The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

1 Corinthians 2:9, “But as it is written, ‘Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard,

neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath

prepared for them that love him.’”

You have no idea! For that matter, neither do I. Just as neither of us

knows what is going to take place today or tomorrow, neither do we

have an inkling of what God has prepared for us. It’s a surprise! All

we can know with certainty is that it is good –very good! It’s beyond

the best we could ever even imagine. Yet, we can miss being blessed

because we’re not loving Him. Remember when Jesus had that

breakfast chat with Peter? He said, “Do you love me?” Remember

that the word Jesus used was agape. Peter’s word was philos. Yes,

we all love (?????) the LORD, but He wants us to ???????? Him. It’s

a matter of total commitment! “But, I love the LORD,” you say. That’s

what Peter said. Yet, there’s a deeper, more consistent love that

abandons self in favor of Him. What waits for us here and now is

wonderful beyond anything we can imagine! Believe me, what He

has in Mind is more than worth what we surrender to obtain it.

We love and pray for you every single 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,

1 Corinthians 3:16-19, “’Do you not know that you are a temple of God,

and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? 17 If any man destroys the temple

of God, God will destroy him, for the temple of God is holy, and that is what

you are. 18 Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you thinks that

he is wise in this age, let him become foolish that he may become wise.

19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness before God. For it is written,

“’”He is the one who catches the wise in their craftiness.’””

The allure of this world is exceedingly powerful. There are so many “things”

that dangle before us. Wouldn’t it be good to have one of those? a child

thinks. But after a few days, he grows tired of it and moves on to something

even more desirable. Is the child deceiving himself? Yes, he is. What is

startling is the fact that what we have is already more than what the world

could ever provide. Think about it: you are the “temple of God!” When you

trusted Jesus as your Savior, the Holy Spirit came into your life forever! He

lives within you to protect you from unwise and evil choices; He guides you

into paths that are pleasing to God and profitable to you, as well. He teaches

you the things of the LORD, so that you might become holy, just like a temple

ought to be. Oh, the things of the world are alluring; but they don’t last and

they are never satisfying. I once asked a financial “watchdog” how much is

enough? He replied, “There’s never enough.” So, we deceive ourselves,

and end up being caught our own craftiness. And all the while, time goes by.

Don’t waste your time and your life with stupid things! What’s more, don’t

allow the things of the world to hold you captive. The Spirit cries “NO!” and

we must obey Him. Tragedy alone lurks around the corner.

May our love and prayers captivate you for Jesus,

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,

John 21:19b-21, “And when He had spoken this, He said to him, ‘Follow Me!’

20 Peter, turning around, saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them;

the one who also had leaned back on His breast at the supper, and said, ‘Lord,

who is the one who betrays You?’ 21 Peter therefore seeing him said to Jesus,

‘Lord, and what about this man?’ 22 Jesus said to him, ‘If I want him to remain

until I come, what is that to you? You follow Me!’”

The one major lesson every soldier must learn is to obey orders. When an

order is given, it must be obeyed without hesitation and without the thought

of “Wouldn’t it be better to _____?” Peter had just been given a three-part

lesson that said, “Feed My sheep, Tend my lambs.” Now, without explanation,

Jesus said, “Follow Me.” That should have been enough. It would have been

for John; but not for bold, impetuous Peter. He wanted to know what Jesus

wanted John to do. In a polite, yet firm reply, Jesus said, “That’s none of

your business, Peter; you follow Me.”

Remember how your parents used to say, “You (meaning you alone)

clean up the kitchen” or “I want you to move that out of the front yard”? And

you replied, “But, what about my sister?” “What about my brother?” No

parent is ever under obligation to tell a child why. The answer is usually,

“Because I said so!” It’s even more authoritative when the directive comes

from Christ. I remember a church member whose zeal for the LORD was

so great that I asked him, “Are you sure the LORD hasn’t called you to

preach?” He looked at me so serenely and said, “Pastor, I’ve always wished

He would call me to preach the Gospel, but His call just isn’t there.” What

we ultimately do is not so important as just following Him. He will always

lead us where He wants us to go; and your life will be blessed only as you

follow Him.

We pray for Christ’s will for your life,

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,

John 21:15-17, “So when they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter,

‘Simon, son of John, do you love Me more than these?’ He said to Him, ‘Yes, Lord;

You know that I love You.’ He said to him, ‘Tend My lambs.’

16 He said to him again a second time, ‘Simon, son of John, do you love Me?’

He said to Him, ‘Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.’ He said to him, ‘Shepherd

My sheep.’ 17 He said to him the third time, ‘Simon, son of John, do you love Me?’

Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, ‘Do you love Me?’ And he

said to Him, ‘Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You.’ Jesus said to him,

‘Tend My sheep.’”

This passage always seemed strange to me –until I learned that Jesus and Peter

weren’t saying the same thing. Jesus’ word for love was different from Peter’s.

Jesus’ word was agape, of which Danker says, “having such an interest in another

that one wishes to contribute to the other’s well-being.” It’s a deep love, a love of

will and commitment. Peter’s word, however, was phileo, a devotion based on

emotion –an outward expression of affection. When a girl hears a boy say, “I love

you,” she needs to carefully assess what he means. The boy, too, needs to be careful,

so as not to mislead the girl. The Greeks avoided this difficulty by using the right word.

Our English language does not have this flexibility.

Peter was grieved (saddened and distressed) that Jesus had asked him the same

thing three times. Perhaps it was because Peter had denied Him three times. It’s

a good question for us, however. Are we saddened that the LORD has to ask us

whether we truly love Him? He has work for us to do, but we’re not prepared unless

we’re genuinely committed to Him and His will. BTW, what is His will for your life?

It commences with commitment.

We love and pray for you every, single 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,

John 21:3-6, “Simon Peter said to them, ‘I am going fishing.’

They said to him, ‘We will also come with you.’ They went out,

and got into the boat; and that night they caught nothing.

4 But when the day was now breaking, Jesus stood on the beach;

yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. 5 Jesus therefore

said to them, ‘Children, you do not have any fish, do you?’ They

answered Him, ‘No.’ 6 And He said to them, ‘Cast the net on the

right-hand side of the boat, and you will find a catch.’ They cast

therefore, and then they were not able to haul it in because of the

great number of fish.”

Exactly why Peter decided to go fishing is not explained. A lot of

miraculous things had occurred over the past few days, so maybe

he just wanted to clear his head. Work does that. Peter was a

good fisherman, but as daybreak came his nets were empty. Jesus

spoke to them as His own, calling them “children” or “boys” –

those who as yet did not understand. They didn’t argue or make

excuses; they just did what Jesus told them, which was to cast

their nets on the other side –the right side of the boat. When

they did, their nets were so full, they were not able to haul it all in.

The late and inimitable Dr. Donald Barnhouse once said that the

miracle was not that they caught so many fish, but that Jesus had

kept the fish out of their nets all night long. Either way, the message

is that no matter how skilled and how practiced we may be in what-

ever we do, we will never be successful without Jesus!

I remember so well being excited about hearing a young Jewish

Christian friend, who was scheduled to preach on a Wednesday

night. He was energetic and made a great start, but for some reason

he looked at the clock on the wall and said, “Wow! Only three

minutes gone! We’re really going now!” And from that moment

everything went downhill. No matter how skilled we are at

anything, we will never be successful without Jesus!

May the LORD bless you mightily as you cast out your nets,

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.”