The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

John 15:1-2, “’I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser.

2 Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and

every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it, that it may bear more fruit.’”

Why is all of this happening to me? Did you ever say that? I’m sure

we all have at some time. Understanding the Word of God is key to

understanding a lot of the problems that come our way. These two

verses have been quite often been misunderstood. Fruit means the

attributes of Christ Himself. Read 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.” These

nine elements were ever present in Jesus’ life; and His Holy Spirit lives

within us to reproduce them in our lives. The absence of this fruit may

mean that we’ve never trusted Him at all –that we do not belong to Him!

Or, it may be that the flow of the life of the Vine is being hindered by a

branch that is not producing the likeness of Christ. So, the Vinedresser

prunes (cleanses) the vine by cutting off the non-productive branches.

This cleansing may come in a variety of ways: sickness, losses of

different kinds, even death. Think of it like a football coach. His job is

to train his players so they can win games. Any player who does not

perform well on the field is subject to being removed from the game.

The removal may be temporary or permanent, depending on the coach’s

judgment. Jesus is our Coach. If we do not perform up to His expectations,

we are subject to His “pruning.” Don’t mess with God! He’s serious about

our being like Himself.

We love you more than you will ever know,

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 12:12-13, “On the next day the great multitude who had come

to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem,

13 took the branches of the palm trees, and went out to meet Him,

and began to cry out, ‘Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the

name of the Lord, even the King of Israel.’”

The days in which Jesus walked on this Earth were not easy days.

The Romans ruled virtually all the world at that time, and the Pharisees

lived to please the Romans, who allowed them to rule the religiously.

The Jews who lived at that time were forced to obey both. Thus, it is

no mystery why the people cried out “Hosanna” –LORD, save us!

It was somewhat ironic that the Jews were looking to Jesus to save

them, while He Himself was avoiding the Pharisees (Jn. 11:54), who

were plotting to kill Him.

In our own time today, we have a President, who is seeking to restore

liberty to our nation’s people; yet, there are those who are opposing his

efforts and, if possible, would eliminate him as President. Time changes

many things, but evil persists. It is time for us to cry, “Hosanna!” The

LORD alone can save us! He only awaits our willingness to believe on

Him and trust Him. As each of us yields to His will for our lives, our

nation comes one step closer to becoming the Light of Liberty for

which it was founded. Pray for our LORD’s deliverance for our lives

from sin and for our nation’s imprisonment through evil forces.

We continue to love and pray for you 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,

John 10:27-28, “’My sheep hear My voice, and I know them,

and they follow Me; 28 and I give eternal life to them, and they

shall never perish; and no one shall snatch them out of My hand.’”

The most powerful word in any sentence is the verb. Interesting

too, is the fact that when all the elements of life are failing, hearing

is the last to go. Animals are not only equipped with hearing, they

have “selective” hearing –they can distinguish between the voice

of their master and other voices that might call them. Jesus uses

sheep a lot in His teaching. When we accept Him as our LORD

and Savior, we become His sheep. It is then that we come to know

His voice (i.e., we understand His Word and the voice of the Holy

Spirit) and follow Him. He knows us, too, and gives us eternal life.

BTW, “eternal life” is not given when or just before we die; it is

given to us at the very instant we believe upon Him –and it is not

possible ever to lose! That’s what He means by “never perish.”

Moreover, no one (not even Satan) can “snatch” or take us away

by force. This is protection like no other! With all the LORD has

freely given us, why would we not listen to His Word and follow

Him? See you in church today wherever you attend. Listen to

His voice and you will never be deceived.

Love you all immensely,

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 9:25, “He answered and said, ‘Whether he be a sinner or no,

I know not: one thing I know, that, whereas I was blind, now I see.’”

Jesus had healed a man who had been born blind. The Pharisees

were in a rage because it had been done on the Sabbath. They

interrogated the man again and again; and discovering that it was

Jesus who healed him, told him that Jesus was a sinner. His reply

was classic! I don’t know about that, he said, I only know that I

was blind and now I can see.

Knowledge is a wonderful thing; but we don’t have to know

everything –only one thing is truly important, and that is knowing

that we belong to Jesus! Sometimes we allow “knowledge” to get

into the way of Truth. I remember a pastor of mine saying, “Knowledge

without Christ makes smart devils.” That was the Pharisees’ problem.

They knew about the Law of Moses, but the one thing that was key to

everything else, they ignored –Jesus! ~ I would never discourage you

from learning. It is a vital acquisition in life. But knowing Jesus is far,

far more important. The man born blind became a disciple (learner)

of Jesus, and he witnessed to the Pharisees long before he knew all

that he was to learn from Him. Witnessing does not demand that we

know everything –just that one thing: my life has changed since I met

Jesus! People will hear what you say because they will see the change

in your life. That’s what it’s all about!

We pray that you will always see Jesus in us,

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,

Numbers 32:23, “”But if you will not do so, behold,

you have sinned against the LORD, and be sure your

sin will find you out.’”

Families should help one another. Members of families

should help each other. But some families in Israel did

not want to help other families because it meant going

to war. Moses then said, “…if you will not do so, behold,

you have sinned against the LORD, and be sure you sin

will find you out.” It’s a principle that carries over into

the New Testament and even into our own time. Whatever

we do that is against the LORD’s will, will surely come to

light.

This happened yesterday when former FBI Director James

Comey testified under oath before the Senate Intelligence

Committee. In the midst of answering a question, he openly

admitted that he leaked government information to a

friend, asking him to share it with a reporter for the New

York Times newspaper. Whether Mr. Comey at that precise

moment knew the implications of his testimony, the LORD

Himself only knows. But what he had done came out of his

own mouth and revealed him as having done wrong.

There’s just no way to get away with sin! Sooner or later,

what we do that’s wrong will come to light. We will then

be embarrassed –but, even worse, the LORD will hold us

accountable. “…be sure your sin will find you out.” Stay

clean. The LORD forgives us from our sin when we confess

it. The hurt and emptiness we feel when we sin is then

gone, and we are again clean. Praise the LORD for His

willingness to forgive and cleanse us!

Love and prayers always,

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.”