The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

John 6:9, “’There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two fish,

but what are these for so many people?’”

Kids are everywhere in Israel! In fact, they are everywhere throughout

the Middle East. I remember on young lad asking me if I knew where

the USA was. Then he said, “It’s right in the middle of Jerusalem.” It’s

true; see if you can figure it out. ?? On this occasion, the large crowd

of “about 5000” that followed Jesus had become hungry. Philip reckoned

that 200 days’ wages would hardly be enough to feed everyone just a

little. Then Andrew, perhaps thinking he had discovered the answer,

excitedly said, “There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two

fish…” –but thinking further, said, “what are these for so many people?”

Jesus, of course, was Himself the key to the situation. He had turned

water into wine, so feeding 5000 people should be no problem. Notice,

however, that He used the lad and what he had. The lad had no objection.

It was honor for him just to be noticed. Now, he was to be used by the

Savior! In the end, the people were fed and twelve baskets were filled

with what was left over! ~ Jesus doesn’t need our money, our intellect,

our worldly possessions. He just needs us! Give yourself to Him! You’ll

be amazed at what He can do with you.

We love you abundantly 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 1:40-45, “One of the two who heard John speak, and followed Him, was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. 41 He found first his own brother Simon, and said to him, “We have found the Messiah ” (which translated means Christ). 42 He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him, and said, “You are Simon the son of John; you shall be called Cephas ” (which is translated Peter).

43 The next day He purposed to go forth into Galilee, and He found Philip. And Jesus said to him, “Follow Me.” 44 Now Philip was from Bethsaida, of the city of Andrew and Peter. 45 Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found Him of whom Moses in the Law and also the Prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”

What’s in a name? These verses above have significant meaning because

they indicate who and how they came to faith in Jesus. Andrew found Simon;

Philip found Nathanael. They were witnessing to family and friends that they

had found the Messiah. That in itself is greatly important. It’s what we ought

to do as well.

At the same time, the names had significance. Remember when John the

Baptist was born. His mother, Elizabeth, said his name was to be John.

Her friends said, “There is no one among your relatives who is called by

that name” (Lk. 1:61). But his father, Zacharias, said, “His name is John.”

And that was the end of it. John means “God’s grace.” He was to be the

forerunner of Jesus – the one who was to announce Him to the world.

The name that got me started down this “what’s-in-a-name-path” was the

name Nathaniel. It was every Jewish girl’s hope and prayer that she would

be the mother of the promised Messiah. Nathaniel’s mother hoped for that

and in anticipation that her son would be the Messiah, named him Nathaniel,

“gift of God.” But that was not to be. The angel had already notified Mary that

she was to be the Messiah’s mother.

Here are the meanings of the names in the verses above:

Simon – He who hears (Heb.)

Andrew – Valiant, courageous; manly (Gk.)

Peter – Rock, stone (Lat.)

Nathaniel – Gift of God (Heb.)

John – God’s Grace (Heb.)

James – Supplanter, substitute (Heb.)

Mary – Bitter (Heb.)

Joseph – He shall add (Heb.)

These links will help you to discover the meaning of your own name:

http://www.bible-history.com/

https://www.familyeducation.com/baby-names

What’s more important is that you live up to your name. Jesus is your

Key to doing just that.

Love and prayers always and ever,

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 1:1-5, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God,

and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God.

3 All things came into being by Him, and apart from Him nothing came into

being that has come into being. 4 In Him was life, and the life was the light

of men. 5 And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not

comprehend it.”

What’s in a word? A whole lot more than you might imagine. In verse one,

John calls Jesus “the Word.” There are two words for word in Greek: one

is ???? (rhema), like in “Don’t say a word.” The one here is ????? (logos),

an expression of something meaningful; here, the message of God. There

are several words for “life”: ??? (zoe) is the opposite of death, and ???? (bios)

is the kind of life one lives –life style. The word “light” (??? (phos) means

both physical light and God as the source of light. It is the opposite of

?????? (scotia) and represents both the absence of physical light and the

Satanic realm. The word “comprehend” is ??????????? (katalambano)

means both “to grasp” something and “to understand” it.

Jesus was present in Heaven with the Father before the world was

brought into being. Everything we see and don’t see came from the

creative work of Jesus Christ. He is the very essence of true life; and His

life lights the right way for all mankind. Satan has plunged mankind into

utter spiritual darkness, and Jesus’ Light shows us the way out of darkness

(sinfulness). Still, mankind, being submerged in the darkness of sin, does

not understand the Truth the Light brings. We, who have believed upon

Jesus, are commissioned to share the Message of Life and Light with

others. The world will remain in darkness unless it comes to Jesus’ Light.

Let’s do our part in obeying His commission and bringing people into the

True Light!

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.”

Dear Grands,

Luke 24:16, 31 & 45, “But their eyes were prevented from recognizing Him….

And their eyes were opened and they recognized Him….Then He opened

their minds to understand the Scriptures…”

Did you ever read something in the Bible that you didn’t quite understand?

We all have. But, later –maybe years later—we read the same passage

and this time we understood it clearly. The thought occurred to me that

the time for our understanding that particular passage had not yet come.

Other passages were so deep that we just couldn’t get our minds around

what they meant. Then one day it was like a light had come on and we

could see clearly things we couldn’t understand before. These three

verses show clearly that there is a time for understanding things and that

Jesus is the One who opens our minds to understand at the proper time.

Having said that, none of us are to be complacent with not understanding.

It’s not wrong for us to seek others’ thoughts on Scripture. Our pastor

only yesterday opened an area I had viewed many times, but this time he

broadened my understanding still further. Maybe I should have understood

the passage more completely; or, maybe yesterday was the LORD’s timing

for me to see it. Prayer is also vital to understanding Scripture! We should

always pray before we read, asking the LORD to “open our minds to

understand the Scriptures.” Scripture enlightens our minds. It also

convicts us of wrong in our lives, so that we can confess our sin to Christ.

This is how we “grow in grace.” God bless you as your read His Word!

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.”

Dear Grands,

Luke 21:13, “It will lead to an opportunity for your testimony.”

Opportunities are always important. For one thing, it means

yhat you are important to someone. No one offers an opportunity

to someone they don’t like or to someone they believe to be

incompetent to the task. Thus, it is a complement to be wanted.

Every opportunity also is an opening for your testimony. There

sre some things I am not competent to do. But, don’t tell me

I can’t, because I won’t accept that. Any opportunity offered

me is an opportunity for me to share Christ. Even those

things I did not personally want to do, I found He could do

through me. I only had to be available.

Honestly, as I think of it, I have always sought to undertake

everything that crossed my path. I was invited and took on

a radio program that turned into six stations in four different

countries. I’ve accepted invitations to speak that led to an

around-the-world evangelistic tour that led to a week’s meeting

in the largest evangelical church in Europe. The editor of an

expanding Christian newspaper gave me the opportunity to

become a writer, which I did until the death of the editor. In

Australia, my radio interviews led to television opportunities,

one station in Victoria offering me a regular weekly program.

Don’t be afraid of opportunities! You never know where they

will lead. And whether they are for an extended period or a

one-time occasion, they are “an opportunity for your testimony”;

and they just might open doors you didn’t even know were there.

Love and prayers,

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.”