The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

Luke 10:38-42, “Now as they were traveling along, He entered a certain village;

and a woman named Martha welcomed Him into her home.

39 And she had a sister called Mary, who moreover was listening to the Lord’s Word,

seated at His feet.

40 But Martha was distracted with all her preparations; and she came up to Him,

and said, ‘Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to do all the serving alone?

Then tell her to help me.’

41 But the Lord answered and said to her, ‘Martha, Martha, you are worried and

bothered about so many things;

42 but only a few things are necessary, really only one, for Mary has chosen the

good part, which shall not be taken away from her.’”

I know that’s a longer passage that I usually give you, but you’re

all good readers. The key message is quite simple: some things

are very important; some things are not. So, the question each of

us must face every day is: Is what I am doing the most important?

Martha was concerned about the physical –dinner. Mary was more

concerned about the spiritual –the words of Jesus. What is your

focus for today? Read the Word every day and let the Holy Spirit

speak to you about what is important for your life. Of course, you

have work obligations. But within those obligations, what is the

LORD’s directive for you today?

We love you and are praying for you today,

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 4:36-39, “And amazement came upon them all, and they began

discussing with one another saying, ‘What is this message? For with

authority and power He commands the unclean spirits, and they come

out.’ 37 And the report about Him was getting out into every locality in the

surrounding district. 38 And He arose and left the synagogue, and entered

Simon’s home. Now Simon’s mother-in-law was suffering from a high fever;

and they made request of Him on her behalf. 39 And standing over her, He

rebuked the fever, and it left her; and she immediately arose and waited

on them.”

These two instances bring into focus one salient truth: sin is a reality!

With the demon-possessed man, it is easy to detect sin; but with Simon’s

mother-in-law, it is a bit more difficult. If we think back to Adam and Eve,

there was no sin in the beginning. But when they sinned, all manner of

evil infested human life, even all creation. Sickness is not always indicative

of personal sin; but it is indicative of sin’s reality. Certainly, some illnesses

are the result of personal sins. We need always to do a spiritual self-checkup

to see if the LORD is trying to get our attention.

There is no indication in Scripture that Paul’s “thorn in the flesh” was the

result of some personal sin. Neither Nana nor I are without sin, but I could

never accept that her heart surgeries were required because of something

she had personally done wrong. What I am saying is that every disease and

every malfunction in our bodies is traceable to the Garden of Eden. Nor is it

wrong to seek a physician for healing. Luke himself was a physician and

travelled with the Apostle Paul. A hospital chaplain once said to me, “All

healing is divine. It’s just that in some cases the LORD uses physicians.”

Stay safe and do regular, spiritual check-ups. The LORD often speaks in

strange and mysterious ways.

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 1:66, “And all who heard them kept them in mind, saying,

‘What then will this child turn out to be?’ For the hand of the

Lord was certainly with him.”

Parents and friends are much the same in every generation.

Virtually all parents have looked upon their newborn child with

the same question. In this case, the child was John –John the

Baptist. John was six months older than his cousin, Jesus; and

the two boys grew up quite differently. Jesus was cared for by

His parents in their home in Nazareth. John lived in the wilderness

until the time of his ministry, and ate locusts and wild honey.

Of John, the Scripture says, “And the child continued to grow,

and to become strong in spirit, and he lived in the deserts until

the day of his public appearance to Israel” (Lk. 1:80). Of Jesus,

the Scripture says, “And Jesus kept increasing in wisdom and

stature, and in favor with God and men” (Lk 2:52).

John’s ministry was to introduce Jesus to the world. Jesus’

ministry was to introduce the world to His Father. In one sense,

they had the same ministry. Both were important, yet both were

ultimately rejected and gave their lives in the process.

What does the LORD intend for you? What do you see as your

ministry? Of course, we are all to glorify the LORD Jesus, but how?

What is He leading you to do? Are you, like John and Jesus, willing

to be and do whatever He intends? Are you willing to go where He

leads? Believe me, there is no ultimate joy in a life outside of His

will. Surroundings do not produce joy; only living within His will

produces a lifetime of joy and peace.

We love you and pray for you to know His peace and joy,

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,

Mark 16:8, “And they went out and fled from the tomb,

for trembling and astonishment had gripped them; and

they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.”

Have you ever been afraid? Sure, we all have. But,

why are we afraid? What causes fear? Sudden, unexpected

things happen that cause us to fear. Remember when someone

jumped out of the dark and shouted at you? Sometimes, fear is

caused by a negative anticipation. Remember the first time you

were scheduled to recite something or play or sing? Fear gripped

you at the very thought because you’d never done it before.

I think we can sympathize with people who are afraid. The disciples

were afraid when they saw the angel inside the empty tomb. The

priest Zacharias feared when the Angel Gabriel appeared to him

in the Temple (Luke 1:12). Mary was troubled at the appearance

of the Angel Gabriel and of his message that she would bear the

promised Messiah (Luke 1:29). Zacharias’ friends were fearful

when he began to speak after a long time of silence (Luke 1:65).

There are a huge number of things that cause us fear. But, we

are instructed throughout the Scriptures not to be afraid. All things

are in the Hands of our LORD. “’He has done all things well’” (Mark

7:37). He is ever and always in control. Things often look bad, and

they produce fear in us; but we need to remember that Jesus is Alive!

And He lives within us in the Holy Spirit. Just learn to trust Him, and

forge ahead, doing and saying what He gives us strength to do.

He is always with us — always!

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,

Psalm 96:9, “O worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness:

fear before Him, all the Earth.”

I awoke this morning with this verse on my mind. A lot of

misconception has befallen the idea of worship. It has become

a Sunday morning word for most of us –prayers, hymns, sermons.

And it is all of that, but not only that. To worship is to reverence

the LORD at all times and under all circumstances. His holiness

is beautiful beyond description. Peter was overwhelmed when

the pristine glory of the LORD Jesus was revealed in His transfiguration!

And once he and the other disciples realized there was no limit

to His glory and holiness, they went everywhere proclaiming His

wonder! Do we think about the LORD at all times? Do we love and

revere Him above everything and everyone? Do our lives always

show that we belong to Him? When we have something valuable

and beautiful, we want to show it and share it with others? Do we

show forth Christ in our lives and share Him with others? Not to

do so is to deny Him, even ever so subtly. We have such opportunity

to share Him today! The joy of those we reach will be sufficient

reward –and yet, there is more.

Our Love is unceasing, and prayers avail 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.”