The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

Luke 22:54-57, “And having arrested Him, they led Him away,

and brought Him to the house of the high priest; but Peter was

following at a distance.

55 And after they had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard

and had sat down together, Peter was sitting among them.

56 And a certain servant-girl, seeing him as he sat in the firelight,

and looking intently at him, said, ‘This man was with Him too.’

57 But he denied it, saying, ‘Woman, I do not know Him.’”

It is commonly thought that Simon Peter was the oldest member

of Jesus’ group of disciples. Whether he was, may never be

known. What is beyond doubt is that he was the most vociferous

in the group. Would Peter ever deny the LORD? Absolutely not!

was his insistence. But, he did. Look how it happened….

Jesus had been put under arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane.

Peter is likely the one who drew his sword and cut off the ear

of the High Priest’s servant. He was “all in” for Jesus! But, as

they led Him away, Peter followed at a distance. Distance is

the beginning of denial. When they arrived at the house where

Jesus was to be interrogated, Peter sat down among those who

were opposed to Jesus. Affiliation with the opposition is also

denial. When finally accused of being a friend of Jesus, Peter

out-and-out denied he even knew Him!

Distancing yourself from the Bible, prayer, church, Christian

friends is the first step down the road to denial. Be very, very

careful. Right now, you would AFFIRM that you are a friend

of Jesus. It would be ridiculous of anyone to think otherwise.

But the road to denial is a slippery slope. Keep yourself on

solid footing. Never believe what happened to Peter couldn’t

happen to you.

We love you 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,

Luke 21:1-4, “And He looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury.

2 And He saw a certain poor widow putting in two small copper coins.

3 And He said, ‘Truly I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all of them;

4 for they all out of their surplus put into the offering; but she out of her poverty put in

all that she had to live on.’”

I was taught to believe the Bible –everything it said, just the way it said it.

But as a kid, these verses always gave me trouble. The rich men gave

handfuls of money into the Temple treasury, while this poor widow only

gave two, small copper coins; yet Jesus said she had given more than

the rich men. How could this be? I knew Jesus made no mistakes, but

how could He figure that she gave more? Over the years, I examined

this passage carefully. We’re not told how much the rich men gave;

but we are told that the poor woman gave “two small copper coins.”

They were worth in total about $0.0028. Imagine! She could not have

purchased anything of value with such a paltry amount. Besides that,

it was all that she had. So, we are led to understand that Jesus was not

measuring how much was given, but how much was left over!

We are responsible to support those who share the Gospel: pastors,

evangelists, missionaries. At the same time, inasmuch as we are able,

we are to be careful to share with those who are responsible in using it

properly. And we must view what we give as given to the LORD. Once

we have given it, however it is used becomes the responsibility of the

one to whom it has been given. When we see that what we’ve given

is being used responsibly, we feel free to give to them again. When the

LORD sees that we are responsible in using what He has allowed us to

have, He gives us more. We must always be faithful stewards!

We love you 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,

Proverbs 4:7, “Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom:

and with all thy getting get understanding.”

James 1:5, “But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God,

who gives to all men generously and without reproach, and it will be

given to him.”

The word wisdom is used some 400 to 500 times in the Bible,

depending on which version you use. The dictionary defines

wisdom as the “knowledge of what is true or right coupled with

just judgment as to action.” The Hebrew word ??????? chokmah

means “skill in administration, prudence in religious affairs.” The

Greek word ?????, sophia means “the ability to use knowledge for

correct behavior.” It is the only skill for which we are instructed to

ask; and when asked, it is promised that God will grant it.

Wisdom is more than being smart or knowledgeable about something.

It’s knowing when to speak, when not to speak, and even how to

phrase what you say. Some time ago, I faxed the following to a

U. S. Senator:

I was deeply appreciative of your questioning of Judge Neil Gorsuch

today in his Confirmation Hearings for the U. S. Supreme Court.

Your questions and personal mannerisms confirmed for me a long-

held belief that any inept person could be elected to the U. S. Senate.

Whether it should have been sent is a question of wisdom. Some

things need to be said; some things do not. And the judgment of

deciding is what we call wisdom.

My personal difficulty with wisdom has been being too quick in thinking

and not sufficiently slow in responding. Dr. Cleveland Horne was my

pastor for a time. He was a retired Navy Commander and one of the

most brilliant men I have ever known. But he frustrated me when I

asked him a question. He took sometimes two or three days before

he answered me. I wanted a quick answer. He saw the need to

weigh all aspects of the question before he replied. And when he replied,

there was nothing omitted. He had thought the matter through thoroughly.

That is wisdom.

Practice being wise! “…let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow

to wrath: For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God”

(Jas. 1:19-20).

We love you abundantly –and pray for your wisdom!

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 Peter 2:11-12, “Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers

to abstain from fleshly lusts, which wage war against the soul.

12 Keep your behavior excellent among the Gentiles, so that

in the thing in which they slander you as evildoers, they may

on account of your good deeds, as they observe them, glorify

God in the day of visitation.”

Most of you are sufficiently trained, so as to be able to defend

yourselves against someone who would harm you. But, there

are many kinds of harm, and we are not often not only not

prepared to defend ourselves, we are oblivious to the nature

of the harm until it is too late. It is natural to be curious about

things, but they can often be dangerous. Our bodies, for

instance, are not prepared for the foods some people regularly

eat; so when we eat their food, we become sick and need

immediate medical care, sometimes even to live!

Satan is clever. He often –very often—utilizes our natural

curiosity to infect us and bring us down. I remember eating

the most delicious masala in India. It was delicious beyond

words! But, I became extremely sick! The sickness left me

wishing I’d never eaten it. But, when I got well, would you

believe it, I ate that same dish again! How stupid can one

be? Our eyes deceive us. We look at things that Peter says

“wage war against the soul” –our souls. You know better, but

everything within you begs to see more! You have no idea

what you are doing to yourself. You are ruining your future

for the sake of the present. Stop and think! Keep your

behavior excellent! You stop eating because you recognize

what overeating will do to your body. Stop watching what

you know to be wrong! You very life depends on it!!

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 12:2-3, “’But there is nothing covered up that will not be revealed,

and hidden that will not be known. 3 Accordingly, whatever you have said

in the dark shall be heard in the light, and what you have whispered in the

inner rooms shall be proclaimed upon the housetops.’”

Did you ever have a secret? “Don’t tell anyone; it’s a secret.” We’ve all

had secrets. We may have some now –at least, some that we think are

secret. My mother was a genius at learning secrets! She could worm

anything out of anyone. I never saw the like. “How did you know?” I

used to say. Her answer was always, “A little bird told me.” She never

said, but I figured that she got that from Ecclesiastes 10:20. It says…

well, you can read it for yourself.

Here in our verses above, Jesus says there is no such thing as a something

unknown. Everything will ultimately be revealed. Things done in the darkness

will be brought into the light. God knows everything now! Does that not

embarrass us, knowing that He knows even those deep-seated “secrets” of

our hearts? Oh, it should! Furthermore, there is the coming Judgment Seat

of Christ, where we will stand as saved believers before Almighty God and be

forced to give account of those things we thought and did in secret. Wow!

Will that be an embarrassing event, or what?!! However, when we confess

those things to God and truly repent of them, He forgives us and we are no

longer held accountable. But, we must not return to the same evil!

We pray for you; pray for us. We are all subject to the same temptations.

And if we are seeking to hide “secrets,” how can we expect God to answer

our prayers?

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.”