Dear Grands,
Old folks sometimes forget;
Sometimes it is things they regret.
I did so today;
So, for me you should pray;
That none of us ever get upset.
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 5:22-23, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace,
patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness,
self-control; against such things there is no law.”
Listen carefully when someone reads aloud these verses.
Most readers will mispronounce “fruit” as “fruits.” It’s a
common mistake; after all, there are nine, separate items
to which Paul calls to our attention. Then, why does he
not say “fruits”?
Several years ago in Australia, I held a series of evangelistic
meetings in a small town. I stayed with a sugarcane farmer
and his wife. One night after the meeting and prior to
bedtime, they offered me a monstereo delicio. They said
you could taste a variety of fruits in this one fruit. Would
I like to try it? I replied, somewhat jokingly, that I’d try
anything that was non-alcoholic! I then ate the fruit, and
to my surprise, it was exactly as they had described it.
I could taste apple, banana, peach –all in the one fruit!
What I could not do was eliminate the banana! (I know
they are good for us, but I don’t like the taste!)
That fruit-tasting experience that night taught me the
difference between “fruit” and “fruits” in Galatians 5:22-23.
We often want joy and peace, but don’t want to be patient
or exercise self-control. But, we cannot have one without
the other. The fruit of the Spirit is one fruit. And we either
accept and display ALL of it, or we reject and display NONE
of it. We either live in the Spirit or we don’t. There is NO
middle or partial ground. “If we live by the Spirit, let us also
walk by the Spirit” (v. 25).
We love your immensely, and pray for you daily,
Nana & Dado III
Update on Nana: Well, yesterday was a “wash” for her
coming home; but we expect that today.
Her cardiologist wants to do a heart cath,
but wants her to rest up first. Please pray
for her. She’s in good spirits, but she has
yet a physical issue that must be addressed.
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 5:16-17, “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not
carry out the desire of the flesh. 17 For the flesh sets its desire against
the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to
one another, so that you may not do the things that you please.”
As we read the words of the Apostle Paul, we often get the mistaken
idea that he lived a perfect life. Far from it! In Romans 7, he says,
“15 For that which I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing
what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate…. 18 For I
know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the wishing
is present in me, but the doing of the good is not” (vv. 15, 18). Paul
battled against his fleshly side just as we do. Every wrong and evil
desire that we experience has been experienced by every, living soul.
But what can we do about it? It’s as simple as it is difficult; walk (live)
in the way of the Holy Spirit. Do you remember when you learned to
ride a bicycle? At first, you kept falling. I’ll never learn to ride this thing!
Yet, you just got back up and tried it again…and again…and again.
Somewhere amid these up-and-down trials, you learned to balance,
and then to ride successfully. It’s the same with the Christian life.
The only difference is you have to learn to balance every day! There
is an enemy that loves to see us fall. He laughs and jeers when we
do. Sometimes he antagonizes us so much that we feel like giving up.
Besides, “falling” has some desirables in it. We discover that wrong
is often pleasurable. Our eyes like to see it; our hands like to feel it;
our ears tingle with pleasure when we hear it; and we feel good all
over when we do it, although we know it’s wrong! It is then that we
must call for help! The Holy Spirit is there to rescue us. He wraps
His arms around us and speaks truly sweet things to us. He comforts
us to a higher degree than when we were doing wrong; and we wonder
why we ever engaged in evil, fleshly stuff at all. Yes, we can overcome
evil. We just have to practice walking in the way of the LORD every
day. Read the Bible; pray for help and encouragement; focus your
mind on spiritual things, and don’t let go! He will forgive you for
falling, and He will restore you! You just have to trust Him!
We are praying for you,
Nana & Dado III
Update on Nana: She is doing better day-by-day. We praise
the LORD for His “resurrection” of her!
She is close to coming home! Your prayers
are being answered. She has had wonderful
care at WRMC, and marvelous opportunities
to witness of God’s saving grace!
