The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

Psalm 73:25-26, “Whom have I in heaven but Thee?

And besides Thee, I desire nothing on earth.

26 My flesh and my heart may fail,

But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.”

I spoke yesterday with the widow of a dear and close friend.

I had delayed phoning her, not knowing of her demeanor

after their long life together. I need not have worried. She

virtually voiced the comfort of the psalmist, whose rest lay

clearly in the LORD. “Whom have I in Heaven but Thee?”

When we are young, our plans and desires center largely

on earthly “things.” But as life races by –and it does!—

our thoughts move Heavenward. Our flesh and hearts

may fail, but God is more and more our strength and focus.

No, I am far from morbid. I’m not-at-all focused on death.

Death is negative. In some ways, it’s even selfish. Yet, we

dare not omit it completely from our ultimate thoughts.

Our LORD is there; loved ones are there. But while we

await that journey, we are to focus on Christ’s Coming,

the Rapture of all believers and share His Gospel whereby

others may be caught up with us on that Glorious Day!

You are in our daily prayers! We love you desperately!

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 69:13-15, “But as for me, my prayer is to Thee, O LORD,

at an acceptable time; O God, in the greatness of Thy lovingkindness,

Answer me with Thy saving truth. 14 Deliver me from the mire, and do

not let me sink; May I be delivered from my foes, and from the deep

waters. 15 May the flood of water not overflow me, And may the deep

not swallow me up, And may the pit not shut its mouth on me.”

The Apostle Paul wrote in Romans 15:4, “For whatever was written in

earlier times was written for our instruction, that through perseverance

and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.”

It is because of Paul’s word that I can see an application of our verses

In Psalm 69 to our nation’s situation today. The Charlottesville situation

severely divided our nation. The liberal media again worked against us

and we were in turmoil. Then “Harvey,” the greatest storm in our nation’s

history, literally “turned the tide.” The melee and commotion of Charlottesville

was buried in “Harvey.” I believe the LORD allowed “Harvey” in order to take

our national mind off of Charlottesville. And the prayers of His people

produced even news anchors to speak openly of God, as if they were

Christians.

I am always impressed with Franklin Graham’s prayers, but when Vice

President Pence (a truly born-again believer) called on his wife, Karen, to

pray in Rockport, Texas, I was emotionally moved! Nor was I alone. The

Good LORD has placed some (perhaps, more than we know) of His people

in government “for such a time as this.” Now, we must turn from our sin and

our cynicism, and truly trust Him. We have an “opening” to speak to others

about Jesus, just as we did when a Billy Graham Crusade came to our area.

We dare not miss the opportunities the LORD has given us!

May the LORD strengthen and bless you, is our 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,

Psalm 55:22, “Cast your burden upon the LORD,

and He will sustain you; He will never allow the

righteous to be shaken.”

Did you ever hear someone say, “Oh, it’s just a

cross I have to bear?” What is the difference

between a “burden” and a “cross”? Simply put,

a burden is something that is thrust upon us;

a cross is something we willingly assume.

We all have burdens of various sorts. Circumstances

seem to thrust them upon us and we find ourselves

saddled with difficulties not of our own making. I

can think of many, but I won’t burden you with them.

(Little joke there.) The point is rather what do we do

about burdens? The psalmist says to throw them on

the LORD. The LORD will deal with them completely.

He will never allow the righteous to be brought down.

We must, however, be righteous. We must be determined

to listen to Him and follow Him. Only then do we have

His guarantee to preserve us completely.

Take your burdens to the LORD and leave them there;

If you trust and never doubt,

He will surely bring you out;

Take your burdens to the LORD and leave them there.

You are in our prayers 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,

Psalm 37:4-5, “Delight yourself in the LORD;

And He will give you the desires of your heart.

5 Commit your way to the LORD,

Trust also in Him, and He will do it.”

We live in difficult days. Every day seems to

bring forth more trouble. Many people worry;

they are anxious and fearful as to what will

come upon us. But the psalmist has a different

attitude. He gives us three things to do in the

midst of trouble and uncertainty. First, “delight”

in the LORD. Put Him above all your troubles.

Focus on Him! Be positive! Remember that He

created the heavens and the Earth. And He did

is “out of nothing!” What are a few, minor

troubles to Him? Second, “commit” yourself to

Him. We did this when we were saved. We

signed on to His service. We committed ourselves,

and we must not back down on that commitment.

Third, we are to “trust” Him completely. He has

the plan –the only plan—that will defeat the

troubles we face. What are His promises? He

promises to give us the desires of our hearts.

We’re not talking about trinkets here. The desire

of one who is in trouble is deliverance, not

tinker toys. Further, He promises to complete

what He starts! He completed His creation of

the heavens and the Earth, of man and beasts.

What’s a mere skirmish to Him? He always wins!

And we always win –when we trust in Him and

remain committed.

We pray and trust the LORD for your protection,

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 33:6, 8-12, “By the word of the LORD the heavens were made,

And by the breath of His mouth all their host…

8 Let all the earth fear the LORD; Let all the inhabitants of the world

stand in awe of Him.

9 For He spoke, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast.

10 The LORD nullifies the counsel of the nations; He frustrates the

plans of the peoples.

11 The counsel of the LORD stands forever, The plans of His heart from

generation to generation.

12 Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, The people whom

He has chosen for His own inheritance.”

What a psalm! It commences with Praise to the LORD (vv. 1-7); it continues

by telling of his Power (vv. 8-12); and it concludes with the promise of His

Preservation (vv. 13-22). Let me challenge you to read it all –right now!

The capstone, however, is verse 12, “Blessed is the nation whose God is

The LORD…” Our beloved nation, that was founded on Christian principles,

has drifted away from those principles. We’ve become prosperous by His

hand; but we’ve then become proud and haughty and self-sufficient. We

behave as if we don’t need the LORD. We’ve overlooked the fact that The

Creator who made our world and the universe around us, could just as

easily collapse it! We are not our own. We belong to Him; and if we behave,

He promises His preservation. If we don’t, we live in jeopardy. The way of

all nations is determined by the way of its people. You and I must live by

our LORD’s divine standards or suffer the consequences.

May God bless you abundantly,

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.”