors. Some believe they are pastor-teachers, the same person, as they are so closely related in what they do. They all are for “the equipping of the saints for the work of service,” building up the Church, the body of Christ.

Note that the “the saints” (all believers) are to engage in the service of the LORD –not just the prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers! Find your gift (calling) and get to work! This is how the LORD is glorified, and we are all responsible to do that

for which He placed us on this Earth.

We will always love you, and we continue to hold your before the LORD in prayer,

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,

Ephesians 3:20-4:2, “Now to Him who is able to do exceeding abundantly

beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within

us, 21 to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations

forever and ever. Amen. I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, entreat you

to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called,

2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing forbearance to

one another in love…”

I knew a young man in Australia, whose car overturned on its side with

his wife inside. In an instant, he grasp hold of the car and turned it right-

side up! He was a husky fellow, but the car was far too heavy for him

under normal conditions. He allowed that the LORD had given him strength

he did not know he had. The LORD has strength of His own that is beyond

our comprehension, and He is able to do well beyond all that we imagine.

Thus, we are to glorify Him in all accomplishments because we are “prisoners

of the LORD.”

The Apostle Paul encourages us to “walk” (live) worthily of the LORD’s

calling. Humility (lowliness of mind regarding ourselves), gentleness

(consideration of others; accepting God’s dealings with us without resistance),

patience (long-suffering of the injuries done to us by others), forbearance (endurance, being alert) and in love (agape), the love that extends to others

without a thought of whether they return love to us. All of this produces

peace in every situation.

The young man of whom I spoke earlier was humble. He was not boastful

about his accomplishment in up-righting his car. Gentleness takes others

into consideration of how what we say or do will affect them. It’s not all

about us. Patience is being calm and tolerant when others don’t do things

as quickly or as considerately as we would like. We must remember that

the LORD often works through others of different temperament. We must

allow Him to work in us and others toward the fulfillment of His purpose.

May the LORD bless and use you “to the praise of His glory,”

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,

Ephesians 1:7-14, “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace, 8 which He lavished upon us. In all wisdom and insight 9 He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him 10 with a view to an administration suitable to the fulness of the times, that is, the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things upon the earth.

“In Him 11 also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will, 12 to the end that we who were the first to hope in Christ should be to the praise of His glory.

13 “In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation– having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, 14 who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory.”

In the English language, we have what is called a “run-on” sentence that just keeps

on going without punctuation and changes subjects from one thing to another and never seems to come to an end and leaves the reader almost without any knowledge of what was intended in the first place. Get the idea?

Make no mistake; while the apostle’s words seem like a “run-on,” they are not.

He decidedly and clearly states that in eternity past, the LORD God intended all mankind to be “to the praise of His glory.” But man sinned, and came under sin’s imprisonment. What is God to do? Has He been stymied by the adversary Satan? Not in the least! He determines to free man through the sacrifice of His Son, the LORD Jesus Christ.

An expectant father dreams what he intends to give his coming son. His intensions, however, are dependent upon whether his son becomes all he dreams he will. The

son is born a beautiful boy, but as he grows to maturity, he takes on the characteristics of worthless fellows his own age. The disappointed father devised a plan to win his son back. The plan is initiated; but whether the father’s inheritance will become the son’s, depends upon the son believing and accepting the plan his father lays before him. The son listens carefully to his father’s plan. He believes and accepts it, and the father signs inheritance papers that will one day enrich the son forever! Why would any son reject his father’s plan in favor of the wild, evil, and destructive ways of those fellows his own age? Think about it.

We continue to love and pray for you every single day,

Nana (Rose Marie) and Dado III (Gene)

UPDATE: Rose Marie is home and is improving. She is gaining strength,

like the doctors want. This coming week, we will schedule an

appointment which will secure a date for her heart caph. Please

keep her in your prayers. We’re not “out of the woods” yet.

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,

Galatians 6:7-10, “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap.

8 For the one who sows to his own flesh shall from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit shall from the Spirit reap eternal life.

9 And let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we shall reap if we do not grow weary.

10 So then, while we have opportunity, let us do good to all men, and especially to those who are of the household of the faith.”

Have you ever heard of the old saying, “The chickens have come

home to roost?” Well, they always do. For a long time, Bill and

Hillary Clinton engaged in activities that many thought were

immoral, if not illegal. It was talked about quite freely, but nothing

was ever done. Even after President Trump publicly said that the

Justice Department should look into the Clinton Foundation, it

appeared that nothing was going to happen. But, now it is!

What the ultimate outcome will be, the LORD only knows; but it

should give us cause to understand that no one is above the law,

and certainly no one is either hidden or above the LORD’s stated

Word!

Paul advises us “not to be led astray. Don’t ever turn your nose

up or sneer at Almighty God.” If we plant potatoes, we will not

reap corn. If we plant tomatoes, we will not reap grapes. It’s

just that simple. Whatever you do, will ultimately be done to you.

If you are friendless toward people, people will be friendless

toward you. If you love people, people will love you. Sometimes,

we do good for people and don’t see them doing good toward us.

Good may come from another direction –but it will come!

Just don’t get discouraged if what you expect and desire does not

come when or how you expect it. It will come! The principle of

sowing and reaping cannot be altered. God has ordained it.

Opportunities to do good toward others, however, have limitations.

So, we need to take advantage of the opportunities that come our

way. Nana (Rose Marie) is now home; but in the hospital, we both

had multiple opportunities to share Jesus Christ. Some brightened

at the mention of Jesus. Others politely ignored the witness we

tried to give. That’s always the way it is. But, we were never

discouraged! We discovered, too, that some true believers were

struggling with bad habits in their lives. They were thankful that

we cared enough to help and pray with them. We learned not to

become discouraged, too. The LORD’s way will always be successful.

And your life will be encouraged and enriched when you follow Him!

We love you and continue to 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.”