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 3:24-16; 4:1-2, “Therefore the Law has become our tutor
to lead us to Christ, that we may be justified by faith. 25 But now that
faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor. 26 For you are all sons
of God through faith in Christ Jesus….Now I say, as long as the heir
is a child, he does not differ at all from a slave although he is owner
of everything, 2 but he is under guardians and managers until the date
set by the father.”
I recently read of a boys’ “Gentlemen’s School” in Wisconsin. They
are taught how to shake hands, tie a tie, and show respect to others.
It excited me because I am appalled by the crumbling of our culture.
I’ve never been stogey, but proper manners are always commendable.
Three words (emboldened above) give us a glimpse of how the
early Hebrews of biblical times taught their children. The word
translated “tutor” (“schoolmaster in KJV) is ?????????? (paidagogos).
It means a slave who led a child from home to school, and protected
his moral conduct. When other boys would attempt to seduce him
into participating in bad things, the “tutor” was present to prohibit it.
The Law (Ten Commandments) served as a “tutor” to protect the
Jewish people until Christ Jesus came. He now protects the morality
and conduct of His people through the Holy Spirit.
The word “guardian” (????????? (epitropos) refers to a slave who
taught him academic subjects (reading, writing, etc.) and cultural
manners, much like the Gentlemen’s Club to which I referred earlier.
The word “manager” (????????? (oikonomos) is a household word
that referred to the child’s monetary inheritance. This slave cared
for the child’s money until the child was mature and could care for
it himself.
All of this is an allegorical demonstration of God’s care for His
children from the time of their “new birth” to their maturity in the
faith. Learning anything is a process; and learning to live as Jesus
intends us demands our concentration on His Word (the Bible) and
our earnest will and desire to be what He died and arose to make us.
When our proper manners are in place, He uses us “to the praise of
His glory” (Eph. 1:12). Don’t you want to be used like that? I do!
May the LORD bless you abundantly, is our daily prayer,
Nana & Dado III
Update on Nana (Rose Marie): She is getting stronger by the day.
Her latest X-Ray showed she is making
progress in the fight against pneumonia.
I know she appreciates your prayers!
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 3:19-22, “Why the Law then? It was added because of transgressions,
having been ordained through angels by the agency of a mediator, until the seed
should come to whom the promise had been made. 20 Now a mediator is not for
one party only; whereas God is only one. 21 Is the Law then contrary to the promises
of God? May it never be! For if a law had been given which was able to impart life,
then righteousness would indeed have been based on law. 22 But the Scripture has
shut up all men under sin, that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given
to those who believe.”
I meet a lot of people who think they’re going to Heaven because they
believe in God, live a morally good life, and do good toward others.
Paul addresses the unreasonableness of this in the verses above. Why
do we even have laws? We have them because man thinks he’s doing
right all the time. In Missouri many years ago the law read that drivers
on cars were to be “reasonable and proper.” But, by whose standard?
What is “reasonable”? What is “proper”? And who is to say what is
right? God introduced the Law (Ten Commandments) to demonstrate
to man himself how wrong he was. God never intended the Law to
save man from his sin. Instead, He kept man under the Law, actually
imprisoned in sin, until the time He planned and sent Jesus, His Son,
to release man from imprisonment. Jesus, through His death on the
Cross, made it possible for man to be released from sin. If mankind
were not to be released from sin through keeping the Law, the only way
left for his release was through faith –faith in Jesus’ death and resurrection
from the dead.
No, the Law was not contrary to God’s promises. It was a matter of
God’s timing. The Law existed until Jesus came. Now, release from
sin is by faith in Jesus Christ. We are saved by Him and for Him! And
we who know Him are here to tell others about Him.
We love you and pray for you and trust you are praying for us,
Nana & Dado III
Update on Nana: She is progressing well. She is stronger by the
day. But, she is not completely rid of pneumonia.
When will that be? It could depend somewhat on
your prayers.
Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.
Springdale, Arkansas
“We never know that God is all we need
until He becomes all that we have.”
