The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

Colossians 3:8-10, “But now you also, put them all aside:

anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive speech from your mouth.

9 Do not lie to one another, since you laid aside the old self with its

evil practices, 10 and have put on the new self who is being renewed

to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him—“

Having warned us of some weighty sins in verses five and six, Paul

turns to attitudes that we are likely to view as normal. But they,

too, are wrong in God’s sight. Anger is a “vigorous upsurge”; wrath is

a “violent rage”; malice is “hatefulness, immoral behavior”; slander is

“speech that is harmful to another’s reputation”; and abusive speech

is using “filthy, obscene language,” something that has become all-too-

frequent today. Nor are we to deceive others by telling lies, since we

put away such things when we were saved. We are now clothed in

a new nature of righteousness, like the nature of Jesus Himself.

WOW! What a challenge! Yet, the Holy Spirit indwells us, making it

not-so-difficult if we are sensitive to His leadership and follow Him.

Love and peace to you all,

Nana & Dado III

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

Springdale, Arkansas

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Dear Grands,

Colossians 3:5-6, “Therefore consider the members of your earthly body

as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which

amounts to idolatry. 6 For it is because of these things that the wrath of

God will come upon the sons of disobedience…”

Sometimes we see and hear those who profess to be Christians engaging

in evil practices. The Bible warns us not to be like them. “Consider” means

“put to death” every kind of sexual impulse that lies outside of marriage,

every moral indecency, every evil desire, every circumstance and condition

that is harmful or injurious, and all bad behavior, even greed and covetness.

All of these ungodly attitudes and practices amount to idol worship. Any

and all of these things brings the furor of Almighty God upon the lives of

those who belong to Him, but engage in such things. As I read the accounts

of my students’ lives, I see the results of God’s wrath. Some of them have

suffered more than others, but all testify to the devastation that fell upon

them until they repented and turned back to God. Don’t mess with evil!

As “deliciously” as the devil paints it, evil ruins human lives. Be warned!

We love and pray the LORD will protect you all,

Nana & Dado III

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

Springdale, Arkansas

Dear Grands,

Luke 10:5, 7, “Whatever house you enter… Stay in that house, eating

And drinking what they give you; for the laborer is worthy of his wages.

Do not keep moving from house to house.”

Proverbs 17:22 says, “A joyful heart is good medicine.” There was a time

in my life when I seriously feared that I would not be gifted with a sense

of humor. Now, I see fun in almost everything, even in the Bible. When

I was doing evangelistic work in Australia, traveling with the Galiehs, we

often stayed in the homes of church people. On one occasion, we were

told we were to be there only a couple of nights, then we were to move

to another home, and then, to another in one week. It was nice that so

many wanted us to stay with them, but no one had thought about what

it would do to us. I politely said, “No, we won’t do that.” They had no

idea what a problem this would have been to us. We would just get used

to one bed, and then have to get used to another. We had the backing

of the verse above, “Do not keep moving from house to house.” We

laughed later about how the Scripture helped save our energy in that

situation. Yes, the Bible is a practical book! That’s why we need to read

it daily and pray for understanding.

May the Loving LORD bless and keep you smiling today,

Nana & Dado III

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

Springdale, Arkansas

Dear Grands,

Luke 4:9-13, “9 And he led Him to Jerusalem and had Him stand on

the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, ‘If You are the Son of God,

throw Yourself down from here; 10 for it is written, “HE WILL COMMAND

HIS ANGELS CONCERNING YOU TO GUARD YOU,” 11 and, “ON their

HANDS THEY WILL BEAR YOU UP, SO THAT YOU WILL NOT STRIKE

YOUR FOOT AGAINST A STONE.”’

12 And Jesus answered and said to him, ‘It is said, ‘YOU SHALL NOT PUT

THE LORD YOUR GOD TO THE TEST.’

13 When the devil had finished every temptation, he left Him

until an opportune time.”

The devil has failed in his first two attempts to get Jesus to sin. But he

is not giving up. The pinnacle refers to the edge of the Temple mount.

I’ve been there and it is a long way down! “If You are the Son of God –

and You are—throw Yourself down…” God Himself will protect You.

Has He not written such? In the first two temptations, Jesus answered

the devil with Scripture. Now, Satan uses Scripture to foundation his

case. But the Scripture Satan quoted omitted two Hebrew words that

translate “in all Your ways.” What Satan was proposing to Jesus was

neither Jesus’ way nor that of His Heavenly Father. Three things need

emphasis here: 1) always be sure that what you are doing is God’s

will and direction for your life; and 2) read the Scriptures carefully.

Just leaving out (or adding in) some words can change the meaning;

3) Don’t presume on the LORD’s protection. The snake-handlers of

Tennessee play with poisonous snakes in their churches, believing

that they are protected by the LORD. Yet, many have died from

snake-bites. God does not exist to play magic tricks. He is serious!

And Satan doesn’t quit. He just withdraws until “an opportune time.”

We love and pray for you every day,

Nana & Dado III

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

Springdale, Arkansas

Dear Grands,

Luke 4:5-8, “And he led Him up and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.

6 And the devil said to Him, “I will give You all this domain and its glory; for it has been handed over to me, and I give it to whomever I wish. 7 “Therefore if You worship before me, it shall all be Yours.”

8 Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘YOU SHALL WORSHIP THE LORD YOUR GOD AND SERVE HIM ONLY.'”

Satan lost round one. Jesus would not turn the stones into bread. But Satan

does not give up easily. Have you noticed that in your life? He keeps coming

back with more alluring propositions. Here he (not the Spirit, but the devil)

led Jesus up into space and in a split-second, and there he promised everything

in exchange for a simple worship (bowing) before him. Sounds simple, doesn’t

it? But think! If Jesus were to bow before Satan, would Satan not be the one

to whom everything belonged? Would it not be Satan who would then be in

charge? Satan doubts whether Jesus will comply with his offer because he

says, “if You worship before me…” , maybe You will, maybe You won’t. Jesus

never changed His tactic with Satan. He again relied on the Word and repeated

Deuteronomy 6:13. Whatever temptation you and I encounter, we can always

rely on the Word of God as the source of true information and power to resist.

“Ask the Savior to help you,
Comfort, strengthen and keep you;
He is willing to aid you,
He will carry you through.”

–Horatio R. Palmer

Always loving you, praying for you daily,

Nana & Dado III

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

Springdale, Arkansas