The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

Psalm 13:5-6, “But I have trusted in Your lovingkindness;

My heart shall rejoice in Your salvation. 6 I will sing to the LORD,

Because He has dealt bountifully with me.”

The psalmist’s life was surrounded by trouble, just as we often

discover our lives are. It’s interesting, though regrettable, that

people who have nothing to do with God, cry “Oh, GOD!” when

devastation comes their way. The psalmist trusts in the LORD’s

lovingkindness, and rejoices in His salvation. I’m thinking of a

small child standing at the edge of the water. The child’s father

stands in the water and beckons the child to jump to him. The

child thinks, then trusts, then jumps into the arm of its father!

When the exercise of faith is complete, the child rejoices that

it has been saved by the loving arms of its father. Then the child,

laughs, somewhat like the psalmist singing, knowing that the

father has adequately saved the child. The trust grows, and the

child achieves more and more bountiful things from its father.

So it is with us. We trust the LORD, our Heavenly Father; He

proves Himself more than adequate to our needs, so we trust

Him again and again, and rejoice in His rewards.

Trust Him today, is our prayer for you. Trust Him in everything!

He is able and willing to rescue us all from surrounding trouble.

Nana & Dado III

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

Springdale, Arkansas

Dear Grands,

Hebrews 13:2, “Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers,

for by this some have entertained angels without knowing it.”

Hospitality was a prime expression of eastern peoples. Paul

was never shy about saying, “I’m headed your way and I need

a place to stay.” Nor were those on the receiving end of his

self-placed invitation, put out by the words of his coming.

But, Paul’s reference here is sure to have been about Abraham.

Genesis 18 says the LORD appeared to Abraham and when he

looked up there were three men standing above him. Abraham

begged them not to journey on, but to allow him to show them

hospitality. He promised them only “a piece of bread,” but what

he ultimately gave them must have been hours in preparation.

It was a meal fit for a king. As it turns out, these “men” were

angels with a message of blessing from the LORD. All of this

tells us that we’re never sure with whom we are talking; so it

is to our benefit to treat everyone respectfully and graciously.

The LORD’s approach to us is not always immediately

discernable. Yet, we are always blessed by His presence.

We are always blessed by your presence, too! You are always

welcome at our house! Come and see us!

Love and blessings,

Nana & Dado III

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

Springdale, Arkansas

Dear Grands,

Hebrews 11:38a, “…of whom the world was not worthy).”

Hebrews 11 is known as “The Faith Chapter” of the Bible.

Paul cites 16 Old Testament personalities who endured

horrendous experiences simply because they were Christians.

It sounds like what we read today about the persecution of

believers all over the world. The Scripture says they were

mocked and whipped, imprisoned, stoned, sawed in half,

stabbed to death with swords; and the ones who escaped

this persecution, wandered about with insufficient clothing,

in poor health –and the list goes on and on. Then, almost

as if he could hold back no longer, he said, “of whom the

world was not worthy.” Think about that. These who were

treated so badly were here on Earth to guide those who

were not believers. The unbelievers were simply not worthy

of those whom they treated so badly. The question that

comes to me is: Am I living so as to be of worth to the world?

If I’m just here and stumbling along and thinking only of

myself and “things” that will eventually wear out and become

worthless, am I of any worth to the world and to those who

live around me? Even more, am I worth anything to God?

Think about that… Now, what are you going to do about it?

You “kids” are wonderful to us! We love you immensely!

Nana & Dado III

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

Springdale, Arkansas

Dear Grands,

Hebrews 10:23-24, “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope

without wavering, for He who promised is faithful; 24 and let us

consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds…”

You’ve heard the old adage, “The New is in the Old Concealed;

the Old is in the New revealed.” Nowhere in Scripture is this

truer than in the Hebrew Epistle. Paul has gone into great detail

to convince all his readers that Jesus is our Great High Priest and

that He is coming soon. With that in mind, he admonishes us to

be involved in several things. In verse 22, he tells us to “draw

near (to God) with a sincere heart.” Then, in our verses above

he encourages us to “hold fast (to the) confession of our hope…”

If we have drawn near to the LORD, we will hold fast to our

beliefs regarding Him and what His Word tells us is coming soon.

Then, he encourages us to “consider how to stimulate (provoke)

other believers to be loving and engage only in good deeds.

We know how to make others mad! How do we make others

loving and good? We have to think about it. Without question,

when we start thinking (about good and loving things) the Holy

Spirit will bring some ideas to our minds. What do you think

you sufficiently provoked? Then, get on with it! Provoke others!!!

We love you all with an undying love,

Nana & Dado III

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

Springdale, Arkansas

Dear Grands,

Hebrews 6:17-19, “…God, desiring even more to show to the heirs

of the promise the unchangeableness of His purpose, interposed with

an oath, 18 so that by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible

for God to lie, we who have taken refuge would have strong encouragement

to take hold of the hope set before us. 19 This hope we have as an anchor

of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and one which enters within

the veil…”

An oath is a declaration that what one is telling is true. God cannot lie!

Therefore, what He has told us in His Word gives us encouragement to

believe in the hope He sets before us. Hope in Greek means “future

certainty.” It is not what we mean when we say, “I sure hope it doesn’t

rain today.” God’s hope is certain, it cannot be juggled around. Paul says

that we who have trusted in Him have that hope “as an anchor of the soul.”

I recently saw a televised program about Mighty Ships. Sometimes the

water at the shore was too shallow for the ship to dock there, and it had

to anchor some distance away. At that time, the ship dropped its anchor

to keep it from drifting further out to sea. The anchor “fastened” to the

bottom of the ocean to make certain it did not drift. God’s future certainty

(our hope) is our soul’s anchor. When we focus on what God has in store

for us when He comes again, our souls (self-consciousness) are kept from

drifting away from Him or His teachings. Ever feel like your drifting? Get

back into the Word! One of the old hymns that needs reviving says:

We have an anchor that keeps the soul

Steadfast and sure while the billows roll;

Fastened to the Rock, it cannot move;

Grounded firm and deep in the Savior’s love.

Drop anchor with us! We love you more than you know,

Nana & Dado III

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

Springdale, Arkansas